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

[grapau27]

44 minutes ago, dbancroft said:

Today is my 65th birthday. After getting the grandkids onto their school busses I went to the casino but no winning for birthday. Since wife is working I stopped on the way home and brought my Ice cream cake. She will make a homemade cake this weekend.

Happy 65th birthday Dave.

[ReneeFLL]

On 9/14/2022 at 3:11 PM, bobmacliberty said:

 

I never even thought about this.  We put our dishwasher on time delay so that it runs in the middle of the night.  I can't imagine waking up to water that has spread all across our one-story house.  Might need to rethink our strategy.

We so the same. Think we’ll change that habit, but luckily we have tile on the bottom level.

 

22 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

You lost me on this one Lenny.  It hurt my brain too much to figure out who would be the father in law of your son in law.  Isn't that you?

I agree. Some of his sons friend who has another friend and then the girlfriend or which ever he comes up with.

 

22 hours ago, Jimbo said:

That has to be the longest post on this thread that I have every read 🙂 .............Lot's of cliff hangers there to have us to keep wanting more !!…

It’s a toss up between her and Lenny. So much wasted space that some people don’t bother to read it or don’t come back. At least I know when to just scroll on by. What a shame since Dani started a great thread.
 

19 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Time to settle in and watch some TV before bed....

 

She is very comfortable with showing her tummy.

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[DaniDanielle]

I wrote to one of MBayley’s people who has helped us over the years.  Should have wrote to her first, she answers right away.  Anyway, she has to go along with medical as to he didn’t present with GI symptoms but she sympathized which helps. I don’t know how being sick in a bag next to the nurse doesn’t count as a GI issue🥴 Anyway, she gave us onboard credit towards our next cruise and, at least, showed she cares!!! 

[DaniDanielle]

3 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Happy 65th birthday Dave.

Happy Birthday 

[ReneeFLL]

1 minute ago, DaniDanielle said:

I wrote to one of MBayley’s people who has helped us over the years.  Should have wrote to her first, she answers right away.  Anyway, she has to go along with medical as to he didn’t present with GI symptoms but she sympathized which helps. I don’t know how being sick in a bag next to the nurse doesn’t count as a GI issue🥴 Anyway, she gave us onboard credit towards our next cruise and, at least, showed she cares!!! 

That’s good to hear someone listened to you.

[DaniDanielle]

It just makes me feel a lot better.

[bobmacliberty]

13 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

How would you describe the vibe of both Oahu & Maui?  For some reason I feel those would be the ones we’d visit.  We’re not super active, outdoorsy types. Too old to try surfing 🤣.  We like beautiful scenery, learning about local culture,  relaxing on a beach or by a nice resort pool, just love that tropical vibe.  Would love to visit Pearl Harbor, a pineapple and coffee farm.  And of course shopping, eating and drinking!  One thing I know for sure - I’m not getting in a helicopter no matter how beautiful the view. I’m just becoming comfortable with flying commercial!

I guess I could just wait patiently for you to get to Hawaii and read about it on your thread lol. 

 

Oahu depends on where you are.  Honolulu is a major city complete with all of the city problems like crime and traffic.  It's absolutely worth seeing the Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial.  Waikiki is also worth doing once, but we probably won't go there again.  A little too crowded and commercial for our tastes.  The North Shore is cool to watch surfing and visit some of the small towns near there.  Lots of other interesting stuff on Oahu like the Dole Plantation and the Polynesian Cultural Center.  You can fly to Honolulu and spend 2 or 3 days on Oahu to get the experience before hopping to another island with fairly cheap flights on Hawaiian Airlines.

 

Maui similarly has different parts of the island with different experiences.  We've always stayed in Kaanapali at the Westin Maui.  It has a nice beach area, a great pool area (especially important if you'll have kids with you) and is right next to Whaler's Village with good shops and restaurants.  Lots of other hotels/condos/restaurants/golf/tennis in that area.  A little more upscale is the Wailea area with The Four Seasons, Grand Wailea, and a few other 4/5 star resorts.  Great restaurants and shopping near there as well.  You can go a little further away to the Kapalua area with the Ritz-Carlton and the Montage Kapalua Bay if you're willing to pay.  There's a PGA Tour event every year there.  There's lots to do on Maui that doesn't require you to be a risk taking adventurer.  Drive to the top of the Haleakala Volcano, drive the road to Hana, go snorkeling in the Molokini Crater, visit the MauiWine winery, go to the Maui Ocean Center aquarium, zipline in multiple places, go to downtown Lahaina (where cruise ships stop) for more great shops and restaurants and especially see the fantastic Old Lahaina Luau. And of course, great beaches and snorkeling all over the place.  It's fun to just pull over at the side of the road, put on a mask, and check out the nearby reefs.  You can do Maui very casually or very luxuriously.  As the locals like to say, "Maui no ka oi", which means Maui is the best.  

