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We just completed an 8-day cruise on the Odyssey and we had 4 sea days. As you can imagine, the chair hogs were out in full force but Odyssey’s staff were ready. Each pool area had at least two attendants that worked all day long…They were tagging all unoccupied chairs and removing the items if the person didn’t return in time. They were using little yellow stickies to mark the time they placed the tag, the number of chairs and they placed the tag on the chair in a location the person would not notice. The staff got lots of thanks and I only witness one upset lady…She came back three hours later and was upset her stuff was removed. Way to go Royal!!!

I've always defended @Matt when someone claimed he was being a princess. Now I'm not so sure.

So, where are we going ? Not that it matters, of course…. 5 ports of call: Puerto Plata, DR (day #3), St Thomas (day #4), Antigua (day #5), Grenada (day #6) and St Kitts (day #7). We will be doing 2 excursions on this sailing (very unusual for us). We will be swimming with the stingrays in Antigua and taking a familiarization tour in Grenada since we’ve never been there. Dan is strutting about in his underwear with the curtains open, violating the #1 rule of interior view rooms, “thou shalt not expose thyself”. I did quickly pulled the curtains together but I’m sure it would have been too late for anyone looking up. He truly does NOT give a flying fu##. . Hopefully being up on 8 will protect everyone ! This is gonna be a fun cruise. I LOVE our Cap ! I couldn’t make out his first name but his last name is Mortensen (from northern Norway). He offered an unambiguous threat to all of the pool lounge chair hogs ! He said, “These chairs do not belong to you. They ALL belong to ME”. I love it ! He sounds like a fun guy.

As I’ve already mentioned, boarding was very timely and efficient. We stopped by our mustard (sic) station on the way in and got that out of the way. Then straight over to the specialty dining kiosk near the dining room to make our specialty rezzies. No one else in line…easy peasy. Woohoo ! On our way up to our room to sneak the keys off the stateroom door, we ran into Gigi, the Suites Concierge. I asked her if there were any Pinnacle exclusions to the Suite Lounge. Very sheepishly, she said, “Yes. Only the top 30 allowed in the Concierge Lounge” (EX STILL has not converted their Concierge Lounge to a Suites Lounge despite the fact that they underwent a dry dock fairly recently. Why ??). She continued, “If your key works, you’re allowed in”. My heart sank as I’m certain that we would be excluded. I’ve been waiting for this to happen. It was just a matter of time. “oh well” I tell myself. It’s not the end of the world. Truly, the Crown Lounge is actually nicer than the Suites/Concierge Lounge on this ship since the Concierge Lounge is still, inexplicably, located in an uninspired inside room on deck 9 while the Crown Lounge is up in the Viking Crown are with an ocean view. “We’ll be fine”, I said, as I choked back the tears of disappointment. So I went and snatched the keys from the door (we’re right by the elevators on deck 8 so I was and out like a special forces recon team. Nobody saw me come or go (except for security, of course)). Even though I knew it was a waste of time, I told Dan that we had to try the key to see if it would open the Concierge Lounge door. I held my breath. I slipped the key in. I heard the “click” that the lock makes when it magically unlocks the door. The light blinked. I couldn’t believe our luck ! Our successful record for Suites Lounge access was still intact ! Yippee ! Now…are we in the top 30 Pinnacles ? That’s a big “no” unless there are only 29 Pinnacles on board ! So either it’s a one-time lock glitch OR Gigi was hedging her bet. I guess we’ll find out the next time I try to get in ! I got my cappuccino, and a stale lemon cookie and we waited in the [absolutely deserted] Concierge Lounge until it was time for lunch. For those who need to know (Mike ? …the tag-thing isn’t working !) here are some pix of the unimpressive treats in the Lounge for embarkation. Poor Dan. He’s all alone in the Lounge !

