Review of Mobile Reference's Bermuda Sights E-Guide

Today, to my embarrassment, I found out I'd bought a guide to the 16 most important sights in Bermuda over 4 years ago and forgot totally about it. I finally got around to reading it today. I thought it might be useful as I'll be sailing to Bermuda on Saturday out of Baltimore on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.

The e-guide costs $4.99. It has 56 pages though some of the pages are very small. It's an easy read and supposedly will take less than an hour to read it through.

One problem I encountered while reading the guide is some of the information isn't accurate. Later, after I wrote a review on it, I found out why. It was published in 2011 making it outdated. I tried emailing the email address they give at the end of the guide and, it didn't work. It would be nice if they'd update their guide. One bit of outdated information I noticed was how many cruise ships The Dockyard can handle. I know for a fact The Dockyard can handle to 2 cruise ships at the same time. I cruised to Bermuda in September 2024 on Vision of the Seas and, the ship was the second ship to dock there. I remember an earlier cruise (I can't remember the date) when they were building the pier extension.

I found other information in the guide to be interesting like how the airport was built in Bermuda (it was initially for the U.S. Army). I think most of the sights reviewed in the guide are still in Bermuda. One place I wish they'd mentioned is the Frog and Onion Pub which is located in The Dockyard. It features craft brews which I've enjoyed a number of times while there. A pint of Somersby ale will cost you over $15 (as of September 2024, I'll update this if I find out the price has changed.). I can't tell you how much the food costs there as I've never eaten anything there. Stuff tends to be expensive in Bermuda because they have to import it.

Overall, the guide can still be useful BUT, you might want to see if you can find one that is more current. It does have some useful maps of Hamilton and St. George both of which you can get to from The Dockyard. There are regular ferries that go to both from there. The last time I took the ferry to Hamilton, I believe it cost me $10 round trip. One nice thing about the ferry ride is you get to see some stunning homes built along the shore. I'd hate to see what those homes cost.

That's all for this post. Sorry that I've been so bad about posting. I didn't realize until my earlier post today on the Maryland Lottery's Lucky 7 games that it had been over a year since I last blogged. I will try to post something from Bermuda. Safe travels to all of you. See ya!

Review of Royal Caribbean's North Star Ride

During a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas in January 2023, I got to try its North Star ride for the first time. The ride promised some great views as a capsule hooked to a crane lifts you 300 feet above the ocean. The capsule has some kind of clear substance all around it (I don't think it was glass) that made it easy to see out of.

I found before I boarded my turn on the North Star (you have to get a set ride time) that Royal Caribbean offers 2 options: pay and free. On the pay ride, you shell out $19 and get to go up over the open ocean for a longer ride than you would if you did the free option. Also, with the pay option, the capsule will go out past the sides of the ship because you're at sea. On the free option, it doesn't because you're in port.

I went with the free option and got to go up while in port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The views were fabulous. I could see the various cruise ships around the Anthem including Grandeur of the Seas which I'd sailed on before. Also, I could see all the way to Philipsburg which was great. I think the ride lasted maybe 15 minutes. There was a Royal Caribbean person in the capsule with our group as well as someone at the entrance to the ride. I felt the ride was very safe.

Overall, I was very pleased with the ride though I don't understand why you would want to go up in it while at sea when all you're going to see is ocean and maybe some nice views of the ship. I would prefer to go on North Star while in port. I will give the ride 2 thumbs up as it produced great views and was free in my case. Happy Viewing and Cruising All!

Review of The Frog and Onion Pub

This past October, I did a 5 night cruise to Bermuda on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. One of the things I was looking forward to was checking out the microbrewery in the Royal Naval Dockyard. It's the only one in Bermuda. As I remember, they offered 8 varieties of beers and ales. I ended up trying the Somers Amber Ale which I found pretty good. The ale came in 2 sizes - 9 ounce ($5.99) and 20 ounce ($10.99). For $5 more, they have a deal where you get to keep the glass. What they do in that case is you take your receipt to their gift shop and, they'll give you a new souvenir glass. I ended doing this option as I enjoyed the pub so much.

The pub does offer various food but as I was on a cruise where I had plenty of free good food already, I didn't try any of their food.

The pub also had entertainment the night I was there. It was a 1 man band who played various songs.

The pub is in a 150 year old warehouse and has a wonderful atmosphere.

Overall, I was very pleased with the pub and will definitely be back when I return to Bermuda Memorial Day weekend 2020 on Grandeur of the Seas. If you're in Bermuda, this place is worth checking out. I give it 2 thumbs up.

Photos of Baltimore, Maryland Cruise Ship Terminal

Once you past security at the entrance, this may be your first stop i.e. parking your car at the terminal. There are lots on either side of the terminal and, you pay before you drop off your luggage and enter the terminal. The area is locked up when there aren't any ships at the terminal.

This will be either your first or second stop depending on whether your leaving your car at the terminal. If you're not, you should get whoever is driving you to bring you over to this part of the terminal so, you can easily drop off your luggage. I believe they later transfer the luggage from these containers to the ones the ship uses.

