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

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Anyone want to spent a bit of time watching some “adventure video. I’ve followed this channel for a while. I don’t promote exploration videos, but I do find them interesting.  This one is of Astoria, since it has been premaritally docked since Covid. 

This channel goes to many different places, and this one happens to be a historic cruise ship. 

 

 

Amazing, was interesting they covered all chairs and tables on the higher decks but as they went lower in the ship the less they covered.

 

What amazed me the most was the engine room parts storage area..........I mean they had a million different parts loaded on those shelves but how in the heck did they ever find what they were looking for if they needed something?

 

Saw those engines on the higher decks and thought wow they are kind of small, it wasn't till later when they were  even lower on the ship did they spot the real larger engines that make that ship move.

 

Also the amount of fan belts they had in the storage room, most look like small ones too.

 

What gets me, you would think they really would only be a few doors to secure so no one could get in the ship to do what these guys did, so you secure them right? It's not like someone is going to climb up the side of the ship and do the filming these guys did?

 

They made it sound like they secretly got onto the ship and did this video...........I think they gave the  security guys some money to get on the ship.

 

Also liked how they talked. 🙂

Edited November 20, 2023 by Jimbo

[taznremmy]

@jagsfan Please wish Ginny a happy 100th from me.  Love her bright smile!

[Tree_skier]

5 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

 

Sunset at 4pm in British Columbia (Silver Star Ski Resort) courtesy of DS who drove there from Calgary.  Season starts in just under 2 weeks.

I've skied there a few times over the years but It's been about a decade and a half since I've been to Silver Star.  When in the Okanagon, my preferred ski location just to the south of there at a resort called Big White. Just a little ways to the east ( 2 1/2 hours ) of there is a great ski hill called Red Mountain.  It's in a little town called Rossland just outside of Trail BC.  Silver Star was Ok but I always preferred the others.  However, I have heard that they have done a fair bit of expansion in the last few years so my recommendations might be out of date.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Tree_skier

[brillohead]

5 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Anyone want to spent a bit of time watching some “adventure video. I’ve followed this channel for a while. I don’t promote exploration videos, but I do find them interesting.  This one is of Astoria, since it has been premaritally docked since Covid. 

 

When two ships get married, which ship's captain performs the ceremony?  🤣

[brillohead]

6 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I really don’t think so. This knee had so much more damage to it. Same surgeon, same robotic technology. I’ll take it. I know I was on opioids for 4 weeks with my first one. Only 5 days with this one.

 

I had a neighbor who had a similar experience.  His first knee replacement went very well -- he even returned to playing "old man hockey" on the ice with his pals.  His second knee -- same surgeon, same hospital, etc. -- never was right.  It was always swollen and sore, even years after the fact.  

 

Happy to hear that you're doing so much better with this second knee!  I have bilateral knee replacements in my future (have to lose weight first.... how do you lose weight when you can't move around because your knees hurt so flippin' much???), and I'm going into it with an open mind, because literally anything can happen.  

[brillohead]

For people wanting to keep up with threads, I created a bookmark that brings me to a page of JUST threads that I'm subscribed to that have new posts.  When I click a thread link in that list, it brings me to the first unread post in that thread.  

This is the URL that I use -- take out the spaces and it should work for you, too:

https://boards.cruisecritic  .com/discover/followed-content/?&stream_include_comments=0&stream_read=unread&stream_unread_links=1

After I get caught up on my subscribed threads, if I still have time, I pop over to the Royal Caribbean

forum using the "forum jump" at the bottom of any thread.  But I always start with my subscribed threads first (I have my settings so that I am automatically subscribed to any thread I've commented on). 

[sgmn]

15 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I just went and looked at the prices at the farm that my sister buys the turkey from.  Their 18-20 lb turkeys go for $88.  The 20-22 lb ones go for $97 😱🦃

I made the mistake of letting Gary go to our village butchers to order the Xmas turkey instead of getting one from the supermarket. He's ordered a huge one costing over £100 😳 

AND I think number 1 son and family will be at his partners family so it will just be four of us plus baba 

Edited November 20, 2023 by sgmn

[sgmn]

10 hours ago, jagsfan said:

Do any of y’all remember my friend Ginny?

