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Day 2 - At Sea (pt. 2): Dinner was really good once again. For appetizers my dad got the calamari, my grandmother got fruit, my grandmother’s friend and my mom got French onion soup and a ceaser salad, and I got vegetables off the kids menu since none of the appetizers really appealed to me. My dad and grandmother both thought their appetizer was good enough to order a second helping and my grandmother’s friend loved the French onion soup as much as my mom. They also both thought the Ceaser salad was delicious. My vegetables off the kids menu were good, but you can’t really mess up cold cut vegetables lol. The ranch was really good, though. For the main course I stuck with the kids menu and just got a grilled cheese with fries. Once again it’s hard to mess that meal up, but either way, I enjoyed it. My grandmother and her friend both got the prime rib for their main course. My grandmother’s friend loved it, but my grandmother wasn’t a fan. We have all decided that it’s impossible to please my grandmother, though, so I’m not sure you can blame the food?? My dad got the pork chops which he thought were pretty good, and my mom got the chicken Marsala which she thought was spectacular. Both of my parents also got the salmon to share just so they could try it and they both agreed it was just average. Then finally, it was time for my favorite part - dessert. I kept the them of ordering off the kids meal going and got the dark chocolate brownie. It was honestly the best dessert I’ve ever had on a cruise ship. My grandmother’s friend, my mom, and my grandmother all got the apple pie and all thought was great (well as great as it can get for my grandmother lol). My dad always sticks with sugar free desserts since he’s diabetic, so he got the blueberry cobbler. He really enjoyed it. After dinner we stopped and got a couple formal pictures done, then I headed back to the room for a few minutes to change and unpack while everyone else made their way down to the theater for the “ballroom spectacular” show at 8:30 (forgive me if I got that name wrong. My memory is quite awful sometimes. I’m sure it had the name ballroom in it, though). While in the room I saw that our towel animal for the night was a cat. I met back up with everyone at the theater right at 8:30 and they had great seats in the balcony. We all kinda agreed that the show was just average. Don’t get me wrong, those singers and dancers are spectacular, and maybe it’s just a my family thing, but after an hour of a show solely with dancing and singing it becomes a little repetitive and boring. The main female dancer was absolutely spectacular though. She immediately captivated me every time she was centered on the stage. At the end of the show our cruise director announced that the absolute journey tribute band would be performing tomorrow, which my dad and I are both stoked about since we’re huge Journey fans. We had read before the cruise that they would be on the ship, but we hadn’t seen anything about them so we weren’t sure it was true. My daw saw them on a previous cruise and said they were mind blowing so I have very high expectations haha. After the show, I split up with my family and met back up with my friends. We hung out in the teen club for a bit before heading to the hot tub and spending the rest of the night there. On our way back to the rooms at 1, we stopped at cafe promenade to get a quick slice of pizza and headed our separate ways. Some other notes: •I like just Cafe Promenade rather than Sorrento’s and Cafe Promenade like it is on some ships. It’s nice just having all the food in one place. •We saw two other Royal Caribbean ships, I couldn’t make out the names of either and only was able to get a picture of one. It’s always cool to me to realize we’re not the only ones in the middle of the ocean. •My friends and I tried our hands at sports trivia today and actually ended up with 14 out of 18. The winning team had 16, but my friends still nominated me as the team MVP. I guess me being obsessed with all things sports does pay off?? •If y’all want to hear more about what I do with my friends just let me know and I’ll start including it. I’ve just been keeping it vague so I don’t bore you with information you have no interest in hearing lol. Next stop, Labadee!!

To play devil's advocate...Booking a gazillion cruises in JS and above will move you up the C&A ladder even faster. Win-Win. ?

