sgmn

20 hours ago, Jimbo said:

 

Some of the hotels also might not have elevators or real good air conditioners systems........Is this a common thing for some of the hotels in Europe to not have elevators. I guess not all hotels there have AC either? Is this a common thing there?

Definitely not so much air con in older European city centre hotels or Airbnb private apartments. If you're lucky there may be fans. 

Lifts I would say depends on how old the building is and how many floors. Most decent size hotels should have lifts.

You can always filter in air con and elevators into a search engine like Booking.com 

A lot of ports are great for DIY but beware some ports are far from the top tour destinations. For instance Rome from Civitavecchia and Florence from Livorno.  Personally for these ports we take the ships transport that allows us to DIY once in Rome etc.  

Book Vatican museum entry or other Gallery or Museum entry in advance and skip the line

Looking forward to the new 'Shardlake' series starting tonight on Disney. I've listened to all the books on Audible in the series.  Sad that the author passed away a few days ago.

And it has Sean Bean so win win 😉

Also looking forward to the new 'Clarksons Farm' series starting on Prime in a few days 

18 hours ago, Arzeena said:

 

But my major excitement is about the small possibility that Captain Kate will be on board.....either as Captain or cruiser. And those mini lemon meringue tarts at Bacio.......😁🥰 umm umm umm!

She was very 'present" all over the ship on our Beyond cruise two years ago (along with our lovely Dani and hubby). Often seen in the cafe doling out cakes and did a very interesting talk in the theatre one afternoon. I've got a pic of her with me and Gary somewhere 

On 4/29/2024 at 9:13 PM, jmh2006 said:

Hi CC friends!  It has been a rough 10 days.  As some already know from that other site that shall remain nameless, I lost my dear father very unexpectedly on April 18th.  He was in good health up to the very end and would have been 88 this August.  I returned home today after a week down in North Carolina, where he lived, to help my sister take care of all the "things".  My sister moved down there from NJ last summer.  While I am still a little bit in shock that he is gone (my mother died in 2014), I am so thankful he was living life to the fullest up to the very end and we were all together the first weekend of April for a fun filled time.  My father had moved into a lovely independent living community in the fall of 2022 so he had downsized quite a bit which was very helpful this past week as were emptying his apartment.  I also urge everyone to have all their important papers organized in a file for your loved ones, should anything happen unexpectedly as did for us.  Even though we knew where all the "stuff" was he still had little post it notes all over his desk of passwords for his computer.  😃  We will be having a Celebration of Life in the summer down in NC for him.  

Sorry to hear about your dad, the shock and finality when it's unexpected can be harrowing to come to terms with. Heartfelt condolences 🙏 

  But it sounds he had a long and great life. And its conforting to know that he didn't suffer with any long painful disease or dementia 

RIP

On 4/29/2024 at 7:55 PM, Ozark_Kid said:

 

As for your concerns, here is what helps me.  

Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.   This has kept me from playing monopoly a few times.  Arguing rarely changes anything so why waste time.

Consider renting a bike while there.  We loved riding bikes there.  Easy to get around.  Also if a topic comes up and you want to avoid it say, Be back in awhile and go jump on the bike!  Try to enjoy the 5 days.  Lots to see and enjoy. 

Have a safe trip!

Wow, such great advice. Wish more people were like you, perhaps the world would get on better 

On 4/29/2024 at 11:21 AM, dani negreanu said:

 

 

Sue and Donna,

 

Pls. help me understand... "12 hours shifts" -- does it mean continuous 12 hours, or 4 days [shifts] of 12 hours, and then 4 days off?

 

Same as 3 week end days in a row?

 

When I've served in the army, we had 7 hours shifts with 2 breaks of 20 mins of sitting down.

 

We're patrolling in what may be called the "Grand Central", checking suspects of terrorism activity.

 

I used to return home whipped out.

 

Since then, I'm sitting down whenever I have the possibility....😉

I did both three on, three off. Day shifts 7am to 7pm, so 36 hrs in a six day week

Then four on, four off, two days 7am - 7pm and two nights 7pm to 7am. 48 hrs in an 8 day week.

Nights shifts finished 7am on first day off but you got a 24 period off between days and nights.  This was at LGW in the 70s to 90s.

  LHR doesn't have night flights, so shifts start at 5am and finish at 11pm (early and lates, 8 hour, four on two off, so 32 hours in a 6 day week.

