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Day 2 I'm realizing that I'm not all that great at remembering to take pictures... I'm also realizing that it would probably be easier with a real camera, as I have conditioned myself not to be on my phone much, so it's hard to remember to get it out to take pictures... Either way, today was our first sea day. I was concerned about having the 7:45 am Character Breakfast since we had a late night last night, however my body woke up at 6 am anyway. Also, we are deck 6 aft, and the breakfast was in Silk, so just one floor down. If you have young kids, it was definitely worth it. The breakfast menu is the same as a standard MDR breakfast, but with catchy names for the kids. It was $10 per adult, but free for kids. We waited in the waiting area of Silk, and then were seated at our own table, with the waiter from Solarium Bistro from the night before. After placing our order, they had all of the kids come up and dance to shake out the wiggles, and then three characters came out individually. We had Shrek, Puss in Boots, and Princess Fiona. After each character came out and danced, they came around to each table and took pictures. Virginia expressed her desire to not have us in any pictures. We also learned she is scared of Shrek. After that, it was up to Adventure Ocean for the morning session. Virginia has had a lot of fun every time she's gone. There's been no crying when we drop her off, and it takes some coercing to get her to come with us. We're very impressed with all of the staff and programming. While Virginia was in AO, Abby and I had our mud scrub scheduled as part of the Ultimate Thermal Pass. While I'm not normally a Spa type of guy, it was $199 for the 2 of us to have the thermal suite all week, or $250 to add a 1 hour private mud scrub and a 1 hour private jacuzzi. We took the upsell. While very weird at first, I will admit that the mud scrub was very relaxing. They take you to a private room, where you use multiple levels of exfoliant. Then you apply the mud mask all over your body and enter a steam room. The steam room has 2 seats that face each other, and after about 20 minutes of steam, water starts to fall from the ceiling so you can get completely clean. Once finished, you apply moisturizers. My skin felt amazing afterwards, and it was nice to have a relaxing 60 minutes with just my wife and I. I'm not sure I would clamor to do it again, but I would think about it. After getting cleaned up, we picked up Virginia and had lunch at Wipeout Cafe. We figured it would be less crowded, and we could eat quick and head to the pool. The water in the pool was extremely cold, but after doing the circular wave pool, we went to a hot tub and felt much better. Then it was time for a nap, so Abby and V took a rest while I went back to the casino, and proceeded to give them back what I borrowed from them the previous night. I played for quite a while, but ran into some pretty lousy hands at UTH. I went for a walk around the jogging track, then thought I'd go back up to CK and see if I could rouse anyone. I knocked on the door, and two people in the suite lounge just looked at me through the crack, then turned their back. I guess no riff-raff mingling with the suite guests. I plan to go back up Day 3 around 5:30 and see if I can get reservations, although the Day 3 Cruise Compass still lists it as Star, Sky, and Pinnacles. After that adventure, it was back to AO to pick up Ginny and get ready for formal night. While we don't go full CLR style, we like to get a little dressed up. Before we went back to the room, I took Ginny to Sorrentos to get some pizza, and we just happened to run into one of Ginny's favorite characters. Night made, we headed up to get changed. Again, our cabin is in a great location. We got changed and were on the promenade around 5:30 to get pictures, with very little lines anywhere. Later in the evening it was a much longer wait. We took our pictures at several locations, and then went back up to change Virginia into regular clothes for AO. Another quick stroll through the promenade, picture with Captain Goran, whom Ginny had already met earlier in the day at AO, then time for a kid free date night. Dinner tonight was in Chops. This was our first Chops experience, and I was very excited. With my current diet, I am limited on red meat and carbs, so I was saving myself for the filet. It was absolutely amazing. Better than a lot of land-based restaurants. The service was amazing. None of my pictures turned out very well, except for the Red Velvet cake that we had to get for @Sweety. Abby told me to order, since I "have the inside scoop". I had the peppered bacon app, and she had the crab cake. The bacon was pretty good. The crab cake was on the dry side, and very crumbly. Flavor was nice though. Next was a Caesar salad for Abby, and the mushroom soup for me. The soup could have used a drop of creme fraiche to balance the earthiness of the mushrooms, but was nice. Both of us had the filet for main, and our sides were baked potato, mushrooms, cheesy tots, and mac and cheese. Baked potato was the best, as we seasoned it ourself. The rest of the sides suffered from lack of seasoning. This must have been common, as the table next to us asked for some sea salt to garnish their sides as well. Service was spectacular however. Dessert was the red velvet cake, and warm apple pie a la mode. Bother were excellent. (I should mention, Abby and I met in culinary school, where we trained to be pastry chefs. Neither of us do this professionally anymore, but we still dabble.) After dinner, we decided to call it a night, pick up Virginia, and head to bed. We had big day at Labadee planned for Day 3 in a beach bungalow.

