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Ok look at that cute face and tell me she’s 55 in that picture!

Hold on to those torches and pitchforks. Hear me out. As many issues as we've all encountered with the Royal website and app, be aware it could be MUCH worse. I'm currently traitorously sailing on Holland America. Pre-cruise, their website was difficult to navigate and often did not allow me to make purchases on items I had received a marketing email about. Pre-cruise their app was less useful for learning anything compared to Royal's app. Now that we are onboard, I have determined that the HAL Navigator app is almost complete garbage. The reason I say "almost complete" is that the app has a feature we'd all love to see on Royal - and it works. You are able to pre-order items from their New York Pizza (which is far superior to the best Sorrento's in Royal's fleet) and Dive In (which is the poolside burger bar). Your food is ready for pickup in 10-15 minutes with no waiting in line.

Disembarkation was a breeze. No fumbling through all the passports, just the nice facial recognition software. We were group 25 so enjoyed breakfast in the MDR and then waited only 15 minutes or so to get off the ship. No tears were shed. Instead we get to count down the days to to joyful things like D4s upcoming bday and 49 days until our next cruise. Our cruise was out of Port Everglades but we flew into Miami due to scheduling and price. We took a Lyft to Miami where we waited 3 hours in the hotel lobby for our room to be ready. Luckily there was a big comfy couch and tv with Nick Jr. With it being a school day at home we had what we call a “remote learning day” for the kids to catch up on their school work online. Then we had a late lunch/early dinner, took the littles to the pool to burn some energy, and everyone was asleep by 6:30. S12 actually fell asleep at 4:30. We have to be up at 4am for our flight and then the kids are all going to school when we get home. We’re headed home to mid 70s weather! Better than the 8” or so of snow that I posted pictures of just a week ago. What a wonderful and memorable family vacation. Thanks for reading!

It is important to know what works for you. If you can manage it, keep it up. I found basic, gentle soap and some oil works for me. If I put anything else my face, it gets weird. I will be 38 next month and according to most people I don't look but two days over 21 I also have to admit seeing your beauty regiment just reminded me of how not girly I am. No makeup, no heels, no jewelry .......I love me a good dress though.......but it has to be simple. No cleavage, sparkles, poofiness (my made-up word), truthfully, I like dresses because they are one and done. Just pull over or on......done. This is how I survive with a carry-on.

Update on my sister: she did get a $900 price match refund! The phone rep was reportedly super (obviously). We sail in under 6 weeks

On a scale of questionable attire at the pool, I’m guessing your partner won’t even be CLOSE to the top! Life is short, do what makes you happy & to you know where with the haters.