I enjoy Quantum class because they are different. I've sailed four of them and mostly to bucket list destinations like Alaska, Hawaii and New Zealand. Oasis class, until Icon came about, have always been in a league of their own and can't be compared to any other ship class. Oasis and now Icon are very wide ships, much wider than all other classes of ship. It's the extra width that allows things like Central Park and Boardwalk. On any other platform without the extra width it's not practical to install these areas without removing all guest cabins in those areas. Removing guest cabins to add more venues and features isn't practical for any cruise line. Oasis class are much larger ships at 225,000+ GT while Quantum class are around 168,000 GT. That extra 30% of space allows them to put more venues and areas on Oasis class. Why doesn't Radiance class have ice skating rinks and zip lines and central park and boardwalk and aqua theaters and so on? Because Radiance class is one third the size of Oasis class and obviously you can't put the same features and venues on a ship that doesn't have the space for them. The Windjammer on Quantum class is my favorite across the fleet. I really dislike the Windjammer on Oasis class. The food stations are all over the place with some on the side and some around the corner on the back. It's really hard to find seating on Oasis class Windjammers at peak times. Oasis class Windjammers are truly jammers slammed with people. Some Quantum class Windjammers have outdoor seating which I love. The lack of waterslides is known before booking. It appears odd to me to complain they are missing. That's like buying a sedan then complaining it's not a 4x4 pick up truck. Given where most Quantum class are deployed waterslides are impractical. It's okay not to like something but that doesn't justify calling it a dud. Royal's next class of ship, Discovery class, is not going to be a mini Oasis class ship. They too will be much smaller ships that won't have the space for all Oasis class features. Like Quantum class the smaller footprint will allow them to sail into ports that Oasis class can't fit into. That's kind of the point. They will be different too. Different doesn't make them duds. Oasis and Icon class ships are the destination and the ports you visit are less important. If the itinerary is boring it doesn't matter because the ship is as much the destination as the itinerary may be. Other classes of ships can visit more unique ports of call where mega ships can't sail. When visiting these areas the ship isn't the destination as much as the ports of call are the destination. Anthem out of Bayonne was a perfect pairing with two sea days down the coast and two sea days on the way back home in the cold Atlantic ocean where few would be using waterslides most of the time. The indoor family pool means kids are not trying to sneak into the adult only solarium pools on those colder sea days in winter months. What I love best of all my 14 Quantum class cruises are the memories of the destinations. Alaska, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand for example. Greek islands and Europe for Odyssey is a great summer pairing. I like that Royal's fleet is diverse and not just ships that are variations of the same thing. With research I can choose a ship that fits my needs based on the region I'll be sailing. I suggest doing more research next time and avoid booking a ship that doesn't have features that are important to you.

Had to make this borderline obnoxious post somewhere… woohoo! +

I struggled with whether to do a live blog for these 3 rather mundane EX cruises but I decided to give it a go. I even have some photos ! Shock, I know….these might be the only photos you get but at least there will be some ! Absolutely nothing interesting to report about our drive in. Left Port St Lucie at 5:30AM and arrived at the parking garage (finally….more about that in a minute) at 8:00. Since we had an 8:00 reservation, right on time. We normally do not plan to arrive quite THAT early, but since we have a couple of “firsts” on this trifecta, plus, it being a weekday, we decided to leave a bit early. In the end, it was a very good thing we did.

So what “firsts” are we doing on this cruise ? 1. First time ever parking offsite. The second “first” (how confusing is that ???) is really just a subset of the #1. This is the first time we have used Premier Parking in Miami. 2. The only other “first” has nothing to do with boarding day - we will be calling on Grenada for the first time ever. Rare for us to have a new Caribbean port, but we do. As a matter of fact, we will be calling twice b/c our third cruise in this trilogy is identical to the first so we will be visiting twice.

I'm baaaaack on a ship! I'm traveling on the cheap this time and solo, so join me as I people watch and make the most of my 20 days at sea courtesy of Casino Royale

Today was Puerto Plata and we did the Ocean World Sea Lion Encounter & Snorkeling with sharks and Lunch. This is one of the best excursions we have ever taken. I have lots of pix but of course, they are not yet on my iPad so I will have to post them later. We had soooo much fun and saw so many awesome critters. Ocean World is a Dominican Sea World -an Aqua park with shows and exhibitions. I was very surprised to find it was very well maintained and well organized. I have been to aqua parks before in other countries that were…well….sad. But this one is not. It was thoroughly enjoyable. There were dolphin and sea lion shows as well as the shark encounter and multiple snorkeling/swimming aquariums. There were aviary enclosures (small but fun). There was a beachfront swimming area as well as fresh water pools. Some of the interactions were additional $$ (dolphins, in our case since we paid for the sea lions and shark interactions) but we did not pay for anything more than our original excursion included and we had a blast ! Lunch was a pretty typical Caribbean buffet….nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t bad….but was very busy ! Transportation from the port was in a big, comfortable, air conditioned bus….may 15 minutes from the port, fast, efficient and well organized. I will definitely recommend this excursion or the one like it that included the dolphin interaction. This excursion wasn’t cheap. It was nearly $200 PP but you got a lot for your money and I think it was worth the cost. We go on VERY few excursions. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the ship. The bus left the port area at 8:30 and we got back at 2:00 so it’s a very full day and there’s lots to do.

Dan and I hit a Royal Flush on video poker tonite ! Woohoo. Too bad we were only playing a quarter. …but it made us much healthier than we were ! He will definitely make Prime on this cruise as he’s more than halfway there and this is only night 3 of 9. Yikes. Sorry this picture is so big ! About 5 minutes ago we had an Alpha, Alpha, Alpha call come over the stateroom speakers. I don’t recall them usually making that announce inside the rooms. It is for a passenger cabin on deck 12. I hope whoever it is will be ok.

