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Day 4 - St Thomas There is no easy way to put this, this post will be photo intensive. Sorry @Matt, in the immortal words of Roy Sheider's character in Jaws... "We're going to need a bigger boat". I met with a friend and former co-worker before the excursion. He reports the majority of residents on St Thomas have power back but other luxuries like cable TV are still a work in progress. Residents on St John are still getting there. Many areas have power but more remote areas are still without. Despite that people are settling back into a routine. My excursion today - St John's "All Inclusive" Beach & Snorkel To clear up a commonly heard misconception, all inclusive refers to ferry + taxi + park admission + snorkel gear. Nothing else. No water, food or anything else. A few pictures around Crown Bay to start us off: Our greeting committee: Our chariot (ferry) to St Johns. We cruised along the Southern coast of St Thomas and from a distance much looked normal but you could see many of these coastal buildings took it hard during the storm and they are a work in progress. Twenty fives minutes later we approached Cruz Bay in St Johns. We loaded into our taxi's to begin our way to Trunk Bay. Our first glimpse at Trunk Bay. After a 15 minute drive we arrived at the Virgin Islands National Park - Trunk Bay. Restrooms and showers faired well during the storm: Some things like the concessions are not open yet. Chairs are available for rent. Snorkel gear included in the excursion was available near the beach. There is a snorkel trail underwater. The beach is gorgeous with sugar like sand. The snorkel course is to the left of the island with marker buoys in the water. I set my stuff in the sand and donned my snorkel gear. Lots of Sea Urchins. You do not want to step on one. If you look closely you'll see lots of minnows. This complete and about an hour later we boarded our taxi. Our driver stopped at several viewing spots so we could take pictures. That's the British Virgin Isles in the distance. Jumbie Beach This is the Caneel Bay Resort. Like most hotels it's closed pending restoration. Back on our ferry and heading to St Thomas they offered beer for $5 (brewed in Portland, ME). I managed to talk to a few locals this trip. Most hotels remains closed with no word when they might reopen. Building material and labor are hard to come by to fix them. While some hotels have opened, tourism is swayed towards cruise ships at the moment. While island life is settling into a new normal, the storm's effects continue. For example, rain inundated many homes. Appliances not physically damaged are beginning to rust and break down just now from water damage, even if minor at the time. The storms that keep on giving. Those that had the money built with concrete and faired better than those with older homes. They didn't escape unscathed though, even the concrete began to saturate from the days of rain before, during and after both storms which amounted to weeks of rain. The concrete in some cases withstood the wind but leaked water from saturation. I was glad to make it over to St Johns and just as happy to see life moving forward. It's a process but the tens of thousands of dollars each cruise ships brings are very welcome. With hotels shut many are out of work but they very much appreciate each ship and the jobs that are created from the cruise industry.

Day 4 - St Thomas Departure I had a 6pm MTD reservation but decided to skip it in favor of the sunset. Not a bad decision as it turns out. It started out pretty great but as the sun went down further it got a bit better. Looking back towards St Thomas with the Windjammer Al Fresco seating area: At this point the sun was below below the horizon but it begin to illuminate the clouds and I just couldn't stop taking pictures. As it became darker the colors became more vibrant. Show nearly over, I grabbed one more photo with the deck 12 slide in the foreground. These were all taken with an iPhone 8. I think they turned out okay.

Okay, enough of the small talk and niceties.... Now that you're a vet, we need one thing, and one thing only from you: A SORRENTO'S REPORT We all know that Jersey-ites are pizza connoisseurs, so we must have answers.

I agree when looking from the outside financially it is very fair compensation when you are emotionally invested in a cruise it must be extremely hard to deal with. We book a long time in advance so getting down to the last 3 days and then being advised it is cancelled would be difficult. At least for those living in Australia and New Zealand the flights aren’t so bad. I really feel for the people from the other side of the world who may have already departed for Australia. Very expensive for RCI as well paying 100% compensation for a whole ship. Well done to them for being that fair.

