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

[BonTexasNY]

6 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

Our Twin daughters are celebrating their birthdays today!  Melanie is driving home from packing up most of our granddaughter's college dorm possessions at URI.  Judy requested tacos for dinner, perhaps since today is Cinco de Mayo.😊

 

 

Wishing the most wonderful birthday to Melanie and Judy.  May all their birthday wishes come true.

 

Same to Owen.

 

@CruiszBug Denny I can't open any of your pictures.  Hope you're having a wonderful trip.

 

@Sea Dog Greg, looks like you're having the most wonderful shenanigans with your friends!

 

 

[CruiszBug]

April 13-29, 2024: HAWAII DO-OVER!

Made it to the airport by 5:15 AM! Brittany (Phoebe’s nurse) was waiting for us! 😀

 

Thank you, Tom for being our UBER driver! 

Checked 8 bags @registration. TSA CARES agent escorted us through security. Gate tagged/checked wheelchair and medical dolly with 8 additional carry-ons… Made our 6:30 AM flight on Southwest to Las Vegas via Nashville. Let the trip begin! (Wish us Luck!)

 

 

[akcruz]

19 minutes ago, CruiszBug said:

April 13-29, 2024: HAWAII DO-OVER!

Made it to the airport by 5:15 AM! Brittany (Phoebe’s nurse) was waiting for us! 😀

 

Thank you, Tom for being our UBER driver! 

Checked 8 bags @registration. TSA CARES agent escorted us through security. Gate tagged/checked wheelchair and medical dolly with 8 additional carry-ons… Made our 6:30 AM flight on Southwest to Las Vegas via Nashville. Let the trip begin! (Wish us Luck!)

 

 

 

Woo hoo I can see the pictures now. Looking good, enjoy your trip.

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

You didn't miss anything, since it's only me remembering 😉

 

@A&L_Ont   

 

Andrew made it easy -- his on NYE, Lisa - Valentine's Day, and Owen the easiest - Cinqo de Mayo 🍁

Add my birthday wishes to Owen. 

[reallyitsmema]

6 hours ago, MJSailors said:

Good thing that we didn’t bet on the Kentucky Derby.

Sierra Leone and Fierceness were favored and there was much talk about them on the pre race show. Hardly a mention of Mystik Dan.

None of the horses we chose made a great showing. Just a Touch finished last. 
Well, there is the Preakness next. And, maybe the Yankees will win today.

 

 On another note, we were at a friends’ house last night for the Derby and dinner. One of the couples just returned from a cruise on the Anthem. While onboard,they booked another cruise for next May on Liberty of the Seas.

I have not read much about that ship on CC. Has anyone sailed on that ship ? We are think8ng of joining them along with some other friends. The itinerary looks good- Bermuda and Puerto Rico are a few of the ports,plus it is a nine day cruise.

Any info would be appreciated.

MJ👩🏻

 

I leave on that ship and itinerary Thursday.  I have sailed Freedom but not Liberty.  I can let you know what we think when we get back.

[akcruz]

@Luckynana Happy Birthday to your girls

 

@A&L_Ont Happy Birthday to Owen

 

🎉🎁🎂

[reallyitsmema]

@CruiszBug Beautiful pictures.  This last set is the first I can see.

[h20skibum]

Susan didn’t want Mexican today, so it was a good old BBQ burger

 

And a Pain Killer

 

 

Is it just me, or does it seem like places are cutting back on the amount of alcohol in their drinks?  Not just this place, but others we have been to also. 
 

 

 

[voyager70]

29 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

@CruiszBug Beautiful pictures.  This last set is the first I can see.

+1

 

[CruiszBug]

DAY 1: Travel from Florida to Vegas via Nashville

Like Peter Pan’s shadow we land at BNA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great day for flying! Desert and mountain views are stunning from the plane.

Edited May 6 by CruiszBug
Remove some photos

[Ozark_Kid]

1 hour ago, CruiszBug said:

April 13-29, 2024: HAWAII DO-OVER!

Made it to the airport by 5:15 AM! Brittany (Phoebe’s nurse) was waiting for us! 😀

 

Thank you, Tom for being our UBER driver! 

