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My wife and I have been slowly working on this all summer. You'll notice some of the places are cruise inspired. Finally completed and added to our yard last weekend. We haven't been on a cruise in a year, so this will help remind us of the good times we've had, until we can travel again. P.S. pictures were taken quickly on my phone

I can see it two weeks from now... @kimberussell has gotten over the buzzkill of getting off the ship for the last time. She's finally back into her routine, and has some friends over for dinner Saturday. She serves them a new soup they've never had before, and all rave about it. An hour later, as they're sitting and chatting, one of them comments, "I think I'm buzzed from this soup." And @kimberussell smiles quietly to herself.

A wise man named @Matt once said..."ask nicely, all they can say is no". I recently took this advice while on the Harmony group cruise. As many of you know the Diamond Plus and Suite guests are invited on complimentary tours. As a Diamond member I have received a couple behind the scenes tours, but really wanted to do the Bridge Tour on Harmony. I visited the Loyalty Ambassador and explained that I was still 2 cruises away from D+, but was interested in the Bridge Tour if they had any cancellations. She explained that there was plenty of room for me to go since it fell on a port day. The tour is only about 20 minutes, but I was very excited about visiting the bridge and especially on the World's largest cruise ship. There was lots of interesting facts shared by the officers. Here are just a couple things. 1. There are over 1400 cameras installed around the ship. Obviously none in the cabins or restrooms. 2. At Harmony's top speed of 25 knots, she can come to a complete stop in 1.4 miles. The tour usually consist of 15-20 people, but there were only 6 in our party. They will not let you take video, but you are welcome to take as many still shots as you like. I going to attempt to attach a few pics taken from my phone. I think this wise man also stated that another acceptable practice is to offer a piece of negotiable paper with a President's pic. LoL

Final Takeaways: Dress Code: I sweat this WAY too much. People were wearing swimsuits in Windjammer (I think as long as men wear shirts and women cover their bottoms it was allowed), shorts and polo shirts in MDR, and on formal night it looked like at least 1/3 of the MDR skipped it altogether. For formal night I was going to bring a fancy dress that I wore to a few weddings this year, but it wrinkles easily and I didn't want to fret about getting it pressed. Instead, I brought my trusty little black dress which is actually from Eastern Mountain Sports and is made of yoga pant material. Accessorized with a large scarf and bangin' shoes, it fit right in. The maxidresses I left home because I thought they would be seen as sloppy were just right for all of the other events. As far as swimsuits go, I wore a 2-piece tankini and a strappy-cute one-piece and STILL felt like Hester Prynne at times. Room: A large Ocean View cabin is completely fine for 2 people. I didn't even open up the package of magnetic hooks - everything we brought fit in the closet and drawers without a problem. My only quibble was with the shower, because no matter how I tried I ended up wetting the floor. I didn't use the drybags for our phones because at Coco Cay our chairs were right near the waterline. We also had the concierge nearby so I never felt unsafe leaving my stuff there. Food and Drink: The drink package would have been a waste of money for me. Even with a mimosa, glass of wine, and drink of the day specials, I was under the daily amount, and with the new rules in place that make both roommates buy the drink package it would have been a HUGE waste. My favorite specialty drink: Coco Loco. Least favorite: Royal Lemonade. The food in Windjammer and MDR was fantastic and I don't feel like I missed out on anything by skipping Chops. The cane: Everyone was very accommodating to Mom, pulling us to the front of lines, letting us take elevators for muster and immigration lines, etc. When elevators were crowded, our fellow passengers were kind enough to wait and let her on first. (I kept taking the stairs to work off the drinks and breads.) The kindness wasn't exclusive to RCI -- TSA agents, airport employees, immigration & customs agents all went out of their way to make her trip easier and I am ever thankful. Enchantment of the Seas: What a great ship! I think it was just the right size for us, and frankly the pictures I've seen of the larger ships are intimidating! Yes, she's showing a little wear, but no worse than any hotel would after a few years. Our dresser drawers were stiff, and the public restrooms have seen better days. We are definitely going to take another RCI cruise, but I don't know when it'll fit into my schedule. I already have a non-cruise vacation with my husband planned for next October, and I really need to visit my father (in FL, not a hardship) after the new year. Familial status: Thanks to this cruise, I think I'm solidly the favorite child until my sister-in-law brings Mom's second grandchild into the world next year. It's good to be Queen! (Mom and me. I'm on the left.) And one more time: Thank you for the encouragement and kind words. They will buoy me through this bout of post-cruise, mimosa-free depression.

