sgmn

On 9/23/2023 at 4:27 PM, BonTexasNY said:

Can't wait for you all to finally meet!

We had a great chat, it was lovely to finally meet Debbie @Sunshine3601after 'chatting' on here for a couple of years 

11 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

@sgmn. Did you hear about the medical emergency yesterday on CocoCay?  A woman was evacuated by a sea plane near the jet ski area near Chill Island.

I saw the plane and said to Eric that must be an expensive excursion.  I had no idea it was a medical evacuation.

Oh no how awful

 No I didn't hear about it or see the plane. Hope everyone is OK 

11 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Beautiful photos @Jimbo.  Definitely would be too cold for the WJ patio on your sailing.  The colors in your iceberg and sunset photos are gorgeous.

 

@sgmn  I think tonight and tomorrow are going to be a bit rocky.  Should sleep like babies.

Happy Anniversary!!

 

We are hoping our flight from Boston to Philly goes as planned.  I have to be back at work Monday morning.

 

Do you want to meet somewhere tomorrow?  Maybe diamond lounge in the morning?

That would be fab, how about 10am in DL or if that's crowded the VCL ? Just getting early morning coffee and Seas are quite big. It was really rocking last night, thought I would sleep better but I didn't 

I only have Internet till around 9.30. I've got a red tee shirt on and navy trousers 

8 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Currently on Serenade heading up the coast on a 12 night repo cruise from Tampa to Boston with a Sunday morning arrival.

We are East of the storm.  The wind has picked up as well as choppy seas. 

 

Sure was rocking and rolling last night on Serenade 

So a few pics of our cruise. Unfortunately we don't have an underwater camera so couldn't take any photos of the amazing underwater sea life were seen in Curaçao,  Bonaire and coco Cay 

On a Chinese junk to the underwater park in Bonaire 

Slightly puffy feet , relaxing on deck 5

Gary surprised me with room decorations and Champers for our anniversary 

South Beach, Coco Cay

view from our room this morning 

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Enjoying my tuna fish on pita at my favorite spot to eat onboard. 

 

beautiful weather.  Captain has taken us further out east to avoid storm along the east coast.

We're the red Cross, think we're skirting along the edge, hope it doesn't do an unexpected change of direction as we pass 

So today I have my free diamond 24 hour Internet. We are really enjoying the cruise. 

The food, after all the hoo ha on CC, we have found perfectly fine.

Bonaire and curaçao in particular have been great stops and we have done lots of snorkeling and swam with turtles and lots of pretty tropical fish on the coral reefs  

We enjoyed our first visit to Coco Cay, sharing our visit with Independence. We went to South Beach and saw stingrays and jellyfish 🪼 

Today currently hanging out in the DL but just going to the lecture on Titanic

 Steaming back  to Boston on the Atlsntic Coast now so a little cooler. Will post some pics later 

12 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

 

I NEED one of those shirts.  My wife hates it when I say that, which is often 🤣

My old boss said that all the time, usually just before walking away, Infuriating!!!

On 9/20/2023 at 10:29 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

Eric and I are both casino slot players.  Him more than me.  He has been doing well this cruise but I have been doing the up and down dance.

 

We just had a really nice experience.   While playing a slot machine he was on last night the casino host walked up to him and asked if he was missing a ticket from last night. 

 He said yes, when he got back to the cabin he realized he didn't have it and went back to the machine as it was for $1300+   noone was at the machine and no ticket so he came back to cabin upset.

Casino host said someone turned it in right after he left the machine last night so they viewed who played and held it at the cashier desk for Eric's return tonight.

We asked if they knew who turned in the ticket so we could thank them with a reward but she didn't know.

 

So nice when something like this happens.  The world still has plenty of good people.  And on cruise ships.    We wish the finder best luck!!

 

 

 

That's a lovely story with a happy ending Debbie. The people on this ship have been lovely (and the staff amazing ). 

We've had a few short visits to the casino, just to spend our limit of $10 a day. In the past we could make it last and even win a bit but last few cruises it only seems to last 30 seconds before it's gone.  The Heidi machines seem very popular,  which ones do you usually frequent?