Checked 8 bags @registration. TSA CARES agent escorted us through security. Gate tagged/checked wheelchair and medical dolly with 8 additional carry-ons… Made our 6:30 AM flight on Southwest to Las Vegas via Nashville. Let the trip begin! (Wish us Luck!)

 

 

I knew you would not give up!   That's just not you!

Great to see the pics showing up.  Tell Brittany and Phoebe we said hi.  Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip!

[CruiszBug]

8 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I knew you would not give up!   That's just not you!

Great to see the pics showing up.  Tell Brittany and Phoebe we said hi.  Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip!

I was getting close! Posting from my phone is also challenging, lol! Thank you for bearing with me!

[CruiszBug]

 I must add my kudos to the SWA team who helped us make our flight to Vegas. We only had a 30 min connection and are always last off the plane waiting for Phoebe's wheelchair and medical dolly. About half a dozen people helped us off and escorted us to our next gate while re-tagging our wheelchair talking on walkie talkies, etc... We were up the gangway and settled in with hardly a stop to scan our boarding passes. No doubt we would have missed that connection without help. The attendant on our first flight asked why we booked our flights so close, I said "We booked to Vegas, not Nashville. I didn't do it on purpose. This was scheduled by Southwest." 🤨🤔 

[MJSailors]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I leave on that ship and itinerary Thursday.  I have sailed Freedom but not Liberty.  I can let you know what we think when we get back.

Please post what you think of Liberty and perhaps include some photos.

Bon voyage!

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

[firefly333]

Such a terrible drive from san antonio to Galveston. It was horrendous. Torrential. From the time I hit I10 until Houston trying to follow headlights at much lower speeds. Seems to have had the worst of it though some arrive 1 or 2 hours late due to road closures in Houston. 

 

Mariner which I've never been on before arrived to do a special 7 day leaving tomorrow, then starts 4 and 5 day cruises. Just this one 7 day. I'd say I arrived 2 hours later than google maps suggested it would take. I'm hearing on the news houston might take weeks to recover. My hotel in Galveston was fixing their wifi which was out. Because of the storms.

 

Hopefully clear skies ahead. Cant get worse than today. We can go straight to our cabins. No pax onboard, just crew when it arrived. 

[grapau27]

@A&L_Ont.

Happy birthday Owen.

[Ocean Boy]

7 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

I leave on that ship and itinerary Thursday.  I have sailed Freedom but not Liberty.  I can let you know what we think when we get back.

Have a great cruise!

[rrraydon]

19 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The adventure begins.

 

Sarah and I are sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to Vancouver where we will board the Explora Journey tomorrow for a 6 day cruise to Los Angeles.  This will be our first time sailing a cruise line other than Royal and this will be the complete opposite of what we are used to.

 

The Explora Journey is 64,000 Tonnes. 900 passengers and 700 crew, all suites, everything included.  This is MSC's new high end line that for an easy comparison would be like Silversea is to Royal.

 

We only have two stops, Astoria and San Francisco.  Astoria we will just wander around and have lunch in town at a local fish and chip shop.  In San Francisco we are docked from 9am to 11pm so I have Go Cars booked for 8 hours for us to see some sights and then an evening behind the scenes tour of Alcatraz.

 

I'll post pictures and updates along the way.

 

The only concern right now is that yesterday, Westjet issued a 72 hour lockout notice to the mechanics union so that could impact our flight home.

 

The other thing I was not prepared for was the dress code on board.  Resort casual for the day and resort elegant for the evening.  A quick shopping trip and visit to the dry cleaners was required this week.  So much for travelling with a carry on only.

 

Tonight's hotel in Vancouver is done on the cheap with us staying at the Days inn by the Airport however an unexpected bonus is Vancouvers summer food festival is open and across the street so that will be dinner tonight.

 

 

Have a fantastic time! I'm leaving on MSC's smallest ship today (the cheap seats). 😁

[Keksie]

Nassau

 

[ATG]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Such a terrible drive from san antonio to Galveston. It was horrendous. Torrential. From the time I hit I10 until Houston trying to follow headlights at much lower speeds. Seems to have had the worst of it though some arrive 1 or 2 hours late due to road closures in Houston. 

 

Mariner which I've never been on before arrived to do a special 7 day leaving tomorrow, then starts 4 and 5 day cruises. Just this one 7 day. I'd say I arrived 2 hours later than google maps suggested it would take. I'm hearing on the news houston might take weeks to recover. My hotel in Galveston was fixing their wifi which was out. Because of the storms.

