Diver2014

Is Rotterdem returning to St Maarten right now or is that a different HAL ship? It’s 7pm Wednesday night and they were docked next to us.

Plenty of chairs. Lots of chair hogs too.

Plenty of staff. Don’t know exact ratio but staff are everywhere and are friendly and right there when you want them. Very few lines. Love it!

We’re on Wonder right now and crew we talked to said it was sold out but as big as the ship is, it doesn’t seem like there are people everywhere. We were on the ship at 10am yesterday and there were tons of parking spaces in the garage. Plus we saw the SpaceX rocket take off while sitting at dinner last night(love our table for two next to the window!) Awesome cruise so far and much warmer weather today!

Kimpton Epic is best by a long shot. It's right there and is one of the newer hotels on Biscayne Blvd. I worked in the building across the street and would go over there at lunch time to watch the dolphins in Biscayne Bay.

You don't need a shuttle.

The food on Royal Caribbean was 'shockingly bad'????? We're leaving Sunday on RCI again and it has never been 'shockingly bad'. In fact, after 37 cruises, 9 of which were on HAL, I've never had any food on a cruise ship that I would call 'shockingly bad'. And we were told on many ships that no one uses powdered eggs. I seem to think chengkp75 verified that at one time. Good heavens! If you are that picky, go to a land based five star restaurant and pay their prices.

Your carry on bag will have to be small enough to fit through the scanning machine before you check in. I don't know of any place on board where you can check a bag until your room is ready.

A cruise is still the best vacation ever even with the economy in the tank.

There were several birthday celebrations on our last cruise in the MDR. Maybe 4 waiters/assistants brought a cake and sang to the person.

We like to go over to Paradise Island for the day. Play some slots, have a nice lunch, go shopping. Nassau is also a great place to go scuba diving. Spent a week there a few years back, diving every day for 5 days.

Your check in time is not the same as boarding the ship. Check in is when you are in the terminal and go to the counter with your documents. When you are done there, you walk onto the ship as long as the ship is available to board (people with very early check in times may have to wait until boarding is opened).

I don't worry about what other people wear. When someone comes in the dining room in shorts or T shirts and flip flops, I just roll my eyes and adjust my tiara.😅

I originally requested traditional dining for our cruise when I booked. I got our edocs 2 weeks ago and we were assigned to MTD. No way. I emailed rcldining and within a day received not only confirmation that we were changed to traditional dining but also a 2 top along with the table number! Good customer service!

We landed at terminal 3 at Heathrow, then went downstairs and followed the underground hallway to the National Express bus terminal. I had reserved tickets but was able to get an earlier bus since we were already there. Got off in Southampton, walked to our hotel on the waterfront. Coming home, we took the Princess transfer bus from inside the cruise terminal directly to terminal 3 at Heathrow. Plenty of time, even with heavy traffic.

The menu sounds good to me. As long as I can get my shrimp cocktail and Creme Brulee, I'm happy. The entrees sound good too. I wonder if Wonder of the Seas will have the new menu next week.....

We were in Terminal 5 in June and we paid as we left. Put your credit card in the slot and the gate opens. There was also an attendant if you had any problems.

There is a CVS on Biscayne Blvd, across from Bayfront Park that has wine and beer. It's under the Metromover track.

Luggage tags were the last page of our edocs.

We've stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Cruise Port twice and will again next week. It's fairly new, right on Astronaut Blvd by the cruise port and includes free help yourself breakfast (except they'll cook your eggs for you if you ask). You can get a room with a view of the cruise port if you want to pay a few bucks extra.

On all the NCL ships we've been on, they request no shorts or flip flops in the dining rooms. Not that anyone pays attention to it but we did see the Maitre'd turn away some people in what he thought was inappropriate attire so it depends on who is at the door watching. Just because you're in Hawaii doesn't mean it's an anything goes scenario. You'll probably get away with it.

This may seem beneath a lot of people but Greyhound has 5 trips a day from Vancouver to Seattle starting at $27 one way. I've taken it many times when I went to college in Bellingham. It takes just over 4 hours.

Why? Because I want to. And I'm retired and don't get much chance to dress up. And I'm old enough to remember what it used to be like at dinner time on ships when there were only 2 seatings in the MDR. Back when it was actually fun to see everyone dressed up and having a good time when manners and morals actually mattered instead of everyone just caring about themselves. I still have all the formal portraits from the ships I've been on and it's fun to reminisce about those times. Something the younger crowd will never experience since they don't seem to care.

I don't remember any monkeys on St Kitts. We didn't see any.

Her physician needs to complete the paperwork. Discharge papers mean nothing to insurance companies. I worked in medical claims for 41 years and if there was no completed physician form, we didn't even look at the claim. It was pended as 'incomplete' for 30 days then denied as requested information not submitted. Get the form and all backup that you can.