On 9/18/2023 at 1:03 AM, aussielozzie18 said:

Glad you are getting used to the heat.  Keeping your fluids up? 🍹

I pre bought the water package, though the water on ships fine,  its nice to have bottles of cooled water in our fridge .

Dont think we've hit our diamond limit yet. As we're getting older

we're turning into lightweights 😆

On 9/14/2023 at 6:17 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

I have been keeping my eye out for you and Gary.   I thought I saw you yesterday and walked up to her saying Hi are you Sue but not you.

Yes, it sure has been a hot trip.   Do you hang in solarium on sea days?

 

Sometimes plus shady side of top deck. Usually by myself as Gary's prefers the gym or cool of the VC lounge. Popped into the DL a few times in the early evening  but usually end up in the main part of VC lounge . Here's an up to date pic of us. 

Had great day in Curaçao today. Swam with wild turtles and tropical fish. Currently enjoying cocktails in town 

Would love to meet up but I only have WiFi on land 

Our current view 

On 9/14/2023 at 4:07 PM, aussielozzie18 said:

+ 1 @sgmn sorry you are finding the heat overwhelming though.  

I think we're getting acclimatised, enjoying the shady pary of the top deck with cooling breezes.  The humidity is very high, apparently September is the hottest month in this part of the world 

On 9/14/2023 at 2:10 PM, Ocean Boy said:

Nice to have a lounger on the balcony.

 

I like heat but I think this time of year in the Caribbean would be too hot for me.

I agree it's very hot. First time we've done the Caribbean in the summer. But we can usually find some shade with sea breezes. It is an unusual itinerary and was a great price when it was first on  sale. Having said that I think we'll keep to the Northern hemisphere  in our anniversary month of Sept 

On 9/14/2023 at 2:02 PM, reallyitsmema said:

 

Are you on deck 9?  Like that balcony size!  We are on Serenade next month, first time with a center aft cabin instead of a corner.

Yes, great cabin, very private with shade as well as sun. Very Happy with it 

At our first port, Grand Caymen so have some WiFi in the bar we're in. Day 3, so far great cruise. Serenade is a bit knocked about and rough around the edges,  but a grand ship and food so far has been good. Big balcony.  Made it to the gym 🏋️‍ 💪 yesterday. 

Great  day at 7 Mile beach, but it's hot hot hot 🔥 

3 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Seen today - 2 beautiful pods of dolphins, 1 whale which we heard before we saw, 2 lorikeets nesting in a gum tree, 2 corellas and a galah fighting over a nest hollow in a gum tree.  Still on the lookout for:

 

 Have seen signs on trees stating Koala seen here recently and flashing roads warning drivers that “koalas are on the move” in the area but no sightings today whilst walking  in the National Park.

 

Beautiful afternoon at the beach though.

 

How lucky to see such amazing wildlife and beautiful pic of the beach 

11 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Thanks! We are onboard.

Have a great cruise 🛳 😎 

11 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

We are back in Florida after a fantastic wedding weekend.  Other than Micheline's sister's family not being able to attend, everything went flawlessly.  The ceremony and reception were at Pinecroft at Crosley Estate, which was the estate of Powell Crosley Jr.  Among other things, he was the owner of the Cincinnati Reds.  The ceremony was outdoors in the garden area.  We took all of the photos before the ceremony and it got a little warm sitting in the sun.  Right before the guests began to arrive, it got a little overcast with a slight breeze and the weather ended up being perfect.

 

The reception was in a large pavilion and was decorated beautifully.  The DJ was incredible and the most important thing that my daughter wanted...a light up dance floor...was the hit of the night.  There were a few slower dances, but it was pretty much non-stop dancing for 3+ hours.  Both my daughter and son-in-law (still sounds weird saying that) have a large group of great "kids" as friends wholove to have a good time.  They are all so incredibly polite.  It didn't hurt that most of the girls there were dancers, including two who are currently Cincinnati Ben-Gal cheerleaders.  I'm a little biased but it was probably the most fun wedding I've been to (although many other people agreed).  