Last food pic (although I brought home enough ranger cookies for a few more days, lol)…

My phone and iPad finally synched, so I have some photos from Antigua and Grenada. Let’s see how this goes. I’ve had some trouble spacing them and inserting text. I’m terrible at this stuff. This is the floating platform in Antigua for the stingray swim. It made the entire experience so much better than in Grand Cayman. It was much easier to get into and out of the water These mysterious blobs are obviously stingrays. They are so docile and sweet. You can almost see the tail ! This is St George, Grenada with Explorer in the background. I really liked Grenada. Nice people, beautiful island, shitty roads. Obviously, I’m having a bad hair day. The town of St George really reminds me of Curaçao, which is one of my very favorite places. This town just looks so quaint. Shamefully, I got very few photos of Ft Frederick. These monkeys are native to the island and I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know their proper species name. We caught a fleeting glance at one in the rain forest. …and finally, the waterfall at Annandale. Very beautiful place. Kinda like a cenote in Mexico.

Lol. Um….no. I think Mario is a few cruises ahead of us ….but we are very proud of the way we have fulfilled our “lifestyle” dream/plan to move to FL to cruise MORE. It has truly worked out just the way we planned it. I documented the entire move in an old thread from 2020 but I don’t know how to copy the link so anyone that wants to read it will have to sleuth it out. It’s entitled “House Recon”…something something…. Actually, there are 2 S2S following these 3 EX cruises. We have 1 day in dry dock (4-28) then board FR for 4 days, then 2 days in dry dock followed by 7 nights on WN (5-5)….nearly 6 weeks of cruising ! Things slow down after that !

White night & formal night table pictures. I have a funny smile in the white night pic because the lady at the next table took it and didn't really tell us when, so I got smile fatigue. And my son's eyes are closed for the same reason.

I used the Facebook group's slot pull as an excuse to take a break from my work and leave my room. But I got there too late and they had already started so I played a little video poker instead and I'm up $25 for the cruise and have 28 casino points despite not wearing red undergarments Since it was 2:30 and I have 5:30 early seating in MDR, of course I went to the WJ before it closes at 3:00. They had shrimp pad thai...burger bun for reference.

Sushi at Izumi tonite. For some reason, they brought Dan 2 full portions (8 pieces X 2 = 16 pieces !) of sushi when they normally only bring half that amount….OMG we are stuffed ! …and we are both dying of thirst now after all that soy sauce ! I got 2 rolls that were the normal size but I still had too much. I don’t know how he ate everything he did…God bless ‘im. We hit another $1000 jackpot on video poker….this time we hit 4 deuces on Deuces wild but luckily this time we were playing for $1 so it paid $1000. I totally forgot to take a picture this time. We were both so stunned ! Believe it or not, we are both still slightly “down” since we both had abysmal casino sessions on day 2….but it’s not horrible now with the 2 big (for us) wins last night and tonite. Tomorrow is Antigua. We’re swimming with the stingrays somewhere. We don’t have to meet our excursion until noon so we don’t have to worry about an early wake-up. Good !

And he would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling bloggers !

Loyal to Royal?!? Not so fast, here comes Princess Matt!

So here I am, blogging while gazing out at the Promenade, while Dan is doing the first of many, I’m sure, saunas. The man loves his steam room and sauna. I can’t stay in a hot sauna for more than 60 seconds. My poor, thin, white skin just rebels. ….which brings me to our stateroom info. We are in a Promenade view interior room on deck 8. It is the highest level (in elevation, I mean) of this category and so far, it is VERY quiet. We’ve been in this category a few times and truly, we’ve had some noise issues in the past - mostly related to shenanigans on the Promenade. But not so, this time -at least, not yet ! I’m always surprised at how OK I am with this stateroom category, once I’m settled in. I dread it until I get here and then I’m like - “This isn’t so bad”. Small ? Sure. …and the drawer space is very limited but we always manage to get everything put away and I’m sitting on the love seat, looking out the winder (sic) overlooking the Promenade and thinking how lucky I am to be here. This cruise is a 100% casino comp. As a matter of fact, I actually downgraded our offer (it was originally for an ocean view) to get this category rather than some porthole room down on decks 3 or 4. Knowing what I know now, I would probably have upgraded the OV offer for one of the panoramic OV cabins on the front of the ship but at the time that I made this booking, I had never stated in one of those panoramic OV cabins so I was woefully ignorant of that option. I’m ok with this room though. I did put in a RU bid for one of the panoramic OV rooms but didn’t win . Not to worry ! Cruise #3 (4-19) IS one of the panoramic OV cabins so I will get to enjoy it, but not for 2 more weeks ! We will be in this room for the first 2 cruises (14 days) and will move to the panoramic OV on the final one of the B3B.

On a recent sailing I was leaning over the rear of the ship admiring the wake. I was approached by the Captain and given a Stern warning.

Last night my handcuff beastie didn't show for dinner. Neither did scuba boy (who apparently won 2nd place at the belly flop competition). So it was just chatty Alaska and her new friend that she invited to join us. What killed me last night is Alaska made it a point to sit in the chair next to where handcuffs had sat the first 2 nights so she could talk to her, leaving her new friend on the complete opposite side of the table by herself. Then her friend's salmon was overcooked and that was a whole thing. I think I lost my voice from saying, "Thanks, everything was great" eleventh five hundred times to every random crew member that had to stop by the table because the salmon was dry. Alaska won't eat seafood on cruises because she catches and cooks her own and it is much better, which I don't doubt at all and didn't doubt any of the 10 times she mentioned it

Wonderland for dinner

WJ shrimp & ribs for lunch. Really not bad by WJ standards. Now sitting in a very windy & empty ELF for perhaps my last tacos of the cruise.