Day 5 - Sea Day (continued) We Will Rock You was abso-freaking-lutely amazing!! What everyone says about it starting slow is certainly true, and there's no denying it's one of the most contrived plots out there to get the songs to fit some kind of narrative. But man, what a show! All of the performers were great, and the band was phenomenal; their guitarist looks like she's still in her 20s but she was crushing it like someone who's been playing for over 40! The sets looked really good, and I'm amazed at how many set pieces they have for this one show that they swap out in really short order, some of them rising up out of or dropping down into the stage floor. After seeing @twangster's pics from the backstage tour for Hairspray and how crowded the backstage area was with all the set pieces for that show, I can only imagine what backstage (and under the stage) must look like with this one! One of the supporting actors had some mic trouble early on, which caused him to have to switch over to a hand-held mic in the middle of his scene; he totally took it in stride and just kept acting through the sound drop-outs until the hand-held was brought out to him, and spoke clearly and loudly enough through it that I think everyone in the theater could make out his lines. His cast-mates help get the mic out to him, moving as if it was all part of their choreography for the scene. Some definite pros at work, there. Apart from that one small technical glitch, the show went flawlessly. The actors who play Galileo Figaro and Scaramouche were absolute stand-outs, belting out song after song; they also looked like they had some good on-stage chemistry going, so parts like them falling for each other were more believable. They and all the cast and band members totally earned the standing ovation they got at the end of the show. If I had seen the evening showing, it would have been a fantastic way to wrap up the final sea day. But we saw the matinee, and we still had half of that day left to go. How the heck was I going to top that on-board experience? Well, before I could do that I had to spend a little more time on the gratuities situation. My TA had emailed me back during the show and she was not happy. Royal had no record of the charge for my gratuities and were saying that they must have never processed the charge. A quick check of my most recent credit card statement put the lie to that; that charge was literally the very first one on the page! I emailed Heather back and let her know that; she said that as long as they did indeed roll back the on-board charges for gratuities that I had requested, we'd be good and she would straighten it all out so that Allen and the wait staff would properly get their gratuities from me. So I put that on the back burner again, as I wouldn't really know about the reversal until the next day, and got back to enjoying my final day of this trip. We decided to get one last time in at the thermal spa, and spent about an hour up there. Had some nice conversation in the sauna with another New Jerseyan, who owned a shipping warehouse not far from where my wife used to work when our kids were younger. After taking advantage of everything the thermal spa had to offer, we checked out for the last time. Cathy got in three visits all told, while I had only gotten in twice; while it was nice to have this as another thing to do on our trip, we agreed we wouldn't spend the money on it again as we didn't really feel like we were able to use it enough to justify the price. Maybe on a longer trip with more sea days, but not this one. Remember how I said that the chefs at CK had almost pulled out all the stops yesterday. They saved the absolute best for last. Check out this menu. I'm not gonna like, I ate like a man on death row getting his last meal. I started off with a final round of escargots, plus the forest mushroom terrine... and the fennel soup... These were paired with a pinot noir, "Spy Valley". I've honestly been afraid to try pinot noir before, after seeing the movie "Sideways" with Paul Giamatti; at one point his character talks about how pinot can be really hit or miss, even from bottle to bottle within the same vintner, and I tend to believe that script writers don't usually put statements like that in there without doing at least some research on it first (lest the critics pounce on it); so after hearing that, I'd never felt like spending my money to try it out. Well, I had the drink package, and Amar recommended it as a good pairing with these entrees, so I figured why not? It was better than I expected, and I may get a bottle for at home at some point, but for now the one glass was enough. For my entree, I had the saffron linguine, and shared an order of the cauliflower fried rice with Cathy. Sorry, forgot to take pictures of those last two. I paired these up with a glass of my favorite Chianti, the Marchesi de'Frescobaldi Chianti Ruffina, "Castello di Nipozzano" -- aka "#684". ? Cathy changed up her appetizer from the usual Caesar salad and had the Pizzette, followed by the sirloin steak and the shared cauliflower fried rice. Everything was phenomenal, the chefs really outdid themselves tonight. And we hadn't even had dessert yet! Before I get to the desserts, let me give the final riddles of our trip. First up was this, which Cathy and I both had heard before and I'm guessing you may have as well: "Poor people have it, rich people need it; if you eat it, you'll die." We both just just needed a few minutes to dredge up the answer from memory, and shortly had two pieces of Dove chocolate to enjoy with our dessert. The second was another stick puzzle, which neither of us figured out. I'm not going to give the drawing this time, I'll just type it out since it involves numbers: | + | = || Pretend it's Roman numerals, so you have one and one equals two. Long sticks for the roman 1's, short sticks to form the plus and equals sign. Now, move just one stick so you get an expression or equation with regular decimal numbers that totals 130. Yes, it can be done, and yes the answer will have you smacking your head. So, time for dessert! The dessert menu was also a set of impossible choices. Cathy and I both had the Chocolate and Berries Sundae; mine with chocolate and strawberry ice cream, while Cathy got chocolate and vanilla. But I didn't want to miss out on the Dulce de Leche Crème Brûlée, so I decided to order that as well. With a cappuccino. The crème brûlée was fantastic, and while the sundae was also very good I just could not eat all of it. I finished off the strawberry ice cream part, and Cathy got to enjoy some extra chocolate on top of her own. While we enjoyed our desserts, Amar had one final gift for us for solving so many of his riddles over the trip -- It was a key ring that had small replicas of all the local currency notes from Mauritius, which he wanted us to have as a keepsake and reminder of our trip and time in CK. We really appreciated it, it was quite a unique key ring! He had some time for chit-chat, and we asked him how much time was left on his current contract. He told us he was on Anthem for just three more sailings -- the final CA/NE that was leaving the next day, followed by one more trip to Bermuda and then a 9-night Bahamas sailing. After that, he was going home for a little over 3 months before coming back to work on Anthem in March for his next contract. He said that while he was at home he'd be helping his mother finish getting her house remodeled, as the contractors working on it needed pretty constant oversight to make sure they were doing a good job. He was hoping they'd finish before he had to leave again, or they might end up leaving his mom with some shoddy work at the end. We also had a chance to talk more with our head waiter. We found out he was from India, descended from the British colonists who had stayed there after the country won its independence and who had married the native people. He was missing his family a lot, especially his youngest daughter who he wasn't getting to see grow up nearly as much as he'd like. It was tough to hear, and a reminder that the folks who make our trips so phenomenal are giving up a lot to have these jobs and support their families through them. Amar brought out the final check for me to sign to cover my typical wine overage. I had been tipping him a bit extra each night already, but tonight I made sure to give him an extra-large tip for all the great service he'd given every night. We had only gotten one WOW envelope, and I hadn't thought to pick up another from Guest Services, so this was the best way to be sure he got that extra. By this point I was rapidly realizing that I really should not have ordered so many things, or at least not eaten every last bite of them all. Between the sheer amount of food, guzzling down my cappuccino and getting a caffeine rush, and the ship starting to really rock and roll as the weather got worse through dinner, I was getting a little unsettled. Since we still had to pack and get our bags out for pickup, we went back to the cabin where I could be pretty sure the motion would be a lot less, and where the distraction of packing would help me get through the queasiness. We had both packed just about exactly the right amount of clothes and other stuff, so packing was pretty much just a matter of tossing all the dirty stuff into the suitcases. We had group 50 for our tags, which was close to the last departure group. While we were packing, we heard the wind positively howling outside the balcony door. The ship movement was modest enough in our room that I wasn't worried about taking a peek outside, and as soon as I opened the balcony door and looked down at the ocean, I understood why the movement was so pronounced through dinner. I couldn't take a picture, but just take the rough seas @Neaxan had put some video of in her live blog and change from day to night; you'll have a pretty good idea. All I could see around us in the bright moonlight was big waves and massive expanses of white froth. There wasn't any rain as far as I could tell, it was just tremendously windy and that seemed to be the main thing churning up the ocean. Packing done and our suitcases in the hall, I was feeling just about back to normal. And we still wanted to do our plan of getting in some hot tub time. So we threw on our bathing suits and headed over to the Solarium. I remembered a tip from JimZim in his YouTube review of Anthem -- if you go to passenger deck 13, and walk all the way forward, you can get into the lowest level of the solarium by the hot tubs without ever having to set foot outside. Well, we found the door, but neither one of us could open it! It wasn't locked, we could turn the knob and we saw the door shift a tiny bit if we really put our weight into it. But the air pressure difference was so tremendous between that hallway and the Solarium, probably because of the observation wing doorway that was right next to where this door opened up, that it flat-out would not budge! So, we walked back to the nearest stairwell and went up the one deck to the pool level. The automatic doors here were working normally, and we were able to get into the indoor pool area and finally into the Solarium. Being all the way forward, the ship was moving pretty noticeably; the pool are was roped off, but the hot tubs were still open and there wasn't a soul there. We chose one and got in, and enjoyed the hot water and the jets on our still-stiff legs. A handful of people came into the area after us, but there were still three unoccupied hot tubs and everyone got to enjoy their own private space. I made it about 20 minutes before the combination of the hot water and the ship's motion here got me feeling green around the gills again. I headed back to the room while Cathy stayed a little longer, took a quick shower to cool off and finally went to bed to just sleep it off. The final day's drink tally: 1 fresh-squeezed orange juice 2 cappuccinos 2 cocktails (my "She's a Geisha" from Izumi, and a margarita I had while watching We Will Rock You) 2 glasses of wine I definitely was feeling the drink fatigue by the end of today, amplified somewhat by my mild seasickness. I realize in hindsight that I let myself fall into the trap of worrying about "catching up" with my drink package and the "shortfall" from our first port day, when I needn't have bothered. Fact of the matter is that I'd had enough on the other days that I didn't need to have anything extra today, and I could have skipped the margarita and one of the two glasses of wine with no problem.

I totally agree with you Tony!

They have a cocktail called Down the Rabbithole at the Wonderland bar and it comes with your choice of a red or a blue pill so I thought it would fit right in ?

