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

[Bailey & Sophie]

On 7/26/2022 at 6:55 PM, Ocean Boy said:

The response to me trying to explain that I need to get up so I can go get a glass of wine.... 

 

 

 

Yup, you were right all along...this cat will never be a lap cat.

[Coralc]

3 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Harmony on the 21st goes to the DR. Haven’t been to La Romana so I don’t know what’s there.

We went to Altos de Chavon when we stopped there. We spent the day there, had lunch, came back. We were supposed to go to some resort, but our acquaintances, got antsy, even though we were on time, and left without us. We were able to join a bus trip on the pier, for a reasonable cost. Altos de Chavon is really pretty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Coralc

[Coralc]

Here is a link to their website. https://www.casadecampo.com.do/experiences/altos-de-chavon/

[NHProud]

2 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

I'm about 10 pages behind so if this has been answered,  sorry.

Sandy (and the other captains) have no control over who gets hired. It's all done by a casting studio and they pick "pretty" people who will bring the drama. 

It is not what it seems . That is what the dad of one contestant told me of what happened on the reality show his daughter appeared on .  After the show ended the host became even more famous . 

 

I just read in the WSJ that the Bellagio in LV is selling reservations for its poolside lounge chairs at $200 for the Labor Day weekend.  You get the chair , a table , umbrella and a towel.  It doesn’t say for how long you get to sit there.  You can still get a lounge chair free of charge but get there early. 

 

This just might be the solution to the chair hog issue on ships.  

 

 

Nickel and  Dimed 

Edited July 28, 2022 by NHProud

[Coralc]

6 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Harmony on the 21st goes to the DR. Haven’t been to La Romana so I don’t know what’s there.

You know what is weird, too? The Dominican Republic and Haiti are the exact same island with a well-guarded border between the two.  DR is all about expensive golf courses, AI resorts and celebrity homes. We passed by Sammy Sosa's and JLo's houses on the way to AdC. According to the bus driver, a few Haitians are allowed in daily that have existing jobs in housekeeping and gardening. It is quite the dichotomy. 

[sgmn]

12 hours ago, jagsfan said:

That would be a lovely way to spend a day! Going through the locks is a bonus. 
I’ve done the trip from Westminster Pier to Hampton a couple of times and it was wonderful. 
Thank you for sharing your photos 

We can go down river as far as Teddington Lock but after that and to go through London it is tidal and you really have to know what you are doing.  Our marina club usually does a small flotilla through London with more experienced boaters helping the inexperienced once or twice a year. Maybe we will join one next year and attempt London 

[sgmn]

10 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Going through locks that you have to man yourself gets old quite quickly. We used to have two within half an hour of our house every time we went out but I did enjoy the canal/riverside pubs for a rest. It made the work worthwhile.

Most of the locks on the Thanes are manned 9 to 6.30 in the season. But occasionally weve come across unmanned locks. I always hope there's another cruiser who will operate  the gates but I'm going to have to watch some YouTube videos to get an idea in case I have to do it myself 

Edited July 28, 2022 by sgmn

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Our first ever cruise was on "Jewel", and we were lucky to board her twice (one for the "classic" Caribbean itinerary from Miami, and one to South Caribbean from SJ).

 

We absolutely fell in love with this class, which led us to "Radiance" to Alaska and NZ. They're ideal for an interesting itinerary.

 

To this day, it is our preferred class.

 

We also love Jewel, been on her three times now, probably our favourite too

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, jagsfan said:

You pass rowing clubs, from the ones with palatial clubhouses to the ones with little sheds for their boats…sculls?

The locks  are fun, more intimate than the Panama Canal ones. 
Absolutely worth the trip and then Hampton Palace at the end.  

The Thames has lots of different users and you have to be very mindful and slow right down for paddleboarders, sailing boats, canoes and even swimmers.  Often see semi pros canoeists with GB tops on doing training.  The speed limit is 5mph which is a waste of the two engines on our coastle cruiser.  Maybe in a year or two we'll swap it for a more traditional river boat as its unlikely we'll sail it on the coast

It's fun seeing all the grand houses (and not so grand) along the Thames but there's plenty of wild areas too. 

