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

[helen haywood]

13 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

They just don’t understand the why of it all.

No one understands the “why” of it all.  As adults even though we don’t understand we accept that terrible things sometimes happen…we hope for a master plan to which we aren’t yet privy.   Since adults don’t understand certainly children would feel it even more.  And it’s heartbreaking when children must face terrible realities from which we wish we could shield them.

[DaniDanielle]

So true😢

[Momof3gurlz]

3 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

It's the old hub-and-spoke system that all the airlines use. It's actually cheaper to fly people from several locations (the spokes) to one city (the hub) & load them onto one plane to their final destination.  In SW case, I guess Baltimore is the hub where they'll fly you and OB from Rhode Island where you'll join people from Chicago, Buffalo, St. Louis, etc to Florida. It's cheaper than having 3+ semi-full direct flights to Florida.  And when I say cheaper, I mean for the airline, not the passenger. Whenever I've had a choice of direct or connecting, the connecting flights are always more sometimes substantially more. 

 

The bigger, traditional airlines such as United and Delta have several hubs scattered around the country which is why it's usually easier to get direct flights with them.

 

I never really thought of it before but I guess I'm luck as I have 3 major and 2 regional airports within a 1 hour drive. Well, JFK is more an hour but that's because of the massive traffic jams that seem to be there at all hours of the day & night thanks to the ancient roadways surrounding the airport.

 

Ah, thanks for the explanation.  We can make it to Logan in Boston in an hour, depending on traffic of course.  Flights are often cheaper and many more non-stop options, BUT it’s $300 to park on site for a week.  Our daughter lives about halfway from our house to Logan, so we could drive to their house and have them bring us to the airport but they both work so that kind of limits when we can fly.  I think we need to figure out how to get the commuter rail at PVD into the city of Boston, then transfer to a train to Logan.  Which means schlepping our luggage, ugh.  While it’s nice to have the option of Logan, it stinks because we live about 7 miles from PVD! 

[reallyitsmema]

16 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Ah, thanks for the explanation.  We can make it to Logan in Boston in an hour, depending on traffic of course.  Flights are often cheaper and many more non-stop options, BUT it’s $300 to park on site for a week.  Our daughter lives about halfway from our house to Logan, so we could drive to their house and have them bring us to the airport but they both work so that kind of limits when we can fly.  I think we need to figure out how to get the commuter rail at PVD into the city of Boston, then transfer to a train to Logan.  Which means schlepping our luggage, ugh.  While it’s nice to have the option of Logan, it stinks because we live about 7 miles from PVD! 

 

Have you looked into Logan Express at all?  I know there is a Braintree location that is near South Shore Plaza.  Tickets online are discounted and parking is less than $10 per day.  It runs pretty frequently and drops off at the terminals last I used it.  I have gone from Braintree but have used it from another location and it was easy.

 

https://www.massport.com/logan-airport/to-from-logan/transportation-options/logan-express/braintree/

 

We live about 15 miles from Logan, so about an hour drive also. 😄 We are about 45 minutes from Manchester Airport in NH but prefer Logan.

[Jimbo]

33 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Ah, thanks for the explanation.  We can make it to Logan in Boston in an hour, depending on traffic of course.  Flights are often cheaper and many more non-stop options, BUT it’s $300 to park on site for a week.  Our daughter lives about halfway from our house to Logan, so we could drive to their house and have them bring us to the airport but they both work so that kind of limits when we can fly.  I think we need to figure out how to get the commuter rail at PVD into the city of Boston, then transfer to a train to Logan.  Which means schlepping our luggage, ugh.  While it’s nice to have the option of Logan, it stinks because we live about 7 miles from PVD! 

Might be cheaper to rent a car the night before local to your house and then drop car off at Logan then pay the $300  parking fee and this way you don't bother anyone.

[lenquixote66]

13 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

What did your father do for a living, Lenny?

He was the President of a division of one of the largest Labor Unions in the US.

[lenquixote66]

TSOTD is from St. Marten.

We first went there in 1994.At that time I was healthy and had no beverage restrictions.We went to Orient Beach .

[lenquixote66]

19 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

My granddaughter, 14, bought a record player as she is into albums now.  She went through a few of mine and has been buying her own.  Naturally, Harry Styles, her favorite and Fleetwood Macs Rumors.

My soon to be 15 year old granddaughter is a huge Harry Styles fan.She saw him in concert in Long Island .

[DaniDanielle]

She saw Harry twice and would go as many times as she could!

[lenquixote66]

18 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Vinyl records are making a comeback in the UK.

Our Sarah has a record player and good selection of LPs.

Paulines brother who lived with his mam until she died has a record player and my old LPs which I gave him over 40 years ago.

Record player's are available.

A lot of my LPs were soul and tamla Motown with some rock as well.

When I worked for EMI records in the early 80s I had 100s of LPs and cassette's.

Bob Dylan was a favourite of mine at that time.

