Sydney To Tahiti to Hawaii Ovation

[Surfguyxxx]

On 4/18/2019 at 5:29 PM, Coralc said:

That is correct jc. She gets 3 points per night and the husband gets to tag along on her higher point level. When she gets to Pinnacle, they both do.  

I am totally confused??????????????😕

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Do you know the status of the CL on your sailing yet? 

That sailing and next, no D+ in CL.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Surfguyxxx said:

How does one get triple points anymore?  

Sail solo in a suite.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I am totally confused??????????????😕

Linked couples have the same C&A level despite being maybe hundreds on points apart in individual C&A points.

[bigeck]

11 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

The flowrider today had the regularly scheduled key time at 10-11AM.  Since we whined that there was not enough stand-up surf time, we got an advanced time from 9-10AM.  Then regular from 11-2PM.  That was a bit odd with most of the advanced people leaving the four regulars with the key alone until a non-regular showed up with 15 minutes left.  So, during advanced and Key session I got more than enough rides that I skipped the 3 hour session that probably had at the peak this afternoon with the temps in the upper 80s at over 30 based on other warm sea days.

 

The Diamond lounge (and Music Hall) have been busy in the evenings, but not bad.  We are usually showing up due to late flowrider sessions after 5:30PM and most nights we can get a seat at the bar in the music hall.  There are always empty seats somewhere in the two lounges every time we have visited the lounge in the evening.  The line in the morning for coffee has been minimal.  Longest I have encountered was 4 people in line.  Most days there is one person or nobody in front of me.  The snacks have been very heavy.  I would prefer to have more carrot sticks and celery type things, but you could easily eat enough stuff, that you could skip dinner.  

 

They will let you order diamond drinks in both specialty and MDR venues.  Haven’t eaten dinner in the Solarium or WJ, but I assume the same would be true.  

 

Wifi is fast enough that I have watched 1 F1 race 2 F1 qualifying sessions, 1 Indy car race, and a couple of episodes of Survivor, the Amazing Race, and the Big Bang theory.  I have watched most of this using my Slingbox at home to stream my own TV programming.  Due to the multiple crashes in qualifying at Baku for the F1 qualifying I watched the last half on ESPN app.  Very little buffering.  I haven’t watched Netflix but I would assume it would work well too.

 

We have a bridge tour tomorrow at noon.  Sometime around then we will have the equator ceremony and we have a 1:20PM IFly session.

 

Let me know if there are specific questions or things to address.

It was a good qualifying and should bring up a few incidents in the race. Starts at 3pm here and Baku looks like a nice city. 

[A&L_Ont]

6 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

The most amazing thing I learned though was from Tom, Tom is a General Contractor in Ontario, a really nice guy and good rider who doesn’t like to get wet.  That is was not amazing.  Staying in friends Jr Suite as a third and his wife in another JS getting triple points in order to reach Pinnacle.  

 

How does one get triple points anymore?  Thanks.

 

Solo in a suite. JS and up.

[xpcdoojk]

Just watched the race in the DL, now slathering on sunblock for 84F flowrider advanced session.

 

On RCI IT my Royal IQ app only shows still the MTD I booked pre cruise and none of my specialty dining booked on ship.  The on ship booking system did not account for the extra day crossing the dateline.  This afternoon we cross the equator.  

 

JC

[Surfguyxxx]

20 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Linked couples have the same C&A level despite being maybe hundreds on points apart in individual C&A points.

Wow; that would come in handy on our upcoming TP!

[xpcdoojk]

Today was a yucky day.  It has rained off and on.  

 

It was pouring at 9AM for Advanced stand-up.  There were still 14 in line.  The Key was at 10.  4 regulars, Charlie, Jasper, Kristine and myself and 3 boogie boarders.  Boogie boarders all adult men left after 2 or 3 runs.  Got 2 runs in regular line 6 in key line.  Left after that as the line started at 25 in it after the key hour.

 

We rode the North Star after, us and 5 others.  Yesterday we did the bridge tour with a group of about 25.  Had a 20 year old lead us on the tour.  He is just out of college from the Isle of Wight in the UK.... must have been a very smart young man.  Anyway it was fine.  Don't need to do that again.  