 

I'll give you my comparison vs. Kauai in a month. 😁

[Sea Dog]

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

I'm off and running with my Live report of our upcoming trip.  Here's the link for those interested:

 

Have a great cruise. I will be following along but I might have to wait till I get back to be able to read it all. We leave tomorrow. I’m all packed and ready to go. I know you are going to have a great time as I will too. Cheers!

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, dbancroft said:

Today is my 65th birthday.

Happy 65th birthday!! 🎂 

[dani negreanu]

13 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Happy 65th birthday Dave.

 

 

Dave, @dbancroft

+ 1 💐

 

 

@Momof3gurlz, Deb,

 

My personal "take" on Hawaii. Due to the long flights (Israel - LA, 15.5 hours, LA - Honolulu, 6 hours), we knew it will be a "one off". So the choice was not to travel at all, or have a small "taste" of what Hawaii is about. The ideal choice of the "taster" was NCL, which, in other circumstances, I'll not board even for free... As I said, personal.

 

But, having very low expectations of NCL, and seeing the "big pictures", i.e. visiting 4 islands in a week, we took it in a stride.

 

We got to Oahu Thursday evening, toured with a rented car all the highlights on Friday and were happy to tick all the boxes, Saturday morning I had a slot reserved for Pearl Harbor [very moving and emotional experience] the minute I could book (2 months ahead).

 

Early afternoon we boarded NCL [and they more than lived up to our "expectations"....].

 

We had an overnight in Maui, which enabled us to do the Road to Hana, afternoon - Old Lahaina Luau, morning - up to Haleakala and 2 more "must" places.

 

Same on Hilo and Kuna, we managed to see a lot. We rented ahead in every port, DIY tours.

 

The highlight was the overnight in Kauai, with the Waimea canyon, and, on our way back to Honolulu, the sail by Na'apali Coast.

 

Of course I wish we could have visited more, but, taking into considerations my DH self imposed rule not to be away from our grandkids more than 3 weeks at a time, we were very happy with our "accomplishment"....

 

[Momof3gurlz]

14 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Have a great cruise. I will be following along but I might have to wait till I get back to be able to read it all. We leave tomorrow. I’m all packed and ready to go. I know you are going to have a great time as I will too. Cheers!

Wishing both you & Linda as well as @bobmacliberty & Micheline wonderful trips and safe travels! 

[Sea Dog]

2 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Wishing both you & Linda as well as @bobmacliberty & Micheline wonderful trips and safe travels! 

Thanks Deb! So relieved that the storm in the Atlantic will not impact us.

[bobmacliberty]

21 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Have a great cruise. I will be following along but I might have to wait till I get back to be able to read it all. We leave tomorrow. I’m all packed and ready to go. I know you are going to have a great time as I will too. Cheers!

 

Have a safe trip and a great cruise!  Great to hear that you got the hotel straightened out.  Cheers!

Edited September 15, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[George C]

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Have a safe trip and a great cruise!  Great to hear that you got the hotel straightened out.  Cheers!

Hope you both have a fantastic cruise 

[bobmacliberty]

7 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 

Dave, @dbancroft

+ 1 💐

 

 

@Momof3gurlz, Deb,

 

My personal "take" on Hawaii. Due to the long flights (Israel - LA, 15.5 hours, LA - Honolulu, 6 hours), we knew it will be a "one off". So the choice was not to travel at all, or have a small "taste" of what Hawaii is about. The ideal choice of the "taster" was NCL, which, in other circumstances, I'll not board even for free... As I said, personal.

 

But, having very low expectations of NCL, and seeing the "big pictures", i.e. visiting 4 islands in a week, we took it in a stride.

 

We got to Oahu Thursday evening, toured with a rented car all the highlights on Friday and were happy to tick all the boxes, Saturday morning I had a slot reserved for Pearl Harbor [very moving and emotional experience] the minute I could book (2 months ahead).

 

Early afternoon we boarded NCL [and they more than lived up to our "expectations"....].

 

We had an overnight in Maui, which enabled us to do the Road to Hana, afternoon - Old Lahaina Luau, morning - up to Haleakala and 2 more "must" places.

 

Same on Hilo and Kuna, we managed to see a lot. We rented ahead in every port, DIY tours.

 

The highlight was the overnight in Kauai, with the Waimea canyon, and, on our way back to Honolulu, the sail by Na'apali Coast.

 

Of course I wish we could have visited more, but, taking into considerations my DH self imposed rule not to be away from our grandkids more than 3 weeks at a time, we were very happy with our "accomplishment"....

 

 

Wow Dani.  Sounds like a great trip.  You really got to see a lot of Hawaii! 

