Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[lenquixote66]

6 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

My sister knew a Barbara Klein.  Michelle not familiar to either of us, My sister remembers an Eleanor or Evelyn Ab......very well.  That's the name I wasn't familiar with from the other thread..  My sister graduated Seward 3 years ahead of me. 

 

Hope you enjoyed the party.

I wonder if it is the same Barbara .I last saw her in 1968 .She was best friends with Estelle who you did not know.Estelle was dating a guy named Richie Firestone who I believe lived in the area.

The party was good. My daughter invited several childhood friends who I last saw about 30 years ago.

[BonTexasNY]

This is a test to see how I can copy pictures from my phone in here. It's a picture of my balcony oasis.

Holding breath...OMG it worked but I don't know how to size it.

So, here's what I did.  I had this picture on my phone.  I sent it as an attachment to my email.  I go on CC on my laptop.  I opened the email and saved the photo on my laptop.  THEN, I opened this new post you are reading and copied it in here.  Yayy.  I'm sure there's a much easier way but at least it worked!!

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by BonTexasNY

[Coralc]

So. We are trying Portside BBQ smoked ribs as detailed in the Royal Caribbean newsletter video yesterday: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwMcJOVlx4

 

We are having a little problem with the smoker box though. And Bill keeps opening it up to peek. The video is good though, it gives a very detailed explanation of how to prepare them. I don't know if we will take a photo, but I will let you know how they come out. 

[Ozark_Kid]

55 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

I'm sure there's a much easier way but at least it worked!!

Can you connect to CC with your phone?  If so you can just load them on here from your phone.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, BonTexasNY said:

Very tasty looking.  I miss the NJ grown corn we used to buy at farmer's markets when we lived in NY.  So sweet it tasted like it was cooked in sugar.  

 

I cook ours in sugar😉

[ReneeFLL]

12 hours ago, George C said:

We are currently being totally spoiled in our Edge penthouse, only bad thing is no fireworks to celebrate my wife Shelagh birthday, beautiful ship and suite definitely do not need anything this big but do like having two bathrooms. Sunny day in Nassau, had some champagne with breakfast now will head to the pool , inviting some roll call passengers to join us later to see the suite. 

Hopefully there will be fireworks later.

 

7 hours ago, George C said:

Our main bathroom is bigger than most cabins , divided into 4 areas , huge jacuzzi with ocean view, huge shower , sink area and then toilet. 

That sounds really nice. Enjoy your cruise.

[cruisingpeople]

After reading 11 of the 47 pages that I am behind, I figured I better post about the cruise before my memory goes to "Hell in a hand basket".

After a night at the Marriott, we shared a taxi, (actually a Chevy Tahoe), with a CC member from our Roll-Call. We arrived at the British Colonial at 11:40 and asked the girl where we should wait for our 12:00 appointment. She said just go right up to the second floor. Check-in was an absolute breeze. The next thing we know, we were in the shuttle to the ship at 11:55 and on board at 12:10. Before I even went through security, I actually gave the ship a hug and said I missed it. LOL. We had our traditional "And so it begins" drink and picture and then went exploring the ship. I have been on 30 Princess cruises with this only being my 2nd on Royal following the Empress in 2019. I was extremely impressed with the condition of an over 20 year old vessel. They let us in our cabins right at 2:00 and was completely satisfied with the Junior Suite we had chosen. (1646 on deck 10 port side).

The 2 days at CocoCay were great with the 1st day spent at the Coco Beach Club courtesy of a cruising friend and the 2nd day at Oasis Lagoon just floating in the water in the vicinity of the swim-up bar. (Surprise, Surprise)

After a sea day, we got to Cozumel and took the Fury Catamaran Excursion. Even though it was cloudy, it was still enjoyable. After getting back onboard, the skies opened up with torrential downpours. The Celebrity Edge was docked next to us with Her elevating bar thingy facing us. Those that were sitting near the outside had to scrabble for cover real quick.

 

More to come later.

[ReneeFLL]

Happy July 4th to everyone that celebrates it. 

[ReneeFLL]

@cruisingpeople Sounds like you had a great time. Looking forward to hearing about it.

