treborrv

Just did it with my kids and we had a great time - solved the puzzle with 15+ minutes to spare too! Well worth the $20, especially on a sea day

Great story - thanks for sharing it with us!

I have sailed on most classes of RCCL ships - the things that set them apart for me from Carnival (the only other cruise line I have sailed):

Artwork on board, dining options and food quality, kids club activities, entertainment, staff attentiveness

None of this is to say that I didn't enjoy Carnival. But the expression I've used to quickly describe and compare the two lines is this: Carnival is mainly a 3 star cruise line that has a few 4 star activities; Royal is a 4 star cruise line that occasionally hits the 5 star mark for me.

Rob

Mine is an unusual one, but it's called a Lager & Lime (first found at one of the pubs - I think on Allure but it may have been Liberty)

Basically, you take your favorite beer (Harp, Guinness, Bass all work for me) and add about 3-4 oz of lime juice

Incredibly refreshing IMHO

Rob

We also did it in Cozumel as a group of 8 - guys vs gals - and it was great! Over land and sea, throughout different parts of the city, culminating with a nice lunch and a couple of cervezas (and the thrill of victory - us guys won!)

The locals are very helpful - they can recognize you because you're running around with a frantic "Where do I go from here?" look on your face. If the one in St. Martin is anywhere near as good, I would think that you will have a blast.

Pic 1 is our whole group at the end of the race

Pic 2 is the girls with their faces painted like reindeer (their booby prize for finishing 2nd!)

Rob

No idea - sorry

Congrats on the win!

I'd take 2 days on her in a heartbeat

Here's a link to the site for the contest -

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/tickettoadventure/

Enter every day if you like. Also, different mini-games in each neighborhood where you could win something (though you'll most likely just get a $25 OBC for a new booking)

Rob

Also - there's roughly half of the casino (including a bar area) that is designated for smoking.

Rob

I was on the same cruise and I think I disagree with every one of your points. I had a great time, enjoyed all of my meals, saw all the shows I wanted...sorry your experience wasn't as good as mine.

YES!!! Mo5aic was incredible - not just for the show on stage, but because the rest of the cruise they could be found hanging out at either the Schooner Bar or the Pub with the piano & guitar players singing along with them.

Coming in second, and this one is more because I really, really love 80s/90s music, was Slippery When Wet - a great Bon Jovi tribute band.

Ron Lucas was very funny, but the show was short.

Kenny James was a great singer but the show was a bit too sappy for my taste.

Beatlemania (?) or one of the other Beatles tribute bands were fun as well

You're all most welcome

Rob

Link to the July 25-31 2015 Cruise Compasses from Oasis

My sister was on this cruise - I asked her to bring me back the compasses so I could (a) be envious and (b) share here and elsewhere

Enjoy

Rob

Had a Promenade room on the 7th floor a few weeks ago; no noise issues. Remarkably well insulated from the sound, even during the parades and parties.

Thanks for the compasses!! I'm leaving in less then 100 days!!

You're very welcome and I hope you have as great of a time on your cruise as we did on ours!

Rob

Ah, great. Thanks for the help! Maybe you could also tell me if the parking is convenient? Trying to decide between port parking or off-site, not so much a matter of expense, but more that too far of a walk will be problematic for a few of the drivers in my group. All of my other experiences at PE were up at the north end where the parking is right across from the terminal. TIA

 

Just looked at the port map.... I don't see ANY parking indicated near 29.

We've used the offsite Park-n-Go for our last few cruises there and couldn't be happier. Less expensive, still incredibly close, great porter/drivers AND they have monkeys (real, live animal monkeys) that live in the small section of forest beside their location and we see them every time we go in!

On the last night I simply approached everyone I wanted to tip and gave it to them with a handshake and a thank you. No real discretion, but no attempt to be flashy either. I think any way you do it is OK.

Rob

Absolutely! Hot dog and beer at home = eh. Hot dog and beer on the pool deck = magic.

I was on Indy the week of 6/28.

I agree with you - the Schooner Bar staff was great! I also loved the guys working at the Squeeze Bar (by the H2O Zone) and the Dog and Badger pub. Had a great time and great service with any of them.

Odysea was pretty good - wish I'd have made it around to see them play a bit more often, but karaoke was calling me.

Glad you had a great first cruise. Same thing happened to me on my first - I got hooked. So much fun.

Rob

I live less than 5 minutes away from the Ft Myers airport - right where the old entrance used to be off of Daniels Pkwy.

Hope you have a good flight in and a great cruise on Indy!

There are about 15 of us stopping in Falmouth on the Freedom in April 2016. Can you tell me a bit more about the Blue Hole tour you took? I went out to the website, but it didn't give many details. Is there hiking to the "hole"? Ages in our group range from 8-65. Thank so much!!!

We just did the Blue Hole and then river tubing there last week - our guide was Errol and we had people from ages 8-73 in our group. There's a little bit of hiking to get up to the places on the Blue Hole where you jump, but not bad. One of the grandma's in our group did the jumps, one did not.

I second the OP's thoughts about the Blue Hole - IT WAS PHENOMENAL!!! I would do it again tomorrow if I could. Our main tour guide was Errol and the driver we had was Melovan - they were great. Then the guys that led the groups at the Blue Hole were as courteous and helpful as they could be - when they were not showing off by climbing and jumping from as high as 75 feet for our entertainment! My kids and I probably made 15 jumps from various places there - so much fun!!!

The river tubing afterwards was icing on the cake; nothing like enjoying an ice cold Red Stripe while lazily tubing down a stream in Jamaica on a hot summer day.

Can't recommend this highly enough. Truly a fantastic excursion. Take along waterproof cameras to capture as much of it as you can!

Rob

Ft. Myers. A fan of the Greenwave or Vikings?

I like both schools, but I live out near the Jet Blue ballpark so I guess I gotta call the Gateway Griffins my home team.

Course, since I'm a soccer official, I can't really have any favorites. Gotta be impartial as best I can

Rob

Thanks for posting the compass...that's a lot of work. I wanted to ask about the boardwalk hot dogs I see on sea days. It looks like they changed it up a bit. It was at the squeeze bar but now I see its at the pool bar. Did it move or did RCL change the name of the bar? Did you try them?

I had a brat on one of the days with peppers and onions and a beer. Quite delicious! They were set up on the same side as the squeeze bar, just further towards the front of the ship

Rob

Yeah that's the first time I could recall them assigning show based on muster stations.

Glad to answer any other questions or help out in any way I can. Loved my cruise on Indy and wouldn't hesitate to book another!

Rob

Last week on Independence, the audition for the newlywed couple was to see which couple could give the most passionate kiss (as judged by audience applause). Some took it serious, some went campy of for humor. Winner was the guy who swept his wife up into his arms and kissed her - he was about 6'4" and she was about 4'10" so it was fairly easy for him and quite romantic.

This was done at showtime (you didn't need to get there early) but I think everyone else is right when they say the closer to center stage you are, the better your chances.

Good luck!