Glad to see the back of shift work 

I definitely think there's a place for smaller more environmental friendly ships.  More and more ports/countries seem to be voting against mass tourism, and perhaps with smaller ships Royal Caribbean can offer more interesting itineraries 

10 minutes ago, rrraydon said:

Good morning! However, I work overnights, so 2 more hours of work and I get to go home and go to bed. I guess it's like night time for me instead of morning. 😁

I use to do days and nights shifts , 12 hour shifts, four on four off. The feeling of going home and snuggling into bed as everyone else was going to work almost made shift work worth it. 

55 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is partly sunny and 46°F here at 09.16am.

I hope everyone is safe and well and y'all had a great weekend and looking forward to a nice day today.

Beautiful sunny day here too. First for ages. Its been such  cold wet winter and Spring so  it's lovely to see the sun again 

On 4/27/2024 at 11:13 PM, firefly333 said:

 The drive over all those bridges from one key to another is a fabulous drive. Takes a whole day from miami when I've done it. Slow drivers also enjoying the drive.

 

Key west has roosters and bars, no real beach. Just nothing special by itself though at sunset everyone goes to Mallory square ro clap for the sunset. Dont see that either on a cruise ship. 

When we first got married and Gary was building flying hours, the cheapest way was to fly within Florida. We spent a couple of weeks flying up and down and across the state, including along the keys.  We got buzzed by two fighter jets, think out of Homestead.  Lots of stories from that trip 

On 4/26/2024 at 9:31 AM, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is sunny but cool 39°C here in North East England.

Nothing planned for today as my knee and hip arthritis is painful.

The lawn people are coming out to put weed and feed/fertilizer on our back and front lawns today.

I hope everyone is safe and in good health and y'all have a good day.

 

Sorry to hear about your arthritis Graham, can the Dr's suggest anything to help?

17 hours ago, Lionesss said:

PART ONE

 

Good afternoon from Curaçao  

 

Woke up to pre ordered breakfast from room service. 
 

We were group 12 for the turtle swim and met in studio B. 

Very organized led to an outdoor line. 
Tickets collected. 
Off to large van like taxi cab which easily seats 12 adults. 
30 min ride to turtle location. 
 

Boarded boat. Safety talk. Fitted for fins mask snorkel  vest. 
 

Jump off boat from a couple feet up. 
 

So 

Rough waters.
Waves a tad to high for my liking. 

Turned in gear. 
I just. Chilled on the boat. 
 

We had about 30 on excursion. 
A tad crowded. 
 

About 45 min for those who did it. 
 

No turtles

One stingray. 
 

Back to shore. 
 

This was a newer company RCI used. 
Technically the old one was better. 

But 
Boat was older. 
Not enough seating on first 

Disappointing that you didn't enjoy the turtle excursion.

We had better luck last September. It was a RC excursion called Beach and Turtle snorkel. We first went to quite a rough looking fishing beach and entered the water directly from beach.   We saw tons of turtles just a few yards off the beach.  They swam all around us.  We then went to a very nice beach where there were beach beds roped off for us and some great snorkeling around the rocks at the far end of beach. 

One of my favourite excursions

Wishing Lennie, Bonnie, Dani and anyone else who celebrates,  a happy and peaceful Passover with your loved ones 

15 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Congratulations on your 53rd anniversary.  Wishing you many more. 🎉

From me too, Happy Anniversary @DaniDanielle

23 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Finally, we were reunited with our grands late this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh I'm so pleased for you all.  I've been thinking of you and wondering if they made it home for Passover.

Big hugs all round 🤗 

 Ps edited to say that's a lovely family photo of you all together 

2 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Good evening.  Another beautiful day in Victoria.  Nice views for the guests on Explora

 

We did an early morning walk to and across the Johnson Bridge then around the Harbour edge. Us Aussies were delighted to watch the otters swimming in the water. Absolutely blessed with this weather.

 

 

 

Had a nice lunch on the patio overlooking the harbour at Spinnakers Brewpub.  Then hopped on one of the cute little harbour ferries back to The Empress Hotel.  Flowers outside the hotel look pretty in the sunshine.

 

 

We have Neil the (Elephant)  Seal getting up to lots of mischief in a Tasmanian town.  Victoria BC has Emerson the (Elephant) Seal deciding that being moved by the authorities 150km from Victoria to near Ucluelet was not appealing so he swam 30km per day for 4 days,  back to his favourite beach in Victoria and we unexpectedly met him snoozing peacefully in the sun on the beach today, letting out a few snorts much to the amusement of the kids watching from above.  
 

 

 

We also visited the Bug Zoo which is around the corner from our Condo.  We all found it fascinating due to the passionate staff.  I’ll spare you the photos of the Tarantulas which were my favourite.