Day 3 (sea day) This was another slow day for us, but I think we all were getting into a bit more of a groove with the ship. Certainly it didn’t hurt that I got a much better night’s sleep. For me, this was a day to take pictures around the upper decks, as well as catch some unusual items in a sort of “photo safari”. First, pics of the latter hunt: This odd enclosed couch: Dammit, how many times did I tell the merchant my name does NOT have a “G” in it?!? This old girl has been photographed a million times, but it was a good test of my tele lens. This Next was definitely an oddity for this day and age. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a Wurlitzer jukebox (on land, at least)? I stumbled across this in one of the stairwells. Very different from the other art and artistic photos you’ll find on each deck landing. Last was this mural-style wall sculpture in Boleros Lounge. Now on to the pool deck, where I gave all three of my lenses lenses some work. After this, I checked out the live pool band for a bit. Next I made my way over to the Flow Rider. On the way, I had to get a shot of the wake from this high vantage. I spent about a half hour at the Flow Rider, getting some stills but mostly video. I’m going to put together a wipeout compilation after I’m home, but here was one of the better stills I got. After a quick lunch in the Windjammer, I went back to the pool and found a nice little hallway between the solarium and gym, with a handful of chairs and relatively empty. It was still open to the sea, so I spent an hour there going through the previous day’s pics and cleaning them up. After that I went back to my cabin to recharge my phone and work on the post for Day 2; you all know how that ended. ? During all this time, my wife and daughters were off doing their own things. My wife checked out the t-shirt sale (2 for $30) and grabbed a shirt for me and one for D14. After that, she got in another workout at the gym. Meanwhile, the girls did some homework (D17) and drawing (D14) before going out. D14 tried the kids’ arcade and couldn’t figure out how to get the credits onto her Sea Pass card; I wasn’t much help here, I’m afraid, so that visit was a dud. D17 went to the rock wall with my wife after she was done with her workout. Only D17 actually climbed, my wife said she did well. While they were out, after the Day Two posting mess, I went to the casino for a little bit and tried my luck at the slots; as expected, they were not my friend and I lost the small bit I’d brought out of my total gambling budget. Now it was time for Chef’s Table! I got dressed in my suit, even though the invite said smart casual, and it was a good thing! The other six taking part were all dressed the same way, so clearly we all agreed smart casual made NO sense for this event. The three couples I met, two from southern NJ and one from Texas, we’re all great company for dinner and we had lots of good conversation while thoroughly enjoying the meal and all the wines. I’ll be writing about that separately, it’s a post all to itself! My wife and girls had regular dinner, and while wifey wanted to see the ice show, the girls were both tired and went to bed after dinner, around 9:15. I was back from Chef’s Table not long after, and since it was after the start of the second ice show we decided to wander the upper decks, try see the stars around the still nearly-full moon, and see the pool deck at night. My plan to go to the helipad with her was scrapped when I found the gate leading to it on deck 5’s outside track closed. A staff member passing by said the winds were too strong and passengers weren’t being allowed on at night for safety reasons. Hopefully we’ll get a chance on one of our remaining nights! My wife and I then took the elevator to the uppermost decks; even with the lights from the pool area killing our night vision, we got a great view of the moon on the water. I was also able to see the Big Dipper, and what was either Venus or Jupiter below the moon, but nothing else. After taking in the moon, we checked out the pool and agreed it’s really pretty at night. I got one decent shot of the Solarium area using my night shot app, but nothing else. Mat this point we went back to our cabin. We had this guy as our towel animal this night: I wasn’t tired yet and decided I wanted another crack at the casino, but this time at the craps tables. I couldn’t make it a late night because we had to be up early for our excursion in St. Kitts, so I set myself a 1-hour timer. Craps worked out much better for me, and made back everything I’d lost on the slots. It was a good way to end the day, and I went to bed feeling a lot better about Day Three than I had Day Two. Next is St. Kitts, where we’ll be swimming with dolphins and crossing a major item off my wife’s bucket list!

Day 5 - St. Croix St. Croix is the largest US Virgin Island but not as populous as St. Thomas where the capital of the USVI is located. I've always liked St. Croix because it isn't the same as St. Thomas. I like the fact it isn't as commercial and it's more relaxed here. I think it's the lack of a Diamond International store glaring you in the face or being forced to make your way through a maze of stores selling foreign made trinkets which are the exactly the same as the last port that differentiates the St Croix experience. Lacking that desire to force people through the maze means that excursions can pickup and drop off right at the ship. There is a free pier shuttle bus that just runs up and down the pier. Today I needed to get some work done so I just self-explored around the port area. Fort Frederick It does appear some trees have lost some vegetation but it's starting to come back. They had the street blocked off for pedestrian traffic only and some vendors were set up. Something that really struck me about the vendors here is how relaxed and easy going they all were. There was no attempt to entice you or drag you into their tent, no hard sales pitch. It was very refreshing and very enjoyable to stroll around without any of the usual 'harassment' that occurs in so many ports. You could approach, look around, say 'good morning' and it was all very pleasant. Time and again the merchandise was locally crafted and the person who made it was usually right there to talk about it. Having visited so many other ports I've built up an immunity that usually involves avoiding eye contact, moving quickly, showing no interest and politely repeating 'no thanks' over and over again. It was so refreshing to not require any of that today. I didn't make it over to the beach area right next to the port but from a distance I could see people using that area. This end of the island doesn't show the level of damage from hurricanes although you can see a few blue tarps on some roofs along the coastline. Talking with some of the vendors they confirmed it was more of a rain event with flooding than it was the wind event that St Thomas and St Johns had to deal with. Several miles up the coast I could see more beaches and jet skis playing in the water. Sadly I did have to get some work done today but this view is a lot better than my office back home. It was a very enjoyable experience and I really got the feeling the locals were all happy to see us and were very welcoming. I'd like to return one day soon and be able to try some excursions beyond the port area. It doesn't have the hustle and bustle of St Thomas or many other ports and I think that is a good thing. I'd like to come back before it becomes too popular with cruise ships and it loses it's slow, relaxed charm.