We’ve completed our final sea day and we’re all packed. Tonight D4 asked “mom, can we play a secret and find somewhere to hide on the ship?” Last night S7 cried that we have to get off. AO had an Easter craft to make a bunny ear crown to wear to the Easter egg hunt later today. Easter egg hunt was a loose term. Some kids showed up with baskets. It was a “treasure” hunt with clues to go to a few different locations until you found the Easter bunny. It was quite poorly executed. Every station ran out of candy so probably only half the kids got any. The only egg to be “hunted” was the one you got after taking a picture with the creepy Easter bunny. That was the extent of the Easter festivities on board. I was a little disappointed because Christmas is such an all out display and celebration on board. I get that Easter isn’t a whole holiday season like Christmas but there wasn’t a fun cake in the Windjammer or anything. S7 participated in the paper airplane contest. S12 went to the teen only climbing competition and got 4th or 5th place. D16 discovered she got a free Diamond WiFi day to herself and didn’t have to share so she did nothing. Hubby competed in the adult speed climbing contest and got a medal for getting 3rd. Dinner was Bon Voyage. I got the seafood cake and it was good but I wish it came with more sauce. I got the spaghetti bolognese. I had ordered this before the menu change and didn’t like it but nothing else sounded good so I tried it again. This time around it was quite good. For dessert I got the Spanish custard dessert, which was like a creme brûlée but not as good. I also got the cherry chocolate tart. It was good but I really miss the cherry’s jubilee dessert and was hoping maybe it would have hints of that. It didn’t. Hubby got the Indian main dish and said it was good. We were sad to say goodbye to our waitstaff. I asked Fortunate for a picture with Josie and she also wanted one on her phone. The show was comedian Michelle Balan. She was funny and family friendly for the most part. Then it was back to the room to finish packing so we could get our luggage out by 10. I’m sad this cruise has come to an end but miss my puppies (pictures includes because they’re adorable). I also really miss my own bed, my own pillow, and my children having their own bedrooms. Stray notes: S12 says his pizza count this cruise isn’t high because the park cafe is too far away. He hopes for a higher number on Quantum where there’s a centrally located Sorrento’s in the Promenade. I think I’ve said this before but forget. The teen club “fantaseas” was a pleasant surprise. The cruise planner listed it as being open only 8pm-12am. I don’t know about port days because we were never here to check, but on sea days they had activities throughout the day. I so wish royal would fix the chat function to always send notifications. S12 never checked them and going to find him at midnight (or later) was very frustrating. He was more the “have fun now ask for forgiveness later” type kid and never came back at our agreed upon time. My mom brain was always certain he’d gone overboard when he wasn’t back. This is my first cruise that AO didn’t require reserved times or limit entry so I was never worried that we’d be turned away. The littles are attached to me at the hip so getting them to go to AO was always a fight but they always ended up having a lot of fun and recognized new friends throughout the ship. I have really enjoyed this small ship. I felt like it was in really good shape and so well taken care of for its age. It seems like they have more activities, trivia, and fun competitions than any other ship I’ve been on. Since there’s not as much to entertain yourself with, like water slides or a Seaplex, they take the time to entertain you. I would happily do something similar; however, consecutive ports is really exhausting. Our flight doesn’t leave until Tuesday morning so we have one of the later departures off the ship. If I come up with any other thoughts I’ll post them here as well as a quick post about how disembarkation went. Otherwise consider this a wrap until part 2 of “A Quantum Vision of a Christmas Gift” when we get on Quantum of the Seas to Alaska on May 29 (S7’s bday). For that D4 will be D5 and S7 will be S8. We’ll have both sets of grandparents with us then so lots more opinions on the food, ship, ports, etc. Thanks to so many of you with your kind encouragement on my first live blog! I’ve really enjoyed doing this and hope someone finds it helpful. Detailed info about ships, food, and excursions is what I spend hours scouring and there just isn’t much about the smaller ships.

As long as what is legally required to be covered up is covered up, you gotta do your thing. To hell with what others think.

Now THATS me! I always said the “girly” gene skipped a generation. Mom was a fashion plate in her day and my daughter loves to dress up. Me? Not so much unless she makes me. I also HATE to shop. She has to drag me kicking & screaming. I am truly envious of people with fashion sense. I’m just not one of them. BTW, my maternal grandmother used very cold water & ivory soap and paternal grandmother swore by Ponds cold cream.

Talk about fishing for compliments!!!

Just to give an idea of why I love Air2Sea... My upcoming sailing on Wonder (July 2023), I booked through Air2Sea right when air was released (end of August 2022). As of last night, I have priced this RT flight down 4 times since August, for a total savings of $280pp (round trip). Because it's Hubby and I on this one, that's over $500 saved on air. I would not have been able to do that without Air2Sea being refundable until final payment. Now, the disclaimer is that not every booking with Air2Sea drops like this over time. My March Break airfares and NYE airfares only ever rise, never drops. But the point is that when the opportunity is there, you can take advantage of it with Air2Sea. I can't do that with Delta direct, unless I book refundable but that is more than the $9 or so extra that Air2Sea charges.

If you are wanting to say away from kids do not worry because they are not packed like a spring or summer break cruise in the Caribbean. If you are wanting to say away from the old people just make sure it is a regular TA cruise and not one of the Artic Cruises and you will be fine. if you are worried about your kids don't worry your kids will have more fun with less kids. I have done several TA cruises while my son was growing up and he loved them. He has less friends to choose from, but they have more access to the kid's area and quicker access to the wave runners and rock walls. Growing up my son's favorite cruise was a Panama Canal where there were only 20 kids on the ship. He had 4 ten-year-old friends and they had full run of the ship.

You’re right. That IS a creepy Easter Bunny ! Thank you so much for taking the time to create this awesome live blog. I never seem to quite follow through on mine…. This one is particularly helpful to me as we will be doing this same itin on 4-21. Thanks again and have a safe trip home.

On my first Caribbean cruise in 2006, one of our travel party was fluid, Miss Brad. They wore a leather bikini bottom to the hot tub one night. Everyone loved Miss Brad, even the conservative couple from Georgia at our MDR table. It is just as much your holiday as everyone else’s so enjoy yourselves. Happy cruising!

