Jump to content

HBE4

Members
  • Posts

    6,723
  • Joined

Everything posted by HBE4

  1. Speaking of my upcoming cruise, I'll be visiting Curaçao for the first time. This is the one island I may leave my friends and strike out on my own. Any thoughts on excursions? Right now, I'm thinking either a snorkel or catamaran (or both) excursion or a sightseeing and/or cave tour. Leaning toward snorkeling right now since this is probably the best (and only) island to do that. Aruba & Perfect Day are beach days with friends which is why I'm shying away from doing a beach on Curaçao. Unless they are really spectacular. I'm there from 11:30 am - 8:00 pm. There is a pub crawl excursion that visits 3 pubs but since I've already bought the drink package, this might my my one "day off"* from drinking. Any other options I should consider? * - meaning I plan to drink slightly less than the other days. 😇
  2. I'll be on Adventure on Aug 2nd for 8 nights. But it seems like you've already made up your mind. 🙂 EDIT: Liberty is always been a favorite of mine so I expect Adventure to be the same, just slight smaller without a dedicated Sorrentos.
  3. Happy Birthday & Happy Anniversary on 10 years of retirement. I also started my IT career on IBM mainframes back in the mid-1980s. Spent about 10 years working on them & was told they'd be soon obsolete. So I moved on but apparently IBM mainframes are still going strong. I'm also retired now but thought about maybe doing some part time free-lancing as companies with mainframes are finding it hard to hire help. Need to do some serious brushing up first!
  4. Just to add on, Marisa Tomei who is Joe Pecsi girlfriend, is the perfect foil for him. She earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Often overlooked is Fred Gwynne - aka Herman Munster - as the serious, dry judge trying to maintain some dignity & order in his courtroom. Alas, it was his final performance as he passed just a year later.
  5. I've never pressure washed anything. I'll hose down the driveway whenever I wash the car & occasionally will hose down the back deck with the same garden hose. The nozzle does have a "turbo jet" setting that increases the pressure which seems to be enough. The house is a medium dark-ish blue so it hides the dirt very well. It'll probably look a little better if I pressure wash it but it certainly does not look dingy.
  6. Longer cruise is better cruise so Oasis. But if you are after more loyalty points & are close enough that it would move you up to the next level shortly (within the next few cruises), then Harmony.
  7. That reminds me of the Dragon Coaster at Rye's Playland Park, just north of NYC. That single "safety" (haha) bar was so loose, I also thought I'd be flung out to my death into the Long Island Sound. Thankfully my beer belly kept me wedged in. The scariest part for me wasn't the speed or steep drops (tame by today's standard) but the fact that at 6'2'', it seemed like I would hit my head when entering the dragons mouth tunnel or crossing under the trestle. There is a short video at the bottom of this link. https://www.aceonline.org/page/Dragon
  8. Where better to spend a 95 degree day than in a giant frying pan known as Yankee Stadium with 50,000 other hot sweaty souls. Honoring Willy May's An almost full moon & finally some relief from the heat.
  9. That roller-coaster looks like it was designed by Picasso. 😃 Old wooden coasters are the best. The creaky, clickety clack sounds, safety bar thats not quite tight enough & splintered wood gives the impression it's going to collapse at any time. Far scarier than any of the modern steel coasters with upside-down loops.
  10. He could be socially awkward or just have plain old bad bedside manners. Normally I would just dismiss that if I knew I was getting the best possible medical care. But as you said, you can read people well & if you have even the slightest doubt, it's worth getting a 2nd and even a 3rd (tie-breaker) opinion. You don't need to be BFF's with your doctor but you need to feel comfortable with him. In this case, it seems like you don't.
  11. Agreed. I can have 2 drinks at lunch, 2 mid-afternoon, 2 with dinner & 2 in the evening* 8 drinks in a 12 hour period. If anything, I'm more bloated than buzzed. Helps on cutting down on eating unhealthy foods. 😄 * this is the minimum, there may be more.
  12. To me, that's the best selling point of the DBP. The ability to try new drinks I normally wouldn't buy. And if I don't like it, I can toss it without feeling like I just threw away $14. And there is always a new drink.😁 Edit: Otherwise, I normally break even with the DBP, give or take a few dollars either way.
  13. Nearest one to me is 97 miles away. Warm, sunny days, clear skies and low humidity this weekend might mean putting the top down on the old Saab convertible and take a road trip to PA. Maybe pickup some fireworks at Phantom Fireworks which seem to be at the first exit of every highway that crosses into PA.
  14. Thank you for the heads-up. I just checked mine & it's still $69.99/day (reg price $100) same as it was when I booked my cruise. In the past (5 years ago), the low $50 range was always by cutoff point. I actually was thinking of posting a question here to ask "Is $70 the new $50?" 😄 I'll probably go ahead & buy it. I've always broke-even with the deluxe beverage package, give or take $30-$40 either way. I just like the convenience of buying what I want, when I want & wherever I want and not wonder if I should have bought the package. Plus, it lets my try new drinks and if I don't like it, I won't feel guilty of throwing a $14 dollar drink away. With 4 sea days & a Coco Cay, I'm sure I'll get my money's worth on my upcoming Adventure cruise.
  15. I think the preferred saying is "Experienced ships for Experienced people" 😉
  16. I don't disagree with anything you wrote. With Project Discovery, many people are thinking it's going to be a new, modern version of Vision or Radiance. Given that Royal is all about multi-generational cruising & something for everyone, my guess is that they will try to pack in some features that will appeal to younger families. So more of a mini-Icon and less of a new Vision & entice new cruisers to the smaller ports that may be within driving range. That's assuming it gets passed the rumor/drawing board stage. Or maybe I'm wrong and once the older ships/older cruisers "age out", Royal will abandon the small ports. I guess we'll find out in 5 or 6 years.
  17. Certainly disappointing as like many others, I thoroughly enjoy a @twangster review. The immense amount of effort you put into it clearly shows. Not only in the incredible pictures and videos but the way you organize the content, the details you provide and how you always seem to write the perfect caption. Your storytelling is so good, I often feel like I'm there with you. Thanks to you, I've added Panama Canal (sans Empress) and Noway (sans a few fjords) to my bucket list. Did I mention the incredible pictures and how you were able to capture so much of the ship without people? I don't read many "live" review threads & when I do, I often skim thru large portions of them or stop reading after a while. Yours and a couple of others are the only ones where I take the time to read each and every post. They will be greatly missed & I guess I'll just have to go back and reread the old ones. Yes! This!! The Float Away Lounge is the perfect for non-cruise topics and if you ask the Admins, I'm sure they'd let @twangster create a thread for his train saga, which I'd also be interested in. Another option that another person used to do was write her trip reports in the Port-of-Calls forums when her land trips happened to be cruise ports as well. Again, she asked the Admins if it was okay & they gave her permission. Food for thought. I'm sure we all wouldn't mind settling for a Readers Digest Condensed Trip Report.
  18. Except that Royal appeals to a different demographic & price point. If Royal concedes a future generation of cruisers - the most profitable kind - from those ports to Carnival & NCL, that will come back to haunt both Royal & Celebrity down the road.
  19. Now that's starting the weekend early!😄 I've heard that Thursdays are fast becoming Friday Eve (at least in this house!) so what does that make Wednesday? The Eve of Friday Eve? 😆
  20. Adding my thank you to @twangster & @Hoopster95 as well. A most enjoyable review with spectacular scenery . I agree that the two make a great journalistic pair. Now that you've spoiled us, you'll need to do more collaborations. Add in @Biker19 and I feel like I've missed out on the cruise of the decade. 🙂😁😇
×
×
  • Create New...