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

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Sorry to hear you are having a rainy day. We will be there tomorrow.

 

The rain stopped about 30 minutes into our beach day. Then the sun came out and it was sunny all afternoon. Typical St. Maarten weather. Did not bother me a bit.

 

 

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

You are at one of my favorite places in the Caribbean,Greg.I hope you are having a great time on your vacation.

 

Having a great time Lenny. I love St. Maarten

[Ozark_Kid]

35 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Also for Barcelona, I've booked one night after the cruise on a hotel which comes highly recommended on Spain boards, Jazz.

 

After a cruise, we usually prefer to fly home directly, but El Al has one flight at 10.30 AM (too stressful even with self assist), and one at 10PM....  At my "advanced" age, I don't "do" night flights anymore....

That sounds like a good idea.  As we try to figure out our next cruise, we have been considering spending a day our two at a hotel and enjoy the location.  It is hard to find flights back to home at a good time.  They are either to early to take a chance after disembarking or late afternoon that gets us home after 10:00pm. No direct flights.  And after our last adventure we thought getting up early at the hotel and going to the airport is less stressful.

[Ocean Boy]

6 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 I love St. Maarten

So do I.

[dani negreanu]

28 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

And after our last adventure we thought getting up early at the hotel and going to the airport is less stressful.

 

Our reasoning for many years.

 

If it's a big city, we even prefer to spend the night at an airport hotel.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I am getting acclimated to cold Washington state weather (currently 33 degrees here at 9 am).   Will probably fry and sizzle when I get home to Florida on Saturday!!  😲

I prefer sizzle to freezing cold.

[DaniDanielle]

2 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I prefer sizzle to freezing cold.

Me too

[George C]

51 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

So do I.

St Maarten is our favorite Caribbean port . Will be there in a few weeks.

[Luckynana]

19 hours ago, dbancroft said:

My wife and I both got our Pizer boosters last week. No issues luckily but I have a question we also got our shingles vaccine last month it is a two dose shot. The shingles shot left our arms extremely sore has anyone else got this shot?

I am due for my second shingrex shot this month.  My arm was sore after the first shot.

18 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I had the first Shingles vaccine in 2013 .I have not taken the new one yet.

I had the first Shingles vaccine after suffering with shingles around 12 years ago. 

I had my first Shingrex vaccine a couple of months ago.  Time for my second.

7 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Another beautiful day here in PA.  Wont last but enjoying it for now🤩

I received my lab results this morning.  Chlorestorol borderline high.

Came in at 210, triglycerides 148 and ldl 133.    Expect doc will call and give me a script for a statin.  Darn it...

Too much bacon this past year🤪

Absolutely beautiful here.  Sorry about your Cholesterol reading, Debbie.  I've been on a statin for at least 25 years or so.

5 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

I had a rough start to bedtime last night.  Achy, a little chilly but it passed, now I am just achy.

I hope you are feeling better by now, Marietta.

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

Also for Barcelona, I've booked one night after the cruise on a hotel which comes highly recommended on Spain boards, Jazz.

 

Doesn't it feel good to book travel?  It always means that I have a trip to look forward to.  We stayed at Hotel Jazz for a couple of nights before a Med cruise a few years ago, based on recommendations from the Spain boards.  It's a very nice modern hotel with a great bar and pool on the roof.  It's also a good location near the "top" of Las Ramblas and right by a metro station. 

 

You are also not far from a restaurant that we found almost by accident called Tapas 2254 Restaurant. It was just down the street from our AirBnB.  2254 is the number of kilometers between Barcelona and Palermo, Italy, where the chef/owner is from.  The food is a mix of Catalan, Sicilian, and a few other regional influences between the two.  We loved it and recommend it to anyone traveling to Barcelona.

[Luckynana]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

What about the one that comes in a glass at the Schooner Bar?

Best remedy ever!!!!

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

+1.Prayers for Mimi for a successful operation.

+2  

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

The rain stopped about 30 minutes into our beach day. Then the sun came out and it was sunny all afternoon. Typical St. Maarten weather. Did not bother me a bit.

 

 

 

Having a great time Lenny. I love St. Maarten

I love St. Maarten also!  What's not to love?😊

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

In order to improve your mood, let's talk, for a change, about cruises 😉

 

I've booked a hotel in Rome, for 2 nights before the cruise. Free cancellation up to 5 days before.

 

Great idea, Dani!  I loved staying in Rome and exploring.  As one Roman told me, you can visit Rome 100 times, and still not see everything.

[dani negreanu]

4 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Doesn't it feel good to book travel? 

 

Yes, it is 😁  Still, with some trepidation, and free cancellations only... On top of COVID, we're always aware, in the back of our mind, that hostilities here can erupt any moment 😢

 

4 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We stayed at Hotel Jazz for a couple of nights before a Med cruise a few years ago, based on recommendations from the Spain boards.  

 

So glad that someone whom I "know" was actually there, following those recommendations, and "agrees" with them 😁 Reasonable rate too (166 Euro, incl. b'fast for a superior room) in comparison with Rome (230 Euro, for the cheapest room, incl. b'fast).

 

4 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

You are also not far from a restaurant that we found almost by accident called Tapas 2254

 

How did u know that I was looking for a restaurant recommendation for the one evening in Barcelona?😁 Tapas 2254 is now going into my notes, thanks 👍.

 

We plan to visit "La Boqueria" for lunch. DH is "roaring" to get back there, since lately we happened in Barcelona on Sundays, when it is closed. When he was in business trips, it was his place "to go".

