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

I'm sure you'll be fine finding an Uber/Lyft to PoM. I would suggest you look up the terminal for your ship and enter that in the app. You can look up terminals here: https://seaport2.miamidade.gov/dailydock/Default.aspx Once you know the terminal letter, enter that such "terminal g port of ..." and then it usually finds it in the Uber/Lyft app. This way your driver will take you directly to that terminal, which can be helpful if you end up with a Spanish speaking driver and you don't speak Spanish. That sometimes happens in the South Florida area. If you just say "port of Miami" it will find the administration offices which isn't where your terminal is.

Holidays cruises are very festive. I will be going on a New Year's cruise this Saturday. The food, Christmas trees, carolling, and favors

Wow This Week There Were A Lot Of Ships Missing Ports Due To Storms. Here Are Some Tweets From @James Van Fleet.

Day 3 - Labadee After only having 5 hours of sleep the day before I took the liberty of sleeping in, so I wasn’t up and moving until 10. I was out of the room and down to the Windjammer to eat breakfast by 10:15. My mom was the only one there because my grandmother and dad had already eaten and my grandmother’s friend doesn’t eat breakfast. I actually enjoyed breakfast in the Windjammer more than I thought I would. I tend to stay away from the Windjammer if at all possible, but my two experiences there so far on this cruise have been great. They had an awesome topping bar for the pancakes which I really enjoyed. Then after breakfast, at 11:30, we all met back up and got off the ship to go to Labadee. We took the tram straight to Adrenaline beach (the last stop) and got a table there right on the edge of the beach. It was 75 and windy so the weather was very pleasant. I took the liberty to catch up on some more sleep, and took a nap on one of the loungers out on the sand. I woke up at 1 and went to grab some food before the buffet closed. There wasn’t a ton of selection for a vegetarian, but the red beans and rice were good. When I got back to the table, only my parents were there and they told me that my grandmother and her friend had already gone back to the ship. We decided to do the same since it looked like it was about to rain. Before getting back on the ship I took a few last pictures. Once back on the ship, I took a quick shower and my parents took a nap. Then my dad and I went to the 3:00 trivia. We got there right at 3 and they were already 4 questions in, so it wasn’t worth participating. It was a bit frustrating that they started early, but we were fine to just sit and listen. We would’ve missed most of the questions anyways lol. After trivia I went to find my friends and hung out with them until 5. Then I went back to my room to get ready for dinner. Since we had a little time before dinner, we finally got around to putting our Christmas decorations up. Tonight at dinner we were finally able to find a dish that pleased my grandmother. I don’t know how our waiter managed to do it, but he convinced her to get the crab cakes for an appetizer and she loved them. Everyone else, except for my mom, also got the crab cakes and really liked them. They said they were different but very good. My mom got the burrata salad for her appetizer and said it was one of the best salads she had ever gotten. I stuck with my kids meal and just got carrots with ranch. For the main course, I finally ventured away from the kids menu and got the ravioli. It was delicious. My mom got the roasted beef loin, my dad got the jerk chicken, and my grandmother and her friend got the roasted pork loin. They all thought their meals were good also. Then for desert I went back to the kids menu and got the dark chocolate brownie again. It wasn’t as good as last night, but it was still fine. My mom, grandmother, and her friend all got the apple pie again which they enjoyed. My mom also got the soufflé, but she wasn’t a fan. My dad got the no sugar added desert again, so tonight, that was the strawberry trifle. He thought it was pretty good. Here’s the menu: After dinner we rushed to go see the show at 7. My dad was right; the Absolute Journey tribute band was spectacular. The lead singer looked just like Steve Perry (I know Gregg Rolie came first, but I still consider Steve the lead singer) and they sounded just like Journey. After the show, I stuck with my normal routine of just hanging out with friends until 1. Some other notes: •The WiFi was great the first two days, but it’s become awful today, so I apologize for the lack of pictures. I’ll edit the post when I get back home and add the rest of them. •I got to see the iconic I-95 today. •I finally got around to taking some pictures of the decorations on the ship tonight. Although the ship is a bit worn, the decorations are still beautiful. (I’ll post pictures of them when I get better WiFi) •The time is going one hour forward tonight. Little disappointed that that means one last hour of sleep lol. •Labadee has some really nice Christmas decorations. It was the most it’s felt like Christmas time since I’ve been on the ship.

We can never go away for Christmas because we cannot imagine not being part of our extended family festivities, but we are so excited for our New Years cruise on Saturday!

The biggest issue I’ve ever had with UBER is when I am one of the first ones off the ship. The UBER’s that are all queued up sit and wait to activate themselves until surge pricing goes into effect so getting a ride can take a while. Once the closest ride they found for me was over 15 minutes away.

Not too much around there of interest, but do check out Knauss Berry Farms while in that area. Great produce (esp the strawberries), fresh milkshakes, and awesome baked goods (people travel for hours for their cinnamon buns and pecan rolls). http://www.knausberryfarm.com/location.html Coral Castle could be another neat stop around there as well. https://coralcastle.com/ You may want to hit Key Largo since you're venturing that far south, too.

