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The loft suite are completely and utterly aft. The nearest staircase or elevator is about 150 steps away. Be prepared, if you have this suite, to do a LOT of walking. Conceirge Club Lounge is 300+ steps and two long corridors away. Not complaining, lord knows I need the exercise. the club is large, quiet and also completely aft, hence the beautiful view. some photos of the long corridors you'll take to get here on deck 12 (or has my husband calls it "dick 12" in his best Aussie accent), some signage at the elevators, including an interactive sign. apologies for the poor photo quality......my husbands phone takes better photos but I can't download them right now for some reason. Will sort that out and post those later......

Some photos of 10324: ill post more photos later of the room, bathroom, etc. no bath tub in this suite which really bums me out.

Funny story! Twenty years ago, we were fairly young and on an 11 day cruise with a much older crowd. It seemed everyone was in a wheelchair, used a walker or had an attendant. I had packed gowns and shoes for every special night on the ship. One night we dressed for dinner and I was horrified that I had forgotten the shoes to go with whatever I was wearing that night. My husband said, "Don't worry, No one will be looking at your shoes. Everyone is going to be impressed you can WALK!" LOL So I think of that when I pack now, especially shoes. I take the fewest (is that a word?) number and make them work. More room in the bag!

Cruise -3 days Might I just say, packing sucks! Starting this process earlier than last Sunday might have helped but work was definitely in the way! I watched several Rick Steves videos all about the dangers of overpacking and how you should pack for best case scenarios. Yeah....no. I have packed for every worst case scenario imaginable. I swear I will try harder for our 17 days in Europe this summer, but I can’t do it now. Thank god everything is summer light weight clothes. My suitcase is at 48 lbs and I might have decided to take a carry on suitcase as welll. It might be that I don’t need 7 pairs of shoes for 9 days but after staring at them for 30 mins and not being able to make a decision! I decided to just throw them all in. My brain is most definitely shot and I need a vacation!!! My goal was to be packed, devices charged and photos cleared from my phone so I can be in bed by 10 tomorrow but that isn’t gonna happen either lol. I’m giving up tonight so I can nestle all snug in my bed while visions of beaches dance in my head! Jane

Holy smokes......that is a long flight. Managed to sleep off and on for eight or so hours, so actually didn't hit the wall til about 9 last night. we arrived in Sydney at 10 am, and got a cab, which cost $100 Australian dollars. The train would have been the same amount. Limo is available but it was 150$ or so. We opted for the cab and it took about 45 min to get to the port. Traffic was apparently unusually heavy. pulling into the port drop off area was a circus with lots of cabs ahead of us and we couldn't see the star class flag til we were out of the cab with our bags. A porter tried to take our bags, but we told him we were star class and showed him the banner.....he sent us off towards that big purple flag, and we rolled all our bags in the drizzling rain over there unaided. At the flag, the star class benefits immediately became apparent....an agent with a star class sign called Luciano and stayed with us as we checked in with another agent who had an iPad to do that on. From there, the agent with the sign took us through to a customs agent, bypassing a snaking line of about a hundred people. After clearing customs, she took us through security (no dedicated security line for star class in this area and it wasn't very busy; not sure what they would have done for us if the security line ups were long). Then we were off to the ship, where Luciano met us at the door as we came in, told us our suite wasn't quite ready, so offered lunch at Coastal Kitchen. After eating, Luciano returned to escort us to our suite (10324), provided us with a brief tour and gave us our "schedule" for the week. (BUMMER ALERT: KIDS UNDER 11 CANNOT DO THE ESCAPE ROOM). Luciano said he would see what he could do but it didn't sound optimistic. The suite is gorgeous, silly amounts of appetizers were waiting, at least a dozen beers in ice, a bottle of premium champagne on ice, more pop and juice than we would ever drink.......the balcony is amazing, with plenty of chairs, chair towels, a small dining table and a small side table. We unpacked after popping the champagne and beer........two huge wardrobes upstairs, a good size small closet down, with tons of drawers up and down also. muster drill was painful, with the usual delays bc of people deciding not to show up. After this, we went exploring.....I put my name in for a draw at the spa and won a $50 gift cert! Of course you had to be present to win, and I wasn't there, but hubby was. They wouldn't give it to him (fair enough) but a swift call to Luciano resulted in a phone call from the spa manager at around 8 pm saying they would honor my win. That was a nice gesture, and I suspect only happened bc of SC. sail away was on time. We decided to do the Seafood Tower, and a couple of cocktails......it was fabulous! Then, kids were starting to fade, so we put them to bed at 8 and pumpkin and I headed for CK. Staff there are lovely, but service seems a titch slow. asleep by 9 in that wonderful bed! Kids ordered breakfast to the room which by my estimation arrived way tooooo early, but whatever..... the coffeemaker in our room doesn't seem to be working very well, so am presently up in Concierge Lounge drinking.....coffee. Bing is the Concierege for this cruise. pumpkin is at the pool with the kids (10 year old b/g twins) sipping a Pina colada. He looked very happy about his drink. It was 10 am. Getting the party started, I guess....... Some photos of check in:

