Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

Yes, sons new garden furniture,  came in handy as got chilly by late evening 

Very nice!  You have a handsome son! And adorable pup too😃

[helen haywood]

34 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

You should recreate this photo in 6 months. I’d love to see it. 

I did this with our golden Lab puppy.  He sat in my lap and I took pictures every two weeks…amazing how fast they grow!!  Even full sized … he still thought he was a lap dog.

[grapau27]

11 hours ago, helen haywood said:

This was the purring pile I had to drag myself away from this morning 😞.  We’re driving to FLL to board Celebrity Equinox on Saturday.  Celebrating our 35th anniversary!

 

Happy 35th wedding anniversary Helen

[grapau27]

Good afternoon.

It is 60°F and sunny.

This morning we went to Port of Tyne Newcastle to see P&O Arcadia which is here for 10 days.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

[Sea Dog]

4 hours ago, sgmn said:

We had a lovely day yesterday for Gary's birthday. 

 

 

Looks like he had a great birthday. Happy Birthday Gary!

 

 

11 hours ago, helen haywood said:

  We’re driving to FLL to board Celebrity Equinox on Saturday.  Celebrating our 35th anniversary!

 

 

Have a great cruise celebrating your 35th!

 

 

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

 

I think I have missed some on this thread.  Hard to keep up at sea. 

 

 

Enjoy your remaining days and don't worry about keeping up. Enjoy yourself!!

 

[Arzeena]

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

+1

 

We love the Equinox 

Us too!😁

We love the deck 8 slant balconies.

[Arzeena]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Continuing the NJ diner discussion...I lived in Cherry Hill, NJ until 5th grade.  We had a great place there called Olga's Diner.  They sponsored my little league baseball team, and we went there a lot for our victory celebrations.  It looks like their original location closed and was demolished to turn a major traffic circle into an overpass (intersection of Rts 70 and 73 in Marlton).  They were closed for a decade and recently reopened in a new location nearby.  They no longer have a traditional looking diner building, but hopefully the food is still as good.  Anyone been to Olga's?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!  OMG! I know Olga's Diner. Used to live near the area and freqent it. It was the best landmark too!😁 Giving directions....just make a left from Olga's and blah blah.

It is not there anymore. I do not know where they moved, since I have moved too.

[DaniDanielle]

54 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Happy 35th wedding anniversary Helen

+1

[DaniDanielle]

Happy Birthday to Gary🎂

[lenquixote66]

11 hours ago, helen haywood said:

This was the purring pile I had to drag myself away from this morning 😞.  We’re driving to FLL to board Celebrity Equinox on Saturday.  Celebrating our 35th anniversary!

 

Happy Anniversary ,enjoy your cruise

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

We had a lovely day yesterday for Gary's birthday.  After a video call with our one year old grandson we had breakfast in the courtyard of our local craft village.

 

 

Later we had cake and coffee in the garden with my sister in law 

 

 

And in the evening my youngest son and DIL had us over for a bbq 

Great day 

Happy Birtday

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Continuing the NJ diner discussion...I lived in Cherry Hill, NJ until 5th grade.  We had a great place there called Olga's Diner.  They sponsored my little league baseball team, and we went there a lot for our victory celebrations.  It looks like their original location closed and was demolished to turn a major traffic circle into an overpass (intersection of Rts 70 and 73 in Marlton).  They were closed for a decade and recently reopened in a new location nearby.  They no longer have a traditional looking diner building, but hopefully the food is still as good.  Anyone been to Olga's?

From 1986 to 1992 I worked with a guy who lived in Cherry Hill.He told me that everyone living there knows him or knows his name.To date I have met (mostly on cruises) about 30 Cherry Hill residents and none of them ever heard of the guy.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, mets07 said:

 

HA!!  

 

😉

We both know that George meant to say that the METS will be the winner if they play this year.😀

[derorim]

17 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

@Sunshine3601I was able to look up the September 2023 cruise on Serenade.   That sounds nice and very good price.

 

17 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I know it looks amazing.   I have no idea why so low as that itinerary is usually pricier.   We are still tossing it around that one or the Jewel out of NJ to Greenland.    With airfare and hotel the Serenade would end up being about the same price as the Jewel out of NJ and we can drive to NJ.    But Jewel doesn't include a couple of days in Iceland.

 

We just booked this sailing, and it will be our first TA.  We were considering a Baltic cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary next year, but then I saw the great price on this one.  We plan to enjoy several days in Copenhagen before we board.  

[BonTexasNY]

12 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Wow, this is a trip down memory lane. I'm having flashbacks to the 1980's.  The Park Ridge Diner was about 10 minutes away (Montvale) from where I had my first professional office career job. Had many a lunch there.