Given we all know the low-ish signal to noise ratio on CruiseCritic, I'd be curious to see what percentage of people who would recommend Meraviglia were if it was filtered to only those who did do their homework before booking, instead of just looking at the cheap price tag. If it's still that low even after factoring that in, it would not be a good sign that MSC is learning the lessons they need to know in order to successfully crack the North American market. Guess I'll have to put my "numbers guy" hat on again tomorrow night, when the missus is at work and the kids are tied up with homework, and see if I can work that out!

You are so right about the mixed reviews about MSC. Currently, only 31% of people who have reviewed the Meravigilia on Cruise Critic recommend it. I think this, in part, has to do with MSC's class/experience system where you pay based on what you want your fare to include (e.g., room service, beverages, spa amenities, etc.). It seems to me that many are disappointed in part because they didn't do their research. We were scheduled to be on the Seaside for the 12/30 sailing. However, after seeing the issues MSC had with the early sailings of Meraviglia, we made a change. In addition, we weren't thrilled with the itinerary (Western Caribbean) especially since their private island was removed from the itinerary because of significant delays in its development. As a result, we ended up booking the Meraviglia out of Marseille, France instead as the airfare was only about $150 more per person and the cruise was $1500 less expensive for the same category of stateroom. We're also booked on the Meravigilia for July to Norway, but we'll reassess after our January cruise.

I work in the legal sector and nothing posted on this board can be used and/or construde illegal or sensitive as long as there isnt a direct threat in any form or fashion. Just normal conversation via posting.

@mom2mybugs, you and I are pretty much alike in our beer tastes. For me, drinking an IPA is like drinking a glass full of leaves. I much prefer the coffee and malt flavors of a rich stout or the sweetness of a good porter. Even better than those brews, I've found, are dubbels and tripels. A good tripel for with my burger, followed by a chocolate porter for dessert, and I'm in heaven! I was just at a craft beer fest here in NJ and found no less than 6 new brews I never knew existed and absolutely loved. Hopefully at least a few of them will show up at my local craft beer store in bottles.

