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April Distance = May Existance

Day five has now put us at sea steaming towards Cozumel. At one point, which was pretty cool to see, we sailed just off of Grand Cayman and could see all the ships anchored off shore. Random comment, I know. There wasn't much happening today so thought I would throw that tidbit in. The day overall was pretty low key and quite uneventful in comparison to that of the other four, which for us, was a nice change of pace. However, Einstein (what my dad use/still calls me when I do something stupid) decided to book a 830 haircut. So much for at least trying to sleep in an extra hour. I have this huge problem where I think I need to take advantage of every single second when we are on board. Which at times is good. And others... well, I think I could spare an hour or two. Like I think we were getting up earlier than we would for work. Actually I know we were because that is what Rebecca told/yelled at me every morning when the alarm went off after telling her the night before I wasn't setting one ??. Anywho... as to follow the theme of the cruise, the alarm goes off and I am off to a breakfast date with me, myself and I in the windjammer. And I am going to add that this was the first and only time I ventured into the windjammer all week... which was a travesty. I am not proud of myself and I promise to the windjammer faithful who are reading this, I will redeem myself on Odyssey in June 2021. From the windjammer I went to the Vitality Spa and could not have been more out of place. Truth be told, the spa has never really been a thing or appealed to me. But that beginning of cruise juju (and the mentality that money is no object once you step foot on the ship) got to me and there I was thinking I needed to get my ears lowered. So there I am, shelling out (I cant remember the amount) more than I probably should for the exact same haircut I would get from my guy Jay down the block for 17 bucks. Now this is no knock on the hairstylist or the experience itself. But as someone who once got $5 haircut at sport clips, I am more interested in just getting in and out. Also, my style of choice is far from high maintenance. I think the woman cutting my hair thought I was joking for what I was telling her to do - maybe even laughed at the fact how dumb I was asking to get a few snips here a few snips there and bang the job is done. But regardless there I was after, not looking like Ryan Reynolds (which I think I will every time) and a few bucks lighter. While I was getting beautified, Rebecca was heading in for her spa treatment... which I want to say was a seaweed wrap & facial? Don't quote me. But whatever she had, she loved it. Was tickled pink when she came up and joined me in the Solarium where we spend pretty much the rest of the morning and afternoon. We were actually pretty lucky to get one of those massive cabana like beds and boy did we make good use of it. A little sleep here, a drink from the bar there all followed by lunch in the solarium bistro. From the bistro, my memory is a little hazy. I think we again just ventured around the pool decks and lounged/soaked around in the hot tubs. The weather wasn't that great at times (windy, cloudy, etc.) but we didn't let it rain (literally and metaphorically speaking) our parade. Pretty sure we did a few round on the flowrider and the slides since the lines weren't too long with people wanting to stand in the wind. That was all then followed by our favorite mode of transportation down to the boardwalk, the ultimate abyss (where maybe a trip the dog house was taken). For the rest of the early evening there were no major plans or activities (I wasn't lying about this being a low key day), so around 6ish we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner which tonight was 150 Central Park. Before dinner we did some more wondering and visiting with some of our favorite crew members and then headed up to Central Park to make a pit stop in Vintages. Side note - we were shocked at how uncrowded Vintages was. On our last two cruises out of PR we were the only people ever in Vintages, but talking with the crew, they said that it was always a popular spot for the ships going out of Florida. So we were just kind of expecting more than 4 other people including us in there... especially in such a beautiful location. Ok sidebar over. So from Vintages we headed over to 150 Central Park, and had our favorite meal on any ship. We pretty much ordered the entire menu. And the mint cucumber martinis... dangerous. Was like you were drinking spa water. If the Vitality spa had these, woo wee I would be their best customer. But back to the meal. The whole experience was just top notch. The restaurant is beautiful and the service was the best we had all week... which is saying a lot because we never had a bad experience anywhere else. It was odd though, there was only maybe one or two other tables in the restaurant occupied by other guests. Our reservation was kind of later... I think maybe 8. But still just an interesting observation to callout. I think from reading other blogs and reviews, people seem to have stated that the quality has declined. I guess I cannot be a judge of that, but as newbies, we really enjoyed ourselves. But her are some not so glamours shots of our meal... This looks to be the beet salad for me, the scallops for Rebecca and we shared the short rib (also, by my attire, this looks to also have been the second formal night) Next course looks to be the lamb wellington for yours truly and lobster for Rebecca... with probably our third loaf of bread And now we are onto desserts... which I could not tell you what they were other than just down right delicious After dinner, we had reservations to see the ventriloquist, Ron Lucas of which was a great show. After words we caught the last few sets in Jazz on four. Now as I am writing this, I think prior to dinner this evening (or it could have been the previous night; the aerosmith cover band was playing in the aqua theater. Now like I previously stated, not a huge aerosmith guy. Love the roller coaster, band...meh. But we gave it the good ole college try at seeing them in the aqua theater & in the music hall. I am sure if you like their music, it would be awesome... because it was cool. But after one or two songs I was all Steven Tyler'd out. But for the rest of the evening we bounced around from a few different spots (schooner, globe & atlas, casino, playmakers, etc.). And we rounded things off with meeting up with our aforementioned friends we met on night three and all went to Blaze and attempted to do some dancing (at least that what we were calling it). Finally from there that pretty much brought the night to a close. The next morning will have brought us to Cozumel where I promise... there was a lot more action and excitement. So much so, two Carnival ships wanted to get in on the fun... ?