This part is pretty obvious i.e. you go in through the front entrance. When you disembark the ship, you'll come out the side of the building.

This picture shows the security scanners you'll have to pass through. I found security tough and no nonsense.

This picture shows the different lines boarding passengers will go through depending on their level of membership with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society (frequent cruiser program) or lack of. Also, it shows some of the seating in the waiting area. Depending on when you arrive (I arrived earlier than expected), you may not have a wait.

This picture shows the entrance to a special lounge for those who are staying in suites and or are Pinnacle level members with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society. Presumably, they got to board first once boarding started. There is a separate seating area in this area for Diamond and Diamond Plus members who are the second ones to board. They did offer water and maybe something else here. I don't remember seeing any soda or snack machines.

This last picture is of the standard mobile gangway you'll take to get on the ship. You'll walk out of the terminal building and zig zag up the gangway to where it connects to Grandeur of the Seas.

Overall, I feel Baltimore does a good job of getting you on and off the boat during your cruise. They claim they'll have you on the boat within an hour of arrival though this depends on when you arrive. I arrived around 10 a.m. and, they were still busy getting people off the boat so, I had to wait. I forget when they finished getting all the departing passengers off. For those who didn't bring their car or arranged to have someone pick them up, there are taxis outside the front of the terminal though I wasn't wowed by the one I took. I'd recommend you take Uber or Lyft as I think you'll get a better vehicle and maybe a better price. If nothing else, you should be able to get a decent quote from them on what it'll cost you.

I hope you find this post useful. I'll be cruising again out of Baltimore on Grandeur in January 2019 on a slightly different itinerary i.e. 1 day in Nassau, Bahamas and 1 day at Coco Cay, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore on Grandeur of the Seas to Maine/Canada, Bermuda, Southern United States of America & the Bahamas and the Caribbean. I hope to do a Caribbean cruise in 2020 with my favorite aunt and uncle. One big down side to the ship's Caribbean cruises (in my opinion) is how much time you'll spend at sea getting down there and back (3 days each way).

The other major (in my opinion) cruise line that cruises out of Baltimore regularly is Carnival (Royal Caribbean's great rival). Their ship is called Pride and does 7 day cruises that leave and arrive every Sunday (as far as I know). As I've only cruised with Royal Caribbean, I don't know how that ship's cruises stack up. I have heard Carnival is the party line where Royal Caribbean tries to offer something for everyone.

That's all for now. Happy Travels and Happy Cruising!

Update: November 9, 2020 The Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal is closed due to the coronavirus at the time of this update and, I don't have any idea when it'll reopen and cruising will start back up again. As I understand, cases of the virus in Maryland are going back up making it very unlikely they'll start offering cruises out of the terminal again any time soon.

Update: August 4, 2021 The Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal has reopened HOWEVER no cruise ships are sailing as far as I know. I am keeping an eye on when Royal Caribbean plans to start cruising out of Baltimore again but, I haven't seen a date so far. I suspect Royal Caribbean is going to go with the bigger ships first as they would make more money for them. Also, there is the issue of having to do a trial cruise first on the ship to test their virus procedures.

Update: September 3, 2021 Royal Caribbean announced Enchantment of the Seas will start sailing out of Baltimore on December 23, 2021. Before it does that cruise, I believe it has to do a trial cruise to show the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that the ship has its procedures in place to their satisfaction. I haven't heard when the the trial cruise will be.

Update: October 31, 2021 Carnival started sailing again out of Baltimore on September 12, 2021 with a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas.

Review of Royal Caribbean's Scratch Off Games

I fancy myself something of an expert on lottery scratch off games as I've played a number of them in Maryland and a few in Virginia. I knew Royal Caribbean offered scratch off lottery tickets in their ship's casinos. While on my April 2018 cruise on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, I visited the ship's casino and proceeded to play each of their scratch off games.

I wrote a review previously on Royal Caribbean's scratch off games and, this review is a bit of an update. The biggest change I found with Royal Caribbean in this way was they added $10 and $20 games. The $10 game offers a top prize of $50,000 and, the $20 game offers a top prize of $100,000. In comparison to Maryland Lottery's scratch offs, these prizes are low. Maryland Lottery offers a top prize of $100,000 for $10 games and, $1,000,000 (paid over 20 years) for $20 games.

Another downside I found to the Royal Caribbean games is the odds get worse! as they get more expensive. According to one of the tickets I bought, the overall odds of winning something in their $20 game called Glittering Gold are 1 in 5.09. In Maryland, the normal odds for a $20 game are 1 in 3 or slightly less. This confounded me a bit.

Overall odds for the $5 and $10 games are the same at 1 in 4.48 which in my opinion is also poor. These odds are more in line with Maryland Lottery's $1 games which offer the worst overall odds of all their games.