-Day Four Falmouth Jamaica- By FlowBro Ty Today We Are In Falmouth Jamaica. Today Wil Be A Long Day And A Fun Day. I Will Be Climbing The World Famous Dunn's River Fall And Going River Tubing. . I Got Up At Seven And Saw That For Most Of The Moring We Where Hugging The Coast Of Jamaica. At 8:45 I Went To The Windjammer For A Bite To Eat. I Am Not A Breakfast Person But Since Our Next Meal Will Not Be Till Around One I Will Grab A Bite To Eat. I Had Three Yogurt's And Two Milks And Some Water Orange Juice. On The Oasis Class The Windjammer Looks Over My Favorite Place One The Whole Ship The Sports Deck. I Was Temped To Go On The Flowrider. But I Had To Be The Theater To Get My Tour. We Docked In Falmouth At Nine Thirty And They Had The Gangway Open By Ten. And I Was On My Tour To Dunn's River Falls. On The Way To Dunn's River We Got Pulled Over By The Jamaica Police To Do A Insurance Check Or Some Thing Like That And After Two Minutes We Where Back On The Road. Also We Passed Through Ochos Rio I Saw One Carnival Ship And A Holland America Ship. After An Hour And A Half We Were Here Dunn's River. The Water Fall Water Is Very Cold And To Climb It You Must Have Water Shoes. And To Get To The Top It Takes About A Hour. And After We Were Back On The Bus The Time Was Around Twelve Thirty. After We Headed To A Meal At Some Hotel On The Water. They Had Jerk Chicken And Some Pasta With Meat Sauce With A Whole Dessert Spread. Back On The Bus The Tour Gide Told Us That It Was On Of The Oldest Hotel In The Area. And In Less Than 15 Minutes Were At The River Tubing Place. The Gide Said It Was Over A Mile Long And Had Some Class One Rapides. It Was Pretty Fun. This Is Just Like Kelly Park In Apopka FL, After A Hour We Where Back On A Bus Head To The Ship. To Get Back To The Port From Ochos Rios Took A Hour And Fifteen Minutes. And Around Four I Was Back Aboard The Oasis Of The Seas. At Five We Went To Go See Oasis Of Dreams The Aqua Show. Every Time It Blows My Mind How They Do That On A Ship. After That I Went To The Teen Flowrider Session. It Was More Packed With People Then The Regular Session. After That I Went To The Room And Went To Bed. Tomorrow Will Be A Fun And Long Day At Sea Onboard Oasis Of The Seas.

Day 10: This day was off to an early start, therefore we had breakfast in our beloved Park Cafe. Why the early start, you might ask – the All Access Ship tour, of course! At 119 $ each, we had a YOLO moment when booking this. Hey, when will I be ever able to get a behind the scenes tour on the biggest cruise ship in the world? Our tour guide for the morning was Charly from Shore Excursions, who gave us some insight into crew life on Symphony. First stop of the tour was the engine control room where we were lucky to meet the chief engineer. I don’t want to bore you with a multitude of numbers so here’s the highlights: of 6 generators for the engines, Symphony uses 4 on a transatlantic sailing compared to only 3 when on normal Caribbean itineraries. Symphony has enough fuel to immediately return from Miami to Barcelona without refueling – but we’d lack food and drinks ? Our next stop was the MDR galley on deck 5, where we got all information from one of the sous chefs. The MDR has 3 galleys (one on each MDR deck) – deck 5 is mainly responsible for soups, sauces, salads, cold plates and breakfast room service. The sheer amount of food that has to be prepared here is really impressive. Royal uses a computer system to predict the amount of dishes they’ll need for each seating – interesting to see this in use. Down from deck 5 it was back into the bowels of the ship, taking the I-95 to provisions. On I-95, we saw the crew activities board. I’m really quite angry about the amount of money the crew have to pay for internet – in my opinion, it should be free of charge for them as it’s the only way to stay in contact with their family at home. And Royal should be aware that a happy crew makes for happy cruisers! But on to a more lighthearted topic – provisions: Symphony’s provisions master took care of all our questions. As we still got a few days left, the walk in refrigerators were well stocked - nobody can starve on a cruise ship. For the European season, Symphony had to restock in Barcelona and Civitavecchia on each sailing – not because of the longer advance booking periods but because all goods arrive on (wooden) EU pallets and have to be reloaded on the steel pallets that Royal uses! That’s why Symphony only needs restocking once a week (in Miami) for Caribbean cruises – it just takes less time. Our time with the provisions master also answered another question: how does Symphony dock in Miami? Always on the starboard side, as they can use 2 doors for loading instead of only one when docking portside. Unfortunately, this means that Symphony will always turn in the basin when entering the port – so in the middle of the night most likely. From provisions, we ventured even further down the ship. The laundry is as far down as you can get on Symphony (assuming you don’t want to take a swim in the fuel tanks). The laundry master explained his department to us and also showed us the use of some of the machines. You can even stumble upon Captain Rob in the laundry ? Most interesting information: crew’s uniforms are cleaned free of charge, but they have to wash their private clothes themselves. Our last stop on this tour was the bridge, where we met one of the First Officers – and Captain Rob again. It's amazing how approachable and chatty the Captain is – what a nice experience. Best thing about the bridge is the unobstructed forward view, but all the instruments on the bridge wing were also quite interesting. We were even lucky to have not one but two ships in our safety corridor when on the bridge – in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic! The route is completely at the Captain’s discretion so we took a southern route on this crossing for better weather. Even though the southern route is longer than the northern route, it’s more fuel efficient due to winds and drift. # After this illuminating tour, we went to the MDR for an early lunch. We were seated with Americans, Brits and a couple from Taiwan. This mix made for some very interesting political discussions. (Hey, I thought you don’t small talk about politics and religion?!) Fortunately, we don’t mind political discussions as we like to hear opinions from all sides. In fact, we’ve redpilled quite a few fellow cruisers on the topic of Germany on this crossing ? As for the food, can’t remember the exact names (and forgot to look them up before disembarkation ?). Hubby had the Greek Salad, Chicken Sandwich and Chocolate Cake, I had the Tortilla Salad, Steak Sandwich and Apple Pie. The next event of the day was the Guest Talent Show. The choir's This is Me was the first act, the song was enhanced by a choreography from the progressive dance class. Other than that, it was mostly musical acts. We were quite surprised about the confidence of some of the participants but a few acts were REALLY impressive. The best act was a guy singing New York by Frank Sinatra – in fact this guy was on par with headliner Gary Williams. No surprise he won progressive karaoke. As we’d had an early lunch and were planning a late dinner, we had a 2nd lunch at Playmakers – again Base Loaded Potato Skins but this time accompanied by Pulled Pork Sliders. From there it was on to Laser Tag. Sadly a session only is 10 minutes, but considering the long lines it’s understandable. Due to the de-icing of Studio B there were only 4 sessions on this 12 night cruise - the first two on one of the first sea days, session 3 on day 10 during formal night dinner and session 4 during sailaway from Port Canaveral. We had other plans for the first two sessions and didn't want to miss sailaway so we chose the lesser evil. Our team didn’t win but at least we were the team’s top players. Day 10 was the 2nd and last formal night, so we went to the cabin to change into more formal wear (so not playing laser tag in dress and heels!) and then get some pictures taken on Royal Promenade. Dinner in the MDR consisted of the Mediterranean Tapas Plate for starters, Seafood Linguini and Broiled Lobster Tail for entrees and Chocolate Profiteroles and the Artisan Cheese Plate for dessert. Feel free to guess who ordered what ? Verdict on the food: to us it feels as though MDR food is better on Formal Nights – so a good reason to dress up. When leaving the MDR we were advised to come back the next day for dessert (we have a reservation in Izumi and the dessert isn’t really our cup of tea). After a few drinks at the pub we went to bed. Side notes: 10.3 k steps – most of them on the tour ? If anyone wondered, yes, drink fatigue is a thing. Well, for me – not for hubby. Food fatigue is also getting real, guess we’ll have a breather in Miami. Can't really call this a towel animal, can I? ?

