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

[reallyitsmema]

11 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

We haven't been to the MDR in several cruises.  We use a mix of Coastal Kitchen, specialty restaurants, and the Windjammer.  The declining state of dining in general for Royal is one of the reasons that we are now considering other cruise lines.  A former CEO of mine once said, "never give a customer a reason to change brands".

We usually do CK and specialty too but no CK on Liberty. We aren’t fans of Giovanni’s either, we prefer Jamie’s. We have avoided MDR in the past but since we are nine nights, there are additional menus we haven’t seen before. We will give it one last shot tonight and then we’ll do Chops and WJ. 
 

We are also looking into Celebrity to mix it up a bit. 
 

[Sunshine3601]

10 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

Glad others have had good experiences on Liberty. Ours has not been the greatest. Dining room issues still remain. Early seating was overbooked by over 200 people. We had early seating from when I originally booked and us what is on our cruise documents. Once we boarded, we saw we had my time dining and went to dining room to have it fixed. They put us on a list and said we would get a note in our cabin. That never happened. Spoke to concierge, she made a few calls, couldn’t get it fixed. Went last night and were in line for over a half hour and were told we would have to do that every night. We are being told that 5:15 on our booking is a request, not a reservation!  Received a dinner reservation in cabin today, along with a bottle of champagne and plate of sweets. Went to dinner at 5:30 and was told to take our place in line. Spoke to head waiter again and he will seat us each night but still no assigned table. Many upset people. C&A status means nothing as far as priority in getting this corrected. 
 

We are giving MDR one more try and then we are just going to do Windjammer and Chops again. 
 

Weather last night was crazy with driving rain and high seas. Rain most of the day so activities moved inside or canceled. Line dancing moved to Royal Promenade, archery to Studio B, movies added in main theatre. Cruise director is trying. 
 

We didn’t see the gorgeous skies last night due to weather but have seen some unbelievable pictures from home. Massachusetts had a great show!  Heard if you still have your eclipse glasses, you can see the sunspot if you look at the sun. Think tomorrow is last day to see it. 
 

Hoping our calmer seas stay with us for the rest of the night. Liberty shimmies a lot. Luckily, we do fine with the movement. Lots on rollcall looking for patches. 

Sorry to read about MDR troubles.   Sounds like Royal IT did another great job in allowing 200 +/- reservations.

Hope weather improves for all soon.

[Sunshine3601]

10 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

Glad others have had good experiences on Liberty. Ours has not been the greatest. Dining room issues still remain. Early seating was overbooked by over 200 people. We had early seating from when I originally booked and us what is on our cruise documents. Once we boarded, we saw we had my time dining and went to dining room to have it fixed. They put us on a list and said we would get a note in our cabin. That never happened. Spoke to concierge, she made a few calls, couldn’t get it fixed. Went last night and were in line for over a half hour and were told we would have to do that every night. We are being told that 5:15 on our booking is a request, not a reservation!  Received a dinner reservation in cabin today, along with a bottle of champagne and plate of sweets. Went to dinner at 5:30 and was told to take our place in line. Spoke to head waiter again and he will seat us each night but still no assigned table. Many upset people. C&A status means nothing as far as priority in getting this corrected. 
 

We are giving MDR one more try and then we are just going to do Windjammer and Chops again. 
 

Weather last night was crazy with driving rain and high seas. Rain most of the day so activities moved inside or canceled. Line dancing moved to Royal Promenade, archery to Studio B, movies added in main theatre. Cruise director is trying. 
 

We didn’t see the gorgeous skies last night due to weather but have seen some unbelievable pictures from home. Massachusetts had a great show!  Heard if you still have your eclipse glasses, you can see the sunspot if you look at the sun. Think tomorrow is last day to see it. 
 

Hoping our calmer seas stay with us for the rest of the night. Liberty shimmies a lot. Luckily, we do fine with the movement. Lots on rollcall looking for patches. 

Thank you for sharing.   Happy Mother's Day😊💐

[Sunshine3601]

12 hours ago, akcruz said:

 

What a touching story, you were truly meant to be a mother, one way or another.

 

We too are in the done with physical gifts category.  Have seen various versions of this for different celebrations.  This is the Mothers Day version.

