Serenade of the Seas

In November, I'll get to sail on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas for the first time. The cruise will visit 4 islands I've never been to - Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Croix. The cruise will also stop at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Philipsburg is where I went on my notorious deep sea fishing trip during my first cruise. The fishing trip was a fiasco as between the 6 of us on the boat, we caught just 1 fish and, the captain of the boat left us stranded at the pier. We had to make our own way back to our ship the Adventure of the Seas. I told my travel friend Harvey we won't try that again when we make port in Philipsburg though I would like to go deep sea fishing again on the cruise. We'll see what the other ports offer in that way.

Internet wise, I found out from surfing the web that the Serenade offers the same kind of WiFi that Navigator of the Seas offered i.e. various hotspots throughout the ship as pay as you go or pre-pay. Depending on much you think you'll use the Internet, the pre-pay plans could save you some money. I know I'll use it a lot so I'll be buying their maximum plan which is 500 minutes for $150. Hopefully, my Crown and Anchor coupon booklet will have a discount coupon for the Internet so I'll be able to save some money like I did on the Navigator of the Seas.

The Serenade of the Seas is a Radiance class ship. I'll get to find out what those are like in less than 2 weeks when I do my previously mentioned Alaska cruise on the Radiance of the Seas. The class is smaller than the Voyager class that I've cruised on before. I'm curious to see what their like. The cruise on the Radiance will give me an idea of what it'll be like on the Serenade. One unique item the Radiance class has that no other ship has is automatically self leveling pool tables! They must have built in gyroscopes which is kind of wild for a pool table to have. I can't wait to try them out and see how well they work.

That's all for this post. Stay tuned for upcoming travel posts. The time is almost here where I'll get to play the world traveller again. I can't wait. It seems like ages since I took Globus's Legacy of the Incas tour. Cheers all!

Cruise Ship Article

Recently, I bought the 15th Anniversary issue of Porthole, a magazine the covers cruising. The magazine has an interesting article on why cruise ships are getting so big. The article is written by Robert McGarvey. It makes some valid points like one reason being "economy of scale." The more passengers you have, the cheaper it is per passenger for docking fees and for staff on board the ship. Another valid reason they give is that passengers are wanting more features on the ships. They want there to be more to do on the ship vice just eating, seeing a show and exercising. Lastly, Jenny Reed, a cruise specialist mentions in the article that the ship is itself becoming the main draw and not the ports.

This is where I differ with the article. While I suspect Miss Reed is right on some cruises, on a number of others, I think the ports very much matter. For example, I don't believe anyone is going on an Alaska cruise to spend time on the cruise ship. People go on the Alaska cruise to see the stunning scenery and visit some of the ports in Alaska where they can experience some of the things that are unique to that state. For example, seeing a logging show where you see lumberjacks practice skills they use in their trade. Another example would be attending a native dance performance where you can learn about some of the indian groups in the area. Lastly, you can learn and even try your luck at finding gold in the areas where it was found in Alaska at one time.

Another item the article doesn't mention but which I think influences the size of the ships is increased profit potential. A bigger ship can hold more shops and restaurants where people on the cruise can spend their money. An example would be the refit that is being done right now on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas. When the refit is done, the ship will have a new Brazilian steakhouse, a Mexican restaurant and a new Italian restaurant. All these restaurants should increase the ship's profit from its cruises. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines are allegedly the most profitable and, I suspect part of the reason is because they have such large ships and thereby, their ships have greater profit potential as they can offer more shops, restaurants and other services such as massages and body wraps.

For me personally, the ports will be the deciding factor on what cruise I do. I want the ship to be clean, modern and comfortable but, I don't go on a cruise to spend time on the boat. I go on a cruise because it is the best way to see certain areas like the Caribbean islands or the Greek islands. It would be a major hassle to island hop between those islands using ferries or airplanes. A cruise makes it considerably easier to visit those islands. You only have to unpack once and, your food, lodging and transportation are pretty much taken care of. Stay tuned for future posts on my upcoming Alaska cruise. Good travels to you all.

Royal Caribbean Alaska Cruise

As any readers I have can see, I'm playing catch up on my blogging today. I've been meaning to post some stuff but, I just didn't give off my procrastinating butt and post. This post concerns my upcoming 7 day Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean.

I think it was last winter that I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do travel wise for this summer. I wanted to return to Iceland and finish all the sightseeing I'd like to do there but, it turned out I didn't see any reasonably affordable package deals I liked. My friend Harvey was interested in doing an Alaska cruise. My travel agent Joel raved about it saying the sights were stunning. I decided to look into it and to my surprise, I found a nice deal with Royal Caribbean for a cruise in late May. I subsequently booked it then, Royal Caribbean decided to put the ship in dry dock for some renovations during the month of May. They offered me a deal where they would give me a $400 ship board credit, a more expensive date in June 2011 and pay the fee to change my airplane tickets. I readily agreed to the offer. So, next month, I'll fly out to Vancouver, Canada and board the Radiance of the Seas for a 7 day Alaska cruise.

