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

[mo&fran]

1 hour ago, George C said:

I have thrown ice in the pool but not recently, it melt’s really quick , actually 90 isn’t that bad , I am sure it was a couple of degrees warmer later in the afternoon. My pool isn’t that large but is a little more than 10,000 gallons . One of my buddies just had a new pool built and he said he has a device that will. Either cool or heat the water , need to ask him how that was working next time I see him. 

A lot of condo associations here install heat pumps  in their pools.   Cools the water in the summer, warms in the winter.

[Arzeena]

14 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Does anyone use laundry detergent sheets? We use Tide pods, but was thinking of getting some sheets to take on cruises. I usually just have a small bottle of Dawn, about 2 oz. I can use it on anything so I’m wondering about the sheets.

We don't, but sheets are a great idea for travel. I recently read a trip report on the Celebrity boards where someone mentioned the sheets and has pictures. I also saw them at Target a couple of days ago.

[Husky1987]

12 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I can't find it on any shelves near me.  However, there was plenty on the shelf in the Total Wine 45 minutes from me (1 per customer). 🤷‍♂️  I wish bourbon was more like Scotch in that you can more easily find the good stuff...it's just expensive.  I'm not a Scotch drinker though.

 

Yeah, Buffalo Trace products are weird.  The Total Wine about 20 minutes from me hardly ever has it, and has a "one per customer" sign always on the (even empty) shelf.  But my local Safeway and Walmart usually seem to have it on the shelf.

 

And you can forget about their other stuff like Eagle Rare, Blanton's, Stagg, Taylor.  Even on the rare instances they find their way to a store, those might be on the shelf for less than a half hour before they're gone...word of mouth spreads pretty quickly in the bourbon hunting world. 

 

I know people who I swear would leave their daughter's wedding if they were told some bottles were seen on the shelf at a liquor store.

[harryfat1]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

The Spinach and Artichoke Dip was really bland.  I ordered it once to try it, and then never again.

The Polenta Fries (not sure why they're on the Italian menu???) were similarly disappointing. 

The (Italian???) Spiced Lamb Kofta and the (Caribbean???) Rustic Chicken Korma tasted eerily similar to each other. 

On Mexican Night, the Pulled Pork Enchilada is actually just a burrito stuffed full of pork, with what seemed to be watered down marinara poured over the top.  It wasn't bad... it just wasn't an enchilada!  Same for the Carne Asada -- it wasn't bad, but it sure wasn't carne asada!  I did enjoy the Grilled Sweet Corn Cakes.  

If you have a Royal Night, the Vidalia Onion Tart is always good, if you like quiche.  The Stuffed Red Bell Pepper was disappointing, as the pepper was stuffed with nothing but some very dry, bland couscous.  Since it was a vegan dish, it didn't have any meat in the stuffing, but they certainly could have put some veggies or tofu or SOMEthing else in the pepper besides just plain old couscous.

If you have the Bon Voyage menu, I like the Pan-Seared Asparagus appetizer -- I usually ask for a couple of those as my side dish with my entree (it's like 3 or 4 stalks of asparagus).  The Vegetable Greek Moussaka was disappointing, and unlike any moussaka I've ever had.  (I was spoiled having an authentic Greek restaurant in my hometown, where the original owners were "fresh off the boat" when they started their restaurant.)  

Sorry, this is more of a "what to avoid" than a "what to order"!  
 

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. 

 

On a cruise, it's just as important to know what to avoid as much as what to order as one's stomach has limited capacity.  If it's filled with bad stuff, then there's no space for the good stuff.

 

Sounds like Royal doesn't do Mexican food very well in the MDR. 

 

Good thing is we are traveling as a family and it's easier to order extra dishes in the middle for people to sample on what's good. 

 

Will post few food pictures (well, maybe more than a few) in the trip report afterwards. 

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

 

 

[NHProud]

9 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. 

 

On a cruise, it's just as important to know what to avoid as much as what to order as one's stomach has limited capacity.  If it's filled with bad stuff, then there's no space for the good stuff.

 

Sounds like Royal doesn't do Mexican food very well in the MDR. 

 

Good thing is we are traveling as a family and it's easier to order extra dishes in the middle for people to sample on what's good. 

 

Will post few food pictures (well, maybe more than a few) in the trip report afterwards. 

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

 

 

If I’m recalling correctly you are sailing from San Pedro . Are you staying in Anaheim , Long Beach or closer to the port ? We stayed at the Doubletree which was just so-so but not bad . 

