Sea Dog

It will be here before you know it. I've been ready for this cruise for about the last 3 months. Seems like it went so slow to get here. Love your friends. We have a couple of families that cruise through our back yard a couple of times a day.

Kylar is very happy uninterested in packing a suitcase. Now if I was packing a box he would be all other it. Lol, One of the scariest scenes I have ever seen.

Great see you onboard. Happy Birthday wishes for you and wishes for sunny skies.

Make sure you come up and say hi. I’ll be in my Sea Dog tee.

You are my hero!

Seems like a lot of people from our FB group Adventure sailing page are bringing ducks. I found one but I don't think I can get it into my suitcase.

I have copied your slot notes and will try your strategy. Not so sure I have the luck that you do.

Just think of the money I will save! 😜

PREPS AND PACKING: First thing of upmost importance for this dog is to get all my Sea Dog tee shirts ironed and packed. Whoever owns the company must love me because I have just about every tee shirt they make. Every cruise I have the same dilemma, what to pack? I am a over packer and I hate that but I haven't quite mastered the Graham @PompeySailor packing method. I do use packing cubes which do help organize and keep things neat in the suitcase. Here is my carry on. Here's my big suitcase. But I hate packing shoes. They are odd in their size. So I borrowed a tip from Graham using a cardboard shelf. This makes a solid layer over the shoes so I can then lay my hangup suit and shirts. I know I am a bad person for using plastic and don't worry I will not leave this on the ship but dry cleaning bags do work great for minimizing wrinkles. Finished one side The other side. Packing is complete. Some day I will get a system that's better but so far this seems to work. Not pictured is my back pack which is where I store all my cameras, electronics, Cruise documents and tags, meds and usb chargers and device cords. I keep all that in separate little packing cubes so I can organize it well. Top it off with a passport and a cash for those all important tips. All systems go!

I would like to see if some people could take a screenshot of us at the Soggy Dollar. I will post a time once we get there to the review and our group will wave for a couple of minutes and hopefully someone can get a screenshot of us. Thank you in advance.

Can't wait to meet my bourbon brother. We are going to have fun! Let me know if you have any questions Dave. Looking forward to seeing you and Andy. It's going to be EPIC!

Off to the bank to get that much needed extra tip money. We always pay for prepaid gratuities but I do like to take care of my bartenders, cabin stewards and wait staff. Plus anyone else who goes above and beyond. I'll check back in an hour. Cheers, more posts to come.

Who would of thought my title would have a double meaning? My title references the fact that when you go to the Soggy Dollar in White Bay, there is no dock and the boats drop you off into the water and you wade to shore, hence the "Soggy Dollar." Now we must look at "Invest 95-L. It looks like we will get wet. The models are showing more of a storm and rain event and not a hurricane. Hopefully it will move past us by the time we get down there. Either way We will make the best of it. After all it is the Caribbean in October. I look at it this way, Well, isn't rain just nature's way of giving us an extra sprinkling of adventure on our vacation? Who needs sunshine all the time when you can have a dance in the rain instead? It's like a spontaneous water park, but without the lines!

I made a itinerary video of our travels. Take a look to see where we are going. Itinerary consists of: Adventure of the Seas leaving Fort Lauderdale Day 1 Sat. Ft. Lauderdale Departs 4pm Day 2 Sun. Cruising Day 3 Mon. Cruising Day 4 Tues. St. Croix, USVI 8am-5pm Excursion: Buccaneer Beach Resort Break Day 5 Wed. Tortola BVI 7am-3pm Excursion: Escape to Jost Van Dyke Day 6 Thurs. Cruising Day 7 Fri. Perfect Day 10am-5pm Excursion: Coco Cay Beach Club Day 8 Sat. Ft. Lauderdale Arrive 7am For me this is perfect. I love sea days. It combines the right amount of ports and cruising and makes for a very relaxing time. And I need to relax for what’s in store for me. Because right after I get back I’m to have another total knee replacement. I had my right knee done in 2021 it was not fun to say the least. I tried to kick the can down the road with injections on my left knee but a recent MRI showed, torn meniscus, torn ACL, severe arthritis, bone spurs and a baker’s cyst. The knee is toast. Hopefully after receiving a gel injection a month ago it will give me relief through this cruise. Fingers are crossed. I’m sorry for anyone who wanted me to play basketball on the sports deck. I do my best dribbling out of the side of my mouth.

Actually it's our 26th. Our 20th was back in 2017 on our first Royal Caribbean sailing on Adventure. I think a celebratory glass of champagne and a toast will be on order when I see you onboard.

I'm LIVE!!!!!

Hello friends It’s time for another Sea Dog review and it's going to be live. This time we will be on Adventure of the Seas which has a special memory for Linda and I as it was our first Royal Caribbean ship and cruise for our 20th wedding anniversary in 2017. We sailed from San Juan a week after Hurricane Maria. When we flew into the airport it had no air conditioning and was on emergency generators. We celebrate our anniversary by always cruising in October around our date October 18th. Note: Happy Anniversary to my dear wife today! This year the dates did not align as much as we wanted them to but boy the itinerary sure did. As with any Sea Dog review I love to tell stories and I love movies. So let's get this story started with a trailer. Let's hype this cruise up. Our cruise is a 7 night Eastern Caribbean with one stop that I have been trying to book for over 5 years, Tortola. I had a cruise booked there in 2021 and you know what happened?…💥 boom…..a pandemic….all cruises cancelled. I was heartbroken. Fast forward and now I have this one booked. I have always wanted to visit the BVI with its beautiful islands, crystal clear water and white sandy beaches. While in Tortola what better way to see all these things than take an excursion to Jost Van Dyke and White Bay home of the famous beach bar The Soggy Dollar. More about that later as it it took a very unexpected turn. So who’s with me? My lovely wife Linda, Mrs. Sea Dog and some dear Cruise Critic friends, some of which were on the infamous "Bella Cruise" that was so "EPIC," including @jmh2006, Jennifer and Dave, @Husky1987, Larry and Andi, @Momof3gurlz Deb and Andy and @Mo&Fran, Francis and his wife who are doing B2B2B and have already been on board for week, will be along for the fun. This is a great group and we enjoy being together for fun and cruising. We just turned Diamond on our last cruise in March so I will be excited to visit the Diamond Club for Happy Hour (** if we are now still allowed) and take advantage of some of the perks even though we always buy the drink package. We also purchased a 3 night dining package. So permission is granted for you to come aboard. Join us and as always Cheers!

That’s what I was hoping. Thank you OB!

Question for anyone who has sailed out of Fort Lauderdale? I have a check in time of 11:30am which was the earliest they offered. I also have the Key and in an email I received today states that I can arrive between 11am-11:30am and also stated to please adhere to your arrival times as space in the terminal is limited. So my question is what time can I realistically show up? Normally I’ve been able to board by 11am in other terminals. What do you guys recommend?

Thank you Graham . I hope my knee will hold up. We leave tomorrow for Fort Lauderdale. Review will start in a couple of hours.

Good for you Lenny. I’m glad she is making a difference.

They are lots of fun. You will enjoy getting together with them.

I saw on that other site where you found Laura and John. Great pic of you, RJ and Laura.

The German and European models have it turning north while the American model has it more flat through the Caribbean islands. The meteorologist I listened to seemed to think the German and Europe models would be more accurate. Either way the system should be passing through this Saturday giving us room for the following week. Here is the guy on You tube and his channel that I watch. We may experience more cloudy days but I am ok with that even though my pictures will not look as good. I guess fix it later in photoshop. 😁

If it’s raining on our sea days the good news will be no chair hogs!