 

Every year my children ask me the same question. After thinking about it, I decided I'd give them my real answer:
What do I want for Mother's Day? I want you. I want you to keep coming around, I want you to ask me questions, ask my advice, tell me your problems, ask for my opinion, ask for my help. I want you to come over and rant about your problems, rant about life, whatever. Tell me about your job, your worries, your kids, your fur babies. I want you to continue sharing your life with me. Come over and laugh with me, or laugh at me, I don't care. Hearing you laugh is music to me.
I spent the better part of my life raising you the best way I knew how. Now, give me time to sit back and admire my work.
Raid my refrigerator, help yourself, I really don't mind. In fact, I wouldn't want it any other way.
I want you to spend your money making a better life for you and your family, I have the things I need. I want to see you happy and healthy. When you ask me what I want for Mother's Day, I say "nothing" because you've already been giving me my gift all year. I want you.
If you feel the same way, feel free to copy and paste... I did! ❤️❤️
I think most all moms feel the same!! I love this!!
Happy Mothers Day friends

YES!!!  Exactly how I feel.

Happy Mother's Day💐😊

[BonTexasNY]

For all the women, whether biological or not, who made a difference in a child's life....

 

[Sunshine3601]

[jmh2006]

3 hours ago, MancGirl21 said:

The best team in Manchester in my opinion, you chose well 🤣 It’s been a rough few seasons, but hopefully we’ll win the FA cup! You never know miracles may happen !

I will be praying 🙏!

2 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Perfect post!

Totally agree!  Thanks for sharing it April!

49 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

On my first business trip to Manchester, we stayed at a hotel very near Old Trafford (The Copthorne at Salford Quays).  We didn't know at the time, but there was a Man U match the next day.  That entire area was crazy with fans.  We checked out the morning of the match.  I can't imagine what it would have been like later that day.

 

We also learned that you do NOT want to wear the wrong color in the wrong part of Manchester. 😬

I am sure you were quite surprised by that!  The match day experience is awesome!

[jmh2006]

Happy Mother's Day to all!  We have a sunny blue sky day here in SE Michigan and my tee time is at 1pm!  @bobmacliberty I did buy myself a new putter for Mother's Day! 😁

[George C]

54 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

We usually do CK and specialty too but no CK on Liberty. We aren’t fans of Giovanni’s either, we prefer Jamie’s. We have avoided MDR in the past but since we are nine nights, there are additional menus we haven’t seen before. We will give it one last shot tonight and then we’ll do Chops and WJ. 
 

We are also looking into Celebrity to mix it up a bit. 
 

We like both Jamie’s and Giovanni’s, we now always buy UDP we will eat breakfast and some lunches in CK. CK was a big disappointment compared to Celebrity suite restaurant Luminae, next cruise in on MSc yacht club which has its own dining room which is also better than CK, we do get one specialty restaurant there for free.

[sgmn]

14 hours ago, MancGirl21 said:

Thank you! No I’m definitely not! I’m red through and through 😁

Ha ha, just saw the Manc in your handle 

[A&L_Ont]

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms here. 🌹🪻🌺🌺🌷🌻

[Ocean Boy]

12 minutes ago, George C said:

We like both Jamie’s and Giovanni’s, we now always buy UDP we will eat breakfast and some lunches in CK. CK was a big disappointment compared to Celebrity suite restaurant Luminae, next cruise in on MSc yacht club which has its own dining room which is also better than CK, we do get one specialty restaurant there for free.

When is your MSC cruise? I'm very interested in reading your thoughts on it.

[sgmn]

Happy Mothers Day to Mums, Grandma's, adopted Mums, and any women who have made a difference to a child as Bonnie's so rightly says.

 

Not MD here as we have it in March but I agree a visit from children and grandkids is the best present

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

We haven't been to the MDR in several cruises.  We use a mix of Coastal Kitchen, specialty restaurants, and the Windjammer.  The declining state of dining in general for Royal is one of the reasons that we are now considering other cruise lines.  A former CEO of mine once said, "never give a customer a reason to change brands".

I am sailing Ovation of the seas next Friday. I have only been on RCI twice, Oasis and Adventure, and while I found the food very good, on both ships MDR was our least favorite option so I am trying to decide my strategy for next week.

