tigerbeth

Happy birthday Norris, hope you have a fab day .

Here's to a wonderful year & many more cruises 🥂🎈🎂

 Well Norris ,I am happily following along too. Bit late to the party , pour me a wine & i'll be happy !!😃🥂

I have been looking forward to another classic review from yourself.

No big cruises for us this year ,off to Spain & Portugal in May then Croatia in August sailing the islands in a small cruiser .

I have been looking at cruises to Cuba so I will be very interested to read your opinion.

Beth

Hey Norris, good to see you & Carol enjoying yourselves again !

I'm really late to this review , but all caught up now & ready to party !!

Looking forward to the remainder of you travel tales .

Cheers

Beth

Beth! Hi, what's an espresso Martini? Never tried a Martini and if I do a Celebrity Martini bar might be the place to start as they also put on a show there.

New York, as you can tell, is a magnet for us and it never has lost its appeal.

There are a couple videos now on youtube where bands (one of them Cheap Trick but thats not the best one) play Sgt. Pepper live on stage from beginning to end.

This one though is remarkably good...by a Dutch band plus orchestra

0kj1jJrbTQU

Hope to see you in my Crown review in 6 weeks!

Norris, heading for sunnier climes as snowflakes fall in Chicago

Norris , the Espresso martini may be just right for you !

Espresso & alcohol !!!

ESPRESSO MARTINI

30ml Kahlua

30ml vodka

30ml espresso

Coffee beans to garnish

Easy to make and even easier to drink, the espresso martini will certainly get the party started! Simply pour the three ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with a few coffee beans and serve!

Will definitely be on board for your Crown review , enjoy the sunshine .

YouTube clip was great .

Whilst not a true Martini , try one !

Cheers Beth 😀

With tangerine trees & marmalade skies !!!

Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Beatles

Loving your review as usual Norris , we were in New York ,Sept 2015 loved every minute of our stay there , hope to be back one day !

Trying to improve my photography too !

Sitting back with an Espresso Martini waiting

for the next instalment

Beth ����

Do not go up there if it's rainy , cloudy etc .....

We did & on the way up the guy in the tram said don't worry it will clear ! It didn't !! shrouded in mist very disappointing ! Cost a lot for not much !

I'm sure it's great on the right day .

Hey Norris, had this marked on my calendar !! Glad I haven't missed it !

Looking forward to travelling with Carol & yourself again .

Love your work ✈️☕️

Looking for a hotel in Barcelona in a central location where we can find good restaurants and shopping.

We stayed 3 nights before our cruise at Catalonia Portal de l'Angel , great position , had everything we needed , good price , this was in 2011 so may be check out more recent reviews .

Catalonia Portal de l'Angel

Harry

We have just returned to Australia from our South Pacific cruise on the Explorer of the Seas . Just reporting back about the dress code on formal nights !

1st formal night was a bit of a miss as many people were absent due to sea sickness as we had sailed for 2 days in seas affected by the end of Cyclone Debbie ! I made it to the dining room but left to return to the cabin to take a Kwel ,which worked well.

2nd formal night was a great night , it was my observation that the majority of the guests in the dining room dressed to impress ! A few wore tux's & bow ties, however most were in suits or good shirt & tie . Ladies wore a variety of good clothes & bling .It was also lovely to see the small children sitting proudly in their best clothes.

So I was actually impressed at the amount of people who had made the effort on these nights.

We ate in the dining room each night & most people looked presentable to me .

Norris , thanks for entertaining us once again .

Love following Carol & yourself on your adventures!

The trip down memory lane has also been a great read .

Our first trip on RCL starts on Thursday,Explorer of the Seas , South Pacific , having previously only sailed in recent times on Princess .

So can't wait to sit back with a cocktail & relax !☀️

Could you please add us for Explorer of the Seas 30/3/2017 to South Pacific .

Thanks

CoatRack-Amen brother.

