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

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

No worries, Greg!  I have been, and likely will be, behind everyone on here with Bravo.  I really like Capt. Lee.  It's always sad to hear when someone loses a child.  We've unfortunately had several close friends go through the tragedy of losing a child.

I take care of several families where a child was lost. It devastates the family.

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I’ve also been eyeballing the Jan 7th 8 day Southern.  It falls in a good spot between our November Voyager cruise and the Bella cruise.  We’ve also never been to Aruba or Curaçao.  Plus January’s a good time to escape the northeast.  

Curaçao is unlike any other Island in the Caribbean primarily because of its architecture.We love both islands .

[jagsfan]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I've done the river in the other direction to Greenwich but not to Hampton. I'd like to do that.

You pass rowing clubs, from the ones with palatial clubhouses to the ones with little sheds for their boats…sculls?

The locks  are fun, more intimate than the Panama Canal ones. 
Absolutely worth the trip and then Hampton Palace at the end.  

[jagsfan]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I received some sad news today, as was rumored here a couple of days ago, my dear friend T has put her house up for sale. I am devastated....😐 ...😇

😮

[jagsfan]

2 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Going through locks that you have to man yourself gets old quite quickly. We used to have two within half an hour of our house every time we went out but I did enjoy the canal/riverside pubs for a rest. It made the work worthwhile.

Thank goodness the Thames locks aren’t DIY!

[Sea Dog]

46 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Lucy tonight. 
 

 

 

A first for her too.

 

 

 

Love that pic of Lucy! Very regal  looking .

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I’ve also been eyeballing the Jan 7th 8 day Southern.  It falls in a good spot between our November Voyager cruise and the Bella cruise.  We’ve also never been to Aruba or Curaçao.  Plus January’s a good time to escape the northeast.  

We should make it a mini Bella’s cruise.

 

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Last night, we were in Niles, Ohio for some hibachi.  Stopped in at their mall, and found a sand sculpture in the center. Not sure why, because it is not near a beach. 
 

 

It has been a while since I have been in any mall , but was surprised that most stores closed at 7 pm. 

Impressive.

 

1 hour ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I mentioned looking at the Harmony Jan 7th cruise with stops in Aruba & Curaçao.  Looking around, I also found an 8 night on Jewel of the Seas, stopping at Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, departs on Jan 6th from Pt Canaveral.  PC isn’t the easiest as far as transportation to/from Orlando airport but in the other hand, there are more flight options there from Providence.  Price is quite a bit lower than Harmony too. Anyone here ever sailed on the Jewel? Radiance class seems to get a lot of love in review searches. 

Jewel was my first cruise back in 2011 and it has probably changed since then. Bonaire would be better imo than Labadee. Wished Harmony was going there.

[BonTexasNY]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I received some sad news today, as was rumored here a couple of days ago, my dear friend T has put her house up for sale. I am devastated....😐 ...😇

As humongous as it is, maybe she needed a larger space to host her girl squad parties?

Edited July 28, 2022 by BonTexasNY

[Ocean Boy]

5 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

 Bonaire would be better imo than Labadee. Wished Harmony was going there.

So do I.

[ReneeFLL]

3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

So do I.

Harmony on the 21st goes to the DR. Haven’t been to La Romana so I don’t know what’s there.

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Anyone here ever sailed on the Jewel? Radiance class seems to get a lot of love in review searches.

It really depends on what you like in a ship.  

Personally, Freedom class is my "sweet spot" -- not too big, not too small.  Oasis class and Voyager class are acceptable alternatives -- again, for me.  YMMV. 

Radiance class, to me, is just too small.  Yes, the glass elevators are pretty to look out of, but how much time do you actually spend in the elevator every day where being able to see the ocean from the elevator is a make-or-break aspect of your cruise?  (Also, less than half the elevators have the glass-to-the-outdoors windows.)

But finding seating in the Solarium and Windjammer was problematic for me (and I was on a half-empty ship), and the Centrum isn't the best area for efficient people-moving like the Promenade.  

I was really looking forward to trying Jewel last year after so many people oohed and aahed over Radiance class, but I was significantly underwhelmed. 

 

That being said, the cruise was very cheap/affordable, so that can offset some qualities for me. (Which is why I'm okay doing Grandeur as the last leg of my nine-cruise bundle this fall... it started out just looking for something to avoid flying on Thanksgiving weekend, and ended up being so cheap that I couldn't turn it down even if it was on a dinghy! LOL)

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by brillohead

[Ocean Boy]

5 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Harmony on the 21st goes to the DR. Haven’t been to La Romana so I don’t know what’s there.

I know nothing about the DR. I have had no reason to research it as the only cruise I was supposed to get there on had the port changed just like what happened to you since we were on the same cruise.🙂

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, brillohead said:

It really depends on what you like in a ship.  

Personally, Freedom class is my "sweet spot" -- not too big, not too small.  Oasis class and Voyager class are acceptable alternatives -- again, for me.  YMMV. 

Radiance class, to me, is just too small.  Yes, the glass elevators are pretty to look out of, but how much time do you actually spend in the elevator every day where being able to see the ocean from the elevator is a make-or-break aspect of your cruise?  (Also, less than half the elevators have the glass-to-the-outdoors windows.)