Few questions : 1. Are you planning to rent a car or you want to use public transportation , combination ? 2. Israel is the size of NJ , so if you are staying in Tel Aviv , its one hour drive to Jerusalem (pending traffic), two and half hors to the north and 2 hours to the dead sea . Based on that do you prefer to take one hotel for the 4 nights and plan a day travel to the different places ? 3. Self guide tours or guided ? 4. Any must do in the north and Jerusalem in your list ? 5. How old your kids ? Anyway , here is one option for self guide that includes a car : Day one - depends when you are landing , take a taxi to Tel Aviv (35-50 $) , drop the luggage in the hotel , visit the boardwalk of Tel Aviv , visit Old Jaffa during the night. Day two - pick a car , if you want to start very early , you can take the train to the airport (15 minutes ride) and take the care from there ,once you took the car you can go to Jerusalem (50 minutes) , you can park at the "Mamila" parking which is 10 minutes walk from the old city. Go to the Jaffa gate of the old city, you can visit first the Tower of David Museum (https://www.tod.org.il/en/) after the visit you can go up the wall (adjust to the museum) take the right path and walk over the wall until the last exit , you will have very nice photo ops, that can take 30 -40 minutes. Go down from the wall and walk to the right until you will get to the wailing wall . After the visit in the Wailing wall you can take the exist on the other side and walk to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , after that you can visit the market and go via the market back to the Jaffa gate. You can choose to stay in Jerusalem and visit other part of the city, for nice view of the old city I would visit Mount Scopus. Now there are two options , one is go back to Tel Aviv , the other one is to continue to an hotel in the dead sea. if you choose to go to the dead sea on the same day , I would recommended not to take the short road to the dead sea but to go via road 6 (tool road) to the south and go via the town of "Arad". Day 3 , visit the dead sea (mind not all the hotels will allow you one day stay during the weekend) and visit Masada , at the end of the day I would drive back to Tel Aviv or stay another day in the dead sea hotel (which mean a very long drive the day after). Day 4 , North , Hotel near the city of Tzfat , visit to Sea of Galilei and Nazareth , if you want to have a nice wild life (mainly birds) I would go to visit https://agamon-hula.co.il/home-en/. Day 5 - Checkout and drive to Haifa to drop the car , take taxi to the port (it will take around 1 hour drive). Its allot in 4 days , so you can change several things , you can choose to take a full guided day trip from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the dead seas and take the car the day after to go to the north which mean less driving.

The pool deck is full of people wearing bathing suits that maybe they shouldn't (present company included). I think you and your partner will be fine, have fun.

If for some reason they aren't there when cabins are ready, head over to Guest Services. We forgot to request one and it was in the room within an hour or two.

We have had these same items either both in the room when we arrived or dropped off to the room within a couple of hours of the rooms being opened (one item there, the other delivered afterwards). It has not been an issue at all. We did not receive a follow up call or email. I think these items are very common requests.

7 Days to go... Warm weather hit Chicago, it has been 70s and people are acting a plum fool. Last week I had my annual physical and today I got a hair treatment. Selfcare and living my best life! My thick curly hair will go in braids for the cruise, no fuss. Humidity and curls are not best friends. I plan to finish packing by Wednesday and complete any and all errands by Thursday. I found a ton of clearance Easter chocolates and will be bringing them for the crew, they aren't expired, just in pastel colors. I have been getting more targeted emails in regard to CP. Today I got one that says "Alicia, on this day next week, you will be on Freedom of the Seas." I thought that's a little creepy to be counting my days in CP like that. They didn't use to be so specific, maybe the interns up their game after the Premier pass fiasco. After reading @asquared17 blog and seeing her toiletries, I felt a smidge of shame. I am I not doing enough to stay looking two days over 21?????? Those commercials/ADs for Botox keeping popping up. Someone is trying to tell me something.....I mean sell me something .

Boohoo. Maybe Atlantis could offer something more compelling that would get people off the boat (honestly I rarely get off in Nassau these days). Besides, Royal is just one cruise line that stops there...plenty of additional $$'s to be had if you can provide people with an incentive to spend them (read: something fun and worth doing on your vacation).