 

The show last night was Matt Baker, comedienne / juggler.  Average juggler funny comedienne.  

 

Tonight is the last formal night we are at Chops at 6:30PM, getting ready to hop in shower now.

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

Today, Advanced at 9AM stayed til 11:15 made 3 runs.  Another session at 3PM til 5.  Not sure I will attend.

 

Tomorrow in Honolulu.  Have a car rented.  Anybody know if there is any cheap/free parking near the port?  Ala Moana shopping center?

 

jc

[Biker19]

On 4/19/2019 at 3:27 PM, xpcdoojk said:

 

I was thinking the same, but who am I to question Tom... 

Tom made Pinnacle on the last cruise (got 48 points for that sailing). 

 

One thing he mentioned while in the Flowrider line this morning is that with his scheme, the people in the cabin in which he is booked as the third person get his cabin perks ( P balcony discount, P gifts). Now that he made P he says he will stop chasing points. 

 

BTW, about 10 people in the Advanced session this morning including someone from the canceled Oasis TA whom I met on a previous sailing. 

[xpcdoojk]

Tom was all about wanting to know if I knew you, apparently Lyn read this thread and greeted me with it in the elevator one morning about it.  Anyway, they are nice people, and I hope you are having a great cruise, and I hope someday to actually meet you.

 

We went to Duke’s the last night in Honolulu and met John and his wife who became friends with Tom and Lyn, he came over at the bar to talk to us about his surfing in Hawaii, where he told me it was much harder to surf than to flowride, which I reminded him I had mentioned our experience in Costa Rica most of a decade ago, about how exhausting it was to paddle out.  It is exhausting, and I am sure I mentioned that to him while we were standing in endless lines.  

 

I think you are getting the better flowrider cruise.  Ours was long lines, and really cool weather for over half of it.  I wished I had my wetsuit. And you know you need yours.  

 

Getting off was a bit weird as there were no real hurdles the last day, except, we didn’t get Key tags but got group two instead, no difference, we got off after our “fair” MDR breakfast at 8AM and there were no bags in the hall, but lots of people moving baggage carts dumping bags.  We had to hang there for about 30 minutes before we could gather our bags.  

 

After we did a food truck tour of the North Shore, first stop short of Turtle Bay we ate at North Shore Tacos and had a shrimp and fish taco with rice and beans, then about 15 miles the other side of Turtle Bay we stopped at Giovannis Shrimp Truck for the Garlic and Butter shrimp.  Yum and nasty.  We had to wait about 30 minutes after placing the order for the shrimp.  After we drove to a lighthouse on the south eastern tip, and did a long hike up to it before returning to Honolulu to walk 

Waikiki and Dukes.  The next day we went to the Punchbowl Cemetery which is very lovely and close to Honolulu but up on a hill overlooking the city.  Nice spot.  After we killed the rest of the day at the Ala Moana Center and had I am sorry to admit lunch at Bubba Gump’s.

 

Flew out at 7:45PM got to Dallas at 8AM spent 2-1/2 hours in the Centurion Lounge.  The French toast was to die for (can’t believe I said that about airport lounge food).  DW slept for most of it on on of the beds, while I watched over her from a chair. Got home around 1:30PM and went and bought groceries.  Sunday bought Mulch and mulched the flower beds.  Went to a child of DW’s cousin’s high school graduation party.  Last night had thoughts about returning to work and my subconscious brain turned it into going to a school I never attended but was accepted to 42 years ago.  I guess that was my return to work fear.  Went to the doctor for annual physical this morning then work all day.  

 

 

Great to be home.....  Uggg

 

jc

[Biker19]

22 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

I think you are getting the better flowrider cruise.  Ours was long lines, and really cool weather for over half of it.  I wished I had my wetsuit. And you know you need yours.  

The lines still get quite long about 1/2 through the advanced session. I did luck out with a general afternoon session where there were only 3 of us for about 1/2 hour. I have yet to see any Key session. 

[xpcdoojk]

You did get your Key paperwork when you boarded?  It will show the times.  If you didn’t get the Key, they were usually after the afternoon session or before the morning regular session.  If they are not offering an advanced session most sea days get some folks from the line to go talk to Marko.  After that we had an advanced session every morning.

 

jc