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

[Luckynana]

10 hours ago, Arzeena said:

We are all there to share. So please feel free to lighten your load.  Sending you more hugs. 🥰

Thank you, Arzeena  Hugs right back at ya!😘

9 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

@Luckynana

 

Maryann,

 

So sorry. I've kind of been "lost in translation", misunderstanding your post.😢 😢 😢

Aw, thank you so very much, Dani.  You're the best!❤️

8 hours ago, NHProud said:

 

Maryann , my condolences on the loss of your dearest friend. 
 

 

Thank you, Judy.  It's much appreciated.  She was really special to us.🥰

[Luckynana]

Happy Anniversary to our dear Dani, and to all of our wonderful friends on our Dani thread!  

[Luckynana]

Did any of you take advantage of the sale on our Wonder of the Seas cruise for next year?  I just bought the 3 night Dining package for $309.98.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Hope she can put on some weight  before starting in the pros. She looked so frail. She might not be so successful in the pros.

I can see that point.

[George C]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Hope she can put on some weight  before starting in the pros. She looked so frail. She might not be so successful in the pros.

I think she will be fine , if Seth Curry can survive at 185 , she can survive at 155.

[firefly333]

I just was hearing a earthquake hit Taiwan and a tsunami warning went out to japan and the Philippines. I'm hoping it doesnt affect from sea to shining sea travels in japan. Move from some coast warning. Not sure where they are today or the rest of this week. Good luck.

 

Hopefully she will post soon.

 

It's been quite a day of big happenings. 

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

Day 7- 4/1  We leave Okayama today and head for Kyoto on the bullet train.  But first we make a stop in Himeji to visit the Himeji Castle.

 

 

 

School children on a field trip to the castle 

 

There is street food across the road from the castle where you can get a bite to eat.

We now take the train to Kyoto.  Saka No Hotel is where we stay for 2 days.  The table and chairs on the floor is called Horigotatsu.  There is a square opening in the floor where you put your legs in.  Not too bad to get in and out of for DH and me.

In Kyoto is where you see people wearing kimonos out.

 

 

Now through April 7 there is the NAKED Sakura Festival night time show at the Nijo-Jo Castle where you can enjoy a stunning seasonal illumination of the castle and trees.  

 

 

 

 

 

No restaurants are open by the time we finish so we get this from a grocery store and this is our dinner after a long day.

 

[George C]

19 minutes ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Day 7- 4/1  We leave Okayama today and head for Kyoto on the bullet train.  But first we make a stop in Himeji to visit the Himeji Castle.

 

 

 

School children on a field trip to the castle 

 

There is street food across the road from the castle where you can get a bite to eat.

We now take the train to Kyoto.  Saka No Hotel is where we stay for 2 days.  The table and chairs on the floor is called Horigotatsu.  There is a square opening in the floor where you put your legs in.  Not too bad to get in and out of for DH and me.

In Kyoto is where you see people wearing kimonos out.

 

 

Now through April 7 there is the NAKED Sakura Festival night time show at the Nijo-Jo Castle where you can enjoy a stunning seasonal illumination of the castle and trees.  

 

 

 

 

 

No restaurants are open by the time we finish so we get this from a grocery store and this is our dinner after a long day.

 

Amazing photos. Sounds like a great vacation.

[Coralc]

We love Cup o' Noodles. And actually, have them once a week. Beautiful photos Helen! What a great experience and vacation you are having. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. ☺️

[Sea Dog]

55 minutes ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Day 7- 4/1  We leave Okayama today and head for Kyoto on the bullet train.  But first we make a stop in Himeji to visit the Himeji Castle.

 

 

 

School children on a field trip to the castle 

 

There is street food across the road from the castle where you can get a bite to eat.

We now take the train to Kyoto.  Saka No Hotel is where we stay for 2 days.  The table and chairs on the floor is called Horigotatsu.  There is a square opening in the floor where you put your legs in.  Not too bad to get in and out of for DH and me.

In Kyoto is where you see people wearing kimonos out.

 

 

Now through April 7 there is the NAKED Sakura Festival night time show at the Nijo-Jo Castle where you can enjoy a stunning seasonal illumination of the castle and trees.  

 

 

 

 

 

No restaurants are open by the time we finish so we get this from a grocery store and this is our dinner after a long day.

 

 

Those trees look amazing and beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

[aussielozzie18]

@FromSea2ShiningSea your photos continue to be beautiful.  Did you plan & organise this whole trip yourselves? 