Day 4 Dinner Menu: After missing my reservation on account of the sunset, I headed to the MTD no reservation line at around 7:30pm. It was pretty busy and they were handing out pagers with a lot of people waiting. I decided to make it a Windjammer dinner night and discovered it was Greek night. As I walked around the WJ food sprang onto my plate. Before I knew it my plate was full. Yum.

@twangster LOL! The selfie is hilarious! You caved to the pressure! That has to be your new profile pic ?

Happens to me all the time. Darn stuff refuses to stay in the trays, and it would be rude to not eat what's on my plate.

That's a bit of an understatement.... they look great.

OKAY!! They are magnificent! Such beauty in something so simple, a sunset! Thank you for sharing again @twangster Love this blog!

So the rumours are true! He is in the CIA!

I think that's the best compensation offer I have ever seen RCI hand out. From a non-emotional observer's perspective I think (as stated above) that getting your money back plus basically a free cruise is a pretty great deal .. from the emotional "on the trip of a lifetime" type scenario, I am sure there are a lot of really unhappy people out there though.

If you are booking as soon as the schedule is released (I am assuming Oct 2019 is your Autumn) you shouldn’t have a problem finding the cabin you want. We normally book a suite and there are usually a choice. The only cruises I find that sell quickly are the once a year repositioning cruises. E.g. Singapore to Sydney, Hawaii to Sydney etc. I am not sure if Ovation is coming back to Australia / New Zealand in the 2nd half of 2019 as it maybe replaced by Spectrum. All should become clearer next week when the Australian season is released. China will not be released until June.

" All guests will be provided with a full refund as well as a 100% Future Cruise Credit. " As much of a downer as this cancellation would be, the compo is essentially a free cruise. I'd actually be very very happy about that.

Day 3 - Sea Day MDR Dinner Menu I actually ate in the Windjammer where I was pleased to find the Duck À L'Orange among other selections. Some late afternoon and sunset pictures. Viking Crown Lounge As I was sitting in the pub this was dropped off at my table.

Try using your email address instead of your old username. I had the same thing happen to me (changed passwords about 5 times) but once I started signing in with my email address it stopped asking me to change my password.

I was able to link reservations with one phone call. We were unable to request a specific location of the mdr but was told we would be given the same table. It was my parents reservation I was linking so maybe since we have the same last name it wasn’t a big deal. We’ve also went the first day to ask in the past and they were able to accommodate us with no issue. They usually bend over backwards to fill reasonable requests.

In no particular order 1. Oasis Allure Grandeur Harmony Freedom Anthem Independence Liberty Serenade 2. Haven't sailed a #2 yet I've loved all my cruises and can't rank them

I don't know if I could do this. For me, what makes a lot of my cruise is the people/experience both on the ship and off. So for example I had a fantastic cruise on Brilliance the first time and a very different experience the last time so much that I don't even tend to look at cruise options/deals on her any longer. And its not even a conscious thing. My first cruise stands out as one of my best times and memories but obviously it wasn't based so much on the ship(Monarch) as she was old and to be retired shortly after. Enchantment has been my most frequent cruise ship over the years and enjoyed each time. Indy was great, first time on a "bigger" ship and a promenade, but it was the nightlife on that ship that made it really fun and memorable and with the club now removed for a restaurant I will never set foot it....it kinda disappoints me. I cant make a list...its too much effort and thinking right now..lol.

I go all the time to Cozumel with no excursions. Very easy to go into town and figure it out on the fly.

Agreed. For some a long way to travel for the disappointment, especially if they had booked any kind of post cruise excursions from another provider.

I second this. Very funny!

They sure do...or at least the 4x I was on her in the past.

Since I never trust the WIFI what usually I do to avoid such issues is to write the blog entry on a word document (anything you can cut and paste from will do) and when I have good connection I just copy paste it to the site and add the pictures .

if your wife likes zumba, they usually offer it for free in one of the public areas on sea days!