 

I do want to try out the new 2024 MDR menus, especially vegan options as they look interesting to me, but I may just skip it in the end.  I like to get in and get out rather than sit around waiting for the next course, and I like to sample rather than commit to an entree choice; the Windjammer has been exceptional on both of my prior sailings, and Ovation has several other included options so it's going to be some actual decision making in the moment.

[George C]

9 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

When is your MSC cruise? I'm very interested in reading your thoughts on it.

We always cruise the week after thanksgiving, we are leaving December 1 on seaside, have cruised seaside before and was very impressed with yacht club , this is from Miami, next November they will sail from Galveston.

[SteelCityCruiser10]

59 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms here. 🌹🪻🌺🌺🌷🌻

+1 💐

[DaniDanielle]

MJ, your post was so beautiful.  

[Tree_skier]

14 hours ago, MJSailors said:

@Tree_skier I feel the need to respond to your post concerning an informal survey re: husbands giving wives gifts for Mothers’Day.

It seemed to me a bit sarcastic,hopefully that was not your intent.Perhaps you were just curious if other husbands mark the occasion for their wives. I am not certain of your motivation,of course.

I will give you a little backstory as to my husband giving me flowers for the occasion.

On my first “real”Mothers’Day, my DH gave me a bouquet from our infant son,Christopher John. Sadly, we lost our infant boy shortly after to SIDS. This was in 1987. Christopher John would have been thirty-seven this past February.

We had no other children, but my DH would always give me flowers for Mothers’ Day .My husband is a loving and generous man. He always wants me to know that I am a very caring and loving person.We have been fortunate all theses years to be surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends. I am an aunt and a godmother to a number of children.

In 2004,I hired a teacher for our department. She and I became close friends. So close that she and her husband have “adopted” us as the parents she never truly had. We are considered grandparents to her two children.

Miracles can happen. We lost our baby son,and it took some time,but we have gained a family that we truly love and they truly love us.

As others have posted,we do not exchange gifts any longer. We celebrate with experiences rather than giving things. At this stage if life,we are trying to dispose of some of our things, not collect them.

My DH has always marked occasions with flowers. It is something he does from his heart.

I may suggest that you think of surprising your wife with some flowers tomorrow. She may be quite glad if you do.

MJ

There was no sarcastic intent.  I'm sorry for your loss.

[Sea Dog]

Happy Mother’s Day to all who post here. We are celebrating tomorrow as my son has to work today. I did go to our favorite donut shop to get Linda some donuts. I was amazed that everyone else decided to do the same. There was a line of over 30 people outside the shop. Luckily they had a large staff working and plenty of donuts. We will be relaxing today and maybe go shopping for some more hosta’s for our backyard. We have gotten into a tradition of buying flowers and planting them on Mother’s Day.

 Cheers to all the good moms out there.

[grapau27]

Happy mother's day to all of our US, Canadian and Australian mother's.

 

[MJSailors]

@BonTexasNYYou wrote a lovely post!

 From one NY gal to another-wishing you a very enjoyable day.😉

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

 

 

[Arzeena]

14 hours ago, MJSailors said:

@Tree_skier I feel the need to respond to your post concerning an informal survey re: husbands giving wives gifts for Mothers’Day.

It seemed to me a bit sarcastic,hopefully that was not your intent.Perhaps you were just curious if other husbands mark the occasion for their wives. I am not certain of your motivation,of course.

I will give you a little backstory as to my husband giving me flowers for the occasion.

On my first “real”Mothers’Day, my DH gave me a bouquet from our infant son,Christopher John. Sadly, we lost our infant boy shortly after to SIDS. This was in 1987. Christopher John would have been thirty-seven this past February.

We had no other children, but my DH would always give me flowers for Mothers’ Day .My husband is a loving and generous man. He always wants me to know that I am a very caring and loving person.We have been fortunate all theses years to be surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends. I am an aunt and a godmother to a number of children.

In 2004,I hired a teacher for our department. She and I became close friends. So close that she and her husband have “adopted” us as the parents she never truly had. We are considered grandparents to her two children.

Miracles can happen. We lost our baby son,and it took some time,but we have gained a family that we truly love and they truly love us.

As others have posted,we do not exchange gifts any longer. We celebrate with experiences rather than giving things. At this stage if life,we are trying to dispose of some of our things, not collect them.

