Leaderboard

Ok you guys, I'm SO excited. Mr. SpeedNoodles and I have not been on a vacation for 10 years (yes, you read that correctly). We've had time off from work, hauling the hounds to dog shows, but those are work. Lots of fun, but lots of work. This year is our 25th wedding wedding anniversary, his 50th birthday, we found a hound(s)/house sitter, and we are READY TO GO!!! I'll focus this blog mostly on the ship, since there's no way my photos of the scenery will do any justice of it, and Twangster did a superb job on his. Hats off to him - they were absolutely incredible! I don't know that I'll be able to post daily, but I intend to do the best that I can. We will have 36 hours in Seattle before we get on the ship, so we're super excited about that! Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick .....

Ok....my stupid tab crashed on my phone. Yikes! I was very witty the first time, now I'm crabby lol! We were very excited to leave this morning. I like having later flights to be able to sleep in, but I hate getting to our destination after 5. This flight was much cheaper though so we left late. We had to say goodbye to Annie and Tiger Lily which is very hard to do! (Oh yeah, and my husband who is teaching summer school!) I gave the girls their presents... Matching shirts, tumblers and tote bags which they liked!! The flight was super turbulent, and we left late. I've never had to abort a takeoff before... We started down the runway and then slowed down because there was some tail cross wind that was too high. Still... We were excited to get out of Chicago... It was cold this morning! We taxied to the Hilton Marina hotel. We have stayed here before and it is just fun to look at the port and the intercoastal waterway. We had a laid back evening. After snacks by the pool, we walked a few blocks to Walgreens to get snacks and shampoo, and then decided going out to dinner was way too much work. We just had chicken tenders and quesadillas at the pool bar and called it a night. This may be the most boring blog on the planet. The last month has been exhausting for all of us with finals (the girls) and work (me). We are so happy to just spend time together and relax. I asked the girls if they wanted to do the water taxi tomorrow and go see stuff, they pretty much said, nah, let's lay by the pool land do nothing. So we will do nothing (I will take a few pics of the pool area) and then we will Uber to Las olas for dinner. We are saving la Bamba for when we have a microwave for leftovers so we were thinking hitting a pub or burger place but there are a million of them. I guess we will just have the Uber drop us in the middle and then we will see what looks good. @tonyfsu21 and @AGSLC5 are there any restaurants that stand out (not super fancy, we don't want reservations, just a bar or something where my 16 year old can go in) and if we get there by 6 on a Friday night, will it be insanely packed? I will end with a picture of our friends who come on every trip with us! Jake the dolphin, Jeffy the panda, and Suki the ? say goodnight!!!

Day 5 Rome (part one) We arrived around 7 am to the port , not that I know the exact hour as I was sleeping during the process. We had a train tickets to Rome which I have booked online for 9:16 am and did not cost much (19 $ I think). When we planned to go out I noticed I can not find the tickets so we spend around 10 minutes to find them but no luck , we decided to use the online copy I had. Quick breakfast at the diamond club and we rushed to the shuttle bus which took its time. By the time we were near the gates it was already 9:05 , quick look in Google maps show that it will take us around 19 minutes to walk to the station. Although there is a bus to take you to the station I could not seen it so we had to think what to do . One option was to try to catch the train maybe it has some delays (quite common in Italy considering it's was not the first station for this train) and if we miss the train just to take the next one which was 30 minutes after or to take a bus/taxi. We decide to approach one of the people that offer a ride to Rome (you have there a Bazar of offers each one try to shout loader and offer a ride) they offer a bus ride which will drop us neat the Vatican , they want 19 for return trip and agreed to 18. We boarded the bus and after 5 minutes we started our ride . During the ride they offered skip the line tickets for the Vatican, HOHO tickets for the panoramic buss and Leonardo Da Vinchi museum , we took the museum tickets which cost 12 Euro .The ride took around 70 minutes and we done our way to the museum which is near the basilica. The museum is small but interesting enough , it contain models of his inventions and copy of is famous paintings , you also get an audio guide with interesting information . Most of the models are build to be touched so I think it's a good option for children's during an hot day. Next we started our way to Navona square were we found a nice restaurant to eat lunch . I took the truffle pasta , mind , for a change it was not a facke truffle oil but the real thing , the waiter come with a truffle mushroom and shread it over the pasta , it was very good. We started our way to the train station planning to pass near some of the famous places but it was a very hot day so after a while we decided to call for a taxi (not before getting tone of the supermarkets to buy some Italian wine) I used the local taxi application and after 30 seconds our taxi arrived. What a relief he activated the air conditioning , not something that common around here. After few minutes and 8 Euros we arrive to Tremini train station were we schedule to meet an old friend which we did not meet for many years, he actually leave near Rome. So we had a nice meeting over a coffee and grappa until it was time to take the train back. It was super easy to find the train and it took less than 45 minutes to arrive to Civitavecchia train station, we took the 2Euro bus back to the port , it was only 5 minutes ride, by the way , I checked the price of trains to Rome , it was 4.5 Euros if you took the early 8:40 am train or the 9:45 train. Strange , the port security did not told us anything about the wine bottles so we just took it with us to the ship. We went back to our room to get prepared for chef table which will get it's own post.