[ReneeFLL]

@cruisingpeople Sounds like you had a great time. Looking forward to hearing about it.

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Thanks for the clarification, Dani. 

@A&L_OntIt came out delicious!  So glad we have left over for tomorrow. Love that lemony taste. 

Glad to hear that it turned great. Fairly easy to make and delicious.

[Keksie]

4 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

For a millisecond I was wondering ... no meat??? [or "where is the beef"? from another era...].

 

Sigh of relief 😉   ENJOY !!

That would not happen.  We do love our meat and I love dessert.  I had salted caramel cheesecake ice cream when we went to the car show this afternoon.  

[George C]

We had a fantastic July 4th , invited a few people to our penthouse, had a nice conversation, then several celebrity officers came to our suite with a birthday cake for my wife , had a nice dinner at the steakhouse, then went to the casino, gave my wife 20 for video poker and I thought I did well winning a hundred or so , my wife hit a royal flush playing video poker and won a thousand dollars 😁😁😁

[mets07]

4th of July.  Candlewood Lake, Connecticut. Enjoying weekend with lots of family. 

[taznremmy]

48 minutes ago, mets07 said:

4th of July.  Candlewood Lake, Connecticut. Enjoying weekend with lots of family. 

Lucky you!

[cruisingpeople]

So continuing with the day at Cozumel, I didn't see it due to leaving for my excursion, but a couple of friends said that watching the Edge come in was like the movie "Speed 2" with Sandra Bullock. It was coming straight at the starboard side of us until Captain Kate spun sideways and parked herself right into position.

 

It was kind of heart breaking to see only (what I estimated to be) about 20 - 30 % of the places opened for business but those that were were definitely grateful to get any customers they could.

After another sea day, we were at Freeport Grand Bahamas. The morning started out rainy and it didn't look like a lot of people even got off the ship. Around 11:00 the sun came out, so we decided to hit the pool. It turned out to be what I considered to be one of the hottest days of the cruise.

 

Our overall impressions were very high for this cruise. The staff and crew very upbeat and happy throughout the week. Always with a smile and hello whenever they were encountered. Basic protocols were in place and for the most part, everyone adhered to the rules. You were allowed to "Sit" at the bar only long enough to order your drink. After getting them, you had to either go to a table or leave. We thought it was kind of ironic that they allowed 8 - 10 people in the hot tubs but you couldn't space yourselves at the bar. But hey, I was just happy to be on a ship again.

 

We purchased the 3 night Specialty Dining Package, we did Chop's Grille 2 nights and Giovanni's Table 1 night. The other nights were at the MDR, Chef's Table and Johnny Rocket's. We finished off the cruise with one more visit to Chop's.

[island lady]

14 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

So far today I’ve made potato salad, deviled eggs, cut up vegetables for a veggie & dip tray and made the dip, made a lemon chiffon dessert, cut watermelon wedges which I’ll insert popsicle sticks for the little kids, and made homemade salsa. I think I’ve earned a glass of wine! 
Still have to put chicken in brine but that’ll be after said wine.

Hubby is grilling porterhouse steaks tonight. I might muster the energy to throw some baked potatoes in the oven.  Thankfully the sun is coming out for our cookout tomorrow. 

 

Good for you...best to have your priorities in order!  Indeed wine in you...before brine in chicken.  Chicken can wait.  😄 

 

Hope you have a fantabulous holiday get together today with good weather for your cook out!  

 

The sun has finally...finally!...come out again.  Taking a trip up the coast, errands, then cooking those Maine Red Hots on the grill tonight with pasta salad using homemade mayo.  🙂 

[island lady]

11 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Very tasty looking.  I miss the NJ grown corn we used to buy at farmer's markets when we lived in NY.  So sweet it tasted like it was cooked in sugar.  

 

I grew up in Michigan.  The local favorite was a variety called "candy corn".   My Dad would soak the corn with husks still in place in a huge pail of water for an hour, then put them right on the grill.  Oooohhh so good!  🙂 

[island lady]

11 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

This is a test to see how I can copy pictures from my phone in here. It's a picture of my balcony oasis.