So the couple my parents were traveling with on the Symphony transatlantic had a bit of an issue. The gentleman left his underwear in a stack at home and forgot to pack it. They checked every venue on the ship and could not locate any boxers or underwear. This guy had to wash them every night of a 12 night voyage! The Symphony has just about everything you can think about EXCEPT underwear. Moral of the story is check and double check your bag before leaving the country on a 12 night cruise.

That was I think too. I hope bumper cars open on day 1 because I know will be a long line later. We only get refreshment drink package but all 5 of us is Diamond members so should get some drink in the evening (except my 6 years old). I am a coffee drinker and sparkling water lover so refreshment drink package is a must for me. The last cruise I got my husband a deluxe drink package, he was really enjoying it but this time we will pass it. 2 cabins we will take 4 bottles of wine with us so that should be a little drinking during the day for us. If drink card offer early then I will buy it. No dining package offer on my sailing because of a holiday. Boo to RCI ? Thinking to order Filet in a dining room or Solarium Bistro.

I took a look at their web site, not sure that you can arrange a rental ahead of time over the phone or through their site but no harm in trying. From the pictures this is definitely the same outfit that we saw, including the rental booth on the beach. And they are the only outfit. Horseshoe Bay isn't so large a beach that they could set up more than one bar or rental booth, and the guy who set up our equipment showed us a rope line set up about halfway down the beach that he said they weren't allowed to cross with any of the rental stuff. And I believe they set up purely on a first-come, first-served basis wherever they have space. That's how it was operating for all the folks waiting in line while we were there. Again, might not be the case but they will likely confirm once you give them a call. If you have concerns about the grandkids getting bored while waiting, there is a small grotto / tidepool like area just to the right as you enter the beach. The water there is very shallow and calm, no waves at all as it's totally sheltered by large volcanic outcroppings. The grandkids and one or two of the adults could go there and have something to do while the rentals were squared away, and you wouldn't have to worry about the grandkids being at risk from a big wave or anything. My wife and I saw lots of little kids there with their parents, so I imagine they'd have no problems finding some other kids to play and have fun with. Then once the rental gear is all set up, you can go get them and bring them all over to enjoy the full ocean. Last comment is that people there all respected chairs or loungers with no one in them, with no stealing of unoccupied rentals; my wife and I left our one lounger for around an hour while she swam and I explored the beach and grottoes, with just our sneakers and water shoes left there, and it was untouched and unmoved when we came back. We offered it to a couple of other visitors when we left, since the rentals are all-day and we had to leave at lunch time, but if we hadn't done that it probably would have just sat there empty the whole time.

Yes this person “Balsam” seems like a real piece of work. It’s really easy to sit behind a keyboard and bully defenseless older folks when there are no repercussions.

I'll bet your just a real joy to be stuck on a cruise ship with aren't you.

Wow --- I would've been looking around for Shelly Winters & Jack Albertson .......

They were on our Serenade sailing last week as well. I think they mentioned they have an exclusive contract with RCCL for the next 50 weeks. They were perfect for my average age of 75 cruise. LOL

We did this on the Oasis with the family. We took every opportunity to get our pictures made and we were very happy with them all.

-Day Three Labbadee Haiti- `By FlowBro Ty I Got Up At Seven To Watch The Sail In To Labbadee. We Docked At Seven Forty Five And Then We Saw The Workers Arrive To Work. Via Jet Ski And Speed Boat. After That I Met Up With @Twangster Fan At The Windjammer For Water. I Did Not Want To Ruin My Island Barbeque So I Had Just Water. After My Met Up With @Twangster Fan I Headed To The Flowrider For The 9:00 Session. I Hit The Flowrider Until 10:15 Then Headed Of The Ship. First Stop The Dragon Rock Café. It Was The Same Choice As On The Freedom In April. The Mac And Cheese Was So Good I Had Thirds. After That I Got On A Tram To Columbus Cove. There I Did The Aqua Park And Dragon Tail Coaster Combo. The Aqua Park Is Pretty Small But Since I Was Here On The Freedom They Added Three New Inflatable's. One Of My Favorite New Inflatables Are This Clift Jump / Slide Inflatable. Here's A Photo Of It. After The Aqua Park I Headed To The Dragon Tail Coaster. I Rode It Once And The Ride Was About Three To Four Minutes Long And The Line To Get On The Coaster Was Over Five Minutes Long. The Coaster Was Very Fun And I Would Recommend It To Anyone. After That I Headed Back To The Ship. I Notice That They Painted The Pier Brown. And They Added Better Speaker On The Pier Here's A Photo Of Our Ship. The Oasis Of The Seas. Back On Board I Went To The Pool And Spent And Hour In The Hot Tub And Grabbed Some Ice Cream . When I Heard The Horn I Went To View Our Sail Away From Labbadee Haiti. We Kick Up A Lot Of Dirt From Engines. The Sail Away From Labbdee Is One Of My Favorite Sail Away In The Caribbean From A Port. In Two Hours We Passed Through This Channel. There Were Land And Sail Boats On Each Side Of Us. It Was So Cool. Here's A Photo Of Our Path Out Of Labbadee. Here's A Photo I Took Of Mainland Haiti From The Channel.

We have always done the MDR, they do a nice "holiday menu addon".

No problem, @Susie. Have a great cruise!

Thank you both @firebuck & @JLMoran for the info. I am thinking to leave home at 6 am. Google said it will take 3 hours but after the stops will be 4-4:30 hours for sure. It will be me, hubby, son, mother in law and father in law so I am sure will be a few stops along the way there. I will try my best to be there early as possible because I cannot book Northstar and i-fly online so I will need to book when I onboard. Thanks again for both of you.

Yep! We weren't even the first ones there either... I'm not sure when they officially start taking your luggage and letting you in, but it was definitely right around 9:30 when we arrived. The 10:30 time you saw may just be another "suggestion" sort of like the arrival times they print on your set sail pass ?

The port has been much improved since the Explorer days - the addition of the parking garage definitely helps. The terminal waiting area is also much nicer and seems more organized. Does the traffic bad to get into the port? Since it's the weekend, it shouldn't be too bad. It also looks like the weather for Saturday is looking nice as of right now. You'll likely take 1-95 up to NJ and then catch the NJ Turnpike. Barring any congestion from roadwork or accidents, it should be fairly smooth sailing on up. What time do they let you get into the port? We got to the port at 9:30 AM. The port had just opened and there wasn't a big line of cars and we had no issues getting in. I know it'll be an early day coming from Maryland, but I'd definitely recommend getting to the port as early as possible. The line of cars got progressively worse as the day went on, and I heard a LOT of people complaining about the wait. This may be partially due to the bad weather we were having that day. I also heard that there weren't nearly enough porters on hand to take the luggage when dropping it off. I always make sure to try to get as much out of day 1 as I can... I was about 4 drinks in, had lunch, a dip in the pool, had all of our clothes unpacked, showered, and the line of cars were still coming in! What time do they let you onboard the ship? From what I understand the timing sort of varies... I've heard as early as 10:30, but the day we boarded, they started letting us on shortly after 11. Hope that helps, and I hope y'all have a wonderful cruise!

