Continuing the lesson

I wanted to add one more thing about how we ended up staying for free in Charlotte on Saturday night and staying two nights in St. Maarten for free. Along with having Royal Caribbean do our airlines for us, we also had the trip insurance. We talked to several people in the Charlotte airport this morning who were "in the same boat" as us, but didn't get as good a deal. They had done their own airline reservations and didn't have trip insurance. Without a doubt, it paid for itself several times over this time. Like any insurance, you may wonder why you have to pay for something you don't use...until you use it.

We are staying at the Simpson Bay Resort and Marina, which is between the airport and cruise dock on St. Maarten. It was raining when we arrived this afternoon so I won't have pictures until tomorrow. Anyway, if you ever need to stay near Phillipsburg, this would be an excellent choice. Google it to get a true feel of how nice it is. Our suite has a living room, full kitchen, and bedroom.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 80, so look for pictures from St. Maarten. We get on the ship on Tuesday and I will begin the REAL blog of the trip.

The lesson for today is...

The lesson for today is...either book your airlines through Royal Caribbean (which we did this time) or arrive a day early. We arose at 3:15 am to catch a flight to Ft. Lauderdale with a connection in Charlotte. That part went fine. However, because of an ice storm in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the connecting flight was two hours late leaving Pittsburgh. We still had time to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale a little after 2 pm and they began to board the plane. Then the problems occurred.

The crew smelled something they didn't like and they ended the boarding process. Soon, the flight was cancelled. We immediately got in line for the US Airways customer service. Within an hour, after calls to Royal Caribbean and talking to the US Airways rep, we had a reservation at the Embassy Suites in Charlotte for the night and were booked on a flight to St. Maarten first thing Sunday morning.

So, here we are in the Embassy Suites in Charlotte.

 

 

We'll get up early tomorrow and catch the direct flight to St. Maarten. Royal Caribben is paying for two nights at the Simpson Bay Resort until the Independence of the Seas arrives on Tuesday and we can join the cruise.

 

We normally arrive a day early because of this possibility, but chose this time to fly the same day, with the knowledge that Royal Caribbean would get us to the next port if necessary. This is a first for us and we must give full credit to Royal Caribbean and US Airways for coming through for us big time.

 

Check in tomorrow for news from St. Maarten!!

2015 Preview

Hello readers. 'Where In The World Are John And Di?' is in for a busy year. We start it all off early by leaving for a cruise on January 3rd. As always, I will be updating the blog on a daily basis.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise

Here is the itinerary for our first cruise of the year aboard the Royal Caribbean ship Independence of the Seas:

Jan 3 - Depart Fort Lauderdale
Jan 4 - At sea (work on sunburn and visit casino)
Jan 5 - (see Jan 4)
Jan 6 - St. Maarten
Jan 7 - St. Kitts
Jan 8 - Puerto Rico
Jan 9 - Labadee, Haiti
Jan 10 - At Sea (Recover from sunburn and visit casino)
Jan 11 - Arrive Fort Lauderdale (darn)




If you look at the blog for our trip in July of 2013 you will see pictures and descriptions from St. Maarten and St. Kitts.

Brazil, June 2015

We are very excited about going to the Rotary International conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil in June. Somewhere around 20,000 Rotarians will be there and the entertainment and speakers lineup sounds great. Plus, it's in BRAZIL! Nothing against Westerville, but...



I'm sure if we close our eyes we'll be able to imagine we're just at Hoover Reservoir.

Wrap-up

This wrap-up will attempt to hit all the highlights of the entire trip, including the extra day in Tampa to begin and a day in Clearwater Beach on the last day. Some of what I will say will have been in earlier posts, but not everybody reads those and I have been told in the past that some people just want the wrap-up. So here goes.

We arrived one day early and stayed in a Comfort Suites a few miles from the airport. If we do this again, we will definitely stay in Clearwater Beach instead. It is well worth the twenty minute drive. Beautiful hotels, white sand beaches, and more Italian restaurants than in Italy. Go to Coffee Culture, for sure.

