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

[Jimbo]

34 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

But you can't see where you are going. You can only see where you've been.🤔

You can see where you are going on some corner aft balconies that wrap around. 😁

[Tree_skier]

16 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

World cruise?😉

= Divorce Court

[Jimbo]

19 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

World cruise?😉

Or Monopoly player never to return to CC.

[A&L_Ont]

4 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

= Divorce Court

Many new countries to find a new wife.😂 (kidding everyone)

[George C]

When I was 45 (almost 30 years ago) we bought a house with 15 year mortgage at 8 percent mortgage sold it about 15 years later for about double what we paid now our house has more than doubled again . 
   When we did our European cruise about 8 years ago we had a corner aft grand suite on brilliance, definitely think that aft cabins have the best view love looking at the wake of the ship. Our last cruise on beyond was also a corner aft sky suite.

Edited August 29, 2023 by George C

[Tree_skier]

5 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Is that a 30 yr or 15 yr mortgage?

That's a 30 year. I could have gotten 5.5 on a 15 year but, oddly the prepayment penalty was better on the 30 year.  The intent was to only have financing on it for a short period of time (3-5) years and then it wouldn't be a large mortgage.  It would be less that 50% of value.  I only want the note until some money I have stashed in Canada comes available.  But plans are now changing. So we'll have to see how this unfolds.  We may look for smaller and less expensive places with zero outside maintenance and have two homes.

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, A&L_Ont said:

Many new countries to find a new wife.😂 (kidding everyone)

On my wife's 60th birthday I told her I was going to trade her in on two 30 year olds.

 

That went over like a zipper salesman at a button hole convention.

[A&L_Ont]

Just now, Tree_skier said:

On my wife's 60th birthday I told her I was going to trade her in on two 30 year olds.

 

That went over like a zipper salesman at a button hole convention.

I mean on the upside, at least you didn’t say three 20 year olds.  You could have be in permanent home monopoly jail. 

[Sunshine3601]

26 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

That's a 30 year. I could have gotten 5.5 on a 15 year but, oddly the prepayment penalty was better on the 30 year.  The intent was to only have financing on it for a short period of time (3-5) years and then it wouldn't be a large mortgage.  It would be less that 50% of value.  I only want the note until some money I have stashed in Canada comes available.  But plans are now changing. So we'll have to see how this unfolds.  We may look for smaller and less expensive places with zero outside maintenance and have two homes.

5.875% for a 30 yr fixed mortgage is amazingly low in today's market even with excellent credit and 50% down.   BTW, there should Not be any prepayment penalty for a standard fixed rate mtge.

[#55worktoplay]

@dani negreanu  I’m sorry to hear about your cousin’s news. Good thing they caught it early and she is getting surgery right away. 
 

@jagsfan I’m sorry for the loss of Cooper.

 

[#55worktoplay]

36 minutes ago, singinalot said:

 

Im actually in NYC right now! nate’s at home battening down the hatches. Unfortunately our house is in the direct path on the coastline in New Port Richey. I was supposed to fly home Wednesday but the airport is now closed until Thursday so I rescheduled my flight and extended my hotel.

I hope it dismantled prior to hitting land and everyone is safe. 

[brookmill18]

@ReneeFLL and @FromSea2ShiningSea --I've been off CC for awhile and am reading backwards on the thread so not sure if you've already spoken about Jewel, but wondering what you think of the ship. My mom may move her TA in April of 2024 from Anthem to Jewel (to help me out) but I wasn't sure what Jewel would be like for a TA if the ship is a big part of the trip. She has some mobility issues so while she will get off in the ports, she does really love just being on the ship and meeting people--she travels solo. Just curious what you think of the ship itself--I feel badly that she might switch for me so just wanted to see about Jewel, Thanks!

[CrzLvr2]

 

But you can't see where you are going. You can only see where you've been.🤔

 

3 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

But wake views are awesome!  

 

 

 

 

We had an Aft Veranda for our last cruise to Bermuda on Celebrity Summit.

I wholeheartedly agree with @Tree_skier Wake views are AWESOME!!

I loved the mesmerizing wake and the views heading into and out of ports.

I also loved the really spacious balcony.

However, although my DH and I agree on most everything, he agrees with   @Ocean Boy on this topic. He did not enjoy seeing where we had been vs. where we were going. We decided that the next time we’ll opt for a corner aft veranda - the best of both views. 😇

 

Before and after a little redecorating

 

 

Sailaway from Bayonne

 

Heading Home

 

Returning to Bayonne. . .

Edited August 29, 2023 by CrzLvr2

[bobmacliberty]

10 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Geeze, I think this is my record for the most typos in one post.🙄

 

10 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I thought you were slipping into Italian 🙂 

 

I just figured that it was the Kraken talking.  

[Sunshine3601]

9 hours ago, singinalot said:

 

Im actually in NYC right now! nate’s at home battening down the hatches. Unfortunately our house is in the direct path on the coastline in New Port Richey. I was supposed to fly home Wednesday but the airport is now closed until Thursday so I rescheduled my flight and extended my hotel.

Best wishes for Nate and your puppy to be safe.   As well as everyone else in the path of Idalia.  

[bobmacliberty]

12 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Excellent!   Your Daughter is getting a good deal with a 7.125% 30-yr fixed and the lender covering some of her closing costs.    Is she part of a first time homebuyer program that offers the reduced closing costs?