The cruise will stop in Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway. I should get to do a number of Alaska type things like salmon fishing, see a glacier and hopefully see some whales. The ship itself will be a new one to me as I've never cruised on a Radiance class ship before. The ship is smaller than the Adventure or Navigator of the Seas. It holds a max of 2,500 passengers. Still, it should be a nice ship and, I look forward to exploring it when I board for my cruise. This will be my third cruise with Royal Caribbean. This time, I should definitely know all the ropes with them. I've already got my boarding paperwork done and my cruise luggage tags are en-route to my home. They should arrive in plenty of time so I'll be able to attach them to my 1 bag. Also, I've booked in advance all my shore excursions and prepaid for their unlimited soda refills. I know I have to drink a lot of soda to make that worth-whiled but, I prefer that to Royal Caribbean charging $2 to my ship account for every soda I drink. Another nice thing about prepaying on the sodas is that the icon they put on your ship pass is made into the pass vice them attaching a sticker to it. Stickers can come off and, I prefer the icon being part of my ship pass.

I plan to use Royal Caribbean's WiFi again. I was impressed with it last time. One nice difference Internet wise on this cruise is I should be able to post stuff while at the various ports in Alaska. My Sprint USB modem should work in those towns. We'll see on that.

That's all for now. Stay tune for some interesting travel posts coming in the future. Soon, I'll get to play the world traveler again. I can't wait. It seems like ages since I traveled to Peru. Good travels to you all.

Coke Rewards

In my opinion, one of the smartest promotions Coca Cola has come out with is Coke rewards. The promotion rewards people who drink the various Coca Cola products such as Coke, Sprite, Fanta and Barq's root beer. The rewards range from impressive drawings such as a trip to Hawaii to t-shirts, gift cards and small appliances. The reward points you get depends on what package of the sodas you buy. For example, you get more points if you buy a 12 pack vice buying a 10 ounce bottle of their soda. One thing that is strange is that you get the same amount of points for buying a 12 ounce bottle of their soda as you do for buying a 2 LITER bottle. Figure that one out. Overall, it's a pretty smart program and, Coke makes it very easy to participate in the promotion. I think it definitely succeeds in encouraging people to drink their products. I know it's had that effect with me. I specifically look for their products at the store whereas before, I looked for whatever was cheapest. If you drink Coke products, you should check out their MyCoke rewards website at http://www.mycokerewards.com/home.do. Cheers all!

Latest Riordan Book Out

Rick Riordan's latest book came out May 3rd in hardbound. It's the second book in the Kane Chronicles. It's called Throne of Fire and tells of the adventures of the Kane kids as they try to find the Egyptian sun god Ra. I haven't read the book yet so I can't tell if you if I think it's any good. Still, I can't imagine it being a poor read. I confess that the book is more a tide me over till Son of Neptune comes out in October. That's the one I'm really interested in. I'm very curious to find out what has happened to Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series. I'll post another entry on what I think of the latest Kane book once I've read it. Good reading all.

New Riordan Book

To get some bonus MyPoints, I had to do 104 searches before the end of the month. One of the things I thought to search for was the Son of Neptune book by Rick Riordan. As I previously blogged about, the book is the second in the Heroes of Olympus series. The Heroes of Olympus series incorporates characters from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5 book series while introducing new Roman demigods who are the children of the Greek gods except in their Roman persona. The first book in the series "The Lost Hero" was very good. My only complaint would be it leaves you hungering for the 2nd book "The Son of Neptune." Sadly, that book isn't due out till October of this year. Thanks to the search I did, I found out Riordan has a website called The On-line World of Rick Riordan. The website has lots of information on the various books Riordan has written such as the Percy Jackson series as well as news of books he will be writing.

It was through this site that I found out that Riordan will be coming out in May 2011 with a second book in the Kane Chronicles. The book is called "The Throne of Fire." It continues in the 2 person narrative and tells of the further adventures of Carter and Sadie Kane, the brother and sister magicians who must work together to defeat the chaos serpent Apophos. The book should be another good read. Plus, it'll tide over those of us who are waiting for the 2nd book of the Heroes of Olympus series.

Another nice feature of the website is it has a link to Riordan's blog where he posts various comments and observations. Also, he gives updates on various books such as his March 12th entry where he reveals that revisions for the Son of Neptune book (he had a complete manuscript according to his February 13th entry) are coming along and, he should make the October release date.

Riordan is going to be a very BUSY writer as he'll be putting out 2 books next year. The 2 books will be a 3rd book in The Kane Chronicles and the 3rd in the Heroes of Olympus series. Riordan's website hasn't revealed yet if the Kane Chronicles will go to 5 books like his Percy series did and his Heroes of Olympus will. However, I suspect it's likely. That should please his readers as Riordan does produce consistently good stories. His books have won him a number of awards and made him a best selling author on the New York Times booklist. Cheers all!

Five Winners

As I reported in my last blog entry, I was keeping my fingers crossed for the super jackpot in the MegaMillions game. I knew the odds were extremely long but, I was having some luck with it. My luck was better than the odds. I ended up with five winners. I had 4 $2 winners and 1 $3 winner which breaks out to 1 in 20 winners. Your chances of winning something in the game are 1 in 40 according to the Megamillions website. Plus, $11 is better than nothing. I'm sure there are plenty who won zilch. Now, the jackpot goes back to $12 million which still isn't that bad. That would break out to just under half a million bucks per year. I could live on that. So, I'm going to be a schmuck and keep on trying. If nothing else, it allows me to dream. Also, you can't win if you don't play. Good luck to the other players out there. Cheers all!

Mega-Millions Game

I'm not much of a gambler. I don't have the nerves for it or a poker face as they call it. I remember watching as a kid the adults play cards when my family clan would gather at my Grandma Wilkes's home. It looked pretty fascinating watching but, I wasn't allowed to play as I wasn't old enough. When I finally turned 18 years old, Grandma Wilkes gave me a $10 roll of quarters for a present. She won that back and $10 more before she left. It did wonders for curing me of any desire to gamble.

