jbond

We did the Baltic a couple of years ago on Brilliance of the Seas, RCI. We sailed from Harwich, England, and visited, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Estonia. We were there the first two weeks in August and the weather was unbelievably good. We are booked on Jewel of the Seas for next June, for a cruise around the British Isles and the Norwegian Fjords. I have photo albums posted at http://community.webshots.com/user/jbond105/1 under Brilliance of the Seas 1,2 &3 If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to try and answer them for you.

I have a feeling that this was a troll. It hasn't been reported by any one else. The cruisejunkie post was based on the x post. They claimed the ship rolled 45 degrees. I think they had been watching reruns of the Poseidon Adventure and had too much to drink. When Serenade made it's turn at max speed, it rolled 7 degrees and everyone on the ship felt it. The pool water flooded the elevators. I just have a problem believing the story.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. :shocked:

We always dress formally, not only for dinner, but the whole evening. It's one of the main reasons we cruise. I have the regular black tux and a white dinner jacket. I always wear boots with my tux, black eelskin, western style dress boots. Moneypenny has a large choice of evening gowns, so she tries to spread them out a little. She hasn't bought any new ones this year, but there's still plenty of time. Gogetter is correct, I think the people on this board are more interested in who you are rather than what you wear. On another board, he would be so flamed by now that he would look like overcooked barbeque. Good to see you back Chris. How are the daughters? Graduated yet?

Saw an update on CNN tonight. All they found in the lake were the boots the Van Sloot (I think that's his name) kid was wearing. Apparently he threw them in the lake, don't know why though. He's still in detention. He will be 18 on Saturday and will then be treated as an adult. His detention will end mid August, but they can apply for a 30 day extension. So far they have no evidence against him other than he was seen with her, or at least they have not released any evidence. The mother is back in Aruba, apparently arrived today. They interviewed a couple of her friends that were with her. One was at C&C's that night. She said it was chaotic at closing time, 1 A.M. and she just got into a taxi and went back to the hotel. Neither of them seemed to think that Natalie was missed until they were on the way to the airport and it sounded as if there wasn't a lot of concern. Sounded really strange. They also stated that the FBI was present at all interviews with the suspect. They could listen, but not ask questions. The hair found on the duct tape was not Natalie's. By the way, the boy's father is not a judge.

Your onboard credit will show up on your account at the beginning of your cruise. As sailingrose stated, you can check your account on the TV in your stateroom. It usually takes a few hours before the system is up and running. Charges are deducted from the onboard credit until you have a "real" charge. Everyone who has an account will show a separate balance, except for the card holder who will reflect the total overall charge. Don't ask me what happens to your onboard credit if you don't spend it, it's never happened to us. We usually check the balance on a regular basis, that way we don't have to struggle through several pages on the last morning veryfying everthing. We have found a couple of errors, both were double charges for wine. No problem getting it fixed at the purser's desk.

Trust me, you don't have to try too hard these days.

We found out just before final payment. There had been rumours on the cruise boards for several weeks, but RCI kept denying the cancellations.

OK, you can keep sipping the sherry, I finally figured out that you were talking about the Magpies and the Intertoto Cup. Guess they crashed out 4-2 on average. Never been a big Magpie fan, except I think Alan Shearer has been the best English born striker in a long, long time. What do you Reds fans think of the rumours about Owen becoming a Red Devil? That just what Man U needs, another striker, past his peak that doesn't score his share of goals.

What am I missing here? I thought that they were playing FBK Kaunas and won 2-0, 5-1 on aggregate. You've not been sipping that cooking sherry again, have you? :wink:

Not sure what happens if you are at the dock waiting to get onboard, but we have had two cruises cancelled by RCI. We planned to sail Radiance, Ensenada to Hawaii. RCI cancelled the cruise, Radiance was going into wet dock. They gave us the option of rebooking another cruise at the same price and gave us an onboard credit. We re-booked Radiance for later in the year, Vancouver to Hawaii. They then cancelled that cruise, moved the sail date forward two weeks. They gave us the option off rebooking another cruise and gave us an additional onboard credit and a two for one price. We rebooked Radiance, Hawaii to Ensenada. We ended up with $700 onboard credit and half price cruises. Our travel agent also made out. Each time they cancelled, she got $150 fee from RCI for her inconvenience and final commission based on the full fare.