 

The Father-Daughter dance went great.  After a few practice steps with my daughter the day before, I easily got the rhythm and added a few spins and other moves.   I was fully focused on my daughter and didn't even think about everyone else there but when I got back to our table, all of the women were crying.  I guess that's a good thing.  😁 

 

Most of the upstairs of the estate was the bridal suite with separate rooms for hair/make-up, dressing, etc.  The Groom's suite was in a really cool basement area with a bank vault door that hid a wine cellar that was used during prohibition days.   One of the upstairs rooms was reserved for the fathers.  I didn't take a lot of pictures but got a few of the estate and ceremony area before the guests arrived. 

 

The bride looking out one of the windows of her suite

 

Looking down from the fathers room while the bride and groom "privately" (while mic'd and being recorded by 2 videographers and 2 photographers) shared vows

 

Wedding party pictures by the rear of the main house.

 

The walk up this aisle with my daughter both seemed to take a long time and was over in an instant

 

I stole a couple of pictures from other people...the first dance:

 

The Father-Daughter dance (no video 😉)

 

Dance floor fun after a few drinks.  The bride seems happy. 😁

 

We had a 50 person rehearsal dinner on Thursday night, the wedding on Friday night, and then Micheline and I toured our family through some of the history of Cincinnati and finished with dinner in a restaurant room overlooking Great American Ballpark where the Reds had a home game and there were fans everywhere.  Way, WAY too much food and drink over 3 days.  Time to give my stomach and my liver a break.

 

 

 

Oh Wow, wonderful photos and a beautiful bride. What a day to remember for always.  Congratulations to your daughter and new son-in-law 👏 ❤️ 

@h20skibumso sorry to hear about Susan's cousin. So young.

Condolences to all the family 

Sue

23 hours ago, jagsfan said:

Wow!!!!!!!  

+1,  I missed these when you posted @aussielozzie18, great photos 

On 9/10/2023 at 4:23 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

Hi Sue and Gary,  we landed in Tampa  12:30ish today and got to our hotel, Emassy Suites downtown Tampa right along the Riverwalk around 1:30.   Had some lunch and walked around, boy it sure is hot here.  

We have heat and humidity at home too.

 

Hope we get some nice sea breezes onboard Serenade.

Glad you're safely here.

Our check in is 11am tomorrow, looking forward to some sea breezes too.

Gary wanted to bid for an upgrade but when I said we wouldn't get extra points and I wanted to keep the rear facing cabin we decided against it. 

On 9/10/2023 at 4:31 PM, Sea Dog said:

Yes breeders are very strict about anyone taking bloodlines and becoming breeders themselves. Breeding King Charles Cavalier Spaniels can become very lucrative. At $3,000 a pup they don’t want their Cavalier bloodlines being bred somewhere else.

Our Molly Collie was bred from Crufts show dogs and we had to agree not to breed from her or show her. When we bought her 7 years ago she was about £800 but pure bred dogs are much more expensive now

On 9/10/2023 at 4:16 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

We had a 20 or 30 minute delay due to our plane arriving at Trenton Airport from Orlando later than expected.

Boy Trenton Airport sure is easy peasy.  Frontier premium seating very nice too.  We will definitely fly this again.   

It is hot hot hot in Tampa.  We just came back from a walk along their Riverwalk. 

Very nice area but we were dripping sweat on our way back.  I thought I would go to the pool but too hot to do that today.

 

We may try the free trolley tonight and see what we find for dinner.

I'm finding it very hot too,  though everywhere has air con.  We did the riverwalk yesterday too, around 11am to 3pm . I sat out at the pool after for an hour but it was too hot even in the shade 😎 

Today we took the free trolley to the Aquarium and then did an hour cruise in the bay. A fabulous nature speaker on board and we saw dolphins 🐬.  Just got back to hotel after walking back which was very hot.

28 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

@Momof3gurlz

 

Deb, since your cruise on beautiful Edge

 

 

The eerie corridor on deck 5....

 

 

 

is fast approaching, and I fear that I'll forgot some things....