On occasion, I would play the state's lottery. I think my biggest win was $120 which didn't come close to what I've spent on lottery tickets. Big jackpots can tempt me to play and the last 2 jackpots in the MegaMillions game have been up there. Last Friday's jackpot was $204 million, this past Tuesday it was $244 million and today's jackpot will hit $312 million. The thought of winning that much money and what it would mean (Johnny Paycheck's famous song comes to mind) has caused me to play. So far, I've had 3 winners last Friday for a total of $13 in winnings and 1 Tuesday for $3.

I know the odds of winning in MegaMillions are very remote to say the least. According to their website (http://www.megamillions.com/), the odds of winning are 1 in 175,711,536. Also, incredibly, you are playing against other lottery players in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands (source: MegaMillions game website). I had no idea the game was THAT big. The game is renowned for colossal jackpots. According to the MegaMillions trivia on the website, they've had 5 that went over $300 million including the largest jackpot ever offered in North America. In March 2007, the jackpot hit a mindboggling $390 million. I think I remember that one. I don't remember if I played or not though I probably did. The temptation would've been too great not to play.

So, we'll see if I become terribly rich tonight or joins millions of Americans who will throw their losing tickets away and continue to dream of hitting it rich some day. Odds are I'll be among those Americans though it has been nice dreaming of what I could do if lady luck royally favored me. Cheers all!

Oasis Class Ships

Royal Caribbean International seems to repeatedly outdo its competition when it comes to cruise ships. How many ships do you know where you can go ice skating, rock climbing, roller blading, miniature golfing and play basketball (all the ships I know of have a full length court)? The latest and greatest by Royal Caribbean is the Oasis class ships. They are the largest cruise ships in the world coming in at over 220,000 tons. They have 18 decks and incredibly draw only 30 feet of water. The 30 feet thing boggles when you see how much ship is above water. As I mentioned previously on this blog, I got to see the Oasis from a distance and, I was in Ft. Lauderdale when the Allure (the second of this class) arrived from its maiden voyage from Finland. Reviews of the 2 ships have been unanimously positive. Because of that, you would think I'd really like to cruise on one of these marvels but, I confess I don't care to right now. My only complaint with the class is their itineraries. I don't go cruising to spend time on the boat. I go cruising because it is the most convenient way to see the particular destinations I'm visiting i.e. the Caribbean islands or in June - Alaska. Looking at the itineraries of the Oasis class, I see you spend half your time at sea. I don't care for that at all. I've heard the reason for that is because a number of the ports can't handle the massive ships. Royal Caribbean according to cruisecritic.com (I couldn't find the article I saw on this) is working on that. When Royal Caribbean improves the class's itineraries, I'll be lining up to go cruising on one of these extraordinary ships.

Peru Tour

I promised to post blog entries on here about my Globus tour of Peru but, I nevere got around to it. Part of it was time, I didn't have time to post long blog entries on here. Any readers I have who want to read about my Peru tour should check Globus's Facebook page. I posted daily short entries there. After I got back, I posted 5 pictures I took from the tour.

In regards to the tour itself, it was fantastic. Machu Picchu was incredible. The Incas didn't have metal pipes. They used carved stone instead and, the stones were placed so tightly together the water didn't leak out. Four centuries after Machu Picchu was built, the stone plumbing the Incas built is still working. The Nazca plain drawings were fascinating as well. Lines and trapezoids that stretched for miles. There incredibly drawn creatures you could only see from the sky. Lake Titicaca was stunning. It is the world's highest navigable lake and, the largest in South America. It sits at an altitude of 12,500 feet! While there, our group got to learn of the Uros indians who live on man made islands. The islands were fascinating. They are composed of reeds. Three feet of the reeds are compost while another 4 feet of reeds are in the process of composting. The indians continually add to the reeds. I visited one such island. All totalled, it had over 7 feet of compost and reeds and was floating over 45 feet of water. Every step you took, your foot sank a little. Incredibly, over 1,200 Uros indians live on 50 of these man-made islands. The indians have lived on these islands since the 1950's. Before that, they lived on house boats for over 4 centuries.

Lima was interesting city. It had stunning hotels and appalling shanty towns. It had modern shopping malls and pre-Incan adobe pyramids. It had a yacht club not far from where local fishermen sold their catch on the beach. It had an indian market where you could buy stunning hand made crafts and, McDonalds, Burger King and Pizza Hut. It seem quixotic in my opinion.

One thing I will warn travellers who are going to go to Peru is the thin air at the higher altitudes. It isn't a joke. It will affect you. Any kind of serious exertion will leave you sucking for air until you get adjusted to it which may take a month. A number of hotels we stayed at offered free oxygen because of this problem. Also, travellers could buy bottles of oxygen for themselves. I know at least 1 member of tour did that. Also, you could expect some serious climbs to see some of the sights in the mountains. There were 249 steps alone to get to the top of the Incan site at Ollaytaytambo. Ollaytaytambo was a warm up in regards to Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was fascinating in another way in that you took at local bus to get to it. The bus zigzagged its way up a mountain climbin 1,950 feet in about 20 minutes. It got interesting when a descending bus met an ascending bus and, they had to try to pass each other on the narrow road.

