sjb317

4 hours ago, little britain said:

Strange! We found it very bland ( taupe) and characterless… over stylised and soulless… everything was too perfect. No different vibes/atmospheres like a Boleros, or a Schooner Bar. Went on her twice just to confirm what we first thought!  We did like the 4 dining room concept though.
E class ships are much better. JMHO. 

Strange! 😂  It was the first time in years that I walked onto a ship and said “WOW”.  It was like stepping into a fantasy world, colorful and bright.  I have always found Celebrity ships to have a sense of elegance and Apex was quirky elegance for me.  We liked it so much that we went again this year and I felt the same way the second time.  
 

We liked the 4 dining room concept as well and we like E class, too.

Sherri🙂
 

On 7/11/2023 at 6:25 PM, zanydoc said:

Thank you for all of your replies! It’s good to know that there are at least a few reciprocity benefits.  I have sailed Celebrity many years ago with my Mom, so I do have a captain’s club number. I think it was the Equinox? Anyway, we are looking at the Apex now…looks pretty amazing!

Apex is amazing!  It is one of our favorite ships!

Sherri🙂

Agree with you all about the wine.  While we do not get a drink package, our last few cruises have had few wines available.  The selection of wines available is pretty disappointing.

Sherri🙂

16 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

She was real.  We had upgrades all the time in 2010-2014. We would get an email about cruise documents while we were on the way to Florida and telling us we had a new cabin.   

 

Whoever though of the Royal Up deserves a huge raise from RCCL   What a moneymaker on cabins they were giving away.  Plus all the info they are gathering on how high folks will pay for a cabin. 

Genius 

M

We were also graced several times by her presence in the early 2000’s, the last time being in 2009.

Our first cruise was in 1999 and I remember dining in the MDR each night as an event.  You entered at your assigned time and the dining room was beautiful with each table formally set with flowers in the center.    And the food was amazing!  Now, you might find a complete set of tableware, you might not.  Maybe you have a water glass, but no wine glass.   The ambience is gone along with the amazing food!   If they would bring this back, I would dress up again.😂

Sherri🙂
 

2 hours ago, RedIguana said:

I am not sure why you consider this a blip. Security wanted to know if a parent was traveling with an under 18 year old (but over 16) traveling on a US passport. Parent was present, so no need to ask you for more documentation. I suspect the rules for traveling with an Australian passport are not the same as for a US passport for a 16 year old, hence the lack of questions that a US passport holder might have had to answer. 

I considered it a blip as we have traveled many times with our grandson and no parent, and have never been questioned regarding our relationship.  We took him on his first Royal cruise at the age of 2, this was his 6th cruise with us.  The first few cruises I took documentation giving us permission but was never asked to present it, didn’t even think about needing it this time.  Getting a form notarized is not cheap!

According to Royals rules, documentation is needed for a minor which is considered under the age of 18. Has nothing to do with what country the passport is from.  Our son did not have any proof of permission to travel with his stepson as the birth father could not be located.  
 

Sherri🙂

1 hour ago, CruiseDad-NYC said:

Clickbait heading topic.  No chaos - surprise! Sorry I gave in and clicked!

I’m sorry you did too.

Sherri🙂

58 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yeah, we sailed once "over capacity".  Until that cruise, I wasn't even aware that was a possibility.  I think over capacity and loads of children go hand-in-hand.  

We sailed a holiday ONCE and came to the same decision.  I'm not saying we didn't enjoy that cruise -- we definitely did! -- but the crowds were definitely a negative, we were assigned to a side room instead of the MDR for dinner, and it was an expensive cruise /not a great value.  Fool me once ... 

Agree with you. This was our 67th cruise with Royal including one on Grandeur that was over Christmas and New Years and I don’t think we’ve ever been on a cruise that was this crowded.   And it was expensive but, as I said earlier, this was the only week we could accommodate our family in Australia.  
 

Sherri🙂

Sorry if I confused some of you, to me, chaos means a disorganized, crazy mess.  This describes the cruise perfectly, especially the WJ. And it was not just the 1200 plus kids causing problems, in fact, I think the adults might have exhibited the worse behavior. 
 

Merion Mom is right that the ships do not have enough staff to deal with the increased number of passengers. 
 