To the room... There are so few rooms in this little loop and it's behind a door so likely to be pretty quiet. The wifi is fast in the room too From the decor it appears this is a bunch of newer rooms perhaps? It definitely looks different from my last room here: Got my C&A amenity.. Even the bathroom is a different tone from the last one..

Day 3 was pretty slow. Woke up at 9:27 so missed our breakfast for the first time on this trip. Had to go to you-know-where and was NOT happy about it. On EX, they use Chops as overflow seating for the WJ so that’s where we sat. I just got some fruit and a bowl of grits. Happy to get in and out quickly. it was a zoo. I did my usual morning routine - up to the CL for a cappuccino, then down to the computer lounge, which is right around the corner from our room on Deck 8. Rozel always cleans our room while we are on our morning walk-about but she got a late start today since we totally dicked up her schedule by sleeping in. I’m sure she was cursing us but still all smiles when we saw her in the hallway. I don’t deserve such good service. Today is a sea day; on our way to Falmouth. Since it’s the first (of 2) sea day, it is the traditional day for the Top Tier event. For some completely unknown reason, EX has the TTE at 5:00 ! What a lame time to do it ! Early diners have dinner at 5:00. We totally missed the TTE on the first leg but went today. I’m guessing there were maybe 20 people there ? It was embarrassing, TBH. They usually have the TTE on the first sea day at 10:30, followed immediately by the TT (Cheers with an officer) luncheon. That makes SO much more sense than doing it like they did it here. Of course, no luncheon on this shorty 5 night cruise so I really just DO NOT understand doing the TTE at 5:00. We visited both the CL and the SL during Happy Hour today - first time on this trip. The CL was D.E.D. The SL was much busier, which surprised me. I thought it would be reversed. Shows how much I know…. I took some pix but, as you all know by now, must wait for the pix to populate on my iPad. Gigi, the Suites Concierge, is leaving tomorrow in Jamaica for vacation. Not sure who will be taking her place. No casino today or tonite. I won a little at Ultimate last night but are being lazy today and staying in. Kinda nice, actually. We went to the ice show last night. We always enjoy the ice show no matter which ship it is. Sorry…nothing really interesting to report - oh wait ! I met @JustMeJoe last night ! That was very cool. Looking forward to chatting more since we also have the next cruise together.

27 days to go....... Since I made my brother prime, he gets a nice number of monthlies. Usually, they match with mine but of lesser value. Most of my offers are OVs and my brothers are interiors or "1 complimentary guest." It works out the same for us moneywise, but gets us double point, so we booked 2 sperate rooms for the first two sailings as the upgrade option is just OV when you combine. I hate OV so I will often just take the interiors, in this case the first two sailings are GTY. I normally prefer an aft cabin and to pick my own, but I also like a cheap sailing. I really spend minimal time in my room, so location takes a backseat to savings. My brother was excited about his first B2B and then he decided it would be nice to bring our mother along. She of course is sharing a room with him . But she didn't have enough vacation time to do all three, so she will just join us for the first two. We are gifting this as her Mother's Day present. For the first cruise, check-in opened on the 28th of March I believe. The earliest slot was 11am, which wasn't a big deal because we are flying in the day of......first flight out as usual. I never recommend this, but I have insurance and live in hub city, meaning there are usually 3-4 flights after mine that will get me there. Which brings me to a side rant: there used to be more flights. I remember when there were flights between 8pm-10pm that went to Mia, MCO and FLL. Now the last flight is often around 6:45 to 7pm, which is not ideal when flying with my mother who has church until at least 3pm and requires another couple of hours to be ready. So 5am flights are what I have to deal with, and the sucky part is my preferred airline makes those the most expensive flights. So even though I complain and say I hope to never fly them again, I am often stuck with SWA...... and their crappy boarding procedure . I don't know if 10/10:30 opened up, I didn't bother to check. We will be on the ship for 11 days so I can care less about getting an earlier time. Plus, there are no reservations required for Freedom class entertainment. My brother brought his own snorkeling gear, the price for snorkeling all day at PDCC is like $50 on sale now . No ecursions are planned. I used the barcode trick as soon as I checked in and I was able to see our room assignments. For the first leg we are on deck 3 in rooms #3253 and 3251. On the second leg we are on Deck 2 in rooms #2567 and 2569. I chose my own room for the last leg with deck 9 and room #9391. I was happy that the rooms were assigned so close to each other. We have traditional dining for all three legs at 8:30.........which will probably be 8 in most cases. Since the reservations are linked, they should sit us together at a smaller table, if we are assigned to an 8-top I will request a different table. My brother doesn't want people judging him as he eats all his meals. I will not be pre-purchasing anything. I get 2 free days as D+ and then can use my prime discount on the remainder. I will also be using my BOGO. There will be the B2B'rs lunch so I will take advantage of that to avoid the WJ. Plus, we will do embarkation day lunch at Playmakers. I plan to prepack each leg in its own packing cube. I am also bringing a ton of casino-friendly snacks as I have a 2025 S2S2S or B2B2B to plan. I am following @AshleyDillo advice and bring specific clothes for the casino, so the rest don't get smoky.