[ReneeFLL]

On 9/14/2022 at 2:33 PM, jagsfan said:

I guess this is a good time to tell y’all about our elevator incident. 
When we cruise out of Pt Everglades, we go a few days early to rest up from the 5 hour drive. 😊

We always eat at Zuccarelli and at Seaside Grill in Pompano Beach. 
Seaside has a flight of exterior stairs to climb, but luckily  they have an elevator for the handicapped. 
It is a rusty white metal box sitting on the ground next to the stairs. The exit is on the landing in front of the door. 
Dick dropped me at the elevator and went to park the car. 
The door was locked and the sign said push button to enter. 
I pushed the button and a few seconds later I heard a click and opened the door. 
Stepped in, closed the door and pushed the button. Nothing happened. The inside was so rusty, I shouldn’t have been surprised the buttons didn’t work. We hadn’t been there since April ‘19. 
Dick opened the door and asked what I was doing. 
When I said the button doesn’t work, he crowded in (it’s a one person elevator), slammed the door shut and pushed the button. Of course!!
He pushed all the buttons. Surprisingly, they didn’t work any better for him than they did for me!

Another surprise, now the door was locked!

We were  jammed together in a very rusty metal box in August in South Florida. 
It was hot and getting hotter. 
There was an opening at the top of one wall, so we could breathe. 
I pulled my cell out to call the restaurant, and No Service!!! The box must have lead in it. 
No one is coming up the stairs next to us. No sounds at all except traffic out on A1A. 
My 88 year old superhero husband saved the day!!!

He climbed up on the railings, one on each side of us, took my cane (which I almost didn’t bring), poked it out if the small opening at the top, and was able to poke the 2nd floor door to the restaurant. 
He kept doing it till a woman came to see what was making the noise. 
She went and pressed whatever it needed to unlock the door. 
She came out and down the stairs and took us up a few steps to the bottom floor of the restaurant and seated us there. She said she’d send a server down. 
No apology, not even an “Are you ok?”

The server did ask if we’d like some clam chowder, and comped us a sparse cup to share between us. 
We ordered and ate a good lunch, after all that. 
Had we not been through the trauma of trying to get our tests done the day before, we might have been upset by the fact that we could have stayed trapped in that elevator till the heat got us. 
But thanks to the test screw up, the elevator seemed almost inevitable. 
Needless  to say, Seaside Grill won’t see us again. 
But it sure made it twice as wonderful to get on the ship!

That had to have been scary especially with our heat down here. Glad you made it out safe.

 

10 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I used to really like Fireball until I realized how many calories are in it.

Thanks, I looked it up and then decided to look up a Chocolate Martini. 😳 I knew it was high but when you don’t see the numbers it doesn’t count. 😃

 

8 hours ago, h20skibum said:

…I also used this for one of my calls to Royal, when I cancelled our cruises.  By the way, voice memo uses about 250 Mb per hour of recording time. 

I have done this also.

[Luckynana]

6 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

OB and Maryann, Charlie got sick on the cruise.  First blood sugar was low and he was getting lightheaded.  Since he’s a heart transplant survivor, we got worried and went to medical.  They did a bunch of blood work, ekg etc.  He was sick to his stomach and that’s when I mentioned food poisoning.  They decided no, gave him anti nausea IV and told him to monitor symptoms.  Back in the cabin he vomited(sorry) all he had eaten and finally felt better.  Anyway, they still insist maybe it was diverticulitis so $480.00 later is where we are at!  Never tested for Covid either which I found strange.  Sent obligatory email to Royal, got nonsense answer back.

So sorry that Charlie got so sick on your long awaited cruise.  I hope your insurance gets settled for you 

6 hours ago, akcruz said:

 

 

Me too, have seen at least one every year since moving to SC except this year.  Holding my breath for where it will show up, definitely not a fan.  Worst was the one curled on the doormat when I opened the front door.  Now look before stepping out every time.

 

Still getting used to the "wildlife" here.  Not sure how this guy got to our house but it was under our car which had been in the driveway yesterday, a couple inches long.   

 

Dinner for one??

[dani negreanu]

9 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Wow Dani.  Sounds like a great trip.  You really got to see a lot of Hawaii! 

 

It was. I cherish every minute we spent there. I've mentioned a few days ago "pity Hawaii is such a long way from Israel"..... I'll be back in a minute, just spare me the flight to LA....

 

Again, I think that NCL itinerary is top notch if, like us, you have limited time. And we've not done it in a rush... the cars waited for us in every port, the roads and signage were excellent, bathrooms stops were clean ["touchy" subject for me 😉].

 

We were thoroughly impressed. And the people, they were all so nice. Those were 10 days in Heaven.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, dbancroft said:

Today is my 65th birthday. After getting the grandkids onto their school busses I went to the casino but no winning for birthday. Since wife is working I stopped on the way home and brought my Ice cream cake. She will make a homemade cake this weekend.