Their $10 game called 20X THE CASH offered the most instant winner chances. This game is very similar to Maryland Lottery's 100X game except the instant win symbols go from 2X to 20X whereas in the Maryland game, they go up to 100X. The instant win symbols are 2X, 5X, 10X and 20X where you win the prize instantly times the instant win symbol example: if you hit a 5X symbol, you win 5 times the prize shown below the symbol so, if it was a $20 prize, you would win $100 in this case.

The $20 game does have a one instant win chance on this game. At the top of the ticket is a round covered chance which you scratch off and if you scratch off a coin with a dollar symbol on it, you instantly win $100. Otherwise, this game is like ALL the other games in that you try to match 1 or more of the 5 numbers at the top of the ticket to win some prize.

Another gripe I have with Royal Caribbean is they don't show the various prize amounts in their games except for the top prize. Presumably, you have a chance of winning at least what the ticket cost you but, it's anyone's guess what prize amounts are in between that and the top prize.

One last note: if you win a prize of $100 or higher on ANY of the games, you will have to provide the following information on the ticket: sign your name, print your name, the prize amount, your cabin number and the date. Also, the cashier will have to sign the ticket.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with Royal Caribbean's scratch off games. Like all scratch off games in general, they're easy to play and probably the easiest games in the ship's casino. Still, the poor overall odds and smaller prizes are a real downer for me. I can't recommend them. I think players in the United States of America at least could find better games in their home states. Best of luck to any gamblers among my readers. Cheers!

Update February 3, 2019: I did another Royal Caribbean cruise last month on their Grandeur of the Seas. While on-board, I played some of their scratch off games again. I found another annoying thing about their games. They don't have a system where you can check the ticket electronically i.e. have a box figure you can scan where it'll tell you if you have a winner or not. This is standard in Maryland and helps prevent the player from mistakenly throwing away a winning ticket. Also, it helps the cashier as they have to check each number on the ticket to see if it matches vice just scanning the ticket. I mentioned this to the cashier and, they recommended I mention it in my end of cruise feedback which I subsequently did. Hopefully, Royal Caribbean will come out with such a system which will help both players and the casino cashiers with the games.

Feedback On Cruising Out of Baltimore, Maryland

As I mentioned previously on my blog, I was going to do a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, Maryland. I did the cruise and thought I'd offer a little feedback/information on it.

The cruise started April 5, 2018 and finished April 14, 2018. It lasted 9 nights and visited the following ports:

Charleston, South Carolina,
Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida
Miami, Florida
Nassau, Bahamas (2 days)

The cruise was supposed to make port at King Bahama, Bahamas but, Royal Caribbean changed the itinerary to 2 days in Nassau citing necessary small repairs on the ship (don't know if this was true or not).

As far as in-processing at the Cruise Ship Terminal, people directing the traffic were mixed. Some were helpful and some definitely weren't. One guy told my driver and me to get off the crosswalk BUT didn't tell us where to drop my bags. Security was tough though not as tough as at any airport. The person who checked me in did a fine job and was very courteous. Once you've checked in, there is a waiting area if they haven't started boarding yet. Pinnacle Crown & Anchor members as well as those staying in suites on the ship have a separate waiting area.

The cruise itself went fine and, I'll be doing the same cruise again on Grandeur of the Seas in January 2019.

Upon the ship's return to Baltimore, disembarking went very smoothly and, I believe they stayed on schedule with getting the various groups off. Customs was a breeze to my surprise and, I didn't have to fill out a customs form stating what I'd bought in the Bahamas (the only foreign country the ship visited). I think I was through Customs in 5 minutes to my delight. When I exited Customs, the baggage handlers were on their mark and all my bags were in their assigned area waiting for me.

Some plusses I want to mention about cruising out of Baltimore providing you don't fly into Baltimore to catch the cruise like me. First, no baggage fees. Second, you don't have to worry about the weight of your bags. Third, no long travel time to catch the cruise (providing you live some where in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area). It took me only 30 minutes to travel from Jessup, Maryland to the terminal.

One potential negative is if you have to drive your own car to the terminal and park it there. I believe they charge $15 a day to park it there while you're off on the cruise. Another potential negative is if you have to use a taxi. Due to a friend dropping the ball on me at the last minute, I had to use a taxi (I didn't have the Uber or Lyft apps). I asked the taxi driver for an estimate and, he was very vague on it. The fare ended up being a steep $67! I wasn't pleased about this and will have either Uber or Lyft's app next time. One last negative is you will have at least 1 day at sea to get any where with as many as 3 (Royal Caribbean has that many coming back from their Caribbean cruise). I know some folks enjoy days at sea but, I don't.

Overall, I was very pleased with how things went at the Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal. I'm looking forward to my January 2019 cruise on Grandeur of the Seas and feel my next visit there will go even smoother. I'd definitely recommend cruising out of Baltimore for those who live in the area.

Review of Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamonds Scratch Off Game

Last week, I flew back from Seattle, Washington where I did a 7 night Alaska cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. While on the ship, I discovered Royal Caribbean has come out with 3 of its own scratch off lottery games. The ship had one in stock called Blue Diamonds. This is a review on that game.