Hi everyone!! I can't even say how much I love the live blogs between cruises so I thought I would see least try andjot some things down this trip. I have never purchased voom before but we have the 2 dogs at home and I need to get updates as I have a new sitter and a very untrained 11 month old puppy!! I'm guessing that this will be a pretty uneventful blog since I plan on spending most of my time reading in my deck chair and using that deluxe drink pkg!! We have a ton of firsts on this trip... First time in Miami and labadee, first interior cabin and most of all first time on an oasis class ship. We have done vision, Voyager and freedom class but never the big ones. I'm excited for the neighborhoods, worried about deck chairs in the solarium and on the sky deck. Our group consists of my husband on his 3rd cruise, me (on my 5th) and our 16 year old daughter (her 4th). We are headed to St Maarten (I think this is the day I stay onboard and get the hopefully empty solarium), San Juan (we will walk to El Morro and just enjoy old Town for the brief time we are docked) and labadee (can't wait!!! My first Royal beach). We have the BOGO purchased and hope to get sabor night one and 150 night 2, but I'm worried about getting in so we shall see. We also have the izumi hibachi booked and the Brazilian steakhouse (leaving the vegetarian 16 year old to fend for herself that night). We leave out if O'Hare at 530am Saturday...ugh... and will be happily in the Miami heat by 10. We went relatively cheap and are staying at the Hampton inn and suites a couple blocks away from the beach. It will be a very low key day as work and the weather have been truly kicking me in the butt this winter. Feel free to ask me questions...I will try and keep up but this may definitely be more livish than live. I may try to Periscope too but with no ? and no mike I'm nervous about even trying! And now I'm off to read the allure blog from last week!!! Jane

In a desperate, last ditch effort to cure our post cruise depression, D10 and I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the replay of our sail away. This last pic is for @rjac. Here is another selfie for you. ? In the end, nothing fixes PCD, only the next cruise. Anthem GC, July 4th! 15 weeks dry dock until I finally get to meet @Matt and many other RCBlog friends! Cannot wait!

Here are the outdoor bridge wings on deck 13 off the Solarium on Quantum class:

Quantum class has two bridge wings, one starboard and one port accessed from the Solarium. They are small and will fill up quickly arriving in a port or other scenic area. The Solarium itself is two level and the lower level has great views looking forward. This is Anthem but same idea on Ovation: This level of the Solarium is on deck 13 and there are doors into the cabin hallways for deck 13 forward that would make this area accessible. It's also the level that has access to the outdoor bridge wings much like Harmony or Symphony. There is no helipad on Quantum class. There is a "winch pad" but it is not open to the public.