I saw Bob Dylan in April 1961 for the first time .Are you familiar with the song You Belong to Me ? That was recorder in 1962 by my then friend Joey Canzano who was the lead singer of The Duprees.

[HBE4]

37 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Ah, thanks for the explanation.  We can make it to Logan in Boston in an hour, depending on traffic of course.  Flights are often cheaper and many more non-stop options, BUT it’s $300 to park on site for a week.  Our daughter lives about halfway from our house to Logan, so we could drive to their house and have them bring us to the airport but they both work so that kind of limits when we can fly.  I think we need to figure out how to get the commuter rail at PVD into the city of Boston, then transfer to a train to Logan.  Which means schlepping our luggage, ugh.  While it’s nice to have the option of Logan, it stinks because we live about 7 miles from PVD! 

 

I hear ya. Another reason I hate flying out of JFK is I literally drive past 2 other airports - Westchester & LaGuardia  - to get there. 🙂

 

Is there any reputable off-site private parking lots you can use? For example, I use The Parking Spot  at Newark or AirPark at JFK & LGA. Both companies are AAA approved and offer AAA discount and the price can be up to 50% less than airport parking.  The free shuttle is usually waiting, the driver loads your luggage & will take you directly to your terminal rather than "the loop" of multiple parking lots/terminals the airport shuttle take. Plus, free bottle of water!

 

Arriving back is a bit inconvenient in that you have to call after ahead once you land so you may need to wait 20 minutes or so. But they will take you directly to your car which is usually started up & running so its warm in the winter or cooled down in the summer.

 

[lenquixote66]

8 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

She saw Harry twice and would go as many times as she could!

My granddaughter too. I had never heard of him when she started talking about him.Every time my granddaughters mentioned singers that they like I began listening to their songs so that I could have conversations with the kids.Their tastes in music have changed over the years.My 19 year old granddaughter used to love Katy Perry,The Black Eyed Peas and a singer frequently mentioned on this thread,Taylor Swift.

[HBE4]

19 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Might be cheaper to rent a car the night before local to your house and then drop car off at Logan then pay the $300  parking fee and this way you don't bother anyone.

 

One company I worked for a while back,  employees were entitled to a substantial discount with Hertz. I was able  to book two one-way rentals for something like $90 total vs the $250-$300 it would have cost at the airport for a 10 day trip.  And they were decent, roomy cars as well, not entry-level compacts.  

 

Dropping off/picking up the car at the airport was always a breeze since it came with Gold Membership status. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

It's the old hub-and-spoke system that all the airlines use. It's actually cheaper to fly people from several locations (the spokes) to one city (the hub) & load them onto one plane to their final destination.  In SW case, I guess Baltimore is the hub where they'll fly you and OB from Rhode Island where you'll join people from Chicago, Buffalo, St. Louis, etc to Florida. It's cheaper than having 3+ semi-full direct flights to Florida.  And when I say cheaper, I mean for the airline, not the passenger. Whenever I've had a choice of direct or connecting, the connecting flights are always more sometimes substantially more. 

 

The bigger, traditional airlines such as United and Delta have several hubs scattered around the country which is why it's usually easier to get direct flights with them.

 

I never really thought of it before but I guess I'm luck as I have 3 major and 2 regional airports within a 1 hour drive. Well, JFK is more an hour but that's because of the massive traffic jams that seem to be there at all hours of the day & night thanks to the ancient roadways surrounding the airport.

 

When SWA was flying non stop from PVD to FLL I was never on a flight that wasn't packed. It was my understanding that airlines were moving away from the hub and spoke model that they had used for years.

[BonTexasNY]

4 hours ago, ValerieJo said:

@mo&fran  Sending healing thoughts your way for a full and speedy recovery.

 

@DaniDanielle  My heart breaks for your family.  Hopefully in time they will have less pain and the many good memories will shine through.

I feel exactly the same way to both of you, @mo&fran for healing prayers and @DaniDanielle for your daughter and grandkids hearts to heal.

[Sea Dog]

18 hours ago, mo&fran said:

When I was on my last cruise, I guess about a month ago, I noticed a lump on the side of my neck. Got home, went to my PCP, got a CT scan. Sent the result to my oncologist, next a ENT Dr, next to the hospital for a biopsy.

Result, I have throat cancer. It has been many years (like 20) since I smoked, so we really not sure what caused it.

Just got off the phone with the oncologist, the treatment is to zap it with radiation, then 6 weeks of low level chemo.

Oncologist said there should be minimal side effects from the treatment,  it is very treatable.

 

 

I'm happy that it was very treatable and you got on top of it early. Wishing you the best in your treatment.

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Have you looked into Logan Express at all?  I know there is a Braintree location that is near South Shore Plaza.  Tickets online are discounted and parking is less than $10 per day.  It runs pretty frequently and drops off at the terminals last I used it.  I have gone from Braintree but have used it from another location and it was easy.

 

https://www.massport.com/logan-airport/to-from-logan/transportation-options/logan-express/braintree/

 

We live about 15 miles from Logan, so about an hour drive also. 😄 We are about 45 minutes from Manchester Airport in NH but prefer Logan.