So, the spa was great again. Very relaxing. The hot stone was more relaxing than the deep tissue 2 days ago but both were nice. Smelled a sample of the exfoliating salt and was sorry we didn't sign up for that too. They did not try to hard sell us anything which I appreciated After Dave went back to room and I went walking around. Went to El Loco fresh finally and had the pork carnita tacos and a cheese quessadila with all the toppings. Good enough that I went back for chips and another quessadila. The guac could be a little thicker but all flavors were good. Walked around decks 11-14 just to walk, then back to 5 for a smoothie and ice cream to deliver to Dave. Left him in room and I went to biking lounge to meet friends. That was awesome. It was dead, quiet, no one was there. You are in air conditioning, can look out over deck 11 and the ocean, and just relax. Stayed until 6:30 then went to get Dave for dinner at Windjammer. Tonight was Mongolian grill, which I love. Only 1/2 of wj was open, but there was plenty of food, a donut bar, an ice cream bar, fruit smoothies, and Indian food, plus some chicken and steaks and seafood. I ate too much. My only disappointment was that there was no pizza in wj, and though I asked for some they said we needed go to Cafe promenade to get it. Dave ended up eating part of a burger but then ate 6 scoops of chocolate ice cream from the sundae bar so he wasn't hungry. Then we had to rush back to pack. If your suitcase isn't out by 11, you get to carry it yourself. Got it out there with time to spare but like an idiot let the door close behind me and I didn't have my key?. Eventually Dave managed to find the door to let me in. Wheelchair users meet at boleros and they said it can take 45 minutes to get a pusher. We are going to try to get to wj early and then get to boleros by 8:45. We will see how the timing goes from there. We have a 1pm flight out of FLL so need to get there around 11. I'm not totally clear about whether we just leave the rental chair at boleros or what but I'll key you know This guy was in our room after dinner.

UIDay 5 part 2 So we arrived enough time before we needed to go to the chef table. We booked it on the ship on day 1 , when we have asked if there is any offer they told us 20% and been told it's 20% as it's only day one and they have only spots for day 4 and 5 . We booked it for day 4 which became day 5 as most of the people canceled for day 4 . The chef table take place at a strange location - it's inside the suite lounge across from the bar near the CK. Not the best location but Ok we did not mind. It was us and a family from Madrid that did not spoke English but we got alone after the the third glass ?. Food was good as always and they kept fillings the glasses if you allow them. We started with the scallop carpaccio Continued with the amizing smoke tomato soap which came in a big bowl but we finish every last drop of it. Next was the shrimp salad that replaced the lobster one I thought it was it was better , maybe because all the wine I consumed until this point. The truffle spaghetti followed , it was my second one for today , but this one with truffle oil so different. For main course we both took the fillet it was amazing and came with truffle mushed potatoes. At this stage I was already heaving food comma but could not leave it in the plate. For dessert we got the famous chocolate sphere I could only take one spoon of it no more although it was quite good. That came with chocolate martini All and all it was a good experience which I might do again next time , but maybe a day of fast before

For me the hilarious bit is that they fell for buying that craptastic "artwork" they sell onboard - look at the walls behind them! LOL

Some more observations: I majorly over packed. I should have gone with 1 pair of shorts, 2 shirts, 2 dresses, underwear and swimsuit. My rothys were perfect for everywhere including the pool deck so 1 pair of shoes was plenty. I brought phone and Kindle and chargers and Bluetooth. Actually only used the phone so the rest could have stayed home. Thought I did good but in retrospect it's obvious I brought too much The Rc shampoo/body wash is not good for my hair. Made it both dry and unmanageable. The Paul Mitchell I got at FLL hotel was much better I would love to have their designers come and design rooms for me. The use of space is awesome. The closet, the shelves, the drawers. The room under the bed. The ottoman with storage. The shelves beside and behind the mirror in the main room and the bathroom. The shelf above the closet. I'm really impressed with how well that all worked.