Sherri🙂

Our group of 11 family members disembarked from Independence of the Seas on Friday, 7/7. The group consisted of 6 adults, 4 teens and a nine year old.  All were experienced Royal cruisers with the exception of our daughter in law and her two teenagers, this was the first cruise for the 3 of them.  This was the 4th cruise on Independence for my husband and I since January, 2022.  We chose this cruise as it was the only one that worked with the time period  our  Australian relatives wold be with us in Florida.  The following are our observations of this cruise:

Embarkation was fairly easy. We had an 11am checkin and had to wait about 10 min at security, we were told by one of the agents they had to get people moving onto the ship as there were too many waiting upstairs.  Once they opened security up again, everything went fairly fast.   One small blip at checkin, we had our almost 18 year old grandson checking in with us, his dad was checking in with his Australian stepson about 6 agents away.  Our agent asked what our relationship was with Ben, my husband replied grandparents, and she asked if he had any parents with him.  My husband said yes, that his dad was here in another line, and she told my husband to have our son raise his hand.  He did, and she accepted that as proof😂.  Keep in mind, our son had no questions asked when checking in with his 16 year old stepson who has a different last name and an Australian passport.

The ship was completely packed, we were told capacity was 117% with over 1200 of the passengers children.  With the exception of the DL, every place we went was packed and elevators were impossible, we all did the stairs.   The WJ was always a zoo, crew seemed to be struggling  keeping up with the messes being made.  There seemed to be a lot of spills, we watched one woman slip and fall on spilled pickles, fortunately she did not seem to be hurt.  I am sure there were probably other falls. 
 

Outdoor pools were standing room only as was Solarium pool.    Just like the WJ, crew could not keep up with messes made, public restrooms on the pool deck were in bad shape.  We used our cabin on Deck 8 for bathroom breaks. 
 

Food was hit or miss.  We took our family to Chops the first night as we were celebrating our 50th anniversary. It was very good and service was amazing.  The rest of our dinners were in the MDR, I think we were all somewhat disappointed in the food. Our first time cruisers were very disappointed, which I felt rather sad about as I wanted them to love cruising as much as we do.
 

Entertainment was excellent! We all loved the ice show and the production of Grease was one of the best I have seen.  Our teens loved being out in the evening, meeting new friends and hanging out in Sorentos.  Karaoke was a favorite with them as well!   The teens also enjoyed the escape room. 
 

Disembarkation was a breeze and we were back at our condo by 930!  
 

All in all, we had a great cruise because we were with family, especially since we do not get to see the Australians very often.  I, however, plan to never cruise on over a holiday during any school break again😂😂

Sherri🙂
 

Just dropped the last grandson at the airport today.  Condo is very quiet, I spent most of today catching up on laundry as there was lots of beach towels and bedsheets to wash😂.

My husband said that after 3 weeks with grandkids and their parents, we need a vacation!

Sherri🙂

Our grandson enjoyed the club for 6 year olds on Allure in spring of 2022.  They did have projects and games each time he went but no parades and I don’t remember seeing a daily program. That was cruise # 6 for him so he is very used to spending time in the club.
 

However, he went on a Disney in spring of this year and says he LOVED it.  If you ask him which one is best, his answer is absolutely Disney which our son says is too bad as that was their first and last cruise on Disney!😂

Sherri🙂

2 hours ago, MrToblerone said:

Congratulations on your 50th anniversary Sherri ,we are only 35 years this year and how wonderful to do a family cruise.

Dentists sound just as expensive over there as here in NZ .

My covid isolation is almost over, not sure about the USA but we still have to isolate for 7 days .My symptoms have been mild and thankfully no one else has got it .

Ive been watching Queen Charlotte on Netflix and really enjoying it.

Not much chance of different outfits but we have been invited to a wedding in September and the dress code is formal ,will have to start looking .

Thanks, Melissa!  I am glad your covid was mild!  Should be fun shopping for a formal wedding!

Sherri🙂

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

PH - sorry the funeral isn’t working out.  But have that quality time with family.  
Melody - yikes on the surgeries you need.  Hopefully there is a payment plan available since it isn’t covered.  
Sherri - have fun with the kiddos.  And congratulations on 50 years!  Any good dinner plans for it?  Scott’s on 5th and Yellow Dog always get good reviews for nice dinners.  
 

I still can’t eat right with the temporary.  I’ve bitten the inside of my mouth too much and it is more than annoying.  Yogurt and soup are my meals still.  Ugh.

 

 I finished listening to “Spare” yesterday.  I enjoyed it.  Having Prince Harry doing the narration made it special.  

Thanks, Kat!  We’ve been to Scott’s and Yellow Dog, food was good, better at Scott’s, but both are rather pricey.  We paid more for the family cruise than we should have and that is to celebrate so really haven’t thought about anything else.😂. 
 

Hope your mouth starts feeling better soon, the temporaries are always difficult, in my experience.
 