True, but I want to go to Barbados, not Canada! :grin:

And we sail into the Caribbean on August 14th. Oh well. I don't care as long as we get there.

Not even a one night cruise to nowhere?

I've just booked a cabin on the Queen Mary, QM 1 in Long beach. We are staying there overnight before we sail on the Coral Princess. My brother and his wife will be with us and our daughter and her husband will be joining us for dinner. Last time we were all on QM was when our daughter got married, so it should be a "Night to Remember", or was that Titanic?

I'd forgotten about the treacle toffee. My Mom used to make it, constant stirring in the pan, otherwise it would burn. You had to have really strong teeth, 'cause it was really chewy and stuck like crazy to your teeth. You almmost pulled your teeth out trying to get it loose, but it was a lot of fun. Do you still fire rockets out of milk bottles and drop bangers (not the sausage type) through letter boxes and run like ****?

Hi Karen Excuse my ignorance what happens November 5th, we are in Santorina Greece on that date? They will not celebrate Guy Fawkes Day in Santorini. Those damn Greeks have no idea of the important things in life. :sealedlips: Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5th 1605. It was the traditional opening of the Parliament session for the year, watch TV in November and I'm sure that you will see QE 2 opening Parliament with all the same pomp and ceremony. Guy Fawkes was captured and his assassination plot against James I of England, VI of Scotland, was foiled. It's a great tradition to have a bonfire, fireworks and a street party to commemorate the event. You must have seen the movies where the street urchins ask "Penny for the Guy". That's Guy Fawkes, not Guy Lombardo. OK, now the question is, who's Guy Lombardo? During WWII there were no bonfires or fireworks, but we had one great celebration in 1946. We collected wood from everywhere, legal and not so legal, mostly not so legal. Throwing potatoes into the fire was a great sport, getting them back out to eat was an even greater sport. Bonfires are a great English tradition. When Charles and Diana were married, a bonfire was lit in London, when it's flames were seen at the next site, another fire was lit. I don't know how long it took, but within a very short time, fires were burning all over the UK. By the way, James I was a Protestant, Guy Fawkes was a Catholic, so who was right, depends on who wrote the story.

Hi Karen, You should try Halloween over here. It's a major night for kids and adults.

I own a tux. For me it's been much cheaper than renting. I'm not sure of the current rental, but if it's around $60, this year alone would cost me $180. I bought my current tux 11 years ago for our daughters wedding. It cost me $250 at Mens Wearhouse. It's all merino wool, made by Victor Rufolo. Over the past 11 years I've probably worn it about 40 times, so I've gotten my money's worth.

Help. I thought that I was editing a post and I ended up doubling posting. There's all one in the crowd.

I always take a cocktail shaker and a supply of my own blue cheese stuffed olives. I always buy my vodka on board though, too much hassle to carry it. Moneypenny always takes her hairdressing scissors. I also pack two pair of dress western boots, one pair black for formal night, the other pair brown for wearing with my suits.

We have sailed in cabin 9586 on Brilliance and the ship's layout appears very similar on the hump/bump. Unfortunately you cannot unlock the partitions on the balconies. We sailed Serenade last year on her repositioning cruise, San Juan to San Diego. She is a beautiful ship and the hump cabins are perfectly situated. You should have a great time.

Our grandkids like to dress up. We've always rented a tux for our grandson for formal nights, but you'll see lots of boys in almost exactly what you are thinking of. This isn't a board that stresses over dress codes, so you'll probably get a lot of helpful suggestions.

We have always had great table mates. Visited with them after the cruise and been on repeat cruises with one couple. The closest we came to a problem was on an RCI cruise a few years ago. We had a table for eight. There were two guys, who didn't know each other before the cruise and were at opposite ends of the political sprectrum. The liberal was very quick witted and delighted in baiting the super conservative. It got close to getting out of hand, but halfway through the cruise, they both apologised to the table and it was smooth sailing. I think the wives had a lot to do with the apology.

Hi Shari, great photos, I really enjoyed looking at them. I do have one thing though. Your opening photo is of Wailua Falls on Kauai, not a waterfall on Hilo. We were in Kauai earlier this year and took this photo http://community.webshots.com/photo/334781...334809897KhnowT