perfect match

We really enjoyed brunch on our last couple of cruises. However, brunch ran until 1:30 PM and they had options for both breakfast and lunch foods, so you could have whatever meal you wanted. I always chose breakfast while DH frequently chose lunch. We were both happy. I hope it is the same way when we board Allure in a couple of months. Actually, since we’re doing two short sailings I don’t think they will be doing brunch on the second leg of our B2B, the three day sailing but there are two sea days on the 4 day leg so I’m hopeful for brunch on the sea days that runs until 1:30. I have been watching the weather that’s heading your way. Hope you and your family stay safe through the storm.

Thank you @cruisinghawg and everyone else who has contributed to this wonderful and very informative thread! I have really enjoyed cruising along with you! Congratulations to Toby for winning Best of the Best on the Icon Flowrider! I was not particularly interested in sailing on Icon before reading this thread along with a couple of others from both this sailing and the non revenue sailings that preceded it. You have won me over. I am now trying to figure out when I can fit an Icon or more likely a Star sailing out of Port Canaveral into our schedule. 🤩

I’ll be following! Oasis should be fun. 🤩

I got some of the Effectors videos to play just now, but after the first two or 3 it didn’t work any more. Perhaps my so called high speed internet isn’t up to the task. I probably should do a speed test, but I have absolutely no idea what the numbers they give me mean…. My iPad is getting old, 6th generation (I just had to go look for that) but it has had all of the latest updates. I don’t know if it’s age would make any difference.

I have a pet peeve with the roving piano player. For the most part, I think having him or her on the ship can be a fun encounter. However, when that piano player moves into an elevator or into an already busy, congested hallway I’m not so amused! Elevators are always a wait at best. Adding a piano into that elevator takes it away from its intended purpose which is to transport guests from one floor to another. There are many cruisers who are in wheelchairs or scooters or on walkers for whom taking the stairs is not an option. There are others, myself included who can manage the stairs just fine some of the time, just not all of the time. Falling down the stairs is not something I want to do, but has been a risk I have had to take so someone can play a piano in the elevator. Crowded hallways, like right after a show lets out and people are all pushing and shoving to get to their next activity = not a good location for a piano player either. The acoustics in a cruise ship elevator are, let’s just say, less than ideal for listening to piano music! I wish that better, safer places could be found for the piano player. Ok, rant Thanks for listening. Let’s get back to Harry’s excellent review! By the way, Harry, I couldn’t view your Effectors videos on my iPad. I could see your other videos, but for some reason not these. I have no idea why. 🤔 Edit: Harry, I forgot to say that I’m glad that you, your family, and your home did not suffer any damages from all of the rain.

We sailed on Odyssey in April, 2020. On our sailing the price for the paid version of iFly was $29/pp and for North Star was $19/pp. What a difference a year makes!

I loved the sunrise shot of the Opera House! The view of it from North Star wasn’t bad either. 😎

What an incredibly special time for you and your family! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Twangster, I’m halfway through this review and I’m totally blown away! The wildlife pictures are spectacular. The penguins, especially the parents sitting on their chicks are probably my favorites. Then there’s the Rockhoppers, I’ve always loved them. Then the various seals, the birds in flight, I’m at a loss for words….. and I haven’t even mentioned the 360 degree camera and the commentary that accompanies the photos. When I finish here I’m going to have to go and find your Galapagos thread. While I’d love to get to Antarctica some day, the Galapagos are at the top of my bucket list. Thank you for sharing your travels with us.

Great set of pictures, Harry! I don’t think I ever took any pictures there, or very few at best. We were always hurrying off to get somewhere or the area was so packed with people that I didn’t bother. It’s nice to see your pictures.

Thank you. You’re right, of course. I just realized that I was mixing up Icon and Utopia and came back here to correct my mistake. Add in Star of the Seas to the mix and with all of these shiny new ships coming out I can’t keep them straight.

All I can say is WOW! I am loving seeing Icon through your eyes! I had no plans to book this ship. At her current prices I still don’t. If the prices come down enough then I’m in. I hate that Icon is only sailing short itineraries now. There’s way too much to see and do on this ship for 3 or 4 day cruises. Yes, I know I can do a B2B like we’re doing in a couple of months. I’d rather have a 7 or 8 day sailing so I didn’t have to deal with a turn around day. I can’t wait to read the rest of your review!

Yes, basically the same deck plan. I think the specific one I saw and haven’t been able to find again was for Ovation. As long as the room numbers are the same it should be the same with any of the Q class ships. In Harry’s case, the angled balcony is a perfect reference point. Thanks for posting this.

Was this picture from your room with the angled balcony or the regular one? Even though it is interesting to get an up close look at how the lifeboats are suspended, I’d rather not be looking at that view for the whole cruise. I remember that a few years back someone had posted a link to deck plans that showed exactly where the lifeboats were and which ones were the most obstructed like your picture. If I can find it I’ll post a link but it won’t be tonight. Bedtime 😴.

