QueSeraSera

daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter heading to the beach from our back porch (for a week)

Some pictures from this week's trip to Nag's Head North Carolina, rented a place on the beach and invited family. We're on Day 2. Going to meet grand daughter's boyfriend of 2+ years Tuesday - the young man is from Nice, France. I'll try not to scare him off...😉 not our surfboard. Younger grand kids had fun feeding the turtles one more but suddenly having trouble uploading....

We returned from Ireland July 17, on July 18 we felt ill and tested positive for Covid. Lesson #1: a group tour is no safer than a cruise regarding this blasted disease. Maybe less so? Finally feeling happy and human yesterday. I have enjoyed the cooler throughout the ordeal. Anyway, Ireland is a wonderful country to visit. Going to try and post a few photos.... Above, Kylemore Abbey, wonderful grounds, fascinating history. Cliffs of Moher - incredible views Dear wife and I near Kinsale, had a delicious Irish coffee shortly after this photo.

Wow, so much fun to catch up at the cooler upon our return from a land trip to Ireland! And thank you for the good wishes. Our trip turned out well for the most part. Had flight delays both ways but none mission critical. Ireland is certainly a beautiful country. The photo below, taken at Hamlet's Pub in Kinsale sums up much of our trip 🙂 We enjoyed an Irish coffee at this fine establishment. Thanks to the educational value of the cooler, I purchased 2 packages of Digestive crackers while in grocery stores there. Ignorance is no excuse, but I must plead ignorance for whatever mindless thought I may have posted when this came up some time ago. These are truly excellent crackers! Dear wife thinks it a bit crazy, but I almost always find an excuse to visit a grocery store or food market wherever we visit. Does anyone else do this? I realize that I'm minutes away from being up 24 hrs, a story for perhaps another time.

I fully agree with the above responses to your post. Welcome to Silversea. We loved our Alaska cruise with them.

We're supposed to leave tomorrow for our land trip to Ireland - hoping we might be in waving distance of TTS at one of the stops. But - when we received the expected "time to check in" email from American Airlines an hour so ago & we tried to do so, could not! AA AI saying, "we're having trouble right now, please try again later." Yea, well, I'm suddenly having trouble too. We bought travel insurance, but frankly I never wanted to figure out how it works!

same here DCPIV. I do see. If there's one thing the way things are today is teaching me, its I need to move on. Not let this or that opinion get to me, just move on past it if I don't like it. Say it ain't so Host Jazzbeau. 2 or 3 judgmental people (see that word 'mental' in the word 🙂) won't get me to move on elsewhere - because I expect at least that many would be wherever I went. OTOH, dear wife has convinced me to try RCLwith a group of her friends because that's where her friends like to go...

was someone just insulted?

Actually this is also industry's view as required by the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations). OJ from concentrate must be labeled "Orange Juice from Concentrate" . However, I leave it to you to judge whether the spirit of the law is always faithfully followed:

At the moment it is just "good riddance" from what I see

OOPs it not the cooler, my mistake, just felt like it for a few posts there...

One thing you all seem to agree on is that eating in the MDR or Windjammer meets your requirements on a cruise. Am I reading the discussion correctly on that? We are taking our first Royal cruise next Spring and are trying to decide what packages to buy. I've already bought the all-drinks package, and we are now trying to decide about dining packages. I've looked at sample menus for the MDR and they look terrific! We'll be on Odyssey of the Seas. Your advice would be appreciated - am I wrong to think the MDR, with a visit or two to Windjammer, make for a great cruise? TIA

Giving you a wave from Virginia, even if it is too far away. Staying positive as you do is so admirable. Please know that just as we care deeply about Lois, we care deeply about you as well. This is the cooler after all! Best of luck with your upcoming round of chemo Lvshack. I will be thinking about you and keep you in my prayers. Best wishes to you Lois as well, always grateful to you, Stumbles, JP and O_______ (darn, drawing a blank on the rest of that name) for helping to get us started on our 1st cruise - hoping to hear soon you have enjoyed a good meal and the leg feels better.

maybe should've booked star class for our 1st RCL cruise.... would the Key thing be worthwhile?

Just spent an hour or so catching up, absolutely delightful Miss M

Well, not in our case. Our biggest fear is spending way more money on the cruise than what we are comfortable budgeting for. If we buy a package, we want to think, ok, that puts a limit on how much drinks will cost on the trip. I'm not certain we have paid so much for the package that we come out even only if we have 7-10 drinks per day. That sounds a bit much even for me! But is that really how the math works out?

Precisely why we recently bought the package. We have sailed all-inclusive cruises because of this thinking up till our March 2023 booking on Odyssey of the Seas. By my calculations, we paid about $86 per day per person for what was touted as an advanced purchase sale. I believe those on this thread are far more knowledgeable than I am. Of course, I must accept any criticism about what is now a done deal, but ask you keep in mind I was clueless of what drinks might cost on board with no package. While not wanting to derail this thread, I would like to ask your thoughts on the following: Tips on getting the most out of the drinks package. Wife only drinks wine, are the included wines pretty good? Should we add a dinner package? Thanks in advance....

They faithfully wait for us, greet us, protect us if needed, they love us as our dogs do. Of course, we don't forget them.

GoAhead Tours, first trip with them

Any tips on places to visit or places to dine in Dublin, Cork, Galway Ireland would be appreciated. Taking my beautiful wife there in July on a tour with lots of free time.

Fantastic photos JP, I have to agree with the lady from Lincolnshire, they were exceptional. If I can trust my internet resources, Lincolnshire is also a beautiful place...

It must be a thankless job to decide the rules regarding mask wearing. Cruise ships will forever be thought of differently regarding such rules as the memory of the Princess cruise ship a couple years ago that could not come home has not been forgotten. So, of course, we should follow the rules, once articulated, out of simple respect for one another and for the one who had to set them.

Nor here in Richmond WWT. Love the new pup, she's a beaut and lucky to be with you both.

@mysty?