Haha...do you guys comp me trips if I work for this blog? ;) *** (apologies to Captain Toni for calling him Chef Toni yesterday.) Day 4: I woke up on my own at 7am, which is good because we had to clear immigration at 9:30. It would have been 11:15 based on our muster station, but since we had an 11am excursion, we got to leave earlier. We got dressed and headed to our beloved windjammer for breakfast. Mom got her usual gluten free grub, I got "fruit" (chocolate covered bananas), some sweet bread with berries in it and sugar on top, a grilled tomato (good and I think something I can do at home), carved ham (apologies to yesterday's pig) and coffee. And mimosas, of course. After that we took our second cups of coffee to the pool area to watch us dock at Key West. We went to MDR at 9:30, and were trooped up the stairs, across the ship to the theater, and down those stairs. Our group was puzzled, but compliant. The very nice agent looked at our documents and cleared us to leave the ship. (background music: Neil Diamond's "America") I chose the Conch Train Tour for our excursion because it was hop-on, hop-off and that was an easy way to get Mom around town. Plus, it looks like a cute little train! What I didn't realize (I probably should have researched it more instead of gazing lovingly at port webcams) was that there is a 50 minute tour ride between Stop A and Stop B, AND that Stop B was only a few blocks away from Stop A. We were driven right by the Southernmost point buoy without the opportunity to hop off. We hopped off at B and decided to walk down Duval Street in the 85+ degree weather to the Southernmost point buoy and then walk back to Train stop C to continue on. YES my mother is still walking slowly with a cane, NO I didn't think this out, and YES I stink at map skills. My first stop was at a shack that claimed to have Best Conch Fritters. I had a 3-piece and I can verify that they are the best conch fritters I ever had. We meandered down Duval Street into and out of shops. Sloppy Joe's was full, so I mugged at the Duval Street webcam instead. My productivity is going to improve 100% once I get back to work because my second monitor will no longer have 5 webcam feeds running on it all day long. We saw the oldest (still-standing) house in Key West. I squeed at the Margaritaville restaurant but we didn't eat there because I was full of chocolate covered bananas and conch fritters. Instead, I bought a shirt with a parrot and "it's 5:00 somewhere - Key West" on it because I excel at being a tourist. After about an hour of walking, I brought up Google Maps and had my expectations reset as to how quickly we'd get to the buoy. It was literally closer to go back to Stop B and ride down to Stop C. We turned around and walked back, hopped back on the train and rode to Stop C at Truman and Duval Streets, which was still a good 5 blocks away from the buoy. GOTTA GET THAT PICTURE! Wouldn't you know, that the buoy was repainted yesterday (Wednesday) because of the damage it sustained from Hurricane Irma? The colors are painted onto it but the words haven't been redone yet. So we had our picture taken in front of the plain buoy. I smiled for the webcam and considered the walk back to Truman/Duval. And then we saw him. Like an angel sent from above to save my mother from her daughter's bad decisions...a young man with a pedicab. It was very hot, and I ran out of my liter bottle of water. He took us back to Mallory Square and it was a gorgeous, breezy ride. Just amazing. We tipped him well. We bought touristy things at the open-air shops (more non-magnet souvenirs for the nephew and a wooden Key West sign for me, and I don't know where I'm going to put this thing) there and called our trip to Key West good. I didn't have an alcoholic beverage or a slice of pie, but I loved the artsy, beachy, slightly drunken vibe there. I'd like to spend 3-4 days there in the future, drinking at sticky bars and listening to music. I'd have rather been docked at Key West until midnight instead of Nassau. If I had to do it again (I hope I get the chance to do this again!) I would take the Trolley tour instead of the Conch Train because the trolley tour had more stops around town. My clothes were stuck to me, so I tossed on the sundress I wore on the first day because it's the coolest non-swimsuit item I brought. We missed Windjammer lunch but Windjammer afternoon snack time is just about the same thing. I had a hot dog and a fruit crumble drowned in chocolate sauce and then we returned to our solarium lounge chairs. I wonder how much it would cost to renovate my living room into a mini Solarium? We went to the photo shop to make our tough decisions about photos. It wasn't open yet so genius me used the kiosk. I ordered the digital 4-photo package, put in my stateroom, prepared to slice 20 photos down to 4 and ... it thanked me for my order. Uh. When do I choose the photos? I guess I'll find out after dinner. Bingo was starting up it the Centrum. I smugly prepared to walk by until my Bingo Boo JP announced that the jackpot was $300 and it was only a $25 package instead of $33. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. We bought 2 packages, got the third one for free, and lost AGAIN. Bingo is gambling. Don't be like me. By then it was 5:45. Mom went to get a sweater and I watched us pull away from Key West. Sadly. Wistfully. Lip-quiveringly. Our tablemates didn't come to MDR that night, so again we had the table to ourselves. I had French Onion soup which was oh my goodness so good. I could have had 3 more bowls and skipped everything else. Instead I had a turkey dinner and carrot cake. Mom had shrimp cocktail, Angus beef sliders without the buns, and a gluten free sugar free chocolate cappuccino mousse. Ajay and Jesus (assistant waiter) wished us well and said they'd miss us. We were THIS CLOSE to breaking down into ugly cries but pulled it together. After dinner we went back to the cabin to pack. Sadly. Wistfully. We were almost done when I saw that it was 8pm. Parade of Flags! We need to see this! We dropped everything and fled back to the Centrum. I thought this would be the hokiest event EVER. It really looked like it would be. I rolled my eyes as my GenX people do. Whatever. Let's watch this. You know what's coming, right? Because you've all seen this before. It. Was. So. Fun. We really enjoyed the dancing interludes and the love and pride the crew has for the countries they are from. (USA's dance was to Cotton Eyed Joe which, okay fine.) When the Cruise Director Michelle said if the over 800 crew members from over 50-some countries can work together and be a family, so could we all, I got a little choked up. Let's all be nice to each other. We all want food, love, warmth - that should be more than enough to overlook whether or not I voted for that candidate or that the lady over there wears a headscarf or that other weird person thinks chocolate covered bananas are awful. I'm glad we took the time to see it and still feel guilty for mocking it prematurely. We finished packing, put the bags out, and went back to the photo store. Turns out that the digital package is a computer program that allows me to pick 4 photos to download once I go home. Perfect. The best hard decision is a postponed one. After that good news we went to the Spotlight Lounge to watch another round of karaoke. I collected my final drink of the day, the Citrus Cooler. We had 14 fantastic performances and one guy who drank too much and wanted attention. I will listen to people sing off key all night as long as they're trying in earnest. But when Drunky McLookAtMe tries to be cute, I'm done. On the positive side, there was a young German couple who sang "Stumbling In" ("Our love is alive, and so we begin...") perfectly and got a standing ovation. When we went back to our cabin, they were rebroadcasting the Parade of Flags on the RCI channel so we watched it again. Mom told me this was the best vacation she ever had and thanked me for planning it and I cried because I'm a giant baby. It was a great end to a long day and a beautiful cruise. Day 4: A++ Day 5 - the Saddening: Since our departure time was slated for 9:10am, I set my alarm for 7. We were awake before that though, because at 2am I realized I packed my keys into the big suitcase that I left out last night and what if the bag doesn't make it to Philadelphia and my keys aren't there and how will I get home and I don't want to call my husband and say the keys are lost and .. and ... and... That kind of put a damper on my sleep quality for the rest of the night. At 6:30 Mom and I sat in the dark in our cabin as we glided by Miami's pink and blue lights and docked for the last time of our cruise. SIGH. Mom went up to the Windjammer to get a table (good plan, it was crowded) and I went to pick up my photo DVD and get boarding passes printed out. When I got up to the Windjammer it was bedlam. As God is my witness it was like nobody was going to EVER eat again. People were running and grabbing and stacking plates high with food. It's a freaking hashbrown, people - they sell them at McDonald's. Get a grip. Of course with all of the chaos, people were spilling things left and right and the floor was dive-bar-level sticky. Mom had her usual gluten-free grub. Two truths and a lie: To fit in I had 3 pieces of that sweet bread, 5 pieces of chocolate covered banana and did a keg stand at the orange juice dispenser. After that we walked the pool deck one last time. We went to the Spotlight Lounge at 9:00 and at 9:10 we were processed off of the ship and into the terminal. Something happened with Customs and we waited an extra 30 minutes before being able to get downstairs to the baggage carousels. I found the bags without a problem, and we got into the other line to be cleared by the Customs agent. Which made us late for the shuttle from the port to Ft. Lauderdale airport, but gave me time to feel through my bag and find my keys. All of the fruit that people collected during the morning's breakfastpocolypse ended up abandoned. The ground transportation area of the terminal was loud and crowded and chaotic. We ended up on the 10:30 Miami Port Express shuttle. Major props to them, because they kept in touch with me though all the delays. The FLL -> MCO -> PHL flights went without a hitch, and on the flight I typed out Day 4's blog post and scrolled through pictures. Sadly. Wistfully. Got back to PHL, found our bags, shoved onto the Economy Parking shuttle, got to the car (oh crap I only have 1/8 tank gas left thanks Past Kim for leaving me this mess), stopped at the nearest gas station (Wawa, and this Jersey girl DOES pump gas when she has to), headed back to Jersey, dropped off Mom, went home. And here I am, filled up on husband hugs and on the sofa with two happy, snoring spaniels in my lap. The suitcase needs to be unpacked but I am tan and happy and sleepy and ... sober. Day 5: B-. Points off for being told we had to get off of the ship. **** THANK YOU for all the compliments. This was a fun exercise to help me remember and document this amazing trip. And also it's my thank you gift back to this community. I have a rough list of of takeaways that I'll come back and post in a few days.