One of the profit centers for Royal Caribbean is the casinos on their ships. With lottery scratch off games being so numerous and wide spread, it wasn't in some ways surprising that Royal Caribbean decided to get in the act. They're a very easy game to run compared to other games in their ship's casinos. The tickets are sold at the cashier's cage, cost $5 each in the Blue Diamond game (I don't know if the other games cost more), offer a top prize of $25,000 (I don't know about the other 2 games as the ship I was on didn't offer them).

Overall odds of winning in Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamond game are 1 in 4.37 (Source: 1 of the tickets I bought). The ticket doesn't show what the prize range is and, I didn't ask the cashier. From scratching off the prize amounts on my losing tickets I have (5 of them) and comparing them, the prize range is as follows:

$5
$10
$50
$100
$1,000
$25,000

I don't know at this time if Royal Caribbean has released how many prizes there are total or what their range (how many different ones there are) is.

The game does have 2 interesting conditions: 1) you must claim any prize before midnight on the last day of the cruise (probably the night before you get off the ship) and 2) you must be at least 18 years or older UNLESS you're on an Alaska cruise like I was in which case you must be at 21 years of age (probably to comply with Alaska gambling laws) to play. I don't know if they offer the games on ship's that sail in other waters like around Australia or the Mediterranean.

The Blue Diamonds game is pretty dull in my opinion because there aren't any instant win chances in the game. You get 5 winning numbers in the middle of the ticket and, you have to match 1 or more of them to the 15 numbers below the winning numbers to win whatever prize. Still, if you want some quick gambling action and, you're not into pulling the arm or pushing the buttons on the slot machines, they might be for you. They're definitely an easy game to play in the casino.

Overall, I wasn't wowed by Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamonds game. To me, it's ok. I did find it interesting to play as I've played a number of scratch off games in Maryland (more reviews coming on those games, stay tuned). If you happen to be on a Royal Caribbean cruise line ship and, you've got to scratch, you might head over to the ship's casino and try one of their 3 scratch off games including this one. Good luck.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Royal Caribbean, I didn't receive any compensation from them for this review and any information cited in this review came from the tickets I bought with my own money. Please remember to gamble responsibly. I doubt you want to go home broke or worse from your fun cruise.

November 2016 Independence of the Seas Cruise Review

I know I haven't been blogging much and, I tried to think of something I could do a nice quick blog entry about. The thing that comes to mind immediately is my recent cruise on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. The cruise was interesting in a number of ways. The cruise started in Southampton, England BUT, I joined the cruise at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. This was intentional i.e. I didn't miss the boat. If a cruise is open ended i.e. starts in one port and finishes in another, you can join the cruise at a later port as long as you get approval from Royal Caribbean's security at their headquarters. When the time comes, presumably, they'll notify the ship of your plans so, they know where to expect you. This was the second time I've done this. The first was on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The cruise started in San Diego, California, United States of America (U.S.A.) but, to make my then boss happy, I joined it at Cabo San Lucas to keep down the number of days off I needed.

Another interesting thing about the cruise was the itinerary. I know some people like days at sea. I don't even though I know the ship tries to have lots of things for people to do. In this case, once the ship set sail out of Southampton, it would sail non-stop for over 8 days to St. Maarten. Once it made St. Maarten, I felt it became an excellent cruise with additional stops at St. Kitts, St. Thomas, San Juan and Labadee, Haiti with 1 day at sea before pulling into Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.

For me, the main reason I did the cruise was for the cruise points though I did like the itinerary once the ship made port in St. Maarten. If you join a cruise late, you'll still get all the cruise points for the cruise you would've gotten otherwise. What that means for me is that I got 15 cruise points for it being a 15 night cruise even though I was only on the ship 6 nights AND, I got another 15 cruise points as I always cruise solo i.e. I always pay double for my cabin (I don't care for the solo cruiser cabins). This means, I can advance faster in Royal Caribbean's frequent cruiser program the Crown & Anchor. I'm Diamond Plus thanks to a Baltic cruise I did with them last summer and now, I'm shooting for the ultimate - Pinnacle. At it requires 700 nights, even with me getting double cruise points, it's going to take a while to reach it.

The cruise itself had a number of mishaps from beginning to end which took away from the experience for me. Royal Caribbean normally does a better job in my opinion. I don't know why there were so many mis-steps. The first was when I arrived at the Dr. Mathey Cruise Ship Terminal. As I previously mentioned, I'd had approval to join the ship in St. Maarten months before and, they should've known I was going to be arriving that day. Yet, when I checked in that the cruise ship terminal, I wasn't on the list to proceed to the ship. St. Maarten security had to send someone to the ship to confirm I was supposed to be admitted. I waited for at least 20 minutes wondering if I was going to get on a ship I had a paid reservation for.