Edited April 3 by aussielozzie18

[Jimbo]

10 hours ago, George C said:

I think she will be fine , if Seth Curry can survive at 185 , she can survive at 155.

Nobody in the NBA guards his 3 point shooting and he doesn't drive to the hoop as much as Caitlan likes to do in her game where the more physical ladies in the WBA will beat her up, they also play much better defense in the ladies game guarding the 3 pt. shots.

 

Instead in the college game where there are only 2 or 3 players that are good on the other side, The WBA will have a full team of All Stars for her to compete against.

I think she is in for a surprise. She needs to get bigger and stronger.

[h20skibum]

For all of our hockey fans on this thread, I wasn’t aware that Sid was close to one of Gretzky’s records.  Monday’s game assured that he will have averaged a point a game for 19 straight years. 
 

 

Quite an accomplishment, and I can’t believe he has been playing for 19 years.   Now, if by some miracle, the Pens could make that playoff cut, all would be right in Pen’s land.

[bobmacliberty]

9 hours ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Day 7- 4/1  We leave Okayama today and head for Kyoto on the bullet train.  But first we make a stop in Himeji to visit the Himeji Castle.

 

I love your photos!  I visited the Himeji Castle several years ago (maybe 2005??) on a business trip.  Beautiful place...the castle itself, the outbuildings, and the surrounding area.  I remember there being some unusual (to me at least) flavors in the food that we sampled in that street food area. 

 

We also used the trains to travel.  The engineer in me loved it.  Everything was so precise.  You looked at a message board to see when your train would arrive, how many cars long the train was, and where the train doors would be according to symbols on the platform.  People would politely line up by the appropriate symbol.  At exactly the right time, the train would arrive and stopped exactly lined up with the symbols.  People getting on would wait until everyone got off, and then board.  Everything was so organized.  

[Keksie]

@Jimbo I have a couple of questions about your Greenland cruise.  Did you need bug hats?  Did you need local currency and if so how did you get it and how much did you exchange?  Thank you.

[Luckynana]

@FromSea2ShiningSea  Hoping to hear that all is good with you and Marty after the earthquake in Taiwan🙏

[Arzeena]

13 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Did any of you take advantage of the sale on our Wonder of the Seas cruise for next year?  I just bought the 3 night Dining package for $309.98.

No Maryanne, we are planning on doing 2 BOGOs and then winging it if we want to go to a specialty.

I was watching the Coco Cay club day pass but am not willing to throw that much on it. It was $219 pp on sale. On another cruise of ours, it is sold out at $283...so shows that people are buying it at that kind of price.  I wish they took MnM's for payment!😁
 

I would be interested in knowing if you can now book the restaurants for Dining Package from your cruise planner, prior to getting on board?

Edited April 3 by Arzeena

[sgmn]

On 4/2/2024 at 12:51 PM, aussielozzie18 said:

I liked this year’s April fools from Sydney Bridgeclimb:

 

 

 

One of my favourite was years ago when pasta was still thought of as 'foreign food',  the national breakfast show led with an article on how pasta grows on trees showing strands of spaghetti draped over branches .....and thousands believed it

[grapau27]

Happy 4th anniversary to Dani @dani negreanu and her friends on here.

We went out for a meal to celebrate.

 

Edited April 3 by grapau27

[jmh2006]

12 hours ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Day 7- 4/1  We leave Okayama today and head for Kyoto on the bullet train.  But first we make a stop in Himeji to visit the Himeji Castle.

 

 

 

School children on a field trip to the castle 

 

There is street food across the road from the castle where you can get a bite to eat.

We now take the train to Kyoto.  Saka No Hotel is where we stay for 2 days.  The table and chairs on the floor is called Horigotatsu.  There is a square opening in the floor where you put your legs in.  Not too bad to get in and out of for DH and me.

In Kyoto is where you see people wearing kimonos out.

 

 

Now through April 7 there is the NAKED Sakura Festival night time show at the Nijo-Jo Castle where you can enjoy a stunning seasonal illumination of the castle and trees.  

 

 

 

 

 

No restaurants are open by the time we finish so we get this from a grocery store and this is our dinner after a long day.

 

Oh my gosh Helen these pictures are amazing!  My DS, who I mentioned earlier has plans to visit Japan, bought the Lego version of Himeji Castle for Christmas!  I just him your pictures and he is so excited to see it in person as well!  I hope you and Marty are safe and sound after yesterday's earthquake!

