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

[ReneeFLL]

11 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

I admire her personality, and foremost -- the way she treats her crew, especially the "backstairs" ones, like cooks, serving, delivery and cleaning personnel, etc.

This I think is one of her best qualities among others. Would be nice if all crew members were treated this way. She has a big heart. 

 

9 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

….And now for continued Costco chocolate cake chat.  They discontinued the All American Chocolate Cake awhile ago, but are bringing it back in a much smaller version, 6 to a pack, each one larger than a muffin.  Supposedly same taste as the large version.  Not sure it's the mousse cake mentioned in here.

 

I’m wondering if that’s the cake we were calling the double chocolate cake? That probably isn’t the correct name, but that’s what our friends and I called it. 

[ReneeFLL]

8 hours ago, h20skibum said:

That chocolate cake looks fantastic.  My wife is a chocoholic, so I will have to remember that when we are in Florida in December.  
 

Speaking of fantastic cakes, these are a few that were made for birthdays for one of my grandsons.   The lady who made these is very talented.  

For a 4th birthday, he was fascinated by dinosaurs. 
 

 

For the 5th, it was the Lightning McQueen series.  Everything here was edible, including the wheels and checkerboard base.  It was a real bear to transport to the party. 
 

 

For the 6th, it was Pokémon.  Once again, everything, including the characters, was edible. 
 

 

I pay attention to the details since I also make custom cakes. Those are really well made and all so cute.

[ReneeFLL]

6 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Not a cake, but…

 

So cute.

 

5 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

First, I want to say OMG!  You were so fortunate to have survived your roll over car accident!   I love reading about all of your interesting escapades.

These amazing orchids look like  beautiful swans to me!😉

 

@singalot Crystal, it looks like your Birthday was awesome!!!🎉

Thanks. I love some of the more unique ones.

[BonTexasNY]

23 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

This I think is one of her best qualities among others. Would be nice if all crew members were treated this way. She has a big heart. 

 

I’m wondering if that’s the cake we were calling the double chocolate cake? That probably isn’t the correct name, but that’s what our friends and I called it. 

 

I found a picture of the All American Costco Chocolate Cake.

Edited July 10, 2021 by BonTexasNY

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

OMG that was horrible. Thank God you survived. I remember the thing with Firestone. 

Thanks, Mike was happy also. He freaked when AA told him I was in an accident, but not to worry about it. 😱

 

@GeorgeC Glad you had fun. The end comes so fast, but your kitties will be very happy.

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Nice!!!  We had booked the Oasis for the July 16th cruise....we would've been on board for our 50th Anniversary.....

Happy 50th Anniversary. 🥂 🍾

 

38 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

 

I found a picture of the All American Costco Chocolate Cake.

That’s it. So they are going to be making big muffin size ones? Not liking that.

[Bailey & Sophie]

42 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

 

I found a picture of the All American Costco Chocolate Cake.

 

Confession: I'd be picking those flakes of chocolate off in no time.

[grapau27]

8 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Nice!!!  We had booked the Oasis for the July 16th cruise....we would've been on board for our 50th Anniversary.....

Happy 50th anniversary.

[dani negreanu]

9 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Nice!!!  We had booked the Oasis for the July 16th cruise....we would've been on board for our 50th Anniversary.....

 

Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary. Safe sailings into the realm of precious stones too 💐 🌷 🍷

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

I used to fly to Naples to Michelbob’s BBQ in Naples. Great bbq. It was down the road from the airport. First time I went with my instructor he told me to go get the keys for the van. WHAT??? I go to get the keys thinking they would check my drivers license or something.
 

They didn’t they just handed over the keys even though they have never seen me before. I thought that was crazy until it dawned on me that they had the plane. Wasn’t my plane, but non the less it was a plane that I had flown in so they were on the better end of the deal if something would have happened.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/small-plane-crash-lands-in-florida-everglades-in-collier-county/2468353/

 

Something similar happened to us. When we were first married, Gary was building hours after just getting his PPL and we hired a tiny four seater plane for two weeks to cross from Waterloo Canada to Banff.  One of the stops was Manistique on the north shore of Lake Michigan.  The guy at the tiny airport told us to borrow his truck to go get something to eat. I said that was very trusting of him but like you said he had our hired plane as collateral 😀

 

We made the local paper in Waterloo, still have the photo from the article on our shelves 

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by sgmn

[dani negreanu]

So, I'm constantly complaining that my DH is staining his T-shirts....

