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

[Keksie]

6 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Good afternoon, currently enjoying a nice glass of wine in the sunshine while my phone re-charges.

 

Had 3 options for my last day in Adelaide: a full day winery tour with lunch included in the Barossa Valley or a long scenic walk by the water or some interactions with native wildlife in particular with birds.  So you all know I am a bird nerd..

 

Headed up into the beautiful Adelaide Hills which were a bit brisk to start with but warmed up once the sun came out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for Adelaide - flying home  tonight.  The below photo represents me after all the good food, wine & chocolate I’ve enjoyed during my visit.  No sure that all the kms of walking have balanced it out..,

 

Photos taken here (paid extra for the Cockatoo experience).

 

 

That is the best adventure ever.  Australia has the most interesting animals and birds.

[derorim]

10 hours ago, ATG said:

We are currently at a hotel in Covington GA tonight. The hurricane went through our neighborhood in South Carolina early Friday morning. One of the weather sites listed the wind speed at 82 mph at 5:37 am. That’s about the time a very large tree fell and missed our neighbors bedroom by about 10 feet. Our short street had 5 trees across the road. Luckily several of our neighbors had chain saws and got them taken care of. Lots of other trees down but only minor damage to one porch. They estimate no power for about a week.

We decided to find a hotel for a few days. On I-20 between Augusta and here the traffic was slow but moving. We tried to get gas but all of the stations were out. Hopefully, by the time we leave they get more.

All in all, we are thankful none of us had more damage. We have great neighbors, we all got together last night for dinner. One neighbor has a gas range and we all brought stuff from our refrigerator- it will mostly need to be trashed after a week. It was a strange menu, but good to get together.

We have read about the devastation in North Carolina. I hope they can recover quickly.

 

Sorry to hear you are impacted by the hurricane, and glad you were able to get to a hotel.  I hope power is restored to your home soon.  The news from the Asheville NC area is frightening.

[Arzeena]

2 hours ago, mo&fran said:

At 10 my driver is coming to bring me to Ft Lauderdale for 5 weeks of cruising on Freedom of the Seas. My first venture into solo cruising. I already had the email letting me know that I will not be allowed to visit the suite lounge. I guess there will be a lot of Pinn's this cruise. In the past, we rarely visited the lounges anyway, I figured that might change now. 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Sunshine3601]

12 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

We will be on Utopia leaving September 30th. 

Whoops, for some reason I thought you were sailing on Icon.  

Please disregard my earlier post.

I hope you have a great cruise with perfect weather❤️

[jmh2006]

@Ozark_Kid  John, bon voyage and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.  I am so thankful you made it down to Florida without too much trouble!

 

It is so hard to comprehend the amount of devastation from Helene!  I have good friends whose Mother lives south of Asheville and they haven't been able to find out how she is or where she might be.  I would be loosing my mind!  Dave and I are supposed to go to a conference in Asheville the first week of November, so we shall see.  😞  

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Good afternoon, currently enjoying a nice glass of wine in the sunshine while my phone re-charges.

 

Had 3 options for my last day in Adelaide: a full day winery tour with lunch included in the Barossa Valley or a long scenic walk by the water or some interactions with native wildlife in particular with birds.  So you all know I am a bird nerd..

 

Headed up into the beautiful Adelaide Hills which were a bit brisk to start with but warmed up once the sun came out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for Adelaide - flying home  tonight.  The below photo represents me after all the good food, wine & chocolate I’ve enjoyed during my visit.  No sure that all the kms of walking have balanced it out..,

 

Photos taken here (paid extra for the Cockatoo experience).

 

 

Awesome pictures, especially for the animal lovers on this thread.🙂

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, mo&fran said:

At 10 my driver is coming to bring me to Ft Lauderdale for 5 weeks of cruising on Freedom of the Seas. My first venture into solo cruising. I already had the email letting me know that I will not be allowed to visit the suite lounge. I guess there will be a lot of Pinn's this cruise. In the past, we rarely visited the lounges anyway, I figured that might change now. 

I'll be interested to read your thoughts on the ship. I have not been on Freedom in several years now and have her booked for this coming March.

