BonnieJB

On 2/13/2022 at 7:53 AM, TwinMamainMN said:

I'm glad you had a wonderful time. We will be on Odyssey in under 2 weeks. Also from MN. Any specific tips?

We also will be on board with you.  We are from Michigan.  Hope to see you.  Bonnie

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Recorded 3 years ago.  I haven't watched it and can't confirm if it's worth watching

 

Thanks so much for posting this!  I really enjoyed watching it.  I'll be watching the other videos on the techniques he uses to live on the cruise ship.  What a life!  

8 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Had a nice chat with him at breakfast in CK this morning.  🙂  He admitted he pretty much makes the same speech, but makes sure he only lists the good changes. Said he knows he could list more, but it might take too long.  😉 

I have heard about Mario for years but have no idea what he looks like so I don't know if I've ever seen him.  Any photo?

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Yea, it will be interesting to see excursions list

Have you already been all over the world, or will many of these ports be new to you?

33 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'll give it a shot

Oh hooray!  I'll be watching for it.  

John and Laura, any interest in doing a Cruise Critic Live report on your world tour?  

6 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

It's a bungie jump thing.  Didn't see a lot of them hitting the tramps/pads very hard, mostly boing boing up and down.  

 

 

 

 

It sounds like it would be fun.  Worth a try! Thanks

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Its a game.  There are about 6 to choose from ranging from easy(so they say) to difficult.  You aim your head at things floating mid air to get points

Just jumping on the trampolines without  breaking an ankle would be challenging enough for us!

No one mentioned jumping in the Sky Pad.  Did any of you do it?  My husband is interested in giving it a try.

I am learning so much from your posts and other comments from those who are participating in this thread.  I can see that I am going to do a lot more daily planning in order to see all the shows that are offered in the various venues.  I'm not clear as to which venues require a reservation, or whether you just show up early to get a seat.

Regarding the water bottle topic, I bring a couple of small empty plastic water bottles and refill them from whatever type of water cans or bottles we are given.  I prefer a light weight small bottle that I can tuck into my small purse.  

29 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Not us, but we totally loved our lunch there yesterday!  Fantastic Calamari and Grouper!  😋

Where is West Deck? Is that on Aruba?

I am thoroughly enjoying all of the information gleaned from these posts that I will use on our Feb 26 cruise.  NOT looking forward to seeing all of these signs restricting seating in the various venues.  Hoping for a change in protocols in mid February.

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Boleros has a 4 piece band. 

 

Not sure about other venues, maybe Two70. Seems like you could dance in there

Thanks for the information.  Hopefully the bands will stay healthy for the next several weeks.

I have a question about the music on the ship.  In the past they have had dance bands, some of them playing Latin music, playing in Bolero and other venues around the ship.  We have been on two cruises post pandemic and neither of them had dance bands or dance parties.  The bands were replaced with individual singers or musicians.  We heard that Celebrity and Royal have had difficulty keeping the members of the bands healthy, and the musicians were out due to Covid.  What is happening on the Odyssey?

On the iFly I found that I had to get in the right position and freeze up my limbs to stay there.  The air is pushing against you and you have to hold steady.  

38 minutes ago, At Sea At Peace said:

 

You did really good.  👍

 

I used to 'attempt' to do the Flow Rider on the board and the only one in the grandstand laughing loudly and unabashed and filming was my wife.  😲

 

Then I anticipated revenge on the iFly (she wouldn't do Flow Rider at all).  She doesn't work out, have any tone, etc. and didn't even want to do it.  Said she had been having bad dreams about it for weeks.  Then, she was picked first, was calm, collected and aired balanced, beautiful and long.  🙁

 

I did awful.  Too tense.  Bounced around in there like an popcorn in an air popper.  🤕  Got better as we did it over and over as there were no lines at all.

We did this about 7 years ago.  I was so terrified I would end up on my back on the floor.  However, thankfully we both did OK and nothing humiliating happened so we consider it a WIN!

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

There were some jolts. I tried to avoid head on collisions. My tactic was to do donuts, then sideswipe Laura

We went on the bumper cars on another cruise and after standing in line for three rotations, when it was my turn my car ran out of battery juice immediately and my car just sat there...grrrrrr.

Hello!  We are on the Feb. 26 sailing and will be following your adventures.  Thank you so much for posting.  We are trying to decipher all of the abbreviations that are used and have figured out most of them but what does LA stand for?  We are D+ but haven't booked suites.  We usually visit the Diamond Lounge for cocktail hour. 

Have a great cruise!

Bonnie and Dave

What is the current political climate in the downtown area?  Have the protests been cleared up?  My husband is concerned that problems could erupt again.

Bonnie

We were in Alaska in August and had hoped to see whales there.  We did see one tail, several blows, and a few backs, but everyone told us if we want to see whales breech go to Hawaii in February.  Looking forward to it in a few days!

17 hours ago, Croptop said:

25 January 2019 - Maui

 

You know how I know when I'm having a good vacation? When I go to write out the date and realise that I haven't got a clue what day of the week it is. It's Friday, right?

