Aug 7th W-E-W Caribbean Edge Cruise - B3B

[jcpc]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 

CS just confirmed they used to offer the Luggage Valet. But it has been temporarily suspended since they restarted cruising and gave no estimate as to when the service might start up again. Sorry for not having better news.

Thanks so much for checking so quickly.  I'm crossing my fingers that they start it up in time for my September 4th cruise.........but realistically I don't think it will be available by then.  Enjoy your evening.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

With "Fred" heading towards South Florida, it will be interesting to see how the next three days on the Edge unfold. 😎

 

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/fl-ne-tropical-storm-fred-florida-gulf-20210811-oe3o2h4rhnfgpg6onxdf52qjru-story.html

 

[Crism]

Any idea what happened with vaccinated guests being able to explore Cozumel on their own?

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Crism said:

Any idea what happened with vaccinated guests being able to explore Cozumel on their own?

My understanding, and include be wrong, is that Cozumel tightened up their rules regarding passengers coming ashore when the Delta variant recently started rearing it's ugly head in the US.

[Ken the cruiser]

Wave action update. The captain gave her evening update a little while ago with a forecast of 101% chance of rain tonight along with 6-9' waves! Finally, we're going to get some wave action!! Up until this point the seas have been really calm, which for us is too boring. We want to be rocked to sleep! 😎

[TeeRick]

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Wave action update. The captain gave her evening update a little while ago with a forecast of 101% chance of rain tonight along with 6-9' waves! Finally, we're going to get some wave action!! Up until this point the seas have been really calm, which for us is too boring. We want to be rocked to sleep! 😎

Ken you made it through the COVID pandemic to date.   So a little "Fred" is nothing in comparison.  Stay away from the rails and be safe!😃

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Ken you made it through the COVID pandemic to date.   So a little "Fred" is nothing in comparison.  Stay away from the rails and be safe!😃

😂😂 Thanks! I’m sure we’ll be fine as this is a big ship with all the bells and whistles. But right now it’s pretty calm on the north side of Cuba. But last night they did cancel our “city tour” type excursions in both the Bahamas as well as Ft Lauderdale. The anticipation grows …. 😎
 

[Ken the cruiser]

Internet Update. So far we are averaging around 2.5 - 2.75 mbps download speed. One interesting note is if I set my device down for a short period (1-2 min), the Internet connection will discontinue and you simply have to go to Settings and reconnect to the ship's network. No big deal, but it definitely keeps the nearby router from being clogged up with idle devices, especially when pretty much everyone has the AI option. 😎
 

Edited August 12, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[goofysmom99]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Internet Update. So far we are averaging around 2.5 - 2.75 mbps download speed. One interesting note is if I set my device down for a short period (1-2 min), the Internet connection will discontinue and you simply have to go to Settings and reconnect to the ship's network. No big deal, but it definitely keeps the nearby router from being clogged up with idle devices, especially when pretty much everyone has the AI option. 😎
 

Just curious, are your devices apple products?  My friends with iphones experienced this last week on Equinox.  My phone (not an iphone) never dropped.  It shouldn't make any difference but for me, it seemed to.

[keesar]

 Those seas are a little chop in a big ship..    😀🛳️

[Ken the cruiser]

27 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Just curious, are your devices apple products?  My friends with iphones experienced this last week on Equinox.  My phone (not an iphone) never dropped.  It shouldn't make any difference but for me, it seemed to.

We both have iPhones and my DW has an iPad while I have a Samsung notepad. I’ll have to pay closer attention when I use my notepad and let you know my experience. Thanks for adding your experience! 😎

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, keesar said:

 Those seas are a little chop in a big ship..    😀🛳️

This is true. It was pretty non eventful last night. 

[keesar]

19 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

This is true. It was pretty non eventful last night. 

On our first cruise, we had 26 foot seas.  We were in a Sunset Family room at the rear.  I thought I would need to be strapped to the bed to avoid being thrown out.    Really a rocky couple of days and then the seas calmed.  

[cruisingxpert]

On 8/10/2021 at 11:45 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

But the highlight of the evening was our visit to the Chef’s Table. What a wonderful experience along with meeting some great people!! Would definitely recommend it if it’s in your budget, but definitely come hungry!! 😎

Thanks for all your posts about your cruise.  What night did you have the Chefs Table?  I've booked it for my Sept 11 Edge cruise and it says it is at 5:30pm on the day we board.  Pretty sure that isn't true and just a place holder.

[gbphipps]

26 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

Thanks for all your posts about your cruise.  What night did you have the Chefs Table?  I've booked it for my Sept 11 Edge cruise and it says it is at 5:30pm on the day we board.  Pretty sure that isn't true and just a place holder.