 

After according this matter a very thorough "deep thinking", DH finally arrived to a fast and self-made full-proof solution to the problem...

 

 

 

 

[island lady]

17 hours ago, davekathy said:

My everyday shoes/sneakers are Vans(Old Skool). Walking shoes are Asics. I'm not a flip flop or sandal dude.

 

LOL...it's a Florida thing with the flip flops I think.  😉  

 

I am Sperry, Bucky is Rainbows.   

 

And here we are way up in northeast Maine wearing them.  😄 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

I had a basketball coach in high school. She was short and always wore shoes with about a 2” heel. She had to have white rubber soles put on since she wore them on the court. We asked why she never wore tennis shoes and she said since she had worn the heels forever that her feet weren’t flat anymore. Now I’m wondering if that could be true. 

I don't know about the flat foot part. However, heels change the articulation of the ankle in a way that it was not designed for. In addition, they change the way forces are dispersed in the foot. Let me put it this way... think of touching down on the runway on the nose gear.😉😯

[bobmacliberty]

10 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Friday night cruising with cocktails and “Below Deck” with a Cosmopolitan and Sea Dog’s special Old Fashioned. Cheers!

 

What do you do for your special Old Fashioned?  I'm a Manhattan guy and have still never had an Old Fashioned.  Time to fix that (well...not right now at 8:45 in the morning 😄).

[island lady]

9 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Would you mind explaining a little bit about it and looking back were there any signs that would have warned you? F you don’t want to I understand. Some day I wouldn’t mind looking into them, but I would be afraid of ending up in that kind of situation. Is there anything VRBO helped you with? I’m trying to learn about this. 

 

No problem.  It was a beach front condo in Santa Rosa Beach Florida.  What the pictures did not show was the unkept and dirty condition of both the inside and outside of the small six unit condo complex.  There were no previous reviews for the unit.  Which should have tipped me off.  I am a big believer in researching reviews.  Lesson learned #1.  

 

We spent a whole day, and our own money for cleaning supplies on cleaning the place.  It was gross, as I am a clean freak which made it worse, but this was really bad.  This was last October in the middle of Covid, so the unit should have gone through a "deep clean"....I doubt they did much at all.  Just nasty.  

 

My called compliant to the management company fell on deaf ears...though I did slam them on the review for the unit.  Learned to be wary of "managed" units.  Lesson #2.  Better to rent directly through the owner.

 

Also when we got there after a long 9 hour drive, there was no key in the lock box.  Had to call the management company where I picked up our paperwork 8 miles away to ask them to let us in...nope..."no one here but me...you will have to drive back and pick up the other key".  Uggg...by then we had dragged a lot of stuff up the 3 flights of stairs, so I had to leave Bucky to stay with it, and drove back.   AND there was no hand towels or wash clothes.  Took them two days to bring them out.  Really awful experience.  

 

Once again this was the exception.  Otherwise I have had very good luck renting with VRBO.  

Edited July 10, 2021 by island lady

[Momof3gurlz]

20 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Time to bore all with more wedding updates. To make it really sound unbelievable, my assistant was in a bad accident last week.  Totaled her car. Went into a ditch. Both cars involved in accident were cited for whatever reason. Now, thank God all her major X-rays were negative but she trashed her knee and cannot walk. So. I have become the one thee  only wedding organizer,  covering all bases. 
 

So my DH came up to the plate and took a couple extra days off to help. 
 

It has been crazy. But getting it done. 
 

I finished her ceremony practice bouquet from the bows from her gifts. Now time to start organizing all the bins from table center pieces to chocolates to candles. Table runners ……

 

Oh the DH already told me since I have him running every which way….that he is going to cash in his token he vowed almost 30 years ago.  Something like “ till death do we part”. Wonder what he is referring too???????

 

🤔

Beautiful bow bouquet!  These are special times. Drink it all in and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. 

[island lady]

14 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Not a cake, but…

 

 

Very talented!  And love...love your kitchen!  Beautiful...Chef's dream!  