 

As foodies, we've found the food on Edge much better than last year on Beyond.

 

BUT... after a very disappointing 1st night in Tuscan, we went back to dinner at Ocean View and found the variety, quantity and quality satisfying. I took advantage almost nightly of the Stir Fry station.

 

I admit that if Olivia will have been with us, we'll certainly be going every night to one of the 4 "free" dining rooms.

 

The 1st night on the ship we went to a for fee restaurant, the much acclaimed Eden. The appetizers were excellent, the entrees (Nova Scotia Lobster casserole) were nothing to write home about, mainly because we found one condiment in this dish very heavy and not tasty. The very nice waiter, Marcel, immediately offered to change it for us, but we declined. There is music above this restaurant, which is not quite "conducive" to having a nice conversation...

 

Truthfully, I fear that I'm being spoiled by my "personal chef" at home....

 

The service was excellent all over the ship, and you could feel that every one was doing his best for us to have the time of our life.

 

Ports -- the one we have "in common" is Portofino. We took advantage of being Elite and had priority tendering, an amazing benefit, taking in account that even at 10am people were waiting and waiting for the tender. Celebrity used just one boat, claiming that the port is tiny and cannot accommodate more tenders. Hello??? Why offer this port if it means the non-Elite and non-suite people were still waiting for the tender at noon???

 

A bad surprise when coming back and finding a very very long line to board the tender back, in plain sunshine.... pic below [bottom left]

 

 

When DH saw the huge line, he decided he'll have enough time to visit the museum, which he found very interesting, and provided the best look of the tiny port (5 Euro entrance), without having to climb so many stairs to Castello Brown.

 

Edited to add: Since we've been to Portofino before, our plan was to climb to the Castello for another brief photo-op, and then board to ferry to Santa Margherita Ligure, which was supposed to be more lively and less expensive, and have lunch there.

 

With all the tendering debacle, we got there around 1pm, all the shops were closed, bar the restaurants. It was so hot, that after a quick look around, we took the ferry back, only to find ourselves in the huge line (extreme right). A good thing we got back early.

 

 

 

Entertainment -- the "in house" shows were average, and twice DH left me alone after a few minutes, finding the noise too much for his hearing aids.

 

The "imported" ones were very good -- "The Queens of Rhythm", and Salvatore Hasard. The third one, "Magical Bones", had the usual ones of cards and disappearing act. BTDT.

 

We had an infinite veranda with bed by the balcony, and I very much enjoyed sitting in bed and looking at the sea. So relaxing.

 

I'll try to remember other tips... ahh, shopping. Barcelona is much cheaper than France, clothes wise. The same shirt I've bought at Mango in Barcelona for 30 Euros, was 40 in Ajaccio, Corsica.

 

Glad for you Dani that the food is better than our Beyond sailing last year and that you're having a good time even though your cousin had to cancel. 

We flew into Tampa yesterday.  Immigration was a breeze, probably our easiest entry into USA . We got a bit confused about the Hyatt hotel shuttle . We followed the signs for hotel shuttles and waited ages in very hot temps but no shuttle.  After phoning hotel, apparently you now have to go to an uber pick up area, call the hotel and they send a uber at their expense .

Now in downtown hotel and can see cruise ships from our room. Went for a walk by the Riverside today but again very hot and not much shade 

2 hours ago, Dobby36 said:

@sgmn and @Julma returning back as promised. We did this water taxi to rowers wharf yesterday.   Couldn’t have been simpler! The crew were nice, they even graciously reterned to dock after a quick call when we (stupidly) forgot a backpack on board..  

 

walk is maybe 5 mins from exit of cruise terminal, literally in shadow of cruise ship off the bow. They include good instructions for directing you in the confirmation email. You can then choose what time at top of hour you want to head to airport, we walked around aquarium and long wharf area and into north end for brunch and stumbled into an art festival.  Would highly recommend! 

Thank you so much @Dobby36

We're going to go ahead and book this . It sounds a great way to spend the day in Boston without our bags before our evening flight home 

Thanks for the comprehensive report back

Sue