When I got to the Independence of the Seas, Andrew Evans from Guest Relations met me, subsequently took me on board and did my in-processing. It should've been a normal cruise at that point but, it wasn't. I was supposed to get my 2nd crystal block but someone forgot to tell the Loyalty representative I was supposed to get one. I had to see her to get this straightened out. I was supposed to get a $200 shipboard credit but, I wasn't able to get this fixed until the very day I was supposed to leave the ship! The Voom WiFi Royal Caribbean raves about crashed though they did give me a refund for the days it was down. I was supposed to get luggage tags for my bags but, someone forgot to put me on the departure list so, I had to ask my cabin steward for them. People were sent to the Alhambra Theater to wait till their number was called to leave the ship but, the announcements didn't come over the theater speaker system. I was supposed to leave the ship at 7:15 but, they fell 30 minutes behind. They had 500 people going to Miami International Airport but, they were only able to board 3 buses at a time and got behind because of number of people in wheel chairs didn't tell them they were going to be in wheel chairs (that was the excuse they gave).

There were some good points to the cruise. I got to do the scenic train ride in St. Kitts which was pretty cool barring some unexplained technical difficulties which delayed the train. I did the jet boat ride in St. Thomas which was really fun, interesting and did wonders for cooling you off (you will get wet!). It was 103F when we made port at Crown Bay. I got to visit the only tropical rain forest in the U.S.A.'s National Park System, the El Yunque National Park. The La Coca falls were very pretty. Lastly, I got to do a scenic cruise out of Labadee where I learned more about Haiti and some some stunning scenery. Sadly, thanks to the first medical emergency I've ever heard happening on a cruise I've been on (someone supposedly had a heart attack and we had to turn around and return to San Juan to send them on their way to the hospital), we arrived late to Labadee though Captain Iv Vidos did his best to make up the lost time. Also, thanks to the loyalty representative, I was able to do 2 behind the scenes tours Diamond Plus and Pinnacle are allowed to do for free. I particularly enjoyed the bridge tour and have a neat picture of myself with an officer's hat in a command chair on the bridge presumably making sure the ship sailed smoothly and safely to Ft. Lauderdale.

I accomplished what I wanted to do on the cruise but, I wasn't very pleased with Royal Caribbean. I can't wait to give them feedback on it. Incredibly, I'll be doing the same cruise on the same ship at the same time next year. Hopefully, it'll go smoother next time. We'll see. Happy travels all!

Serenade of the Seas WiFi

To provide more information on Royal Caribbean's ships, here is my review on their Serenade of the Seas WiFi.

I sailed on this ship from July 26, 2015 to August 8, 2015 though I didn't use the ship's WiFi that entire time. The reason for that was it had problems. When I first tried to log in to see what discount I would get for being Diamond with their Crown & Anchor Society (frequent cruiser program), it couldn't give me the discount. It told me I could pre-pay the plan now and see about getting the money for the discount through guest relations later - no thanks. The second time I tried to pick a plan, it wouldn't even let me into the plans. The third time I tried, it finally would give me my Diamond discount AND let me pick a plan. So, I finally signed up though I still had issues with the ship's WiFi. I tried to connect to various websites at times and, the connection was sooooo SLOW that the connection would time out. Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!! Still, there were pluses to the ship's WiFi.

First, they were now offering unlimited time on the plans for one flat price. You could get the unlimited WiFi plan for one device which cost $20 per day. Or, you could get the unlimited WiFi plan for two devices which cost $30 total per day. If you didn't like either of those plans, your final option was getting their daily plan which was 24 hours continuous for $39.95. I thought the first two plans were better though I didn't care to give them another $10 a day for a second device. If you had a family on the cruise, the second plan would probably be worth it.

Second, there is the convenience of using the ship's WiFi. I did use the free WiFi offered at various ports but, that meant I had to have my device on hand. Often I did as I was using my new smart phone which can connect to the Internet using WiFi. Still, it was nice not having to lug around whichever device I wanted to use while visiting various ports.

Third, using the ship's WiFi gave me something to do when we were at sea. I know the Royal Caribbean comes up with lots of things to do at sea but, I find I still get bored which why I hate days at sea. Being able to surf the web then gives me something I find entertaining to do.

Overall, I felt the ship's WiFi was worth it though I still looked for free WiFi spots while in port because I found they usually offered a faster connection. I've heard about Royal Caribbean's new VOOM system and, I can't wait to try it to see if it's equal to all the hype they're putting out about that. I don't know when I'll get to cruise one of their ships that has it. My next cruise will be on their Independence of the Seas November of next year. It'll be an interesting cruise for me because, I'll be doing the opposite of what I did on it the last time I sailed on that ship. The last time I sailed on her, I boarded at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and left the ship early at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. This time, I'll board at Philipsburg, St. Maarten and depart at Ft. Lauderdale. Also, it'll be my first cruise as Diamond Plus. I'm curious to see what discounts you get at that level.

FYI, for Diamond members, the discount was $39.95 which would could be applied toward your bill if you got one of the first two plans or you could get one 24 hour continuous period for free.

New York City Skyline and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Photos

One of the beginning highlights of my Maine/Canada cruise on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas was the view of New York City from Port Liberty, Bayonne, New Jersey. As you see in the photo, the views were awesome!