Happy Birthday,young man .Enjoy the celebration.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I was a little bored earlier today so went back and read the first few pages of this thread.  So strange, not the thread of course, just the feelings back then.  

The important thing ,in my opinion is the people that began posting on this thread the first few months who are still posting here.That is family.

[lenquixote66]

51 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Oahu depends on where you are.  Honolulu is a major city complete with all of the city problems like crime and traffic.  It's absolutely worth seeing the Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial.  Waikiki is also worth doing once, but we probably won't go there again.  A little too crowded and commercial for our tastes.  The North Shore is cool to watch surfing and visit some of the small towns near there.  Lots of other interesting stuff on Oahu like the Dole Plantation and the Polynesian Cultural Center.  You can fly to Honolulu and spend 2 or 3 days on Oahu to get the experience before hopping to another island with fairly cheap flights on Hawaiian Airlines.

 

Maui similarly has different parts of the island with different experiences.  We've always stayed in Kaanapali at the Westin Maui.  It has a nice beach area, a great pool area (especially important if you'll have kids with you) and is right next to Whaler's Village with good shops and restaurants.  Lots of other hotels/condos/restaurants/golf/tennis in that area.  A little more upscale is the Wailea area with The Four Seasons, Grand Wailea, and a few other 4/5 star resorts.  Great restaurants and shopping near there as well.  You can go a little further away to the Kapalua area with the Ritz-Carlton and the Montage Kapalua Bay if you're willing to pay.  There's a PGA Tour event every year there.  There's lots to do on Maui that doesn't require you to be a risk taking adventurer.  Drive to the top of the Haleakala Volcano, drive the road to Hana, go snorkeling in the Molokini Crater, visit the MauiWine winery, go to the Maui Ocean Center aquarium, zipline in multiple places, go to downtown Lahaina (where cruise ships stop) for more great shops and restaurants and especially see the fantastic Old Lahaina Luau. And of course, great beaches and snorkeling all over the place.  It's fun to just pull over at the side of the road, put on a mask, and check out the nearby reefs.  You can do Maui very casually or very luxuriously.  As the locals like to say, "Maui no ka oi", which means Maui is the best.  

 

I'll give you my comparison vs. Kauai in a month. 😁

A friend of mine moved to Maui from NY and not only loves it but has been healthy enough to be working there well into his 70’s.He tells me that life is so much better there.

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, dbancroft said:

Today is my 65th birthday. After getting the grandkids onto their school busses I went to the casino but no winning for birthday. Since wife is working I stopped on the way home and brought my Ice cream cake. She will make a homemade cake this weekend.

Happy, Happy Birthday to you!

[Momof3gurlz]

2 hours ago, dbancroft said:

Today is my 65th birthday. After getting the grandkids onto their school busses I went to the casino but no winning for birthday. Since wife is working I stopped on the way home and brought my Ice cream cake. She will make a homemade cake this weekend.

Happy 65th Birthday!

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Thanks Deb! So relieved that the storm in the Atlantic will not impact us.

Will we be hearing from you on the ship?

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 

Dave, @dbancroft

+ 1 💐

 

 

@Momof3gurlz, Deb,

 

My personal "take" on Hawaii. Due to the long flights (Israel - LA, 15.5 hours, LA - Honolulu, 6 hours), we knew it will be a "one off". So the choice was not to travel at all, or have a small "taste" of what Hawaii is about. The ideal choice of the "taster" was NCL, which, in other circumstances, I'll not board even for free... As I said, personal.

 

But, having very low expectations of NCL, and seeing the "big pictures", i.e. visiting 4 islands in a week, we took it in a stride.

 

We got to Oahu Thursday evening, toured with a rented car all the highlights on Friday and were happy to tick all the boxes, Saturday morning I had a slot reserved for Pearl Harbor [very moving and emotional experience] the minute I could book (2 months ahead).

 

Early afternoon we boarded NCL [and they more than lived up to our "expectations"....].

 

We had an overnight in Maui, which enabled us to do the Road to Hana, afternoon - Old Lahaina Luau, morning - up to Haleakala and 2 more "must" places.

 

Same on Hilo and Kuna, we managed to see a lot. We rented ahead in every port, DIY tours.

 

The highlight was the overnight in Kauai, with the Waimea canyon, and, on our way back to Honolulu, the sail by Na'apali Coast.

 

Of course I wish we could have visited more, but, taking into considerations my DH self imposed rule not to be away from our grandkids more than 3 weeks at a time, we were very happy with our "accomplishment"....

 

Thanks Dani. This is primarily why I would consider that NCL cruise - to get a “taste” of multiple islands, and of course see the Napali coast.  We’ve sailed NCL & they’re not my favorite but this would be just a means to an end (seeing the islands).  Lots to think about!!