Sherri 🙂

13 hours ago, awhfy said:

I’m scheduling the sinus lift & bone grafts for after we come back from Boston as I can’t fly for 4 months afterwards. Then I’ll have the implants in March after our b2b (no flying for 2 months after that) then I’ll get the crowns in Sep 24 before our 21 night cruise. I laid this all out to the maxiofacial/oral surgeon, he said man, I want your life!  Melody

Great planning!

Sherti🙂

13 hours ago, awhfy said:

Congratulations on 50 years together Sherri. Sounds like you’re going to have some fabulous memories with all that family around!  We got married in 1969 (at middle of my sophomore yea). Les was in the Air Force. I was just turned 18 & he was 20. 

Thanks, Melody!  You and Ls were just babies, too.😂

Sherri🙂

48 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi Sherri, yes, Big CONGRATS from me too🙂 50 years!!!!

Thanks, Lois!  We were married in 1973, the summer after my freshman year at IU.  My husband was starting his senior year.  We were just babies!😂

Sherri🙂

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Sounds like you have some great family get-togethers coming up soon. Congratulations on your upcoming 50th anniversary!!

 

 

Thanks, Cynthia, it is definitely hard to believe it has been that long!

Sherri🙂

Adding my condolences as well, Christy.  You are a good daughter to do this for your mom. 💐.  Have a safe trip!

Melissa, great news on your checkup, bad news about covid!  I hope you have a mild case and are not feeling too bad.  Enjoy your time in San Francisco!

Melody, when will you have these dental procedures?  I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

Kat, that is a holy **** moment for sure, I did not realize Rybelsius was that expensive!  Hope your dental procedure goes smoothly, too!

Lois, sounds like things are going well for you!  And Cynthia, I hope you are enjoying your retirement!  
 

We are driving up to northern Georgia to pick up our grandson (wildman) on Monday.  He will be with us for a week, then our son will drive down and spend a week.  Our middle son will be bringing his family from Australia on the 24th for two weeks and his son will fly down from Minnesota. Youngest son will drive down with his family and we are all going on a cruise over July 4th!   Everyone will leave on July 8th, which is also our 50th wedding anniversary😳.  
 

Sherri🙂
 

That is a really lovely deck, Melody!  I love the stairs and railing.

Sherri🙂

I really like the Passion Spritz.  It is vodka, Aperol, passion fruit syrup, lemon juice and sparkling wine.  Not too sweet, but a nice summer time drink.

Sherri🙂

My husband talked me into booking two of the smaller legs as well, great itineraries and cheap prices but, I do have concerns. One is, we were on a five night Serenade in 2021 and both of us said many times that we could not imagine doing a longer cruise on that ship, and yet,here we are.😂

Sherri🙂
 

2 hours ago, MrToblerone said:

Hi everyone 

We are starting to get excited , even though its still two months away.

We have rented an air bnb in saint paul de vence, it was tricky finding one with two bathrooms.

We wont be spending time in Rome as we have been there a few times , when my husband meets us at the port we are driving to Lucca for two nights before France.

Lois our second cruise is on Regent Seven Seas, through Greece and Croatia then finishing in Venice.

I have done the planning so hope it all works , my distraction during my treatment ! One more check up before our trip .

 

Melissa, that sounds like an amazing trip!  I know you will enjoy every moment!

Sherri🙂

You give them your cabin number. 
 

Sherri🙂

9 hours ago, purduemom1 said:

300 pages-that calls for a round of applause.👏👏👏 First for Kat who started this thread and then for all those who have contributed. Shall we have a virtual toast as we begin working on the next 300?🥂

 

How about another virtual toast to celebrate Cynthia’s retirement 🥂-many happy days ahead!

 

As for land trips, we have one in the works for the end of Aug and into Sept. Details in progress.

 

Love your dress, Melody. BTW how is your foot doing?

 

 

Good idea, Sharon!  So here’s to Kat for starting this fun thread and to all of you for reaching 300 pages!🥂 And to Cynthia, May you enjoy your retirement and the travels it will take you on!🥂

Love all the pictures, Kat!  Especially the bears, they did appear to be performing for you!

I also am craving the biscuit sandwich, it looks yummy!   
 

Love your dress, Melody! 
 

Sherri🙂

We like to sail on Celebrity as well as Royal.  Our last cruise on Royal was in early March on Jewel, we thought the new menus were ok, some dishes were pretty good, a few were meh but over all, ok.  We had great service. 
 

HOWEVER, we just finished a cruise on Celebrity Apex and the food, for the most part, was amazing!  I have always said the food is pretty similar between the two cruise lines so I quite surprised to have such a difference, especially with the complaining recently on the Celebrity boards😂.  It made the food on Jewel look like Golden Corral.

Sherri🙂