sjb317

On 8/8/2021 at 10:32 AM, beshears said:

Thank you for letting me know the "cover charge," at JR is $9.95.  That doesn't sound bad, that is especially if a person is going to eat very much.  This will seem trivial, but it was said the soda came with the cover charge.  What was the brand?  Just curious. 🙂

The cover charge on Mariner is currently $14.99, drinks not included.

Sherri🙂

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

 D+ not D.

Sorry, of course it is D+🙄

Sherri🙂

4 hours ago, margeecruiser said:

So, Sherri does the Schooner bar have the variety of wines that Vintages used to have?  Do you know where/which bar I should try with my wine-loving crowd?

If all else fails, we will go to Chops and buy a bottle there and drag it to wherever.

 

Where there's will there's a way

No, unfortunately they don’t, there is nothing like a vintages on Mariner. But we found a few we liked at the schooner bar and also Chops & Jamie’s.  We like red wines and one that we have really enjoyed was only at the schooner bar,  Terrazas de los Andes, a Malbec I believe from Chile. 
 

Sherri🙂

On 4/13/2024 at 6:36 PM, margeecruiser said:

Is this true on other ships besides Wonder?  We were going to usethe Solarium bar as a meeting point for my friends/family, but not if it's too hot.  That bar has good wine, I was told, since the Mariner does not have Vintages any more.

We are currently on Mariner, sitting in the Solarium at the moment😂.  The windows can be opened, so we have a nice cool breeze coming through. Very pleasant.

The Solarium bar only shows a few wines on their menu and I would not describe any of them as good,  only a few of them are drinkable.😂  The best wines we have found are in the specialty restaurants and at the Schooner bar.

Sherri🙂

Yes, Odyssey has a Solarium for adults 18+. Solarium has a bar  and there are bars at the outside pool. 
 

Sherri🙂

6 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

Unfortunately, you still only get 1 free wash and fold bag per cruise over 5+ nights.

Technically, it is one per Diamond in the cabin so a couple would get 2 free bags on a 5+ cruise.

Sherri🙂

We were just there Friday on Mariner. Icon was the other ship with us, they had just docked when we were getting off the ship so we had a head start.  Had no trouble finding chairs at the pool and that appeared to be true our entire day.  Pool was never as packed as I have seen the Oasis Lagoon pool. Lots of empty chairs at the beach, also.

We enjoyed our day there and would do it again at the right price.  Food was good, pizza was better than that on the ship.  More of a “frat party” atmosphere on sea days on Mariner than Hideaway.  I was concerned the DJ would be loud and irritating but did not find that to be the case.  DJ did not start until 11am.

Sherri🙂

2 hours ago, PurpleHays said:

Feel better Kat and Lois, as well as everyone else that's injured or under the weather.

 

We head out for our France/Spain cruise in a couple of hours. It's bright and sunny here, but it looks like most of the cruise will be cloudy/windy/rainy. I'll be on vacation, so I will not let it bother me.

Have a great trip!  
 

Sherri🙂

We’ve never had a problem and we have used it many times, most recently twice on a 28 night cruise.  My husband will send boxers, socks, t shirts and shorts while I stick with work out clothes and undies.  They have always come back the same size😂 and in great shape.  In fact, they are folded much better than anything I do!

Sherri🙂

31 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi again, I am now home from the hospital. I know I never went into detail about what happened so to give a little background. This had to do with my kidneys again and I thought I saw some of the same symptoms I had previously (Like not being able to pee after drinking a lot of liquids). It is good I went to the ER again because I was right......and this time they put 2 stents in because, (drum roll)...............I have 2 stones........one on each Kidney. They will take them out (both stents and stones) sometime thins month. Probably in the next couple of weeks.  Anyway, my kidneys were not functioning properly but are much better now (because of the stents). And I need to find out why I am getting these stones too.

AND yes, something else showed up.......when they took the first CT Scan it was my entire abdomen and there is some fluid showing up near my right lung. They took a sample of the fluid yesterday and sent it to the lab to see what is going on with that stuff. No, I haven't felt sick and have never had Pneumonia and wouldn't know what that would feel like......and lets hope it is nothing malignant. Should have the results late this week or early next week.