[Momof3gurlz]

Okay Photoshop peeps, I have a favor to ask.  These photos of my granddaughters were taken late yesterday and I’d love to give them to my daughter with all the cars removed from the background if possible.  

 

 

[harryfat1]

2 minutes ago, NHProud said:

If I’m recalling correctly you are sailing from San Pedro . Are you staying in Anaheim , Long Beach or closer to the port ? We stayed at the Doubletree which was just so-so but not bad . 

Yes, we will be sailing out of San Pedro tomorrow morning.

 

We are driving down from San Francisco Bay area later this morning.  It's about a 400 mile drive. Staying near LAX at Marriott,  which is further away from the cruise port but because I have the Marriott credit card, it gives me a free night stay annually and the best one I could find is near LAX that's free as part of the program.

 

So we'll have a 30 minute drive to the port tomorrow morning, which isn't a big deal if you are driving your own car to the port versus taking a shuttle.

 

Looking forward to first RCI in almost 6 years. A lot has changed since we last cruised on RCI...

[NHProud]

4 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Yes, we will be sailing out of San Pedro tomorrow morning.

 

We are driving down from San Francisco Bay area later this morning.  It's about a 400 mile drive. Staying near LAX at Marriott,  which is further away from the cruise port but because I have the Marriott credit card, it gives me a free night stay annually and the best one I could find is near LAX that's free as part of the program.

 

So we'll have a 30 minute drive to the port tomorrow morning, which isn't a big deal if you are driving your own car to the port versus taking a shuttle.

 

Looking forward to first RCI in almost 6 years. A lot has changed since we last cruised on RCI...

Bon voyage and looking forward to reading about your cruise.

[lenquixote66]

For the past few years I have wanted to buy an exercise bike for home use.I never bought one.A few days ago my in home Physical Therapist suggested one and said if she orders it the cost will be a lot less then if I ordered it.

The bike arrived yesterday.

Just in time as earlier yesterday I went to a dessert restaurant in a nearby town to use a birthday coupon .I was given four choices and picked the one with probably the most calories.

[Sunshine3601]

10 hours ago, brillohead said:

I just use the Shower Goop to wash my hand-washable clothing on board.  I figure if it gets sweat/body oil off my body, it will do the same for my clothing!  

I always bring a small bottle of woolite.  I'm not a fan of their soap.  I always pack my own body wash, shampoos, etc.

We don't drink soda so never had a freestyle cup to worry about but when our son has cruised with us I told him to make sure to wash his freestyle cup every night so he used their soap.

[BonTexasNY]

5 hours ago, George C said:

I have thrown ice in the pool but not recently, it melt’s really quick , actually 90 isn’t that bad , I am sure it was a couple of degrees warmer later in the afternoon. My pool isn’t that large but is a little more than 10,000 gallons . One of my buddies just had a new pool built and he said he has a device that will. Either cool or heat the water , need to ask him how that was working next time I see him. 

Going to be 106 today.  Approx. 38% humidity. Stay cool my Dallas area friends!

[lenquixote66]

21 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Why does Celebrity seem to frequently have much better deals than RCI?🤔

Somebody started a thread I. The Floataway Lounge asking if anyone is friends with Taylor Swift.You might want to check it out.

[dani negreanu]

Deb, @Momof3gurlz

 

Compliments of DH. I can also send them to your email if you wish 🥰

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by dani negreanu
spacing

[Jimbo]

Here are some pictures from this morning out in the garden.

 

 

Picked these tomatoes ,zuchinni  and this one ear of corn to see how close to picking I am. I think about another 10 days before the corn is ready.

 

 

 

 

I planted a row of zinnias  up against the fence along side the zuchinni so we can see the flowers reL good from the house..

Once the zuchinni  is done I will pull those out and there will be a nice row to wk in before the pepper plant row.

 

 

 

 

Planted sunflowers along the fence on both ends of the garden.. But the sunflowers I like the best are these one with one center stalk coming up and lots of shoots of sunflowers coming off of it. These came up on their own from seeds in the garden from last year,wish I could remember the names  of them because they are so nice.Would like to plant them again next year if I knew the names of them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I planted these low ones this year,look like snowballs

Edited August 6, 2023 by Jimbo

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Okay Photoshop peeps, I have a favor to ask.  These photos of my granddaughters were taken late yesterday and I’d love to give them to my daughter with all the cars removed from the background if possible.  

 

 

 

I played with the first one to see if you liked it.  If so, I can do the same to the other 2.  Photos get reduced in resolution when they get uploaded to CC so if you'd prefer and have a way to do so, you could post the original images in a place where I could download and I could edit the originals.