In the 2nd photo, you can see the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that links Staten Island with Brooklyn. At one time, this bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world till the Humber bridge in the United Kingdom surpassed it in 1981. My ship would pass under this bridge on its way out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Starbucks Portland Commercial Street Restaurant Wi-Fi

While in port during my recent cruise on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas, I got to visit the Starbucks on 145 Commercial Street, Portland, Maine and try out their Wi-Fi. Due to expensive rates on the ship, I was looking for alternative Wi-Fi locations and, this Starbucks fit the bill superbly. Also, another nice thing about this Starbucks is that it isn't that far from the Portland cruise ship terminal. I think it was about 4 or 5 blocks from the terminal. As the terminal doesn't have Wi-Fi as far as I know, this is maybe one of the closer places to the terminal that offers it.

Also, the Commercial Street Starbucks has convenient hours. They are:

Monday to Thursday and Sunday: 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (current at the time of this post)

Overall, I was very pleased with the Wi-Fi connectivity at this Starbucks as well as the service. Prices were the same as at other Starbucks and, they do accept Starbucks giftcards as well as participate in their reward program. I'd definitely recommend this Starbucks and plan to use it again when I make port again in Portland some time in the far future. Happy web surfing all!

Hemingway Home, Key West, Florida

Due to the fact I wrote a review on Tripadvisor.com on the Hemingway House in Key West, Florida; I'm posting pictures I haven't posted before. To my surprise, the only pictures I took in Key West were of the Hemingway House. I'll rectify that when I go back this coming January with my totally awesome Aunt Marge, Uncle Dave and possibly my travel friend Harvey.

Concerning the pictures, the first is of 6 photos taken of Ernest Hemingway at different ages in his life starting when he was a baby and progressing to when he was an old man. The second is of the dining room in the house. The third is of a bedroom. On the bed, you can see 1 of the 40 cats that roam the house. I believe this one is one of the famous 6 toed cats. According to the guide who showed my group around the house, Hemingway opposed having cats because he knew once you get one cat, you'll get more. One of Hemingway's fishing buddies however changed his mind when he told him that 6 toed cats were good luck.

Concerning Key West, I really enjoyed it. It's small but, there is a lot to see there including the Hemingway House, mini White House and the Mel Fisher museum. I'm really looking forward to going back.

In regards to my last September cruises, after the Majesty of the Seas left Key West, we sailed back to Miami where sadly it was time to leave. Thanks to being members of Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor program (their frequent cruiser program), I was one of the first ones off the boat. When a cruise is over, I don't like hanging around. I want to get moving even if it means I hang around at the airport. I was glad to get off the ship and on my way. I got my suitcase and processed through customs and immigration. As I had a pre-paid transfer to the airport, I took my suitcase to the airport bus, handed it to the driver and boarded the bus. At Miami International, my travel friend Harvey and I would fly to Atlanta where we would go our separate ways.

Atlantis Resort Photos, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Finished in 1998 by South African hotel magnate Sol Kerzner, Atlantis is probably the most famous resort in the Bahamas. It has a water park, the largest outdoor aquarium in the Caribbean and a lot of impressive artwork specially created for the resort some of which you can see in the photos above.

My travel friend Harvey and I signed up for the Atlantis tour excursion through Royal Caribbean. It cost $39 and, I thought it was worth the money. The resort provided the guide for the tour who was very knowledgeable and funny. The tour included transportation to and from the resort. I think the tour took 3 hours. Next up - Key West, Florida

Miami Hop Hop Off and City Photos

Between cruises, my travel friend Harvey and I decided to see some of Miami. One of the easiest ways to do that is do a hop on hop off tour. You get on the bus which stops at various landmarks and when one really grabs your attention, you hop off and check it out. When you're done seeing that particular place, you hop back on the bus and continue on the tour. It's a really easy way to see the city.

The company our travel agent Joel Mills recommended was Big Bus. They offer 2 different routes. One takes in Little Havana and other historic landmarks while the 2nd route does Miami Beach and South Beach. We chose do the first one.

Big Bus was convenient for us because all we had to do was walk across the bridge that connects Miami to its port, cross the street to Bayside Marketplace and walk around to the Big Bus stop. The first picture is of one of their buses. The 2nd is of some of the fine folks that work there. I don't remember their names but, I remember them being very nice. They represented their company well.

The 3rd picture of a courthouse interestingly. The 4th is of a 50's type store. The last photo is of the historic Biltmore Hotel. In its heyday, it was the place to stay when visiting Miami.

The Big Bus tour was very nice though neither Harvey or I felt like getting off the bus during the tour. We returned to Bayside Marketplace where we walked over to the Miami Hard Rock Cafe so, I could get my t-shirt. I collect them from all the Hard Rock Cafes I visit. After that, we stopped in the Starbucks where I treated Harvey to a coffee so, he wouldn't mind me getting on the Internet for a little while. I don't like coffee but, I love Starbucks's free WiFi.