She tripped over her suitcase at age 98, wound up in the hospital with broken ribs and more. 
Tests showed masses throughout her body, and she stopped eating. She lost a 2nd daughter during that time and was depressed and ready to let go. 
That was 2 years ago.
She went to assisted living from the hospital, but wanted to go home. 
Finally her granddaughter had her moved  home to her 2 story condo.  
Her bed was moved downstairs, and set up a team of caregivers 24/7. 
We had hoped she would make it to 100, but knew there was no chance.  
She was born 100 years ago today. 

Here’s Ginny at her birthday party today!!!
Never give up!

What a wonderful story, you're friend looks amazing. Many Happy Returns for her 100th. What a great granddaughter she has 

[sgmn]

10 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Every encouragement helps me so thank you. I may have another problem that was kinda going on pre surgery with my stomach issues. My groin area is swollen and aching. The only thing I can figure out is that I have swollen lymph node’s or a hernia. Going to try and get in to see my doctor next week. I really don’t need this added issue right now.

Congrats on the fast mending of your new knee Greg and good wishes for a speedy resolution of your stomach issues

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, mets07 said:

We just did our first MSC cruise. It was quite an adventure ha.... we were supposed to be doing a 6 night to Bermuda and found out enroute to the port (Brooklyn, NY) that we were going to Port Canaveral and Bahamas instead due to "adverse" weather conditions expected in Bermuda area. We were not very upset because we have been to Bermuda many times on cruises and although we have been to the other ports, we figured out some different things to do this time around.

 

The ship, Meraviglia, is beautiful. Also has lots of fun bars and a diversity of excellent musical entertainment.  MSC is a different animal when you are figuring out what to book ... they have various levels they call "experiences." The main negative was the buffet, which was basically a large rectangle which forced a linear progression and was a zoo, particularly at breakfast. We actually started going to the MDR for breakfast, which we never do. 

 

Although the weather was a bit wacky (somewhat expected in November), we had fun and would consider MSC again. We did miss our Crown & Anchor drinks! 

 

Best to all. Happy Thanksgiving.

Glad you had a good cruise. I've been looking at other lines (annoyed about being kicked out of crown lounge during HH. If we had stuck with RC we would be diamond plus now but there's always the thought that HH may be taken away from D+ too eventually 🤷‍♀️).

What 'experience' did you book. We can't afford the suites but I get confused about the three different levels on MSC 

Edited November 20, 2023 by sgmn

[aussielozzie18]

3 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I've skied there a few times over the years but It's been about a decade and a half since I've been to Silver Star.  When in the Okanagon, my preferred ski location just to the south of there at a resort called Big White. Just a little ways to the east ( 2 1/2 hours ) of there is a great ski hill called Red Mountain.  It's in a little town called Rossland just outside of Trail BC.  Silver Star was Ok but I always preferred the others.  However, I have heard that they have done a fair bit of expansion in the last few years so my recommendations might be out of date.

 

 

DS visited Big White and a couple of other resorts  last season but I’ve not heard of Red Mountain. There are so many resorts.  As a novice snowboarder from Australia, Silver Star worked out fine and he was lucky they such a great season last winter - it was extended by at least a week.  When my daughter’s friend worked at a ski resort in Japan, they had a poor snow season and the resort closed early.

[A&L_Ont]

9 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Amazing, was interesting they covered all chairs and tables on the higher decks but as they went lower in the ship the less they covered.

 

What amazed me the most was the engine room parts storage area..........I mean they had a million different parts loaded on those shelves but how in the heck did they ever find what they were looking for if they needed something?

 

Saw those engines on the higher decks and thought wow they are kind of small, it wasn't till later when they were  even lower on the ship did they spot the real larger engines that make that ship move.

 

Also the amount of fan belts they had in the storage room, most look like small ones too.

 

What gets me, you would think they really would only be a few doors to secure so no one could get in the ship to do what these guys did, so you secure them right? It's not like someone is going to climb up the side of the ship and do the filming these guys did?

 

They made it sound like they secretly got onto the ship and did this video...........I think they gave the  security guys some money to get on the ship.

 

Also liked how they talked. 🙂

Their accents are European of some variety. I do not remember where he is from exactly, but I think Belgium is his home.