Day 7 -Aruba This is our last port stop on this trip, and maybe the one we were most looking forward to, because of the excursion we had booked. The ship docked about 7am and the gangways were down and open before 8. Our tour was picking us up just outside the port at 8:45, so we had a little time to grab a quick bit at the windjammer. Today's tour was a Harley ride, touring the island. We have done this kind of thing in Hawaii before, and have always said there is no better way to see the island. Today did not disappoint. We took off from the shop about 9:30am and the weather was perfect for riding, not so much for pictures though. Overcast for the most part Saw some beautiful sights along the way The last stop before heading back to the shop was Baby Beach. There is a new adults only bar/lounge/pool that just opened about 3 months ago that our guide took us to The tour lasted almost 5 hours, and it was incredible! After returning to the shop, they gave us a ride back to the port. We had gotten a recommendation from our guide about a place to eat, and we were hungry, so we walked there, about a 15 minute walk to a little place called El Gaucho. Incredible steak and fish! We spent some time walking around the shops, then headed back to the ship. All aboard is 6pm, and we were back on about 5. Dinner in the windjammer tonight was Indian theme, I didn't care for much of it, so I hit the Kids Corner for a burger and fries, perfect! We went to the main show at 10pm tonight, it was a ballroom dancing show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, it was a lot of fun! As soon as the show let out, it was time for the 80's party on the Promenade. The people watching during and after did not disappoint! The cruise compass for tomorrow shows the drink card as coming available! That's about all for today. The next two days are sea days as we make our way back to Miami...

Lunch at CK

Some Show PIctures... Schedule Hairspray 1977 Ice Show iSkate HIRO Flight

Welcome aboard ! The only REAL mistake you can make is to not have the proper travel documents (I recommend always having a current passport). That is really the only thing that could keep you from boarding the ship. The rest of the details are far less important than you think they will be. Trust me, I've made plenty of packing omissions and somehow I have managed to have a great cruise every single time ! Probably the worst packing mistake is not having comfortable shoes. It's easy for me to say as I'm an old, fat woman BUT trying to be too cutesy can really cause great anxiety. FORGET about what looks good and bring what FEELS good. You will never see any of those people on the ship again...dress comfortably ! - especially the shoes ! You'll be fine !!! Enjoy your first cruise. You only get one <first>.

While I’m not a Diamond member yet, I feel I have some cruising experience. Yesterday, however, I made a huge cruising mistake. I thought I’d share my mistake so others can learn from it. It would be fun to hear if anyone else has made other mistakes. We were in St. Marteen and booked Billy Bones Snorkeling charter. I’ve been talking up this tour and my family is really excited for this excursion. We walk off the ship, down the pier when I pull out my confirmation for where to go and notice the date. It says March 27th! What? That’s next week! I booked the correct day of the week but the wrong week. That week is a week after our cruise. Quick phone one call and they are fully booked. In fact all the snorkeling tours are fully booked since for the first time post hurricane there are 6 ships in port according to the several boating companies we asked. Now what? Too late to do any research on a Plan B but I do remember many people talking about the beach just off the pier. We ended up walking to Great Bay beach and turned it into a fantastic beach day. Beach chairs, lunch, trampoline, jet skis, beach massage, hair braids and a trip to the Yoda Guy. I would have thought a beach day would cost less than a snorkeling tour but my family can spend money on food and Star Wars stuff! I only put a deposit down via PayPal and I already emailed the company. I should be getting a refund of my deposit shortly. I still can’t believe I did this. While I received a confirmation months ago I didn’t actually look at it. I printed out all my cruise documents however once again didn’t actually look at it. All I can say is that things have been super stressed and crazy over the past few months. With everything on my plate, mixing up dates is one of my fears and I can’t tell you the number of times, I check school calendar against the cruise dates and triple check my airplane dates. I guess if I’m going to mess up a date, booking a refundable shore excursion a week later is not too bad. Ok that’s my cruising mistake, anyone else have one?

White outfit, second from the right...right? I, too, am counting the days and checking for "deals". We're on the Anthem the week after you and the RC Blog gang for a 5 day-2 night- Bermuda cruise. Hopefully, we can all be on a future cruise together. Stay warm!

Welcome to the message boards, Kathleen! Below is the link for the current NextCruise flyer. http://www.royalonboardsales.com/content/assets/2015/05/19066784_NextCruise_MarchOffer_Flyer.pdf

Really depends on how many people are in your party. There are taxis, but Uber/Lyft tends to be cheaper for standard fares. If you have a lot of people or special needs (car seat) it is a little pricier. Plus with everyone getting off that ship at once it may even be surge pricing.