So things really did pick up at Hideaway after my last post. By the time we left the place was packed. The music finally got to me….and I tagged out. Will I go back ? Probably not. There is very little at Hideaway that I could not get elsewhere on the island for -0- $$. 1. Hideaway pool is heated. I liked that…but I was still chilly when I got out of the water. 2. Dan said the choice of alcohol was better at Hideaway. E.g, he likes Grey Goose for his Bloody Mary and he said he couldn’t get that on the “regular” side. I have no idea since I’ve never had a [alcohol] drink at PDCC 3. Padded chairs and couches. I don’t recall seeing that outside of the Beach Club. Maybe they are somewhere that I haven’t seen. 4. No kids Other than these few things, the “regular “ side and Hideaway are the same (to me). We each had a crispy chicken/mozz sticks sandwich and I had 1/2 of a fried dough ball with powdered sugar on it (can’t think of what it’s called). Pretty tasty.

Lost $45 today but I won’t cry too much as I’m still “up” slightly for the first leg. I just have keep this momentum going for 2 more weeks ! I earned enough points for a comp cert myself although it’s the lowest level comp cert so the pickin’s are pretty slim. Most likely I will still use the cash value to upgrade Dans comp but I purchased a Next Cruise future cert so I will have the choice to book from the very short list of offered cruises if we choose to do that. We picked a 10 night EX in March 25 for Dans comp. I won’t be able to book it until tomorrow so I hope there are still some of the pano ocean views left by the time I get around to booking. I’ll take care of that while we’re in port on TAD. Dan enjoyed his lamb shank and I had the spaghetti in the MDR. I love that they put the Pinns at window tables (at least, whenever they can). It’s a nice perk. Also, on EX, Pinns have priority seating for MTD so the waiting is minimal. They told us to just go straight to the podium and that’s what we did. I will say, the MTD lines have been longer on EX than they had been on some of the other cruises we’ve taken recently. The priority seating was particularly nice on this cruise. We have the same room for leg #2 so we don’t have to pack - thank goodness ! So nice to be staying on when you see everyone else’s luggage outside and you are still snuggled in your stateroom ! It’s a great feeling. Stand by for Part II !

If you are trying to effect change for future builds, all you can really do is log the suggestion/complaint. There really are no next steps there. If you want to switch to a room that's guaranteed to have the bed setup you desire on your future sailing, you need to pay for the upgraded room.

Pretty lazy day today. Sea day. Spent a fair amount of time in the casino and happy to say that my upward trend ($$) is continuing. Nothing to crow about, just slightly “up” each time I go in there. Up is better than down ! Dan hit his goal of 3000 points so he made Prime and will get an instant comp reward. Whatever points I have (currently at a little over 1000), I will use to upgrade his comp offer with my otherwise useless $$ off reward. It was Royal night in the MDR. We both ordered the lobster as an appetizer since that portion is pretty small. I ordered the chicken Marsala as my main course and Dan ordered some curry shrimp dish (can’t remember the name). Both were very good. I will give my little Promenade view room some kudos (8311, 2T). I truly believe that this room is the quietest room we’ve ever had. It’s far enough aft to avoid the Promenade noise and there is absolutely no noise at all associated with the elevators. It’s very, very quiet and I love being so close to the aft elevators. We’ve been very comfortable in this room, which is a good thing since we will be here again on the next leg (5 nights, 4-14). For leg #3 (4-19), we have to move.

We’re pulling into St Thomas 2.5 hours early (Crown Bay). It’s 9:30 and we aren’t scheduled to arrive until noon. The Cap made an announcement that we pushed to get here early due to a medical emergency so I’m assuming it’s related to the AAA we heard last night, but that’s pure speculation. We are scheduled to leave at 8 PM. Strange schedule. We’re not getting off today in St Thomas but this remains one of my favorite ports as far as the view is concerned. It’s truly lovely here. Now that my expensive jewelry-buying days are behind me (thank goodness) I have little reason to disembark. …but for those of you who are still IN their expensive jewelry-buying days, St Thomas is an excellent choice. Today is my first W&F laundry day for this cruise. You’ll all be happy to hear that I have achieved a new “personal best” by stuffing 24 pieces into that W&F bag. I just keep getting better and better ! . I have begun using the “rolling” technique and it’s proving to be a game-changer ! So, today is doomsday for those who care. Apparently we will be treated to the partial solar eclipse at approximately 2:44 PM. Since NASA will be firing 2 rockets into the atmosphere, willy nilly and CERN has decided that it would be a great time to push the world’s most powerful particle accelerator to its maximum power for the first time in history, it should be interesting. I’m fully expecting the black hole to materialize whereupon the demons of hell will be transiting to our dimension. That should be fun. Put on the Armor of God and all should be fine. (I’m only partially kidding) Sitting in the CL as we dock in St Thomas. I’m very surprised at how few people are here in the mornings. We avoid all lounges in the evenings so I have no idea how things are in them during the happy hours. I guess I should pop in an evening or 2 just to report out.