Another highlight was the train ride from Ollaytaytambo to Machu Picchu. We were in observatory type cars with wide windows. Soaring mountains were every where and, the railroad tracks followed the Urabamba River. As you descended from Ollaytaytambo to Machu Picchu, you could see the vegetation change. Where initially the mountains were covered with grass and weeds and had few frees, when you reached Machu Picchu, they were covered with trees. I would heartily recommend this train ride to anyone. As far as I know, it's the only way into Machu Picchu. Last year, when heavy rains washed out parts of the track, Machu Picchu was cut off and, people had to be helicoptered out. Our tour director was one of them. He showed us pictures.

As I said, the tour was awesome. The Incas did some incredible things. The scenery was breathtaking. The Peruvian people were very nice. The hotels we stayed at were top notch. The food was very good too. I tried alpaca (it tasted like beef) and roasted guinea pig (hard to describe that one). I would definitely encourage other travellers to go there. It will really amaze you.

Immunizations for Peru

Today, I visited the travel clinic on the military base I use for routine medical care. It's one of the big rewards I get for staying in the Air Force 26 years. The base travel clinic are the folks responsible for determining what immunizations a person needs for whatever country they are going to travel to be it for official or unofficial travel. One advantage I have is that the Air Force has innoculated me for just about every disease I could reasonably catch. So, it turned out I only needed 2 immunizations - one for yellow fever and one for the flu. The Peruvian government recommends travellers be innoculated against yellow fever. I guess there is a danger from the local water and, the travel clinic told me to drink only bottled water in Peru and to avoid foods such as salad that may have been washed with it. One nice thing about the yellow fever immunization is that it is good for 10 years. Another shot that is recommended is typhoid. As luck would have it, my typhoid shot is good till the day I fly back from Peru. Prior to going on my November Southern Caribbean cruise, I'll have to see about getting a typhoid booster. Annoyingly, this immunization is only good for 2 years. Also, I've found the arm I get it in gets sore for a day afterwards. Lastly, the clinic prescribed me some antibiotics and immodium for diarrhea just in case I do catch something like I did on the Egypt tour I did. I plan to be more careful than I was in Egypt. Now, I need to see about getting some liquid hand disinfectant and some good bug repellant. Those were 2 more recommendations from the clinic. I plan on getting those when I arrive in Peru. Stay tuned for more travel updates on my upcoming trip to Peru.

Richmond Trip

This past weekend, I drove down to Richmond and saw a couple friends of mine. The main purpose of the trip was to see my friend Mark Morton. Mark is a friend I knew in the Air Force. Last month, he retired from the Air Force and was visiting Richmond to see his daughter Janae who lives there. Since Richmond is only about 2 hours driving from where I live, I asked if he'd like to meet while there and, he said yes.

The other friend I arranged to meet is my travel friend Harvey. Harvey and I have done a number of Globus tours together as well as 2 cruises. That's why I call him my travel friend. We get along well and have some similar interests. I always enjoy getting together with him during the tours and cruises we've done. This trip would be no different from those.

After I checked into the hotel I was staying at, I rang Harvey to let him know I was on my way over to his apartment. We met there and caught up on the news. Also, he gave me back my cruise port book I loaned him. I wanted to get this back as it tells what optional excursions may be available at various cruise ports. I don't have any idea what I'm going to do at some of the Alaskan ports I'm going to visit in June and, I'm hoping the book will give me some ideas.

All caught up on the latest goings on, we drove over to an Outback Steakhouse that was close by. The restaurant is apparently very popular in Richmond as there was a bit of a line when we arrived. We were told we would have to wait 30 minutes or more for a table. We said no problem and started looking at the menu. Apparently, we got lucky because I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes before we were told a table was available. After giving the menu a good look, we settled on the bloomin onion for an appetizer and, we both had the largest steaks they offered - the 20 ounce Porterhouse. The bloomin onion appetizer was fantastic. It was fun breaking off the onion leaves from flower shaped onion (why they call it bloomin I guess) and dipping them in some awesome sauce. My steak came with 2 sides and, I chose a salad and a sweet potato. The salad was good though I thought they were a little skimpy with the salad dressing. The sweet potato was great with butter and brown sugar in it. I had the steak prepared in their classic style and, it was outstanding. I savored every bite. Service by our waitress was pretty good. Overall, we had an outstanding meal there and, I would recommend the place heartily to anyone. After the meal, we drive back to Harvey's apartment complex where we said our good byes. We'll meet again in less than 2 weeks for the Peru tour.

I drove back to my hotel and crashed. The next morning, I got up, checked my emails (I'd taken my laptop with me with its USB modem that enables me to connect to the Internet any where in the U.S.) and got ready to meet my friend Mark. The hotel I was staying at has a very nice breakfast buffet. It's reasonably priced and, I offered to treat Mark and his daughter to breakfast there. The two of them showed up on time and, we made our way to the restaurant. Mark's daughter Janae turned out to be a very nice young lady. Mark himself looked to be doing well barring fighting a case of walking pneumonia! We had a nice time talking before they had to head on to do other things. After they left, I quickly packed the few things I'd taken on the trip and checked out. The drive back was uneventful. Overall, it ended up being a really nice trip to Richmond. I very much enjoyed meeting my friends Harvey and Mark and, I hope to see them again in the future (I'll see Harvey again on the Peru trip and, Mark plans to stay in West Virginia for at least a little while.).

An Update

I haven't posted in a couple weeks so I thought I'd post an update on what has been happening at my end of the woods. However, first let me wish any readers I have a very Merry Christmas. Hopefully, you were good this year and, Santa gave you lots of wonderful presents.