Day 2 - At Sea Much to my surprise I actually woke up to the alarm that I had set for 7:30. I left the room at 7:45 and headed up to the gym to meet a friend to work out. The treadmills were all full (3 were actually broken) so we went out to the jogging track. He was much faster than me so we kinda gave up trying to stay together. After running, we went to put our feet in the pool. The water was ridiculously cold. It was a little chilly in Miami yesterday when we left, but I still didn’t think it should’ve made the water that cold. Then at 8:45 I went to go meet my dad and grandmother for breakfast at the MDR. They had one side that was for a buffet and another side that was a la carte, which was difference than my last cruise. We sat on the buffet side and all enjoyed our food. I especially liked the biscuits. They were kinda sweet which was odd, but surprisingly good. After breakfast I went up to the sports court to meet my friends for teen only dodgeball. There was a huge group of teens that showed up for it. By the end, a huge group on onlookers had also gathered to watch. When dodgeball was over, I headed back down to the MDR for more food. I feel like all I do on a cruise ship is eat, but I guess that’s what you’re supposed to do?? I skipped the appetizer, but everyone else got a make your own salad that they chopped up for you. Everyone loved it. Then for the main meal my dad and grandmother skipped it, my mom got the Asian chicken over noodles, I got a corn cake, and my grandmother’s friend got catfish. Once again we all thought it was great. One thing that you’ll quickly realize about us is that we pretty much enjoy all the food we get. We’re definitely not foodies and we understand that when a kitchen makes all these meals, you’re bound to run into some items that aren’t spectacular. They also had a great dessert table set up in the MDR. They had a ton of choices and a really big topping bar for the ice cream. I meant to get a picture, but completely forgot about it. After lunch it was time for the sexiest man competition. It was a little risqué, but quite entertaining. An 80 year old named Joe ended up winning. I think when he dropped and did 5 push ups in a row is when he won everyone over??? Then I just hung around the ship with my friends until 5. At 5 I went to go get ready for dinner. Tonight was formal night so we all dressed up - well at least we tried to. When my mom and I went to put on our heels we realized they weren’t there and that we had forgotten the bag that had all of our dress shoes in Miami. So now we’re both currently wearing super dressy dresses with flip flops. It’s not our best look but it will have to do lol. As promised, here’s a picture of the menu from dinner tonight: I’m actually sitting at dinner waiting for the food right now while writing this. So I don’t know how good the food is yet. I’ll let y’all know what we think of it in my next post. Some other notes: •The Diet Coke tastes a lot better on this cruise than it has on others. •A lot of machinery on the ship is broken. They had three treadmills broken and most of the arcade were out of order. I guess they’re just letting them just stay broken since the ship is going dry dock in a couple weeks.

Wishing a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous 2019 to all. And happy cruising!

Awesome! Just a note that Deck 11 on Mariner and Navigator are not the same. The new JS on Mariner (1100, 1102, 1104, and 1106) are along the Starboard side and they do not have the large balconies like Navigator will. The new JS on Navigator are right along the very front (kind of like the panoramic suites) and they have the larger balconies.

and I only need to buy a gazillion lottery tickets and win to afford it!!!!! ? Jane

We had so many favorites! The Flow Rider show on day 7 around 5:45pm might have been my favorite thing though. (Get there early, and plan to get REALLY wet ) it was sooo fun! Ice Games was probably my favorite regular show. Every show we saw was good so it’s hard to pick. ? The fountain show in the aqua theater was really fun too. The boardwalk family event on day 7 was very well done and probably my kids favorite ( ages 9,8,4).

Thanks to the thread, I booked 1154 last night! I saw the 2 rooms that I wanted were available on the UK site and tried to book on the US site. The US site wasn't showing 1154 as available. A quick email to my TA last night (I was trying not to bug her over the holiday weekend) and she had the 2 rooms on hold this morning. I'll put the deposit down after Christmas. Plus she said there are 2 sales over the week so she'll check any price changes. Thanks Nancy S at MEI Travel for dealing with me! Now I put myself + 3 kids in the JS for the double points but my kids will probably sleep there. Anyone know if the balcony dividers open?

No need for a gazillion. Just book a JS in four 10+ day repositioning or transatlantic trips and you’ve got half the points for Diamond. ?

Lol...I hear you (but still like the idea of booking a gazillion cruises for other reasons ?)

Thanks, @Skid! And the same for you!

I am far from being a water snob but I will have to say that it is actually pretty good to me. The wife did not want to go the YETI route the last few cruises but after she saw the ease of it all, she quickly became a fan.

The only ship that has had nasty drinking water was Navigator on our Thanksgiving Cruise. After the second day it tasted fine. Usually the ships water is very good.

@JLMoran My Two Blogs Are Written From Me A 13 Year Old.

@chalkdawg4 I am loving this blog for several reasons: Love the pics so far. Not sure if you know but I am a teacher. I teach mainly 13 year olds but over the years, the writing skills of young people have been going downhill. Quite scary at times. As I read this with my "teacher hat" on, this blog is so well written for a teenager. The style and wording is not only descriptive but there is an excellent voice coming through. Love it!

@Jason +1 in appreciation of the post about the price drop from $24.99 to $19.99. I caved and bought it for my Symphony sailing with just Hubby and I. My justification was this...currently we are booked in a JS as GS+ is sky high on that ship for July. We bought the 2 device plan over Black Friday for $132.93. The Key cost us $279.86. The difference is an extra $146.93 total. We already have the UDP so the Chops Grille lunch is a write off bonus. Basically, I asked myself if the reserved seating for shows and the special hours at the activities was worth $147? My answer is yes because Hubby does enjoy the rock climbing and flow rider etc. and those do get busy at times. For me what makes it really worth it is the reserved seating, especially now that they have updated it so that it requires no reservations. Now, some might not understand the value in this but back in August 2017 when we sailed Harmony, a stage part broke down in their main theater on Day 1 causing them to have to rearrange all the shows for the entire week. This created a domino effect and not only the theater shows had to be rescheduled but the ice shows and aqua theater shows as well. For us, we were in a GS for that sailing so it did not matter as we did not need reservations for the shows. But in speaking to many people that we met, many of them ended up missing some shows because either they filled up quickly or they could not work it around their dining schedules. That perk alone is worth $147 to me. If I upgrade to a GS between now and then, I will cancel it. I am of the mindset that The Key is not worth it at all if you have Suite perks already. I looked at The Key for the Anthem GC as well. It too has dropped to $19.99pp/day. However, with our kids sailing with us on that one and it's a 9 day cruise, it is not worth it. The price difference is $548 for that one between The Key and what we paid for VOOM. And we all sailed Anthem back in March 2018 so we have watched all the shows. If we missed one, it would not really matter.