You've got it backwards. You get a discount for allowing RC to choose your room. As for "needing to pay more", this is no different than if you book an airline flight and select a seat with extra leg room or an emergency exit row seat. Preferred room options come with a higher cost. In your original post, you wrote in big, bold letters "assuming this meant", so yes, you did assume. I understand this isn't your first foray into travel, but cruise vacations are different from land vacations. I'm not sure why you did not stop when you reached the point of not seeing the options you expected and completed the booking. I'm sorry your first experience was not to your liking, but I think your experience and/or expectations were out line with pretty much everyone else here. If you think you've discovered some vast conspiracy by Royal Caribbean to dupe their customers, well, I'm sorry to say that simply is not the case. Reading your experiences speaks to a first time cruiser who made assumptions and ended up with a different result than they expected. My advice going forward is to give RC another try, but employ some of the advice and strategies we all happily share. I think with a bit more footwork, you could easily come away with a great cruise vacation.

Day 9 - at sea Well the cruise is coming to and end has been a great cruise. Give me a couple of days to get home and I'll type up a summary of our trip. Thanks for everyone who was following along. It's been great to be your host on this cruise. We did hit prime status with the casino and think we get a free cruise or money off another one, but will have to figure all that out soon. I'll do another post here once we get all the details.

Cruise lines and their security staff lets alot of stuff go that would get you ejected from many venues on shore. Alot. Throwing someone off the ship is an absolute last step when dealing with a disruptive passenger. You can be sure there is a plethora of evidence that supports their decision.

I agree to a point after viewing the video as the man in question is demonstrating aggressive behavior in the video. I don't see an ounce of humility on his behalf. Just a chip on his shoulder.

I know that at any price, the drinks do make me rounder.?

Oh that's is...lol...wild!! My oldest is doing a jigsaw puzzle on my tablet and youngest and I are watching the bridge go up over the waterway. I was the last one up reading at 1230!!!! We are having a great time knowing there are no deadlines and no have to dos... Well getting on majesty is a have to do tomorrow! Jane

Breakfast in Naples

Truth is pictures hardly do justice to Alaska. Enjoy your cruise. Mine is a memory at this point and I'm super jealous that you are sailing to a part of the country that I enjoy so much. Happy 25/50 or what ever else might be going on! From personal experience when the time is right leave this live blog be and live in the moment. If so inclined come back later and update it. Don't miss a moment of your cruise for this thread. It can and will wait for you. Woohoo! Cruise day is near!

We are doing the same itinerary this July as a combined graduation/Dad's 50th celebration! The beautiful pictures @twangster posted has gotten me extremely excited for our first trip to Alaska, and I can't wait to read about and see your experience.

Well it really depends on where you are going as well. 1. You might not be able to board the ship. 2. You will be fine. 3. You will be detained, imprisoned and executed. Number 3 is not that likely though.

