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

[Keksie]

36 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

The weather here was great yesterday but in the few weeks before...not so much.  Lots of gray skies and temps that were even dipping into the 30s.  While that's nothing compared to what many of you have been experiencing, it's still a little depressing.  We therefore decided that we need to go someplace warm. 

 

We'll be flying down to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) in 3 weeks.  We were there 20 years ago when our kids were young (to address winter cabin fever while living in Cincinnati) but have not been back since.  We'll be staying at Secrets Cap Cana, an adult only all-inclusive which gets good reviews.  This will be a pure relaxation trip with no "excursions" planned.  Just beach, pool, food, drink, repeat.  Has anyone been to Secrets Cap Cana? 

I have never been there but please give a short review.  I am always on the look out for a get away.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

I’ve hit a very frustrating period in my knee replacement rehab. Dealing with a lot of pain and restless leg syndrome at night that’s driving be crazy. My rom  bend isn’t progressing as much as I wanted. Very depressed right now with everything.

 

@Sea Dog Greg, so sorry to hear that.

 

I've noticed that you were less "active" lately, and it had me worried.

 

Agree about the frustration of living in pain.

 

All I can offer is my sympathy and positive thoughts crossing the Med and the Pond towards you 😘

 

47 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

I am looking for a recommendation from some of our friends here.  

 

@h20skibum  Mark, I've used this company and recommended it to various CC friends along the year, all were very appreciative. Don't know about your airport, though, but I'm attaching their link, worth checking with them.

 

Jiffy Jeff

 

https://www.gojiffyjeff.com/services/airport-shuttle-transportation-services/

 

[DaniDanielle]

Greg, praying for your pain to be relieved soon🙏

[ValerieJo]

On 1/19/2024 at 2:09 PM, Arzeena said:

@ValerieJo
I hope your cruise is wonderful. I just wanted to know if you went to Trois Iselt and to the Bakou in Martinique and what were your thoughts.

We will be there in March again.

 

Hi Arzena,   Sorry I'm so far behind on this thread.   For Martinique we did a tour with a company called "Beyond the Beach" (we did the South tour).  While we enjoyed it, I felt most of it was driving.   First stop was a great artisan village with lots of art work, pottery and small shops.  The problem was we only had about 20 minutes there, so not nearly enough time to check it out or make any purchases.  Our 2nd stop was a beach that had fantastic snorkeling, but again we only had about 40 minutes there.  Not nearly enough time there either.  The 3rd stop was a Rum Factory for tasting.  It was OK but we weren't big fans of the rum.   We just felt there was too much time driving and not enough time to enjoy the stops on this tour.   I think we would do something different if we were to go back to Martinique.   Hope you have a wonderful time.

[Sea Dog]

37 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

@Sea Dog Greg, so sorry to hear that.

 

I've noticed that you were less "active" lately, and it had me worried.

 

Agree about the frustration of living in pain.

 

All I can offer is my sympathy and positive thoughts crossing the Med and the Pond towards you 😘

 

 

@h20skibum  Mark, I've used this company and recommended it to various CC friends along the year, all were very appreciative. Don't know about your airport, though, but I'm attaching their link, worth checking with them.

 

Jiffy Jeff

 

https://www.gojiffyjeff.com/services/airport-shuttle-transportation-services/

 

Thank you Dani! Yes I’ve been more of a hermit lately and trying to not get too discouraged. I promise to be better and be more active. Just going through a tough time right now.

[ValerieJo]

We are back from our 2 week cruise on Vision of the Seas.  We had a wonderful time, met some great people and did some fun excursions.   Since I probably won't be able to catch up on the past 3 weeks of posts, I like to send well wishes to all who are ailing and congratulations to all who are celebrating.

[Sea Dog]

59 minutes ago, Keksie said:

I am sorry that things aren't progressing.  Pain and restless leg would be depressing.  I am sending  virtual positive thoughts for you.  

Thank you! Yes it’s tough got about 3 hours of sleep last night. Just got my rom measured and it was 113 degrees where as last week I got a 117 degree. Not going consistently forward.

[Arzeena]

@Sea Dog

Greg, I hope you feel happier and better each day. Try not to get depressed.....just look at your puppies, they will make you smile.

How is Linda doing?

[George C]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

The weather here was great yesterday but in the few weeks before...not so much.  Lots of gray skies and temps that were even dipping into the 30s.  While that's nothing compared to what many of you have been experiencing, it's still a little depressing.  We therefore decided that we need to go someplace warm. 

 

We'll be flying down to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) in 3 weeks.  We were there 20 years ago when our kids were young (to address winter cabin fever while living in Cincinnati) but have not been back since.  We'll be staying at Secrets Cap Cana, an adult only all-inclusive which gets good reviews.  This will be a pure relaxation trip with no "excursions" planned.  Just beach, pool, food, drink, repeat.  Has anyone been to Secrets Cap Cana? 

We like adult only Caribbean resorts as a change of pace to cruises , have not done Secrets but have done Sandals several times , food there is superior to cruises.

[c-leg5]

2 minutes ago, George C said:

We like adult only Caribbean resorts as a change of pace to cruises , have not done Secrets but have done Sandals several times , food there is superior to cruises.

Surely that depends on which resort and which cruise line? Are you comparing similar price points?

[George C]

2 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Surely that depends on which resort and which cruise line? Are you comparing similar price points?

Definitely depends on the resort , sandals is about the price of a low end suite , but what I like was everything is included high end drinks , multiple restaurants and absolutely no tipping is allowed . 

