Point of emphasis for 2026 fall season:
Ensure players socks are one color
Interpretation:
If grip socks or tape is worn, it must match the primary sock. If it doesn't, the player is removed from the field to address the issue
Are we serious? Cmon
Since this is still a relatively new cruise, I thought I'd give a review.
Background- 3rd cruise, traveled with 2 teens
Embark- Clarion wasn't as bad as I imagined. The parking lot is the same lot as Jet & Go, with a fence separating them. I bought the Jet Go group on. I would recommend to do that to save a few bucks. Everything was orderly. Bags went from our trunk right to the box truck. Inside lines moved quickly for check in. They had buses at several spots to spread the crowds out. Buses pulled right up to the gangway. Very easy process
Disembark- Also pretty straightforward. We carried our bags off. Immigration was on the boat. Plenty of buses waiting. A bit crowded by the elevators, but I think that is to be expected. As long as you paid attention to the staff and didn't panic in the crowd, it was fine. Some people were complaining about it. But, honestly, those people looked like they should not have been carrying their bags off. They seemed overwhelmed and should have checked their bags. Staff at Clarion were very well prepared both days. I commented that, considering it is only a one day per week temp job for the workers, it ran very smoothly. Overall, from leaving our room until getting to our car was under 50 minutes.
Food- We are by no means "foodies", so I may have a different perspective than others. Buffet was good. Solid variety most night. Themes were good (Mexican night was a personal fave). Staples there all day like pasta, burgers, hot dogs, etc. I've seen some people complain about the quality, saying things were undercooked, but we didn't experience that at all. There was a small bar in the buffet, serving beer and wine. The Top Side buffet was nice for pool days. The kids could grab food/snacks with out worrying about their wet clothes. Tsar's and Azzure have the same menu, so we only ate at Azzure. It was nice. Not a huge menu, but the food was good. O'Sheehan's was a great spot for late night snacks. Several nights we went late and had several appetizers for a snack! We did not eat at any specialty places.
Rooms- Adequate. I saw a post saying the AC didn't work and there was a septic smell. We had no issues with the AC. There was a septic smell by the 8th floor elevator and in the hallway by the 8045-8055 rooms. But not in our room or anywhere else. We were in the low 8000s, right above the Stardust Theater. Some days there was loud music coming from the theater from 12p-12a (rehearsals during the day, shows at night). Not a huge issue since we weren't in the room much.
Entertainment- Varied and frequent. All the usuals you'd expect (trivia, game shows, contests, etc). Entertainment staff was fun and engaging. Two pools, a little too cool for my taste! Sports court was adequate, although the golf equipment was pretty bad.
Drinks- I got the bar package and it was worthwhile. I think it was around $30 per day. Wines and cocktails were $15; beer was $10. You can do the math. Didnt take much to make your daily quota. You can get 2 drinks at a time on one card, so that was handy. Kids loved the mocktails.
Ports
Bermuda
- Snorkeling- We did the Bermuda triangle snorkeling. It was fun. The shipwrecks were cool, but there wasnt much variety in fish. Most people loved jumping off the second deck of the boat! Staff was really fun. I dont get seasick on cruises, but the snorkeling boat made me a bit quesy.
- Beach- We did a taxi bus to Horseshoe on day 2. Left early in the morning to get back before departure. Taxi was $7 per person one way (cash only). Much cheaper than the cruise excursion. We got back in plenty of time for the boat leaving. Snorkeling was good there. Wide variety of fish.
Halifax
-Not a ton to do there. Many souvenir shops right at the port. Coffee shops, etc in walking distance. I went to the titanic cemetery. Didnt do the excursion (too expensive). I went to a cab and he wanted $65 round trip. I passed and got an Uber for $24 round trip. Plenty of signage in the cemetery to find the titanic section.
Sidenote- If you like breweries, there is one in both ports (Dockside/Frog and Onion in Bermuda; Garrison in Halifax). Worth checking out if you like beer. Garrison was very good. Plenty of time to do titanic and some beer tasting.
Overall, it was a great cruise. Staff were awesome. Plenty to do. Good ports. We all had a blast. Apparently NCL will be running Eastern Carib cruises soon, so looking forward to that.
Happy to answer any questions.
There was a thread on here a few days back about the context of the Paraguay win (https://www.reddit.com/r/ussoccer/s/pAFuAQyVbh).
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Well after seeing Portugal,Spain, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and Uruguay all earn draws to lesser teams, I'd say I'm still pretty damn happy about last Friday
😆
I know WC26 is on everyone's minds,but Best Buy has CWC25 boxes on clearance