Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[A&L_Ont]

This picture I took tonight.

 

It is what I’d call late summer or early fall in Canada.  Ball Diamond, with a side on zamboni ice scrapings. LOL, the ice scrapings could be any day in Canada. 
 

[Ocean Boy]

I'm not sure how well these will post. Moonlight reflecting off of the ocean tonight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jagsfan]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Love bugs for sure. 

 

 

FWIW, there should be 2 Love Bug seasons

We usually get hit in June and September, but September has been love bug free this year. 

[jagsfan]

44 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm not sure how well these will post. Moonlight reflecting off of the ocean tonight...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moonrise over the ocean vests sunrise, for me!

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Today is our 28th anniversary. Celebrated with dinner at our club tonight. They gave us some champagne to start the night, some raspberry creme brûlée for dessert, and some caramel macarons to bring home. VERY good Wagyu beef tenderloin for our meal (sorry, no pics of the beef). Great view while eating. A very good way to start our cruise week. TOMORROW IS CRUISE DAY!

 

Happy Anniversary and have a great cruise.

[John&LaLa]

12 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

We usually get hit in June and September, but September has been love bug free this year. 

 

We have a few now

[George C]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Today is our 28th anniversary. Celebrated with dinner at our club tonight. They gave us some champagne to start the night, some raspberry creme brûlée for dessert, and some caramel macarons to bring home. VERY good Wagyu beef tenderloin for our meal (sorry, no pics of the beef). Great view while eating. A very good way to start our cruise week. TOMORROW IS CRUISE DAY!

 

Very cool way to celebrate, enjoy your cruise .

[Lionesss]

@bobmacliberty

Happy Anniversary

 

Safe sailings

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Today is our 28th anniversary. Celebrated with dinner at our club tonight. They gave us some champagne to start the night, some raspberry creme brûlée for dessert, and some caramel macarons to bring home. VERY good Wagyu beef tenderloin for our meal (sorry, no pics of the beef). Great view while eating. A very good way to start our cruise week. TOMORROW IS CRUISE DAY!

 

Bon Voyage. 🥂

[John&LaLa]

56 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm not sure how well these will post. Moonlight reflecting off of the ocean tonight...

 

Very nice. But cropping is your friend.😇

[John&LaLa]

Hard to capture the moon with a cell phone.

 

One thing a big camera is good for

 

Full moons are even a little tricky, they tend to wash out, but I'm learning 

 

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Today is our 28th anniversary.

Happy Anniversary wished to you and many more. I would of loved to see a pic of the Wagu beef tenderloin. I assume it was amazing? What a great way to start off your cruise. I hope and know you will have a great time. Please post pictures.

 

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm not sure how well these will post. Moonlight reflecting off of the ocean tonight..

I love these. I'm sure the naked eye see's this in it's glory better than a pic.

[Sea Dog]

20 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

One thing a big camera is good for

 

I bet you are  happy you got that new lens. Looks fantastic. I just got my  new Nikon f1.8 50mm. Great in low light with great portrait look. Examples of kitty Kylar and a glass of Basil Hayden's Dark Rye.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Sea Dog

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I bet your happy you got that new lens. Looks fantastic. I just got my  new Nikon f1.8 50mm. Great in low light with great portrait look. Examples of kitty Kylar and a glass of Basil Hayden's Dark Rye.

 

Nice shots. I've been adding new glass a couple times a year. Got a Canon 1.4 50mm, but haven't played much with it. Also got a 60mm macro around same time. Don't use it much either. Need to get back into it

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

I’m back!  I didn’t forget you.  It was just hard to post while on the ship.  Now I am ready to share with you our week on the Ovation to Alaska.  I hope you will enjoy it.  So let’s go!

 

Day 1 Seattle 

 

We took the bus from our hotel to the cruise terminal.  Our check in time- 12:00pm.  We got to the pier just in time.  There were lots of people that got there way before their check in time so they had to wait in a huge long line.  Check in was a breeze.  If you had all your documents, it moved real fast.  We were ready to board by 12:20.

 

 

 

When we got on the ship, I was expecting some officers and crew members inside welcoming passengers coming on the ship but there was nobody there to greet us.  Just as well I guess because if there was a welcoming crew, there would have been tears involved.  You get this mixed emotion when you set foot on the ship.  Tears of joy, excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to sail again with a ship full of crew that’s ready to welcome us back.

 

Ovation is a huge beautiful ship. I think we better have some lunch before we explore.

 

 

We are handed a plate and utensils as we enter the Windjammer.  DH’s usual first day lunch- hot dog with fries.  I had chicken quesadillas, Spanish rice that’s hidden by paella and chicken curry.  It was all very delicious.

 

 

The cabins were ready by 1:00pm.  So we  went to check out our room.  Then there was other business to take care of

before we go have fun- Safety Briefing.  We watched the video on our app and then check in at our assigned assembly station.  After that we went exploring.

 

Our Main Dining Room 

 

Diamond Lounge

 

Music Hall.  We would be spending a lot of time here.

 

 

Amber & Oak Pub and Sorrento’s Pizzeria 

 

 

FlowRider- which DH suited up for almost immediately.

 

We met up with our FB group for a little meet and mingle at the Solarium.  My first drink- Pina Colada.

 

Time for dinner.  French Onion Soup, Shrimp Cocktail, Fish & Chips, Primb Rib, Molten Lava Cake and Key Lime Pie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening entertainment- Headliner Showtime with Comedian Derrick Cameron and A tribute to Billy Joel with Kelly Goodrich in the Schooner Bar.