@Pooch i don't want to say you are cute because that can come off as impertinent/disrespectful, BUT -- you have a very youthful face + great smile!!! i am envisioning you guys on the pool deck somewhere on a ship in this picture and that makes me happy oh man the way i would do this if i could... if only i could sail the atlantic, EVER. bayonne would be a dream. that is really smart. i am getting complacent because we always travel non stop, arrive earlier than we probably should, and i use air tags to track my bags like a hawk. J laughs at me because i'll go, "where are they now? LET'S CHECK" while she just sits back and calmly watches everything arrive the way it should. united actually is good about tracking the bags too and sending text notifications/keeping you posted when they've been boarded onto the flight, etc. still... i have lost/gotten delayed bags before and it's not fun. you are right for your husband to be the forfeiter (is this even a word??), nay, casualty in this delayed baggage war!!! since we are just under the 20 day mark, i pulled up my outfit list (ostensibly so i don't over pack, and yet somehow i still do) and there are a lot of blanks/days to fill in. i run off an outfit list and then a regular packing list, and typically between the two, i am good as far as not forgetting things. last time i forgot the PLUG to my diffuser, which was brutal. we (i say WE, but i think we all know that J probably could care less) like to just run it with some lavender at night to help sleep (we didn't have it on symphony and sleep was elusive ), and it keeps the cabin from being really dry since we/I run the AC at its coldest setting non stop. you guys would laugh that its typed up and then color coded with a highlighter... but this helps me help myself!! i swear i did not used to be this Type A when i was growing up. then i hit my 30s and everything changed...

You most definitely need to. It is like no product line that I have ever tried, and I have tried many! Omg...I found stuff, but let's just say that my hair was pretty unhappy that entire week. My face products were safe though. When we travel with two kids, I take 3 of the ziploc bags that we are allowed to take on the plane. Kids get 1, Hubby 0. We all agree that should our luggage get lost again, his products are the easiest to find at a local CVS or Publix lol.

Listen to yourself! You need to drive to the port and just don't know it yet!

YESSSSSSS!!!!! product junkies unite!!!!!! i am def rosa in the leather jacket (my jacket of choice always haha) i will look at eminence organics!! i actually love beautypie (marcia kilgore’s brand; she did bliss spa products and fit flop) and get most of my stuff there but use dermalogica for the superfoliant and daily spf for the face as my skin doesn't get angry at me when i use it. this is why i was DYING when your luggage was lost — i was envisioning all the stuff you couldn’t get at the local CVS. also this does not include all the other not so cute looking toiletries; toothpaste, mouthwash, shaving cream, deodorant etc. so fam, there is in fact a THIRD toiletry bag!!!! and i will crosspack some toiletries in my carryon — not necessarily always shoes or clothes, mind you — but toiletries… YES.

Look, if I were to see someone wearing non-gender conforming swimwear, I would a) mind my own business or b) compliment them because they probably wear it better than me. Do what you want. There are always going to be people who think their way is the only way, no matter where you are. Most of us, however, don't care what you wear.

I fell behind in this blog this past week but I am dying laughing! You and I are more alike than you know. I might be the one who can put you to shame with the toiletries, I kid you not! lol This is also why I can never travel with just carry on. And I fully understand the NEED for all those products. BTW, from one product junkie to another, I used to be a huge Dermalogica fan (for years), but over the last 6-7 months, I have discovered Eminence Organics and I am telling you, Dermalogica cannot even compare. Hair...I am an Alterna/Pureology/Big Sexy fan myself. IYKYK lol

I enjoy the Shiner Bock while in Texas waters as its not something that is normally available to me. Boarding in Galveston in 10 days. Planning on drinking Shiner.

The excitement meter just keeps rising!!! Only 13 days till my family and I are back on a Royal Caribbean ship!!