On the July 24 Edge cruise the first night was a place holder.  Ours was on the Tuesday after boarding (Day 4).

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

Just curious, are your devices apple products?  My friends with iphones experienced this last week on Equinox.  My phone (not an iphone) never dropped.  It shouldn't make any difference but for me, it seemed to.

OK, I did some testing as well as asking my DW as she uses her iPad most of the time whereas I regularly switch between my iPhone and Samsung notepad. As far as my iPhone goes if I don't use the internet for 2+ minutes, I lose internet connection everytime, as your friends noted. However, the only time my notepad loses internet connectivity is when I switch the service to my iPhone; otherwise it stays connected to the internet. The same goes for my DW's iPad as she rarely loses connectivity even when she's stored it in the safe for a number of hours.  

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, cruisingxpert said:

Thanks for all your posts about your cruise.  What night did you have the Chefs Table?  I've booked it for my Sept 11 Edge cruise and it says it is at 5:30pm on the day we board.  Pretty sure that isn't true and just a place holder.

You will actually find out the exact date and time when you board as ours was also showing "booked" on embarkation day prior to us boarding. It actually didn't happen until the third day of our cruise, not counting embarkation day, starting at 5:45 pm.

[Ken the cruiser]

The "Fred" anticipation continues to build. Will we beat the storm as we head towards Nassau? From the projections from our Captain Kate along with those reflected in the below NPR article, we should be fine. However, I also added a Cruise Mapper link of our current location along with a picture of what the weather looks like in front of us from looking out our balcony. If nothing else, it should be an interesting ride. 😎 

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9812705

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027029436/tropical-depression-fred-tropical-storm-gulf-coast-florida

 

 

[cangelmd]

4 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

Just curious, are your devices apple products?  My friends with iphones experienced this last week on Equinox.  My phone (not an iphone) never dropped.  It shouldn't make any difference but for me, it seemed to.

My iPhone and iPad did not drop last week on Equinox. I was continually switching back and forth because only one device could be logged on at a time

[cangelmd]

3 hours ago, cruisingxpert said:

Thanks for all your posts about your cruise.  What night did you have the Chefs Table?  I've booked it for my Sept 11 Edge cruise and it says it is at 5:30pm on the day we board.  Pretty sure that isn't true and just a place holder.

Last week on Equinox, Chefs Table was on the last night, which was Uber inconvenient, but it was not held on the previous cruise (first sailing), so I think it was a last minute change.  Had a lovely time, but way too tired of eating at that point,

[Seany527]

On 8/10/2021 at 9:18 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

 

Apparently I haven’t been keeping myself up to date with the Caribbean ports of call. What are they building in Roatan? Wasn’t that all water like 2 years ago?

[miched]

On 8/10/2021 at 9:18 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

We have arrived in Roatan. From my understanding everyone can go ashore and on private excursions, but will need to wear a mask both inside as well as outside. 
 

 

On 8/10/2021 at 9:18 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

We have arrived in Roatan. From my understanding everyone can go ashore and on private excursions, but will need to wear a mask both inside as well as outside. 
 

We have been on numerous cruises that were scheduled to stop there and they were all cancelled for various reasons.    Mostly uprisings.   One time we docked tied up and then untied and left

 

the first time we did actually dock and allowed to go on shore we found we didn’t miss much.  The place is a $ hit hole.   The people there will follow you constantly hounding you and demanding money for providing “protection or giving you a vocal tour”.    Best is to ignore them and keep walking.  
 

Once was enough.    Never ventured off the ship again if we could when it was on the Itinerary 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

[vswan]

I on the other hand have always loved Roatan. We stopped there early on when it was just starting as a port and had a wonderful experience. Love going over to what I think is called West Bay. You can snorkel from shore or just stand about waist deep and watch the fish swim around your body. Took my grandson a couple years ago and he had a starfish in a plastic bucket for a while. Not a real fancy port, but I've always enjoyed it.

[Ken the cruiser]

53 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

Apparently I haven’t been keeping myself up to date with the Caribbean ports of call. What are they building in Roatan? Wasn’t that all water like 2 years ago?

My guess is they had big plans at one point, but then the pandemic hit. However, while we were there, we didn’t see any workers doing anything constructive. 

[39august]

Yes, that was "all water" a few years ago. I was dismayed to see some building beginning last time we were there, probably May 2018. Love Roatan. Beautiful island with great beaches on both the east and the west sides. Used to be a great little place then called "Fins and Feathers" just a short boat ride from the pier. GREAT snorkeling. Now it is a ship excursion only, under the name Maya Key, I think. Or was pre-covid.