I doubt these companies have the ability to spend money on upgrading their ships and private islands when they aren't operating. They are just trying to survive at the moment.

@jticarruthers, yes, but most cruisers are not Diamond + and that is what RCL is banking on right now at that price. Plus, other things when it comes to the price. IE. My hubby and I are not Diamond and will not be for a while even though we sail every 9 months (7 night + cruise balcony). I think I am more of a consumer they are banking on at that price than you....no offense. I am loyal, I am purchasing the middle of the road cabin. I get every a.m. an iced coffee with an extra shot of espresso from the starbucks (cafe latitudes) on our way to the MDR for breakfast. Don't know the actual cost, but lets say 6 - 7 bucks Breakfast we always ask for the squeezed OJ. Can't stand the fake stuff. Guessing $3. I am officially at $10 and I have yet to eat breakfast. Husband hits the Gym after breakfast. I go to the Solarium. He hits the freestyle machine to fill his cup with a Powerade, I grab a bottle of H2O. It is now 9:00 a.m. and we are at $13. 11 a.m. rolls around and we hit the bar for a cocktail...He is a Lava Flow fan. Me I will stick with margarita on the rocks. BAM we are at $26. Always ask for a bottle of H2O, BAM 29. I never order another cocktail until I finish the bottle of water 1st. Lunch @ 12:30. Be it in the MDR or WJ we get a soda. Now I am at 32...again I don't know how much a soda goes for, guessing it is $3 a pop. Back to the solarium @ 1:30 after lunch and grab my 2nd cocktail for the day. I am now at 45. Mind you only 2 alcoholic bevs all day long. Still following my rule, I also get another bottle of water. I am at 48 and it is 1:30 3:30 I call it a day at the pool to hang on the balcony. Hit cafe latitudes and get myself a frappucino. I am at $55. Hubby refills his cup with Cherry Coke Zero. He is at 51. We always do a pre-dinner cocktail. At 68 now Dinner glass of wine, followed with a cappuccino and amaretto shot. At @ 95. (total alcohol bev = 5) Off to show and get a bottle of water. I am at 98. Show over and I get 1 more bottle of water. 101. Granted that is a sea day. Yet, you can see how someone like me can easily be a losing money maker for RCL. Additionally, I think I ran low on the numbers. My SoS cruise is also hitting both Labadee and Coco Cay, that means I am using the package 2 of my port days. I have 2 sail days. I am only at a non RCL port 2x on my 8 day cruise. Those port days also are unique. I will stop at OSJ from noon to 10 pm. We will be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on the ship. We will get off the ship after lunch, back on for dinner, off SoS after dinner, back on for the late show...IOWS will use our alcohol pkg that day too. St. Thomas is a short day in port, depart at 4. That means again, we will be back on the ship by 2:30 or so. Using the package again, because as we walk off the ship we will walk off with a couple of bottles of water. Get back on, change and hit the Solarium bar/pool for sail away. I get that 84 for my cruise is OMG compared to when we paid 57 prior. I am not saying I will buckle and pay for it, but I do get the rise in cost. I also believe it will come down since they need to make cruising affordable again, and $1600 for a 7 night cruise on top of the dining package, excursions like the Coco Cay Beach club pass, plus the cabin will price them out of the market.

