LIVE - B2B 10/26 and 11/2 Halloween, Birthday, and President's Cruise

[countess5]

Followed your thread while we were on board sailing the 50th Birthday cruise with you.

The gifts were great every night and thank you for posting them. we never received the invite for the coin, but walked down to the Boardwalk and asked the person watching the line why we didn’t. She asked what cabin we were in and when I told her she said we were the day before but to just get in line. My friend who is just short of being a P also didn’t receive an invite.

Sorry we never ran into you, would of liked to of met you since we followed along,

We did have 2 John and Lala sightings! 

 

Great cruise

 

Cheers! 

[Domino D]

19 hours ago, aring75 said:

Thanks. Just walked in the front door a few minutes ago. Missing Symphony already. 😩

Hope your ears are okay from the flight home.  Enjoyed your Live Review a lot.  Probably going to have to get a new camera based on your underwater photos.  Sorry you had to rejoin us in the "real" non-cruise world.  If your like us, today is laundry day, and if Mark is like me, the big cruise suitcases are headed back to the attic.

[aring75]

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

Followed your thread while we were on board sailing the 50th Birthday cruise with you.

The gifts were great every night and thank you for posting them. we never received the invite for the coin, but walked down to the Boardwalk and asked the person watching the line why we didn’t. She asked what cabin we were in and when I told her she said we were the day before but to just get in line. My friend who is just short of being a P also didn’t receive an invite.

Sorry we never ran into you, would of liked to of met you since we followed along,

We did have 2 John and Lala sightings! 

 

Great cruise

 

Cheers! 

So happy you followed along! Would’ve been great to have met you. Something to look forward to on another cruise. 😊

 

3 minutes ago, Domino D said:

Hope your ears are okay from the flight home.  Enjoyed your Live Review a lot.  Probably going to have to get a new camera based on your underwater photos.  Sorry you had to rejoin us in the "real" non-cruise world.  If your like us, today is laundry day, and if Mark is like me, the big cruise suitcases are headed back to the attic.

We drove home. Not sure if that was better or worse. Better for my ears, worse for my anxiety. Pretty sure Mark looks at the Turnpike as a sort of competition. 
 

And yes. The laundry and yard work have begun. 😩 On a positive note, fall has officially started in Tampa. It was 58 degrees when I went outside this morning. 

 

Of course, it’s already back up to 74, but I take what I can get. 😊

[Domino D]

6 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Pretty sure Mark looks at the Turnpike as a sort of competition. 

I have a goal for number of cars to pass on every trip.

[HotRod3]

Wonderful review!  Thank you for taking us along!!!  

We were on last month and it was great to both see the similarities and differences.

[dbancroft]

I want to also thank you for the great review. We were also on the cruise with you did not meet you but I am sure passed by sometime. You and John were able to get photos of some things we missed. The midnight buffet was ridiculous it was a mob scene so thanks to John for the pictures. We did not even try to see Hall and Oates we watched some of the concert from the Aqua theater hopefully someone on standby enjoyed the concert. 

[tinkr2]

On 11/5/2019 at 12:28 PM, cruisegirl1 said:

OP-do you think you will purchase the unlimited dining package again, or is it just too much food? 
thx 

m

We had it for this week also and while I thought it was a good deal, it was way too much eating. My hubby does not eat desserts so I never got any bc I was so full. Seeing these awesome pictures, I am so sad. I wanted that lemon cheesecake from Jamies, I am dying. We did not eat any breakfast the whole week, it is plenty of food. Add in some pizza. But it takes too much time and planning.

[aring75]

2 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

We had it for this week also and while I thought it was a good deal, it was way too much eating. My hubby does not eat desserts so I never got any bc I was so full. Seeing these awesome pictures, I am so sad. I wanted that lemon cheesecake from Jamies, I am dying. We did not eat any breakfast the whole week, it is plenty of food. Add in some pizza. But it takes too much time and planning.

I agree about too much food. It was really nice to have the choices, but by Day 4 (on cruise #2 - so actually Day 11) we felt like we needed to just eat some salad or something. 😩

 

It’s funny you mention Jamie’s. That was where we skipped the apps and just ordered a plate of pasta and a dessert. Our waiter acted like we were ill or something. Made comments all night about how we were “on a diet.”