I think it’s still too early for me to answer either of those, at least in any complete sense. I can certainly say that sea days are a lot slower than I was expecting. Probably because I’m older, can’t do the strenuous activities like the rock wall, and I haven’t gone looking for a trivia game yet. Food in the MDR is better than I was expecting; far better than hotel convention room or office party fare, for sure, and I would say at least on par with a really good ($25-$30 per person in NJ) land restaurant. My wife is loving it. Agrees the balcony was totally worth it, and just really having a good time so far. D17 is bored so far; she’s a major introvert by her own admission, so she hasn’t found a group to hang out with and just wandering the ship is getting old. She just did the rock wall today, and spent some time at the pool, so maybe her opinion will change, but she really wants the port days to get here. D14 is making more of a go of it and starting to get her groove on her own, so I think she’s enjoying it a bit more so far.

Ending with with our overall impressions, some random thoughts and going back to my original concerns. Overall, Harmony is a great ship and we’d be thrilled to go on it again. Food: Very good. Breakfast we ate in Mini Bites all week for made to order omelets and eggs. Great selection in the buffet too. I thought it was a mini Windjammer…not quite the selection but had what we’d typically eat without the crowds. Lunch was always at Park Cafe. D6 didn’t like it but we’d ride the Ultimate Abyss to the Boardwalk for a hot dog and carry it up to the Park Cafe to eat with everyone else. I enjoyed the salad and sandwich selection. For dinner, we ate in the MDR every night. Except for the first night, dinners took about an hour..this was quicker than MTD on Liberty. We had some great dishes..the prime rib & lamb were our favorites. I know food is subjective but it is quite good considering they are trying to feed about 2000 people at once. There were no or at least very few specialty dining reservations available after day 3. Grade: Very Good Entertainment: We made it to all the main shows: Grease, Fine Line (only done during the day due to weather), Headliner (ventriloquist Ronn Lucas), Columbus and comedy show. MIL found comedian too edgy but we enjoyed them. We all enjoyed the family comedy show the last evening. A mixed review of Columbus..didn’t love it but I liked how they made fun of themselves. Grade: Good Daytime activities: D6 is finally tall enough for slides. Most of our sea days were spent in the pools and slides. Loved Ultimate Abyss and the water slides. Older 2 kids tried zip lining the first day and thought it was ok...wouldn’t wait for it. Didn’t try the rock wall or ice skating. MIL had several massages which she loved. I had one too but MIL made a reservation for 50 minute massage but I ended up with 75 minutes. I loved it but was surprised and I was not happy with extra cost. Biggest problem was there was too much to do and not enough time. Adventure Ocean: S15 had a friend from school on the ship so he didn’t attend the teen club as much as he has in the past. D6 only went in the evening...slides were her daytime activity. S11 loved the Voyagers club, made a few friends and he routinely checked himself in and out during the day. He always went in the evening. This is different than the past on Liberty where I had to make him go in the evenings. Random things: MDR Dress: The most casual cruise we’ve ever taken. No more smart casual. The cruise compass lists dress as casual and people took advantage. I’d say a good portion of men where in nice shorts and polos on casual nights. Even on formal night, saw several t-shirts and shorts. Mass and Passover services: It is the week before Easter, there was a Catholic priest on board and he held a Catholic Mass every day. On Good Friday, he held a Good Friday service. There was a Passover Service that you had to register for at Guest Services. The full price of drink package: Deluxe $63, Refreshment $26 and Soda $9.50. Bar Service: On Air was a great place to grab a quick drink to go. Also the Pub had a good selection of wine (On Liberty, I remember having to run to Vintages to get a glass of wine). Account Statements: I always check my statement on TV so was surprised to see the written one at the end of the cruise. A $100 pool towel charge on the last night. A quick trip to guest services and it was removed but I would have been stressed out if we had an early flight. Prepaying everything made for a light bill for us. Bookings and Sales: I booked MTD and the Beach Bungalows in September. The beach bungalows were never on sale. Drink package was booked in October during a sale for $47...cheapest I saw. Dragons Breath Flight Line was also on sale in October for $83. I did see it cheaper at $78 in February but the times were late and I didn’t want to lose my time slot to save $5. Going back to my original concerns:*DD18 just turned 18 a few weeks ago and worried about meeting other young adults without teen club.*Is the ship just too big?*Will the staterooms be too small? They will be the smallest (square footage) we’ve stayed in.*Is it worth the extra “surcharge” for this class ship? The price per person per night is significantly more than other cruises...even staying in a JS on Liberty last year the week before Easter. We’ll see if we feel it is worth the extra cost. 1. There were some meet and greets for 18-20 yo starting on Day 3 but they weren’t organized events and were not attended. D18 ended up hanging out with us which was very nice as in the past I didn’t feel like I’d see much of her during the cruise. 2. Yes it is big. Having been on other cruises, we could figure it out fairly quickly. My MIL had a tougher time and routinely was lost. There is no way to do everything in a week. 3. The staterooms are too small for us, especially if we had to sleep 4 in one. I’d probably book 2 connecting Junior Suites next time. 4. This is a tough one to answer. The price of one Spring Break cruise on Harmony is the same as a 5 night cruise over Thanksgiving in a JS AND a week cruise in 3 staterooms on Adventure for Spring Break 2019. So would I rather have 2 cruises or one? In 2020 and 2021, we’ll be back to one cruise a year and I would try for another Oasis class. I feel like this is a splurge, as we also like to do other vacations, but I may only have a few more years of cruising with all 6 of us. That's all from Harmony! Time to start planning our Independence cruise for Thanksgiving!