The stock market is closed today, for Good Friday.

What do you call a sheep covered in chocolate? Candy Baa Have a safe and healthy Easter?

Simple. Matt sent you.

One of the reasons my husband keeps me around! ? ?

From yesterday's Times, in my news feed today: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/coronavirus-live-updates.html Bet you dollars to donuts that those European transmissions were by airplane and not cruise line. But will the Times, or any other news publication, or any scientists, say that? I realize that cruising wasn't even brought up in this article, but that's kind of the point. This would be a chance to at least suggest that the pointless dog-pile on cruising was the canard that all of us have been saying it is. Cruising became a scapegoat for easy spread of the virus, instead of pointing the finger at all forms of mass (sometimes intercontinental) transportation. I want this stupid, pointless stigma against cruising to be dropped all gosh-darned ready! And on a separate note from this particular article -- if I have to hear the phrase "floating petri dish" in association with cruising from a medical professional one more time in a news broadcast or video add-on to an article, I may well scream out loud at them as much as I want to slap stupid people I see on TV. And no, for those of you who've gotten to know me, I'm not drinking Zinfandel. This is two bottles of Belgian Tripel talking. ??

Only if you use your stay-at-home voice while telling them. Inside voice that is...

What jokes are allowed during stay-at-home orders? Inside jokes.

Floating Petri Dish sound like the perfect name for a new Quarantini. Time to start working on the recipe! ????

If you are a US registered vessel you can do a cruise to nowhere. It’s just that it’s waaaytoo expensive an regulations-onerous to be a US flagged vessel !

I did that in summer of 1988 ( I was 8 years old) on the Queen Elizabeth II, we left NYC for NOVA SCOTIA and back. Something short in between their normal transatlantic sailings!

Okay, so this is just their take on the CDC's latest guidance. What I don't understand is why Business Insider felt the need to single out RCCL and Carnival in their headline. Now I'm even more annoyed. ?

Only in Bahston - or if you're having a drink at the Ahhh Bahhhh

Makes a lot of sense given the dozens of flights between NYC and Europe daily. From an airline perspective, NYC is the European gateway while major airports on the West coast are Asian gateways.

… and airplanes are flying petri dishes; the subway is a rolling petri dish; and the Atalanta/Valencia Champions League game that contributed to the Italian and Spanish covid-19 explosions was a petri dish in a bowl.

I think I need to change my name to WAAAYTOOLLD . I know for a fact I did a cruise to nowhere out of NYC back in the mid 80s, I want to say it was Carnival. We did this right before we went back to college in the summer. Went up to Cape Cod, did not dock, came back to NYC. It was cheaper than renting a hotel room at the Jersey shore for the weekend!

Do you expect anything less from CNN?

Its not as concrete as it seems. Read between the lines. If the emergency is declared over, this gets overturned.

Praying for you Joe, I know how long you've been looking forward to this fabulous cruise with your family.

Yet we still operate airlines and get in a "tube" for hours with other people. That is how this spread around the world, and continues to be.

If you need another example to help...

Yup! $89 for our 7 night Symphony January 2021!! No way!! We bought for the same cruise 1 year prior and it was $57 and very worth it. I like specialty coffee and water bottles too so a few Boleros coconut mojitos so it wasn’t a waste. Just bought it for our December 2020 Allure at $55.

Thanks for making it easier to digest! First and foremost, I am sure all of us want our country and world to get thru this terrible virus! Oh but it's gonna be a long wait for all of us that really love to cruise!

How bad can a flight be, not to be worth $11?

