schmoopie17

Glad to hear you're enjoying Lester's banana. Does he qualify as a studmuffin?

Switching back and forth between the NCL and Princess boards is the most exercise I've had in the last month. But I have to keep up with the adventures of @YVRteacher (and Dad, when he's participating...which, unfortunately he's not this time). CC can be exhausting for an old guy such as yours truly.

I really need to slow down when reading in my old age. At first I thought the title of this thread was, "Organizing a bar brawl". Geez...

As much as I'd love to cruise with @graphicguy, I'm not going to twist his arm (especially since it might cause him to lose his balance)...

I think I see what you did there... The two seafood-oriented restaurants and the Italian restaurant have beef/meat. The steak place has fish. What's next? Tacos at Tepanyaki? Sushi at La Cucina?

Sounds like they didn't wanna dance.

Seeing them is one thing. If he was wearing them, that's quite another thing.

We would, but that would probably entail having to go back to work after being retired since 2015. That right there is enough to make us say "No". NCL serves its purpose without costing an arm and a leg (or other valuable body parts).

Double Ditto. The coverage around the world from T-Mobile has been great...all at no extra charge. We love waking up in a new port and getting the message saying, "Welcome to Timbuktu" (or wherever we may happen to be). You have unlimited FREE texts and calls."

I was going to suggest doing the POA in Hawaii for #Schmoopiefest 2026...since we have never been (except for me stopping for an hour on the way overseas in the Army) until we talked to our world-wise TA yesterday. She said the cruise/ship is just okay (even though Hawaii is a lot more than just okay). We told her we are also considering Croatia (and that area) and she instantly said, "Do it. We've been three times and are already thinking about a fourth." So...if/when NCL gets around to putting out their 2026 Europe schedules, Croatia would be at the top of our list. Of course, the overall itinerary (and ship) would be important, too. Not ruling anything out, as well.

That may sound like a lot, but keep in mind that when you're struggling to load a page for a couple of minutes (as has been our experience). the meter is running. Those 300 minutes can get eaten up with waiting/connection/loading time. Having said that, we have never had the upgraded package, nor have we been on a ship with Starlink (yet).

My favorite thing is the spicy shrimp appetizer. We asked for the recipe and it showed up in our cabin the next day. Now if only could find it...

I imagine it would depend on the individual cruise as to which day(s) it would be.. I have read reports that is no longer possible to reserve the show at the 21 day mark. I'm hoping these reports are wrong, since my calendar is marked for 21 days prior to our Escape cruise in September.

This was what inspired Marie Antoinette to utter her famous line. However, few people realize that the original line was, "Let them eat cookies." But then she saw the cake on the Island Princess and the rest is history.

I have never been asked to show a credit card when boarding. Although, I do believe we've always had to input a credit card when doing online check-in. I recall them asking if Mrs. Schmoopie would be using the same credit card.

"Finally he moved and another passenger chose this time to argue with the flight crew about why she had to check one of her 3 pieces of onboard luggage." Been meaning to ask about the picture of your luggage (all carry-ons). It looks to my weary, old eyes that you had three pieces. No? Again, maybe I'm seeing things. Also, Mrs.Schmoopie is insisting for our upcoming cruise that we each take a carry-on roller, along with a backpack. Problem is, we have bulkhead seats each way. I'm freaking out because we have no seat in front of us to stow the backpacks. Will they make us check them? I know you're a teacher and not an airline employee, but I'm sure you've had bulkhead seats at some point in your world travels.

I see what you did there...subtle reference to Dad's full monty in the Spa? Nice... You can run, but you can't hide. I see several of us managed to find our way from the poor side of town...aka the NCL Board... over to the gated community of Princess. Missing Dad, but eagerly and vicariously following along.

On the Jade four months ago, we were able to text back and forth to our "surprise" traveling companions. We both had I-phones and just texted normally, without any additional charges or buying any additional plans. I'm about as technically challenged as anyone you'll ever meet, so don't ask how we pulled this off. All I know is it worked.

Here are some suggestions: If you want to get off the ship in an "unsafe" port, get off the ship. If you don't want to get off the ship in an "unsafe" port, don't get off the ship. How difficult is that? Problem solved.

We've done one TA (on the Escape) in 2022. The WiFi was horrendous,,,couldn't even connect to the "free" Cruise Critic. I'm too cheap to pay for the "upgraded WiFi", but since the overall WiFi was so bad, why throw away extra money to get extra minutes to get extra aggravated? We're back on the Escape in two months. Hope it's improved.

It was Gouda you to point that out.

It better be...

They have a District Brewhouse. I don't know about you, but that's about all I need to know.

Ricky Nelson? You're right, not exactly Doo Wop. Ozzie Nelson, maybe. Is Sha Na Na still around/alive? Maybe they'd be up for a reunion cruise. We were visiting LA when my daughter was about four, we were pulling out of a parking lot and she yelled out, "Sha Na Na!!!" It was all the more amazing because the two of them (Bowser and Santini) were just standing there (and out of costume...not sure how she recognized them). They had a TV show at the time, which she loved to watch. In any case, I stopped the car and they came over and gave her their autographs, with the saying, "Bowser and Santini love you". Pretty cool.

If @mking8288attends the Feb 6, 2025 version of #Schmoopiefest, being the technical wizard that he is, I'm sure he could rig up a karaoke/whatchamajigger machine in a lounge to crank out Doo Wop, or any music your heart desires.