Edited July 28, 2022 by sgmn

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, jagsfan said:

Thank goodness the Thames locks aren’t DIY!

Some are, or unmanned when the lock keeper has a break . There are clear instructions, I've only done it once with help last season. I'm a bit concerned about doing it and will have to check out some videos online. Usually there's three or four boats going through and I always hope someone else will volunteer 

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

Are you gonna move too? I know you'll miss those friendly bbq's and late night jam sessions once she's moved away.

As long as the jet stays here I am good.

[Sunshine3601]

11 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

We had a visitor yesterday.   

 

I took this pick and loved it.

 

I told Kenzie it's so good I will have to share it on Dani's thread.  She looked at Shashey and said, he's kidding right?

 

She said nope then she gave me the look.

 

Then she said, post it and I will hide your flip flop.

 

I said, that, that's not mine.  Kenzie,  several love seeing you.   They will love the pic.

 

She said,  OK Gpa but it will cost ya a peanut butter cracker..

 

Love love love this little sweetie💖

[ReneeFLL]

 

5 hours ago, Coralc said:

Here is a link to their website. https://www.casadecampo.com.do/experiences/altos-de-chavon/

Thanks, that looks interesting.

 

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

You know what is weird, too? The Dominican Republic and Haiti are the exact same island with a well-guarded border between the two.  DR is all about expensive golf courses, AI resorts and celebrity homes. We passed by Sammy Sosa's and JLo's houses on the way to AdC. According to the bus driver, a few Haitians are allowed in daily that have existing jobs in housekeeping and gardening. It is quite the dichotomy. 

Speaking of Sosa. This is him and I in 1998 at the airport in Santo Domingo when Hurricane Georges went thru the DR. It was a charity event. Sosa and his charity donated the supplies, Pan Am donated the plane and crew and FLL donated the gas. There was no electricity at the airport, it was somewhat dark inside, holes in the ceiling, water on the floor and we were sweating like crazy in our jackets. Ugh! It was a life time ago. I also had a baseball signed by him and I’m not even into it. 😁 Unfortunately, the ink is fading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[Ocean Boy]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Headed to Iguaza Falls on the Serenade cruise. Hope we don't go over, its a 250' drop

Wow, looking forward to seeing pictures.

[Sunshine3601]

11 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I mentioned looking at the Harmony Jan 7th cruise with stops in Aruba & Curaçao.  Looking around, I also found an 8 night on Jewel of the Seas, stopping at Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, departs on Jan 6th from Pt Canaveral.  PC isn’t the easiest as far as transportation to/from Orlando airport but in the other hand, there are more flight options there from Providence.  Price is quite a bit lower than Harmony too. Anyone here ever sailed on the Jewel? Radiance class seems to get a lot of love in review searches. 

Yes, I absolutely love Jewel and her Sister Serenade.   Our favorites.  Love this size, all the windows and the fact that chops and giovannis actually have large oceanview windows.  Schnooners too!

I personally would pick this sailing with the ABC islands over Harmony with the ac islands.

We like the extended balconies on deck 7 located aft or forward.  Here are photos I think from cabin 7058.

You get regular size balcony with privacy dividers then get extended 3 or 4 feet. 

[bobmacliberty]

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The worst pat at Buffalo is sitting on the bridge in line with everyone until you can make your way clear to the dedicated Nexus lane.

 

Sounds like the Peace Bridge.  Yuck.  Ever try going over the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and then down 190?  Used to be that bridge was a lot less crowded.

[A&L_Ont]

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The worst pat at Buffalo is sitting on the bridge in line with everyone until you can make your way clear to the dedicated Nexus lane.

Thankfully I don’t cross there often but I did experience it one time.  Windsor and Sarnia are a breeze in comparison.  

[John&LaLa]

57 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Yes, I absolutely love Jewel and her Sister Serenade.   Our favorites.  Love this size, all the windows and the fact that chops and giovannis actually have large oceanview windows.  Schnooners too!