 

 

Then it’s off to Music & Dancing with Ovation’s Music Hall Band the Royal Swedes in the Music Hall.

 

 

Drink of the Day- Ice Ice Baby

 

It’s been a long day.  Will have to get up early tomorrow to work out. 

 

Goodnight.

[Sea Dog]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Got a Canon 1.4 50mm,

I think these short lens are really good for food shots and portrait shots where you want to focus on just one thing and have everything else blurred. I know it's a pain to carry a camera around with a bunch of lenes on a cruise. I am going to try and do a mixture of both DSLR and iPhone. I just know that the quality of a good camera makes a huge difference. That's what makes Twangster's threads so great.

[Sea Dog]

6 minutes ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

It’s been a long day.  

And a good day at that. Thanks for posting the pics and great to hear about your experience on board.

[NHProud]

I like your ocean photos .   How near to the beach do you live ?  

 

 

[sgmn]

8 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Why isn't anyone posting "That's for Dinner Tonight"?

I am running out of ideas😁

Greek chicken, all in one pan for us tonight . We'll have it with French beans and salad 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/greek-style-roast-chicken

Edited September 19, 2021 by sgmn

[grapau27]

9 hours ago, jagsfan said:

You are one elegant couple, and always look like life is good!

Thank you so much for your nice words.

Graham.

[grapau27]

9 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Today is our 28th anniversary. Celebrated with dinner at our club tonight. They gave us some champagne to start the night, some raspberry creme brûlée for dessert, and some caramel macarons to bring home. VERY good Wagyu beef tenderloin for our meal (sorry, no pics of the beef). Great view while eating. A very good way to start our cruise week. TOMORROW IS CRUISE DAY!

 

Happy 28th wedding anniversary.

Hope you both have a wonderful cruise.

Graham

Edited September 19, 2021 by grapau27

[grapau27]

6 hours ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

I’m back!  I didn’t forget you.  It was just hard to post while on the ship.  Now I am ready to share with you our week on the Ovation to Alaska.  I hope you will enjoy it.  So let’s go!

 

Day 1 Seattle 

 

We took the bus from our hotel to the cruise terminal.  Our check in time- 12:00pm.  We got to the pier just in time.  There were lots of people that got there way before their check in time so they had to wait in a huge long line.  Check in was a breeze.  If you had all your documents, it moved real fast.  We were ready to board by 12:20.

 

 

 

When we got on the ship, I was expecting some officers and crew members inside welcoming passengers coming on the ship but there was nobody there to greet us.  Just as well I guess because if there was a welcoming crew, there would have been tears involved.  You get this mixed emotion when you set foot on the ship.  Tears of joy, excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to sail again with a ship full of crew that’s ready to welcome us back.

 

Ovation is a huge beautiful ship. I think we better have some lunch before we explore.

 

 

We are handed a plate and utensils as we enter the Windjammer.  DH’s usual first day lunch- hot dog with fries.  I had chicken quesadillas, Spanish rice that’s hidden by paella and chicken curry.  It was all very delicious.

 

 

The cabins were ready by 1:00pm.  So we  went to check out our room.  Then there was other business to take care of

before we go have fun- Safety Briefing.  We watched the video on our app and then check in at our assigned assembly station.  After that we went exploring.

 

Our Main Dining Room 

 

Diamond Lounge

 

Music Hall.  We would be spending a lot of time here.

 

 

Amber & Oak Pub and Sorrento’s Pizzeria 

 

 

FlowRider- which DH suited up for almost immediately.

 

We met up with our FB group for a little meet and mingle at the Solarium.  My first drink- Pina Colada.

 

Time for dinner.  French Onion Soup, Shrimp Cocktail, Fish & Chips, Primb Rib, Molten Lava Cake and Key Lime Pie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening entertainment- Headliner Showtime with Comedian Derrick Cameron and A tribute to Billy Joel with Kelly Goodrich in the Schooner Bar.

 

 

Then it’s off to Music & Dancing with Ovation’s Music Hall Band the Royal Swedes in the Music Hall.

 

 

Drink of the Day- Ice Ice Baby

 

It’s been a long day.  Will have to get up early tomorrow to work out. 

 

Goodnight.

Fantastic photos.

Hope your cruise is really special.

Graham.

[bobmacliberty]

7 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I think these short lens are really good for food shots and portrait shots where you want to focus on just one thing and have everything else blurred. I know it's a pain to carry a camera around with a bunch of lenes on a cruise. I am going to try and do a mixture of both DSLR and iPhone. I just know that the quality of a good camera makes a huge difference. That's what makes Twangster's threads so great.

 

I find that my 1.8 is tricky to use because it has SUCH a shallow DOF wide open.  A 1.4 would be even trickier.  I rarely use it that open...not unless I have a specific shot in mind.  Leaving all of my camera and video stuff home for this cruise.  No big camera, no GoPro, no gimbal, no drone, no bags/accessories/batteries/chargers/etc...just my iPhone.  Going light weight and with almost nothing pre-planned for excursions.  Just taxi to a beach.  Very different approach for me.  Will see how it goes.

[Lionesss]

@FromSea2ShiningSea

 

Love it.

 

Keep the pictures and documentary coming.

 

Cannot wait for more.

 

 

 

Love the talented pictures.

I wish I could do half as good.

The only thing I have to offer will be my Iphone with improper grammar when and if the day comes.

 

Stay safe. 

[Momof3gurlz]

15 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Why isn't anyone posting "That's for Dinner Tonight"?

I am running out of ideas😁

I hear you. I’m tired of the grill and ready for some casseroles and crockpot meals.