[A&L_Ont]

14 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Just watched the first episode of Dr Odyssey.  We found it to be decent, over the top as others noted.  I can see how @Ocean Boy would take issue with the unrealistic nature of the surgical procedures, over and above the large medical centre. The broken male appendage and over board rescue are possible but the quick positive outcomes are not reflective of the real cruise world. 
 

Will we continue to watch, yes and see where it goes from there. 
 

I did like the following quote from the show. 

There should be zero guilt on a pleasure cruise.
 

 

@Ocean Boy if Dr Odyssey’s cabin was reality for cruise DRs, would you consider this as a part time calling for you between football seasons?  With Taylor no longer seizing your time, it would be an interesting profession. 😀

[A&L_Ont]

13 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'll be interested to read your thoughts on the ship. I have not been on Freedom in several years now and have her booked for this coming March.

Me too. We sail on her in March, and enjoyed our time on her in August 2023. 

[akcruz]

12 hours ago, ATG said:

We are currently at a hotel in Covington GA tonight. The hurricane went through our neighborhood in South Carolina early Friday morning. One of the weather sites listed the wind speed at 82 mph at 5:37 am. That’s about the time a very large tree fell and missed our neighbors bedroom by about 10 feet. Our short street had 5 trees across the road. Luckily several of our neighbors had chain saws and got them taken care of. Lots of other trees down but only minor damage to one porch. They estimate no power for about a week.

We decided to find a hotel for a few days. On I-20 between Augusta and here the traffic was slow but moving. We tried to get gas but all of the stations were out. Hopefully, by the time we leave they get more.

All in all, we are thankful none of us had more damage. We have great neighbors, we all got together last night for dinner. One neighbor has a gas range and we all brought stuff from our refrigerator- it will mostly need to be trashed after a week. It was a strange menu, but good to get together.

We have read about the devastation in North Carolina. I hope they can recover quickly.

 

Sorry to hear you were impacted by Helene, hoping you get your power back soon and are able to get home. 

 

12 hours ago, helen haywood said:

My previous home town, Washington, GA had a direct hit from Helene.  The whole county is without power or landlines.  No stores open as no electricity.  No gas stations open.  I feel terrible.  I heard from my closest two friends briefly yesterday…but not since as they need to conserve cell battery.  They can charge the phone in their car but I don’t know how long that takes.  No matter how much preparation I would have made if I still lived there…I would never have expected to be without power for days!

 

Once when I lived there the power was out for three days…but that was in the winter…and there were stores open!  I hear Augusta, Lincolnton and Thomson (nearby towns) are equally decimated.  I wish there was something I could do!

 

Amazing the impacts by Helene so far from ocean.  We lost power for 10 days after Sandy, when we were in NJ, as did many others for longer.  Everything was closed, I went to work and showered at the gym since they had generators.  

 

37 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

@Ozark_Kid  John, bon voyage and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.  I am so thankful you made it down to Florida without too much trouble!

 

It is so hard to comprehend the amount of devastation from Helene!  I have good friends whose Mother lives south of Asheville and they haven't been able to find out how she is or where she might be.  I would be loosing my mind!  Dave and I are supposed to go to a conference in Asheville the first week of November, so we shall see.  😞  

 

The pictures I have seen from Asheville and the surrounding areas are heartbreaking.  We were looking at heading that way next month for a few days, will be looking elsewhere.

 

Prayers for all impacted by Helene from Florida up through Georgia, SC, NC and Tennesse.

[Momof3gurlz]

5 hours ago, brillohead said:

What part of Michigan are you coming to?

The Detroit area, then exploring Traverse City and Mackinaw Island.  We’re visiting with fellow CC’er @jmh2006 and her DH.  We became fast friends on Bella 1.0 and have cruised together twice more since then.  

[brillohead]

3 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

The Detroit area, then exploring Traverse City and Mackinaw Island.  We’re visiting with fellow CC’er @jmh2006 and her DH.  We became fast friends on Bella 1.0 and have cruised together twice more since then.  

 

Enjoy "up north"... Mackinac Island is a totally unique experience.  Enjoy the fudge!