It's more about the party and the willingness to participate and have some fun for our group. being 50 now, i have a very diverse attitude when it comes to music these days. Grew up on 80's Punk and Metal myself but listen to it all dependent on my mood. There's a huge German Wurstfest festival here in New Braunfels, TX each November. I break out my lederhosen and alpine hat, drink lots of beer and dance to polka musik. With age comes a stronger attitude of not giving a damn and living in the moment. If the ships had a disco-sucks party, i'd participate in that as well. ?

I've used my iPhone (a 6s Plus) along with some lens attachments from Moment, and I've gotten what I consider some better than halfway decent photos. But I recently came into ownership of the same Sony RX100 that @twangster has, and after playing around with that some; having more than 2x the pixels on a big sensor, with real aperture and shutter control, makes an unbelievable difference even for such a "low end" camera. I'm going to be spending a lot more time shooting with that my next cruise. Not yet ready to shoot RAW, I need to learn better post technique in Pixelmator around that first; I haven't yet been happy with the results I create vs what the camera figures out in JPEG mode. But it will definitely let me step up my photography game and the desire for a phone with the best camera possible has gone down a lot.

whoa whoa easy tiger hahaha, quoting the label. besides Irish Whiskey is Champ. Jameson, Tullamore Dew (my Graddad worked there as a cooper), Teeling, and Redbreast are all wonderful.

Waaytoo reminded me of the time my sister booked a trip to Jacksonville, Fl. She never looked at the info well. Went to airport on the day of flight and found out the flight was going to Jacksonville NC!!! OOPS Yep, triple check all info.

Shoes are the first sacrifice. I used to bring tons of different shoes to make sure I had something to go with every outfit. Now ? HUH ! I am NOT joking....on my 16 night B2B Star Class cruises on Anthem I had 2 pairs of shoes for the cruise. I actually had 1 more pair that I used for flying b/c I knew it would be cold and I needed a pair that I could wear with socks, but the other 2 cruise shoes were flip flops and I never missed not having any other shoes. I did bring a pair of water shoes which I never wore but for regular use, just 2 pair. It was wonderful.

This varies. On Mariner, we sat with 2 other couples/families. Dinner lasted from 6-8pm, but the waiter was taking him time as he was letting us chat among each other. We just got off Symphony and sat just the four of us (we have 2 kids). The meal was a perfect pace. Dinner was 5:30pm and we were out by 7pm, or even a bit before. One night they had the ice show at 7pm and was worried we'd miss it. We just let our waiters know and we made it no issue. These are both traditional dining but would be similar for My Time. Just let them know that you want to make a show. PS - We really enjoy the MDR and it was especially good on Symphony.

The MDR is meant to be an upscale dining experience. My wife and I enjoy having a conversation with those we are dining. We like that each course is not dumped on the table within seconds of each other. Eating in the MDR is not a speed eating event. It is meant to be as much a social experience as a dining experience. We have met many other people from around the world when seated together in the dining room. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn about other parts of the country and the world. If you are concerned about being late for an entertainment event then take into account how long that dining in the MDR will be and schedule your plans accordingly.

A big "thank you" for the great info. Exactly what I need. Cruisecritic and TripAdvisor reviews just don"t give much specific info.

We vacation with friends from NJ once or twice each year, Florida, SC, NC beaches. Every week we spend together they always have to have at least one pizza night. We truly love these people but secretly DREAD pizza night. We have never found edible pizza according to those two, even though my wife and I have been satisfied with the selection every time. Our friends use the colorful NJ dialect to describe the pizza every time. But that being said.... there are never any leftovers. My wife and I are going on Oasis in two weeks. We may give Sorento's a try but not high on the priority list. I have had the most fun reading this thread.... I hope I'm not late for work!!