Some may be outraged by the pricing, others just write it off as business. Either way, if it's more than you're willing to spend, don't buy it. RC will then have to decide whether or not to drop the price, based on supply and demand.

I may have already said it but worth saying again- thanks so much for this blog! It's super appreciated during this time!

It's curious to me why one cruise line in particular was hit harder time and again. Granted Royal hasn't escaped all COVID-19 cases but there is one line that clearly has been hit harder over and over again. Things that make you go hmmm.

The $1B per month claim for Carnival to keep operating is interesting. While Carnival has a larger fleet now you begin to see the magic of operating mega ships and how CCL and RCL differ financially. Last year CCL corporate had $20.8B gross sales with $2.99B of net income. That makes expenses roughly $17.8B or $1.4B per month. Granted that is extremely simplified. Last year gross sales for Royal were $10.9B of which $1.88B became net income. That makes expenses roughly $9B or $750M per month. Granted that is extremely simplified. Royal's gross sales were 52% of Carnival's yet Royal's net income was 63% of Carnival's. How can that be? In part it's because of mega ships, but in simple terms Royal is more efficient and generates more revenue per guest with a much smaller fleet. Carnival PLC has just over 106 ships versus RCCL with half that. The cost to idle a mega ship will be close to the cost to idle a smaller ship. Minimal fuel to putter around, cost of minimum bridge crews and marine department will be marginally higher for a mega ship compared to a small ship. While the hotel department crew counts are much higher on mega ships much of those crew are going or have gone home. Normal monthly expenses include fuel consumed at normal cruise speed and supplies to feed roughly a hundred thousand guests among other things. With ships slowly idling around and with the dramatically lower cost for oil right now their fuel costs are significantly lower. Fuel is one of the larger operating expense during normal times when ships are running at cruise speeds. Now? Not so much, comparatively speaking. While revenue is dramatically lower right now so are operating expenses. With crew contracts ending and crew going home what's left are the marine department crews and bridge officers. Consequently employee costs are down and there are fewer crew mouths to feed by the tens of thousands across the fleet. It's very interesting that CCL is claiming their floor to operate right now is $1B per month. That suggests they have shed $400M in monthly expenses. RCCL has lower expenses because they fewer ships to float right now, roughly half as many ships across all brands. On the surface using CCL numbers Royal would shed $200M per month in expenses for a fleet half the size. Fain and other executives are also cutting their salaries through September. The magic question is what Royal's minimal cost to keep the fleet floating around and cover land based employees that are retained during this period? Until this year's SEC filings occur that's anyone's guess but let's call it $500M per month as a SWAG. With the secured credit to date that should last at least through the end of the year.

Airplane toilet. Yuck. One of the most disgusting places on earth, second only to a Porta-Potti in the summer heat. I used to plan my trip to avoid using an airplane toilet, at least on domestic flights. When I used to fly a lot for business I would frequently catch something from a sore throat, sniffles, common cold or the flu. Not sure if it was the airport, airplane, hotel room or rental car shuttle but since I've stopped flying so much and began cruising a lot my infection count has decreased significantly. In 2019 I had 140 nights with my head on a Royal Caribbean pillow and I didn't have a single ill moment. A cruise ship bathroom is infinitely better than an airplane bathroom. Oh how I miss cruising...

There is now a new publication date and a new document number. I don't know what that's about though. https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/15/2020-07930/no-sail-order-and-suspension-of-further-embarkation-modification-and-extension-and-other-measures Mike

Here's a story from 2015 from Travel Weekly, talking about the fact that the cruise lines stopped doing "cruises to nowhere" from U.S. ports in 2016. https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Customs-says-cruises-to-nowhere-were-never-legal

Yep it has been @Ogilthorpe I want to say I did that cruise in 86, maybe 87?

