woods1967

7 hours ago, AandBmom said:

I find it fascinating that this post has so few replies. What happened to all the individuals that were saying this would never happen just two days ago?

You are spot on!! There were so many who bashed those who speculated that they would. My oh my oh my. I'll be kind and stop there. 

11 minutes ago, Bead Pirate said:

RAVIAD Detector (had to look in the suitcase) 🙂 

Thank you.

16 minutes ago, Bead Pirate said:

We were on the Symphony (right down the hall from this room in fact). He was not our room steward BTW.

 

Amazon has a great hidden camera / microphone detector that runs on a couple AA Batteries for $50 bucks. We throw it in the suitcase whenever we travel land/sea/air does not matter. Takes 2 minutes to scan a room or can do a house in 5 minutes. Great peace of mind...

 

...and yes, we have found both microphones and hidden cameras (in rental housing). 

What is the name of that if you know off the top of your head.

2 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree, statistically more likely get stuck by lightning or fall overboard twice

Still not comforting if it happened to your daughter, granddaughter, or wife........

3 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

I'm curious how your son thinks that they will all get passports and money to buy flights. 

Your being funny right? Have you been watching the news the past 8+ years? A large portion of those crossing don't exactly give the perception that they have a large amount of disposal income that they have access to, yet 10's of millions seem to have made it. 

@mscinmia-thank you for the information.

When Symphony of the Seas starts sailing out of FLL later this month what terminal will they be using, or how can I get that information when it becomes available?

@crewsweeper @boscobeans Thank you for your information.

Is anyone familiar if there is still a cigar shop in Aruba near the cruise port that sells authentic Cuban cigars?

Thank you

I am cruising at the end of the year and I think it is a great idea to give a cash tip, and include some sort of candy bar. I equate the candy as a little something extra. For those who seem to indicate instead of giving the candy bar just include a few more dollars, I wonder if when they give a Christmas present to someone do they wrap it or put a bow on the present? Why? Wouldn't the person rather you just skip those things and increase the price of the gift? Maybe those who do that, like to add a little something to the gift to make it a little more special........

@alfaeric--Excellent. Thank you very much.

I'll be on a 8 night cruise on Symphony at the end of the year and I was trying to see if there was a way to determine what the themed nights will be each night. I want to get a Chops reservation but I don't want to do it on a night where there is a themed night (like Italian) in the MDR. Is there a way to know what they will be serving in the MDR on our cruise prior to boarding? 

@Biker19--Thank you

@Biker19 i have a 5:30 traditional dining time so would it be feasible when I get on board to check with the head waiter on that type of a request or is there a way to do that prior to my sailing date?

Are all the 2 top tables that close together? I will be on the Symphony later this year and that is a little to close for my liking. Do they have any "off by themselves" anywhere?

On 5/8/2023 at 9:03 AM, Steelers0854 said:

Day 1 Boarding Day

 

We booked a Princess transfer from Victoria Coach Station (thanks to a fellow CC member for letting us know this existed).  This is hopefully going to be MUCH easier then trekking all the way back to Heathrow to catch one from the airport.  We meet at the station at 10am and departures from from 10:30 to 11:30am.

 

It was 1 tube stop away from our hotel and a short walk. It couldn’t have been easier. It was much busier than I thought it would be. I don’t think this option was widely advertised so I was surprised so many were here. I believe there were 3 buses here for us. Everything is easily marked, easy to find and there was plenty of staff on hand. We showed up right after 10 and I feel like we were some of the last to arrive. A bunch of overachievers. Lol.

 

They started boarding just before 10:30am. We left 15 minutes later in a well organized process. It took us 2 hours on the nose to get to Southampton. From the time I stepped off the bus til boarding was 15 minutes. Interestingly security comes after checkin. Their security people are very strict, pretty sure my belt that passes American TSA will be fine here but they insist everything comes off which just makes the process take much longer. But no big deal.

 

We went to our muster station and then our stateroom to drop our bags off. And this view will never get tiring.

 

we did have another ship in port with us, the Mein Schiff. 
 

 

Today we hand over our passports til after day 7 with Ireland. We headed up to the buffet. Always love the buffet on the royal class ships.

 

They are doing a better job of marking things in the buffet. Still not as good as celebrity but they are marking both vegetarian and vegan options, sadly not gluten. But DW had no issues finding someone to walk her through what she can eat and she got a salad with a new honey mustard dressing she can eat and 2 bowls of soup. There was plenty of other stuff she could have gotten but soup is her absolute favorite.

 

A word of warning, ships internet will probably dictate how often I can post and how many photos etc. but I’ll try and keep as up to date as possible without burning through my cell data plan 😜

 

Sorry, I am new to international travel. You said "Today we hand over our passports til after day 7 with Ireland."--What does that mean? You have to surrender your passport on the cruise?

Thanks

Any insight on R729 (Rivera deck--14) on Regal Princess?  Thank you.

@marymunro-thank you for the help and information!

@BirdTravels-I appreciate the help!

@taglovestocruise--thank you for the input and your insight.

@hollon-Thank you for the response!

@Tree_Skier thank you for the help and response.

@Ret MP thank you for the picture and video link. 

@Tree_skier I guess a few specific questions are when was the last refurbishment? Does anyone have pictures of romm 11725 (Boardwalk balcony room)? At the Playmakers lounge do they show football games in the fall on the TV's? What is the main Broadway show they do on the ship? Is it better to do the RC excursions or use an independent company for shore excursions (Aruba and Curacao are the two specifically)?

Thank you.

Thank you Ret MP

Hoping for some insight on the Symphony of the Seas.

PCUR--We will be on the Symphony of the Seas out of FLL so in your past experiences which terminal and area did Uber come and pick you up at desembarkation? I like the idea of private transport myself.