Concerning myself, my last 3 weeks has been work, work and still more work. The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for the U.S. Postal Service and, this one was equally busy. We were swamped with 3 or 4 times the normal number of packages we get. I think mail volume was down somewhat due to the poor economy but, there was still plenty to do. Work wise, things will gradually start to lighten all the way till the fall when things will start to pick back up again.

Travel wise, my trip to Peru is slowly but surely getting here. I have approximately 3 weeks till my trip. I can't wait to go. I found out the tour date I signed up for is sold out. That means there'll be a large group (40 plus) on this tour. I suspect the tour director will have their hands full. Also, I discovered that Peru has a special passport stamp you can get at Machu Picchu. It looks seriously cool and, I'm going to get it put in my passport when I visit there. I found out all the hotels I'll be staying at in Peru have free WiFi so, I'll be taking my laptop. Any readers I have can expect to see updates on here during the tour.

Riding wise, I continue to ride my TMAX weather permitting. It is cold riding the bike but, I don't care to have it sit in the garage. It does seem like it's windier during the winter vice the summer. I don't know why that is.

Lord of the Rings stuff, I bought some items from Weta Workshop including an signed copy of Alan Lee's Lord of the Rings sketchbook. I believe I previously reviewed that book. It continues to impress me with its fantastic artwork. Weta has reported that it's working on a Rivendell miniature. Supposedly, it'll be one of the largest its made. Because of its size, it promises to be very expensive. However, I plan to buy it if I can. I think it'll be very beautiful.

Concerning the Hobbit, Peter Jackson continues to fill various roles in the 2 future movies. One actor let slip that he'll be flying to New Zealand in January to being swordfighting and horseback riding training. I wouldn't think it'll be too long after that when they'll begin shooting the movies. I can't wait to see them and experience the magic of Middle-earth again. The 2 movies should be outstanding.

That's all to report for now. Again, to all my readers, may you have a joyous Christmas and an even happier and prosperous New Year.

New BMW Scooter

Along with making outstanding cars, BMW is known for making great quality motorcycles. In the town where I live, there is a BMW Motorcycle dealership. As any readers I have out there know, I'm pretty keen on scooters. I find them easier to ride than a motorcycle and, they have more storage space. When I found out there was a BMW Motorcycle dealership where I live, I checked into whether BMW built any scooters. In my opinion, the scooter market is growing because they are a very affordable form of transportation and, they get great gas milage. A scooter isn't a far stretch from a motorcycle. The primary difference is in the transmission. A motorcycle has a standard i.e. clutch transmission while a scooter has an automatic transmission. Since it isn't that much of a stretch, I thought BWM might make a high quality scooter. I was wrong at that time. However, BMW just recently announced its Concept C (the C stands for commuter) scooter.

BMW's new scooter promises to bring even more competition in the high end scooter market. While BMW hasn't released the engine size for the new bike, they have stated that it "will be in the top range of the large scooter segment." In my book, that translates to between 500 and 650cc's. That big an engine should enable it to hold its own on any roads on there. With its BMW handling, it should give the motorcycle like Yamaha TMAX a run for its money.

The new bike promises some other features that will put it in a class of its own. The biggest being the doing away of rear view mirrors. Instead, the bike uses small television cameras that transmit their images to screens built into the instrument panel. The bike also has very stylish BLUE tires and LCD headlights.

All of these high tech features as well as the solid German engineering mean that this will be a very expensive scooter. As far as I know, BMW hasn't released any price information yet. I'm curious to see what one of these sleek high tech bikes will cost. Also, will BMW offer them in the U.S.? The biggest market for scooters is in scooter mad Europe. The new Concept C scooter will be built in Berlin, Germany. However, in my opinion, scooters are appearing more and more in the U.S. Yamaha felt there was enough of a market to bring their TMAX over from Europe. So, maybe if the Concept C proves a success in Europe, we may see it in the U.S. in time.

New Game at Dave & Buster's

I stopped by the Arundel Mills Dave & Buster's today. They'd sent a coupon that gave me $10 worth of free play with the purchase of $10 worth of play. It seemed like a good enough deal so I went in and used the coupon though I didn't play any games. While there, I wanted to check Dave & Buster's new game Wheel of Fortune. I'd seen them advertise it in their emails they sent me.

The game is very much like the game you see on tv barring that it is a single player game vice having 3 contestants on tv. At the beginning, the player has 2 options as far as how many tickets they want to win. If they pay twice as i.e. 9.9 coins vice 4.9, the ticket totals on the wheel are doubled. In theory, a person could win over 2,000 tickets if they doubled AND hit the 300 ticket slot on the wheel AND got 2 or more letters to light up on the words they're trying to figure out. Personally, I don't think the odds are good a person will win that many tickets in this game.

The player gets 3 spins at the wheel during which time after each spin, they are shown various letters that in the word or words they are trying to solve. If they pick a letter that is in the word or words, they get the number of tickets they spun for that letter. After they pick their third letter, the player has to figure out what the word or words are. If they get it right, they get a bonus for solving the puzzle. I don't know the bonus is determined.