Hi @Susie. I was also at Cape Liberty right around the same time as @firebuck, will try and help you out. The port opens at 10:30 AM, boarding usually starts by about 11:00 as long as the ship doesn't have any delays due to Coast Guard inspections or the like. My wife and I also went there on a Saturday, but we live only about an hour away from the port. We left our home a little after 10 AM, and even when we were getting close to the port around 10:45, the traffic was pretty much nonexistent until we actually got onto the side roads leading into the port. I would imagine that as you get closer to the afternoon hours, the traffic will steadily increase. If you don't plan on being there right when the port opens, which would mean leaving your house at 6 or 6:30 AM, I'd suggest shooting for a 12 PM arrival so you have a buffer for any random traffic accidents or other delays. The road that goes into the port and up to the passenger and luggage drop-off area is two lanes, both of them are fine for getting to the drop-off areas. Traffic moves very slowly but steadily. Pay attention to the port staff once you get through the port's entry gate, they are directing traffic and will tell you which drop-off station to use. Once you've dropped off your luggage, continue to follow the road past passenger pickup and you'll see the parking garage on your right.

On Oasis, I believe that Chef's Table is set up in Coastal Kitchen on Deck 17.

On every ship I've sailed, using the Ultimate Dining Package, the package includes lunch on boarding day. I know that there is some uncertainty out there about whether or not the package officially includes boarding day but so far, it has on all of the ones I've done. I have NOT done a 3 day cruise so it might be different for a 3 day but I really doubt it. So it sounds to me like you would be getting 1 lunch and 3 dinners, so 4 meals. That works out to $18 per meal per person, which doesn't seem like a bad price. If, for some reason, they did not allow lunch on embark day that would be the standard $24 per meal per person.

We just bought the photo package for $225 and got 147 photos (digital, not prints). All very high quality, so we're happy. As well as onboard, every time we stepped onto one of the islands the photographers were there ready to take our photos so we took every opportunity to have our snaps taken.

If your planning on buying close to 10 pictures then it is. Otherwise I wouldn’t, I think single pictures are around $20 each with some discounts with whichever level crown and anchor you are. We usually buy 3-4 so it’s not worth it for us.

I can tell you one we loved and stayed a week - the Landis Hotel and Suites (request one renovated and high... what a view!). We wanted a 2 bedroom and 2 bath - it had a kitchen...huge, amazing price and the nicest manager form Egypt. Lovely man (ok, and seriously handsome). Centrally located too, we got a taxi only once (and of course a ferry to Bowen Island). If you are staying only 1 night, you may want something smaller and even closer. But if you decide to stay and see it, do consider this! The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel was nice years ago when we visited and is still very highly rated. Right now it’s about $200 a night, but that will be higher in summer of course (I didn’t see a date in your posting). The Hyatt Regency is now about $150 and the Blue Horizon (more boutiquish) runs about $120. Nothing very cheap in town, but get closer to the airport and you can find two good Holiday Inn’s with a free breakfast (but no sightseeing). Enjoy! Lynn

Not sure about where the port is but I have stayed at a great hotel in heart of Vancouver. Good price for the area, close to great restaurants and sightseeing. The bus to go to the suspension bridges was right at the hotel. It is called blue horizon hotel.

I’m sure it’s no big deal - some people just don’t jive. Hopefully you find someone who fits you better and your previous TA does not take it personally.

I dont want to cause trouble for the TA with whom I have been corresponding but I feel like I am doing all the leg work.

@ellcee @JLMoran Thanks cruise buddies! We're probably going to forgo it this time then as I refuse to waste precious stomach space on a repeat meal even though it was fantastic. We fell prey to first cruise excitement and couldn't properly focus the way I needed to in October and as a result, I came home 3 lbs lighter. I was utterly devastated. Someone better alert the Windjammer that I'm on the way. And Izumi too.

They sent me as well. It will not offer for holidays cruise. I wish just don't send me when it is not really offered on my cruise. No dining package then they don't get my money.

Not that I know of...no. No, if exempt due whatever reasons, they still have to purchase the refreshment. They have been pretty strict about this the lately. When the rule first started back in 2017, yes. For a short period (a couple of months) people (including me) had success with this when calling. Not anymore. Try to avoid buying on board at all costs. It is always more expensive on board. See how low the prices drop for Black Friday....

LOL! I think that's the first time I've seen "redpilled" used in any context outside The Matrix or a certain men's activism group.

Air 2 Sea with Royal has worked for us on several open loop itineraries. Alternatively, a good TA can make it happen also.

Day 1 Travel day was relatively uneventful. SWA is always very easy to deal with, plus we are TSA Pre-check, which is always better. TSA was a little delayed since a cat had attacked a woman just before we got to the airport, and there was apparently blood all over, so they had to move the regular line to the Pre-Check line. Luckily our daughter handled it well, and got a nifty Jr. Officer sticker, and who doesn’t love stickers? National Rent-A-Car was easy in Orlando. If you are an Emerald Club member, you just go to the garage and pick any car you want. We were out of the airport about 5 minutes after getting our bags, and on our way to Port Canaveral. Checked into the hotel and then headed out to dinner. We ate at Cocoa Beach Ale House per @Matt recommendation. It was very good. Abby and Virginia shared a pizza, which was very tasty. Dough and sauce both made in house. I had the Mahi Mahi sandwich, and it was also very good. After dinner was dessert at Twistee Treat? It’s soft-serve ice cream from a building that looks like an ice cream cone. Then it was back to the hotel to get to bed. We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites near the port. Originally, I picked this hotel both due to the proximity to the port, and because it has on-site laundry, and we would stay there again in between cruises. The room we had was a queen bed for the adults, and then two twin beds in a separate area, almost like an alcove, for Virginia. It was kind of a cool concept, but the bed was pretty rough, the walls were thin, and I’m not sure I would stay there again. Being right across from the elevator I’m sure didn’t help much. The next morning was cruise day!!! The upside of our room was being able to see Lady O from our window: We were up early, and needed to kill time, so we went and ate breakfast down the street at Southern Charm Café. It was very good, and I highly recommend it for breakfast. Their cakes and pies were homemade and looked delicious. We may try lunch here on “turnaround” day. Then it was to the port to return the car and board. With the Jr. Suite, we went through the suites line for security and check-in. We got to the port at 10:20, we were checked in by 10:36, and after a short wait in the holding pen, we were on-board at 10:45. It was absolutely amazing to step into the promenade, and the breadth that is an Oasis Class ship. We loved Majesty, but I feel like you could almost put her inside the promenade. We explored the promenade some, and then went straight up to 17 to try and get reservations for Coastal Kitchen. I had some concerns about this due to a couple of factors. The biggest of which was from recent Cruise Compasses that showed CK as Star and Sky Class only, and Pinnacles. We went up to CK, and our card wouldn’t work in the door. We waited for a while to see if there was anyone inside, or to try and catch someone, but had no luck. Virginia was getting anxious, so we decided to come back and try again closer to dinner. Luckily, Paul was at Grills, so we were able to connect via the Insider group on Facebook, and we headed to Deck 5, Aft, where Paul got this picture of us. Great thanks to Paul, and it shows how being an Insider is so great! (Shameless Plug). Off to Central Park we went to update our 3 night dining reservations, with no issue at all in getting our choices. Then it was to Park Café for a Kummelweck Sandwich, extra horseradish and mustard. Just as tasty as advertised. Neither Abby nor Virginia wanted one, so it was off to the promenade for Sorrentos. They both thought it was pretty good. Virginia liked it so much that we had to go back for two more pieces after muster drill to take to the room for “pre-dinner”. After some more exploring of the ship, taking a spa tour, and getting a stern talking to from Virginia that I didn’t pack swimsuits in the carryon, it was around 1 p.m. so we headed to the room. Luggage was outside the door about an hour after we got in the rooms, and thankfully nothing was in the naughty room. Muster went relatively quickly. As I type this, the “wash your hands” song is now invading my brain again….. After muster, Virginia needed a rest, so we went back up to the room for sail away and sat on the balcony. Then it was time to get her to lay down and unpack. After a fight, we got a successful nap, and then she woke up not knowing where she was. Once we figured that out, it was all good, and time to head back up to try Coastal Kitchen. We did confirm that the CC said Star and Sky class only for dinner. We get to 17, try our card… No luck. Confirmed that the first few nights it is only for Star and Sky. It might be open later in the week to try. We decided we would go try the Solarium Bistro, as we didn’t want the hectic mess of the Windjammer. This ended up being for the best, as Virginia didn’t handle dinner well, and it would have been tough in CK. Dinner was good. Our waiter, Angelo, was very attentive. Due to V’s issues, I didn’t get any pictures of the food. The appetizers were very good, my favorite being the mushrooms. I had the grilled shrimp as an entrée, Abby had the salmon, and V had the chicken kebabs. It was definitely nice to have a lighter meal. The desserts were also very good, and V’s serving of chocolate cake turned the night around for her. Then it was off to play a windy round of mini-golf before Adventure Ocean opened up. The check-in for AO took about 20 minutes, mainly due to a long line of people who had not registered yet, as well as some kids that were having separation anxiety. V took off like a freight train with no care in the world, so I headed to the casino as Abby took here ritual first night early bed time. At 10 o’clock, I left the casino up more than double, so it was time to go get V. Then it was off to bed early so we could be ready for the Dreamworks Character breakfast tomorrow morning. Random Thoughts -It astounds me how many people were buying the drink package on-board. Do some research! -The Pineapples walking around with their nametags on makes me giggle a little. If I ever reach that status, I don’t think I could have the ego to walk around with the badge on… -We were bummed about CK, but hopefully we can try it in the future. Solarium Bistro was good, and it was a peaceful option compared to the Windjammer. -We purchased the Ultimate Thermal pass for the spa. For two people, it includes unlimited use of the thermal seats, a 1-hour private mud bath/scrub, and a 1-hour private jacuzzi. Tomorrow is a sea day. We have the character breakfast in the morning, then the mud bath, and dinner at Chops. As I type this, I’m on my balcony enjoying the nice breeze. Vacation is great. Step count: 13,200 (half of which I had V on my shoulders. Should count for double)