But finding seating in the Solarium and Windjammer was problematic for me (and I was on a half-empty ship), and the Centrum isn't the best area for efficient people-moving like the Promenade.  

I was really looking forward to trying Jewel last year after so many people oohed and aahed over Radiance class, but I was significantly underwhelmed. 

 

That being said, the cruise was very cheap/affordable, so that can offset some qualities for me. (Which is why I'm okay doing Grandeur as the last leg of my nine-cruise bundle this fall... it started out just looking for something to avoid flying on Thanksgiving weekend, and ended up being so cheap that I couldn't turn it down even if it was on a dinghy! LOL)

 

 

 

We sailed Serenade once to the Southern Caribbean. It was a very nice cruise and very port intensive with only one sea day. But with no Royal Promenade I find the class lacking. I really love Freedom class. Voyager class works fine for me too. The O class has its hook in me with the Aqua Theater. I LOVE the dive shows.

[brillohead]

31 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I really love Freedom class.

Great minds think alike!

I really wish they weren't doing shorter cruises with this class of ship... a nice 6/8 itinerary would be awesome!

[HBE4]

34 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Personally, Freedom class is my "sweet spot" -- not too big, not too small.  Oasis class and Voyager class are acceptable alternatives -- again, for me.  YMMV. 

 

25 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

We sailed Serenade once to the Southern Caribbean. It was a very nice cruise and very port intensive with only one sea day. But with no Royal Promenade I find the class lacking. I really love Freedom class. Voyager class works fine for me too. The O class has its hook in me with the Aqua Theater. I LOVE the dive shows.

 

My second ever cruise was Serenade Southern Caribbean out of San Juan, a 7 nighter with the first 6 busy port days and the last day a sea day.  This was 6 months after our first cruise on the practically brand new Liberty where we had 3 sea days.  We loved Liberty so much we couldn't wait to get on our second cruise & had heard wonderful things about the Serenade - all the glass, the views, etc.

 

Like you guys, we were a bit underwhelmed.  For the first 6 days, we were off the ship most of the days and by the time we got back, showered, dressed and ate dinner, it was dark. So much for the view out all the windows!  Barely had time to appreciate the pool until the last day. I wish they had the sea day up front or maybe in the middle of the cruise.

 

We loved the cruise, one of our favorites. Sat at a 8 top table and instantly hit it off with the 3 other couples.  Hung out with them most of the cruise, did excursions with them, traded emails & FB, etc.  So the people made the cruise but we barely remember the ship.  Other than the Centrum being packed. Always said we would try it again but maybe on an Alaskan cruise.  Hasn't happened yet.

 

Like you guys, Freedom and Oasis seem to be our co-favorites for the reasons you mentioned. Q-class is pretty nice too.

 

[brillohead]

Jade, if OB's house ever gets burgled in the middle of the night:

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I haven't been there in years but it is  pretty awesome place.

 

Headed to Iguaza Falls on the Serenade cruise. Hope we don't go over, its a 250' drop

[HBE4]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Headed to Iguaza Falls on the Serenade cruise. Hope we don't go over, its a 250' drop

 

Maybe sail right to the bottom, Maid of the Mist style.

Edited July 28, 2022 by HBE4

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, George C said:

Radiance class is great for Europe, since it has almost no sea days and lots of time in ports  , we did 12 day   Mediterranean cruise on brilliance, would not do that in Caribbean.

 

The old 11/10 night b2b on Serenade out of PE was just awesome.  That was our retirement cruise in 2017. We had several peaceful sea days.

 

One leg was southern, the outher deep eastern

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Our first Mediterranean cruise was also on Brilliance, out of Barcelona.

 

Ours was 12 night Brilliance out of Rome. Great trip. Itty bitty CL back then

Edited July 28, 2022 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

10 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

Maybe sail right to the bottom, Maid of the Mist style.

 

Jet boat, go swimming in the mist, or helicopter tour are the 3 current candidates 

[John&LaLa]

38 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

For the first 6 days, we were off the ship most of the days and by the time we got back, showered, dressed and ate dinner, it was dark. So much for the view out the windows.

 

Darkness shouldn't be an issue on an Alaska cruise 😉

 

World cruise had 100 sea days. 

[Bailey & Sophie]

On 7/26/2022 at 10:32 AM, Ocean Boy said:

No idea why Sandy hired this woman in the first place. The little chat they had in the wheel house portrayed the bosun as quite inexperienced with super yachts.

 

I'm about 10 pages behind so if this has been answered,  sorry.

Sandy (and the other captains) have no control over who gets hired. It's all done by a casting studio and they pick "pretty" people who will bring the drama. 

[HBE4]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Jet boat, go swimming in the mist, or helicopter tour are the 3 current candidates 

 

Oddly, the helicopter tour seems to be the safest option.

 

Swimming in the Mist? Hopefully not the same mist in your picture. 

 

[Bailey & Sophie]

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I received some sad news today, as was rumored here a couple of days ago, my dear friend T has put her house up for sale. I am devastated....😐 ...😇

 

Are you gonna move too? I know you'll miss those friendly bbq's and late night jam sessions once she's moved away.