Even through we have sailed with RCI many times we have never done one of their shore excursions but some good things to do in New Zealand are: Dunedin: Early Settlers Museum, Speights Brewery, Railway station building looks amazing from the outside, Tairei Gorge railway has some amazing scenery. There all also some wildlife tours as well. Akoroa is a nice small French village that has great fish and chips. Lovely place to visit. I guess the cruise will offer excursions to Christchurch but that is further away. The Antarctic Centre is great place to visit. Auckland: Catch the ferry to Waiheke Island some some great vineyards and food. Davenport is an old village next to Naval base, it is a quick ferry ride away from the ship. Sky tower if you want a great view of the city. Kelly Tarlton’s has the glass tubes you can walk through to look at fish and other sea life in a natural setting. Bay of Islands: you will likely see dolphins well you are anchored here. Russell is a great historic village to visit as are the treaty grounds at Waitangi. Here you will find the Marae and the Treaty of Waitangi Most of these things you can do on your own without the need to book a shore excursion but i am sure mostcould be be booked through the ship. With Islands I would try the hop on/off bus in Noumea as we found Noumea city a bit dull. The first time we went there we did jet skiing which was fun. for all the other Islands we mainly just went to beach, but excursions are offfered and the locals will have plenty of non rci excursions to try. Have fun

You are going to have a great time! I bought a bunch of crap for my cruise on Freedom in 2015 that I never ended up using. So of course, I totally learned my lesson and bought $100 worth of more crap for my cruise next month! ? I think the essentials are what you’d take on any beach vacation plus some motion sickness medication and anything you can’t live without at home - for me, that’s a small fan since I have to have the white noise to sleep. This time I also sprung for the plastic luggage tag holders, a multi USB charging hub (no surge protection - search Anker on amazon), and antibacterial wipes that my husband will actually use. He detests alcohol based “goo” that is all around the ship. I also pack clips no matter where I’m going - they’re great for holding your drapes closed for a sleep in morning, holding your towel onto your chair during a windy sea day, and keeping chip bags closed on land vacations ? As for me, I’m not packing water shoes this time. I’ll bring my Chaco sandals to wear to the beach - in a pinch, they can stay on in unexpectedly rocky waters, but I didn’t need water shoes and regretted bringing them last time. We swear by our Deuter city light backpack - it’s great for everything from hiking to theme parks, cruising and more. Towels and water bottles fit great in a small backback. As a “must have” this time, I’m bringing the ultimate dining package. I very much doubt that @WAAAYTOOO is an “old, fat woman” but if I have learned anything from her expertise it’s that cruising is for enjoyment and happiness - for me that means eating great food, so I’ll spend all my dinners in specialty restaurants. Your mileage might vary!

@Bish they won’t let you do the escape room with young kids. Those who are paying for it probably would not enjoy having younger children in there. That is why we requested the private star class session. See if you can find another SC family who has younger kids as well and request a private session. That should not be a problem. You just need 6 minimum.

And finally.......That BODY PILLOW we ordered from the pillow menu...... the thing is hilariously massive. Pumpkin and I felt like we had a third person in bed with us....(which might have been fun a couple decades ago haha!) kidding!

Hopefully the study will reveal those results to them so they don't waste taxpayer money building infrastructure that won't return on the investment.

Last year we were booked on a 7 nighter on Allure. Were D+ but we showed up on Saturday to find out it was a Sunday departure. Had to find a room for the night.?

I was just on this ship in November 2018. At the time, the guitar player/singer at the Pub was very entertaining. All the production shows were terrific as well. There were a lot more spanish speaking folks on the cruise than I normally see, but this is due to being based out of P.R. The crowd was great!

It's not a soap. It's a liquid that you spray on dry clothes to help remove wrinkles. You can usually find it in the travel/sample size section of Walmart or Bed Bath and Beyond (I've seen it in some grocery stores too). I found a full size spray bottle that also contains an odor eliminator in the laundry detergent section of Walmart. We're going to refill the small bottles with that because we like to visit the casino and this way we can "de-smoke" our clothes. To use it, you just spray the item and smooth it out. You can also spray and hang in the bathroom with the shower on so the steam helps too.

Ask your waiter the first night.

We had 4 adults and 1 child. 90 min minimum each night. Often closer to 2 hours. I thought it was nuts!

Yes, Royal does hold purchases until the last night. If purchased late on the last day you'll be able to take it then. If the bottle included the "ship tax"/priced much higher than it can be bought for. Then that would be a NCL policy allowing purchases for onboard consumption. Unfortunately Royal, outside of the few 375ml bottle options purchased in advance, doesn't allow bottles to be purchased for onboard consumption.

Thanks for a great blog! Enjoyed!