 

The place on Route 4 in Paramus  is the Suburban Diner, if it's the one I'm thinking of (there are a ton of diners around there).  I did all my clothes shopping in NJ since there was no sales tax on clothing unlike NY and this was back in the day office workers  had to wear suit & ties so the savings was substantial. Anyways, I'd always stop at that diner after shopping at Paramus Park or Bergen Town Center.

 

New City, Blauvelt & Nanuet Diners are all faves. Some where from my childhood. Dad was a diner man would take all 4 of us kids (& mom too) or sometime just me to a diner at least once a week. As I got older, they became oy "after-hours" eating place once the bars closed down.

I hope your trip down memory lane brought smiles to your face.  

 

@helen haywoodHave a fantastic anniversary.

 

@sgmnHappy birthday to your Gary.

[Ozark_Kid]

Who cruised Harmony earlier this year.  Look who I found.Miesel.  She is working CK on Ovation.   She has lighten her hair since we saw her.  She remembered us on Harmony.  She said at the end of March she was able to go home for 3 weeks.  She is so nice. @molly361 Ellen, she didn't hide from me.  😁

[Sunshine3601]

14 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We used to drive to upstate NY a lot in the 70’s ,Finger Lakes,Corning,Alexandria Bay,Saratoga,Lake George and Bolton were our favorite areas.Our younger daughter and her husband have a home in upstate NY,a town with 241 full time residents.In the winter people go there to ski and it tends to get very crowded.

 

 

pp

There are all very beautiful areas.     I have never been a ski bum (I'm a beach bum) but I hear they have some very nice skiing up there.   

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, sgmn said:

We had a lovely day yesterday for Gary's birthday.  After a video call with our one year old grandson we had breakfast in the courtyard of our local craft village.

 

 

Later we had cake and coffee in the garden with my sister in law 

 

 

And in the evening my youngest son and DIL had us over for a bbq 

Great day 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY!    Looks like he had a wonderful day😍    Best wishes for many more happy birthdays with family and friends.

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Continuing the NJ diner discussion...I lived in Cherry Hill, NJ until 5th grade.  We had a great place there called Olga's Diner.  They sponsored my little league baseball team, and we went there a lot for our victory celebrations.  It looks like their original location closed and was demolished to turn a major traffic circle into an overpass (intersection of Rts 70 and 73 in Marlton).  They were closed for a decade and recently reopened in a new location nearby.  They no longer have a traditional looking diner building, but hopefully the food is still as good.  Anyone been to Olga's?

We had been to the original Olga's a couple of times as Eric's brother used to live in the Marlton area.     I remember when all the construction was going on in that area and it was sad to see the original diner had been demolished.   I am happy to hear they have re-opened at another location.    I will have to check them out next time I am in that area.   

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, derorim said:

 

 

We just booked this sailing, and it will be our first TA.  We were considering a Baltic cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary next year, but then I saw the great price on this one.  We plan to enjoy several days in Copenhagen before we board.  

We are still undecided.   I will probably book it this weekend as it looks like balconies in our preferred locations on Serenade are selling out quick since that other thread was started on the main page.    I definitely want to spend a couple days in Copenhagen too.    

we were booked for a baltic sailing out of copenhagen for 2020, 2021 (and 2022 - but we cancelled that one).     We had airfare booked with SAS airlines for a non stop flight out of EWR.     Hopefully they are still doing that route.   

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

From 1986 to 1992 I worked with a guy who lived in Cherry Hill.He told me that everyone living there knows him or knows his name.To date I have met (mostly on cruises) about 30 Cherry Hill residents and none of them ever heard of the guy.

 

We moved from Cherry Hill to Buffalo (Williamsville) in 1972.  I think we moved to Cherry Hill around 1964.  In Cherry Hill, we lived on Old Orchard Road which literally ran along an apple orchard.  Our backyard was right up against the orchard.  When they were harvesting, we'd stand in our yard and they would toss apples to us.  That only lasted a few years as the orchard was eventually turned into more houses.  Cherry Hill is now a huge Philadelphia suburb with just about everything that you think of when you mention suburbia.  There wasn't much in Marlton at the time (you drove through it on the way to Atlantic City/the Jersey shore) but it looks like is also now a big suburban area.

[George C]

5 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

We moved from Cherry Hill to Buffalo (Williamsville) in 1972.  I think we moved to Cherry Hill around 1964.  In Cherry Hill, we lived on Old Orchard Road which literally ran along an apple orchard.  Our backyard was right up against the orchard.  When they were harvesting, we'd stand in our yard and they would toss apples to us.  That only lasted a few years as the orchard was eventually turned into more houses.  Cherry Hill is now a huge Philadelphia suburb with just about everything that you think of when you mention suburbia.  There wasn't much in Marlton at the time (you drove through it on the way to Atlantic City/the Jersey shore) but it looks like is also now a big suburban area.