[Ocean Boy]

19 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

@Ocean Boy if Dr Odyssey’s cabin was reality for cruise DRs, would you consider this as a part time calling for you between football seasons?  With Taylor no longer seizing your time, it would be an interesting profession. 😀

Honestly, I've had a long and very rewarding career. If I were going to go work on a cruise ship after I leave this behind I think I'd like to try something completely unrelated to medicine. I'm just not sure what it would be. Playing piano in the Schooner Bar wouldn't be a bad gig. Something without a pager going off and frequent interruptions to my life sounds good. Then again, I might find myself missing it all. I sort of love what I do.

[A&L_Ont]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Honestly, I've had a long and very rewarding career. If I were going to go work on a cruise ship after I leave this behind I think I'd like to try something completely unrelated to medicine. I'm just not sure what it would be. Playing piano in the Schooner Bar wouldn't be a bad gig. Something without a pager going off and frequent interruptions to my life sounds good. Then again, I might find myself missing it all. I sort of love what I do.

For some reason I could totally see you playing the piano at the Schooner Bar and the rest of the time enjoying the view of the aft wake. 

[dani negreanu]

18 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

@dani negreanu    I know you mentioned that you had some rainy days and I hope that didn't impact your plans too much.    Based on your photos it does look like you had some sunny days.   How warm was it?

 

@Sunshine3601

Debbie, it was a warm rain. We had about 25C (77F) more or less, usually it was cloudy, when we had periods of sunshine, it was very warm, with the sun hitting hard.

 

 

18 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Good to hear you made it.  Now, relax and get ready for your cruise on Monday.  

17 hours ago, derorim said:

Awesome!  I hope you enjoy a wonderful cruise!  Enjoy!

1 hour ago, jmh2006 said:

@Ozark_Kid  John, bon voyage and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.  I am so thankful you made it down to Florida without too much trouble!

 

+1 John @Ozark_Kid

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Luckynana said:

I'm sorry that they both have such a bad case of Covid!  Hopefully they start to feel better quickly.

 

+1 Judy @NHProud

 

 

15 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Beautiful Venue, Helen!  Congratulations to the soon-to-be Newlyweds!❤️

 

+1 Helen @FromSea2ShiningSea

 

 

 

15 hours ago, Luckynana said:

@h20skibum  There are no words with regard to all of the devastation that Helene has destroyed with her wrath.😔

 

+1  To all those impacted.

 

13 hours ago, taznremmy said:

WOW!  So glad you didn’t experience any damage!  Thanks for checking in.

2 hours ago, derorim said:

Sorry to hear you are impacted by the hurricane, and glad you were able to get to a hotel.  I hope power is restored to your home soon.  The news from the Asheville NC area is frightening.

 

+1 Anne @ATG

 

 

 

4 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Enjoy your five weeks on Freedom.  We are starting to figure out how to pack for four weeks of cruising in January.  

 

+1  Mo @mo&fran

 

 

Jane @firefly333

 

We stayed at l'Hermitage hotel in Vancouver. Recommended.

https://www.lhermitagevancouver.com/

 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by dani negreanu

[Momof3gurlz]

43 minutes ago, brillohead said:

 

Enjoy "up north"... Mackinac Island is a totally unique experience.  Enjoy the fudge!

Oops, Mackinac not Mackinaw.  I should pay better attention to where I’m going 🤪! 

[Ocean Boy]

Nice autumn day here though a bit gray with a few drops of rain here and there. Once again, and for the next several months, the shoreline belongs to the locals.

 

 

[Luckynana]

A friend of mine just let me know that Hooked is finally showing up for Dinner for our Bella Cruise,  Jim and I booked Hooked for lunch for day 3, since at the time, Hooked wasn't showing Dinner.  So now it is.  I tried for day 6, no good, day 7, no good at least for the several times I've tried.  May you all be successful in your attempts.  

[Luckynana]

5 hours ago, ATG said:

We drove through Thomson on our way. The Loves gas station right at I-20 was open, but the line was at least a mile long yesterday. The fast food places on the other side of the interstate were closed. Cell phone service has been spotty. I’m not sure if it’s damage to the towers or just so many people using them. We’re hoping to find gas this morning.