This is a non-issue. I take Uber/Lyft from my home about 40 mins north of FLL to MIA and PortMiami - trips that are over an hour. South Florida is dense, but not as vertical as other cities, and has no significant mass-transit options, so long drives around here aren't nearly as uncommon as in other metropolitan areas. I'd really avoid renting a car, you'll just lose a lot of time to logistics and I don't think there is anything to gain in your particular scenario. If you end up not wanting to use a ride-share service, I'd hire a car service. When you arrive at FLL you'll follow the signs to the nearest ride-share/commercial vehicle pickup area. There are two, and they're well positioned so it's never more than a minute's walk at most once you're outside. You can find pics of the signage and other Uber/Lyft tips for cruisers in S FL here: https://www.cruisehabit.com/uber-lyft-cabs-shuttles-how-get-and-your-cruise-easily-cheaply I will tell you that if you're sailing out of Terminal A, they should have made the pickup area much larger and changed when the lanes converge, so after your cruise walk all the way to the end of the pickup area before requesting a ride, and note the number of the post.

Yes.

To answer your actual question, I don't think it will be that big of an issue to get Uber to take you, last year I went from FLL to Miami airport and it was a 45 minute drive. I was faced with the exact situation, I sail out of POM on January 13th on Allure, but because of flight prices I'm flying in to FLL on the 12th, it was about $150 PP cheaper (First class), flying out of Miami after the cruise. My flight arrives around 2pm on the 12th. What I choose to do was hire a limo and drive to Miami on the 12th when I arrive and stay in a Miami hotel (Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, you can see the port from the hotel) and then take Uber the morning of the 13th to the terminal. There are a lot of other hotels that Matt has highlighted in the blog around the port in Miami. The limo for 2 people was $80, I took a step up and reserved a Luxury limo, there were cheaper options. I went this route because I don't like big bus transfers and I don't like Taxi's, admittedly I forgot about Uber. The name of the limo service to "goairportshuttle". I have used them 2 other times in Florida and had no issues with them or their service.

Navigator Standard JS on deck 9 297 sq ft with 64 sq ft balcony (j3/j4) Navigator deck 11 JS J3 (guessing 1154 and 1106 due to balcony size) 235 sq ft and 537 sq ft balcony Navigator deck 11 J3 (guessing 1156 and 1108) JS 267 sq ft and 412 sq ft balcony I find it surprising as they look larger on the deck plans but deck 11 staterooms are actually smaller but the balconies more than make up for it. Just an FYI, the balcony staterooms on deck 11 are also listed as smaller rooms with larger balconies.

Wishing you all a white, sandy beach Christmas and a joyous new year!

Happy new year!

Wow, that's awesome! Just installed the extension, thanks.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays to everyone, hope everyone stays warm and safe.

Thanks @Skid Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!

On Mariner they are standard size. If you look at my Mariner blog (link in signature) there are pics of 1104 (I think I may have given the wrong cabin earlier). I can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere online, the square footage of those corner JS on Navigator was posted. It was considerably larger than the standard JS on any ship.

Well hopefully there will be another sale before your trip ?

Yes, I understood, we have cruised since I was quite young ? But I was saying that was on my wish list.

I like how the Royal site says the current sale ends in "5 hrs" (which makes it Dec 24). But of course, you know tomorrow's numbers will be just like todays starting the countdown again until the next "sale".

Oooh, someone new to follow on Facebook! What a fabulous tip!

I do wish they would award points on full payment at least. Booking a year and more out means that we don’t get the benefit of the status we would otherwise have. Old complaint I know, but I still find it irritating! Oh well!

Awww... ...you made me miss JVF. He was on the local news here in the past.

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!!

Same to you @Skid and everyone else here! Enjoy and cherish the holidays with those you love!

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Holidays Mon!!!!

Ok, I decided that I wasn't comfortable with the original hotel I booked for Miami in February, so I got bold did a Name Your Own Price on Priceline (areas were better defined than in Seattle, still wouldn't do it there), and got an amazing hotel with spectacular reviews in a reportedly very safe neighborhood for $175 (just 8 dollars more than the hotel in the sketchy airport neighborhood). So thank you, Matt!

Thanks, @Skid! And the same for you!

Don’t worry haha. I think of dawg as being male too. I just chose the username because I’m a huge Georgia bulldogs fan lol

@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!

Sailing on Rhapsody 2 weeks from today, and noticed this morning on Cruisemapper.com that she was in Port Canaveral rather than Tampa as expected - a quick search pulled up this item. Great story from Empress, thankful that these guys were rescued as a result of the bad weather but that really is a bummer for those taking the Christmas cruise having to hike across the state to get to Rhapsody. I'd imagine trying to rebook a flight from Tampa to Orlando the weekend before the holiday was a trip to the gates of hell and back. Hope the weather calms down for our sailing! https://cruiseradio.net/cruise-ship-itinerary-change-leads-to-miracle-at-sea/

You can ask at Guest Services for them to make you a keycard for your in-laws' room. It will allow you to access their room but have no other use.

I cant believe that everyone is so worried and scared about this??! i think most of the things listed here would apply to visiting any country and being smart about where you go and what you take with you?!!I think the US government has had some kinda warning out about Nassau for years...similar to Zika warnings in Mexico etc... Nassau in the daytime is safe..I have been there a dozen times in the past 4-5 years...no issues with anything. Its chaotic getting out, but once past the fence its nothing. Its a great and safe place to explore. Lots of tourist bars, beaches.....beautiful resorts and more being built.... I would be more scared walking around some cities in North American than Nassau...its 99% tourists during the daytime....