 

Yes...she's taking some sort of online education that's part of a first time buyer program.  She's also putting more than 20% down, which I think also helps (or at least avoids PMI).

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Yes...she's taking some sort of online education that's part of a first time buyer program.  She's also putting more than 20% down, which I think also helps (or at least avoids PMI).

Yes 20% + down does help.    Avoiding MI is always the way to go but most first timers don't have the money to put that much down.

 

The main factors involved in calculating someone's mortgage rate are Credit score, down payment amt and loan amount.   

 

I guess after working 25 years in the mortgage business is stuck with me even though I got out of it last summer.  And Eric retired this summer after almost 40 yrs in the mortgage biz.

 

Congrats to your Daughter on her new home purchase.   😃

 

Our Son gave up searching for a home for now.  They made offers on more than a dozen homes and kept getting outbid and were getting too frustrated.   

[Ocean Boy]

[BonTexasNY]

I'm so happy to see Simone Biles, still the GOAT, win her record breaking 8th U.S. National Championship.  She's back on top!

 

Continuing mortgage chat:  I started working for Countrywide for a few short months until Bank of America took over.  I was at a luncheon once and when one of my tablemates found out I worked for them, he lashed onto me as if I were personally responsible for the mortgage debacle.  He was personally insulting to me and although Countrywide might have been to blame, I wasn't.  I ignored him, turned the other way and started to chat with another tablemate totally cutting him off. To be clear, I didn't work in the mortgage department. It got very uncomfortable, and I was glad when the luncheon was finally over.  His wife was a good friend of mine at the time and her face was red the whole time during his rant.  She kept looking down at her plate probably hoping she (or he) would disappear.

 

 

[h20skibum]

I read a very nice article this morning, about my niece’s 16 year old son.  

 

He was crowned the International Bowhunting Organization’s World Champion in the Men’s BBO division.  Although he could have competed in the younger division, there was more competition in the Men’s.  He was also crowned National champion in his class for the IBO National Triple Crown in 3D shooting and another for field shooting. 

 

You may recall me mentioning that his mother won the Shoot like a Girl competition, in another organization, the last two years.  

 

With such marksmen in the family, I know where I am headed when society breaks down and we have to live off the land. 😁

[TravelGirlinDallas]

Our favorite cabin is this deck 7 corner aft, which we’ve had on both Liberty & Adventure. It only sleeps 3, but that works out for us. You can see the aft as well as the side.

 

We tried to book it again on Voyager over Thanksgiving this year, but the price was double what we paid last year at the same time. ☹️ So we ended up booking with another line.

 

[helen haywood]

Idalia will be my first hurricane experience since moving to Nassau County.  🙀  We don’t live in the major evacuation zones, nor in a flood plane.  So I’m not worried too much…hope it’s just wind and rain we get.  What worries me is power outages.  We have had one since we moved here due to lightning hitting a transformer.  At first the power department said it would be back on in a four hour window.  But later they changed that to “status unknown.”  

If we lost power at this time of year…and didn’t know how long it would be out…we’ll have to decide how long we wait before we go somewhere with power.  And of course DH and I are not on the same page.  DH:  I am not leaving!  Me:  Then you’ll be staying by yourself.

 

On a more positive note, getting the girls in carriers to the vet yesterday went much more smoothly than my overactive imagination feared.  Didn’t even need gauntlets!!  They are so sweet…they’ll let you put them 2/3 of the way in…then they’ll stop and you just have to gently push them the rest of the way.  Minnie was silent on the five minute drive to the vet…Diana cried so on the return trip DH held Diana’s carrier on his lap and she was fine.

 

Seems now rabies and leukemia vaccines last three years!!  Minnie was so thrilled to be back home that she went around nudging everything with her tail shivering with happiness.  😸

[Sea Dog]

9 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Our favorite cabin is this deck 7 corner aft, which we’ve had on both Liberty & Adventure. It only sleeps 3, but that works out for us. You can see the aft as well as the side.

 

We tried to book it again on Voyager over Thanksgiving this year, but the price was double what we paid last year at the same time. ☹️ So we ended up booking with another line.

 

What a fantastic balcony. What Cabin number is that?

[dani negreanu]

13 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

I hope it dismantled prior to hitting land and everyone is safe. 

 

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Best wishes for Nate and your puppy to be safe.   As well as everyone else in the path of Idalia.  

 

+ 3 to all those in Idalia's path.

 

11 hours ago, CrzLvr2 said:

But you can't see where you are going. You can only see where you've been.🤔

 

He did not enjoy seeing where we had been vs. where we were going.

 

I'm 100% with your DH. No "afts" for us. We enjoy seeing (and taking pics of) the wake from the ship.

 

14 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Geeze, I think this is my record for the most typos in one post.🙄

 

Yet, I'm sure everyone understood you 😉

[TravelGirlinDallas]

8 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

What a fantastic balcony. What Cabin number is that?

The best part is that it's categorized/priced the same as all of the regular balconies. There are two on each ship - one on each aft corner of deck 7. Ours have both been on the starboard side. 

 

Liberty - cabin #7408

Adventure - cabin #7388

Edited August 29, 2023 by TravelGirlinDallas