Right back at you, it was so cool finally meeting you. Hope we'll meet again on other cruises! As for the top tier bunch, it did annoy us quite a bit. Were not used to being treated as second class passengers, and sadly you got that feeling on more than one occasion on this cruise. We prefer TUI's approach to this one where loyal cruisers are rewarded without taking anything from the experience of other guests. Examples include bridge tours, free champagne, free speciality choclate, free laundry... TUI does have a designated venue for guests staying in suites and that is fine by us, as it doesn't impact our stay in any way. But taking away a third of the available seats in all entertainment venues and closing numerous venues at times does get on your nerves. We'd still sail with Royal but we made sure Royal got this feedback. I'm now sitting next to the aft pool on Caribbean Princess and enjoying a nice view of the ocean (something that's hard to come by on Symphony). So it's finally time to do the blog posts that fell victim to too much to do and not enough time - and some post cruise land sickness. I'll also do a summary of what we liked and disliked on our first Royal cruise. As for comparing our Royal and Princess experiences, I'm thinking of doing it once I'm back home ?

Day Two Continued Tonight I Had Frozen In Time In Studio B. It Was Very Good. I Saw It Last October On The Oasis. The Sand Art Guy Did A Great Job. This Voyage He Did The Tin Solider. After This I Went To Dinner. I Had For The Appetizer I Had Cesar Salad. It Was Pretty Good But Today They Put To Much Dressing In The Salad. For The Entrée I Had The New York Strip Steak It Was Very Good. For Dessert I Had The Royal Cheese Cake With Two Scoops Of Ice Cream.It Was So Good. After Dinner I Went Back To The Room To Go To Grab My DJ Stuff To Make A Track For My Local Radio Station. Today I Went To The Pool Deck To Record It. I Did A Ten Minute Mix. After That I Went To Bed. Tomorrow Will Be A Long And Fun Day In Labbadee Haiti.

Day 5 - Sea Day I was glad today was a sea day, because when we woke up the skies were completely overcast and it was threatening to rain at any time. Would definitely be a day to stay indoors and take advantage of Anthem's accommodations for inclement weather. Unfortunately, I had to take care of a couple of unexpected issues, like the sewer stink that flooded out of our bathroom this morning when we opened the door! Nothing like what @twangster had happen; this was only a stink and no sewage backlog. But good lord was it pungent in there! The other unexpected problem was that I found Royal had been charging me the daily gratuities, even though I had pre-paid them through my travel agent. With two of the days looking like I had been charged twice! Before dealing with that, we had to get down to breakfast before things closed. I wanted to change the venue this time, as I was a little tired of Cafe Two70, so we decided to go to the Main Dining Room. On Anthem, this meant going to the American Grille room, and it was a madhouse! The place was packed, and even though we had asked to be given a shared table so we could have some companions and conversation, we ended up seated at a two-top. Granted, the tables were really close-packed so we had no trouble talking to our neighbors. They were a very nice couple from Buffalo, NY, who were on their honeymoon. We talked about Bermuda and agreed it was gorgeous, and that we had to get back as soon as we could. We also talked about our experiences on this ship so far; it was interesting to get their point of view, as they had previously sailed only on Carnival and this was their first time on Royal. They said Anthem was definitely a good bit nicer than Carnival's ships, and that it definitely had better food and a nicer crowd (not nearly as many drunks as they tended to find on Carnival, and they liked that it wasn't such a constant party atmosphere). But, they felt Carnival had the edge on activities. For us, the food in the main dining room wasn't really any better than if we'd gone to the Windjammer, and it took a long time to both place our orders and then get our food. My pancakes were actually cold; not just room temp, but like they had been in the refrigerator and not quite reheated enough to reach room temp. On the other hand, my omelet was totally fine, probably because it was cooked to order. Cathy had the buffet, and felt it wasn't as good as the one on Freedom; fewer choices, and what was there also just on par as if we'd gone to Windjammer. I was able to get my fresh-squeezed OJ, at least, and it was as good as I remembered. So, with breakfast out of the way, it was time to go and visit Guest Services. For the sewage smell issue, the person I spoke with was very apologetic, and paged both our floor attendant and maintenance to check it out. He also looked up my reservation and said he had no record of my prepayment on the gratuities, but after showing him my invoice and confirmation email from my TA, he offered to remove the gratuities without any further action on my part. I still wanted to get to the bottom of this part, so I emailed Heather and asked her to look into it. While I was doing all of this, Cathy was at the logo store taking advantage of the two for $20 t-shirt sale. She scored a few more t-shirts, including one for me, and caught up with me just as I wrapped up with Guest Services. With that out of the way, we went back up to our cabin. Our floor attendant was already there and taking a look at the problem. He agreed there was a smell, and shortly after we arrived Allen, our cabin attendant, arrived. He checked and told us the problem was that the ship had run into some bad weather last night that had been tossing a ship a fair bit (which was surprising, because we never felt that once); all the movement caused some rooms to have the bathroom floor drain's trap clear out, allowing the sewage smell to come up through the now cleared pipes. He poured some water down the drain to re-fill the trap portion, and left to check on some other rooms. And then maintenance came by not half an hour later, to further follow up on the problem. The timing was good on that as I was just heading out for my iFly session. By this point, about 11 AM, it was actually raining, albeit lightly. So we stuck to the indoor paths as much as possible for getting to iFly, stopping at La Patisserie along the way so Cathy could get another latte. I should have asked her to just meet me there rather than waiting, because by the time we got to the checkin area my group had already been taken inside and my spot was given to someone on the standby line. There were no other openings for iFly that day, unless I wanted to wait around for my own shot at a standby slot, but I was OK with this. My feet were still sore from all the walking over the last two days, and I wasn't sure how they'd hold up being buffeted by the simulated winds inside the iFly chamber. Plus, the day was already feeling a bit rushed and it was good to have a chance to slow down. Since the weather wasn't great, we went down to the Solarium to just relax and enjoy a beverage or two. I got another Lava Flow, but I had to make do with another rum; somehow @twangster had teleported from Adventure of the Seas onto my ship and run off with all the remaining Kraken! ?