 

The ship tour was amazing.  In thinking how old the ship was it makes sense to how many belts they had, but to see them it was crazy. I remember when Captain Johnny was sharing videos on Twitter of behind the scenes jobs on Harmony during lockdown many things were covered up for protection, I’d guess from UV damage and other occurrences such as water damage. 

 

You should check out his channel.  He has got into some crazy places, under the cover of darkness.  I personally don’t think he paid the guards though, after watching all his videos.  In the video below he explains how the Italian government tried to sue him for espionage for going through a former military base from the Cold War era.  He ended up with a few hundred dollar fine, compared to 1-5 years in jail. 

 

They travel internationally to explore. They gone into Fukushima into the inclusion zones, past military bases, old power plants, Cypres no-man lands, and have recently shred a series from China. I’m sure there they could have been locked up for decades.
 

I think you’d like his videos. They are a great way to pass a cold winters day. 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by A&L_Ont

[Arzeena]

12 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Fort Lauderdale?  Wherever, nice pic. 

Yes. Fort Lauderdale.

[Arzeena]

13 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Will be boarding in February.

Us in March. Stay back for some b2b2b2bs.😊

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Us in March. Stay back for some b2b2b2bs.😊

Have you been on Odyssey before?

[Arzeena]

Dessert last night.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Arzeena

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Have you been on Odyssey before?

Yesssss. I liked thar ship!

[Arzeena]

Our boarding time is not till 1.30 pm. So chilling out:

 

 

[Arzeena]

Greg, are you shaking your head at my self selected late boarding time??? 😁

[mets07]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

Glad you had a good cruise. I've been looking at other lines (annoyed about being kicked out of crown lounge during HH. If we had stuck with RC we would be diamond plus now but there's always the thought that HH may be taken away from D+ too eventually 🤷‍♀️).

What 'experience' did you book. We can't afford the suites but I get confused about the three different levels on MSC 

We ended up booking Aurea. We were in a mid-ship balcony on deck 12.  I first booked Fantastica but decided we really wanted My Time (Anytime) Dining and called back and changed stateroom (and of course paid more). You get other things with Aurea experience in addition if any appeal to you.... higher deck cabins, private Deck 19 Aurea guest sundeck/solarium area with bar service, access anytime to thermal area - quite nice area - of Spa, bottle of Prosecco and chocolate candy upon arrival (we brought it home, ha), etc.

 

Bella experience is most basic if you are willing to do a guarantee room. The highest level is Yacht Club which we did not consider.

 

MSC my time dining was great. We always walked up whenever we wanted between 6 and 9 pm and were immediately seated. We usually went around 7 - 7:30pm. They would bring us right to a table by the window. 

 

Drink package is of course available with any experience level. We did not get it. 

 

Hope that helps. I did not understand their whole experience level thing either! 

[George C]

4 minutes ago, mets07 said:

We ended up booking Aurea. We were in a mid-ship balcony on deck 12.  I first booked Fantastica but decided we really wanted My Time (Anytime) Dining and called back and changed stateroom (and of course paid more). You get other things with Aurea experience in addition if any appeal to you.... higher deck cabins, private Deck 19 Aurea guest sundeck/solarium area with bar service, access anytime to thermal area - quite nice area - of Spa, bottle of Prosecco and chocolate candy upon arrival (we brought it home, ha), etc.

 

Bella experience is most basic if you are willing to do a guarantee room. The highest level is Yacht Club which we did not consider.

 

MSC my time dining was great. We always walked up whenever we wanted between 6 and 9 pm and were immediately seated. We usually went around 7 - 7:30pm. They would bring us right to a table by the window. 

 

Drink package is of course available with any experience level. We did not get it. 

 

Hope that helps. I did not understand their whole experience level thing either! 

You should consider yacht club , they have some inside cabins with a decent price, butler , pool deck and entertainment was excellent and of course you have access to the rest of the ship , love that they now sail from New York City.

[Sea Dog]

12 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Our boarding time is not till 1.30 pm. So chilling out:

 

 

 

Have a fantastic cruise.

 

 

9 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Greg, are you shaking your head at my self selected late boarding time??? 😁

 

At least you will be able to avoid the crowds and walk right in. I don’t think I could do that. I’m not patient enough.  I have to be on board as early as I can.