Then, we hoofed it back to the Majesty of the Seas where we used our 2nd cruise SeaPasses to get on-board. The SeaPasses were delivered to our cabins the night before we pulled back into Miami. Thankfully, Royal Caribbean has those who do back-to-back cruises in-process once. So, we got to skip it on the 2nd cruise though we did have to do the emergency drill again before the ship left the pier.

The next pictures I'll post will be of the very impressive Atlantis Resort on Paradise Islands, Bahamas. Stay tuned.

Miami Skyline and Port Pictures

While Royal Caribbean was founded in Norway by 3 Norwegian shipping companies, Miami was the first port the new cruise company decided to sail from. Royal Caribbean has been here since 1970 I believe. The first picture show the cosmopolitan city's skyline from the cruise ship piers. The 2nd picture shows the cruise ship piers (you can see another cruise ship further up) as well as the way the cruise ships sail out of the port and into the Caribbean Sea. The 3rd picture shows the cruise ship piers as well as the other side of Miami's port. You can see containers and the cranes that lift them and put them on container carrying ships. The final picture show Royal Caribbean International's Headquarters. This is the headquarters for the cruise line though they are just 1 of 5 cruise lines owned by their parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the first of 2 cruises I did on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas in September 2013. Next up will be a couple pictures I took during a hop on hop off tour I did of Miami between cruises.

Oasis of the Seas Photos, Nassau, Bahamas

For those who wants lots of photos of this impressive ship, my apologies. I wasn't able to take lots of them from the pier at Nassau, Bahamas. I haven't sailed on the Oasis so, I haven't been able to get photos from on the ship. These photos are primarily to show my Aunt Marge just how BIG this Oasis is. It is HUMONGOUS!

The 2nd photo is a poor attempt to show the Aquatheater on the ship. This theater is noteworthy as it's largest swimming pool on a commercial vessel. It holds 1 million gallons of water and is 16 feet deep. It has to be deep because they have professional divers (not scuba divers) who dive into the pool during the shows they put on.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the Oasis or its sister ship the Allure will make port in Nassau during one of the two port calls my Aunt, my Uncle and myself will make to Nassau this coming January. Then, she can be Royally WOWED as Royal Caribbean says.

Next up: photos of the Miami skyline, cruise ship terminal and Royal Caribbean International Headquarters.

Coco Cay, Bahamas Photos

Here are the best photos I took of Coco Cay, Bahamas. The first photo shows the small cove that the tender boats would take folks to. There were 2 docks for the boats to tie up and unload their passengers.

The 2nd photo shows one of the beaches on the island. Another beach had cabanas for rent.

The 3rd photo shows the guide for the nature walk tour my travel friend Harvey and I did. The tour showed some of the plants on the island that Bahamians used for bush medicine. The tour was very interesting. Sadly, I don't remember the guide's name.

The 4th photo shows some of the iguanas that live on the island. Surprisingly, these lizards are very agile climbers and, they'll actually climb up into trees by their little inlet. My travel friend Harvey was so taken by the iguanas that he bought a t-shirt from one of the souvenir stalls on the islands that showed iguanas with sunglasses on relaxing and enjoying the sun.

The 5th and final photo shows one of the trees the guide showed us. This tree produces such large leaves that Bahamians will break them off and use them for make shift plates.

Here's a little more info about the island though I can't state that it is 100% accurate. First, the island is owned by an unidentified marine biologist who has a home on the island on the other end of it. The biologist supposedly leased the island to Royal Caribbean for 99 years. The biologist and their family can apparently still stay at their home when they feel like and, they can visit Royal Caribbean's facilities on it. Second, some Royal Caribbean staff actually live on the island. The guide I mentioned pointed out the housing facilities for those staff during my tour. I suspect the staff stay busy as Royal Caribbean has various ships come here. The Majesty of the Seas comes here twice every week alone. Third, Royal Caribbean offers a number of activities on the island. You can snorkel, scuba dive, jet ski, parasail and go on a glass bottom boat ride. Keep in mind there is a charge for a number of these activities like the glass bottom boat ride, scuba diving, jet ski and the snorkle treasure hunt (I plan to do that one during one of my visits there with my Aunt). Fifth, Coco Cay is one of two private resorts Royal Caribbean has. The other is their resort at Labadee, Haiti which I've been to and is very nice. Sixth, there are some souvenir stalls on the island though not tons by any means. I believe some of them are run by Bahamians. I don't think there were more than 15 of them.

Thats's all for this post. The next one will be on the history tour I took of Nassau and will have pictures of Fort Fincastle, Fort Charlotte and Nassau harbor. Stay tuned.

Photos of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas

Photos of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas

In January/February 2015, I'll be treating my totally awesome Aunt Marge and her husband Uncle Dave to their first 2 cruises. I decided that an easy introduction to cruising would be to take them on back-to-back cruises on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. The ship isn't overwhelming though ironically at one time, it was the largest cruise ship in the world which shows you how much cruising has changed. Also, the itinerary for both cruises are light and easy. The first cruise in 3 nights and takes in Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean's private island resort), Bahamas and Nassau, Bahamas. The second cruise is 4 nights, includes both Coco Cay and Nassau and makes port at Key West, Florida.