#balconylife #chillin #rcblogsupporter

Following you makes me smile @JLMoran. Just so happy for you and your family! Savor every minute and remember, you have another cruise booked for October!!

Windjammer Breakfast Located deck 11 aft Two egg stations, one for fried eggs and one for omelettes. That's Kristen, my assistant wait staff during dinner in the MDR. The egg stations use a ticket system unlike from what I''ve seen on other ships. You place your order and are handed a ticket with a two digit number. You are free to wander around and gather other food then come back when your number is up and collect your order. It works quite well. Mmmm, bacon. Several flavors of pancakes kept warm under cover. Lots of fresh fruit. Smoked Mackerel and Smoked Salmon. Al Fresco Seating with aft views If you've ever eaten in a Windjammer on any ship, you'll quickly feel at home on Serenade with the added bonus of outdoor seating.

Beautiful pictures.

Day 2 - Sea Day Pretty close to a full moon last night. Woke this morning to a beautiful sunrise With that it's off to the WJ for breakfast. Warning - excessive food pictures coming in next post

Took a couple of minutes to stand in our balcony and take in the view. It’s truly breathtaking. I am SO glad I invested in these add-on lenses, as they’re helping me take photos that capture the memories so much better than the plain camera. As you can see, we’re almost exactly in the middle between the bridge wing and the whirlpool on deck 11. I’ve never seen the ocean such a cobalt blue. It makes me pause every time I see it, just to take it in. Being a New Jerseyan, the Atlantic has always been more of a greenish tint whenever I’d go to a beach. I just assumed you had to get to a Caribbean island to see blues like this.