In the cruise planner when viewing the UDP click on Additional Terms and Conditions near the bottom. From a different Navigator sail date: Prices are per person for the full sailing. All selections are subject to change. Royal Caribbean International reserves the right to verify eligibility upon arrival to the activity. Specialty Dining Packages must be booked at least two days prior to boarding and may not be available for every sail date. One reservation will be automatically created for the first night of the sailing. All other reservations must be made onboard and are subject to availability. Packages include service charge and food portion only for dinner and, when available, lunch service. Package valid for one specialty dining restaurant per meal. Beverages not included. For Dining Packages, children ages 12 and under are excluded from offer; children ages 6-12 can be added to reservation for a $10 cover change once onboard. Not available on holiday sailings. Not valid for Chef's Table, Izumi Hibachi, or Culinary Experiences/Activities. Guests will receive 20% off when booking Chef's Table and/or any Culinary Experience/Activity onboard. Offer provides discount off wine selections at specialty dining restaurants with the purchase of a qualifying dining package. Offer provides 40% discount off bottles of wine priced at $100 or less; 20% discount off bottles of wine priced over $100. VAT will be added to the price where applicable. Offer valid only with the purchase of 3-night, 4-night, 5-night, or Ultimate Dining Packages; other Dining Packages excluded. Terms of Royal Caribbean’s Alcohol Policy apply, including a minimum drinking age, which varies by itinerary. Offer is not transferable, not redeemable for cash, and expires on the final night of the cruise. Terms of Dining Packages apply. Offer excludes charters.

Day 4 - Bermuda (continued) The shuttle bus left Horseshoe Bay at 1:30, but we didn't get back to the Dockyard until almost 2:30 because of traffic and rain. With our all-aboard time at 4:30, we didn't have a lot of time to finish up our day. And we still needed to eat some lunch, we were both getting pretty hungry. Rather than burn a lot of time at any sit-down restaurant in the dockyard, we went back to the ship and just grabbed some small items at Cafe Promenade to take the edge of our hunger and let us get back off-ship ASAP. We headed back out to the dockyard with about an hour we could safely spend without risking being pier runners. Even with that decent amount of time, we were kind of hurried to get our shopping done. We ended up only making it to the craft market, where we got our traditional souvenir holiday ornament and a couple of prints, and one other store where we got some limited print coasters and a few t-shirts. After that, we made our way back to the ship, cutting it a little close as we boarded at 4:15, but not all pier runner territory. To our surprise, as we waited in the security line we heard one of the staff holler down from the card scanner area to the people at the entry booth that there were still over 250 passengers not yet on board! We looked back and there were nowhere near that many in line to board, so it was looking like there'd be at least a few pier runners today! I have no idea if that ended up being the case or not. Our room was on the opposite side from the dock, and all I wanted at that point was to enjoy my traditional sail-away margarita from our balcony and take in one last sight of Bermuda. We sailed away promptly at 5:00, so either everyone made it on board in time or there were some people (possibly happily) left behind. We had to get ready for dinner in CK, as we were eating a bit earlier to make the evening's showing of Spectra's Cabaret. As it happened, while this night wasn't formal night it was still the night when the kitchen pulled out almost all the stops. That's right, almost all the stops... This was a set of impossible choices. There was no way I could decide between salmon sashimi or the risotto, nor could I choose just scallops or lobster. So, I did what every enterprising cruiser does in this situations... I got 'em all! Sorry, escargots, but there is only so much room in this stomach and you got the short stick; considering Amar brought me a second lobster tail without prompting, I was glad I left them behind. Appetizers were paired, at Amar's recommendation, with the "Conundrum" blend from the "Adventurous Whites" section; yes, I actually had white wine and I enjoyed it! It was very dry, which I appreciated, and only a little fruity with a slightly spicy finish. With my entree's I also had white wine, this time the "Mer Soleil" Chardonnay; also very nice, and I have to say after having this and the Chardonnay served at Chef's Table back on Freedom that I do like that kind of white. I may have to pick up a couple of bottles for at home when I have meals that traditionally do get served with a white wine rather than a red. Cathy kept it far simpler than me, and just had her favorite Caesar Salad and the gnocchi. She said the gnocchi was very good, not too heavy and really good flavor. Then it was time for dessert. Cathy got the crunchy chocolate bar, which had her back in heaven again; we're all chocolate lovers, and she said that was a really good dessert. I had the Baked Alaska and, as usual on this sailing, an iced Bailey's and coffee. Here's the Baked Alaska. And lest I forget, our meal once again came with riddles! First was this one: "The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never uses it. The one who uses it, never sees it." I actually figured this one out after a very small hint from Amar, with confirmation that "it" was a real thing and not some metaphysical concept or the like. After this, we got another stick challenge – There are 12 sticks arranged into a square, like so: Moving exactly 3 sticks, change the four squares into three squares; you cannot double up any sticks, and you cannot have any sticks jutting out on their own. This one neither Cathy nor I was able to figure out; when Amar showed us the solution, I shook my head again. And the solution he showed isn't the only valid one; we showed this puzzle to our kids and my older daughter came up with a different solution that was still valid. And now, it was time for... We arrived a solid hour early, actually getting to Two70 as the first show was ending. This was good, as it gave us our pick of the available seats. Make note -- if you want to have a chance to see the cast up very close as they leave the main stage area in a couple of parts and walk around the perimeter, then find the third ring of seats, which are a set of tall couches and love seats. Cathy asked to sit here as her back was bothering her and she wanted something with a taller back than the other seating, and wow was it the perfect place to enjoy the show! I respected the "no photography" announcement, so I can't show you anything of the actual show, but both Cathy and I were very impressed. This was the kind of show we'd been waiting for, and it really was incredible how they blended the singing, dancing, aerialists, robot displays, and projection wall into one seamless whole. It's not Cirque du Soleil, as I had first imagined it to be. It's something all its own, and you really do have to see it to appreciate it. And if you sit where I indicated, you'll have two times that either the emcee, Spectra, or the full show cast walks past and you can fully appreciate the costuming and the performers' talents. Spectra actually took time on his pass-through to say hello and shake people's hands, including mine, which I thought was a very nice touch. When the show ended, we gave the cast a huge round of applause. And we were even more excited now at the prospect of seeing We Will Rock You the next day, as that show was supposed to be even better! Not wanting to go to bed quite yet, we decided to wander the ship a bit. There were some interesting chairs laid out in front of Wonderland and by the Music Hall, so we decided to have a goof and do our best Game of Thrones impressions. Cathy played Circe Lannister. I, on the other hand, was Ned Stark. After having our bit of fun, we went up to the pool deck and Solarium to see how they looked at night. The Solarium was surprisingly empty. We contemplated getting our bathing suits having a private dip in the Solarium's hot tubs, but didn't want to take yet another shower before bed when it would be really late; we figured we'd do that on our sea day tomorrow.. At this point, Cathy was ready to call it a night. I was still pumped up between my evening Bailey's coffee and Spectra, so I continued to wander for a while. I stopped off at Boleros and tried out a Royal Mojito; not at all bad, but not as good as the one I had in Old San Juan back in April. While I sipped my drink, I decided to finally pay a visit to the casino and see how the craps tables might treat me. Not nicely, as it turned out. As soon as I joined the table went cold, and I lost to 8 shooters in a row; I ended up leaving before I could even get a chance to be the shooter, having lost $40 in about 10 minutes. I saw the same thing happen towards the end of my trip on Freedom, and I'm starting to wonder if I make any table I join colder than a Polar Vortex hit in January. Just for grins, I put $10 into the one $1 Double Diamond slot machine they had, as that has been a somewhat reliable slots game for me. No luck here, either. Out $50 total, I cleared out of the casino and decided it was time for me to get to bed as well. Tonight's drink package tally: 2 cappuccinos 2 glasses of wine 3 cocktails Definitely ahead tonight, but still "making up" for yesterday's big shortfall.