 

Yes. That special pasta and cheesecake diet.

 

I should be so lucky. 😑

[mayleeman]

@aring75 I loved your review. The pictures were wonderful!

 

I have the same camera as you, the Olympus TG-5. You made a comment about reading the manual more. I keep taking a printout with me on my cruises, but I always realize when I am going on an excursion that I forgot. 

 

I did a lot of reading online about it, though, and discovered this site that has more specific info on using it underwater, which I hope you may find useful:

 

https://www.backscatter.com/reviews/post/Olympus-TG-5-Best-Underwater-Camera-Settings

 

The biggest problem I have is when I get back on the boat and discover all my pictures are blue because I forgot to change the mode setting back to the little fish icon! That, and when it is really cloudy. Photoshop is my friend, but there are limits!

Edited November 13, 2019 by mayleeman

[John&LaLa]

On 11/7/2019 at 4:50 PM, aring75 said:

Had to get a Celebrating 50 Years shirt. They have them in navy blue too, which I also liked, but the practical side of me which lives in the Florida sunshine likes to wear the lighter colors most days. 
 

 

I ordered one, free shipping 

[John&LaLa]

On 11/8/2019 at 10:55 AM, aring75 said:

Back at Coco Cay today. Found our shady spot. Not as nice as the cabanas, but not bad.

 

Snack Shack right behind us. 

 

Swim up bar strategically located. 
 

 

 

We ate at Snack Shack,  missed you again.

[aring75]

13 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We ate at Snack Shack,  missed you again.

We will have to make a point to find each other on a future cruise. But I loved following along with your thread at the same time as I was writing mine. It was great to see some of the things we missed! And you obviously had a wonderful cruise. I look forward to meeting you and LaLa sometime soon. 😊

[aring75]

42 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

@aring75I did a lot of reading online about it, though, and discovered this site that has more specific info on using it underwater, which I hope you may find useful:

 

https://www.backscatter.com/reviews/post/Olympus-TG-5-Best-Underwater-Camera-Settings

 

Thanks for this! I bookmarked the link. I would never remember to keep a printout with me, but I almost always have my phone. 👍😊

[mayleeman]

@aring75 Turns out that link I sent you is really best for divers, especially ones with external lights, etc. It is a set of 6 videos, and I learned a lot but it may not be specific enough to snorkeling to be worth investing the time. 

 

But Digital Photography Review has a great forum for topics on Olympus compact cameras, and it is really good for browing for TG-5 info, problem solving, and tips:

 

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1008

 

Eg.g., after I read about scratched lenses suffered by some owners, I bought a lens cap so I can feel confident throwing the camera in a backpack without the case. 

 

(This type of message is why I wish CC had DM.)

[aring75]

10 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

Turns out that link I sent you is really best for divers

Yeah, I started reading (it was really a rabbit-hole of information- in a good way) and saw there’s a lot there. 
 

I will look at the other link you provided as well. I know the camera can do a lot more than I have used it for. And I would love for it to become second-nature to use the controls and settings underwater. 
 

I definitely think the more I use it, the more comfortable it will get. And the better the pics will be. Thanks for your help!

[tinkr2]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:09 PM, aring75 said:

I’ve heard several complaints and read a few on the book of face page. 
 

This is what I did. I went to Target . com and ordered a lightweight egg crate mattress topper (1-1/2 in I think). The king size was $15 delivered right to my door. It’s wrapped up very tightly in plastic wrap and fit in the bottom 1/3rd of my large-sized suitcase. 
 

When we got onboard we unwrapped it so it could air out and asked our stateroom attendant about making up the bed by later that night. We will leave it onboard at the end of our cruise. No problems. 
 

Plus, now we will have extra space in the luggage on the way home. 
 

Good thing, I might have some cheap wine for this year’s Thanksgiving Breakfast mimosas. 😂

Do you think the stateroom attendants cabin bed are like the princess and the pea with 10 of those crates stacked up on their bed?🤣

[tinkr2]

On 11/6/2019 at 4:54 PM, aring75 said:

Not too much need for stadium blankets in the Sunshine State. 😄

 

Not to worry. I unrolled Mark’s blanket. 