Isn't it sad that your comment is so true, especially right now. I watched an interview the other day on CNN and the financial analyst guest was I kid you not asked the same exact question 3 times as the host (conducting the interview) was just reaching so hard for a quote she could use as a headline. The guest got very upset and said well I've already answered that question and kept saying the same thing but eventually she explained just a tiny bit more and sure enough that was the little she used as her take away. I think it's crazy in this instance for them not to say 3 months because that's in reality what it is and also for them not to just say all cruiselines instead of singling out a few big hitters, and lastly the headline should say Cruising potentially suspended for up to 100 day (3 months by CDC) just to emphasize the uncertainty

This is going to be interesting to see how it pans out. Unlike a decade ago with that same questions loomed over the bank and auto bail outs, or 19 yrs ago after 9/11 and airlines, the big key is that these cruise lines are not US companies per se. HOWEVER, many US cities have economies that get a bump from the cruise industry indirectly. Here are a few: KEY WEST. Yes, people go to the Keys for vacation and fun, but not at 6-9K a day (2 cruise ships) Think of not only the artisan shops, the excursions, the hop off, hop on buses, but port fees, long shore men, pilot boats, etc. Cape Liberty. They can exist no problem, but again, if you have sailed out of there you know that the parking lot alone is pumping a huge amount into their city taxes from a business tax rate. They have to employ at least 100 people just outside of the terminal, i.e. people directing you to a lane to drop off luggage, porters to take your luggage and those directing you into a parking lot. Let alone, the porters waiting for you to debark and take it back to your car, or in processing you at the terminal. RCL fails, those jobs are gone. Anchorage AK. I lived in Eagle River for almost 4 yrs. it is right outside of Anchorage. The cruise industry is huge in Anchorage. Captain Cook Hotel makes it living due to cruise lines. Princess cruises of course has their private train to Denali. That port would be hit hard. Portland Maine. Same as Key West. Charleston? Even small ships like Lady G or Enchantment docking brings in $$$ to their economy. Galveston Texas....seriously, any of you going there for vacay if it wasn't tied to a cruise? Yet, that state is getting $$$$ into their infrastructure from not only port/tax fees, but even hotels bc cruisers come in a day 4 Ever noticed the day of embarkation the forklifts of food being brought on? Local area companies are supplying the products. It trickles down. You think there are chickens laying eggs on a ship? If I recall correctly from my Caribbean galley tour, they only take on new produce from specific ports. IOWS, they load up on food while we load up on our 1st cocktail! Do you think any back up part that the terminals need do not employ local companies for paint supplies, replacement lightbulbs, cleaning supplies for their terminals? My point is, that I could hear a lot of politicians starting to scream if they don't somehow help the cruise lines even though they are not a registered US company. Now expand that even more. RCL has headquarters in Miami. How much did they spend building that new terminal? How about TX building their new terminal? How about NCL and CCL and their impact? I can easily see our MoCs fighting to bail them out in some manner. Hence, I believe they will not fail. Maybe, not as much as they may want, but they will bend for the economy.

Judging by the effect on stock prices today, Wall Street doesn't seem concerned...RCL is priced about as high as it has been since all this started...my take is to remain calm and hopeful people will stop taking the CDC so seriously given how much their modeling has been off.

Actually the more I read it, the more clear it gets. The last paragraph of the order (on page 9 of the PDF) is pretty much dispositive. It's 100 days from the publication of "this Order" in the Federal Register and that hasn't happened yet. Best case, today is day 0 of the 100 days; more likely it's day -3.

I think that's just a bonus, and incentive not to take a refund.

I interpreted it to mean this new order superseded the previous order, so 100 days from today. Though the ban could be lifted early, that sounds like a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines to react to begin staffing ships and for passengers to arrange flights, schedule new vacation times from work, etc. on a shorter notice. It would seem that a firm “return to sail” date would be best for all.

it is almost like reliving our cruise on Oasis in January , enjoying this

100 days from today is July 19th. That is exactly two weeks before my Aug 2 sail away date. To say that I'm hoping beyond hope this order is rescinded before that date is an understatement! ?

I just counted this would put us in July... I had a strong feeling when the Casino department put out offers for July and August that they figured that would be when we would be allowed to sail again.

We cancelled our Oasis March 22nd sailing on March 8th. I had the pre-paid grats, taxes, port fees, and change fee (reserved a suite for another cruise and changed our minds)refunds by March 20th.