Continuing day 2. Today is the first full sea day and is traditionally the day that they have the Top Tier Event and the Cheer With an Officer luncheon. Typically, they have the Top Tier event at 10:30 followed by the Cheers luncheon at 11:45/12:00. For some reason, today, the TTE was held at 5:00PM. The Cheers luncheon went as expected at 11:45. There must have been some kind of scheduling conflict for the morning TTE but if there was, we never heard what it was. The Cheers luncheon was typical; the food was surprisingly good. The event was held in the MDR, deck 4. The Pinns were on the port side of the dining room and the D+ were on the starboard side. Dan and I both had the clam chowder and filet. Lots of wine was poured. We skipped dessert as we usually do. We did manage to nap past the beginning of the TTE (most likely due to the wine consumption !) so we skipped it. Since our lunch was so filling, we decided to change our second BOGO reservation (Chops) from 6:00 until 8:15 which is very late for us, but we both knew we would not be ready to eat another big meal so soon. Looking forward to that, but no way will I eat another steak as I had a half of a filet yesterday for lunch and a filet today. I am actually not much of a steak eater so I’m “steak-out” right now. Probably get the shrimp. Tonite is formal night but we left the tux at home (intentionally) so we will relax the formal attire this time. Things have been pretty positive so far in the casino, which has been surprisingly slow. I expected lots of gamblers to be on this cruise and so far, there hasn’t been much evidence of that. Since we have now started a new casino year, I thought everyone would be scrambling to make Prime right away. That has been Dan’s plan and he’s succeeding nicely. I have decided to wait and make my “push” on our Wonder cruise in May. We are both pretty much dead even (money-wise) but of course, he has accumulated far more points than I have, which is by design. I may have spoken too quickly about the internet performance. Suddenly it is sluggish and has kicked me out twice today. Probably a gap in the Starlink coverage or some such thing. Hoping for a return to the robust service we had yesterday.

Overheard in the Crown Lounge tonight: "If I die, I want to die on a cruise ship. Throw me in the furnace and get another mile out of the ship." Not sure that's how it works, sir.

You are a shenanigans magnet for sure! I'm fortunate that I don't get unsolicited conversations from random most of the time..just the way I like it. Although last night when I was walking around the casino this vintage came up to me out of nowhere right up into my face and asked me how to use the slot machines. Before I knew it I was showing her how to set her PIN number and charge to her room. Then she asked me how she gets a drink and I told her to look for the servers as they roamed. Then I offered to get her a drink at the bar and she took me up on the offer

It's been amazing so far everywhere I've tried it. This is from the Crown Lounge. And since I'm here..snacks for @OCSC Mike

I got up super early this morning to make the 4 hour drive to Tampa from Tallahassee. No need for a hotel the night before this way. Not the best driving conditions..but the rain cleared up once I arrived.

I wasn't going to book Utopia, but with new seats in the terminal, I'm booking STAT!

Finally made it home. We left ship around 730ish with wonderful Norman and Kenny concierge escort. On road before 8am and arrived home after 500 plus miles of driving around 430pm. I’m smoked and have added joy of work tomorrow. Did I mention I wish I was retired? awesome week with getting to meet @OCSC Mike and his lovely bride and seeing matt briefly twice. Wonder is just an awesome ship. Crew killed it as always. Royal for the win! Next cruise is icon in August. y’all thanks for following our posts.

Our wonderful TA from MEI, Jennifer, gave us and my parents a bottle of wine and a cheese and fruit plate. She gave the kids some cupcakes. So we are stuffed from two meals in the last 5 hours, and we have a whole cake, cupcakes, and cheese/fruit plates in our rooms. We need an @OCSC Mike in our bathtub to help us eat it all.

Lost internet for a little while. Storm seems to be letting up but now the Solarium has become a mild flood zone, lol. Not sure where the water is coming from but there’s almost inch-deep water flowing in front of our loungers by the windows. Saw at least one flip flop float by.