[c-leg5]

12 minutes ago, George C said:

Definitely depends on the resort , sandals is about the price of a low end suite , but what I like was everything is included high end drinks , multiple restaurants and absolutely no tipping is allowed . 

Thanks good to know. 
 

I have never been to an AI that didn’t “allow” tipping.

 

I enjoy resorts for an occasional change but I begin to feel too confined quite quickly.

Edited January 26 by c-leg5

[George C]

15 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Thanks good to know. 
 

I have never been to an AI that didn’t “allow” tipping.

 

I enjoy resorts for an occasional change but I begin to feel too confined quite quickly.

We were told staff would be fired if they accepted cash tips , many people will give them small gifts like sports T-shirt etc .

[Momof3gurlz]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

The weather here was great yesterday but in the few weeks before...not so much.  Lots of gray skies and temps that were even dipping into the 30s.  While that's nothing compared to what many of you have been experiencing, it's still a little depressing.  We therefore decided that we need to go someplace warm. 

 

We'll be flying down to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) in 3 weeks.  We were there 20 years ago when our kids were young (to address winter cabin fever while living in Cincinnati) but have not been back since.  We'll be staying at Secrets Cap Cana, an adult only all-inclusive which gets good reviews.  This will be a pure relaxation trip with no "excursions" planned.  Just beach, pool, food, drink, repeat.  Has anyone been to Secrets Cap Cana? 

We have not been but I’ve been researching this AI as friends of ours went last year and very highly recommend it.  I’m looking forward to your thoughts once you return. 

[bobmacliberty]

33 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Thanks good to know. 
 

I have never been to an AI that didn’t “allow” tipping.

 

I enjoy resorts for an occasional change but I begin to feel too confined quite quickly.

 

Secrets makes a point of saying that tipping is included in the price.  I'd assume that you can tip additionally if you'd like but wouldn't be surprised if it was like George said and they don't actually allow tipping. 

 

We also typically like to be active and we've got a beach/pool right here, so beach vacations, especially where you never leave the resort, aren't normally our thing.  We'll fly there on Monday and fly back on Friday so I think I'll survive 3 full days of reading and relaxing.  They do have continual activities including some form of show in the evenings, which will help.  

[bobmacliberty]

3 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

We have not been but I’ve been researching this AI as friends of ours went last year and very highly recommend it.  I’m looking forward to your thoughts once you return. 

 

I'll definitely post a quick review and some pictures here.

[Momof3gurlz]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

I am looking for a recommendation from some of our friends here.  

 

Our plans for Summer of Fun 4.0 continue, and part of that is to take the grandkids and our daughter and SIL on the Utopia.  I just booked all of our flights to Orlando MCO).

 

Has anyone used a car service they can recommend.  Since there will be seven of us, plus luggage, I would like to keep all of us in one vehicle like a van or stretch limo, instead of using a couple Ubers.  We would be going to our hotel at Port Canaveral, since we arrive the day before the cruise.

 

If anyone has someone they could recommend, I would appreciate it. 

Mark, check out Gear Fusion.  My daughter and SIL use them regularly and based on her recommendation we used them last August when we cruised with our grandsons.  They have Suburbans which should be able to accommodate your family.  

[Momof3gurlz]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Happy to hear everything went well even though I missed what she had done. 
 

I’ve been not as focused keeping up with various threads on CC and posting. I’ve hit a very frustrating period in my knee replacement rehab. Dealing with a lot of pain and restless leg syndrome at night that’s driving be crazy. My rom  bend isn’t progressing as much as I wanted. Very depressed right now with everything.

Sorry to hear this Greg.  I’m sure it’s discouraging and it doesn’t help when you can’t get out and enjoy a little sunshine and warm weather.  Hang in there!

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

@Sea Dog

Greg, I hope you feel happier and better each day. Try not to get depressed.....just look at your puppies, they will make you smile.

How is Linda doing?

She going great and better than me. We both have therapy at the same place same time. Her therapist says she’s ahead of the game. I unfortunately have hit a wall.

[Sea Dog]

Just now, Momof3gurlz said:

Sorry to hear this Greg.  I’m sure it’s discouraging and it doesn’t help when you can’t get out and enjoy a little sunshine and warm weather.  Hang in there!

The only saving grace is that we haven’t seen the sun for a week. It’s been cold and rainy. It’s supposed to be warm and sunny next week so I will look forward to that. I hope you and Andy are doing great. Miss you guys!

[BonTexasNY]

@Sea Dog Greg, so sorry you hit a snag with your recovery.  Experiencing pain is definitely depressing but please know you WILL get past this.  Is rom range of motion?  Hopefully, next week's sunshine will perk you up as you continue to improve.  

 

Good news that Linda is doing well with her recovery.  Hoping the same for you.

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, George C said:

We were told staff would be fired if they accepted cash tips , many people will give them small gifts like sports T-shirt etc .

True!

Sandals staff would refuse to accept tips from day pass people also, as we experienced in Jamaica and Antigua several times.

[lenquixote66]

20 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

I personally always vote for shelter cats. There are always so many in the shelter that need homes.

 

Barring that, look into seeing if there's a breed rescue you could adopt from. I don't know if they have them for cats, but at least for dogs they specialize in rehoming a certain breed that have been surrendered for whatever reason.

 

Adopt, don't shop.

My wife and I rescued cats going back to the 1960’s.

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Read in the paper this morning that singer Melanie Safka passed away. I liked her song "Beautiful People". I also thought she was quite beautiful herself back in the day.

I saw her at a concert in 2008.It was outdoors and after the concert ended she walked to each row and had conversations with many of the 2000 people that were there.She was one of my all time favorite singers.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

Greg, praying for your pain to be relieved soon🙏

From me too