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

3 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

@FromSea2ShiningSea your photos continue to be beautiful.  Did you plan & organise this whole trip yourselves? 

Thank you, Aussie.  Yes, DH planned and organized everything out so not to overlap with our tours while we’re on the Celebrity Best of Japan cruise.  He read Japan travel books, researched all the different places and the kinds of things to do in each place.  He read all the reviews on different hotels and planned out transportation for every activity.  He did not plan any private tours.  Everything is on our own.  He had a lot of references from his planning back in 2019 for our 2020 trip that never panned out.  
 

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I love your photos!  I visited the Himeji Castle several years ago (maybe 2005??) on a business trip.  Beautiful place...the castle itself, the outbuildings, and the surrounding area.  I remember there being some unusual (to me at least) flavors in the food that we sampled in that street food area. 

 

We also used the trains to travel.  The engineer in me loved it.  Everything was so precise.  You looked at a message board to see when your train would arrive, how many cars long the train was, and where the train doors would be according to symbols on the platform.  People would politely line up by the appropriate symbol.  At exactly the right time, the train would arrive and stopped exactly lined up with the symbols.  People getting on would wait until everyone got off, and then board.  Everything was so organized.  

Bob, you are absolutely correct about how organized and precise the train system works in Japan.  It does seem so overwhelming in the beginning and it does take a while to understand how it works.  Everything runs like clockwork so you have to really plan ahead and not be late.  I also notice how clean the trains are.  There is no trash in the cars and the seats and floors are not dirty.  I wish we had good public transportation system like this or other foreign countries.

 

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

@FromSea2ShiningSea  Hoping to hear that all is good with you and Marty after the earthquake in Taiwan🙏

Maryann, thank you for thinking of us.  There is no concerns here in Japan.  I think there was tsunami warning for Okinawa but that’s about all although it’s been raining here all day and seems like everywhere.

[Arzeena]

Bella 2 Coco Cay Update:
 

Over water Cabana price now $1598.... Attention  Andrew....I know from your reviews you like those, so posted.

Beach Club showing $152.

 

Is that a good price for beach club? I have seen it as low as $75 or gone are those two digit days?

 

Edited April 3 by Arzeena

[Jimbo]

3 hours ago, Keksie said:

@Jimbo I have a couple of questions about your Greenland cruise.  Did you need bug hats?  Did you need local currency and if so how did you get it and how much did you exchange?  Thank you.

We did buy the bug hats, but never needed them. I think it just depends on what time of the year you go there and how the weather is on the day you are there. The conditions can vary from day to day.

 

We did buy some Danish Krones, bought them on aaa.com  We only bought 1000 Krones, there is per say no exchange rate just a shipping fee, but I think the exchange rate is built into the cost of each Krone. So shop around, maybe even at your local bank and see what they quote you.

 

We found out most took American money anyway, actually at the last Greenland stop what ever Krones we had left we just gave directly to the locals. Made their day and they were very happy to receive it. Bought little smiles to the children. Quite appreciative. 🙂

 

Date Created	04-Sep-2023
Currency	Danish Krone - DKK
Foreign Amount	1,000
Rate	x 0.1584
USD Value	$158.40
Denominations	Mixed
Subtotal	$158.40
Exchange Fee	$0.00
Shipping Fee	$15.00
Total	$173.40

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

I would be interested in knowing if you can now book the restaurants for Dining Package from your cruise planner, prior to getting on board?

No if you book a dining pkg you still have to book the times and dates after you board ... though rcl says working on it.. no date when it will be available. 

 

In fact all I see is unlimited dining for sale. Price already jumped. It was 20% off, now 15% so some must have booked for it to go up. No individual or 3 day dining availble yet to purchase. 

 

Beach club $153. Thrill waterpark $75 in my planner.

 

I do think I I'm seeing better today. I dont have to strain and concentrate so much to see the words. Better. I guess I'm also getting used to it but also he said takes up to 48 hours for the dilation to go away, today. That's a relief. I'm just glad the words quit swimming around. Was giving me a headache trying to read posts. 

[Arzeena]

11 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I do think I I'm seeing better today. I dont have to strain and concentrate so much to see the words. Better. I guess I'm also getting used to it but also he said takes up to 48 hours for the dilation to go away, today. That's a relief. I'm just glad the words quit swimming around. Was giving me a headache trying to read posts. 

That is great news!