And there is most of what happened....getting older really sucks.

Glad you are home!  Good thing you are paying attention to your body and caught this early before you got into big trouble!  Fingers crossed the fluid turns out to be nothing serious and you are right, getting older does suck!😂

Sherri🙂

Wow, Lois! So sorry to hear you are in the hospital, hope you have a quick recovery! Also, condolences on the passing of your brother in law, I hope your sister is doing ok.  And belated birthday wishes!

Melody,I hope both you and Les get everything taken care of and have smooth sailing after everything is done. 
 

It was a quiet Easter for us, youngest son and family were planning to come down for a week but they fell in love with a puppy at a rescue shelter last month and decided to adopt.  No traveling for him for awhile.😂  We also Christy, had steak, potatoes and wine for Easter dinner.😂

Sherri🙂

Maximum age in St Thomas in December for a snorkeling tour was 70 and my husband at 71 could not book it, I could since I was “only” 69.    In January, I could not book a snorkeling tour as I will be turning 70 in September of 2024 and Royal now lists my age as 70.

We both could go on snorkeling tours in Moorea and Tahiti last month on our Serenade cruise, there was no maximum age listed.

Sherri🙂

Spending our last day in Australia packing and trying to figure out how our clothes have expanded in the suitcases😂.  Very difficult to fit it all in!   Our flight leaves this evening, should be back in Orlando early morning tomorrow.  It’s been a good trip (loved Auckland, Melissa!) but will be nice to get home.  
 

It looks like I have a lot of catching up to do!

Sherri🙂
 

12 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

That is very gracious. 
 

I generally frequent a lounge for specialty coffee in the morning. There  is always someone checking on the coffee machine and replenishing food is needed. It’s generally the same person every day. At the end of the cruise I will often give that person, a small tip (maybe $10). It doesn’t seem to be something that I see others doing or that is expected by the server. It’s just some thing I choose to do

 

equally as important, if there is someone that you see every day that helps you in the lounge, it’s always good to recognize them in the survey. That goes along way for them.

m

We do that as well and they always seem surprised.

Sherri🙂

2 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

Merritt Square Mall has a JC Penney, Dillards, Macys, and yes, a Bath & Body Works.  The Mall also has a Books A Million, Ollie’s Bargain Store, and a very good Mexican Restaurant, Margarita Island.  There are other assorted stores, but I don’t know what they are.  The general Mall has not been well maintained, but the anchor stores mentioned above own their space and are fine.  As long as you are happy with those stores, it’s fine to shop there.

We were there in January, the mall is pretty pathetic.  The stores you mentioned were open ( I’ve heard that Macy’s will be closing in the near future) but very few customers.  The “food court” had two spots open, Sbarro pizza and a fast food Asian style.  We went to the movie theater and accounted for two of the six people watching the movie. The mall looks like it is on it’s on it’s last legs.

The Avenue is an outdoor mall in Viera which might be a little closer than the Melbourne Mall.  It is my favorite place to shop if I don’t want to drive to Orlando.

Sherri🙂

6 minutes ago, irun5k said:

Yes, given the current system I believe this is probably the best way to do it.  Although, what does the stateroom attendant do when he/she finds wet beach towels in your room?  Do they leave it, swap it for a dry one, or check it back into inventory for you?

 

If I recall, Carnival places a pool towel per guest in the room, so you start with a towel and as long as you leave a towel when you vacate the room on disembarkation day, you're good.  This system makes some sense because the stateroom attendant will swap them out for dry ones.

We don’t take wet towels back to our cabin as any wet ones are exchanged for dry ones before we return to cabin. 
 

Sherri🙂

I bring the clothes and shoes I plan to wear, toiletries, flat iron for hair, medications and any jewelry I may want.   Passport, credit card and phone.  Some cash for tips. For our recent 28 day cruise plus 10 days in Australia, I had one large suitcase and one carry on.   My husband had the same.  We each used our free wash & fold bag for laundry on the ship.