CK (finally) sunset

Another trip... My first one as Platinum. No I will never make diamond and I don't really get anything for Platinum other than requesting the cool robe which I will do on the next cruise lol..... The Basics: First time on Majesty of the seas. The Crew: Myself, my 22 year old daughter Morgan and my 16 year old Madison. Dad stays home to work and pay for the girls trip! The Itinerary: Fly into fort Lauderdale 2 days early, relax, eat and drink, get in ship and go to key West (first time), sea day (relax and drink), nassau and then fort Lauderdale for 3 days (relax, eat and drink.. sense a pattern lol?) We booked this cruise as a total yolo. I was home in April feeling very guilty about not going to my daughter's last mom's weekend at University of Illinois. I started thinking, ok, we'd have spent a bit, let's travel instead after she graduates for a little 3 day weekend. Which turned into, hey let's travel 4 or 5 days. Which turned into hey, we can take a cruise!!! The 16 year old was all over the itinerary (let's go to Europe etc) but the 22 year old was exhausted finishing her final design project in material science engineering and said she would go anywhere if she could get the drink pkg and sleep! I was looking at 5-7 day cruises and an amazingly long cheap celebrity cruise (which now I wished I'd booked but I will get there!!!) and then happened on Cuba! We could go to Cuba!!!!!! My husband was such a good sport (history teacher who would be teaching summer school and not going) and said go! So we booked it in April. I've never YOLO booked a cruise like that. Within 2 days we had airfare and a hotel and airbnbs and were ready to go as long as Morgan passed all her classes lol. 2 days later the announcement came about the change in Cuban policy. Worried but cautiously optimistic we continued to get excited. The May escalation day came and went. Our biggest worry was if they would ever assign us our guarantee cabin! And then June came. First of all, I sprain my ankle. Badly. It's not broken but can I walk in Havana? Doesn't matter...we have an all day fun classic car tour! But it didn't matter. We were devastated when it was announced that travel would be banned to Cuba. We were cautiously hopefully that we would be grandfathered in but that was not to be. So now what? We had booked majesty only because of Cuba. I obviously like smaller and older ships ok...our first cruise was on vision in 2015 and we will be sailing it again after trips on other classes... But I'd have done a 7 day on a bigger ship. So I looked at our options. None. We would pay double to cruise another ship at the same time. We do have cancel at any cost insurance but my last dealings with Allianz and insurance were heartbreaking at best and we lost 10000. I just couldn't face that again even if we could find other dates in the future that could work (which we couldn't... The college grad has to get a real job sometime lol). So we were optimistic again... Maybe we would finally get to see cococay (since we couldn't tender on our trip in 2016). Nope....Nassau. The lemons keep flying. But we are making lemonade! Girls were just happy to be going on a trip, I'm happy that I will finally finish school next week, maybe it won't rain in Florida, this trip is gonna rock!!!! Any cruise is an amazing cruise! So we booked a specialty make your own sushi class, get an excursion in Nassau and think about packing!! So we leave in 6 days! I will update as we go. Unlike @TheHobbys if I lay out my suitcases, my Schnauzer will eat everything in the suitcase so I will have to pack and close. That will be today and tomorrow's project since I work all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday! We will get hair cuts and pedicures and look forward to our first kraken lava flow on the ship!!! I'm looking forward to an amazing 8 days with my girls, wondering if we can all go 4 days without voom...we are gonna try!... and for the first time getting on a cruise less than 6 months after the last one! Jane

Nice cliffhanger with the helicopter rescue scene! Are you really going to leave us all hanging like that?!?! Are you sure you don't live in Hollywood? I must admit, I was fooled by the whole Tennessee cover! Seriously though, thanks so much for sharing your trip with us. It was a pleasure following along on your wonderful family-oriented adventure. You were very generous with your time for all of the content you provided through posts, photographs and periscopes. Thank you for all of the entertainment and cruising insight. I can't wait for the post-script ending to the helicopter scene (when you get home), followed by the sequel (the next cruise). Safe travels home to you and yours.

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. Hope you have a safe journey home and that the post-cruise depression doesn't hit too hard.

I’d assume that if he admitted to calling the guy “you idiot” on tv than the truth is probably missing a word in between and more vulgar.

What a wonderful start to your cruise. The smiles on the faces tell the entire story. I hate leaving my babies(dogs) at home. they have this look that drives me crazy. Can't wait to read the rest of your adventure.

Another vote for Lava Flow with Kraken (Per my wife, she thought she would hate the rum floater but loved it.).

Another vote for Lava Flow with Kraken - yum!

@mom2mybugs Show this to the girls. Decision made. ?

Check out my Youtube videos of our cruise on Navigator of the Seas to CoCoCay!

We can go wherever.. we are just ubering for dinner but we also have the 3 evenings after the cruise! So many ways to eat and drink way too much! Thanks Tony, @AGSLC5 and @KathyC! We will look at menus as we Dodge the in and out rainclouds by the pool! Jane

Omg thank you so much for this. I think I need to move cabins in our upcoming cruises ?

Yes it does. When you buy the drink card, you will be charged a service charge (just like a drink package) and gratuity will be included with the drinks you order with the card.

It was kinda like watching that video of the MSC ship that crashed in Venice last week.

