Tom-n-Cheryl

I used cruisedig (.com) for our cruises last month. I was thrilled when it said that there was only 1 other ship in port with us in Nassau during our second leg. Well, when that day arrived - we were one of 4 ships there. Thus, I was questioning the accuracy of our situation later that week in St. Maarten. Fortunately, it was correct... we were the ONLY ship there! Moral of this story, trust but verify (with other additional sites)!! Tom

My professional opinion? Not a chance! Might as well go to a kiosk at the mall. Use Crest Whitestrips for a couple of weeks prior to the cruise. You'll have equal/better results (for less $) with less likelihood of discomfort or sensitivity which could put a damper on your cruise experience ! I'd also skip any procedure which sounds like it belongs in a doctors office ! Before you know it, they'll be offering liposuction (port day special...) Tom

After just getting off the Reflection yesterday, I thought I'd search this site and see if others had commented on the brownies @ Café Al Bacio. I assume that they're the same across the fleet. I only wish that I had discovered them during our first week onboard instead of the second week. Then again, perhaps that's a good thing. I stocked up on them and probably ate 10-12 this last week !! Other than a couple of the muffins in the morning, pretty much everything else I tried there (a dozen+ items) looked great, but came up waaay short! They appeared first on roughly the second day (see below), and reappeared with a dollop of vanilla frosting around day 5/6. Tom

That's still much better than our departure experience on 11/20, where we didn't leave the pier until ~ 11:30 PM !!!!! Tom

THERE it is... RIGHT THERE: "dek" --- Deck Phobia 😉 Tom

Charges for chips in the casino will go onto your shipboard account, and be settled to the credit card you gave them. In every instance that I've done this, on multiple lines, it comes across as travel on my credit card.

I can see where there might be some safety reason for having consecutive lifeboat numbers (so it might be out of their hands). I'd imagine that it's simpler if rescue personnel know that they have, in an emergency, located all the lifeboats from a ship, without having to worry about "Oh, this ship doesn't have a #13"!

Just for clarification - I wasn't saying I had a problem with lifeboat #13, but rather an inconsistency with Celebrity.

Happy Ending... So, two weeks goes by in a flash (as does two months, years, etc)! Getting off the Reflection this morning, it was nice to see that the skies were clear 🙂. We left the ship, heading towards baggage pick-up, at 7:30ish, amongst the first off who were not self-assist. We easily located our 3 bags and rounded up a porter. Swiftly through customs and out into the real world we went. I left Cheryl with our bags as I went to board a shuttle to the parking garage. Prior to getting on, I heard the woman (who seemed to be somewhat coordinating the parking garage shuttles) say "everyone here for the Palm Garage". I assumed she meant both garages (Palm, and the overflow Northport/Convention Center garage), but I asked to make sure.... Nope, these shuttles are only for the Palm Garage. I mentioned that I had parked at the Northport garage two weeks ago during the storms. She said "OK, let me work on that - wait over here". Within 5 minutes I saw her go over to one of the shuttles which was in queue, speak to the driver, then switch with them, getting into the drivers seat and pulling it up to the curb just for me! Off to Northport in a private shuttle bus, lol. Once there, the place looked familiar from two weeks ago, with one exception... NO PEOPLE! Much less hectic, compared to my earlier cluster photo 🙂 Now, I recalled the general part/side of the garage where I had parked, but I was not sure if I was on level 2 or 3. With nobody else needing the elevator, I stopped on both to lookout. Let's just say that it was easy finding my vehicle! But wait, there's icing for this cake... I had my parking ticket, printed two weeks prior. I suppose that the automated exit payment booth is not configured for people staying for two weeks at the convention center parking. When I scanned the ticket, the display said "Invalid ticket". I thought, "oh no, there's nobody here to help with this and the gate won't open, and it's a Sunday morning". Fortunately there was a help/call button at the payment booth which I pressed. Within a few seconds I explained the situation to the person who answered. She asked me to read her the ticket number, which I did. She said "Ok, Thanks, have a nice day", and the gate opened... no payment required apparently! So, for all my troubles on 11/20, I managed two weeks of free parking and a private shuttle. The sun always comes out! 🙂 By 8:10 we were on the road. Tom

I've noticed on most ships, they opt to skip labeling any decks as #13. I'm not superstitious (though I've been known to knock on wood - just because, lol), but this caught my eye on the Reflection last night as we left Tuscan Grille. There it was - a sign showing the way to the lifeboats, #13 included. So, if they're willing to skip labeling a deck as #13, do they think anyone would have an issue being told to board LIFEBOAT #13 ? !! I suppose, if it should come to that - any port (errr, lifeboat) in a storm ! Tom

One of my gripes with more and more restaurants nowadays. If they sit someone 24" away from you, they might as well be at the same table! We prefer to dine alone or with people we know - not via roulette... Tom

That rings a bell 🔔 ! Someone waiting for debarkation this morning mentioned that he was changing ships today. Not sure if that's accurate or not Tom

John approached us yesterday evening in Michael's to ask if we wanted our Seapass cards from the prior sailing back. After a bit of discussion, he asked if we'd like to have him print the new style cards for our collection. Our butler was Regine. We only had drinks a few times in Michael's, the bartender was an older Jamaican (as I overheard) gentleman, but I didn't get his name. Tom

I'm not sure it was even noticed. I'd say there's a good chance that a number of the crew have not been brought up to speed on this. Though, full disclosure - we did not receive the new style cards until yesterday (last day of our cruise). Tom

Perhaps this has been pointed out already, and I'm not sure about other cabin categories, but now there are two versions of suite cards, one with the standard two tone colors, and another with a burgundy stripe - to signify top suites. Tom

Much thanks to all the replies - some very good observations 🙂 Docked in Pt Everglades now, breakfast then debark. Cruises always end ! Tom

We've sailed in several suites, most RS+, on Solstice class ships. I was just looking at an RS on the Edge and could not help but be shocked by the (difference in the) size of the balcony. Aside from that - what's the general consensus on here regarding pros/cons? I mentioned something to the person working at the future cruise desk, and was assured that the Edge class ships are by far the most popular. From what I've read on here from time to time, I'm not sure if all CC'ers feel the same way! Tom

Good luck Tom

Thanks for the heads-up. I suspect business must be good ! Tom

Yes, but I doubt they're differentiating between the two. Tom

But of course 😁

The previous tests were with my Pixel 6 Pro, the following (just conducted) were with my Dell XPS laptop: Without VPN: With VPN: It's pretty cut and dry to me (and the latency on the VPN here was pretty impressive) !! Tom

Probably not to the garage we're at! But, yes, when it's adjacent we've been able to enjoy that benefit at multiple ports. $20-40+ goes a long way. Tom

This article helps to explain what I'm experiencing. It would appear that the VPN helps to bypass bandwidth throttling, onboard at least! Tom

OK - I just tried another speed test site. Pretty clear difference. I ran this twice, within just a couple of minutes of each other. Twice with VPN on and twice with VPN off. Each time the results were within 10% of each others, and quite different between the two! Strange Things Are Afoot At The Circle K, Ted !! WITHOUT VPN: WITH VPN: Tom