Day #6 Cozumel I’m going to return home SO beat up. My toe cut was reopened today with swim fins, I am still recovering from the fire ant and macaw bites, I have a huge bruise on my rear from the zip line, and now I have another huge bruise on my arm and a lump on my head from paintball and a small heat burn on my leg from the ATV. Nothing is too extreme or painful or bothersome, but I definitely look like I’ve been through something! We got out late this morning for our excursion but it wasn’t a big deal because there were only two other groups at Ecoparque Cuzam, one before us and one after us, and we cut paintball short and finished ATVs right on time. In the morning, while the kids and I were getting dressed and packed up for the day, my husband took our lovely, 4-cup carrier (recommended on one of the boards) down to get us all specialty coffees and brought them to breakfast. We tried to eat fast but just like last time, it was really busy and crowded. When we got our taxi, the person at the port that directs you to a car said that we’d have to pay for a round trip because of where we were going, so we weren’t surprised that our driver said $30. We planned on tipping him during the return ride back to the ship. However, after our excursion, he made us pay another $30. I hadn’t specifically looked at the board, but it seemed high, so I took a picture of his cab number. When we got out, I went to the board to check, and it was supposed to be $16 each way. He didn’t wait for us at the park to charge extra for wait time - he left and came back in an hour and a half to take us back. We told the port officers, and also that we were going back out in the afternoon, and they said to stop back by. When we stopped back, they had gotten the extra back from him and gave it to us, yay! They had us do paintball first because there was another group out with the ATVs who were on their way back. None of us had done it before and my daughter got hit in the leg, got a painful bruise and quit. Then I got hit in my arm and in the back of my head and I quit. It really, really hurt, even though we were far from each other while aiming. So the two of us hate paintball (HA, I just accidentally typed “painball” instead of paintball and that is an accurate moniker!!!). The boys kept playing until the paintballs ran out. They have tougher skin than we do, I swear. She and I bruise and get sunburn and rashes so easily. But the paintball went quickly and the other people were back, so we did ATVs. However, as soon as we did our little practice round, my daughter decided that she didn’t want to do that either, so she ended up just sitting at the place with the dog while the rest of us did the tour (we tried her on the back of my husband’s but she didn’t like that either). The rest of us had a great time driving around the jungle. I do mounted archery at home and have really learned to keep my weight in my feet/legs when moving around so that helped me to not get very jostled from the rocks and branches on the ground. It was very, very dusty at times and I was glad we brought our cloth masks - we were going to bring bandanas but we had these lying around and thought they’d be easier. I wish we had brought goggles. My husband said the dust got under his sunglasses and my son and I didn’t even have those. I also wish I had worn long pants because the heat from the engine ended up giving me a burn/rash on one calf (it happened over a bit of time, my leg never touched a hot pipe or the engine, etc.). But even with all of that, it was an adrenaline rush! My son kept intentionally drifting when we were going fast on a flat part and loved it. I think that is part of how I got so dusty since I was behind him. Then we took the cab back to the ship, went in and changed into our swim stuff, grabbed a quick lunch at WJ and left again to do our Discover Scuba. We walked about 10 minutes north of the pier to Cozumel Dive Academy. They were great. None of us had ever done anything with Scuba before so it was all new, except for the videos we watched ahead of time. We got on all of the gear, we practiced the skills in the shallow part, and were able to dive about 6 meters for a little over 20 minutes. I think he would have let us go longer - none of us were having any major issues, but all aboard was 4:30pm and we had to get back. My daughter, who did not have a great day, really wanted to pick up some little trinkets for her friends at home, but when we got into the port, we could see LONG security lines and my husband freaked out that we were going to miss the boat and dragged us to the line. Once we were through security, my daughter walked ahead of us really fast and went on the ship way before us, and wouldn’t talk to us until we were sitting at the dinner table. However, it was 4:23pm when we were getting on, so we really didn’t have a lot of extra time. It was Dress Your Best night and Lobster night. Everyone was late to dinner (I mean everyone on the ship with early seating). My son tried lobster for the first time and was not impressed. My husband finished his, and my second entree of lobster, and my daughter’s second entree of lobster. He said they were good - cold water and cooked well. Wine husband next to us was impressed that my husband was able to wrangle 4 free lobsters out of the evening AND a shrimp curry (his own 2nd entree). We WERE hungry after the ATV and Scuba. I had cod which I shouldn’t have since I forgot I don’t like the texture. It may have been perfectly fine. My son (second entree) and daughter both got the tortellini. Appetizers were avocado-citrus salad and caesar. Desserts were baked Alaska, red velvet cake, molten chocolate cake and banana cocoa custard. The only dessert that was really good was the molten chocolate cake. After dinner, we thought about sitting outside for a while but it was too windy. I went to WJ to get some fruit and use the Freestyle (yes, I could see the buttons). My husband went to some wristwatch event and then just as he wanted to meet me in WJ, I was tired of sitting in the chair so the kids went up to join him. After the long day, I didn’t want to wear my fancier dress any more so I swapped for a more casual one. We went to Friendly Feud - guess what - packed. We pulled chairs from the promenade again. It was pretty good and more audience-interactive than the 60 second one. Sometimes the staff member can make a difference too, I’ve found. We had Popo for this one and she is fantastic (I’m getting to know all of the staff with this signature game!). After the game, we grabbed a slice from Sorrentos and our waters for the night and are going to bed! P.S. I really like the Sorrentos pizza now, more than I used to. I feel like I read that they changed their recipe and some didn’t like it. I find myself liking it more. Oh, and when we went to Majority Rules the other night, one question was what would you save if the ship was sinking, and somebody answered Sorrentos.