[Ocean Boy]

18 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

What do you do for your special Old Fashioned?  I'm a Manhattan guy and have still never had an Old Fashioned.  Time to fix that (well...not right now at 8:45 in the morning 😄).

What is wrong with 8:45 in the morning? That gives you plenty of time to perfect the mixture.😇

[island lady]

11 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sorry for the loss of Helen. 

I just bought a new pair of flip flops at Macys. Clark's Cloudsteppers.  They are like walking on a cloud.  Love 'em

 

I love the looks of them as well, but never can get them to fit me right.  I have a very high instep, just can't get comfortable with them.  

[island lady]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What is wrong with 8:45 in the morning? That gives you plenty of time to perfect the mixture.😇

 

As the great Jimmy Buffet tells us..."It's 5:00 somewhere".  😄   Arriving in CA a few months ago, it was 9 am there, but my stomach told me it was noon (FL time).  Yes I had that glass of wine with early lunch.  😄 

[Sunshine3601]

9 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

I had a basketball coach in high school. She was short and always wore shoes with about a 2” heel. She had to have white rubber soles put on since she wore them on the court. We asked why she never wore tennis shoes and she said since she had worn the heels forever that her feet weren’t flat anymore. Now I’m wondering if that could be true. 

Yes, it is true.  My Nana wore heels everyday of her life working in offices and she was not able to wear flat slippers by her 60s. 

 

 I used to buy her fun heeled slippers from Frederiicks of Hollywood magazine for christmas.

 

She always told me to make sure I went bare foot or flip flops as much as I could so I wouldnt end up with the same problem.

[Momof3gurlz]

I finally have some time to catch up this morning.  Spending the weekend in PA with oldest DD, SIL & 3 grandsons.  Here’s a photo from our dinner our last night.  I look as exhausted as I was. The previous night at Harrah’s in Atlantic City, there was some kind of teen basketball tournament in town.  Our floor was overrun with teenage boys making noise in the halls & rooms until 3 am.  Calls to the desk were useless - “we’ll see what we can do”, which turned out to be nothing.  I even opened our door at one point and yelled at them that people were trying to sleep.  That at least got them out of the halls, but the noise continued from the rooms.  I don’t understand why there were no coaches or chaperones around. These kids appeared to be in the 15-17 age range. 
Anyway, we’re now enjoying our weekend with family & sleeping well!

[Momof3gurlz]

DH and SIL’s weekend project is pulling up all these bricks, re-tamping the ground, then re-laying all the bricks and adding new sand.  They have a couple of helpers, the 8 & 10 yr old. 

[dani negreanu]

27 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Spending the weekend in PA with oldest DD, SIL & 3 grandsons.

 

Enjoy every valuable moment with them, especially the 3 "musketeers".... very quickly they develop a taste for "electronic devices" .....😢

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

No problem.  It was a beach front condo in Santa Rosa Beach Florida.  What the pictures did not show was the unkept and dirty condition of both the inside and outside of the small six unit condo complex.  There were no previous reviews for the unit.  Which should have tipped me off.  I am a big believer in researching reviews.  Lesson learned #1.  

 

We spent a whole day, and our own money for cleaning supplies on cleaning the place.  It was gross, as I am a clean freak which made it worse, but this was really bad.  This was last October in the middle of Covid, so the unit should have gone through a "deep clean"....I doubt they did much at all.  Just nasty.  

 

My called compliant to the management company fell on deaf ears...though I did slam them on the review for the unit.  Learned to be wary of "managed" units.  Lesson #2.  Better to rent directly through the owner.

 

Also when we got there after a long 9 hour drive, there was no key in the lock box.  Had to call the management company where I picked up our paperwork 8 miles away to ask them to let us in...nope..."no one here but me...you will have to drive back and pick up the other key".  Uggg...by then we had dragged a lot of stuff up the 3 flights of stairs, so I had to leave Bucky to stay with it, and drove back.   AND there was no hand towels or wash clothes.  Took them two days to bring them out.  Really awful experience.  

 

Once again this was the exception.  Otherwise I have had very good luck renting with VRBO.  

We have used VRBO and Air BnB as well and knock wood we have been lucky. No major complaints, maybe small nuisances at times and once some other renter walked in due to a mix up of unit addresses by the owner's secretary. It was taken care of immediately. We have only rented condos.

 

I too believe in reading reviews.