It is always with a sigh that I end my reviews as it will be 7 months until my next review once I finish this and that one will be on the Princess board and I'll miss the people I interact with on the X board, but I can't be in two places at once and a lot of the people who read my stuff on Princess haven't shown up here as they don't surf the X board...something I always did before sailing X just a year ago.

 

I am curious about all the cruise lines even the ones I don't ever plan on setting foot on. Knowledge is power!

 

Lots of good stuff coming up ahead....take my word for it!

 

Cheers,

Norris

Some of us are here from the Princess board Norris !!

Enjoying your review once again !

Have enjoyed several wines during this one too ! Lol

Very interested to see what other cruise lines offer.

Happy cruising can't wait for the remainder !😎

So Bob is stirring up the pot to generate some controversy?

 

To Tigerbeth – Bob is referring to the typically hotly debated issue of MDR dress codes. At least it used to be more hotly debated. Now it’s less so.

 

I have read some threads of people asking about formal clothes on the second formal night. Think people bring only one good clothes on day 2 and then they dress down on the second formal night. Especially if they are coming back from a tour that day, sometimes they tend to be lazier in not wanting to dress up. Or they want to be cheap and not wanting to pay check in fee for suitcases at airlines so they go for the minimum packing.

 

For us, it’s no big deal. We are used to it as part of cruise life. Especially for me, back in old days of public accounting, we had to dress up daily in suits and ties for work. I used have a closet full of suits and at least 30+ ties for work. Would it come as a surprise to anyone if I say I have a collection of Mickey Mouse/Bug Bunny ties?

 

If you have a chance, please report back after your Australia cruise to let us know how the folks were dressed on the Explorer down under.

Lol! Didn't want to cause a stir !! Just appears way more casual than our formal nights on our previous cruises !

Yes I will report back when we've returned from our next cruise .

I'm not an accountant but i do work for a financial institution !! Just as bad I here some say !!!

Yes I do lots of planning for all our trips , along with the cruises we've done a lot of land travel . When you live so far away from the rest of the world you have to make the most of each trip.

My husband just says tell me when we're going to the airport & where are we off too !!! No help !! 😃🇦🇺🍷

I thought so because of the curvy boat logo, but mine doesn't have that screen. I kind of like yours better because the emphasis is on the days remaining. :)

 

These are the two options that I found for mine (iOS):

 

 

 

OR

 

 

Tha ship mate App just changed , Norris's photo is of the old layout !

Wow !

Apart from yourselves looking the part on formal night , not much formality about what others are wearing !!!! Very informal !

Think that's a shame really !!

Harry thanks for your review , I have been lurking from early on .

Enjoy reading reviews of cruises we may not get to do as we are in Australia.

Love all of your stories & digressions !!

Our first cruise on RC is coming up in March which should be fun .

Lamenting the fact that your cruise is coming to an end ! However I have just discovered that there is a new 'Norris' review over on the Celebrity boards ! Yay ! Love his work too !

Thanks for all or hard work

Cheers

Beth

Looking forward to another Norris epic !!!

I am also working on photos of last year's trip to Italy, in Lightroom . Finding it challenging as I'm no expert either !

Going to sit on a lounge chair & cruise along with Carol & yourself .

Cheers

Beth

It's probably been beaten to death here, but at Vintages my wife an I used our BOGO coupons (available even at gold level) to get a $124 bottle (ship price) of 2014 Caymus for $54. It retails for $70 or so. Basically they will charge you the "per glass" price for each ($27 * 2), use the BOGO, and then just give you the bottle in lieu of keeping the 5th glass around since it's not normally a "by the glass" wine. Another couple sat down and did the same thing (different bottle, but basically pay 2x the per-glass and get the whole bottle and if there's no per-glass listed they'll set you one).

 

So, on our cruise we had:

- The two bottles we brought on board,

- The bottle of caymus we paid $27*2*1.18% = $64 for,

- A bottle we bought the final day at their "60% off" sale, which was probably still above retail and I can't remember what it even was but my wife was happy with and it was about $40. The caveat is that these are usually close outs to bin numbers, so can be hit or miss if you're not sure what you like.

