sisocialworker

1 hour ago, irisheileen said:

Yes I also am hoping that you will post these clear pictures of the Cruise Compass! Thank you for doing this and looking forward to following. We are going on the February 7th sailing.

will try for cruise compass....but I've found that most pic's are too small to read the details....I think some other site have them posted as enlargeable pics....in addition I'm not a great picture taker, but I'll try

RCI confirmed I am leaving.....no booking anything on line  

IMPORTANT UPDATE DUE TO YOUR CRUISE DEPARTING IN 1 DAYS, YOU CAN NO LONGER PURCHASE / RESERVE PRODUCTS ONLINE. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BROWSE, VIEW YOUR SCHEDULE AND ADD PRODUCTS TO YOUR WISHLIST. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE ADDITIONAL RESERVATIONS WHEN YOUR ARRIVE ON THE SHIP. ORDER HISTORY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

dropping off the fur baby and going to the bank this morning....finish packing when I get back....will post pictures of our bags later......pick up 9am tomorrow

House cleaning tomorrow 

pulled down the suitcases from the garage today...getting real

5 hours ago, LadyLion_AP said:

Following! My family is doing this cruise in a little over 2 weeks (NYE Cruise)!

welcome aboard vicariously.....It will be your turn very soon

3 hours ago, berbician said:

Thank you so much for doing this.  I will be on this same itinerary on January 10th . Would absolutely love if you could post to Cruise Compasses and advise if the drink card was offered for your cruise.    

a bit too much posting to do in cruise compasses, along with CC and periscope...but glad you are following along here on CC....i'll keep ya posted ..

2 minutes ago, Mikary said:

Please tell me more about this excursion. We might be interested to join you.

 

~ Hillary and Mike ~

this is a private journey booked through RCI...you arrange the itinerary and commit the number of people at the time you book ...you can call RCI and see if they have a guide available for your group...but it's late ..I'd do it tomorrow

It's a bit early, but we will start packing on Wednesday...DW has already started pulling things out.  Feel free to ask questions, before and during the cruise.  

Explorer of the Seas live report 12/13/19-12/22/19

I will try updating each day, but cruising vacation may get in the way.  I will also try to “periscope live”-socialwork911-.  I will try to post pictures here as well, if I can figure it out too.

Itinerary:

12/13- Car service will pick us up at 9am, be at Port Miami around 10am to embark as early as possible.      Sail away is at 5pm
              pre sail away party planned at schooner bar 2pm
              slot pull planned for 10:30pm

12/14- sea day
              meet and mingle in morning…161 people signed up

12/15- Labadee-7am-4pm

              #6 OW cabana reserved at barefoot beach

12/16-sea day
              cabin crawl planned 11:00am

12/17-Bonaire-8am-5pm.  Excursion planned and booked through RCI, Bonaire Hightlights North and South, 9:30am-12:30pm

12/18-Aruba-8am-10pm.  No pre-planned excursions

12/19-Curacao-8am-5pm.  Private Journey Excursion booked through RCI-Jewish Heritage Tour, 9am-1pm

12/20-sea day

12/21-sea day

12/22-arrive back to Miami 7am

Who we are:

I, 63yo, clinical social worker and adjunct professor and DW 59yo, computer programmer, DS, just turned 21 and finishing a radiology therapy program,  joining us. 

This is our cruise history:  Harmony of the Seas 3/19, Harmony of  the Seas 12/18, Harmony of the Seas 12/17, Oasis of the Seas 7/16, Carnival Victory-10/15, Oasis of the Seas-3/13, Explorer of the Seas-12/09, Explorer of the Seas-12/08, Brilliance of the Seas-12/07, Jewel of the Seas-4/07, Radiance of the Seas-8/06, Jewel of the Seas-4/05, Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan- 5/98-3/2010, Spirit of New Jersey 8/97- chartered for our wedding  

We are Diamond + and have Aft cabin 9394, 2 bedroom GS on deck 9.  We have always booked suite cabins, GS or OS…this will be our first time in a 2 bedroom GS. Generally, we are easy going and relax on our vacations, spend time on our veranda, walking around the ship, attending shows and people watching…..and eating…..going to the Gym daily is on the agenda too.