Following!

I am a very picky Guinness drinker as well. I think I would have had a word with them when it was less crowded. I don't mind waiting for it to be done right. I do get they are busy people and trying to get everyone's orders though.

Embarkation: Allure is using the new Terminal A in Miami. The pickup / drop-off area is quite a nightmare. I arrived at the port about 10:30 am and it was packed with vehicles / busses / trailers / uber / lyft with nobody really knowing where to go. There is a back portion of the wraparound where the busses are supposed to go to drop / pick people up but when you get a bus with a luggage trailer on the back parking in the spots it 100% stopped anyone else from getting past them so it just created a massive bottleneck. Also none of the spots are really designated for any company in particular so its a free for all as to where you may be picked up. To make things worse there were Uber/Lyft drivers pulling into these spots making no spaces for the busses to park. Disembarkation was worse because I was actually trying to find a bus in that case. I'll comment on that in a disembarkation section. New Terminal A / Check In Process: Holy cow have they made things efficient if you have your Set Sail all completed. No more going to a desk at all, just 30 or so people ready to scan your set sail and send you to security. Literally took 2 mins to get through "checkin" and through security. The "waiting" area for those that show up before they allow you to board isn't all that organized at all. It was "Take a seat wherever" They opened the doors around 10:50 am. Their new boarding process is quite odd, they basically announce on the loud speaker "groups" to board. They called KEY first, then Pinnacle, Diamond Plus, Diamond, Emerald and Platinum all in one announcement. Because of how few there were in each group we boarded the ship quickly anyways. Onboard Specialty restaurant reservations: I had purchased the ultimate dining package for the week and immediately went up to Chops to make reservations for the week. First comment was that CHOPS and GIOVANNIS said there was 0 chance of having lunch at either of those places on embarkation day because the KEY guests were all reserved. I ended up going to Sabor which was very nice anyways. I had a sheet of paper with my preferred restaurants for each day/time and for the most part they were able to get close to what i was looking for. What was challenging though is some of the reservations did not show up on the APP at all or the TV so towards the end of the week i was making phone calls to verify times. Specialty restaurants: 150 Central Park - 3 times, Absolutely Amazing dinners - Richard was our server each time and we really enjoyed him. I made sure he was well compensated for his service he provided. If you enjoy a flavorful caesar salad, do not miss this one, it is full or garlic and anchovy slivers. Also the tenderloin for 2 was delightful, perfectly cooked, carved tableside, very impressive. Chops - 2 times - Once for lunch once for dinner - Chops just seems to be missing flavor to me. Yes they have delicious cuts of meat but it almost seems like they forget to season things there. The sauces are just missing something, but all in all good meals. Red Velvet cake is still alive and well, ignore the macaroni that escaped onto the table cloth: Giovannis - 2 times for dinner - Great meals here, enjoyed sitting outside one night and the last night having a final meal at Giovannis was a good way to end the trip Izumi - 2 times - One for Lunch, One for dinner. While I love the sushi here the service was just bad. The server was friendly and all but just couldnt get anything right. Food came out at very different times, wrong food brought, some food missing, random food on my bill, random wine on my bill i didnt drink. After this happened the 2nd time i went to the manager to express my concerns. They offered me to go to the galley brunch on the last day as a consolation. Sabor - 2 times for lunch - Their lunch menu is very limited but its great to sit outside on the boardwalk. The food is nothing to write home about (used to be much more robust, now only 3 things on the lunch menu). The Churros and Banana things for desert were pretty darn good. All in all i wish they kept things how they were in the past but i think the atmosphere makes up for it (and the margaritas) Galley Brunch - about 16 people in our group (far to many to hear anything) . I really enjoyed the tour, especially the BAKERY which i wish i had some of those machines at my house. The lunch / champagne after the tour was OK, it was standard MDR food. The champagne was flowing freely, I think i ended up with 6 glasses and felt pretty good after that. Photos from around the ship: Cafe Promenade: Someone asked if they make alcoholic coffees and the answer is YES and they are delicious: Sabor Drink Menus: Vintages Menus: Boleros Cocktail Menu:

Awesome! Constant supply of Coke for my Captain Morgan!