Here is what happened to us on Anthem. On day one MTD we were seated at a nice ocean view table for 2. Towards the end of our meal the head waiter came over and told us that if we wanted we could sit at that same table every day, walking right in and sitting down without waiting in the line. There was a specified time to be AIS and if we decided to dine elsewhere and didn't show they would give our table to someone else that evening. We found this superior to the DCL rotational dining system we were familiar with. The food was better too. Sorry, Mickey.

I took to writing blog posts on my Keep notes app then cutting and pasting onto the blog after this happened to me a couple of times. Looks like you've had a good start to your trip. Enjoy your day of relaxing.

Yes. And remember, when one door closes, another one opens. Go and write the rest of your story. ?

ME TOO!

This is pesto lasagne , very tasty

Just had a graduation prom. Final ever event with my school. Anyone else get really emotional at the end of a life chapter?

This is what i typically use:

While the lunch menu foods are "OK", I found the desert sampler to be amazing and delicious... Keep in mind, on Oasis class if you have the drink package you do NOT have to pay the 22.00 to go in there if you just want a drink/specialty margarita.

Agree. I wouldn't like to be treated like this if this was my first time posting something on this forum...

And did you notice she came on the blog just to rant and has never posted before. She has 10 posts and they are all in that one topic.

Day 7 - Labadee I think this has been our most enjoyable day. This is the first time we actually used the suite area on the Labadee beach. I think it was about 9:45ish or so when we finally got everyone ready to get off the ship and go to the beach. It was very nice and not crowded. The main side was a little more crowded, but it didn't seem unbearable. Just first come first server on different spots with chairs and stuff. If you are able to access the suite area, you'll exit the ship and go to the end of the pier. From there, you'll meander a little towards the left. On the right side will be a loading area with someone there coordinating getting people on a golf cart to take you down to the suite area, or you could walk it. It's really not that far. Once there, you'll get a wrist band to show that you have access. You'll go inside the area and grab some chairs or if you reserved a cabana, you'll get one of those. There are people there to escort you to a place. I highly, highly recommend getting a few chairs in the SHADE - it's really hot and being able to cool or sorta cool off under some type of shade is a good thing. Oh, and drink a crap ton of water. You don't realize how much floating in salt water and being in the sun - while extremely nice, is very draining of the water outa your body. The beach on that side is really nice and calm for snorkeling, so we pretty much stayed in the water. The girls floated on little rafts that they'll bring you - no charge, unless you want to tip the guy that drags it 25' to you o_0 No, I don't mind tipping for most things, but there are a few things where it seems a little ... um ... not-tip-worthy. But, to each his own. Little man and I snorkel'd around a lot. He was collecting all kinds of shells and coral and stuff and making a big pile. My underwater camera died shortly after we got started but I got a few pictures. It showed like 75% charged but you know batteries these days, they suck. And to top it off, it's one of those funky batteries you have to take out and put in this box thing and plug it into the wall. So, i resorted to trying to figure out how to use my phone camera to take water pictures. Now, I have the Galaxy S9+ which is supposed to be water proof ... bbbuuttt .... yeah, not going to take to many chances to see if that's really true. Well, what I would do is start a video and then sorta flip the phone upside down and stick it underwater to record some cool underwater videos. Once I clean up the pictures, I'll toss quite a few out here. Around 11:30, i guess it was, lunch was served. The suite area has it's own section where the staff from the Coastal Kitchen show up and serve lunch. Pictures of the lunch will be posted soon, along with more pictures of the suite beach, so be patient ? Lunch consisted of burgers, hot dogs, salad stuff, mac/cheese, ribs, lamb chops, sirloin steak and lobster. Yes, all of that was served. Do me a favor, just think about where you are when you go grab something to eat. It's like 90 HOT degrees out there, you probably haven't drunk enough water and you want to gorge yourself on .... uh ... lobster and lamb