I did look into that but DH doesn’t like the idea of leaving the car in an outside lot, even secured. But we could look into the one in Natick which I think has a parking garage.  

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

I saw Bob Dylan in April 1961 for the first time .Are you familiar with the song You Belong to Me ? That was recorder in 1962 by my then friend Joey Canzano who was the lead singer of The Duprees.

Yes.

I think the Dupree's sang it first in 1960.

Jo Stafford and Patsy Kline as well as Bob Dylan sang that song too.

Edited June 29, 2023 by grapau27

[lenquixote66]

6 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Yes.

I think the Dupree's sang it first in 1960.

Jo Stafford and Patsy Kline as well as Bob Dylan sang that song too.

Joey was referred to as “the man with many voices”.His onetime girlfriend was the Bookkeeper of a company that I worked for.On Friday afternoon all the employees lined up to get their weekly pay checks .Joey was there and would sing to the female employees.

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

I hear ya. Another reason I hate flying out of JFK is I literally drive past 2 other airports - Westchester & LaGuardia  - to get there. 🙂

 

Is there any reputable off-site private parking lots you can use? For example, I use The Parking Spot  at Newark or AirPark at JFK & LGA. Both companies are AAA approved and offer AAA discount and the price can be up to 50% less than airport parking.  The free shuttle is usually waiting, the driver loads your luggage & will take you directly to your terminal rather than "the loop" of multiple parking lots/terminals the airport shuttle take. Plus, free bottle of water!

 

Arriving back is a bit inconvenient in that you have to call after ahead once you land so you may need to wait 20 minutes or so. But they will take you directly to your car which is usually started up & running so its warm in the winter or cooled down in the summer.

 

We have used something like Parking Spot for Newark in the past. Paid $5 to $7 per night for parking. Parking spot was at the Hilton sometimes and the Double Tree twice. I liked the DT parking because they had shuttles to and from. I was wondering where it would be for $5 to $7 but they were both inside their gated parking lot. Not done this recently.

[jmh2006]

2 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Ah, thanks for the explanation.  We can make it to Logan in Boston in an hour, depending on traffic of course.  Flights are often cheaper and many more non-stop options, BUT it’s $300 to park on site for a week.  Our daughter lives about halfway from our house to Logan, so we could drive to their house and have them bring us to the airport but they both work so that kind of limits when we can fly.  I think we need to figure out how to get the commuter rail at PVD into the city of Boston, then transfer to a train to Logan.  Which means schlepping our luggage, ugh.  While it’s nice to have the option of Logan, it stinks because we live about 7 miles from PVD! 

Direct flight on Delta from Providence to Detroit, stay with us and then take a direct flight to FLL!  I know, I know, not cheaper 🤣

Edited June 29, 2023 by jmh2006

[ollienbertsmum]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

My granddaughter too. I had never heard of him when she started talking about him.Every time my granddaughters mentioned singers that they like I began listening to their songs so that I could have conversations with the kids.Their tastes in music have changed over the years.My 19 year old granddaughter used to love Katy Perry,The Black Eyed Peas and a singer frequently mentioned on this thread,Taylor Swift.

 

I love this investment into grandchild relationships. It really makes such a difference.  OK they don’t do the same about our music (never could get my kids interested in my first love David Essex, although youngest came with me to see him when he performed a couple of years ago in the Gibraltar Music Festival).  I would go to see Taylor Swift in a heartbeat though,  I didn’t need my kids to direct me i don’t think.  

[brookmill18]

1 hour ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I did look into that but DH doesn’t like the idea of leaving the car in an outside lot, even secured. But we could look into the one in Natick which I think has a parking garage.  

Have you looked into flying out of Bradley in CT? We have done that several times--the only thing we've learned is that the airlines consider TF Green and Logan in the same "zone" so they will change you from one of those to another at no cost if they have an issue, but Bradley is it's own "zone" so you can't switch out of there for free. Parking is very easy and cheap--but it is outdoor parking. Also, Jet Blue has some limited flights out of Worcester of all things--that's a breeze!

[Momof3gurlz]

59 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Direct flight on Delta from Providence to Detroit, stay with us and then take a direct flight to FLL!  I know, I know, not cheaper 🤣

Now that’s a layover I could live with LOL. But seriously, that flight is one of the better options for October.  Even though it’s not direct/non-stop, the times are good.  There are others I could choose but I won’t fly in one of those little puddle jumper planes yet.  I’m getting better about flying but not quite there yet.  

[Momof3gurlz]

21 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

Have you looked into flying out of Bradley in CT? We have done that several times--the only thing we've learned is that the airlines consider TF Green and Logan in the same "zone" so they will change you from one of those to another at no cost if they have an issue, but Bradley is it's own "zone" so you can't switch out of there for free. Parking is very easy and cheap--but it is outdoor parking. Also, Jet Blue has some limited flights out of Worcester of all things--that's a breeze!

Thanks for the reminder! I always forget about Bradley.