Day 6, Curaçao. Today we visit the island of Curaçao, the weather is in and out overcast, but still plenty warm. We docked about 7:30am and the gangway was down about 8am. We are sharing the port with a Celebrity ship today We had ordered room service for delivery between 7:30-8, but by 8:05 they hadn’t shown up and we were ready to get going, so we ran up to the Windjammer for a quick bite before heading out. We booked at ATV off road tour for today, and they met us out front of the port to take us to their shop. They had a van, and several 6-seat buggy’s to transfer everyone. There were a lot of people that were booked! We were directed to a buggy with Lorenzo as our guide, and he drove the 20-minute ride to the shop. We got a good view of the ships from the bridge Once we got to the shop, everyone went to fill out paper work and pay the money after that was done, we grouped up into our different groups for the tours. Our group was originally supposed to have 8 people on it, but 4 backed out, so it was just us and another couple from the Celebrity ship, nice small personal tour! Our guide was awesome, so happy and loves what he does! Took us to a spot where we climbed up and through some lava caves and came out up on top with and awesome view Then to the “cave of doom” were we found some beautiful pink rocks in this little cave He took us to the only sand beach on the north side of the island. It’s not a tourist spot, and we had the beach to ourselves for a bit till another couple came in. Did some swimming for a little bit before heading back When we were maybe a mile away from the shop, the drive belt blew on our machine, and left us dead. Luckily he had a tow rope (which he hadn’t had to use yet) and was able to tow us the rest of the way to the shop It was an awesome tour, and would do it again in a heart beat! We headed back to the ship to shower and change (we were quite dirty from all the dust) then grabbed a lava flow from the Lime and Coconut and some El Loco Fresh for lunch Then we ventured in to town for some exploring and shopping. All the colors here are incredible! Went across the pontoon bridge We decided to come back to the ship for dinner in the MDR. On the app, the menu stated there would be buttermilk fried chicken, but it was a completely different menu when we got there. (This isn’t the first thing that the app has been different than what actually happens. They still have some work to do) I decided on the Chicken Parmigiana and my wife had her staple, a steak The service in the MDR was the best we have had thus far, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Our waiter was super attentive and on the ball We decided to hit the theater for the headliner act, a ventriloquist/comedian. He was ok, good enough that we didn’t leave, but don’t feel the need to see him again. During the show he was interrupted by an announcement for ‘alpha, alpha, alpha’, I feel bad for that person. After the show, we went to the helipad to check out the night time view Went and spent some time in the Schooner Bar listening to the great live music. It’s been the same guy every night, and he is super talented. Came back to the room to find it ready for bed, complete with a towel elephant Tomorrow is our last port day, at Aruba, then two sea days back to Miami

The Promenade We were recently on Mariner and Independence and so the first thing I noticed about the Promenade is how wide it is on Symphony. It's just so much bigger with space to walk (but of course it does get crowded). Here's a picture (and you can see them ready for the balloon drop for night 1) And of course, another big difference is the choice of car. I never understood the meaning or why they selected this, but it sure is unique. I'll give them that! This is quite cute. A view of the big statue in the middle (and a "few" people with it) Note: The balls behind, where it says "wish" are large crystal balls that go from the gound level, all up the top of the elevators (in open area). It's really beautiful, and various balls have positive sayings such as 'wish', 'believe', etc. The promenade houses Cafe Promenade for small snacks, Sorrentos, Starbucks for caffeine fix. It also has the Bionic Bar, which is really fun to watch and order drinks. One really fun piece of art work is at the bottom of the stairs when you go from the promenade down to deck 4 to theatre/Attic/Studio B Anyone hungry for a treat?

