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

[Arzeena]

21 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Just saw we were switched. Same itinerary but in reverse which I think is ok. Before we had two days at sea at the top now it's our last two days which I think will be ok.

 

The St. Croix port will be a longer stay instead of 8am-5pm it's now 7am-6pm which I think it's good. Perfect Day is a shorter stay instead of 10am-6pm it's now 7am-4:30pm.

 

The big change time in port is Tortola. We want to do an excursion to Jost Van Dyke and White Bay to go to the Soggy Dollar Bar. Originally it was 7am-3pm now it's 12pm-8pm. I don't know if this is good or bad. In one way we can have a good breakfast and then get ready to go over. The bad may be by the time we get there it may be really crowded.

 

Anyone with experience at Soggy Dollar better in the morning or afternoon?

Both are good. Go with the cruise line excursion. Mornings were a bit less crowded, but that could have been the day of the week.

[Coralc]

3 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I’m not sure if this will help you or not but I’ll share it with you. 

We did a private tour, based out of St Thomas. We were originally booked through One Love Charters but they had an engine issue two days prior to our arrival but asked if their friend could take us instead. Same cost, same itinerary, same times and same shuttle driver. They transfered our deposit directly to their replacement Captain. They are both based in the same marina, a few slips apart from another as well. We actually saw their “stranded” boat as we departed and returned. 
 

We were picked up at Crown Bay at 10:15 am and 4 pm for the trip back to the Crown Bay.  The photo below give you an idea of our days time frame. 
 

 Here is a link to One Love. It looks as though they are still in business. 

 

https://www.onelovecharters.com/

 

 

Looks outstanding! I forgot you went over from St. Thomas. The port times are usually better there. We were looking at excursions from Tortola. Thanks! 

[grapau27]

3 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

Graham- Really like the name and the label on the ale bottle !

How was the ale?

Cheers!

MJ🙋🏻

It was very tasty thanks.

It had a hops smell and taste that I like in a beer.

We had a couple of days in the English Lake District and the Ale was made by a local brewery in Windermere.

Lake Windermere is 10.5 miles long 1 mile wide and 220 feet deep and is the largest natural lake in England.

[A&L_Ont]

9 minutes ago, Coralc said:

Looks outstanding! I forgot you went over from St. Thomas. The port times are usually better there. We were looking at excursions from Tortola. Thanks! 

We found them through Trip Advisor, so perhaps there is a comparable company from Tortola.  

[A&L_Ont]

84F, but feels like 100F today.

 

Pool is 86F.

 

[MJSailors]

Graham- I do enjoy your photos of the English Lake District !

Wish my hubby and I could see it in person.While I think it wouldn’t be near any ports ,

I have been thinking of a British Isles  Cruise for 2023 to celebrate our 40th anniversary. This may be a silly question,but what is the distance from Southampton to the ELD?

Haven’t mentioned it to hubby - he remains concerned about Covid and that he is getting “old” (70).🙄

I keep telling him about all the people here on CC that have been taking cruises successfully. Maybe he will have a brainstorm  and decide we should do some traveling in 2023.🤞

Wishing you and Pauline a lovely weekend.

MJ🙋🏻

[derorim]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Just watched a great timelapse video on YT of a cargo ship at sea for 30 days. It's ten minutes long but has some amazing footage of thunderstorms, torrential rain and busy traffic. The night time video is also amazing looking at the stars.

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing that video, it was mesmerizing!  

[grapau27]

36 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

Graham- I do enjoy your photos of the English Lake District !

Wish my hubby and I could see it in person.While I think it wouldn’t be near any ports ,

I have been thinking of a British Isles  Cruise for 2023 to celebrate our 40th anniversary. This may be a silly question,but what is the distance from Southampton to the ELD?

Haven’t mentioned it to hubby - he remains concerned about Covid and that he is getting “old” (70).🙄

I keep telling him about all the people here on CC that have been taking cruises successfully. Maybe he will have a brainstorm  and decide we should do some traveling in 2023.🤞

Wishing you and Pauline a lovely weekend.

MJ🙋🏻

 

Thank you MJ.

Manchester International airport is the nearest to Windermere.

Ships dock in Liverpool which is 100 miles from Windermere.

Your best bet is to stay for a couple of nights in the Bowness/Windermere area.

Paulines late mam shared our cabin on P&O Ventura for her 90th birthday and had 6 cruises with us in her 80s.