Holding breath...OMG it worked but I don't know how to size it.

So, here's what I did.  I had this picture on my phone.  I sent it as an attachment to my email.  I go on CC on my laptop.  I opened the email and saved the photo on my laptop.  THEN, I opened this new post you are reading and copied it in here.  Yayy.  I'm sure there's a much easier way but at least it worked!!

 

 

You did great!  Nice job and very inviting area!  🤗

 

That is pretty much how I do it.  Snap with phone, send it email to myself, download, go into downloads, transfer picture to "pictures" file with folders (I have a big one titled Maine 2021 right now)...then select from that to post.  Most likely an easier way...but it works for me.  😉 

[bobmacliberty]

Had a great time last night at our club’s 4th of July event. Lots of good food…burgers, dogs, pulled pork, baked chicken, potato and pasta salads, baked beans…you get the idea. They also had an open bar including frozen daiquiris and pina coladas, so I was able to have a couple of Miami Vices that are my go to poolside drink while cruising. I would have loved to have been a kid there last night. They had several large blow up jumping and sliding things, a rock climbing wall, one of those bungee cord trampoline things, face painting, balloon animals. Between the open bar and the kids stuff, people of all ages were happy. 
 

There was a live band playing all night called Fat Cactus that played a lot of classical rock and dance music. They featured a really good sax player. I’m a sucker for a band with a horn section. The end of the evening was a fantastic fireworks show. Lasted about 20 minutes with a great finale. Here are a few shots.  Unfortunately, I missed recording the finale. Thought I was recording it until it was over and I saw that the counter was still at zero. I must have missed the record button. I don’t know what bothered me more, that we couldn’t watch it again or that I screwed up something technical (hint…it’s the later). 

 

 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

@bobmaclibertydid you shoot the pics with your phone?  Great fireworks pics.

[bobmacliberty]

4 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

@bobmaclibertydid you shoot the pics with your phone?  Great fireworks pics.

 

Yes...iPhone 12.  I find that I'm only using my big Canon for specific photography needs.  Current phone cameras are really good and fit in your pocket.

Edited July 5, 2021 by bobmacliberty

[jagsfan]

13 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

This is a test to see how I can copy pictures from my phone in here. It's a picture of my balcony oasis.

Holding breath...OMG it worked but I don't know how to size it.

So, here's what I did.  I had this picture on my phone.  I sent it as an attachment to my email.  I go on CC on my laptop.  I opened the email and saved the photo on my laptop.  THEN, I opened this new post you are reading and copied it in here.  Yayy.  I'm sure there's a much easier way but at least it worked!!

 

I edit my photo, go to CC and write my comment, scroll down to Add Files and click on that. Click on Photo Library, click on my photo and it’s attached to my comment. 
All done on my iPhone. Like magic!

[Momof3gurlz]

33 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Had a great time last night at our club’s 4th of July event. Lots of good food…burgers, dogs, pulled pork, baked chicken, potato and pasta salads, baked beans…you get the idea. They also had an open bar including frozen daiquiris and pina coladas, so I was able to have a couple of Miami Vices that are my go to poolside drink while cruising. I would have loved to have been a kid there last night. They had several large blow up jumping and sliding things, a rock climbing wall, one of those bungee cord trampoline things, face painting, balloon animals. Between the open bar and the kids stuff, people of all ages were happy. 
 

There was a live band playing all night called Fat Cactus that played a lot of classical rock and dance music. They featured a really good sax player. I’m a sucker for a band with a horn section. The end of the evening was a fantastic fireworks show. Lasted about 20 minutes with a great finale. Here are a few shots.  Unfortunately, I missed recording the finale. Thought I was recording it until it was over and I saw that the counter was still at zero. I must have missed the record button. I don’t know what bothered me more, that we couldn’t watch it again or that I screwed up something technical (hint…it’s the later). 

 

Blame it on the Miami Vice’s 😉.

 

[BonTexasNY]

13 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Can you connect to CC with your phone?  If so you can just load them on here from your phone.

I tried but had trouble using my phone.