Since this ship has no Coastal Kitchen, we have booked the Ultimate Dining Package as we have found the food in MDR and buffet never to be hot enough (temperature wise).  In addition, we find those venues too crowded for our liking.   And while the dining choices are limited on this class of ship, Chops, Giovanni’s and Izumi….we will make due. This package also gives us lunch options during sea days.

DW and DS have booked the refreshment package.

We love the Oasis class ship, with all its amenities, and were hesitant to book this cruise since it is an “older” ship, without a CK and right before it’s due for being “amped-up”…..but we love the ABC islands and the price was right, $6686 for 9 nights in a suite, all in with gratuities, booked it while on our last cruise and got $300 OBC too.

any reviews on the explorer of seas concierge Jing Wang?  I never sailed with him...thanks 

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

Anthem, yes, Oasis, no.

do you know when the 2021 sailing go on sale

anyone's crystal ball know if anthem or oasis class will be doing a 9 night NE/Can out of NJ in 2021

thanks for the updated review...it has been awhile since I was on EoS..but will be on her on december for 9 nights ....sounds like there is  broad entertainment available as well that we are into 

time to call TV stations and hold RCI accountable for their all day glitch

2 hours ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

Yeah, cruisecookie is"innocent" in the subsequent discussions.  The real culprits are Thorben-Hendrik with his carefully selected photos (long since debunked) and sisocialworker with his blanket condemnation of all things RCCL

lump me in with my "blanket"   

10 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Whatever floats your boat.

Have a nice cruise.

you too

55 minutes ago, brillohead said:

No need to go diagnosing people.  That's not your job in this setting.  

And whether you believe it or not, you HAVE been putting forth a rather biased stance in this thread.  If you go back and read it from the beginning, and knowing now that the OP is a well-known poor historian on this forum, you'll see that you appear to have taken the OP's opinion as Divine Truth and you've formed an opinion that the ships is a rust-bucket while disregarding the many, many, many comments to the contrary. 

It appears that YOU are the one with the problem, intolerant of differing opinions.... 

i never discounted other opinion, just stated mine and what I think, and supported the OP and his pics,you all say he is not being honest, This is the first encounter I've had with him...I never said anyone else was wrong....when alluding to "OP as not knowing if he has  dementia or substance abuse problems or psychiatric problems or intelligence problems"...is making suggesting a diagnosis..I was following your lead

6 hours ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

I am not going to quote and repost Brillohead's post above, but do want to say that the comments he made express my views far more eloquently than l ever could.  I only have (had, now) one member (thorben-hendrik) on my ignore list, due to his extreme bias and selective choice of photographs (since amply debunked) to attempt to support his anti-RCL stance.  Sadly l have now added sisocialworker to the list for the same reasons. IMO, these forums are better without them.

didn't know my opinions presented "extreme bias and anti RCI stance.....you are indeed intolerant of differing opinions here and probably in all areas 

11 hours ago, brillohead said:

The sad fact is, everyone has a reputation, and almost everyone learns the story of "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf" at a very young age.  

If you really are, as you allude, a Senior Instructor Social Worker, you're well familiar with a term called "poor historian".  For those not in the medical field, it's exactly as it sounds -- someone whose story is hard to follow, doesn't match up with facts, changes from one telling to the next, etc. 

We run into poor historians in many demographics -- some are elderly people who forget what medications they take or what year they had a heart attack, some have actual dementia issues and don't even know that they have heart problems or high blood pressure or whatever, some are substance abusers who are either hiding the facts or creating stories to get more drugs or they have fried their brains to the point that they legitimately can't remember, some are psychiatric patients who have mental reasons for saying the things they do, some are just on the low end of the intelligence scale and don't have the mental capacity to comprehend their own medical situation.  