chops. Ok, so I didn't do that - I had 2 burgers and only 1 lamb chop (does that count towards my filet count). IMPORTANT! This is for those of ya'll who like to consume a little alcohol on the beach. Be mindful that some of the staff there sometimes don't get in a hurry. They also don't seem to care who or what people order. Our 14 yr old daughter ordered a cranberry red bull and the lady behind the bar gave her a cranberry and vodka - like wtf. She knew that wasn't right, so dumped it out - glad we don't have to pay, otherwise i would be pissed they charged some weird amount for that drink that was never asked for. Also, they have these really cool looking drinks you can get inside a real pineapple. Don't waste your money, if you have to pay for one. I think they are like $12 or something like that. My wife got one and most of the drink started leaking out some crack in the pineapple - yeah, there goes your alcohol. I got one for my son, virgin daiquiri thing that we were going to share. Well, we couldn't get it through the straw because the ice chunks were too big, so we had to use a spoon. Ok, no problem, right? well, the freaking middle of the pineapple was still there. #fail yeah, you would get more drink just ordering from a glass. Consider yourself warned ? Moving on now, we swam / snorkeled for quite a few hours - forcing the kids to drink water and take breaks to reapply sunscreen a couple of times. I walked down the way to the shops and was pretty much bombarded with calls from the guys there trying to get me to talk / buy something with them. It way to aggressive for my tastes. I mean, I understand trying to pawn your wears and stuff - but some of these dudes were just standing under a tree hollaring. Glad I didn't take the family with me. Nothing at the shops that wanted me to take the family back, so that was good. I did pickup a couple of cheap flippy floppers for the kids, since those ding-dongs didn't bring their sandals and only had socks / t-shoes. Back on board around 2:30, as we had our trapeze session at 4. We wanted to get cleaned up a little before doing that. Well, some of us did - others, lucked out. Dang kids called both the showers first - I got one that i have to tell him to wash twice and i have another who tries to drain the freaking hot water tank. (oh, yeah - we renovated our house and installed a separate hot water tank so she would stop draining ours. we now have our own dedicated hot water tank for the master bath) After they cleaned up, they were gone like a freaking rocket. Uh, bye - be at the trapeze by 350 dad-gummit. Trapeze. Let me just tell you a little bit about this. it only lasts like 15 minutes and most of that is waiting for a few others to swing. You climb up this tall ladder in the SeaPlex (where the bumper cars are), and stand on a little platform at the ceiling with two staff members. The pull the handle thing over, you grab it, step off and swing. If you can, you put your feet between your legs and hang upside down while swinging (harder than you think), then back to swinging for a second while someone on the ground is asking if you want to do a flipping dismount. Again, more intimidating than you think. You dismount or just drop on this big air-bag, rolloff and your done. Now, the reason i said all this was for two things. The first being - if you are not confident in your ability to hold onto the bar during the first swing, you might want to skip this. We saw a few people step off and pretty much get half a swing in before they lost their grip and fell on the air bags. Good thing it's free huh? The second, it's not as exciting as spending a little extra time trying to swing around and grab another bar or something else. it's pretty short and sweet. Each person's swing only lasts between 5 seconds (those who can't hold on) to may 90 seconds (those who can flip over with their knees and then do a flip for a dismount) 4:45 we got a private tour of the behind the scenes for We Will Rock You. Yen was able to get a couple of the performers to walk us through the different areas behind the scenes, performer dressing rooms and how they move under the stage to get into different areas. Our daughter has been in multiple drama performances over the past ... uh, 4-5 years, i think, so this was something we thought we be cool for her to see. They gave us the tour and we got to see the performers setting up for a practice run. One of the performers took the time to talk to our daughter about her experience in how to she became a performer on the ship and where she went to school and things she studied. it was truly a great thing for her to spend a few minutes with us answering some questions. #GoYen 