I'm going to sit this Serenade out. I've got a lot of work this week, won't be doing very much in port most days. I've been to all these ports several times so no loss.

Cruise Summary Symphony is a fantastic ship. The evolutional changes and differences compared to her sisters including Harmony have been well thought out and executed. The Solarium is outstanding and my favorite of all in this class. The changing colors of the art in the Solarium day and especially at night is pretty great. Playmakers is a hit and from my deck 8 boardwalk balcony very nearly on top of it I never heard any noise from Playmakers. The main shows such as Hairspray, 1977, Flight and HiRO were also fantastic. Flight was very well done and I look forward to experiencing it again on the 50th birthday cruise. The enhanced projection technology even in HiRO was noticed. I appreciated the artistic nature of HiRO more and the symbolism of equality and unity. The crew were all top notch and I can't recall a single poor crew interaction. Like all Oasis class the crew can be very busy at times but they always had a smile on their face. I was pleasantly surprised how well the O3b Voom held up across the Atlantic. There are times when poor weather or satellite switch-over can impact even the best satellite technology so it's not the same as internet on land but it never really let me down. This was my first transatlantic but it won't be my last. The days flew by and before I knew it I had to think about packing. Next cruise - Serenade of the Seas from which I am writing this post. Ten days in the Eastern Caribbean. I hope you have enjoyed following me on this journey and I thank you for viewing.

Hey Goodsmith. Here's an actual photo of the Twangster at formal night in the MDR last week!

Day 12 - continued... Everyone on the ship was required to meet Customs and Border Patrol on this day. They had to get the ship to 'zero count' meaning all guests had to be off before any guest was allowed back onboard. With over 2,200 crew they had to be cleared by CBP as well which for them began at 4am as soon as we arrived. The crew were cleared early and first so that they could go in waves and get back to the ship to prepare our breakfast and do all the other things that the crew does. TV displays around the ship indicated when we were expected to debark. Guests with excursions were to meet in the theater closer to the start of the process. Since my muster was G4 I had a couple of hours so I headed to the Solarium Bistro for a buffet breakfast. The Bistro is much like the Windjammer for breakfast, self service with open seating. There is an egg station where cooked to order eggs are prepared as you wait. With the two story floor to ceiling windows the Solarium Bistro is a great alternative to the Windjammer for a buffet type meal. That second story seating area is part of the Hooked specialty dining venue.

No Pressure. Lol. Thank you. I feel like a new person. This is from our family pictures, separated by one year. Should have about another 50 lbs to go... Also, you know it's time for vacation when you get a text from school saying "Your daughter has been tormenting one of the boys at school today, and decided to pull her pants down and shake her butt and him." SMH.....

Day 4 – Horseshoe Bay Today was our laid-back day. No rush to get off the ship, only real plan is visiting Horseshoe Bay and trying to do some shopping at the craft market and other shops in the dockyard. We slept in a bit, and went down to Cafe Two70 for breakfast again. Barely made it before they closed at 9:30. They actually closed all the doors in and out while we and the other stragglers who squeaked in at the last moment got our food and coffees, opening the exit door only long enough to let someone into Two70 when they had their breakfast ready. We were still stuffed from the night before, and just had a light meal before heading out. I got an extra espresso shot in my morning cappuccino; I needed the extra caffeine. That done, we headed over to the North Star to get in another ride and see the island from 300 feet up. There were only a couple of other people there, as expected, and we had no problem boarding from the standby line. The view was pretty impressive, and it drove home just how tiny the island is as we were able to see all the way to the far end. After our ride, we left the ship and walked down the pier to where the private shuttles were lined up, ready to take passengers to Horseshoe Bay. At $7 per person, it's only a little more than taking the bus, and they have the advantage of running much more frequently and taking you all the way to the beach entrance. We arrived around 11:00, and the main beach was fairly packed but not a madhouse. The chairs, loungers, and umbrellas available for rent could only be set up to about half way down the length of the beach, leaving a nice big stretch wide open. As we walked to the rental booth, we passed a small grotto with a very calm and shallow tide pool. We rented just a single lounger, mostly so we'd have a place to put our towels and backpack and not lose them. We had it put as far down as we could go, which wasn't super-crowded yet. Then it was time to get our feet wet. We hadn't brought our bathing suits with us, mainly because we didn't think we'd be staying that long. Well, after about five minutes of standing at the water's edge and letting the surf wash over our feet, Cathy decided that she didn't care that her bathing suit was back in our cabin. She had on enough clothes that even soaking wet, it wouldn't be at all indecent, and she just dove on into the ocean! I couldn't really do the same, with my phone and camera lenses and a bunch of other stuff on me that I didn't want to leave lying on the lounger unattended, so I decided to wander down to the far end of the beach, where it looked like there was another grotto and maybe some good picture opportunities. Off in the distance, I saw someone standing on top of a boulder in the middle of the bay. I headed back to our lounger, not wanting to leave Cathy behind for too long, and while taking a couple more shots I managed to catch the person diving off the rock and into the water. Cathy had gotten out of the water, and after drying off a bit more in the sun the two of us walked back to where I'd been so she could see that grotto. She got some good pictures of the surrounding cliffs, wading out into the water with my phone and getting some nice changes in view from what I could get while staying on land. On the way back, I played around with climbing one of the rocks. Wade wasn't amused. Cathy wanted to go back in the water for a bit, so just let the water wash over my feet again and got some video. It was just about 1 when Cathy came back out, and we decided we should head back if we wanted any chance at shopping before our all-aboard time. On the way out, we stopped at the first grotto, and Cathy once again took my phone with her into the water to get another shot from up close. We hopped back on the shuttle, and after a bit of a wait for it to fill up we were on our way back to the dockyard.

It is abundant in many types of shops at and around the port - in fact once you look for it you'll find it hard to miss.

Someone fell in the water at the jetties.. Rescue is underway. Hopefully they are okay.. They are holding off on Allure until this is done

This is not my first time with this comment. Why doesn't RCL try to accommodate the majority of their customers? They could ask on your cruise documents if you prefer casual or formal wear on "formal" nights. Then, they could seat you on an appropriate MDR deck. So on "formal" nights, you would have one or two MDR decks with casual wear and the remaining decks for formal wear. I don't think this would be difficult.

Well, whatever RC does on Coco Cay, you can bet your butt there will be an 18% gratuity fee involved!