Embarkation onto the ship: As usual, Royal Caribbean had it down to an art. We boarded at 10:30, supposedly a special time for Diamond members and above and anybody on deck ten. Very short lines and helpful agents. Also, we had rented a car from Thrifty and they provided a shuttle from the airport to the ship at no cost. Same thing for Dollar and probably most of the other car rental companies. Once on the ship, the Windjammer was open. Rooms were ready at 1 PM and our baggage arrived almost immediately…a first.

Muster drill: As always, no need to take your lifejacket. We were outside this time instead of one of the bars or lounges.

Sail away: Be on the right side of the ship (is that port or starboard?) if you want the best view of Tampa while leaving. Or go to the pool and dance.

SeaPass Card: Don’t go anywhere without it. Anywhere. It is your life while onboard and you can’t get off the boat for an excursion without it. You can’t get back on without it. Don’t lose your SeaPass Card.

Food: For the first time ever, we did not use one of the specialty restaurants on this trip. But I can tell you from other trips that our favorite is always Chops. Giovanni’s Table and Izumi (sushi) were also available. We’ve only done Giovanni’s Table before and it was good, not great. The Park Café is good for light snacks but is part of the Solarium, as opposed to on the Boardwalk on the bigger ships. We did My Time dining in the main dining room. Unfortunately, our waiter did not meet Royal Caribbean’s standards. If you’ve done Royal Caribbean before, you’ll recognize all the menus. They have not added much. Most main dishes are good, not great. The escargots is great. Almost all soups are great. You want to know what the best food was that we had all week? Lobster? Nope. It was the ribs in Windjammer one day at lunch.  Don’t miss them. Fill your plate, then go back and get another plate.

Diamond Lounge: Brilliance has added a Diamond Lounge, which was great for drinks and appetizers from about 5 to 8 PM. No, we didn’t stay the whole time but we went almost every night. It was busy, also.

Entertainment: You’re asking the wrong guy. I only did the Horizon Motown show and it was good. I didn’t see the comedian or any of the production shows. Actually, the last show was cancelled because of the rough seas. I was devastated. *sarcasm* The Cruise Director (Clo from Ireland) was good. We’ve had her before.

Kids Program: My kid’s 35. I’m sure they do a good job and who wouldn’t want their kid in a program all day on a cruise???

WiFi: Expensive and sporadically weak. We always do it anyway. Buy a package and save a little. Check your coupon book for discounts.

Casino: We are casino users and this one was not good. They appear to have taken all the older machines and deposited them on the Brilliance. That’s fine if they paid. These didn’t. However, as I might have posted earlier, I had one lucky spin on a dollar machine an won $360 or somewhere around there. Other than that one spin, I got nothing. My wife did OK at roulette. It’s just that the penny machines are not at all modern.

Debarkation: Maybe the quickest ever. We had luggage tags number two and got out around 8:15 AM. Bags were easily found and we breezed through customs. The Thrifty shuttle was waiting for us. I’d complain about something but I can’t.

Well, I can’t think of much else. Write a comment or email me if you have specific questions. We’ll be doing another one next year. We want to try to get to Aruba again in the summer. Maybe some of you will be on that one, too.

Here are a couple photos from my cell phone from during the week.

Tampa as we were pulling out the first day.

Horizon

Clearwater Beach

 

Thanks for reading.

John

Day 5 - At Sea

Sea day today. No ports.

It’s never good when the captain makes an announcement on a cruise ship. He told us late yesterday of a ‘cold front’ that would cause ten foot waves. On all of our cruises, we’ve never had ten foot waves. All night long we heard balcony chairs and tables sliding back and forth. You couldn’t sleep too close to the edge of the bed or you might not stay on. Walking to breakfast you just had to always be close to an object to grab. We don’t get seasick, but it was empty in Windjammer, so I think a lot of people are in trouble.

I need to try to requalify for the slot tournament semi-finals at 2 PM. That will be the excitement of the day for me.

On the TV weather channel, it says winds right now are at 40 mph. And it’s only 75 degrees. That sucks.

I’ll add more later in the day.

Well, I didn’t qualify for the slot tournament so I’m officially out of things to do. It’s too windy and cloudy to sit out on the deck.

Tomorrow we are back in Tampa. Our flight is at 6 PM and we get off the ship at 8 AM so we’ll rent a car and go to Clearwater Beach. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.