Starting this one EARLY but there is a reason, and the title hints at that. Before my cruise I have a week long figure skating competition coming up and thought it'd be fun to share here - something a little different. I'm 42 days out from my first Royal Caribbean cruise, and my 3rd ever cruise. Previously I've cruised solo on NCL (very similar itinerary to this one) in 2018, and with P&O Cruises in 2017 around France and Spain. This time though, I'm bringing a friend! He's never cruised before so it's all brand new to him. About Us We're both 34, I've known Jamie since we were 10 and this will be our third holiday together, one of which was a big trip to Orlando for Disney and Universal in 2022. We were tempted by a Bahamas cruise then, but it proved too costly to change hotel reservations, and with the testing requirements still in place we didn't want to risk it. We enjoy eating, drinking and exploring new places. One other thing to note is I am visually impaired - I have no peripheral vision past my shoulders and very poor depth perception, spatial awareness and pretty non-existent night vision. So this blog will touch on that side of my experiences a lot. Our itinerary May 10th - Fly from MAN to BCN on Jet2, check into the NH Collection Gran Calderon hotel and explore Barcelona May 11th - A full day in Barcelona. We have tickets for La Sagrada Familia but no other solid plans May 12th - CRUISE DAY! We've got an 11am boarding time so will be able to check out of the hotel and head straight to the port. May 13th - Palma: No solid plan here, we've both visited previously so we'll see what we feel like doing on the day. May 14th - At Sea May 15th - La Spezia: Current plan is to rent a car and drive to Pisa, possibly visiting Lucca as well. May 16th - Rome: We've booked a tour with Driver In Rome to see the sights. Really looking forward to this, it'll be my 3rd time in Rome but I love the city so was happy to go back. May 17th - Naples: Another tour booked here with Driver in Rome to Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano May 18th - At Sea May 19th - I'll have a full on case of Post-Cruise Blues as we disembark back in Barcelona and fly home. Our Cabin We're currently booked into a GTY Oceanview Balcony. The barcode trick says we're in 10174. As I'm a complete newbie to Royal I have no idea whether this is a good cabin, but with cabins above and below on the deck plan, I'm happy. However... I've sent my friend the info about RoyalUp for an Ultra Spacious Ocean View with Large Balcony and a Junior Suite... much as I'd love a Grand Suite for the perks, the budget doesn't stretch that far for this UK cruiser. I'll see what he says and we may put the minimum bid on one or both of those rooms, purely for the space. We're both overpackers and I love dressing up on cruises as my first was with a very traditional line where dressing for dinner was the norm. I enjoy that aspect so will be bringing lots of dresses and shoes. Jamie also dresses smartly even for a casual dinner and has alluded to bringing a tuxedo or 2 for formal nights... I'll write in more detail about our plans on and off the ship tomorrow, as well as where I'm at with packing, and skating competition stuff. Here's a photo of us in Orlando Vicki

UGH. I had this witty and VERY lengthy post ALL done and was about to hit "submit" and LUCKILY I checked to be sure I was in the right thread and lo and behold I was NOT, so I lost the entire thing ! I blame @OCSC Mike. He told me to shut up with the negativity and get on with my blog for Grenada and SO I DID....but in the wrong thread. (Mike, you know I'm just teasing you. This was TOTALLY my fault). Anyway, I am in no mood to recreate that masterpiece so I will summarize Day 7/Grenada. Island - awesome. Tour (Grand Etang, Annandale falls and Fort Frederick....or some name similar to that) - excellent coverage of the island. WAAAYTOOO long. The roads are treacherous - narrow and bumpy. We hit every f'n bump on Grenada. Both Dan and I were never happier to get to the end of a tour. Enjoyed seeing the island though. I do have some photos but as with Antigua, they are on my phone and I have to get it to synch with my ipad (which may or may not happen)....so will post later. Dinner last night at Chops. Excellent as always. Casino - More good luck. Keep up the prayers - they are working ! We hit a "Major" (second to the highest) jackpot in Dancing Drums (close to, but not quite, $1000). Dan is still in the "hole" but I am now out of that damned hole ! YIPPEE ! Today - St Kitts but we are staying on the ship. Dinner tonite at Giovannis, which is our last specialty meal on this leg. We will be dining in the MDR on lobster and lamb shank nights. Thank goodness I finally remembered to verify that the ship knows that we are going to be staying on for 2 more sailings. Vanessa, the CL Concierge checked for us. They already knew we were staying on for next leg but they did not know that we were staying on for #3 (4-19). Now they do. WHEW. A new personal best for laundry-cramming. I got 29 pieces in this morning ! ECLIPSED (see what I did there ?) my previous best of 24. I am really getting good at this !