 

Anyway, today we're in Maui. Early this morning, the Emerald anchored off of the coast snuggled between the islands of Maui and Lanai. I gave it about an hour before heading down to get onto a tender and was rewarded with walking right onto a tender. Not sure where the crowds are. Tender ports are usually a madhouse for the first while as everyone fights to get off of the ship.

 

Today, I had an "adventure" unlike any other I've ever had on a vacation.

 

With no plans for the day, I just wandered around Lahaina for the morning seeing what I could see and enjoying the distinct lack of snow and slush on the ground. I don't need snorkels or fins or helicopter rides to make me happy. Just give me a path that doesn't require shoveling and isn't cold.

 

 

But anyway, there I am, wandering around Lahaina minding my own business and not thinking about snow when a young woman pounces from the shadows of a shop I was ignoring and offers me some sort of sampler packet of something.

 

I know, I know... I should have done the typical "no thanks", semi-polite smile and kept walking. Heck, with the earbuds I had in, I could have even pretended that I didn't hear her. But no. Not only did I make eye contact (mistake 1) and stop walking (mistake 2) and take out my earbuds (mistake 3) but I actually let her place the sampler packet in my hand and said what I thought was, "Thank you" but somehow must have sounded more like, "Hey ma'am. I'd like to spend my morning talking about skin care products!"

 

The next thing I know, she's telling me she'll give me another sample that will either a) get rid of bags under the eyes, b) tighten up wrinkles around eyes, or c) eliminate dark circles from under  eyes. I just have to tell her which one I want and then I can be on my way and if I like it, I should come back to, you know, buy stuff.

 

Sensing that I can just pick one of the three options and then be on my way without being mean or rude, I meekly reply, "Uh... bags?" 

 

"Take off your sunglasses. Let me have a look." she commands.

 

I comply.

 

She recoils a bit and says, "I'll get you something for all three."

 

Yup. There's my ego fully taken care of.

 

Next thing I know, she's dragged me into the shop and has slapped some sort of creme onto the skin beneath my right eye ("Look up!" she demands) and is now holding a little handheld fan ("Look up!") about half a centimeter from my eye to... I don't know... dry the cream? All while maintaining a steady diatribe ("Look up!") of how I don't seem to take care of my skin very well ("Look up!").

 

Then she whips out a little mirror, holds it in front of my face and says, "There. See how much better your right side looks." But I don't look because I'm too busy looking up. I know that the mirror is just a trick to get me to look down at which point I'll be admonished again.

 

But finally, I look.

 

Now I'm not a stupid man. 

 

OK. Let me walk that back a bit. I don't THINK I'm a stupid man. But I'll be damned if I could see a difference. So I said, "Uh... maybe."

 

Crap! Should have said "NO!"

 

So then she asks, "Do you moisturise? If I were to show you a product that you need to apply once a week to get rid of those dark circles and wrinkles, would you use it."

 

I sensed my out!

 

"Uh... no."

 

Pause.

 

"Don't you care about your skin? Don't you want to take care of yourself?"

 

"Uh... no." I start plotting my escape route.

 

Defeated, she lowers the mirror and tells me, "Then you are not my customer."

 

Checkmate.

 

I got out of there fast and didn't look back.

 

So that was my tale of how a 20-something woman in Maui crushed my spirit.

 

Spent the rest of the day chilling in the Sanctuary and watching the whales frolic straight ahead of my lounger. Who needs to spend money on whale watching excursions when you can just watch 'em from the Sanctuary? With beverage service.

 

For the record, I put on some sunscreen but I didn't moisturise.

 

Apparently that makes me a terrible person.

We had the same experience on the strip in Vegas.  My friend participated and could really tell the difference in the skin under her eyes, but she didn't buy anything.

It's nice to see that we will be able to see whales right from the ship.  I thought we would but my hubby insisted on booking a whale watch tour.  I hope it's worth it! 

We are also on the Feb 2 cruise and are busy prepacking!  Thank you for your posts and we will be reading! Would love to hear some details about the sea days.

Bonnie

What about the one at Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau? Is that possible? I know when we were at Mendenhall the Glacier ice/snow was soft with a temp of approximately 60F. With a rough hot summer it would not surprise me that thenseadon finished finished early.

 

The railroad is Skagway is interesting, we have done it twice. The glass blowing we did was great too.

 

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate news.

Thank you Andrew. We decided to just book the helicopter ride to the glacier with no sled dogs. They do let us walk on the glacier. They still have the helicopter with dog sled at another port, I think Juneau, but now they are charging $700+ (ours was $525) and we decided it was too much.

We were just notified that our helicopter and dog sled tour out of Skagway has been canceled for next week. The glacier conditions have deteriorated and the dog teams have been removed for the rest of the season. Sad!

Bless you Andrew for taking the time to write these reviews. They enrich the lives of those of us who are looking forward to their own Alaska cruise vacation and those who for one reason or another will never be able to have that privilege. Our Alaska vacation begins in 9 days. As a side note, we also have experienced visits from departed loved ones while on cruises. They are there with you for sure!