Embarkation Day recap... We checked out of the hotel about 10:20 and hailed a Lyft. The experience was not nearly as smooth this time; the first assigned driver mysteriously changed the ride to “in progress” without ever showing up, and I had to cancel that one and hail another (thankfully with no penalty applied). The second driver we got showed up earlier than predicted, but clearly didn’t know the area fully as he was blindly following Lyft’s GPS directions and I could see it was taking him in a crazy route compared to where the port was. It eventually got us there, and we made our way to Terminal 29, the very last one in the port. As we made our way through, we passed Harmony of the Seas, Carnival Conquest, and HAL Nieuw Amsterdam. It was indeed a busy day in the port! We arrived about 11:10, and there was already a good line of cars forming for drop-off. We checked our bags with a porter and I tipped $10 for our 8 bags (four big suitcases and four carry-ons that we wanted to check, while keeping the essentials in our backpacks and handbags). I was openly gawking at the ship and the sheer size of her, now that I could see her up close. I kind of pissed off the port workers as I failed to quickly follow their directions to GTFO and go into security, and just stood there for a minute debating whether to take a picture (I didn’t). From there we quickly went through security, and ship check-in was relatively fast as well comparing to other times I’ve seen reported here. We boarded Freedom around 11:50, so a 40 minute turnaround. Considering the large crowd already there when we arrived, and the time I “wasted” ogling her from outside the terminal building, I’d consider that pretty good. Sadly, our t-shirts advertising our 20th anniversary got us no love from any attendants, and we had to take the “no status” line. Here’s a shot of the crowd at the checkin counter, plus a panoramic showing it wasn’t actually that crowded. We boarded on deck 4, and went straight to the gym and spa so my wife could find out about those unlimited classes. Unfortunately, this resulted in us getting the guided spa tour, which none of us wanted but we got roped into as we didn’t see the way into the gym that bypassed the spa. We realized afterward that we should have gotten off at deck 11 instead of 12. My wife ended up not signing on to the unlimited classes in the gym, deciding she’ll be fine just using the complimentary equipment. But she did sign up for the free pampering session they had on offer, and the girls signed up for the teen version (though they might skip it). After this, we went outside to the pool deck, and had our first split up of the day, with the girls wandering off to explore the ship. I got right down to business, and sat down in a lounger in the shade with my first beverage — a lava flow! It was good, at least when the rum wasn’t settled to the bottom and overwhelming the flavor. My wife stayed with me and had a taste, agreed it was good. We got up and explored the rest of the deck, enjoying the view of the surrounding area. I had a moment looking over the railing where it really hit me that I was on a cruise ship, about to embark on a helluva trip, and I laughed out loud. This is what I was looking at. From the other side of the ship, we could see Harmony and Carnival Conquest, sharing the port with us. We made our way to the Promenade, and once again I had to take a few moments to just absorb it all and realize I was somewhere I’d only seen in pictures up to this point. Where to start?!? But, it was 1:10 and the announcement came out that rooms were now open. So, off we went to see what our balcony rooms were like. In two words, very nice! We were a little nervous when we saw how narrow the door was, but breathed a sigh of relief when we walked in and saw the actual space. No photos right now, my wife was adamant that I not do a photo tour set the second we got in. And happy wife does indeed equal happy life! She did not, however, say anything about taking photos of our view, so I give you one fisheye and one telephoto pic that sums it up. Our luggage arrived not long after, around 1:30. Most of it... Oddly, we got every piece except my wife’s carry-on; maybe because it was more like a very large handbag than a suitcase? That didn’t show up until a little after muster. Before muster, after unpacking our luggage, my wife and I went to the MDR to see where our table was and if we got the really big table we’d hoped for. We didn’t, but from what I could see there really weren’t any apart from a half dozen in the center. Our table is on Deck 3, #356, located to the right of the central staircase. We left the MDR and wandered around deck 4, making our way to Studio B and the ice rink. It is cold in there! By the time we were done taking in the MDR and ice rink, it was about time for muster. Muster itself was uneventful, but a little surprising. I was sure we were going to be outside, so I had all of us put on sunscreen... and then we had muster in the Star Lounge! It was over pretty quickly, and then D14 and I got Down to our post-muster goal — a margarita for me to have with sailaway, and a mocktail for her. She went back to the room to enjoy sailaway from her balcony (favorite spot #4, per @Matt, IIRC), and I made my way to the helicopter deck (favorite spot #1) by way of the “secret path” through the Star Lounge. Here I did my first ever Periscope, which was... well, let’s say I have a lot to learn on this front. ? I really enjoyed sailaway. The weather at this point was perfect, not too much sun, comfortable temperature, and a refreshing breeze blowing in. Once we cleared the channel and got into the open ocean, I took a few pics of the receding coastline and the helipad. I made my way all the way aft to take in the view of the wake. Doing that walk really made clear how long the ship is! But it was worth it, as I caught this view that was absolutely striking. After this, I met up with everyone back at the cabin. We got changed for dinner, then saw the welcome aboard show. I got my second margarita of the day before the show started. We got to meet our cruise director, Drew. He was very funny and engaging, so this bodes well; I found out later from the staff at Vintages that he just transferred (from Liberty?) last week. As for the main acts, there was a pair of artistic dancers who opened up the show and were really impressive, with good choreography and some jaw dropping moves. After them was a comedian who was hit and miss for me, mostly because of some his subject matter that has become a sensitive subject for me. No photos as photography was not allowed and we were sitting in the back of the theater. After that, we had our 8 PM dinner (not 8:30 as I’d originally posted) in the MDR. Menus are the same as posted earlier by @LetsTryThisPlace in his live blog, so I didn’t take pictures. Also didn’t take pics of our food as I was too engaged with the family and our table mates, a mother and son from Michigan who happen to know @mpoole3 and have cruised with him a couple times! Small world, indeed! I tried the escargot, not expecting to like them, and was very pleasantly surprised! D14 had asked to try one if I liked them, so I passed over the plate. I have to quote her here, because it kind of sums up my own experience: ”I’m kind of nervous about this...” ::eats the piece, and a moment later her face simultaneously lights up and gets confused:: “This is wrong, why does this taste so good?!?” She said she’d have it for sure tomorrow, assuming it’s offered. The rest of our meals were very good. In addition to the escargot, I had the wild mushroom soup, the horseradish crusted salmon, and creme brûlée for dessert. My wife had the Caesar salad, spaghetti bolognese, and royal chocolate cake. D14 had the crispy calamari, prime rib, and hazelnut chocolate. And D17 had the French onion soup, salmon, and fruit for dessert. D14 and I both got a cappuccino with our dessert, which is why I’m posting a novella at 1 AM instead of sleeping; lesson learned! After dinner, I went to the pub and spent some time listening to guitar player James Brown from Canada for a while, while I enjoyed a Paulaner Salvator double bock. I Periscoped some of his set before my battery got too low, and my wife joined me after a while. We tried to go back to the helipad to see the stars, but the moon is full and the wind from the bow so strong that we couldn’t even make it all the way up there! We decided to call it a day and went back to our cabin, where I started working on this. She fell asleep about midnight, but I was still wired and decided to finish this post. So there you have it! Future posts may be broken up more or they may also be novellas, but that’s the writer in me for you. I hope I conveyed how amazing this first day was for all of us, me especially. Just want to wrap up with a couple items: - Drink package tally: 1 lava flow, 2 reposado margaritas, 1 cappuccino, and 1 craft beer; I think I got my money’s worth today, given the $43/night rate I paid. - I stopped in the casino briefly and spoke with the gent at the craps table; minimum is $5 all day, and you get single odds for that bet, however if you bet $25 you get double odds; betting $50 gives you 3x/4x/5x odds, depending on what number you rolled. So serious craps players can actually get Vegas casino level odds on their pass line play.