What? No textbooks in college any more? 😱 I don’t know how I would have gotten through school without my textbooks and highlighters! Thank goodness those days are behind me! Far behind! 😂 We were in a JS on Odyssey so we had upgraded bathroom amenities, or maybe it was because we’re 💎. I’m not sure but what we had was ok. When we sail Wonder in September we’re in a Boardwalk balcony so I’m not going to expect anything more than the single soap for everything. I’m going to put a note in my folder for that cruise to bring my own soap, shampoo and conditioner on that cruise. Thank you for that reminder. We never did get to ride the bumper cars on Odyssey. It was on our list of things to do, but we always seemed to have other things we wanted to do when they were open. Guess we will just have to book another Odyssey cruise! 😎 Not out of NY, though. Florida based cruises work best for us. We are traditional late diners like your family. We did switch to MTD on our first couple of cruises right after the restart, but have gone back to our preferred traditional late time slot. Like your family members, I have food allergies and I really appreciate the fact that I don’t have to go over the foods I need to avoid with a dire rent waitstaff each night. I’m happy to report that I’ve never had a problem on any cruise ship that we have been on.

I am very happy for you and your family that you were the ones chosen. Mr Bayley’s office made a great choice! I’ll bet you’re glad you answered that phone call from the unknown Miami number. I probably wouldn’t have. I will definitely be following along here!

So, hove those cows been on board Radiance since she was built? Must have been the inspiration for the Ben & Jerry’s cows. Now I’m wondering where those Ben & Jerry’s cows have gone. 🤔 We have yet to sail on a Radiance class. We had one booked but were bumped for a charter. We’ll have to try again. Please don’t go giving them any ideas! 😱 @SteelCityCruiser10, I’m glad Emma is feeling better. She’s a beautiful dog. I’ll be checking Dani’s thread for updates on your VV cruise.

Thank you very much for a wonderful review of your Jewel cruise! Your pictures have been fabulous too. Hope your dog is ok. I always worry about our cats whenever we are away. I’m quite sure that neither of them would willingly accompany out cat sitter to the vet should it become necessary. 🙀 Having a family member available and a mobile vet was a great solution. Hope you have a safe trip home.

@island lady, Are those cows refugees from the former Ben & Jerry’s “Sweet”? 😂

If we see our luggage anywhere in the hallway on boarding day we always grab it ourselves as soon as we see it and get it into our room. That way we can get unpacked right away. Nice photo from your Samsung! I think my iPhone can do better at zooming in than I know how to make it do, I’m working on my photography skills and have made some progress but I still have a way to go in the learning process. Harry, I can totally relate to you liking the hard copies and even use them the same way as you do. I can manage reading from my iPad but my iPhone, not so much. My aging eyes just can’t manage as well on the smaller screen, and I find writing notes or highlighting to be very helpful. I’m glad we have options.

I’m following! Enjoying the journey. I suspect that a lot of people are a bit distracted by the Icon sailings.

Norris and Carol, thank you for another fantastic GSJ! I enjoyed every last bit of it - well, except for the part where you both got Covid again! Barry and I sailed on Koningsdam but that was before Covid shut everything down. We very much enjoyed our 10 day Southern Caribbean sailing in our aft balcony room. Besides the great aft view, the thing I most enjoyed about our balcony room was something I never thought I’d have reason to say - the shower! We will most likely sail on HAL again at some point. While I have no idea as to what may have changed since cruising restarted, based on what I know about your and Carol’s cruising style from reading so many of your GSJ’s I think you will find your Rotterdam cruise to your liking.

Looks like I’m late finding your review, Twangster. I’ve also been intrigued by Antarctica for many years and I love your reviews and photography so I’m going to take my time and enjoy this trip.

Great pictures and great report! We normally cruise and love the big ships but you’ve got me thinking about Jewel. We would certainly like your itinerary. Thank you.

Harry, we had a similar experience to yours in booking what we wanted to do online once we boarded the ship. We got to port early AB’s since we were in a JS we were able to wait in the suite area. It was a nice place to wait. At the rate prices are going up lately, we may never be able to afford even a JS again though. ☹️ Well, we do have a JS on each leg of our upcoming B2B on Allure, but that’s the last we may have for a while. Anyway, as soon as we got on board I logged on to the internet and was able to book both the free and paid slots that we wanted on both the North Star and iFly. I was also able to book The Book and sort out a problem with my excursion in Grand Cayman. My pre cruise booking for The Book had disappeared from the cruise planner somehow. I have no idea how or why that happened but I was able to replace it. My Grand Cayman excursion disappeared when they added additional times available pre cruise and I tried to change to a different time slot. It cancelled my booking but wouldn’t let me rebook the new times. I had to go to the Shore Excursions desk to get that sorted out. The paid sessions for both North Star and iFly were always marked as sold out pre cruise from the moment they appeared on the cruise planner pre cruise, but as I said earlier, I was able to get both our free and paid spots booked on day 1. My one comment about having to book everything on day 1 was that it really made our first couple of hours on the ship feel very hectic. I would much prefer to already have all of those bookings done before I step foot on board so I can relax and enjoy the ship instead of having to take care of things that could have been done beforehand. I’m hoping that on Allure I will e able to do my bookings beforehand like I have done on all of our past Oasis class cruises.