Day 4, at sea. Today was a pretty laid back day for us. Beautiful views from all over the ship We started off with breakfast in the MDR I had the French toast and an omelet, they were fine, but I don’t think the quality of food was any different than the windjammer, and I don’t particularly care for taking an hour and a half to eat breakfast, I think we will stick with the Windjammer. After breakfast it was time for our All Access Tour It was a group of 18 people, and was quite informative. I took most of the pictures on my GoPro, and haven’t loaded them yet, but here are a few We had lunch in the MDR again today. We really enjoy the salad bar and Buffett, but I’m still not sold on the slow service. It takes 20 minutes to get a refill on a soda or water. Maybe I just drink too fast. After lunch we just cruised around the ship for awhile, and then went a took a nap, it was wonderful. Just after 5pm we went out to the sports deck (around this time, the pool deck and sports deck are all but deserted) and went down the slides about 6 or 7 times each, basically no lines. It was awesome! We went back to the room and got changed, and watched the sunset. Then we ran up to the Windjammer and grabbed a plate of food and took it out to the Lime and Coconut to enjoy the movie on the pool deck, that was fun. The pool deck at night is beautiful We decided to catch the Headliner show his name was James Stephens III, he was an impressionist and musician, it was fun and a totally packed house! Tonight was the 70’s party, we stayed on the promenade for a little bit, but it was really warm, so we decided to call it an evening and went back to the room to cool off and relax on the balcony for a bit before bed. The wind kicked up quite a bit this evening and there was a fair amount of rocking, but it hasn’t bothered us yet, we haven’t had any issues with seasickness! Next stop is Bonaire!

Well, walk off was a breeze. Araceli came to pick us up in our cabin at 8:30 am. We were at the curb waiting for Lyft by 8:45 am. There is no wait time with the SC departure. She bypassed all lines and elevators. No drama from any other guests, and since we had LV, there was nothing to pick up either. Last sad sight... FLL is another story, it is packed here. So far everything is good at the gate and our flight home is on time. Happy to answer any other questions if there are any. If not, thank you all for following along with us. It has been a wonderful week and I have loved sharing the experience with all of you. ?

So what did we think of Star Class overall? Well, if you have not picked up on it yet, we simply loved it! And I knew it and you all knew it, I am most definitely spoiled for all other cruises from this point onwards. I am completely in love with not only SC, but Deck 17 itself. I need to find my way back the the “gated community” somehow. There is something indescribable about these lofts, the high ceilings, the two bathrooms, the open and airy feel of the room, these are the things I love about the loft. The location to CK and the SL for these rooms is also so convenient. Nothing beats that! And the hallways are extra wide up here. Hopefully a few months in dry dock will condition us for our JS on Anthem GC in July. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, there are many types of cruisers and you have to know which category you fall under. We know what “type” we are and what is important to us. For us, the perks of SC are worth it, given the right price. The room is also worth it because we spend a lot of time in our cabin. What did we get the most use of from our perks? Specialty dining for sure. We tried almost everything that we possibly could. I am afraid to step on the scale Monday morning. The kids also made very good use of the in-room specialty dining. They only ate with us 3 out of the 7 nights. The rest, they ordered in from specialty. Also, as I stated before, the reserved seating is a big deal for us because we are show people. The girls are too. So having that perk was awesome. Only once did we get questioned about why “those seats” were saved for us. Araceli had a great explanation for them and she explained it ever so kindly. We also could not resist putting our two cents in. We lucked out big time with Araceli. She is so personable and kind. Her smile does not ever fade. We have exchanged well over 100 emails back and forth since her first contact. She is amazing with communicating! Never did a dinner go by where she did not come in to check on us. During the day, she would either come to find us or email me to check in if we needed anything. So thankful too that we have had the opportunity to sit down with her for some conversations and get to know her as a person. She is simply wonderful! Going to miss her for sure! Early start for us tomorrow so I will end off here. I will update from the airport to comment on the walk off.

Started off this morning with a couple of fruit plates and a bowl of oatmeal with the complimentary room service. After we got ready, we headed up to the windjammer to grab some fresh made omelettes, awesome view out the aft of the ship while eating! There was a dance/workout class happening on the Promenade that was entertaining Finally got the info for The Key program. Took three trips to Guest Services, and the people there didnt really know anything about it, couldn’t tell me any of the specific times for activities or anything. I’m not upset, I just wish I could help them with their documentation and processes! Getting ready to head to the MDR for lunch now. More later!

Thought of another one, @twangster -- iced coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream. Had one of those every night on my Bermuda sailing as an after-dinner drink and really liked it! But be warned -- have it after dinner and you'll be awake until the wee hours!

An añejo margarita, of course!