This time next week we will be eating real Buffalo wings at bar-bills in East Aurora. Did you see that many of the Buffalo bills players were at the shooting site in Buffalo feeding some of the residents of the area , Josh Allen  was one of them. 

[Sunshine3601]

My apologies to upfront to everyone - this is going to be a long post.

 

@Jimbo    Re: your casino question on the other thread.      There really is not set amount of money that is needed to become a casino prime member.      We have been prime members for several years (Eric was before me).   I am going to guessitimate that I probably played around $1250 to get 2500 points that is needed to become prime.   

 

I play penny slots and bet max or near max depending on the machine and if it is doing well or not.   Video poker earns less points than slots.    table games earn less points than slots.   You could have $100 of play get you 40 points or 300 points - this varies.   If you put in a $100 bill and sit there and play for quite awhile rolling over whatever winnings you may have you could walk away with 800 +/- points.      

 

The total of 2500 points can be accumulated over the casino year of April 1st thru March 31st.    Does not have to be done on one cruise.     You are then entitled to free drinks (alcohol, bottled water, soda, whatever is served at casino bar) for all future cruises up thru march 31 2024.     and 30% off internet packages thru casino.   

 

So at the very least you will have 2 free cruises (your annual cruise and the one they give you onboard for 2500 points).

 

If I became prime in June of this year I would be a prime member for April 1, 2023 thru March 31, 2024 (but will still receive period offers for free cruises).      April 2023 the casino will then post your annual free cruise certificate that must be used on any 7 night cruise anywhere in the world (some restrictions for holidays and new ships).   You must take that annual free cruise by March 31, 2024.    

 

Each free cruise offered is for 2 adults.    If your offer is for a balcony and you select a balcony cabin then all you have to pay is port fees and taxes at time of booking.    

 

Here is a summary of current offers we have (Eric and I receive separate offers and can combine them).   

Here is a the itinerary choices for the most recent offer received this week:

Offer received 5.16.22.pdf

 

I am thinking of booking the Anthem for 12/04 with my freebie from recent list and may book one of the Voyager sailings out of Boston to Canada with one of Eric's offers.       Also, the cost to upgrade from an OV cabin to a balcony or higher is usually a lot less than what you see on royal's site.    

In our case Eric and I are both prime so we both receive separate offers.    Sometimes they are the same offer, sometimes are they are slightly different.    If we have the exact same offer then we can combine them to upgrade our cabin at no additional cost.     

 

So all in - if gambled $2500 for the entire year for both of us to be prime and receive free offers on a regular basis plus each get 1 free annual cruise that is a win win IMO.     Now gambling $2500 does Not mean you are losing that money.     We left Anthem ahead a little over $2000 on our b2b end of March.   

 

Eric gambles more than I do so he occasionally gets offer for free junior suites.   

 

Plus being prime or higher you are able to get any cruise for any amount of nights discounted by at least 10% off.     this is why I mentioned on other thread about checking casino price for the Serenade 14 night TA crossing as other poster got $575 off (which is around 20% off the fare for that particular sailing).     They base your discount off your play from previous sailings plus whatever other discounts you are eligible for such as military, diamond, senior rate, etc. 

 

I hope this helps you.

[bobmacliberty]

44 minutes ago, George C said:

This time next week we will be eating real Buffalo wings at bar-bills in East Aurora. Did you see that many of the Buffalo bills players were at the shooting site in Buffalo feeding some of the residents of the area , Josh Allen  was one of them. 

 

The Bills, Sabres, and Bandits were all there.  The Pegulas (owners of all 3 teams) were there as well with former players like Bruce Smith.  It's reported that every single Bills player and coach attended to show their support...some like Stefon Diggs flying to Buffalo specifically to participate. The Bills are incredibly tightly tied to the community there and I hope that their actions helped those impacted by this unbelievably vile event.  

 

Enjoy the wings!  Post a picture if you can.  I'm not sure when I'll be back to Buffalo so I'll need to live vicariously through you.  

Edited May 20, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[Bailey & Sophie]

 

A couple of days ago we stopped by to see if "our" goose babies had hatched. Everyone was gone. There were only a few down feathers and tiny egg shell remains, so it appears that it was successful. We walked around to see if we could spot the family. We saw groups of 6 and 8, but no parents with 5 babies. They must be in hiding until a bit older.

We were able to see a pair of swans this time. We don't usually see them in town.