 

Dinner was at the Sticky Wicket Pub.
 

 Post dinner we strolled down to see the Parliament Buildings lit up - which is probably the only thing cruisers see on their very short time in Victoria on many itineraries.

 

Beautiful photos Aussie.  I've been there once on a cruise port and Gary started his trans Canada bike ride from Victoria.  He has a good friend who lives there and who cycled the first few days into the Rockies with him.

Heard from my old Emirates colleagues about terrible flooding in Dubai causing havoc at the airports and the city.  Feel for my friends dealing with massive disruptions.  Been there too many times ......

Talking about weather in the UK we had all four seasons yesterday with rain and winds, sunshine and a hailstorm with big chips of ice.  

41 minutes ago, snaefell said:

 

As for spirits I was once given a miniature bottle of Gordon's AF gin with pink grapefruit,all you could taste was pink grapefruit which made me question the point of buying AF Gin which,here in the UK at least,tends to be pretty much the same price as the alcoholic version!

That leads me to the biggest bugbear when it comes to drinking AF IMO,that is the price you will pay when out & about,in bars & restaurants here in the UK LA & AF beers can be twice the price of the alcoholic beers,to me if I was the designated driver out for a night with my mates I wouldn't be too pleased at having to pay twice as much to stay sober as my mates who were happily getting sloshed!😆😆

Totally agree about the prices.  I quite like Captain Morgan Spiced Gold 0.0,  hubby has it with coke and I like it with ginger ale, but its very close to the normal price for a bottle of rum in the supermarket.

BTW Tescos own NA gin and tonic mini cans are IMO better than Gordon's version 

We've had a few sunny spring days and yesterday we went for a walk along the Thames at Henley.  The river is still very fast and code red as it has been for months now, so no boats allowed out.  Here's a picture of the weir and lock at Henley 

Today is back to cloud and rain with  high winds 

7 hours ago, wrg said:

Hi all,

We are officially 40 days out. When should I expect the portal to allow us to begin reserving on-bard activities and shows? Thank you.

Which ship? Vision and Radiance class of ship don't have pre bookable shows. No reservations required.

Though there will be some onboard activities such as cupcake decorating or ships tour that you can book in advance.  

5 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We will be doing the opposite in April.  I will need to figure out how to get from Southampton to downtown London.  We’ll have too many bags I think to take a train. We actually will get off in Portsmouth, then I want to spend a couple of nights there or Southampton, taking the train to bath and maybe Cotswold? Then we’ll spend a week in London before flying home. We’ll skip Stonehenge but will do a day trip out to Windsor.

Oooh are you doing the Brilliance cruise?  I'm looking at either that one or Independance MIA to SOU

 Both good ports for a transatlantic and prices are good too. 

I've never known RC to end in Portsmouth before 

48 minutes ago, gatour said:

Thanks everyone.  I figured th NA liquor was going to be a non starter.

 

 

I am relatively new to this.  I was normally a wine drinker esp. with dinner.  I need to make a visit to Total Wine to checkout NA wine.  I am relatively new to this NA thing since zi just got my relacement liver at the beginning of March.  A

 

There are some great NA beers around including Guinness 0.0 which apparently is very good, but I've yet to taste a good NA wine.

NA liquors (Gin, Rum lookalikes etc) are widely available in supermarkets and pubs now and great with tonic water or coke, so I really don't understand why Royal Caribbean is so slow to include more NA choice.  

1 hour ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Well,   this Aussie koala will definitely be doing the full Love Actually Airport scene - flight has been pushed back a further 1 1/2hrs.  But who knows what the next update will be in the morning….

Oh no , sorry you've got aviation delays. Are you at the airport all this time ? 

15 minutes ago, gatour said:

As a recent liver transplant recipient I am now an officially a tee-totaler.

 

Curious about what non alcholic beers are avaiable.  Also any mocktails that are non-heavy i.e drinks no strawberry daiquiris or pina coladas.

 

I know this is probably asking for too much but what non alhohic liquor.  Things like non alcohol tequila.  This is a relatively recent phenomenon so it might be a bit early for cruise ships to stock it.  Ilove my margarita esp. on a cruise.  Locally several place will make a margarita with non alcohol tequila.  Not exactly a real margarita taste wise but close enough.

There's now a big choice in the shops and pubs of non alcoholic drinks, beers and wines. Unfortunately I haven't  noticed much from Royal Caribbean apart from one or two choice of beer and the non alcoholic cocktails (which are usually too sweet for me).

Hoping in the future more will be offered