As I'd like to show my Aunt Marge what to expect, I'll be posting pictures I took during these same 2 cruises which I did last September. For those that are interested, I did blog a report on what I saw on those cruises. It's located here: ronw.blogspot.com/2013/09/majesty-of-seas-cruises-review.html

For this blog entry, I've posted 2 photos I took of the ship we'll be sailing on. The first is a shot from the beach at Coco Cay of the ship at anchor. At Coco Cay, all visitors have be tendered i.e. taken to the island in smaller boats as the ship is way too big for the island's small bay. The second photo is a closer shot taken at Key West, Florida from the U.S. Coast Guard station there. It's not very good in my opinion but, it was the best I could do from the location while trying to get the WHOLE ship in the photo.

Beginning of My Panama Canal Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas

Cabo San Lucas Marina

Time to start posting some travel photos. This one was taken at the beginning of my Royal Caribbean Panama Canal cruise on April 3rd, 2014. The cruise would be an adventure from the beginning. It was the first ever cruise I would join late. What do I mean by late? I mean that the cruise had already started on April 1st. The cruise began in San Diego, California. However, to keep the folks where I work happy, I'd agreed to cut 2 days off the cruise by joining it in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. You can join Royal Caribbean cruises late or leave early as I've found out the last 2 months. However, there are conditions. In the case of joining a cruise late, the cruise must be open ended i.e. it starts in one port and finishes in another. Also, you must notify Royal Caribbean in advance if you plan to do this and get approval from their security. My travel agent Joel Mills did that though it was still a little scary as I did wonder if the ship would know I was coming. I'd never been to Cabo San Lucas before and, I didn't want a screw up and have to try to get back home from there.

The airport that serves Cabo San Lucas is at Los Cabos. From there, I took a shuttle that was supposed to drove me off at the Wyndham but, I got it to drop me off close to the pier. Then, I walked to the pier with my suitcase and introduced myself to the Mexican security there. To my relief, they had my name in one of their books. They checked my passport, verified that I was who I said I was and let me through. Then, I got to go through the routine again with Royal Caribbean.

Once they confirmed I was who I claimed to be, they gave me my SeaPass which I would use to get on board the ship with. As the port/marina is very small at Cabo San Lucas, you have to tender out to your cruise ship. Once on board my ship Legend of the Seas, I'd finish my in-processing with the ship and my cruise would begin. It was the beginning of a very fun 2 week adventure. Stay tuned for more posts.

Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas Wi-Fi

Recently, I got to sail on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas cruise ship. While on-board, I tried out the ship's Wi-Fi and found out what the prices were for its various Wi-Fi plans. The plans can vary from ship to ship and, that was the case in this instance.

Independence of the Seas offers 4 plans:

1 hour plan - $29.95
1 day plan - $59.95
Unlimited plan for 1 device - $189.95
Unlimited plan for 2 devices - $229.95

With the 1 hour plan, you get 60 minutes that you can use at various times. This is different from their 1 day plan which for some reason must be used continuously for 24 hours. I confess I didn't like that I had to use the 1 day plan all in 1 day and, I wouldn't recommend it. With the unlimited plans, the big thing there is how many devices you can have hooked up to the Wi-Fi at one time. With the unlimited plan for 2 devices, you can have 2 devices hooked up at the same time. This would be handy for families. If you're on a long cruise and surf the web a lot, the unlimited plans are definitely the way to go. I do wish Royal Caribbean offered the unlimited plans on more of their ships. Right now, it's only available on this ship, Allure of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas. I would've greatly preferred it over the 1,600 plan I got on their Legend of the Seas ship.

For Crown & Anchor members, the Diamond discount is $29.95. This will get you 1 hour of free Wi-Fi or $29.95 off one of the other plans. I'm Diamond and since I wasn't staying for the whole cruise, I took the 1 hour free Wi-Fi. I wasn't wiped out with this offer otherwise. $160 (after the discount) for unlimited Wi-Fi still isn't cheap in my book though it is way better than what Royal Caribbean has offered before.

One final difference I found between the Wi-Fi on Independence of the Seas and Legend of the Seas was you could hook up to the Wi-Fi using the Mozilla Firefox browser. The sheet with the information on the ship's Wi-Fi states that Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari version 3 or higher will work on their Wi-Fi. Internet Explorer as far as I know works on all of Royal Caribbean's ships and apparently is their preferred browser. On Legend of the Seas, I tried logging on Mozilla Firefox and, the page would lock up at the log-in point. On Independence of the Seas, the log-in page worked fine. As I don't have the Safari browser, I didn't test that one. It would be nice if they added the Chrome browser to the list of browsers you can use.

Lastly, the Wi-Fi is available throughout the ship. This is one of the upgrades Royal Caribbean is doing to its entire fleet and will encourage people to use the Wi-Fi. It's a real pain to have to search for a hotspot on the ship. Happy surfing on the Internet all!