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

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, maggieq said:

I’m sorry to say, we pay more than that for all 3   Can’t find anyone to drop the phone piece and just give us cable and Wi-Fi. 

 

My landlord dropped cable and phone and just has internet, then subscribed to YouTubeTV, which gives access to all the main channels (including @Sea Dog's beloved Hallmark channel!) and local tv stations.  Not sure what he's paying for internet these days (it's all included in my rent), but pretty sure he has the fastest speed they offer.  

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

You should sent back a picture of a "lighthouse cookie*.

 

Or maybe "just the tip"!!!! 😉

[Tree_skier]

No cable here.  I've got three streaming subscriptions that serve all my needs.  Hulu, Britbox and Espn+. I just recently subscribed to Britbox and have been enjoying all kinds of different shows that I had never heard of.  Espn+ gets me unlimited hockey and Hulu picks up the slack with everything else.  With all that and the odd rental of movies through Youtube I pay way less than if I was paying for cable.  

[Sea Dog]

We have YouTube TV and pay $100 less than what we were paying for cable. Now we do subscribe to a bunch of additional streaming services such as , Hulu, Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Max (formerly HBO), Paramount Plus, Peacock, and a few others. Needless to say I like my media and like viewing options.

[Jimbo]

35 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

No cable here.  I've got three streaming subscriptions that serve all my needs.  Hulu, Britbox and Espn+. I just recently subscribed to Britbox and have been enjoying all kinds of different shows that I had never heard of.  Espn+ gets me unlimited hockey and Hulu picks up the slack with everything else.  With all that and the odd rental of movies through Youtube I pay way less than if I was paying for cable.  

 

23 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

We have YouTube TV and pay $100 less than what we were paying for cable. Now we do subscribe to a bunch of additional streaming services such as , Hulu, Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Max (formerly HBO), Paramount Plus, Peacock, and a few others. Needless to say I like my media and like viewing options.

How Do you get all MLB and NFL on the local channels. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX National games?

Edited November 28, 2023 by Jimbo

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

 

How Do you get all MLB and NFL on the local channels. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX National games?

YouTube TV has all my local channels for the NFL and MLB plus I get a bunch of Fox Sports Channels and the NFL network. YouTube TV also has a NFL package for all the games even though I am not a subscriber to that.

[George C]

4 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

YouTube TV has all my local channels for the NFL and MLB plus I get a bunch of Fox Sports Channels and the NFL network. YouTube TV also has a NFL package for all the games even though I am not a subscriber to that.

I normally move from direct tv to dish then back again , I love recording everything and watching it back without commercials, each one normally offers me about 500 to switch back . Ready now to move back to dish. 

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

I was shocked at the number of people who had full-on door wreaths last year when I was cruising at this time.  I'm guessing that they were Florida residents who drove to the port -- I can't imagine packing that in a suitcase and flying!

Yeah, some people's cabin doors are crazy elaborate. I will make a mental note to take pictures of the various Christmas decorations next month for my trip report.

 

They are probably the same people going over the top in decorating their house/front yard for Christmas. Like the classic National Lampoon movie with Chevy Chase:

 

 

 

We cruised out of LA during December in the past where we drove to the port but not like I'm going to pack anything major even if I had space in the car to toss in another carry-on.  

 

Don't have that much Christmas spirit.  Bah hambug...🤪

 

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, George C said:

I normally move from direct tv to dish then back again , I love recording everything and watching it back without commercials, each one normally offers me about 500 to switch back . Ready now to move back to dish. 

That’s what I like about YouTube TV no physical DVR everything is in the cloud so you have it forever. As no limit to how much you save.

[grapau27]

5 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

You prefer the nasty litter box to going for a walk with the dog?  🤣

We like cats and dogs.

The meme was meant to be funny 🤣

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is -1°C with frost on the car windscreen.

I hope everyone is safe and well especially Dani @dani negreanu and her family.

Best wishes for a nice day.

[Ocean Boy]

7 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

You prefer the nasty litter box to going for a walk with the dog?  🤣

I don't miss the 2 AM walks. I don't miss the walks where the dog thought shunks were her friend. I don't miss the days when the dog would  not go outside in the rain unless I went with her. I do miss that damn dog though.😔

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

That’s what I like about YouTube TV no physical DVR everything is in the cloud so you have it forever. As no limit to how much you save.

I never even heard of YouTube TV. If I can get local stations then I have to look in to this. I'd love to cut the cable cord. Cox just had another price increase.😡

[Sea Dog]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

I never even heard of YouTube TV. If I can get local stations then I have to look in to this. I'd love to cut the cable cord. Cox just had another price increase.😡

YouTube TV is owned by Google and since we are a Google Fiber network where I have my internet through it makes since as I have 2gb service. I doubt it’s available in your area yet but they are expanding. Check here:

https://broadbandnow.com/Google-Fiber#:~:text=Check if Google Fiber is Available to You&text=Please call a representative at,Please enter a valid address.

[Ocean Boy]

30 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

YouTube TV is owned by Google and since we are a Google Fiber network where I have my internet through it makes since as I have 2gb service. I doubt it’s available in your area yet but they are expanding. Check here:

https://broadbandnow.com/Google-Fiber#:~:text=Check if Google Fiber is Available to You&text=Please call a representative at,Please enter a valid address.