6:30 was dinner at Wonderland with reservations to see Spectra at 9. Plenty of time, right? Well, for just two of us we finished with about 30 minutes to spare. For a larger group, add another hour between events. So, in some prior posts here i tossed out a ton of pictures as we were going through our courses. We tried the Wonderland thing - no desire to do it again. The concept is pretty cool, but there just wasn't anything that makes you go 'oh snap we gotta do that again', type feeling. Our waiter was nice, but seemed sorta like he was new. All the food we had was just ok ... the only good thing we liked was the shrimp in a cup thing. Don't ask me what all the different 'elements' were because, even though they explained the idea - once you eat it, it just doesn't really stand out to let you know you consumed some element. it's hard to explain, i guess. I mean, there was this earth dish - and it sorta looked like it had dirt, which is the idea - but when you tasted it, it just tasted like some veggies with grounded up pumpernickel bread. the atmosphere was kinda cool, the chairs were comfortable - but like i said, for us, it's not something we would do again. I will say, however, the concept is interesting and if you have the time and money and are board, then consider it just for the experience ... don't do it for the food. 9pm - Spectra ... Ok, first off let me say GO SEE THIS TWICE! Now, let me follow that up by saying, I'm a really big movie fan (though, I suck at movie trivia). With watching movies, i really enjoy the music, sound, lights, motion and all the 'stuff' that goes on to make the movies. We did a private tour a few days ago and our son was invited to hang out with one of the tech guys during the show. Seeing all the behind the scenes and the workings is just cool to me. I am a big science channel nerd and love watching how stuff gets made. Seeing all the robot arms for the tvs, each worth a few million each (they are actually the same type of robot arms that build cars), also seeing the trap doors of how the performers move around for different scenes was just amazing. With all that, watching the show - we were just mesmerized by the music, the dances and the effects on the big window wall and the choreography of the robot arms with their tvs. Honestly, I have no idea what the show was about - lol - I just enjoyed listening and watching the performers. Sure which i could dance like that #IWouldBreakSomething This show only lasts for about 45-50 minutes, We Will Rock You - I hear is right at 2 hours #BigBladder After the show, our son was super happy he got to watch how they ran the technical aspect of the show. He was so glad he did that and was able to have that experience. #GoYenAgain I would talk about the casino, but not happy with it right now - ha. Now, we do enjoy playing around the slots in the casino but we have a strict budget. If we run outa money for the night, it's an early night ... if we win a little extra, we can stay out a little later or have some extra play money for the next day. We don't spend outside of our budget - that's a very strict rule we both agree on. So, like i said - not happy with the casino right now, so you guess'd it ... it was an early night - lol The next two days are at sea, so we are drawing close to the end - which is very sad. I think i've scoped most everything on the ship - well, things that i thought people would be interested in. I did manage to find the concierge club - which is sorta stupid where it's at. It's on the back of the ship on deck 12, by itself. I mean, i don't even think there are any suites back there by it ... maybe a grand suite. I'll toss up some pictures in a little bit, but doesn't appear to be used much. Few people were there grabbing some breakfast items. It was extremely quiet in there. You feel as if you are in the library and have to be quiet - not cool. the same sorta space is apart of the coastal kitchen on the oasis classes, which, for us is the best way to combine those areas. I also went and found the work-out area, at the front on deck 16. Yeah, it's pretty much just a big area gym with lots of machines, free weights and some other workout type stuff. not for me - i hate working out, i need to actually do something productive - lol. Ok, off again - finished my burger / fries / sparking water and cranberry here in the coastal kitchen. I got about an hour or so to kill now before the We Will Rock You 2-hour show starts. I'll be tossing Labadee pictures and some other pictures up later today. Oh yeah, we have Chef's table tonight. That should be interesting ... as we don't drink we'll have to order white and red grape juice - hahah.