 

Edit: Looks like Dani replied while I was editing.

Edited August 6, 2023 by bobmacliberty

[bobmacliberty]

Here are a few more versions from which to choose.  I pulled the previous version into LightRoom and played with a few things.  The first version removes some of the haze and saturates the sky.  The second version keeps the sky saturated but actually adds a bit of haze and removes some contrast giving it a "softer" look.  The softer look often works well with little girls.

 

[Momof3gurlz]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

Deb, @Momof3gurlz

 

Compliments of DH. I can also send them to your email if you wish 🥰

 

 

 

Dani thank you and DH so much for this!  Yes, please send to my email.  

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Here are some pictures from this morning out in the garden.

 

 

Picked these tomatoes ,zuchinni  and this one ear of corn to see how close to picking I am. I think about another 10 days before the corn is ready.

 

 

 

 

I planted a row of zinnias  up against the fence along side the zuchinni so we can see the flowers reL good from the house..

Once the zuchinni  is done I will pull those out and there will be a nice row to wk in before the pepper plant row.

 

 

 

 

Planted sunflowers along the fence on both ends of the garden.. But the sunflowers I like the best are these one with one center stalk coming up and lots of shoots of sunflowers coming off of it. These came up on their own from seeds in the garden from last year,wish I could remember the names  of them because they are so nice.Would like to plant them again next year if I knew the names of them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I planted these low ones this year,look like snowballs

Green thumb Jim.  Everything looks great.   

 

I'm having issues with cucumbers this year.  I'm thinking the plants didn't care for the extreme heat we had for weeks.  

 

[Momof3gurlz]

55 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Here are a few more versions from which to choose.  I pulled the previous version into LightRoom and played with a few things.  The first version removes some of the haze and saturates the sky.  The second version keeps the sky saturated but actually adds a bit of haze and removes some contrast giving it a "softer" look.  The softer look often works well with little girls.

 

Thank you so much!  How would we go about the upload/download process? It’s interesting to see the different versions.  

[Momof3gurlz]

@dani negreanu I see you had already sent them.  Thank you again, my daughter is going to love the new version! 

[dani negreanu]

4 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

@dani negreanu I see you had already sent them.  Thank you again, my daughter is going to love the new version! 

 

 

DH says "you're more than welcomed, the princesses are beautiful".

 

I didn't know if you'll get them by email, so I've sent them via Whatsapp too 😉

[Arzeena]

Howdy ya alls!

[Ozark_Kid]

17 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Excellent.  Enjoy to the fullest🥰  If Kenzie drove with her family and cousin, Finnley, I would love some pictures.

Thanks.  I might have to post pics later.  Poor internet here.  Like being on a ship!

I heard one everyone is here there will be 40 adults and 10 kids.  

It's 81⁰ feels like 87⁰ and a nephew from here is talking about how humid it is.  😆 🤣 😂 And there's a breeze!

[Sea Dog]

53 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Howdy ya alls!

 

Those deviled eggs look amazing. What's in the mixture?

[h20skibum]

We finished our trip to Universal Florida, and have returned home. I think I mentioned we had the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Vacation Package. 

 

 

Since we stayed at the Portofino Bay Hotel, I thought I would give you my impressions of it. 

 

 

The hotel is one of Universal’s Premier hotels, and one of three that includes unlimited express passes during your stay.  

 

 

We really enjoyed this hotel.  Very quiet and picturesque.  Every evening, they have performers singing opera and popera favorites from a balcony overlooking the plaza. 

 

 

Directly beneath this balcony is Sal’s. They have excellent pizza and their Italian sandwich was delicious.  You can also get beer or wine at Sal’s, if you want some while listening to the music. 

 

We requested a room in the west wing, which is closest to the water taxi.  

 

 

The water taxi runs to a pier at City Walk between the two park entrances.  It was nice to be able to look out our window, overlooking the harbor, and see if the boat was there.  They ran every 10-12 minutes. 

 

Portofino has three pools, and the beach pool is the one by the west wing.  We definitely enjoyed coming back for a swim, mid-day.  

 

I can recommend this hotel as a nice place to base a stay for the parks.  I only wish the room would have had a microwave to heat some leftover pizza. (Yes, there is such a thing)

 

It is a little on the pricey side, but the perks are worth it. I think I would stay there again if we ever return to the parks. 

 

Of course, now that we are home, we have a house full of wizards running around today.