Overall, I wasn't wiped out with this game. I think it's pricey and the chance of winning lots of tickets aren't that good. It is some what challenging but, my purpose for playing the games at the arcade in Dave & Buster's is to win tickets to claim a prize. With that objective in mind, I'd rather stick with Spin & Win. You may not get as much as action i.e. it doesn't take as long to play the game as it does to play Wheel of Fortune BUT, the chances of winning lots of tickets are greater in my opinion with Spin & Win. You just have to have good eye and hand coordination as well as timing to win at Spin & Win whereas with Wheel of Fortune you have to show some brains (figuring out the puzzle) and have some luck too i.e. hitting the 200 or 300 ticket slots.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Wi-Fi

I thought I'd post a blog entry on how the Wifi works on Royal Caribbean ships. I used the service during my recent cruise on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas ship. I really enjoyed it and, I was impressed with how fast the connection was. Also, I found it fascinating because I'm certain the connection had to go via satellite at times when the ship was in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Anyway, here is how it works.

All Royal Caribbean ships have hot spots where you can connect to the ship's Wifi network. The only exception to this is Royal Caribbean's Freedom class ships which offer connectivity thoroughout the entire ship including all cabins. For the Navigator of the Seas, the hot spots were located at the following places:

Conference Center - Deck 2

Schooner Bar - Deck 4

Two Poets Pub and Cafe Promenade - Deck 5

Solarium - Deck 11

19th Hole Sports & Golf Bar/Cosmopolitan Club - Deck 14

In order to connect to the Internet at one of these hot spots, you must create a login and password. This is done at a Royal Caribbean Online workstation. These were located on the 8th deck to the rear of the ship on the Navigator of the Seas. The workstation asks you to create a login and password. Also, you'll need your SeaPass card so it can charge you for the service once you start using it. Royal Caribbean doesn't charge you for the service at this point. Once you've created a login and password, you take your laptop to one of the hotspots. You should see the RC wireless signal on your Wifi list. You press connect. Then, you call up an Internet browser. A page should come up on the browser that asks you how you want to pay for using the Internet. You have 2 options: you can pay the standard rate which is 65 cents a minute or you can buy a prepaid plan. Royal Caribbean offers 5 prepaid plans. They are:

60 minutes for $35 which breaks out to 58 cents a minute

90 minutes for $55 which breaks out to 55 cents a minute

150 minutes for $75 which breaks out to 50 cents a minute

250 minutes for $100 which breaks out to 40 cents a minute

500 minutes for $150 which breaks out to 30 cents a minute

Once you choose which option you want and press enter, you will be billed for the service and, you will be connected to the Internet. The webpage that offered you the prepaid plans will show you how many minutes you've used and at what cost. That page is helpful as it enables you to have some idea how many minutes you have left or how much you will be billed if you used the standard rate. It also enables you to disconnect from the Internet though you still have to break the Wifi connection on your laptop i.e. disconnect a second time. Also, at the end of the cruise, you will lose any minutes you don't use on your prepaid plan i.e. you can't carry them over to your next cruise. If you go over your prepaid minutes, you will be billed the standard rate per minute for the overage.

If you belong to Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society, you may find a coupon in the coupon booklet that will be left in your cabin. This was the case during my cruise. The coupon will save you either $5 or 10% of your Internet bill. In my case, I opted for the prepaid 500 minute plan so it save me $15. That isn't tons but, it is something.

Also, from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., the Wifi network will go down. I was told by another cruiser that they took the system down during that time for maintenance. I don't know if that's true but, they system definitely goes down during those times. I can personally vouch for that.

Lastly, if you want to change your password on the system, you have to go to one of the Royal Caribbean Online workstations. You enter your login and whatever you want your new password to be. You'll have to swipe your SeaPass during this process. You won't lose any prepaid minutes you have left on your account. I can personally vouch for that. I changed my password during my recent cruise after I thought I'd lost the piece of paper I'd written my login and password on. I later found it in my wallet. Oops!

I hope this entry answers most questions about Royal Caribbean's Wifi service on its ships. I really liked the service and, I'll be using it again when I go my Alaska cruise next year. I would definitely recommend it.

Update: September 11, 2013

Since so many people have read this post, I thought I'd post some more information on it about Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi.

First, Royal Caribbean plans to upgrade all its ships to where you'll be able to access the ship's Wi-Fi network any where on the ship. This upgrade is performed when the ship goes into dock for other improvements like adding a number of their popular pay restaurants. The unofficial Royal Caribbean blog has a schedule list of when the ships will go into dry dock to get the upgrades including ship wide Wi-Fi. Here's the link:  http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/ship-upgrade-list-and-schedule. However, I don't know how current this list is.

Second, Royal Caribbean's Chief Information Office (CIO) Bill Martin did an interview with InformationWeek on September 9th, 2013 (http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/royal-caribbean-broadens-bandwidth-horiz/240160918) where he tells of what Royal Caribbean is doing to improve Wi-Fi on their ships such as add more antennas to pick up satellites and plans to introduce an e-commerce portal (as far as I know it isn't available yet) where customers will be able to buy daily ($49) (my opinion: no thanks!) and weekly ($179) (my opinion: maybe, if this means I have unlimited minutes during that week) packages. He mentions that Royal Caribbean has increased its band width 7 fold which enabled it to give customers who were sailing with them when they celebrated their 50 millionth customer a free hour of Internet and, they encouraged them to post pictures. Something he says they couldn't have done a year ago.

My experience on trying to post pictures on their Wi-Fi has been hit and miss due to the slowness of the connection at times. I plan to test their Majesty of the Seas Wi-Fi this month when I sail on her and, I'll report back on how things went on trying to post pictures. You may even get to see one of this blog. Stay tuned.