Well somehow this never posted this morning. So backtrack and pretend it’s 9:30 AM. In the Wind-jab-mehr right now, getting some late lunch (nothing worthwhile at Cafe Promenade). A gathering of angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this some of hope, and this is what they said: They said, COME SAIL AWAY! COME SAIL AWAY!! COME SAIL AWAY WITH ME!!! The day is finally here! Just another couple of hours and we’ll be on board. I was told by another couple we met on the hotel elevator that Harmony is also in port today, and between those two ships and the others in port there are going to be 17,000 people there. Very glad I learned the lesson to get there between 10:30 and 11, because I can’t imagine what the crowds are going to be like! I know it’s multiple terminals and it won’t be all 17,000 in one place, but that many people funneling through the port entrance and security checkpoint is going to be nuts! I’m going “dark” now, probably until after sail-away. I’ll be Periscoping during sail-away, so keep an eye out for me there. Periscope handle is the same as my handle here.

I won! Woohoo! At the CC Meet & Mingle they had a raffle for "stuff you'd never buy" and I won an RC backpack. Our ship representative warned us several times they tend to fall apart but knew exactly how they could be fixed by sewing them up with dental floss. Things you make you go "hmmm". I should have brought my dental floss needle, but heck it's free and I won it (I never win anything). Enjoying my balcony today... how else? I thought I'd test out wifi calling given that this is a non-O3b ship. I called my agent to save $400 on a December cruise. Not bad, the call broke up a few times but in the end I saved $400 so I'll take it! As I sat there I spotted a celebrity approaching. Using my bot-like vision I discovered it's the Celebrity Silhouette. Soon after some birds came along. At first I wasn't sure what they were doing out here but then it became obvious. Success! Flying fish being taught a lesson by a flying bird - better to stay in the water.

Guess what @JLMoran ? IT'S CRUISE DAY!!! Finally !!!!!

Early start to the day after getting a solid sleep. Walking through the solarium and around the pool deck before sunrise I observed the pool attendants at work Here is the solarium on Serenade

Finally a post-dinner sunset: Deck 5 Hyperlapse

Cabin Tour! Deck 7 Standard Balcony 7028 On the Radiance class the deck 7 balconies are extended with the extension open to the sides and above. I don't plan to be on my balcony in my underwear so this isn't an issue for me but if you are seeking a more private balcony experience you may want to accept a smaller balcony on a higher deck.

So we ended up spending about four hours today out at the nearby public beach. As planned, we took the Beach Link trolley bus from Publix. On the way, we passed by the port and saw Navigator of the Seas at the far end of the port, and also Royal Princess docked very close to where we were driving past. We were all kind of awe-struck at how big Royal Princess was, and then I quickly realized that she was about the same size as Navigator, and Freedom would be even bigger! I honestly have no idea what my reaction when I finally see her up close is going to be. We got off the trolley at a park a short stretch past where the trolley’s route left the beach area; we didn’t realize until we passed that final stretch of beach that this trolley line doesn’t have fixed stops, and you need to tell the driver when you want to get off. We had to walk a little ways to get back to the beach, but not that far. The stretch of beach we ended up on was great. Not at all crowded, plenty of space to just stand at the water’s edge and take in the view, as well as a lot of pictures that included some very nice family snaps. Some of those also confirm I’m no bot. ? At one point we saw a big flock of pelicans flying in formation. I always thought they were more solitary birds and didn’t do that, so this was quite surprising. It was like watching the Canada Geese migrating, only these birds were slimmer and far less obnoxious as they flew by. All of these shots were taken using my new telephoto lens. It’s really good in these well-lit conditions, definitely better than it did with the test pics I took at home. Surprisingly, I also really like how panoramic photos with the tele lens come out. I think these are a lot better than what I get with the iPhone 6s Plus’ base lens. After deciding we’d had enough time at the beach, we walked about a mile back up the main road and found a little place to grab lunch, which was right next door to a Haagen Dasz store that we also took advantage of. After that, we caught the trolley back to our hotel, rested a little and cleaned up, then grabbed dinner. (Outback again, as I’d scored a Dine Rewards discount on our prior visit) Now we’re packing up for tomorrow, when we will finally be boarding Freedom of the Seas. I have my alarm set for 7 AM so we have plenty of time to shower, grab breakfast, pack up the last of our things, and hail a Lyft to get us to the port around 10:30 or 10:45. We all want as much time as possible on board before the crowds!

