CntPAcruiser

You can also make your own custom iced tea, for instance if you need to drink decaf or prefer a different flavor. What I do is get hot water from the beverage station and brew double-strength tea in my choice of flavor, and also get a cup of ice from the cold beverage person, and combine the two once my tea is done steeping.

What is used in Mexico is "Crema," a variation on sour cream, and according to online sources, it made its way to that part of the world via colonization by Europeans.

As a child, I liked plain Karo syrup on my pancakes--wow, so sweet! Now, my preference is butter and cinnamon sugar, though occasionally I will used homemade jam instead.

We've learned not to bother with most of the desserts on Royal anymore, between the overuse of mixes and gelatin-based "mousses," the dreaded whipped topping, and the overall lack of flavor. If it doesn't have real pieces of fruit, like some of the crumbles or crisps, we usually don't get it. The key lime pie used to be an exception, so it's sad to see they are now ruining it with topping. Used to be they only put a little rosette on it that was easy to scrape off.

Meatloaf is one of the things I am prohibited from making by my husband (casseroles being another), but every now and then I get hungry for it and make it just for myself, particularly if he's away traveling. When we got married, it was in the vows, no meatloaf and no casseroles, since his mother had made those things to death when he was growing up, and he never wanted to eat them again. My preference is to use a mix of ground meats and top it with chili sauce before cooking.

If you want, of course. There are no more meet & mingles, but the roll call has a few unofficial meets going on. And we are signing up for a slot pull as well.

How lovely! Are you on the roll call?

I don't specifically remember that there was a handicap-accessible shower in the men's locker room on Vision. I was last on in 2016, and I remember one open shower area and three shower stalls, but my recollection is that they were all the same size. You might try emailing special needs to find out, if it's a deal-breaker.

Answered as "yes" above while I was writing mine 🙂 Thank goodness!

As a kid I enjoyed root beer floats or just a nice frosty mug of root beer (extra points if you get the reference). It's not something I have regularly anymore, but on the rare occasions we eat fast food, if root beer is an option, that's often what I'll get to drink. But I haven't had a float, shake, or malt in decades. Also, growing up in Wisconsin, we had milk to drink at most meals when I was young, but I don't drink milk by the glass any longer. Just in my tea or coffee.

Vision is a nice small ship, and Baltimore is a relatively uncomplicated port. The one major drawback would be sailing in the Atlantic if you are not experienced cruisers and think that rougher seas might bother you. All things being equal, I'd jump on eight nights in a heartbeat. We'll be on Vision at the end of October and are hoping the sea gods will be kind to us on our way to Bermuda and the Bahamas, and back. Another advantage is that if you find you enjoyed your cruise, most other ships you might choose for the second one will be larger and may have more to offer. Sometimes people cruise on the biggest ship first and find anything after that a letdown.

Thanks again, and for the interesting pictures. The smoked/cured fish section on Princess looks like a treat! And the plate of fish and sushi as well. I don't even remember if they still do "sushi" at dinner in the Windjammer on Royal like they used to when we first started cruising. There was never any raw fish there, just Krab, avocado, etc., but it was nice to have a piece or two as a snack to tide us over until late seating in the main dining room. I prefer to get my smoked salmon at breakfast in the Windjammer because I prefer to have it on brown bread rather than the bagels that are offered on Royal in the main dining room. Of course, it's often available in the diamond lounge as well without having to ask for it.

Agreed, and no disrespect intended toward those who like that style of pizza, or any other. In this instance, they are welcome to it, and I'll enjoy what I like. If we really wanted this thread to blow up, we could mention a certain fruit that may or may not belong on pizza....

It is quite common to buy pizza by the slice in New York. They are large, floppy slices that are often eaten by folding them in half down the center. I find them flabby, greasy, and unappetizing. The pizza I've had in Italy is usually a thinner crust that is very well baked.

I was using it humorously, hopefully, in the general sense of being considered boorish or uncultured, since I expect declaring a dislike for New York style pizza can be considered a cultural attack in some circles. The word does generally refer to more cultured aspects of culture. Maybe I should have used troglodyte, though I've never lived in a cave either.

Thank you for this tip about the smoked salmon. This is my breakfast go-to, and it's been increasingly more difficult to find on board.

I suppose I'm a Philistine, but I do not understand the attraction of New York style pizza. My DH and I prefer a pizza "special," which in our home town is a thin-crust pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, peppers, mushrooms, and olives (we have them leave off the onions).

I'm not a huge lobster fan. Whole lobster with butter? I'll pass. Probably not even a lobster tail. But I do enjoy lobster bisque and, for example, pasta or rice dishes "flavored" with lobster. First tasted lobster on a flight from Milwaukee to DC on Midwest Express, back in the day. It was a cold lobster salad served on the half shell. Somehow I expect they recycled the shells.

Love, love, love trying different cuisines. Milwaukee, when we lived there, meant we tried French, Italian, German, Chinese, Polish, Indian and Japanese. A visit to Madison, WI, gave us a taste of Afghan. Moving to where we live now reduced our chances, but in the meantime we've tried Korean and a few more. And of course cruising has allowed us to try foods on numerous islands, offering multiple versions of curry and barbecue.

Let's hope they stay that way. There's mention here of a drydock. Hopefully the so-called amplification will be a sad memory for the time being. It's a shame they destroyed Freedom, Voyager, and Navigator. Freedom was one of our favorite ships, and now we'll avoid her because of what they did to the fitness center/locker rooms. Adventure and Explorer were only spared because of COVID, and maybe for at least a while they won't be able to ruin them the way they did Voyager.

I'm not sure if your question was ever answered, but no, unfortunately, all the new build ships from Royal only have thermal suites that are for a fee and are mixed-sex, starting with Oasis/Allure and going forward. And now some of the older ships that had complimentary facilities have been ruined in renovations (the so-called amplification).

Many of the ones I went to in my teens and college years in Green Bay and Milwaukee are sadly no longer there, and I am content with my happy memories. There is a restaurant in Green Bay called Krolls that had a butterflied pork chop sandwich on a butter-toasted roll with pickles I remember being incredibly good, but it has changed on their menu and I doubt is at all the same. Their food is probably still darned good!

I use Crystal hot sauce in so many prepared items as a seasoning, as well as to top off certain dishes.

We tend to stick with the smaller, older ships but you never know! Thanks again. Until then, I'll continue to bring my little travel set of bitters.

Thanks for pointing that out. I've asked on a few cruises and have never actually found them in stock, however. They probably don't have Peychaud's either, but I'll have to check for those next time, too.