Room service lunch on embarkation day is a bit problematic. CAN you ? Usually (although I have read of some Genies telling their guests "no") however, the Genies try and steer guests away from room delivery of lunch. For one thing, only a couple of restaurants are even open....but mostly b/c boarding day is just too hectic. This is definitely something that is Genie (and ship) specific. The best advice I have is just ask when your Genie contacts you. I would be prepared to do something else and if they say they can swing it, then you will be pleasantly surprised !

Our cruise shirts came in, and they are pretty thin. If the tie die doesn't help hide how sheer they are, we're going to scrap that idea. (Insert sarcastic "oh no!" here) I already have an alternate outfit ready to go. I've started pre-packing - getting things washed that have been sitting in the closet since our last Caribbean cruise and washing new purchases. Ordered DD a prescription snorkel mask and goggles this morning. Still have a bit to buy though. We will all need new bathing suits, shorts for the growing kids, and formal night clothes for DS. DH needs to go through his clothes and try stuff on. We're going shopping for him on Friday if needed. DH and I have lost quite a bit of weight since we got back from our Alaskan cruise this summer, and it's been fun to pull out dresses I wore on our second cruise back in 2011 and find that they fit! Not saying I didn't buy anything new though... a girl needs options!

I feel like there's an Onion-style article title here: "Mega beach resort upset another beach resort could do exactly what it does"