Just a heads up, we are going out on the 24th on the Navigator and at one point the beach loungers were "sold out". I just checked again last night and I was able to grab one. So, keep checking!

You had an issue, RCL fixed the issue, sounds like a good outcome to me but you felt the need to bash a company and make some conspiracy claim on a site where people take truly enjoy talking about Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Day 9- Sea Day Today demonstrated that weather in the Baltic can be quite unpredictable. We started the day surrounded by thick fog- it was like we were sailing through a cloud (and meant the view from the outlaws balcony was as good as from our inside cabin!) Breakfast was in the main dining room. I had the French Toast with Bacon and it was really good- much thicker and fresher than from the WindJammer. Whilst we were eating breakfast the fog suddenly lifted, and glorious sunshine replaced the mist. We had booked Henry in for two hours at nursery. We decided to make the most of the sunshine and sat outside to play some Rummikub. It was quite crowded, so we went to the outside seating of the Wimdjammer, right at the aft of the boat (which may have accidentally lead to a second breakfast...just to make sure I was right about the French toast!). This seating is often quiet, but the view is spectacular and it’s really a good place to eat and relax. We found ourselves getting sunburned and the fog turned into a distant memory. Things turned a bit gloomy however when Captain Ante came over the PA system to say that we had slowed down and changed direction (we hadn’t even noticed!) due to a passenger becoming critically ill and needing to be taken to shore by the Swedish navy. The rescue boat pulled alongside the ship and the passenger was transferred that along with one of the doctors from the ship. This meant we had to wait for the doctor to get back, but Captain Ante said this wouldn’t effect the itinerary as we still had plenty of time to make it to Skagen at full speed. It was quite sad that someone was so Ill, but also reassuring to know how quickly and efficiently the crew manage these situations. For lunch, we went back to the MDR. I think lunch is the meal that the MDR does particularly well- there’s always been a wide variety on the menu which changes a lot as well as the legendary salad bar. Today, I had the seafood and tomato risotto which was fantastic, and for dessert we shared Cherry Custard Crepes and Caramelised Banana Mille Feulle - both of which are vying for the title of best desserts on board! With Henry enjoying a post-lunch nap we decided to try out the cinema for the first time as it was showing Aquaman. It’s tucked away between the Pub and the Theatre on deck 6 and it’s quite neat and quirky. We arrived as the film was starting and only just got a seat because it’s quite small but the same film seems to play back to back throughout the day. The projector is a bit dated but it’s a great way to spend some time. Whilst the film was on, Captain Ante came back over the address system to say that we’d been back on our way but, unfortunately, another guest had been taken critically ill and so we’d need to take them aboard also. I don’t think they were related or caused by the ship! This did turn out to be a delay that couldn’t be mitigated , and so the Captain said the best option available was to arrive in Skagen 3 hours later than planned tomorrow. I guess that’s a small inconvenience when health and life are at stake. By this point, the weather had literally become gloomy. Undeterred, we headed at Henry’s insistence, to the pool for our afternoon swim. I’ve never been able to figure out a pattern to the water temperature. In St. Petersburg, at 30 something degrees and pure sunshine, it felt freezing. Today, in grey and windy conditions it felt like a bath! We then headed back to get changed ready for the second formal night, which we’d eat in the dining room for. People seem pretty relaxed about the dress- I saw about five tuxedos (including one on Henry who became a hit with the ladies!), a few lounge suits, but most were just slacks, shirts and blazers. The food in the MDR was really good tonight- we had, between us, Asparagus Soup, Fried mushrooms, Hallibut, Beef Wellington, Chicken Schnitzel and Pecan Pie. It was rounded off with one of the celebration Birthday cakes which Henry refused to share! Entertainment this evening was “BowJangles”. I was on bedtime duty but Mrs. M went to see it and said it was very clever. It was a string quartet who did quite a bit of comedy. She said it was quite clever but that there were a lot of musical jokes “We’re out in the ocean...The High C” and that a few people walked out! She enjoyed it though.

In our room tonight+royal caribbean 50th anniversary cake served to all tables tonight.

Update day -1 of trip!!!! For the first time in my cruise history I have not packed a single item yet! Ugh. Usually i stay up super late the night before charging things, clearing pics off my phone etc, but life has totally gotten away from me this week with work and my silly ankle. I'm working today until 4 and then I am on vacation for 10 days!!!!! My ankle is still not great. Maybe the silver invisible lining if no Cuba is that this cruise will have less walking. 9 days post sprain the ankle is still swollen. Oh well...pool deck and adult beverage here I come. We will just Uber everywhere in fort Lauderdale. My girls are packed and ready to go. I haven't told them I've ordered matching tshirts, water bottles and totes for the treppagirlsvacay! I also have bought a ton of pamper items (face masks, lotions, chocolate) that I will pack in the tote bags. Good thing kids only graduate every 4 years because I'm spending a ton of money... Though not as much as I spent on college lol! So that is where we are at! We leave tomorrow and I will start taking pics soon I promise! Jane

One could call it "Coma in a Glass"... Reality it is a Mudslide done in the way of a Lavaflow.

I have one of these from Amazon. $13. It goes into the European power port so it leaves the North American outlets free, it provides two USB charging ports and allows a North American device that can take 220v to be plugged in as well. You do need to validate that anything you plug in can take 220v. Fortunately nearly everything I own can. USB is USB so no worries there. The only time I was asked about it was boarding in San Juan. Security saw it on xray, pulled it out of my backpack and asked me if I was from Europe. I said I was and that was my cell phone charger. They let me go. No other port has blinked at it.

@Vanessa77 I'm not here to tell you what you should do but I do know you an easily place someone in his spot. My cruise a few years ago was because my friend and her husband got a divorce and they already booked. All she did is call her travel agent and then I called and we switched the reservation. (and you're not a third wheel when you're with family!)