Columbus and Nellies beach seemed very crowded. There are lots of regular loungers but they couldn’t be set up in the bungalow area unless you had a wrist band. Lunch was much better than we expected too. Everyone really enjoyed the ribs. Fun fact: At the captain’s corner today the hotel director said they track how many people get off the ship in Labadee to decide how much food to make.

I use a zippo when I try to paint... to light it on fire.

T-minus 1 day to embarkation... The weather is a lot nicer today, as expected. Just some scattered clouds, and nice and warm. We’ll be catching the shuttle at the Publix in a little bit to get to the nearby beach; only $1 per person vs whatever we’d have to pay for a Lyft. Will be another “take it easy” day, no set agenda. A few random thoughts: - Our room lock was adjusted yesterday, and it is much more reliable now - I can’t for the life of me understand why a room meant to sleep four has two double beds instead of two queens, especially when the bedroom section is more than large enough to accommodate them. The girls are doing OK with it, but my wife and I are finding it a little too cozy. I called the main desk before we came in and confirmed that there are no queen bed rooms, only two doubles or a single king. - D14 painted this last night, just for fun. Sketched the drawing from a photo she pulled up on her iTouch, then painted with watercolors. I continue to be amazed by the artistic talent of both my girls, but D14 is rapidly outpacing her sister (which is understandable, since D17 takes art for fun and is focused much more on music, where D14 is planning on an art / visual design focus in high school and eventually college)

A few stray observations about the hotel: - All rooms, from second floor to 14th, open to a view of the central atrium; no one gets a plain hallway, although the few right across from the elevator doors don’t get to enjoy the view without moving a little to the side. - While none of the rooms have what you could call “a view” outside the balcony window, our room at the front of the hotel (407) has a definite flaw: The flood lights on top of the main entry’s roof that illuminate the hotel sign shine right into our window. It’s blindingly bright and makes seeing outside at night impossible. At least it’s fully blocked when the curtains are drawn, so we can sleep - This is clearly a frequent destination for cruisers. We ran into a gent on the elevator this morning who instantly asked us, “So where are you cruising to?” We laughed, told him, and when we asked where he was going he replied that he’s been living there for the last three weeks while his house is getting some renovations done, and that practically everyone he’s met and asked what brought them there said they were on a cruise. - The WiFi here is being upgraded, and it’s causing some annoying connectivity issues; random dropouts, failures connecting using either the last name and room number that the login form requests or the promo code we were told to try, and some pretty variable signal strength. - They are also upgrading the room locks. These rooms use cards that you hold up to a sensor on the door, rather than sliding into a slot. Sort of like a Disney MagicBand or Royal WowBand, just not worn. I’ve found the cards (or maybe the sensors) to be hit or miss, and it takes between one and three tries to get it to work. I think it’s this last part that’s being addressed with the upgrade, as the notice in the elevator indicated workers who came to your room would just just need to futz with the locks for a few moments and be done.

I agree, Traveler. The site looks lame and empty. There needs to be more information available. What about Crown & Anchor ? What about pictures of the rooms ? What about that "Messages" tab that never EVER had anything there - EVER. Oh wait....

One way for 7 people.

Great question. I think there are two main criticisms about the plan There will be some aspects of the additions that have an extra cost It will "ruin" the island (in terms of quaintness) Yes, there will be an extra cost involved for the water park, cabanas, some dining, etc. Two ways to look at this: first, better an extra cost than rolling it into the price and people paying for experiences they may not want. Second, There were already extra costs (Cabanas, bungalows, parasailing, etc). Not like CocoCay was this complimentary oasis before. As for "ruining the island", well, CocoCay is not a national park. There was plenty of noise to start with between guests, DJ music, jet skis, etc. I do recognize there will be much more of a built up nature to it, but my counter argument is look at cruise ships. There's people now who lament how cruise ships have gotten big, loud, and are like floating cities. That same argument why building Oasis, Quantum, et al class ships is a good thing, can be applied to CocoCay. At the end of the day, there will still be a beach to go to that requires no additional cost, and where you can simply relax and enjoy the sun and surf.

They need to like all cruise lines do and not just 'millennials' which is an over-used stereotype IMO. Looking towards the future they need to begin cultivating the next generation of guests beyond my life expectancy. Otherwise they'll have only a diminishing customer base. While I enjoyed Celebrity I sail Royal because of the young vibe, family orientation and lots of things to keep an old guy like me young. There are cruise lines out there that are well suited to an older, refined crowd that has no interest in water parks and slides. To each their own, but I'm looking forward to it even if some things are beyond my activity levels. It's fun being around people having fun.