Update March 16, 2014: First, Navigator of the Seas has ship-wide Wi-Fi now. Second, it and the Allure of the Seas (these are the only 2 ships that offer this) offer 2 unlimited Wi-Fi packages. For 1 person, it costs $189.95. For 2 people, it costs $229.95. In my opinion, for a long cruise, it would be worth buying one of these packages. For a short cruise like the ones Majesty of the Seas does, it wouldn't be worth it. Also, you can use your Crown & Anchor discount coupons on these packages. If you want to know how good the current Wi-Fi is on Navigator of the Seas. Here is a link to a daily blog a contributor on the unofficial Royal Caribbean blog posted on February 15, 2014 about how the Wi-Fi was on ship.

Lastly, here are links to 2 other blog entries I've posted on Wi-Fi with Royal Caribbean. The one on Majesty of the Seas gives the Wi-Fi rates for that ship which are different from the rates on other ships. I don't know why they're so different. Next month, I sail on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas and, I'll find out if the rates have changed as well as how well the Wi-Fi works on that ship. I'll post something on here about my experiences with it. I'll definitely be using it for this cruise where I'll be visiting Mexico, Guatemala (for the first time), Costa Rica (for the first time), Panama (for the first time) and Colombia (for the first time). Stay tuned.

Update May 22, 2014: I'm including links to 2 more blog entries I did on Wi-Fi for Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas and Independence of the Seas. Interestingly, Independence of the Seas offers 2 unlimited Wi-Fi packages making it the 3rd Royal Caribbean ship to offer this. The unlimited Wi-Fi packages are lot better deal than what was offered on Legend of the Seas or Majesty of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Wi-Fi Update
Majesty of the Seas Wi-Fi
Legend of the Seas Wi-Fi
Independence of the Seas Wi-Fi
Serenade of the Seas WiFi

Update May 30, 2014: My apologies on the link to my blog entry for Independence of the Seas Wi-Fi. I apparently didn't set it up right and so, it didn't work. It should work now. Also, I made a correction concerning the Oasis and Allure of the Seas. These 2 ships had ship wide Wi-Fi from the beginning. Lastly, if Royal Caribbean has stayed to schedule (see schedule link further up in this blog entry), there should be just 3 ships that DON'T have ship wide Wi-Fi. They're Explorer of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas. I suspect Majesty of the Seas will never get it as I think they're going to transfer that ship to one of their other cruise lines in time like they did with its sister ship Sovereign of the Seas.

Update October 18, 2014: I found out to my great annoyance the links to blog entries on Majesty of the Seas, Legend of the Seas and Independence of the Seas didn't work. After much experimenting, I believe they're working now. Also, on the Legend of the Seas Wi-Fi, I did another cruise on that ship last month and, its rates haven't changed i.e. they're still pretty expensive. I would definitely look for cheaper or free Wi-Fi hotspots when in port vice using the ship's Wi-Fi. Lastly, the end of January 2015, I'll be on Majesty of the Seas again (I'll be treating my favorite aunt to her first 2 cruises). I'll let you know if there has been any changes in the rates as well as how much free (really) Wi-Fi a Diamond member gets on that ship. Stay tuned.

Update December 7, 2014:  Royal Caribbean Blog has a new article that tells of the Wi-Fi rates on Royal Caribbean's new Quantum of the Seas. The ship offers 3 tiers of packages: Basic, Premium and Premium Plus. Basic is the slowest and cheapest while Premium Plus is the fastest and most expensive. There are 4 levels of plans of for each tier: hourly rate, daily rate, unlimited rate for 1 device and unlimited rate for 2 devices. Prices start at $20 for Basic 1 hour rate and go up to $400 for Premium Plus for unlimited rate for 2 devices. Royal Caribbean promises to deliver the same high speed rates on the ship that you can find on land. They aim to provide this through a partnership with O3B which supplies low orbiting satellites that target specifically the ship vice a region. The article can be found at: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2014/12/04/royal-caribbean-reveals-prices-new-fast-quantum-of-the-seas-wi-fi

Update September 20, 2015: I added a new link to my blog entry on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas and what I thought of its WiFi (I sailed on it July 26 to August 8, 2015) as well as what plans they offer on the ship. The ship does offer something different in that you get unlimited minutes and pay a flat rate per day. Also, you can have a second device with unlimited minutes at half the price of the first device. See my blog entry to see what I'm talking about. Lastly, the ship's WiFi is available throughout the ship vice the old system where it was available only in certain locations. Next year, I'll be sailing on Independence of the Seas for the second time. I'm hoping it'll have the new VOOM system Royal Caribbean is coming out with so, I can see how well it works and, if it lives up to all the hype Royal Caribbean is saying about it. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Update April 30, 2016: Ref a April 29, 2016 article on www.royalcaribbeanblog.com: Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Officer Michael Bayley states that by May 1st (as far as I can tell of this year) EVERY ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet will have the new VOOM WiFi system. Also, they've unveiled a 2 tier set of plans. One is just for emails and checking various websites while the more expensive plan allows for video and streaming. I haven't had the chance to use VOOM yet but, if what Bayley says is true, I'll get to try it on my November cruise on Independence of the Seas. I'll definitely post some where on my blog after I get back from that cruise what I think of it and whether it does it live up to all its hype. We'll see. Happy web surfing all!