I am always amazed at all the junk people bring.😂

Sherri🙂

21 hours ago, ringers0815 said:

The solarium is always busy. But some days it was too hot and steamy in there! It was suffocating. Then they started putting more AC and it was nice and cool.

There was hardly anyone in the Solarium today.  I did go up to the library to return a book and it was the first time I saw anyone in there.  Library was packed!

Sherri🙂

29 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

 

In his update, the captain mentioned that the ship had increased speed to get closer to Hawaii faster as someone on the ship may need to be medically disembarked or evacuated. The ship is still planning to be in Hilo Saturday morning at its scheduled time. I hope this person gets better soon and sending good wishes to them and family/friends.

 

An announcement was made last evening requesting volunteers to donate blood as someone needed a transfusion.

Sherri

Currently on this cruise, so far we are enjoying it.  The ship is in much better shape than when we sailed in November, 2021. The only crowded areas appear to be the bars in the evening😂.  
 

The new library is great!  Lots of shiny new books, most do not look like they have been touched.

The gym really could use some new weight machines as the current ones have a lot of rusty areas and are difficult to adjust.  They did bring in some new stuff today, a new rowing machine and some type of strange running contraption but I did not see anything that looked like it could be replacements for the weight machines. 
 

Food has been amazingly good but they are repeating stuff in the MDR, for example, warm apple cobbler has been one of four desserts on the menu every night so far.  We had very good steaks in Chops Tuesday evening, but they were not busy at all.  There were only 2 other couples beside us the restaurant, I don’t think I’ve ever seen waiters just standing around before.

Entertainment has been ok, but not great. I did think the Royal singers did a very good show but the magician/comedian put me to sleep last night.

Bed is comfy, pillows are nice and the new towels and robes are amazing!  Our cabin is in very good shape.

Looking forward to the next 24 days!

Sherri🙂

Thanks Kat!  I’m sure the owners appreciate everything you do for them!

We are in LA, just waiting for time to go to the port.  This is my last day to have internet for awhile but will catch up when I have the opportunity.  I hope you all have a wonderful  6 weeks😂

Sherri🙂

1 hour ago, MrToblerone said:

Enjoy your cruise Sherri

The weather in Melbourne is very changeable ,it can get very hot if the wind is blowing from the outback .I think your are cruising to New Zealand as well ,its very warm here at the moment but can also change fast especially in the lower South Island.

Thanks Melissa!  We were in New Zealand in 2014, such a beautiful country!  We did a wine tour when we ported in Picton and it was a gorgeous sunny day.  We had a port day in Wellington and it was cold/rainy.  I am prepared for anything😂

Sherri🙂

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi Sherri, hope you have a wonderful trip😃I sailed on that ship once back around 2018 maybe........I know it was before Covid.  From memory, it is actually not such a big ship (compared to the GIANT Royal ships).  I remember that cruise because I shared a cabin with my sister.  As much as I love her, I realized after that, I am never sharing a cabin with anyone again LOL 

Thanks, Lois!  We have been on Serenade several times, in fact, we sailed from Australia to Hawaii on this ship in 2014.  That was a fun cruise!  
 

I know what you mean about sharing a cabin, I can’t imagine sharing with my sister.  There are times  when I wish I did not have to share with the husband😂😂

Sherri🙂

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Sherri, have a great time -- it sounds like an AWESOME trip!!

 

What ship are you on?

 

Thanks, Cynthia.  We are on Serenade of the Seas, it is a mini segment of the World Cruise they are doing.

Sherri🙂

14 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi girls, hope everyone is having a good week.  Thinking of Melody and Les and hoping they are having a good cruise😃

I was thinking of them this morning as well!

We are leaving in the morning to fly to LA, will board ship on Sunday.  This has been a challenging packing experience as we had to pack for 28 night cruise plus 10 days in Australia.  I’ve been monitoring daily temps in Melbourne, it seems to vary widely as it will be in the high 90s for a few days then drop to highs in the mid 60s. 
 

I’ll be back March 23😂

Sherri🙂