I did not have time on Saturday evening or Sunday to post due to packing and traveling, so I'll try to remember and catch up now. It turns out that Maya Chan would have been closed on Thursday even if we were able to dock. We met a lady on Saturday night that was supposed to be there also and said she had gotten an email on Wednesday, so then I went and found my email in the junk folder. The high winds of Wednesday (while we were doing rough snorkel in Roatan) brought in too much sargassum to clear before guests would have arrived. I slept in a little on Saturday and went to a late breakfast at Park Café. Instead of going to morning gym, my husband and daughter decided to have breakfast at Johnny Rockets. My husband was trying to do everything on the ship that he hadn't done yet, so then he also met me for elevensies in the park (actually tensies since we had a 10:45am activity). Then we went to the Search for Nations awards ceremony - where we got second place, by only 20 points. They did not accept any of the signatures we had around the edges of staff whose rare countries were not listed on the paper, which would have put us ahead (apparently legal language in the small, fine print prevented them). We had gotten a few tips the night before about finding some staff from rare nations on the track doing maintenance but it was too late to find them, and one in the Wipeout Bar but it was closed. But the first place got a small trophy that probably wouldn't have fit in our luggage anyway (we got a neck medal and two Royal drink cozies). Competition-mom and her family won it. Then my husband and I did the zip line. I took a tshirt just in case and changed into my sneakers from sandals, although my sandals might have been fine? I think it was just shoes that might fall off, like crocs or flip flops that wouldn't work. My husband's didn't have laces and they made him take them off. The rule turned out to be 3 finger widths for shoulder coverings, so my sleeveless tunic/dress turned out to be fine, but the couple in front of us was about to get turned away for her sleeves so I offered her my tshirt which she gratefully used. They did make sure I was wearing leggings under my tunic before going . I found the zipline line to move much faster this year than last. It was honestly a bit scarier than our zipline in Roatan because of the height! Then we grabbed lunch at Windjammer and just spent the afternoon chilling. We watched the belly flop contest as we were leaving WJ from the upper windows and got some pictures of the crowds around the pool - whoa. This is what a packed ship looks like! There was one contestant that was wearing a Mexican wrestling mask and a towel as a cape. Several of the men enjoyed shaking their rears in front of the crowd. I was actually surprised that some of the men in the "lightweight" competition category could make such a big splash! We did some shopping and all got new Royal t-shirts, plus a few things for our dog-sitter, and told my daughter to use some of our Premier Pass credit to buy the little gifts from the gift shop that they wanted for friends. Dinner had another whole round of napkin dancing. Not sure why we needed a second one. I really enjoyed not being accosted about the dining survey during our meals this time - last year, that was broached almost every dinner. This year, we heard the spiel once and were NOT asked to give 10s, just to complete the survey. We had for appetizers: Mediterranean tapas, seafood cake and asparagus; main courses: vegan moussaka, salmon and the vegetarian Indian meal; and dessert: raspberry trifle, dark chocolate brownie (kids were fascinated about the idea of popcorn on top), the custard (which was essentially crème brûlée), and the chocolate cherry tart. The asparagus is served cold, even though it says pan seared (our waiter warned us). The salmon this night was delicious (pecan-crusted, a little spice). My son wasn't a huge fan of the moussaka but he was also full from Wipeout/El Loco Fresh food too close to dinner). The raspberry trifle wasn't great (no sugar added), but the choc. cherry tart was VERY good. There was also an apple crumble on the menu but NO way was I ordering that again! After dinner we packed which took a while to figure out how to arrange everything. We usually travel with four 28" suitcases, but because we flew United, we had 4 free 20" suitcases, and then we paid for only two larger suitcases, but it messed up our usual system for packing. We had fairly full suitcases on the way there, then we added stuff, and had to figure out how to best pack in order to keep what we needed for the night yet still be kind of close to how we needed to rearrange for flying, so it was complicated and time consuming. Then popped by Windjammer for our last evening snack, and I went down to get us spots in the Royal Mystery activity at Blaze. It was fairly packed when I arrived but I was able to scrape together three bar seats for us (my daughter joined). The bar seats at Blaze are junk. They were all very tippy and difficult for vertically-challenged people to sit on. Hard to move because they are ridiculously heavy and have weird bases that hit your feet. One broke while we were there - the top literally just came right off of the bottom where the metal had deteriorated. The Royal Mystery was fun but a bit unorganized. We had a group of 7 (needed between 5-10 in a group). It was a 90 minute activity. We got a packet of materials which they supplemented with items around the room and information on the tv screens. One station with clues in the room was missing 2 pieces so no one could solve that clue until finally someone asked and they were able to find the materials and add them, but that was in the last 10 minutes of the game. With two minutes left, we realized that our packet had been missing a page from the very beginning (this was the page that when they went over the results, they said you could have solved it in 20 minutes with this page, so it was really important). As one member of our team was getting in line to turn in the answer, the others were frantically using the missing page (we got it from the judges), but our answer got turned in at the buzzer, just before the rest of the team solved the last (missing) page which changed our answer. We asked for it back, since we had gotten that missing piece so late but still got it solved before the answer was revealed but the judges refused. She just said, "the packets were sealed" as though we were making it up or it was out of their hands?!? That put our team in a pretty bad mood. Also then the team next to us overheard us talking and turns out they also didn't have that paper in their packet either but didn't even realize it at all. My husband and I each had a 50% coupon left so we changed into swim suits, grabbed a beer (him) and a hard seltzer (me) and went to the pool deck for some hot tub time. We found a bunch of teens in some but then one empty one, and then wine dad/husband (our dinner-table neighbor) came by and hung out with us for about an hour in the hot tub chatting. Then to bed for an early morning disembarkation...

Yes. It's a one tank shore dive, relatively shallow. It can be booked in the cruise planner for your cruise if offered on that date. SCUBA certification required.

I tend to find in general cruise people are more on their vacation than anyone. As long as everything that should be covered is, at most a few stares. Live your best life, even if rolls are falling out