I checked my Cruise Planner earlier today and The Key price dropped 20% to $19.99 per person per day for Freedom of the Seas June 2019 so I decided to purchase it for my wife and I. I’ve been debating doing it anyways and with only 100 Key purchases per ship I didn’t want to regret waiting and then find out they’re sold out. We were going to get VOOM anyways so I figure the other benefits will be nice especially since this is our first cruise. Extra perks are always a plus even if it cost a little bit to enhance one’s experience.

LOL, now you're talking! My 10YO will be a bottomless pit by the time we get onboard :)

I generally agree. Warnings like this are worth noting, but not worth skipping or treating like some sort of war zone that should be avoided at all costs. Have a plan for onshore, be vigilant about your own safety, and don't act like an idiot that turns you into a target.

The Trojan horse was really just a wooden towel animal and you saw how that worked out for the Greek-Trojan friendship. j/k

We love the escargot too. I was happy to see it listed several nights!

Escargot - pretty much every night, LOL.

We have struggled with the drink package on the long sailings as well. The 12 night Serenade got as low as $39 a day and we grabbed it. There was a bundle for $47 a day with 1 device Voom and we grabbed that as well. By calling I was able to get one package for me, and the other for Tony. For 12 nights at those prices, with tax & gratuities it came out to $644.37 & $552.24 for a total of $1,196.61. Yes, I fainted at that total price but once I wrapped my head around that it was 12 nights worth of coffee, water bottles, drinks and internet for both of us...I just was light headed instead of passed out. LOL At the beginning of the cruise, I was watching my drink habits, counting my beverages to make sure I got my $39 worth each day...and boy was it easy. I am embarrassed to say that drink fatigue never set in...but food fatigue sure did for those last couple of days. We definitely got out money's worth. We had 7 days at sea and 5 in port, and while two of the port days we were out long enough that we didn't really drink that much on board, we made up for it on the sea days. ?

Woohoo for red velvet cake. Can't wait.

If OASIS does go up there ..... we may just have to schlep up to North Jersey .... it's still be cheaper than flying down to Florida.

?

150 CP was originally a concept restaurant based on a relationship with Michael Schwartz. The menu and offerings came from his ideas and concepts. That relationship is ending and the sample menus adjusted to reflect that. On Symphony there remains a 150 CP venue but no reference to Michael Schwartz. On Oasis the relationship and menu stands for now but that will change at some future point. My waiter last week thought it might occur in the fall dry dock but that was just his guess. Unsure about Allure. I enjoyed two meals in 150 CP last week. I though the food was very good but food is personal. The Windjammer burger is pretty pedestrian. Think of a plain McDonalds burger. With the right toppings it's okay but not a great burger. All Oasis class have Johnny Rockets. Burgers are available for an extra cost. Great burger? Food is personal. Better than Windjammer. Chops Grille offers a Dry Aged Steak Burger on some ships. It was pretty good on Oasis last week. The room service burger is pretty good IMO but carries a $7.95 per order charge unless in a GS or better.

You don't have to go on an excursion on every port. Many of us will chose one port and enjoy the quiet of the ship or just walk around the shops at the pier. Matt has done many blog posts about excursions especially in Labadee and Cozumel. There is a search button at the top of the home blog. Labadee, Haiti is the RC's private island. You can walk around and enjoy the beach and food all for free. There are additional excursions available if you desire. Cozumel has shopping at the pier and very easy to walk around town. Many of us will jump in a taxi to go to an all inclusive beach. Nachi Cocum is a favorite of many without kids. Jamaica- walk around the pier shopping area or go on an RC excursion.

Don't forget @BrandonOwen at the end of episode 1!

Well....I got the answer on board....you have to play the chips (obviously) but they don't replace the played chips....so you are basically pledging to lose all the chips. They pay your winnings in regular chips, but I was very upset on board to find out that I bought 2k in chips and every hand I played (for instance I played hold'em and was betting between $75 - $175 depending on the round)....and if i won...I still had all my wager as free play chips that was not converted back to regular chips. It severely curtailed my play and enjoyment for obvious reasons. With the way I play I had gone through 2k in bets within 10-12 hands easily (and was technically UP for that first day) but I still had over 1k in chips that I 'had' to play which of course means that after the table luck turns and they go away fast....sigh It was upsetting enough that I may actually not return to the cruise line again in the future because of the different answers I got on the phone versus on the floor.