The big things: Order is in effect for 100 days or until this has been downgraded from public health emergency pages 5+ has the specific steps a line has to take, which include mitigation onboard, training, social distancing (on a cruise ship), sufficient ventilators onboard to not require US hospitalization, repatriation plans for passengers that cannot use commercial air flights or Coast Guard help. They cannot disembark or re-embark cruise staff or passengers without Coast Guard approval until further notice. The requirements to be allowed to sail before the removal of emergency status are brutal. I don't see any way anyone sails for 100 days or until the removal of emergency status, because the requirements are essentially impossible to achieve for a cruise ship.

Yes, but for 2021 cruises running at $90/day that may actually be a cheaper route. Buy the Bourbon, Gin, Vodka and Scotch with the sodas they give in the package. Carry on your 2 bottles of wine and a case of H20. Open up your own speak easy in your cabin, selling to your neighbors at 10 bucks a pop for mixed drinks, 5 for wine, 2 for H20! Voila you made money and now you can pay for that DBP at $90 bucks. JK! LOL?

The criminal investigation is because the border force / port authority /health dept are all blaming each other for disembarking passengers without screening or enforced isolation.. as far as I can see the ship followed all protocols informing authorities of a number of sick passengers on board before being given permission to dock....as a result of a monumental stuff up by [who knows] there have been multiple deaths/cross infections from covid19 that could have had a better outcome ....the criminal investigation will be for a coroners inquest into these deaths.....the poor crew are still on board being questioned as well as being in danger of further disease..its a shambles at least some lovely people from Woolongong where it is docked have sent care packages onboard for them so they can at least feel the Easter spirit and know not all of us Aussies are against them