Day 5 - Noumea This is the 3 or 4 time we have visited Noumea so we didn’t have any specific plans for the day. Noumea is the largest city and capital of french speaking New Caledonia. We started the day with a Starbucks coffee and breakfast in the Windjammer. Hailey noticed we had the coffee and from now on it will be delivered to our cabin in the morning prior to us going to the CK. After breakfast we headed to my parents cabin and confirmed that Dad was okay after yesterday’s episode. My parents decided not to get off the ship so had a free day. We had Chef’s table planned for the evening so Hailey organised for them to have dinner in CK tonight. Noumea is docked so we met Hailey and she escorted us off the ship. Just down from the gangway were the buses waiting to take us into the centre of town. The bus ride is about a 5 minute journey and inside the drop off point is a small market. We had a wander around the market and bought a few small souvenirs. We then headed back outside and purchased tickets for the hop on/hop off bus. There were also other options to see the local sites such as the Tchou Tchou Train, but we have been to Noumea before so just wanted a quick and simple option. Popular local sites to visit include Amedee Island and the aquarium. There are some nice beaches as well but while we were there the beaches were closed to swimming due to recent shark attacks. The first stop the HOHO made was to the local outdoor markets but we skipped these as they close at 12pm so we wouldn’t have had much time before they closed. We got off at the next stop which was Lemon Bay. We took a stroll down alongside the bay and while looking out into the water in the bay we saw a lone turtle swimming and coming up for air every 10 minutes or so. We hung around here for a while until I got a decent picture. We then wandered along through the restaurants that were around here and decided to buy a gelato ice cream. The queue was quite long as they only accept the South Pacific franc or credit cards, and not USD or AUD, and some people had ordered and then found they couldn’t pay. Eventually, I got my gelato and it was definitely well worth the wait. After consuming our ice creams we waited for the next HOHO, Unfortunately it was full so we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next one. The next stop for HOHO was the aquarium which we skipped after deciding to head back to the ship. One of the other stops for the HOHO was McDonalds for all of you whose holiday is not complete without a Big Mac in another country. Once back on the ship we stopped to grab some lunch at Cafe Two70 before returning to our cabin for a rest. We had Chef’s table scheduled for 6:30pm tonight. It is part of the Star Class inclusions, with no extra charge if wine is not included and $25 USD for wine with the meal. I don’t drink so I just had cocktails and an alcohol free expresso martini which was fine with me. In all there were 10 people attending and a fun laughter filled night was had by all. After dinner it was back to our cabin for a sleep before waking up for our return trip to Mystery Island, which is no longer a mystery.

It's only the first two passengers, they are the only ones that are charged no matter how many people are in the cabin.

The Admiral asked me the same thing..I went to the closest cruise compass by ship and time of year and looked up the nightly theme.. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

that’s another reason I only book suites. All in one shampoo/conditioner/body wash what??? I have very short hair & any shampoo and conditioner will mostly do but they have to at least be separate products!

This will be my 35th time on the Anthem since 2015. I love this ship! I live less than an hour from the port and cruise primarily from mid Sept through mid May. The Anthem is perfect for sailing from the northeast during cold/chilly weather. So many climate controlled indoor venues to relax in while on the way to the warmer weather. She’s a wonderful ship! I see that there may be a launch from the space center during our visit on Tuesday at 7:36pm. Hopefully it goes as scheduled. Seeing a launch from the ship is fantastic! Fingers crossed!

Just use some common sense like not blocking the passage, not vulgar, not dangerous and don't damage the door.

This is one of those things that isn't a problem until it is. What is legal in the US or your home country is irrelevant once you leave the country. Cruises by definition leave the departure country and visit other countries. Each country has the right to establish what is legal and what isn't in that country. When you visit another country you are subject to their laws, not ours/yours. Will anyone know if you bring something small that violates the laws of another country? Maybe. Maybe not. No one here can advise you in this regard. You need to accept responsibility for your decision to break the law or policy of a cruise line. This is usually where someone chimes in and posts a study offering how great some miracle substance is. That's irrelevant. This isn't about how effective, or safe, or good, or bad some substance is or is not. Will the cruise line rummage through your stuff and look for anything that violates the laws of another country? Probably not. Unless there is a medical event or some other thing that draws their attention. Trip and break an ankle? Then they find an illegal substance in your cabin. So much for the lawsuit you are thinking about, at that point you are in violation and subject to whatever they decide including being kicked off wherever in the world you are, get home at your own expense. There goes the lawsuit, you broke their policy. If you are riding a bus in another country and the bus gets in an accident. In the aftermath somehow the local police find a pill or pill bottle. Now it's a problem. Now you are detained. It's up to you to decide if you should break a law in another country. Is that worth the risk? That's up to you to decide. No one on the internet will be standing with you at that moment in a vain attempt to argue your case.

Food: (please ask if you want to know what something specifically is, what meal it was and if we liked it)

This is excellent advice. Through trial and error we found that they actually start seating the 6:45 MTD guests about 6:30….so getting there early is a great idea. Once they start seating the 6:45 MTD guests the line moves quickly.

I think this is a gap that needs to be filled and would use it

I would absolutely use and be thankful for something like this. I have a cruise in 2024 that excursions are starting to populate for and some of them sound very similar but with vastly different price ranges. A site like the one you're proposing would be most helpful in deciding which option to choose.