My DH has always marked occasions with flowers. It is something he does from his heart.

I may suggest that you think of surprising your wife with some flowers tomorrow. She may be quite glad if you do.

MJ

MJ 

I am very sorry for your loss. No parent should have to endure the loss of their child.

I assure you I do not see any sarcasm in Tree_skier's post. So don't feel bad or that it was targeted. I see it as an innocent question. 

Hugs to you. I hope you have a fantastic mother's day.

Love from your Cruise Critic family.

[grapau27]

Good afternoon.

We had a lovely church service this morning but when we got to the beach afterwards it was foggy so we ate our Starbucks snacks and drinks then went home.

Yesterday our route to the beach was cordoned off by Police and coastguard so I made a detour.

We heard a loud bang and just heard it was an unexploded bomb found on the quiet beach near Noses Point about 1 mile from our usual spot which was detonated by the British Army bomb squad.

Our city Sunderland used to be the largest shipbuilding town in the world in the 1940s.

 

[ReneeFLL]

Happy Mother’s Day to all. Mike and I used to celebrate Mother’s Day by going out to brunch. It seemed like on MD they seemed to go the extra mile. He would get me flowers and a card with kitties on it, since I’ve only been a mom to our cats. It was never a big deal, but it was fun. I’m still a kitty mom, but our MD thing has gone by the wayside. Today Mike is flying and I’ll be working out in the shade house. I’ll go and remind the kitties what a good mom I am. 😆 😻

 

For those that give flowers to their mom, I recently discovered some flowers that my mom really loves. I used to always send her an orchid, but she said she always kills them. I found waxed amaryllis bulbs at Costco during Christmas and sent her those. No watering so she can’t kill them and each stem produces several nice large flowers with each bulb usually producing several stems. I came across them again last month so had those delivered. The blooming time might not coincide with MD so I also sent her a bouquet of flowers to have today.

 

These are the same exact ones I sent her, except it came as a package of 3 (one of each color) and not individually priced. Thru Costco I paid around 37.00 for the set and that included shipping. So much cheaper. 

 

https://www.brecksgifts.com/product/waxed-amaryllis

 

Costco different colors but like these.

https://www.costco.com/bloomaker-waxed-amaryllis-bulbs-3-count-in-yellow%2C-lavender-%26-raspberry.product.100736173.html?bvroute=Review%2F205757474

 

Edited May 12 by ReneeFLL

[grapau27]

14 hours ago, MJSailors said:

@Tree_skier I feel the need to respond to your post concerning an informal survey re: husbands giving wives gifts for Mothers’Day.

It seemed to me a bit sarcastic,hopefully that was not your intent.Perhaps you were just curious if other husbands mark the occasion for their wives. I am not certain of your motivation,of course.

I will give you a little backstory as to my husband giving me flowers for the occasion.

On my first “real”Mothers’Day, my DH gave me a bouquet from our infant son,Christopher John. Sadly, we lost our infant boy shortly after to SIDS. This was in 1987. Christopher John would have been thirty-seven this past February.

We had no other children, but my DH would always give me flowers for Mothers’ Day .My husband is a loving and generous man. He always wants me to know that I am a very caring and loving person.We have been fortunate all theses years to be surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends. I am an aunt and a godmother to a number of children.

In 2004,I hired a teacher for our department. She and I became close friends. So close that she and her husband have “adopted” us as the parents she never truly had. We are considered grandparents to her two children.

Miracles can happen. We lost our baby son,and it took some time,but we have gained a family that we truly love and they truly love us.

As others have posted,we do not exchange gifts any longer. We celebrate with experiences rather than giving things. At this stage if life,we are trying to dispose of some of our things, not collect them.

My DH has always marked occasions with flowers. It is something he does from his heart.

I may suggest that you think of surprising your wife with some flowers tomorrow. She may be quite glad if you do.

MJ

I'm so sorry to hear your story MJ.

Pauline's late parents had 4 children Pauline being the 3rd.

Their first child died aged 2 months and it affected them badly.

We go to the cemetery every Month to tend to Pauline's baby brothers grave then her grandparents grave.

From your posts on here I think you are an incredibly nice person.

Graham.