Not an option.

[h20skibum]

18 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Thank you doc. I promise I did not have to sing for it like the girl friend.

I do think this belongs to either Billy Joel or Eric Clapton....someone like that. ☺️But, I'll take it.

 

That one is not Eric Clapton's place.

 

This one is his.

 

And this is the caretaker's house.

 

 

Those are photos I took several years ago.  I am not sure if it is still being rented out, but you use to be able to rent his place for 50K a week.  A little rich for my blood.

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

 

That one is not Eric Clapton's place.

 

This one is his.

 

And this is the caretaker's house.

 

 

Those are photos I took several years ago.  I am not sure if it is still being rented out, but you use to be able to rent his place for 50K a week.  A little rich for my blood.

 

I could be a caretaker.

[grapau27]

Good morning.

I have been out to see a couple of customers and stopped to admire the North Sea.

I hope everyone has a great day.

[Arzeena]

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

 

That one is not Eric Clapton's place.

 

 

Not any more. It's mine!!!!😁😁😁And the one next to it us Debbie's Sunshine Villa.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Not an option.

That’s too bad. We were lucky in that Google chose Kansas City to be their first market venture.

[Keksie]

I may be odd but I like my dish or cable tv.  All the different streaming services are very confusing.  For us we have certain shows on certain nights such as last night was the Voice.  Wednesday is survivor and amazing race.  I wouldn't even know which streaming service would have those shows and when.  My friend never knows what is happening because they don't get local news channels. 

Like I said we are probably the odd ones but it works for us.

[bobmacliberty]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Not an option.

 

YouTube TV works with any internet service.  We have AT&T 1GB fiber and are similar to Greg with YouTube TV plus several additional services. YouTube TV was somewhere in the $60-70 per month range when we first signed up 3 years ago but the price has gone up.   By the time we add in the cost of internet and the other streaming services, it's still less than what we were paying for everything bundled, but not by much.  We like YouTube TV a lot.  The unlimited DVR is nice but you need to know that it's all stored in the cloud, not on a local box.  That's not a problem so long as you have a reliable internet connection. It also means that you can play back something from anywhere in the world, like your daughter's house in Cincinnati. 😉

[bobmacliberty]

With the recent talk of internet "speeds", the perfectionist geek in me is going crazy.  I'll explain internet speeds in case it helps someone else choose the right speed option for them, possibly saving some money.  

 

When you get an internet service, it will be for something like 500Mbs, or 1Gbs.  That's not technically a speed number but instead a bandwidth number.  Some people refer to this as the size of the pipe, as in plumbing.  A 1 inch diameter pipe may not allow for water to flow faster, but can deliver a lot more water than a 1/2 inch pipe.  I like the analogy of roads (which isn't technically exact, but you'll get the idea).  More bandwidth means more lanes of roads.  You don't need a multi-lane highway to go fast...you can still travel 60 mph on a single lane road.  A 6-lane highway will allow several cars to travel 60 mph at the same time.  If you're downloading a large file, it can broken up into several cars that each travel in their own lane and then are reassembled into one file at your house.  This means that the download does happen faster and therefore you're seeing more "speed".

 

But you reach a limit with how many lanes you can use if all you're doing is watching YouTube TV on one device.  2 lanes may be "fast" enough to watch a video stream.  Paying for 6 lanes doesn't do anything for you.  However, if you have one person watching Netflix in one room, another person having a work video call in a second room, and another person doing online gaming in a third room, having all 6 lanes will be important so that each of these activities can happen simultaneously.  

 

We only have 2 people in our house and for the most part, will max out at watching TV on 2 different TVs at the same time, or one person Face Timing while the other person watches online videos.  We could probably get away with only 200Mbs.  We have 1 Gbs service just for the occasional time when we have guests or may have other internet needs.  I'm also impatient and hate staring at the spinning thing in the middle of the screen showing that a download is buffering, so I'll err on the side of paying for more bandwidth.  

 

So how much bandwidth do YOU actually? It depends on the number of people and internet connected devices in your house, whether or not you work from home, whether you do a lot of video streaming, whether you do online gaming, etc.  Check with your internet provider to see what they recommend.  They may over-estimate what you need so that you'll pay for more, so here's an online site I found that will give you an estimate, based on answering a few quick questions.  I have no idea where this site came from and can't verify its accuracy.  The other option is to pick a service level with less bandwidth and see how well it works.  If it seems like you don't have enough "speed", bump your service up to the next highest level.

 

Hope this helps someone.  It certainly helped my inner geek to get it out. 😁

[George C]

Several of my poker buddies have gone to YouTube tv , I am not ready yet. Currently cloudy and about 80 , another sea day heading for Roatan, won a couple hundred at the casino but then gave it back 😢, wife did win a hundred at wheel of fortune slots. Another hassle on suite lounge is they are very stingy with drinks so they pour a very small cognac , so ten mins later i order another, celebrity and MSc yacht club will pour doubles. Ice show tonight.

[Sea Dog]

@bobmacliberty Great explanation and spot on. That’s exactly how I look at it.