[George C]

23 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Have a fantastic cruise.

 

 

 

At least you will be able to avoid the crowds and walk right in. I don’t think I could do that. I’m not patient enough.  I have to be on board as early as I can.

Should be a good football game tonight repeat of Super Bowl your Chiefs against the Eagles.

[Sea Dog]

Just now, George C said:

Should be a good football game tonight repeat of Super Bowl your Chiefs against the Eagles.

I hope so but I think the Eagles are playing better as a football team than the Chiefs. Luckily the Chiefs defense is better than last year. The Chiefs receivers are the weakest link. My son Jonathan is taking my wife Linda to the game. He bought two tickets 4th row on the 50 yard line behind the Chiefs bench for $2,000. Too steep for me. I’m staying home and watching it from the couch with the ice machine on my knee for free. I just hope it’s a good competitive game.

[bobmacliberty]

It's been a while since I've posted here.  We're still working on my daughter's "new" 130-year-old Victorian house.  We WAY underestimated how much work is required. We knew that we couldn't do everything that needs to be done on this trip (that's going to take a few years) but we hoped to completely re-do the living room, kitchen, and main bedroom, since my daughter would be spending 90%+ of her time in these 3 rooms.  The house was absolutely trashed. The woman who lived here previously must have been allergic to cleaning.  The electricians who rewired the whole house (eliminating old knob and tube wiring) contributed to the mess with the holes they needed to make to pull new wire and the plaster work they did to fix everything.  The fridge alone took almost a full day's work before we'd even think of putting something in it.  Every room requires multiple rounds of floor, wall, and window cleaning since one round wasn't enough. 

 

Our initial plan was to completely sand, meticulously wood fill, and paint the baseboard and crown molding so that it would look like new.  Ha! Through the years, previous owners have done what my daughter calls a landlord paint job where another layer of paint was slapped in top of the previous layer.  Between some sloppy caulking, wood filling, and painting from the past, there's not much we can do with existing molding. I sanded where possible, filled some obvious cracks/holes, and then added to the existing layers of paint.  It at least looks OK...clean and bright.  My daughter will need to replace all molding in the future when she has the time/money.  Holes/cracks in the plaster walls have been filled and the primer coat of paint is done in the living room. Final coat should get done today (maybe tomorrow) and then all that will be left in the living room is a final floor cleaning with a rental floor machine and a coat of Scotts Liquid Gold Floor Restore.  We'll do that to the hardwood floors that are in the entire first floor, except the kitchen.  

 

The kitchen is fully clean and plaster walls patched where needed.  It just requires a coat of paint and a final deep clean of the floor, including trying to bring the grout back to the original color.  I'll try a technique that I saw on YouTube for the grout.  Mix up twice the recommended amount of Oxy Clean and water, paint it onto the grout, and then scub with a brush attached to a drill.  Fingers crossed. 

 

The bedroom is a little behind the living the living room and kitchen.  There was a mural painted on the headboard wall that my daughter want to replace with wall paper.  We've sanded and cleaned that wall to make it smooth, and the rest of the room has been cleaned.  I removed 3 generations of curtain rod and blind holders from the windows, which required taking off about a dozen layers of paint and some of the wood underneath.  That's been patched and sanded so the windows and walls are ready for paint.  We'll then do the wall paper on the feature wall.  The upstairs bathroom was recently remodeled and just needed a good cleaning...especially the disgusting tub.  How could anyone live like that?  

 

I knew this wasn't going to be fun, and I did something to my back a couple of days ago.  I couldn't bend over yesterday without stabbing pain.  It's a little better today...more of a dull ache than a stabbing pain. I'll hopefully be back to full duties tomorrow.  The tentative move in date is either this coming Saturday or Sunday, assuming we're ready.  I need to be able to lift furniture by then.  

 

We've barely touched the outside other than pressure washing the sidewalks and continually battling leaves from 2 large oak trees.  It seems like it's taking 3 weeks to drop all of the leaves.  We'll tackle more of the landscaping work next spring.  

 

I miss my golf and warm weather (and bed, and TV, and...)

 

@helen haywood - Any of this sound familiar?

 

@George C and @#55worktoplay - I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your cat and dog.  That's always a difficult decision.