Just saw this on the RCI website. Sale ends in 10 hours. Go get 'em!

That's OK, what we have here is mostly presidents, plus a couple of founding fathers, one of whom was "a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean."

Ok, I'll end this mystery....$$$$$

So that people who don't check as religiously as we do pay $55 and those do buy it on the sale. I'm July as well, there will be a sale at some point. Just keep checking.

Heh, took advantage when it first came out on Friday. Saved just shy of $240 on everything I'd previously purchased with them -- refreshment package for my wife, our zip line and alpine coaster tickets on Labadee, and our dolphin push/pull/swim excursion on St. Kitts. (I actually realized as I was typing this that I hadn't rebooked the coaster tickets, so just took care of that! Thank goodness they extended it another 24 hours!) Savings were enough to let me get Refreshment Packages for my daughters and only be $100 net additional out of pocket. All that's left to buy now is our internet package, which I'll get on my next billing cycle to lock in the price, and then hope for another sale to get some back. Only thing that I had previously bought that wasn't any better off was the Nellie's Beach over-the-water cabana (which was a crazy 40% off when I booked it). So I'm a seriously happy camper!

Two times the parade was being shown on the big screen by the pool. And one time we watch it in our stateroom. RIch

Another quick note, you only need one SeaPass card to check out towels and they will give you as many as you ask for, so don't be afraid to ask for more than one per person , if you need them. On our recent trip, they didn't even count them when we turned them in. Just saw we were putting them in the dirty towel bin and marked it off our card.

As @RestingBirdsmentioned above, we had a set MTD reservation of 7pm, and were seated at the same table every night.

@Sabrinaklai, regarding the mixed reviews -- If they're posted by American cruisers who've never sailed a European line, you have to take it with a grain of salt. My TA made that very clear to me when I asked her about MSC a while back. The most consistent critique I've seen is about the quality of the food, and the most frequent of those complaints is that it's cold by the time it's served. Quality has also been described as hit or miss, although I heard that was a lot better on the Meraviglia than earlier ships; hopefully with Seaside it will further improve, since they're learning from Meraviglia and that ship was already moving its menu a bit more Western (e.g., they now have a Teppanyaki restaurant with the other specialty dining venues). My TA also advised me that MSC still applies a very European style of service and entertainment, and by all accounts they're still trying to figure out what the American market likes while holding to those European roots. So you get things like the shows presented on board are still very much cabaret or Cirque du Soleil style rather than Broadway (including, per some reviews I read, occasional toplessness with the women performers). Service staff can seem (but aren't always) a bit gruff or distant. And I've seen some reviews that reported apparent "classism" in terms of the service level provided for Yacht Club (suites) level guests and the regular cabins. Overall, my TA said that cruising on MSC can be a really enjoyable trip, but you have to change your mindset about what to expect and be prepared for something that doesn't give all those American bells and whistles. Definitely looking forward to the reviews from @DocLC for both Seaside and Meraviglia (which I think he's sailing in January).

@Matt, there some separate scuttlebutt over the Celebrity and Azamara forum that Edge might end up home ported in Australia (see the comments from @Boston Babe and @monorailmedic). So not necessarily the Edge taking that berth in Port Everglades, although I'd wager that's an even bigger rumor than Anthem being relocated.

If you get a chance, try Belching Beaver's Peanut Butter Stout or Stone's XOCOVEZA seasonal beer which should be out soon for the Christmas season. Or better yet, come to Northern San Diego where they're brewed. Both have the flavors you enjoy.

Dublin is very easy to do on your own and is very walkable. What's important, though, is to prepare tickets in advance. We did this for the Book of Kell's, the prison (which often sells out), and Guinness. For Cobh, we booked with eCoach and went to Blarney Castle and Kinsale.

If I remember rightly, Grande and Chic are the two used for traditional dining, while Silk and American Icon are used for MTD.

We will be boarding the Freedom on 11/19 for our 6th Turkey Day cruise and my family and I have seen and watched at least three times the Thanksgiving Day parade, specifically, Macy's. It was nice to have a piece of tradition from the States on a cruise.