Globus Legacy of the Incas Tour

With the conclusion of my recent cruise on the Navigator of the Seas, I've started preparing for my future Globus tour of Peru. The tour is called Legacy of the Incas and lasts 10 days in Peru. We cover a lot of territory. We start in Lima, drive to Ica where we board a flight to see the Nazca Plain drawings from the air, take a boat ride to the Ballestas Islands, drive back to Lima, fly to Cuzco, drive to the Sacred Valley, take a train to and from Machu Picchu, drive back to Cuzco where we fly to Juliaca and drive to Lake Titicaca, visit Taquile Island and the Uros Islands, drive back to Juliaca, fly back to Lima and finish with a farewell dinner. That is a brief summary of travel and some of the things I'll get to do during the tour.

One item I was very interested in was the Internet access at the various hotels I'll be staying at. I'd like to be able to post current updates on the trip like I did on my recent cruise. To my delight, I found out every hotel I'll be staying offers free Wifi access. Because of that, I plan to take my laptop on the trip so I can post updates. For any readers I have, you'll get to read of my adventures in Peru shortly after they happen and possibly see some pictures I'll take during the tour. So, stay tuned for future adventures. In approximately 60 days or so, I'll be departing again for my first trip to South America.

Grand Cayman/Cozumel Hard Rock Cafes

To my delight, I got to visit and buy t-shirts from both of these Hard Rock Cafes. The easiest to get to was the Grand Cayman cafe as it was 2 blocks from the downtown Georgetown pier. Another thing I liked about the Grand Cayman cafe was they had a deal going where if you bought 3 t-shirts, you got a free cap or sun visor ($20 value). Lastly, I thought the Grand Cayman had some nice designs on their t-shirts.

On the other hand, Cozumel wouldn't be easy to get to for someone arriving at the international cruise ship pier. After I bought my t-shirt from the cafe, I took a taxi back to the pier for $7 and, I thought it was money well spent. In my opinion, it would've been a serious i.e. long walk to get back to the cruise ship pier from the cafe. Another thing that didn't wipe me out with the cafe was the designs of their t-shirts. I would've thought they could've come with up with something better. The one I bought had the colors of the Mexican flag. One interesting note about the Cozumel cafe is that it's supposedly the smallest Hard Rock Cafe in the world. That's possible. I didn't bother to look in to see how big their restaurant was. Still, I pleased to get one of their shirts. I suspect the cafe does a good bit of business with all the cruise ships that call at Cozumel. When I visited, there was the one I was on and 2 Celebrity ships.

Tulum

The excursion I looked forward to most on this cruise was the one to the Mayan city of Tulum. I'd never seen anything like that before. Plus, it would be a nice preparation for my tour to Peru in January. Tulum turned out to be awesome. Most of the main temple complex was intact and, there were other fascinating buildings. Our tour guide Mario did a great job explaining in limited time some of the history of the city including how it was discovered in the 1840's and later excavated. Another plus is that the city is walled. It was something to make my way through one of the narrow entrances. Lastly, there were awesome views of the Caribbean. Overall, I was thoroughly delighted with this excursion and would recommend it to anyone. When I get home, I plan to post some pictures of the city so any viewers I have can see just how stunning it is.

Cruise Update

Due to poor diving conditions, I didn't get to go scuba diving in Grand Cayman. Because the person running the dive shop the cruise ship uses waited till this morning to see what the conditions were before cancelling a number of dives, I was notified kind of late and had to scramble to book another excursion.

The excursion I went on was a combination tour. First, I got to ride in a semi-submersible that enabled me to see a number of Grand Cayman's best reefs as well as 2 wrecks they have. I enjoyed this plus, it was my first time in such a craft. After that, the tour driver and guide took the group I was with to a turtle farm. According to our guide, it is the only one of its kind in the world. They keep over 300 breeder turtles at the farm. When the turtles lay their eggs in a section of sand they have for them, the farm digs up the eggs and puts them in incubators so there is a greater chance the eggs will hatch. Once the eggs hatch, the baby turtles are transferred to other tanks where they are fed and grow. Some are released into the wild while others are slaughtered for their meat. Visitors can hold and touch the young turtles. The farm is also trying to raise Kemp Ridley turtles which are an endangered species.

After visiting the turtle farm, we drive to Hell, Grand Cayman. Supposedly a British governor of the island gave the area its name. The area features limestone formations that are very jagged and sharp. Others have put statues of devils around the formations. The town has a post office where you can mail letters and cards with the postmark of Hell, Grand Cayman. Visitors to the area can jokingly say they've been to Hell and back. I thought the place a bit touristy but, it was neat to say I'd been there.

The last stop was at the Tortuga Rum Cake Factory. Visitors at the factory could try free samples of the various cakes as well as some Tortuga rum. I found the cakes really good. I plan to buy at a couple before the cruise ends. Also, I enjoyed trying some of the rums.

Our tour guide and driver returned us to the pier where we could catch a shuttle boat back to the Navigator of the Seas or do more sightseeing. I made my mandatory trip to the Cayman Island Hard Rock Cafe where I ended up buying 3 t-shirts. They have some pretty cool ones which I'll comment more on in another post.

Overall, I ended up having a nice visit to Grand Cayman. I thought it interesting and, the weather was pretty nice with the sun out and the temps in the high 70's. According to the tour guide, Grand Cayman never gets below the 60's temperature wise and has many days when it's in the 80's. It sounds like it is a typical Caribbean island where you can enjoy lots of sun and sand. Stay tuned for my cruise updates. Tomorrow, I get to visit Cozumel, Mexico.