Once I’m home and can get on free WiFi I’ll submit a final, wrap-up posting to this blog. If you have specific questions, post a comment or email me directly at cycler48@yahoo.com

Thanks for following along, everybody!

Here’s the compass:

 

 

Day 4: Cozumel

Today is Cozumel. There are six ships in port so it should be interesting when we get off the ship in an hour or so. We watched us pull in and dock from the Diamond Club. It’s in the front of the ship and gives a great view.

I was asked to explain where the restaurants are. Always remember this on Royal Caribbean ships: food is in the back of the ship and entertainment is near the front. So, Windjammer, main dining room, Schooner Bar and specialty restaurants are in the back half of the ship. However, on this ship the Park Café is part of the Solarium, which is more mid-ship.

I was asked about a cigar smoking area. You can smoke in the Cigar Lounge, if the ship has one (and I have no clue on this ship). Otherwise, there is a cigar smoking area designated. Ask at the customer service desk.

Last night was 70s night. Always the same. The singers and dancers did a 70s and 80s music show and in the Centrum was the usual 70s music and, of course, a visit from The Village People. Something they’ve added in the Centrum is an aerial show.

We’ve seen pictures of the snow back home. You have our sympathy. It’s 85 here today and clear. It feels like it’s about…85.

I’ll finish after the excursion.

OK. Back from the excursion and it was excellent. We did the Fury Catamaran, Snorkel, and Beach. We’ve done the Fury Catamarans before and they do the best job. We left the pier just after Noon and took a short ride to snorkel. Then a long ride to the beach. See the pictures for what it all looked like. We were back a little after four.

Tonight is lobster for dinner. Yum.

I forget if I mentioned it yet but if you are at Diamond level or higher with Royal Caribbean, you can go to the Diamond Club from 5-8 every night for free drinks and snacks. In the morning they have cappuccino, macchiato, and other good coffee variations. Plus pastries and meats and cheeses.

Here are the pictures:

Wait! Just as I was getting the pictures ready, a loud, nasty thunderstorm went over with torrential rain and bad, bad lightning. So, for all the people back home who have been sticking pins in voodoo dolls, it worked.  I’ll check on the TV weather channel, but I think it probably brought the temperature down to, oh, 78.

Now pictures:

A couple of compasses.

The Liberty of the Seas was docked next to us today.

 Looking toward the back of the ships and along the pier.

 

Cozumel

One of my favorite excursions: America's Cup Yacht Raching

Four of the six ships at the port. The second one from the left is the Carnival Triumph. We were lucky enough to see it on a day it wasn't on fire. The Brilliance is the last one on the right.

Snorkeling

At the beach during the excursion.

At the beach during the excursion.

At the beach during the excursion.

At the beach during the excursion.

Dancing on the catamaran on the way back.

Day 3 - Grand Cayman

First of all, about last night’s show. I’m not a big fan of the shows on cruise ships but this one was good. The group was called Horizon and they did all Motown music, and a few things from the fifties…like Little Richard. They were excellent. I would recommend going.

Today was a first for us. This is my fourteenth cruise and my wife’s eighteenth and we had an excursion cancelled AFTER we got to the pier. At first, it was moved from early morning to late morning. Then it was cancelled. We weren’t too disappointed. It was a duck boat and snorkeling. Their excuse was rough seas…it is very windy…but I think the fact there were only about ten people there might have been the reason. We are the only ship here. But a Disney ship was arriving (see the pictures).

We don’t have the greatest wait staff at dinner but the meals have been very good. Always a fish option, a meat option, usually a pasta, always a vegetarian choice. My favorite ‘starter’…the escargots…is available every night now. Yes!

I’ve been asked about the cabin. Were in 1046, a balcony cabin. It’s not a bump out so the balcony is normal size. Two chairs and a table. But there’s a shower curtain instead of a door and I think that results in less elbow bruises.

It’s 85 but windy so it feels like 83. 

Almost time to eat.

Here are the pictures:

Di thinks this is more fun than working. I think she's right.

Brilliance and one of the tenders on the way to shore.

George Town, Grand Cayman

A glass bottom boat. At least their excursion actually happened.  :-(

The Disney Fantasy just pulling in.

Our room. I remember when we used to cruise without having to fill the entire table with electronic stuff.

The room from the opposite direction.