Celebrity Edge

@AnnetteJackson stole your towel?

That's what this message board is all about...helping everyone! Don't feel bad for asking questions!

They used to be different menus, now all the same. Two are for MTD, two for traditional. You'll be assigned 1 for the duration of your cruise if you have traditional. If you show up at the exact same time every night for MTD then you'll likely end up in the same one/table each night. If you show up at random times each night for MTD you may be placed in either of the 2. Formal night will apply to all 4. As @Floski said, if you have any issues you can talk to the staff and they'll do what they can to help you. We were assigned a "prime table" in MTD by a window...Long story short we asked to be moved the following night, and we were. I say all that, but I've never been on Ovation. But, from what I heard it should be correct. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, first off, those aren't stupid questions. You didn't already know the answers, so how could they be? I'll try my hand, but the smart veterans will be able to help you better... 1) I'm pretty sure you keep the same DR, but if you were to ask for other arrangements, I'm sure you will be taken care of. 2) Technically, I'd say no, but the staff is very accommodating and I'm sure will do all they can. C) I believe so. 4) I haven't done MTD yet, so not sure. AFAIK, all of the MDRs are essentially the same thing, only on different floors for space-saving purposes. So I'm not sure what the benefit would be to changing, especially every night. One of the enjoyable parts of our cruises is to get to know the wait staff during the duration of our cruise; they learn your likes and dislikes and are great at making you comfortable. Now, I've never been on an Ovation class ship, but I would assume the premise is the same for all of the ships. d

No no no. That's your sister-in-law who you mentioned, right? Seriously, your family has some really good genetics working for it, just going by this photo!

Something has to fill that empty berth from Allure at Port Everglades.....

For our Harmony sailing, we were in a GS and it never showed up on our Cruise Planner. We ended up asking the concierge to make reservations for us when he contacted us a week before sailing. You can also make reservations once on board. For our Anthem sailing coming up, it was strange. It showed up in our cruise planner right after we booked our cruise. Then it disappeared for a few weeks. It reappeared again for a few days about two weeks ago (at which point I made our CK reservations) and now it is gone again. Strange but typical RC website glitches I am guessing.

If you have Voom Surf and Stream you can stream the parade on a phone or tablet while on the ship.

So a couple things... RCI executives do have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders. Duh! Same goes for any publicly traded company. People were outright and blatantly violating the rules and sharing drink packages. In one of Michael Poole's scopes recently he observed four people signing up one person for the DP for this purpose. It's very difficult to place the enforcement onto front line employees. Bartenders can't follow people to see if they hand off a drink. An ugly confrontation would result in any attempt to place enforcement solely in the hands of front line employees and that leads to a potentially larger negative customer experience. The common trend in the industry is to require everyone over 21 to purchase a DP if anyone does. In considering how to deal with this problem of theft they had to make a choice. Trying to enforce it on the ship with front line employees would likely lead to inconsistencies and awkward situations where customers come up with excuses like "I'm not sharing my drinks, he's just holding my drink while I stretch". There would be YouTube videos and social media moments creating a negative impact to the brand like "They suspended my DP for no reason, I did nothing wrong, bad company!" even though this person is lying through their teeth. On the other hand by following the industry trend it makes it a consistent policy applied across the fleet without placing the burden on front line employees. Customers will know it when they attempt to purchase a DP just like other lines. I completely understand why they went this way. I've contacted them and have direct knowledge of the exemptions and how those work. I honestly believe those are a reasonable approach to dealing with the relatively few individuals who truly need one. The vast majority do not require and should not be eligible for an exemption but for the small number of folks that properly do there is process to recognize it. Is it perfect? Maybe not but it does address most customer use cases. If the masses start to abuse the exemptions, they'll likely have to adapt to that too. Blame the abusers who attempt to circumvent policy and rules to benefit themselves.

I laughed, I cried! I think we need to chip in to send you on anther cruise. You managed to find all the humor and fun of the cruise... and to be able to ignore the bad! Start planning your next one...it gets you through that first week when you actually have to make your own meals lol. Jane

I too love the enchanment you truly have a talent for blogging I leave in 20 days on the freedom I may give this a try

We went once. Too expensive, crowded and very loud.