I personally would pick this sailing with the ABC islands over Harmony with the ac islands.

We like the extended balconies on deck 7 located aft or forward.  Here are photos I think from cabin 7058.

You get regular size balcony with privacy dividers then get extended 3 or 4 feet. 

 

Every time I see these I cringe a little. Not sure I like the lack of a divider. That being said, I always think about booking one. 

[Ourusualbeach]

31 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Sounds like the Peace Bridge.  Yuck.  Ever try going over the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and then down 190?  Used to be that bridge was a lot less crowded.

Yep, definitely the Peace Bridge.  It was only twice that we ran into really bad traffic.  Once it was just me driving south nearly 20 years ago and it was backed up to the duty free on the Canadian side.  Poor planning on my part, I timed my drive to coincide with the Leafs playing in Buffalo that night.  Can't remember what the other time was but it was a while ago as well.  I now have the app and check out the wait times at all the crossings.

[Ourusualbeach]

19 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Thankfully I don’t cross there often but I did experience it one time.  Windsor and Sarnia are a breeze in comparison.  

Only ever crossed at Windsor a couple times.  It's our back up plan if the weather does not look good on the I77/I79 route.  Bridge a couple times and the tunnel once, very quick

[h20skibum]

16 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yep, definitely the Peace Bridge.  It was only twice that we ran into really bad traffic.  Once it was just me driving south nearly 20 years ago and it was backed up to the duty free on the Canadian side.  Poor planning on my part, I timed my drive to coincide with the Leafs playing in Buffalo that night.  Can't remember what the other time was but it was a while ago as well.  I now have the app and check out the wait times at all the crossings.

Ah, the Peace Bridge.  One place where they took all our passports and had all our carload go inside while they gave me an extra thorough screening.  They said my common name triggered it, but they were looking for someone with that name but a different race.

 

That was a bad year, because I got extra screening after a couple cruises also.

[h20skibum]

Today is my daughter’s 15 year anniversary, so we will have all our grandkids starting around lunchtime.  Bigger trips planned for tomorrow and the weekend with them, so this may be a day to stay local.

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Ah, the Peace Bridge.  One place where they took all our passports and had all our carload go inside while they gave me an extra thorough screening.  They said my common name triggered it, but they were looking for someone with that name but a different race.

 

That was a bad year, because I got extra screening after a couple cruises also.

Funny how you get singled out like that.  We have Nexus and never been questioned except this past March flying to and from Florida.  My son got singled out both times at the airport.

 

The only time we have ever been pulled into secondary was crossing in Windsor at the tunnel for the first time but that was entirely our fault and not random checking.

 

We were there just before they closed and there was no one in the Nexus lane.  we were proceeding through slowly not quite sure where we were to stop and we looked up and saw a glass window and someone waving us through.....hmmm that's odd, we don't even have to stop anymore, must be a new system.  We carried on our way and then about 20 minutes later we get a call from US customs asking if we had just passed through the border.  We had to turn around and go back.  They were waiting for us.  I must say the supervisor we dealt with was awesome.  I'm sure he could tell we were more than a little nervous at this point and once I walked him through what happened he kind of laughed about it and saw how it could happen.  They still had to do a thorough search of our car and run a detailed check on us as they had protocols to follow but in the end they let us pass and our trip south was only an hour and a half behind schedule.

 

Because there was no one else ahead of us we had no reference of where to stop.  The actual booth you are to stop at was set back slightly and not totally visible if you are looking straight ahead.  What is very visible is the Port Authority office which is where we thought we saw someone waving us through.  The supervisor said in his 10 years he had never seen that happen but when I walked through it with him he totally got how we were confused.  

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

  They said my common name triggered it, but they were looking for someone with that name but a different race.

 

That wasn't apparent while you were sitting in your car?

[John&LaLa]

Can't believe the main boards are so caught up in bedtime and dance classes that stuff like this is barely mentioned.

 

From an obscure Live thread

 

Seems newsworthy to me