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 

I've booked a hotel in Rome, for 2 nights before the cruise. Free cancellation up to 5 days before.

 

It's a hotel I've researched for our now cancelled cruise on Explorer, which was due Sept. 2020. They still get very good reviews on TripAdvisor, and were more than happy to hear from me again.

 

Also for Barcelona, I've booked one night after the cruise on a hotel which comes highly recommended on Spain boards, Jazz.

 

After a cruise, we usually prefer to fly home directly, but El Al has one flight at 10.30 AM (too stressful even with self assist), and one at 10PM....  At my "advanced" age, I don't "do" night flights anymore....

 

I was very surprised that Iberia doesn't have a direct flight Barcelona -- Tel-Aviv, only with a stopover in Madrid. If ElAl has enough passengers for 2 flights daily, why not Iberia, at least one a day?

 

Hopefully, tomorrow your "levels" would be down 😁

 

Ha, I haven't done anything yet,   apart from booked their version of MTD.

We will probably fly in the day before and go straight to Civitavecchia and spend the night prior there. We've done that twice and it's a nice little port to wonder around. And probably fly straight back to UK on the final day. There's quite a few flights. 

But yes, I guess I should get a wiggle on and at least book the flights and start researching the ports.  

 

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, sgmn said:

So sorry sunshine,  I've got my fasting blood test tomorrow when the ordinary BT showed by figures have gone up too ☹️

 

Good luck tomorrow Sue with your blood tests.

Graham.

 

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

In order to improve your mood, let's talk, for a change, about cruises 😉

 

I've booked a hotel in Rome, for 2 nights before the cruise. Free cancellation up to 5 days before.

 

It's a hotel I've researched for our now cancelled cruise on Explorer, which was due Sept. 2020. They still get very good reviews on TripAdvisor, and were more than happy to hear from me again.

 

Also for Barcelona, I've booked one night after the cruise on a hotel which comes highly recommended on Spain boards, Jazz.

 

After a cruise, we usually prefer to fly home directly, but El Al has one flight at 10.30 AM (too stressful even with self assist), and one at 10PM....  At my "advanced" age, I don't "do" night flights anymore....

 

I was very surprised that Iberia doesn't have a direct flight Barcelona -- Tel-Aviv, only with a stopover in Madrid. If ElAl has enough passengers for 2 flights daily, why not Iberia, at least one a day?

 

Hopefully, tomorrow your "levels" would be down 😁

 

Great choices Dani.

Jazz hotel was recommended to me and we booked it for our June 2020 Allure cruise which was cancelled through covid19.

The hotel was non refundable but when I emailed them our money was back on our credit card in 2 days.

Graham.

[grapau27]

Dinner tonight.

Graham.

[Luckynana]

Okay, Graham, now I want some ice cream!  Dinner looks delicious, but I have to go get some dessert now!

[Sunshine3601]

6 hours ago, sgmn said:

So sorry sunshine,  I've got my fasting blood test tomorrow when the ordinary BT showed by figures have gone up too ☹️

 

Good luck with your test tomorrow🤩

[Arzeena]

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

So do I.

+1

[Luckynana]

6 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Good luck with your test tomorrow🤩

+1, Sue

[maggieq]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Yes, it is 😁  Still, with some trepidation, and free cancellations only... On top of COVID, we're always aware, in the back of our mind, that hostilities here can erupt any moment 😢

 

 

So glad that someone whom I "know" was actually there, following those recommendations, and "agrees" with them 😁 Reasonable rate too (166 Euro, incl. b'fast for a superior room) in comparison with Rome (230 Euro, for the cheapest room, incl. b'fast).

 

 

How did u know that I was looking for a restaurant recommendation for the one evening in Barcelona?😁 Tapas 2254 is now going into my notes, thanks 👍.

 

We plan to visit "La Boqueria" for lunch. DH is "roaring" to get back there, since lately we happened in Barcelona on Sundays, when it is closed. When he was in business trips, it was his place "to go".

Did you mention which cruise you booked?

[Arzeena]

Got the booster this afternoon. 
RJ was upset that he did not get a sticker and his colleague got one!🙄really🙄.

I took a day off from cooking so we brought in Turkish food from a restaurant.

[dani negreanu]

7 minutes ago, maggieq said:

Did you mention which cruise you booked?

 

Yes, several weeks ago, but I like to sound of it 😁 -- Celebrity Beyond, June 13rd, 2022.

 

Also, Sue ( @sgmn).

[Sunshine3601]

7 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Got the booster this afternoon. 
RJ was upset that he did not get a sticker and his colleague got one!🙄really🙄.

I took a day off from cooking so we brought in Turkish food from a restaurant.

Turkish food...yum.

Hope all goes well with booster effects🤩

We received our email today of health protocols for anthem jan 9th sailing.  All the same.

[Sunshine3601]

Very happy to say our dryer that sounded like a freight train is fixed and quiet as a sleeping baby.   I was thrilled when he said he had the parts on his truck.

[Arzeena]

Just now, Sunshine3601 said:

Turkish food...yum.

Hope all goes well with booster effects🤩

We received our email today of health protocols for anthem jan 9th sailing.  All the same.

I received that protocols email for Nov 21 and Jan 9 cruises.

All is good since I didn't have to cook 😁. No retail therapy or "medicine in a glass"😉, but its OK, will make up for it later.