Awesome advice (never hurts to ask) and neat review and pics. Thanks for sharing. Also, post moved :-)

We would "test" her throughout the trip. About 75/25 she would remember. She was always accompanied by someone she is familiar with the entire time. Only time we were worried is if she wandered off while everyone was sleeping. It never happened. She was exhausted after all the fun activities on the ship! She had a great time. She would always talk about the cruise even years afterwards.

I walked into Senor Frog's to appease some friends who wanted to visit, and I was out 2min later. What a mad house.

Thank you for taking us on your journey. Your cruise took me down memory lane. I cruised with my Mom all the time. We have a family cruise in June 2018. My Mom and I will have our time alone. I cherish our Mom-daughter times. Can't wait for your next cruise.

This was truly one of the funniest pieces of writing I have read in a long time. Kudos to you! I look forward to hearing about future adventures.

Fantastic trip report! Were you a writer for the J. Peterman catalogue?

You can take a taxi straight to the Space Center on your own.

Again, thank you for the kind response! Mom and I are having a superb time and note-taking has taken a backseat. But now the bags are packed and outside (sob!) so I have a little time to flesh out the notes. Day 3: I woke up on my own at 7:10 which is me still waking up for work, but VERY late for work. We go up to breakfast as usual - I have a pancake, bacon, fruit, and a chocolate covered banana. Mom gets potatoes, bacon, fruit, and a gluten free roll. We have coffee and mimosas because WHY NOT? Chef Toni was in the Windjammer too! He may have just had fruit, which is good because he's a sea guy and we don't want him to get scurvy. (Oh, the things I remember from grade school...) We had our second cup of coffee out on deck 9 and watched our approach to Coco Cay. I'm stupidly excited for this day, because I love the beach. At 9:30 we decided to get moving. From our room on deck 3 we could see the tenders glide back and forth outside, as well as the supplies being loaded onto another craft. I teased mom that the shipping list for that boat was "20 Limbo sticks, 15 volleyballs, 30 hula hoops, and one gluten free roll." We boarded the tender which looked remarkably unsafe but we rolled with it. We're seated on the top level and the breeze and view can't be beat. We didn't bring any of our gigantic water haul with us to Coco Cay because the message hammered home was DO NOT BRING ANYTHING OFF OF THE BOAT WITH YOU. On the tender there we saw people with coffee cups and bottles of water. Remember the old cartoons where the main character slowly turned into a lollipop with a "SUCKER" label on it? Me. We landed at the docks and man, it took my breath away. I know this is a completely manufactured environment but it rang all of my bells for "perfect island beach!" All of the buildings are brightly colored and clearly named. The dock construction was going on, but the noise was easily ignored. We had the Coco Cay photos taken because we are cruise noobs. I rented the 2 loungers/sunshade back when we booked the cruise. South Beach is a LONG way away and we were thankful for the tram that took us there. There were three rows of chairs/sunshades there and once you turn in voucher to the employee, they are first come, first served. We ended up in the second row, which is what we get for being lazy. We also got fancy VIP bracelets. Immediately we waded into the water. It was warm yet refreshing and what's better, I could see my feet! Don't get me wrong -- I love my home state of NJ and I grew up at those beaches but the surf is rough and constantly kicking up sand so you can't see the bottom. Walking into the Atlantic from the Jersey shore is akin to a trust fall. On Coco Cay, not only could I see my feet but there were teeny fish darting around! The water was shallow and although I walked pretty far, it never came up above my knees. Is this a result of Hurricane Irma? We settled into our chairs, toasty and thankful. And then ... the people in front of us left! After getting the OK from the attendant, we moved into the front row, and we were even more thankful. As I said, I grew up going to the Jersey shore. Which can be very crowded, especially in the shore towns with boardwalks. There were no distractions at South Beach -- no amusements behind you, no airplanes towing banners, no Jersey shore scents like pizza or Drakkar Noir. It was beautiful and everything I needed it to be. Lunch is served from 11:30-1:30. I was expecting hot dogs and hamburgers. I