Day four now has us in Jamaica. ***Let me just note one thing. As the title of this blog infers, it is in fact not live (SpOiLeR!!!). So as I write this, I am (was) watching love at sea (started piecing this recap together on Saturday night). So, for your own quarantine pleasure, please just picture a 28 year old guy on his couch at 11:30pm on a Saturday watching a hallmark movie. Ok, now back to our regular scheduled programming. So for Jamaica, we originally had nothing booked. Leading up to the cruise I was looking at a bunch of different excursions both through Royal and external. Truth be told, I would have loved to have done the all of major excursions: Dunns River Falls, The Blue Hole, etc. But at the end of the day, the price was not worth it based on the the travel time and knowing how big of attractions they are based (there were three other ships in port - including Ocho Rios) We figured to skip getting off the ship. Now for those people that know me and Rebecca, that is a big no no. I know for a lot of people, the ship is the destination. And it is for us, but we truly believe that if we are going to wake up one day in a new country, we want to say we at least saw something other than the port. So eventually we found a pretty cheap beach excursion through Royal on day one so we booked it. That morning, the alarm goes off. Almost made it to sunrise yoga (jk lol). And when I say sunrise yoga, I mean the Solarium Cafe for breakfast (by myself). After my solo food excursion, I went back to the room, armed with a latte, frosted mini wheats and a mixed fruit cup (cue the "Awwww, what a good fiance") ?. Once back at the room, we got ready and headed out to disembark on our beach excursion. Once we get off the ship we head to our meeting area. Long story short (and kind of what we expected), it was organized chaos. But given we knew that most beaches near the port needed to be part of the group we sucked it up. The beach club over all was not bad, it just was not great. We still had fun and enjoyed the the whole environment. You could just tell that it was cash cow tourist trap. Oh well. So we probably left the beach around 130 to head back to the port. Once back in port we shopped around (the Falmouth port is actually the best ship ship port we have been to - I know I am not saying anything astronomically enlightening). After walking around we decide to head back to the ship. But literally as we are about to walk through the cruise ship entrance, I see a sign that caught my attention. Margaritaville - Free Pool and & Wifi ?. I point it out to Rebecca, who like me, was a little ashamed to mention it. But we both were not ready to head back so we made a u-turn and headed to say hi to Jimmy. The entire complex was actually pretty nice. It was like a Margaritaville built within a pool resort. There was a massive pool with water a water fall, swim up bar and a massive hot-tub in the shape of a margarita glass. It was essentially a slightly (key word, slightly) classier version of a spring break pool party... which for us was just hilarious. I am not proud to say this, but if Jamaica is ever on our itinerary again, we are skipping the excursions... and I think you know where you will be able to fine me. So we ended up spending a few hours just lounging around and then decided to head back to the boat (and good thing we did). As we were going through port security a huge thunderstorm rolled through essentially closing the gangway. We actually were right about to walk onto the pier and into the ship but decided to hold back to not get drenched. After about 20 minutes we were allowed to board. **The pic are the doors leading out to the gangway where we got stopped right before the storm. Kinda pointless pic but trying to give the people a visual. When we got on board we headed to Izumi to see if they had any open reservations for Hibachi that night, and luckily for us, they had two spots! So with dinner reservations secured, we went back up to the Solarium and did some more soaking in the hot tubs and hitting up the slides which were particular nice to get a great view of the island and sunset as we sailed away. As creatures of habit, we then headed back to the room to get cleaned up. After changing we decided to head to the schooner bar to take in some music and good conversation before heading to dinner. For the dinner itself, it was delicious and fun time as expected (below is proof of my unprecedented athleticism on display... catching a diced pieced of chicken on the fly). Our table mates for hibachi were all great (two other couples). After dinner, we had some time to kill before the ice show we had booked so I am sure we just ventured around the ship. The ice show, which was the first time ever seeing on any ship, was terrific. After the aqua show, this was our next favorite. You might be wondering why we have never seen it before? Well to be honest, if it wasn't for reading other peoples reviews, we probably would have skipped it again. I know, I know. We are idiots. Literally, even reading the most negative and terrible reviews on cruise critic (I am sorry, it is a guilty pleasure), people would somehow muster enough props saying the show passed their extravagant expectations and needs. So this time we were determined to give it a try. And hand up, it was less Rebecca and more me wanting to skip. Rebecca is very much go with the flow. So this is all on me. Anyway the show was overly entertaining and quite funny, especially with those adorable little ducks. For those that do not know, the ice show is all based on different Hans Christian Andersen stories. I am by no means a playwright reviewer nor am I going to try to be. So I will it at Royal did great job putting together a wonder show. Would highly recommend, and yes... I will never skip the ice show again. After the show it was back to our normal nightly routine of meandering to all the different venues (jazz on 4 was especially ?tonight). I might add, if anyone was wondering on my nightly roulette spins... 22 black and me are now back on speaking terms. And his friends, 0 & 00... great guys. May invite them to the wedding. After quitting while I was ahead (and getting the evil eye from Rebecca), we headed back up to the Globe and Atlas to chat with Rudy a little more before turning in for the night. Tomorrow is a sea day. Will Rebecca have breakfast with me? Will my Vitality Spa haircut make me look like Ryan Reynolds? I guess you will just have to click back in 1-2 days when I finally get around to writing about it!