 

Hopefully clear skies ahead. Cant get worse than today. We can go straight to our cabins. No pax onboard, just crew when it arrived. 

We just got off Mariner in Port Canaveral last Thursday.  The crew were looking forward to some partying! We enjoyed the cruise.  The ship was in good shape, a few signs of age in our stateroom.  We thought the food was quite good.

[Ourusualbeach]

Survived the 5 hours flight with no entertainment or internet, at least they had drinks.  A bit nervous as we walked on the plane ad saw a mother with a one year old sitting in the aisle seat in our row beside me.  Most well behaved one year old I have seen, barely a peep out of him the entire flight.

 

Definitely not used to changing time zones, I've been awake since 3am despite staying up late.  Our boarding pass says 1 but a few posts on line suggest that, like Royal they are not enforced so we will arrive between 11 and 12.  On the Hawaii to Vancouver leg there were only 300 to 350 passengers and the last sailing had jus over 500 so I doubt ours will be anywhere near the 900 max capacity.

[Momof3gurlz]

It was a very busy week for us here. I hosted a baby ‘sprinkle’ for middle DD Jessica on Saturday. I’d never heard the term but it’s a small, intimate baby shower given when someone is having a second or subsequent baby.  Cristina and her family from PA came up for the weekend and we all went out to dinner after the sprinkle. Sunday morning we had everyone here for Cinco de Mayo brunch. 
So with all that, I’ve been reading along just haven’t had time to comment much. 
@Luckynana Happy Belated Birthday to your twin daughters. 
@A&L_Ont Happy Belated Birthday to Owen. 
@Sea Dog glad to see it looks like your trip is working out great.  

[Ourusualbeach]

Here is our cabin for the week.  Stateroom 8083 which is one of a few that can have 2 twin beds as opposed to one king (they don't separate like Royal's so you avoid that hump in the middle.  Pretty nice location, nice and close to the aft elevators.

 

https://explorajourneys.com/ca/en/ships/deckplans

 

 

 

 

Ours suite is the entry level stateroom

 

https://explorajourneys.com/ca/en/suites/Ocean-Suites/ocean-terrace-suite

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

12 hours ago, CruiszBug said:

Test #2... Can anyone see my photo?? @Ozark_Kid @dani negreanu @Sea Dog

 

It's not working for me either.  All I see is the very long link.  I'm not a Google Photos user, so everything that I'll say below is just a somewhat educated guess.  For a photo stored in another location (not just Google Photos) to be displayed on a web page, you need what's called an embed code.  This is different from a regular link to the photo.  A little searching tells me that Google Photos does not (but maybe used to?) give you an option to copy an embed code. 

 

If you haven't already done so, try clicking on the "Other Media" drop down box (to the right of where you click to select photos to upload) when creating a new Cruise Critic post.  Select the "Insert Image From URL" option.  This should paste an embed code into your CC post from the link.  This may or may not work.  I used to have problems with this method when I stored all of my photos on Shutterfly or Amazon Photos.

 

If the above doesn't work, there are a couple of other workarounds discussed on this web site:

How To Embed Single Photos From Google Photos on Your Website and Notion Page | HackerNoon

I found several references to using the Labnol site mentioned in the above link to convert a copied photo link to an embed code.  I can't confirm that this is a safe site to use but would guess that it is based on the number of other sites that refer to it.  The second manual method definitely works but requires a little bit of HTML code editing...manually adding <a> and <img> into the code.  It's not hard once you learn but is definitely a lot more work than you want for more than 1 or 2 photos.

 

The simplest option is probably what others have said...either take a screen shot or save the photo to your computer/phone and then upload it here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Here is our cabin for the week.  Stateroom 8083 which is one of a few that can have 2 twin beds as opposed to one king (they don't separate like Royal's so you avoid that hump in the middle.  Pretty nice location, nice and close to the aft elevators.

 

https://explorajourneys.com/ca/en/ships/deckplans

 

 

 

 

Ours suite is the entry level stateroom

 

https://explorajourneys.com/ca/en/suites/Ocean-Suites/ocean-terrace-suite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful room Ken.  I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this cruise.