 

So we did just fine on wine for the week on wine. 4 bottles at basically retail prices.

Sounds like you managed it well !!

As this is our first time on RCL can you clarify what 'BOGO ' coupons are ?

Thanks

Our friends from Sydney were really surprised out how much cheaper Yellow Tail was here at the local grocery store. But the ships are not bargains on any wine. You can take 2 bottles onboard with you. :) (Or 4 if you get in separate lines with a friend ;) )

Expected the prices to be more but never imagined that much ! We've cruised before & not experienced such a mark up !

Yep we'll be taking 2 bottles ourselves , my husband will be drinking beer or bourbon anyway !

We'll drink & be happy !! 🤗

Just checked the pre order cellar items on my cruise planner !

Astounded to see a bottle of Kim Crawford sauvignon Blanc can be ordered for Aud $93 , this can be purchased here in Australia @ Dan Murphys for Aud $14.95 when you buy 6 !!!!!!!!

Are these prices indicative of what you would pay on board??

These prices are incredibly marked up !!

Highway robbery I'd say ! !🤑😠

In regard to wine .... no problem, we took 2 bottles (think we could have taken 4 but not 100 certain), they ask you to take it out of your luggage that goes to the cabin, need to carry it on board with you. If you do leave it in your luggage it will go to security ... no problem but you will have to pick your luggage up from security, they just check that it isn't spirits. As an afterthought, as they don't really check your carry on wine, you could potentially carry aboard spirits.

Also pleased to note that they don't apply any cover charge if you take your own wine to dinner.

Although they specify arrival times based on cabins/decks we just rocked up early, dropped our bags, carried our wine and boarded (about 4 hours ahead of our allocated time slot, no problems).

As a general rule the stateroom are usually ready by 3 - 4 pm, depends on how much cleaning was required after the previous cruise... plenty to see/do/eat until they're ready. The luggage will usually be there pretty quickly.

Cheers Tom.

Thanks again Tom,

Previously cruised on Princess ,where we arrived early but our cabins were always ready , good to know your experience.

Never thought of taking my own wine to dinner so happy to know I can do that .

Cheers

Beth

Beth and Co. I'm sure you will love your cruise.

The Ice skating show tickets are allocated based on stateroom, everyone gets a time/date, if you miss your allocated session you an turn up just before the show and take your chance on an empty spot with a view. I'm not a skating fan but it really is worth having a look.

 

Murder Mystery dinner at Chops Grill was given a thumbs down by our family members that went .... cheaper chops option is to just order the Chops steak option in the dining room ($19 vs around $35).

 

Unless your a big drinker I'd give the $780 pp top of the range drinks package a miss, includes soft drink, spec. coffee, beer, cocktails, water and 40% off wine by the bottle (or included if you just buy by the glass so why buy by the bo

 

 

 

Royal Promenade is a nice open, airy area (shops and bars).

 

For a large ship with heaps of passengers it was roomy and you could always find somewhere to chill out.

 

Cheers Tom

 

Meant to add I'm not a fan of the layout of the RCL fleet but that's a personal thing.

Thanks Tom,

Did you take a bottle of wine onboard yourself? Or bottles of water &/ soft drink ? Or know if anyone else were able to ?

Did it take long for your cabin to be ready ? Don't really want to lug carry on stuff around for too long !!

Thanks again

Beth

Are you paid in full? The SetSail pass cannot be printed until you are paid in full.

That could be it Bob , I have paid in full but maybe it takes a bit for RC to process it !

How did you do it?? Two Credit Cards??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

No I used only 1 credit card for both , not sure why it wouldn't work before!!

Now that I refreshed my memory a bit. I think what I did last time was check us both in under one onboard credit card. Then I went back and edited one of us and then was allowed to enter another card. I will try later.

Actually managed to complete mine too !!

Not sure why it worked !

But the Set Sail Pass is not ready , is there something else wrong ?