And we are back with Day 3, which has put us in Labadee. Out of all the ports on our itinerary, I would say this was the one we were looking to the most. While we were excited for Cozumel (we had an ATV excursion planned), Haiti for some reason had us the most excited to visit (and it doesn't hurt the food and drinks are included). So like I previously mentioned, needed to get up rather earlier (not for any fitness classes) to grab breakfast and make our way off the ship for our early morning jet ski ride. We originally had this excursion booked a little later in the day, but last minute we decided to add a trip to amiga island (have to love that mindset of money really doesnt matter (as much) on vacation). So to make this second excursion work with our schedule, we needed to bump up our jet ski time. *We really wanted to do this adult sandbar party excursion thing where you take a boat out into the water where I guess it is around waist high and are able to hang out and have a good old time. I saw it for the longest time in the cruise planner, but it seemingly disappeared a few months before the cruise. After contacting Royal I guess they removed it as the tour operator decided to not offer that excursion. Guess we need to find another cruise to Haiti in the near futrure... So after getting up we partook in a new tradition established on this cruise... Rebecca staying in bed while I go and have break by myself ?. I know, so sad, right? But I sucked it up, stopped by park cafe and got a quick bite to eat and even brought a little something back for Rebecca because you know, chivalry is indeed not dead. Once we got off the ship it was pretty simple to find where we needed to go, sign-in, and meet our group (it is literally right off the ship when you get to the end of the pier). When we got close to our time, we headed into a room where our guide and instructor went through all the safety rules and other logistics. From there we got our life vests and headed out onto our jet ski's. In total there were about 12 people in our tour. We were assigned a number based on the experience (or lack thereof). 1 was if you had the most, 12 if you were a newbie. Rebecca, the speed demon, started at number 3 and half way through she was knocked up to number #1. Myself? I just will keep the number to myself (I definitely was not knocked down a number ?). Overall, the excursion was a little over an hour and we had a blast. It was interesting how they had it structured in that it was like follow the leader. Our guide would go first then we would all follow. So it wasn't like a free for all in one particular area. We were a little skeptical at first. But it ended up being perfect. We still got our need for speed and were able to jet ski around some pretty big swells. And you really couldn't beat zooming past the the Haitian coastline. Those mountains are pretty spectacular. After we finished our excursion we decided to checkout out the rest of the island. Overall Labadee lived up to our expectations and would have absolutely no problem coming back. For the rest of morning we just hung out at beach, ventured out to the floating bar for a beverage and then swam back in for lunch. After we ate, we needed to make our way back over to the dock to catch our ride to Amiga Island. The boat ride over to the island was about 20 minutes. Again was definitely very cool to get a different vantage point of the island, and to get a close up of the ship... Once we got to the island, Rebecca and I took walk around and then a dip in the water. The excursion in my opinion was defiantly worth it. There were probably only 15 of us on the island so it was a nice quiet getaway. For the rest of the time we were there we pretty much just relaxed and caught a few Zzzzz's. If you wanted, they had a little hut that was used as cash bar but the complimentary rum punch and view was more than enough for us. After the ride back, it was unfortunately time for us to have to get back on board. *The ride back though was pretty eventful in that there were some pretty big swells. No one ever thought we were in danger, but it wasn't your average smooth ride back. It was almost like a two for one excursion. One being the island the second being the rollercoaster (I mean boat rife back). As far as plans for the night, we only had dinner booked at Chops for around 8. No shows booked. That being said we did our traditional late afternoon solarium and jacuzzi session followed by a few runs on the slide. For sail away we did head to back of the ship to I think deck 5 for a little less crowded view (and maybe had a hot dog from the boardwalk). From there we ventured back to the room to get ready for dinner. After that, we did some walking around, probably spending more money on the hot-shot basketball and and football toss on the boardwalk. Rebecca (along with every 8-year-old kid) was also on the prowl to catch that piano guy in the elevators. At one point we spotted him, but to Rebecca's misfortune, he zipped right past our floor. We then headed up to Chops for dinner and as expected there were 0 complaints. I think we both got the crab cake appetizer, maybe salads...cant remember, filets with their various delectable sauces. And then for sides, if my memory serves me correctly, we did the creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and the mac n cheese, because you know...#health. For dessert, I know we got it, but gun to my head I couldn't tell you what. Maybe Rebecca got something chocolate and I got something apple? After dinner was over and considering we had no real plans we decided to head to the Globe and Atlas to see my man crush. Again, our server Rudy made for great conversation. We always seem to luck out and get a great server in all the pubs when we've been on our cruises and Rudy may be our favorite. Would literally run over from wherever he was to greet us with a hello and would constantly be checking in on us. But like with most people, we just like talking to him about life, his family, about us, etc. Eventually Rudy needed to tend to some of the guests (how dare he). It was fine, I could let Adam start to serenade me. As the night went on, we ended up meting and joining forces with a group of 2 couples who were traveling together. So after chatting up a storm, having a drink or two we all headed to Blaze. From there me and Rebecca broke off and once again I needed to go and see if 22 Black wanted to be friends. While we did say hello once early on in the night, he then started to ghost me. From the casino we may or may not have stopped for pizza (ok i did, not Rebecca) and then headed back to the room to call it a night in preparation for Jamaica in the morning.