was not expecting gyros, curry, ribs, and a roast suckling pig, severed head prominiently displayed on the carving board. I have the heart of a vegetarian but the appetite of someone who makes steak/moo jokes. Mom went to the grill, gave her room number and recived a gluten free roll for her buger. This place is seriously approaching Santa Claus level of service. She had a burger, fries, and fruit. I had a hot dog (classy broad), macaroni and cheese, fruit, lemon cake. We shared a picnic table from a family from Minnesota. I'm one of those people who will write on the internet all day long but who is awkward around new people in real life. But everyone here is so nice that even I'm finding it easy. (Mom can make friends with anyone but apparently not Mario.) After lunch we poked around the straw market, took some of our own photos, and then found 2 empty beach chairs under an umbrella. Plop. At 3 we reluctantly took the vaguely unsafe looking tender back to the ship. Wildlife seen on Coco Cay without even trying because who has time for a nature walk when there is tanning to do?: > small fish > large fish > tiny crabs > chickens (live) > iguanas > sea gulls > pig (head of, deceased, roasted) We dumped off things in our room and went to Windjammer for coffee. Annnnnnnnnnnd ended up with a plate of nachos with queso. I'm going to be wearing tents to work next week. We hoovered down the nachos and took our coffees out to the pool deck. We watched the belly flop competition which was a lot of fun. Time for an important decision: today's bingo was going to be a 3-game session, and they were giving away a free cruise. However, the entry price for the regular one-game session was $33 so I was figuring that the price for that big session would be around $100. $100 for a huge chance to lose. And the deck was so nice and we wanted to watch as we sailed away from Coco Cay. And thus, the bingo addiction was broken. I saw our photos from formal night and I kid you not, the one of of me alone on the stairs is one of the best photos I've taken. We're not going to spend the $199 for the package, so we have some hard decisions to make. We showered all of the beach funk off before dinner. I have given up trying to keep the water within the boundary of the shower, and just wipe the bathroom floor down when I'm done. The shower curtain has boundary issues and likely works for a notable Hollywood producer because it touches me without consent. Our tablemates from night 1 were back and we had a great time chatting about our various excurisons. Ajay was phenomenal again (any WWE fans out there? just me? ok.) I had a caprese salad, garlic tiger shrimp, and key lime pie. I've had a glass of Wolf Blass Merlot each night, too. Mom had a salad, tiger shrimp (prepared without gluten) and they made her a sugar free, gluten free chocolate mousse for dessert. The boat started rocking during dinner. Not enough to make us sick, but it was the first time I felt it the whole trip. It would continue to rock throughout the night, stopping right before morning. I cashed in my chips from Monday night at Casino Royale's craps table at a $25-0 exchange rate. Boo, hiss. Gambling is horrible. Don't be like me. On a whim we went to the karaoke event in the Spotlight lounge. I watched 15 super-courageous people bring the house down. We were going to go to bed then but ... there was a 70s party about to bust out in the Centrum. It was quite fun and was well received. But ... I'm 45 and these were songs from when I was a kid. I have to wonder if they could maybe do a 70s night and then an 80s/90s night to try and shake off the "cruising is for old people" myth. But then I went to bed right after that so maybe I'm old too! ;) Day 3: A+++

All the beaches here along the Space coast have been hit hard by all the hurricane activity this year. The sand loss is huge, and none of the beaches are what they usually are.

I'm not familiar with a beach within a reasonable walking distance. You can always use Uber/Lyft to get you to any beach you like. Same difference as RC's shuttle.

Only if I don’t beat you to it and become the next “Super Mario”... umm... “Super Giuseppe”? “Joey”? “That IT dude”? ??

You are SO lucky, oh wait, you live in Northern NJ......never mind

My guess is because it works. It's why JC Penney failed miserably when they tried to get rid of sales/coupons/gimmicks and post lowest price. It almost ruined the company.

I throw all my medications and vitamins into a single small ziplock bag and haven't had any issues on flights or getting onboard. And I take enough stuff that it looks like I'm a drug mule...