Graham.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by grapau27

[MJSailors]

Thank you for the info Graham. I was thinking that we would take a Princess Cruise out of Southampton as we are Platinum on Princess. To add a trip to the Lake District may be tricky unless we flew into Manchester,rented a car, toured the ELD then got a flight from Manchester to Southampton. Lots to think about,for sure.

I will keep Pauline’s dear mother in  mind when I chat up hubby about taking such a cruise.

Our best man - hubby’s friend since Kindergarten- has just embarked on a trip to Africa that includes a safari in Kenya,a wedding in Rwanda and a stay in South Africa. We will see how that trip goes for him. He may be able to influence hubby to take the travel plunge.

We have planned a return trip to Florida in the late Fall. We’ll see how that goes !

MJ🙋🏻

[helen haywood]

To go back a few days, when we were talking about the SS Norway, I forgot that on that trip we had a long wait in the Miami airport for our flight home.  My husband, who lived in Miami before we were married, took me to Joe’s Stone Crab for my first time.  OMG!!!  HOW delicious!!  (This was back a long time ago…)

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

It was very tasty thanks.

It had a hops smell and taste that I like in a beer.

We had a couple of days in the English Lake District and the Ale was made by a local brewery in Windermere.

Lake Windermere is 10.5 miles long 1 mile wide and 220 feet deep and is the largest natural lake in England.

You are looking great!    You look to be at your perfect weight 😀

Edited August 5, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[ATG]

5 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I first bought the 5 qt but as soon as I took it out of the box I realized it would not do for chicken wings during football season, especially if the kids are here!  Returned it & bought the 7 qt.  I’m enjoying researching recipes & look forward to trying a bunch. I’ll have to try the hard boiled eggs too. 

I love my ninja air fryer!  I do wings for the 2 of us and it just holds them.  One thing I tried this week was corn on the cob.  It turned out great.  

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I’m not sure if this will help you or not but I’ll share it with you. 

We did a private tour, based out of St Thomas. We were originally booked through One Love Charters but they had an engine issue two days prior to our arrival but asked if their friend could take us instead. Same cost, same itinerary, same times and same shuttle driver. They transfered our deposit directly to their replacement Captain. They are both based in the same marina, a few slips apart from another as well. We actually saw their “stranded” boat as we departed and returned. 
 

We were picked up at Crown Bay at 10:15 am and 4 pm for the trip back to the Crown Bay.  The photo below give you an idea of our days time frame. 
 

 Here is a link to One Love. It looks as though they are still in business. 

 

https://www.onelovecharters.com/

 

 

Thank you Andrew. I will investigate this option for future cruises that stop at St. Thomas.

 

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Both are good. Go with the cruise line excursion. Mornings were a bit less crowded, but that could have been the day of the week.

 

That’s  what I was thinking. Yes staying with cruise excursions is safer from a time factor.

 

 

2 hours ago, Coralc said:

Looks outstanding! I forgot you went over from St. Thomas. The port times are usually better there. We were looking at excursions from Tortola. Thanks! 

 

Remember? We were going to go to Tortola together and then there was the pandemic.

[Ocean Boy]

 

 

Sitting by the pool at the yacht club drinking a cosmo, reading Cruise Critic, and listening to Judy Collins/Jonas Fjeld album Winter Stories on Spotify. Saw them together on PBS once. I think the music is pretty cool. Hard to believe Judy is in her 80's now. Back in my college days I listened to her a lot and also played and sang a lot of her songs. Thought she was so pretty back then. She just wasn't as bewitching as Stevie though.😊

 

Nice evening to start the weekend.

 

[George C]

8 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Sitting by the pool at the yacht club drinking a cosmo, reading Cruise Critic, and listening to Judy Collins/Jonas Fjeld album Winter Stories on Spotify. Saw them together on PBS once. I think the music is pretty cool. Hard to believe Judy is in her 80's now. Back in my college days I listened to her a lot and also played and sang a lot of her songs. Thought she was so pretty back then. She just wasn't as bewitching as Stevie though.😊

 

Nice evening to start the weekend.

Love Judy Collins music , our favorite singer who we see every Wednesday plays many of her songs along with Carole King and Joni Mitchell, also love The song about her Suite Judy Blue Eyes, she did lots of great covers of Dylan songs . 

[Ocean Boy]

A couple more by the pool....