What funny is that it did not occur to me they were stadium blankets, I thought they were for a plane. That little handle fits over the top of my roll luggage. It was great on the plane the other day.  Its nice to live in Florida.

[tinkr2]

On 11/7/2019 at 12:57 PM, aring75 said:

So, went back and forth with guest services about my dinner reservation tonight. Evidently, someone booked tables at 150 CP for their own event. Problem is, we have a dinner reservation at 6:30 tonight and since it is formal night (and the special “gold” event) there is zero chance of getting in anywhere else. 
 

Carmen Molino is actually the International Ambassador. She got on the phone and totally raised some he!! with the 150 CP Restaurant Manager and as of now we definitely have a reservation tonight. I took my bottle of champagne down to the restaurant and he is going to have it chilled and waiting for us. 
 

We will see. 🤞🤞🤞

Wow we lucked out , we were supposed to be in 150 on formal night but I moved it at the last moment to Chops. Glad I escaped that hassle. I am super sad that I missed the main dining room on Day 6, we were in the mood for seafood so we booked Hooked at the last minute. Looks like you had way more stuff, I love love love stone crab. But like you, I also enjoyed the chowder. But what do we know? bunch of native Floridians😀. 

I noticed you skipped Hibachi. I do not care about hibachi at home bit heard such rave reviews that we did it. It was really great. The rice was spectacular . My non carb eating husband ate all of it. And the show was way way better than here in Orlando.

I really enjoyed your review. It was fun seeing all the different things going on. 

I feel like I should have done a live review bc we did all the activities that no one did, like flowrider and abyss and such. I have some great video of me slamming into a wall repeatedly on the flowrider.

[aring75]

10 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

Wow we lucked out , we were supposed to be in 150 on formal night but I moved it at the last moment to Chops. Glad I escaped that hassle. I am super sad that I missed the main dining room on Day 6, we were in the mood for seafood so we booked Hooked at the last minute. Looks like you had way more stuff, I love love love stone crab. But like you, I also enjoyed the chowder. But what do we know? bunch of native Floridians😀. 

I noticed you skipped Hibachi. I do not care about hibachi at home bit heard such rave reviews that we did it. It was really great. The rice was spectacular . My non carb eating husband ate all of it. And the show was way way better than here in Orlando.

I really enjoyed your review. It was fun seeing all the different things going on. 

I feel like I should have done a live review bc we did all the activities that no one did, like flowrider and abyss and such. I have some great video of me slamming into a wall repeatedly on the flowrider.

We skipped Izumi Hibachi because two different people told us we couldn’t use the UDP with it. I thought you could (which is why I asked the 2nd person) but she also said No. Did you do it with the Unlimited Dining Package?

 

You should definitely do a review if you are the least bit interested. You will need the internet package. But it’s fun to look back through your pictures a few months from now when YOU’RE ready for your next cruise! 😁

 

And flowrider pics would’ve been great! We watched, but I couldn’t bring myself to post photos of strangers. And you won’t find me trying it out. I would probably break something. 
 

I had every intention of trying the rock climbing wall this time though. Just never made it. Of course, I’ve been saying that for about ten RCCL cruises now...

[tinkr2]

Yes the hibachi was included int the UDP. It was really fun. It was fun on the Presidents cruise bc we had no lines for the rockfall or biplane or abyss and only short for flowrider. And I think your seat for the visa party may have been the best, no shoving for light up freebies.

[tinkr2]

Lol it corrected zipline to biplane. There were no biplane rides. 😂

[HBE4]

8 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

Lol it corrected zipline to biplane. There were no biplane rides. 😂

 

That might be a good idea for the next round of Royal Amplifications.  New thrill ride would be floating bi-plane launched from a catapult atop the ship, much like the old WW1 and WW2 battleships had used for reconnaissance in the days before radar.  Using the NorthStar crane to fetch it out of the water so it'll be like 2 rides in 1!

 

😂