Johnny Rockets for breakfast today, Escape room & Playmakers for lunch. These are the best onion rings I've ever had in my whole life. We were stuffed after lunch so will go back later for dessert. After breakfast, I went on the water slide with the bowl. Wanted to do flow rider but ran out of time. We missed winning the Escape Room by about 10 seconds. We literally just had to get a second person to press one button to finish the whole thing. We only used one clue and should have asked earlier for a second and third. My parents had never done an escape room and had no idea what was going on. My kids did a fantastic job figuring stuff out. I was the queen of pointing out when I thought something would be important but then letting others jump in to actually solve that thing

Another super busy day. Summary here, then I'll try to come back with more detail tomorrow during a sea day. We did our two tank dive in Curacao. Saw four giant turtles, so many fish and I'm pretty sure I saw a small shark, swimming away from us thankfully. We'll again have pics from the Go Pro and the guide said he'd email some. Got back a little later than expected and needed lunch so I had my first EVER El Loco Fresh! And yes, I mixed the Cholula Chipotle into the guac which gave it a nice kick & better flavor BUT I still couldn't get past the texture (same reason I can't eat mushrooms). Best part- there was NO LINE. Every day, the line is back to/past the ice cream machines, but not today during a port day. After we ate & showered, we still had an hour and a half until dinner (and two until all aboard) so we walked over the Queen Emma Bridge to Orobanda and tried to go to the Nena Sanchez gallery but it had closed already. The area is so cute and was worth the walk! Then a quick dinner in the MDR. I found my lemon tart to be perfect. I've seen a few others comment that it wasn't lemony enough or was too lemony, but I felt they found the right balance with the one I had Then we went to our rescheduled pickleball lesson which was fantastic. I actually understand how to play the game now! However, my mom got a bad blister on her toe yesterday which is causing pain so she "audited" the class (she sat & watched). Then we had a little down time so popped up to the WJ and enjoyed the crepe station. This was a HIGH energy burning day with all of our activities. I went there looking for a ranger cookie but I haven't seen them since day 1, and I've been looking! Then we had laser tag which was really fun. Surprisingly fun. Good vest devices, great set up, fun people. Now we're on balcony, enjoying the cooler weather and looking at the moon.

Today was Falmouth where we had picked a river tubing trip from Viator. They sent me a message yesterday to meet at 10:30am Jamaica time and I screwed up the time zone. We got there an hour early because Jamaica is on Eastern time but no daylight savings HOWEVER, my husband, who is beloved by grandmother-aged women everywhere, sweet talked the lady into letting us go with the earlier tour. There wasn't much of a description and it ended up being a bit too strenuous for my parents (although they did make it!). There was a walk to a small falls, over a wobbly plank bridge, and down a path quite a ways. Then everyone got in the water and essentially got dunked under the falls. We didn't get a great explanation, other than just "to get used to the water." It was fun for me and the kids but difficult for my parents. We went down a bunch of wet rocks which was especially hard for my dad who has had two hip replacements. The guides were absolutely fabulous. Helping and joking in a way that did not make him feel bad. There were people of all ages and sizes on the tour and all of the guides were phenomenal with everyone. They kept calling my dad Papi which he got a kick out of. So after the waterfall dunking, we backtracked a little bit and got in our tubes. Oh, we had to carry our own tubes all the way down the long path with us too, including over the wobble bridge. Each group had one guide with them and we each held our neighbor's tube with one hand to make a circle. We floated all the way down this river, some parts very calm and some parts with small rapids. My mom started to feel unwell here and thinks it was because of the helmet pushing her neck in a weird way and it made her nauseous. There was one place to stop and get out and jump into the river from a platform. My son did a flip. Towards the end, we switched to a raft and paddled into the ocean/bay where we pulled up at a beach. Once we got in the raft, my mom was able to take off the helmet and started to feel better after that We walked all the way down the beach to a place with a bar and tables and a lifeguard. The beach & ocean here were absolutely beautiful. My son has been very interested in alcohol and asking if he can try stuff. We know officially we can't on the boat, but we kind of feel at home that if we let him have a sip of stuff here and there generally with family, European style, he might be less likely to do it in an unsafe way. So he was curious about the offerings at the bar, and I said - I wonder what the drinking age is in Jamaica. Then my husband said to the bartender, my son wants to know what the drinking age in Jamaica is and the bartender asks my son, how old are you. My son - "14". Bartender- "then 14!" So we got one Red Stripe beer for my husband and I to split and let him have a few small drinks of it. Later at dinner, he asked me, "why do people even drink beer? It's not like it tastes good." We had no wifi or cell coverage so only took 1 phone along and didn't use it to take pictures. My husband had a go pro but we don't have a computer to download to videos until we get home.

FYI: onboard by 10:20 with no special access credentials (key, suite exc) and a late boarding time. Red stripe # 1 at 11am. Very efficient boarding in Miami!

My parents went to the thing today and actually had to sign an NDA. So they haven't even told US what it was about.

Ok, we are on the ship. It has been a day! In addition to the horrible weather mentioned in @OCSC Mike and @GatorCruiser's blog, there was a VIP & Secret Service shut down of the port from 11am-noon. Traffic came to a grinding halt. For. An. Hour. My parents made it in just before and said nothing was moving and all baggage attendants were just sitting around with nothing to do. We were stuck in our Uber. The poor Uber driver had to just sit with us for that whole time. We tipped him well! I'll do a series of short posts as I'm able to try to recap our day. I don't plan on posting our MDR dinner options - I figure the menu has been the same for a year and people have probably seen all of the options by now. We did have lunch at Jamie's so I've got those (y'all are going to be so sick of my new toy - the collage!) Appys Mains Desserts (we all shared):