 

 

[BonTexasNY]

6 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We have known a couple for nearly 20 years.Their oldest son retired from the NYPD and opened an Italian restaurant.He hired a Chef and other restaurant personnel.It is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to for Italian food.

Best restaurants IMHO are mom and pop owned and managed.

Glad Toby came thru her cataract surgery with flying colors.

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by BonTexasNY

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, BonTexasNY said:

Best restaurants IMHO are mom and pop owned and managed.

I agree ,Bonnie.

[HBE4]

Heat wave broke and currently a very unreasonable cool 79 degrees. Beautiful night to be sitting in the St Arnold's beet garden.  Saint Arnold is one of Houstons original craft brewies.  I've sample 6 different brews (IPA and Ales with a Cider thrown in for fun) and give all of then high marks.

 

Music: mostly Seattle grunge but I guess that's what beer geeks like.

 

Houston skyline in background. 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by HBE4

[HBE4]

I know this is a mostly wine, cocktail & hard spirits crowd but among my other favorite Texas beers is Karbach. Not a fan of Zigler and Lone Star Beer is like a bad batch of Budweiser,  but worse. 

 

Shiner Bock also a very good beer but I can get that in NY. Also available first night of sailing out of Galveston. 

[Vibe]

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

 

Thank you MJ.

Manchester International airport is the nearest to Windermere.

Ships dock in Liverpool which is 100 miles from Windermere.

Your best bet is to stay for a couple of nights in the Bowness/Windermere area.

Paulines late mam shared our cabin on P&O Ventura for her 90th birthday and had 6 cruises with us in her 80s.

Graham.

 

 

Greetings from my home in Windermere Florida

[Ourusualbeach]

20 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Packed our suitcases for flying out to Anchorage on Friday for the upcoming Alaska cruise – first cruise in 4 plus years. Super excited but also stressful to be traveling nowadays.

 

 

Took our online proctored Covid tests today (all negative) before we finally feel like we are “allowed” to cruise.  In case anyone needs to cruise in near future, we booked OnPoint proctoring ($15/pp) on Zoom meeting using the free Covid kits you get from the government.

 

 

 

This has been a cruise with many changes as both departing and returning flights were cancelled by airlines after we booked them and we had to rebook both.

 

Then with the landslide at Skagway, we lost that port two weeks stop two weeks and had to do a crash course on YouTube to see what’s happening at Icy Strait Point. Very sad as we had an excursion planned and my kids have never been to Skagway.

 

But as the great philosophers Beatles once said, life goes on.  Guess as long as I have enough clean underwear on the cruise, I’m good…

 

 

Great to see you cruising again Harry. 

Edited August 6, 2022 by Ourusualbeach

[HBE4]

Speaking of Italian restaurants, I came across the dark, dingy dive bar near the Hilton where I'm currently residing. This was a few days ago when the temperature was 101+ and I was looking for a cold beer. 

 

I figured the menu would be deep fried everything.  Saw a lot of Italian dishes on the menu & figured they had to be bland. The bartender assured me I would not be disappointed.  The owner had migrated down from NJ and brought grandma's recipes with him. So I gave it a whirl & OMG!! Sausage Rigatoni was out of this world. 

 

I swear, I'm not a food porn guy. Lol

 

 

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

 

Sitting by the pool at the yacht club drinking a cosmo, reading Cruise Critic, and listening to Judy Collins/Jonas Fjeld album Winter Stories on Spotify. Saw them together on PBS once. I think the music is pretty cool. Hard to believe Judy is in her 80's now. Back in my college days I listened to her a lot and also played and sang a lot of her songs. Thought she was so pretty back then. She just wasn't as bewitching as Stevie though.😊

 

Nice evening to start the weekend.

 

Now that’s a great position to be in. Love Jusy Collins. My parents were also huge fans. Cheers to you tonight!

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

 

Sitting by the pool at the yacht club drinking a cosmo, reading Cruise Critic, and listening to Judy Collins/Jonas Fjeld album Winter Stories on Spotify. Saw them together on PBS once. I think the music is pretty cool. Hard to believe Judy is in her 80's now. Back in my college days I listened to her a lot and also played and sang a lot of her songs. Thought she was so pretty back then. She just wasn't as bewitching as Stevie though.😊

 

Nice evening to start the weekend.

 

Now that’s a great position to be in. Love Judy Collins. My parents were also huge fans. Cheers to you tonight!

 

Edited to change my fat fingers type.

Edited August 6, 2022 by Sea Dog