Sorry to hear of all the damage.  Hope you were able to find gas this morning, and that all will be well with your home when you arrive there.  Best of luck.🙏

8 hours ago, George C said:

My brother runs a theater in Ft Myers and his house had huge damage from the previous hurricane, but only minor damage this week, luckily he had good insurance but took a year to get his house livable again. 

Thank goodness this storm was kinder to your brother.  I know what you mean about it taking a year to get his house livable again.  Last year there were tarps on houses waiting for repairs.

6 hours ago, mo&fran said:

At 10 my driver is coming to bring me to Ft Lauderdale for 5 weeks of cruising on Freedom of the Seas. My first venture into solo cruising. I already had the email letting me know that I will not be allowed to visit the suite lounge. I guess there will be a lot of Pinn's this cruise. In the past, we rarely visited the lounges anyway, I figured that might change now. 

Happy Sail Away, Fran!  That's quite a bit of cruising in store for you.  Enjoy every minute!!!

[bobmacliberty]

58 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Nice autumn day here though a bit gray with a few drops of rain here and there. Once again, and for the next several months, the shoreline belongs to the locals.

 

 

 

I know what you mean. 🙂  Our daughter has been here since Wednesday night...we just dropped her off at the airport to go back to Cincinnati.  Although yesterday's weather was overcast, she wanted to go to the beach.  The temperature was in the 80s, but there was no one within a hundred yards of us in either direction. 

 

This is what you do when you don't have a beach near you, and you get the chance to go to one...sit in the water and stare out at the ocean.

 

 

 

[dani negreanu]

Our next stop in Greece was Argostoli (Kefalonia), which turned out to be a real gem.

 

Since all the tours offered by RC or by private companies included 2 very famous caves, and we wanted to see only one, I've tailored a one-cave tour, with additional photo-ops.

 

I "threatened" the "tardies" that we'll proceed without them, and it worked. For a change, they were even early...😜

 

Drogarati cave had very beautiful colors --

 

 

 

We then proceeded to 2 photo-ops --

 

 

 

Myrtos Beach 

 

 

Other 3 stops in pictoresque villages (Assos, Sami and Agia Efimia) were marred by torrential rain...

 

After 3 days of touring, we enjoyed a sea day.

 

Kotor is famous for its sail in and it didn't disappoint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by dani negreanu
trouble posting the movie....

[grapau27]

Good evening.

We had a lovely church service this morning then sat looking out to sea with a light snack.

I hope everyone is safe and well and y'all are having a great day.

[grapau27]

[dani negreanu]

Our last stop was Split (Croatia), a very nice and laid back city. We really enjoyed our few hours there. It was more than 20 mins walking from the ship to the Old City, and not 5-10 mins as "advertised"...

 

Old buildings with a Venetian motif.

 

 

 

 

 

Since Ravenna is quite in the middle of nowhere, the majority of the ship used the transfers offered by RC.

 

We decided to take the transfer to Bologna's train station, spend there a day and night, and then take the train to Milan airport, via the main Milan's station.

 

We've never been to Bologna, and found her very beautiful, plenty of photo ops for DH.

 

As luck had it, there was a ceramics convention in the city, and the hotels and B&B were fully booked. I've managed to find a quaint B&B a 2 mins walk from the train station, at a hefty price...

 

B'fast was included in the price and "served in the room". Where in the room? A pic speaks by itself 

🤣

 

 

As it happens, DH always thinks outside the box....

 

 

Edited 26 minutes ago by dani negreanu

[Ocean Boy]

40 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Our next stop in Greece was Argostoli (Kefalonia), which turned out to be a real gem.

 

Since all the tours offered by RC or by private companies included 2 very famous caves, and we wanted to see only one, I've tailored a one-cave tour, with additional photo-ops.

 

I "threatened" the "tardies" that we'll proceed without them, and it worked. For a change, they were even early...😜

 

Drogarati cave had very beautiful colors --

 

 

 

We then proceeded to 2 photo-ops --

 

 

 

Myrtos Beach 

 

 

Other 3 stops in pictoresque villages (Assos, Sami and Agia Efimia) were marred by torrential rain...

 

After 3 days of touring, we enjoyed a sea day.

 

Kotor is famous for its sail in and it didn't disappoint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome pictures. The cave looks beautiful. I enjoy visiting caves.