Whenever we have a "poor historian" patient, we take everything with a grain of salt (or, in many cases, several shakers full of salt).  We do our own research, ask family members or caregivers for history, look up medical and pharmacy records, etc., rather than just taking the patient's word for everything.  

In this particular thread's situation, the OP is a very well known poor historian on these boards, with a very specific agenda.  While every individual is entitled to their own opinion, everyone who reads that opinion is also allowed to take the message with a grain of salt -- or, in this case, several shakers full of salt -- and to do their own research to get to the truth of the matter. 

I don't know if the OP has dementia or substance abuse problems or psychiatric problems or intelligence problems, and I really don't care what their reason is for posting the way they do on this forum.  I just know that I pretty much don't believe anything that comes out of that person's posts.  I have that right, just as you have the right to believe whatever you want to believe.  

But the fact of the matter is, reputations matter.  If you have a reputation for giving accurate, factual information, your posts will be likely to favorably received by the members of this forum.  If you have the opposite reputation, your posts will not be likely to be received well by the members of this forum.  That's just the way reputations work. 

my profession is as I said ....while many of you here seem to know the OP and his "history"...I do/did not, despite being on the boards for many years, so I take his post as accurate, and as with all posts a grain of salt....sorry to see that some people here "block" others, and now it seems me for voicing an opinion different from theirs....the intolerance is sad...just voicing your differing opinion should be fine....open dialog rules the day, thanks for sharing @brillohead 

8 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

 

 

I take your point, now you have explained further. However l still feel that blanket comments like "RCL always fall short" without any further expansion or explanation do not help other CC-ers gain a true picture of the vessel they are asking about.

 

Perhaps if you had added "...... as l have had issues with every  RCL ship l have been on,  then in my opinion...RCL always fall short".

 

In conclusion, l am sorry you seem to have repeatedly encountered problems on past cruises.  Maybe l have just been lucky, or maybe in vacation mode l become more tolerant and less observant, but in a little under 6 weeks l embark on my 14th cruise - all bar one of the preceding 13 have been with RCL - and, to date, l have nothing of real note to grumble about ( l found VOOM on the last cruise to be poor, but a) it was thrown in at the last minute as a free extra b) on a port intensive cruise l found wifi and cell signals everywhere and c) so what if l can't get online for a day or so?)

enjoy your cruise...and be more more tolerant of others who post "their view"

3 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

 

 

That's a common misinterpretation of the site name. Just because "critic" is in the title it does not automatically mean "criticise". Rather,  it means "critique cruise ships". If (say) a theater critic saw the first night of a new play, and loved it, he would say so in his review. It would be a critique of the performance, without criticising it, despite being a critic by virtue of his role title.

 

Blanket catch-all comments such as "RCL always fall short" are unhelpful, non-specific and too 'broad brush' to add anything meaningful to the critique of any specific ship.

the critique of this ship has been specific...others here want to minimize the person's "opinion" and critique the person who posts it, rather than just "accept that person's point of view" and the facts/pictures they present...yes RCI is a mass market cruise line..they do that well.....but every RCI ship I've been on has had some issues.....did I still enjoy the cruise, sure...could it have been better-yes.....that's all the OP and self seem to be saying.....accept others points of view a their view, and not demean them 

2 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

Why sail with RCI if you feel they always fall below your standards? 

 

I'm looking forward to sailing on the Explorer in 12 days time. I have never sailed on her and the 1st cruise I've taken since turning D+  

because I'm a half full person too.....I book with eyes wide open, then close them halfway once on board

11 hours ago, brillohead said:

I find it really hard to take someone seriously when their screen name insinuates that they are a social worker and they use "SI" in their name, which is known in healthcare to stand for Suicidal Ideation.  

Of course, if this negative-minded person were my social worker, I'd probably become suicidal, too....

SI is senior instructor, if you feel suicidal go to an ER.....this is cruise "critic", be critical of cruise ships