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I just did some investigating. The partition does close. It’s a sliding door. It does not really mute the noise. There is pickleball going on right now and I can still hear it from where the hot tub is, even with the partition closed. Funny story while investigating this. I closed the partition and walked over to where the hot tub is to take this picture. I must have slid the door too far over, because then I could not get it back open. Now stuck on one side of the balcony and the door to get back in from the wet bar area was locked from the night before. That left the freeloader bedroom door. Happy to report that both freeloaders are awake now.

Like I mentioned earlier, sail away happened around 7:15pm. It was a gorgeous sail away! Not only did we get to turn around in the basin, but it was just in time for sunset. I could not filter through the photos, I love them all, so here is a sail away photo dump.

Current situation:

Nobody really felt like getting off the ship today so we didn’t. Also, we had the escape room booked for 1pm. I was a bit disappointed that El Loco did not open until 1pm for lunch. That did not work for us so we went to Johnny Rockets instead.

No reservations for Izumi sushi - first come first served. Ugh. I guess we'll see if I get there then.

CK filet night was amazing!!! Do you want to know why? First of all, we had the funniest waiter, Steven. Hilarious and full of personality. I am sort of sad we aren’t eating more meals in there this sailing. This guy is fun! But to the really good stuff…the absolute highlight of the evening was what came with the filet! Normal filet in CK comes with truffle mashed potatoes but they usually look like regular mashed potatoes with maybe a hint of truffle oil. Not the ones tonight! There were actual pieces of truffle mixed into it. Omg! It was so flavourful, I just about died and went to food heaven! I am sort of sad that Hubby did not capture it in his photos, but you will have to take my word for it.

After JR, we took off to the escape room. We made it out with more than 10mins to spare! Hubby has now returned to the FlowRider, D15 has gone off to Scattergories, and D17 and I are chilling in the cabin.

Now in CK enjoying my alone time for breakfast. Freeloaders have not made an appearance yet. Hubby is still on the FlowRider.

FlowRider private session (without the lesson) with Andrew & family this morning. I was saying to Lisa how great it was to have company on the bench! Hubby was off to a shaky start. He said yesterday the board here was different. I have no idea what that means or how to explain it, but he is getting more used to it. The session was an hour long.

Could have been. We were out there the entire time. I actually watched us arrive in Nassau today. Up way too early. Don’t want Hubby to feel like I am an unsupportive wife or anything heading to the FlowRider now with my Starbucks

After the sail away we went to see One Sky. This is a Royal Caribbean production that is relatively newer. Lisa said that even last year when they sailed in March 2023 they did not have this. It was ok. Definitely worth seeing if you are looking for something to do, but not something to be crushed about if you are busy and miss it. It was a collection of singing, dancing and some aerial work.

I find out who the captain is. Also, apparently we were waiting for those who had travel delays but then later when Hubby was on the FlowRider (and I was uploading room pics) he said that he heard the captain make an announcement about thrusters needing repairs. Then later at dinner, we heard that they had divers down there looking at them. So a combination of things led to the the delay. We eventually got on the move around 7:15pm. Made for a gorgeous sunset sail away! I uploaded some video clips to IG. Will try to post pics later when Hubby sends them to me.

We just got off Oasis and I don't think there were any thruster issues....not that I would even know if there were ! ...but it seemed like everything was working alright. I do not remember the Cap's name. I am terrible at stuff like this. I couldn't care LESS who the Captain, Hotel Director, Cruise Director or any other staff member is. The only person I can remember is that Francis is the Suites Concierge ! He was very helpful this morning at disembarkation. Aside from that, I have no idea who any of them are....

You have to leave your cabin to be "around."

I booked a B2B2B2 for June 2025. This blog is expensive.

This is my first time ever in Miami. Why has no one told me how beautiful it is here???

The thing with doing a "live" report is that it eats into your time on board, time that you want to be spending with the people you're cruising with. I've done a couple of lives and it's hard work because you need to try and find a balance between your phyiscal companions and your virtual ones. If you notice that it's becoming a chore rather than a pleasure, then you should take that as a sign that it's time to stop. You can always continue it afterwards as a recap if you want to. My strategy for a live report is to split it into two sessions, one in the morning when I post the Compass, acknowledge replies from other posters and answer any questions, if I can. The second is in the evening, in my case when DH is having his casino time, so it doesn't clash with time that we want to spend doing something together. At that time, I'll post a bit about what we've done during the day along with the MDR dinner menu and the obligatory food porn pics. That helps keep the whole thing under control because otherwise it can get out of hand and you find yourself spending more time writing on your blog than actually doing stuff on the cruise. That said, I think if I were doing a solo cruise (never done one), I would probably spend more time blogging as my time would be all my own and I wouldn't be missing out on time spent with my travel companions.

@Lovetocruise2002 your suite looks amazing! We are happily onboard. Amazing how the stress level dropped once we were on board. We have 2 jr suites this cruise and I forgot how much I like this stateroom. Almost better than the 2 bedroom GS (which is the only other suite we’ve been in). However we all miss the perks of the suite class. We did find the coastal lounge (thanks @WAAAYTOOO) but there was a drill so haven’t met the concierge yet. DD 12 and I are planning to go to next cruise to book fall break. DH doesn’t want to go as for him, 3 cruises in a year is too many for him. We also saw One Sky. I agree that it was fine. Not great but entertaining enough. We did my time dining last night. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the line moved to be seated and food brought out. It has been a few years since we ate in the MDR and we thought it was pretty good for MDR food. We have the 3 night dinner package and the other nights we’ll be in CK.

6 days to go and today's exciting update... I went to the bank for a stack of ones (mostly D drink tips) and other small bills for tipping. Told ya I don't normally start blogs early for good reason. Let's all go back to @Cactus527 and @Lovetocruise2002 's blogs now.

You live in Arizona, for God's sake ! Anything with blue water looks like heaven !

If memory serves, you recently posted your beloved mentioned or contemplated the purchase of his own board for FlowRider. I believe this is a cry for help.............

@Rags1 what do I win? I figured out the blinds right away. Someone had the switches labelled clearly

FINALLY F*ING TIME ignore me I'm tired and already slap happy.

Standard hotel breakfast offerings, but good nonetheless when you haven't eaten in quite a while.

yeah that was probably us, at PDCC the day of that storm. definitely damaged the thrusters then trying to push away from the pier, only to be trapped til 2am

It's sail away time

I am pretty sure I said in someone’s blog, or my own, recently that Miami is my favourite port to sail out from. It’s the prettiest backdrop.

I booked B2B2B because i saw you had one on Freedom.

I sailed Indy before Freedom as well and I have to say for the most part Freedom is my favorite ship. My B2B2B will be my third time on her. She is just big enough to not feel the crowds and she has ELF and Playmakers. That headliner looks creepy, just enough that I would go to see it .

WTF IS UP WITH THE PIPED-IN INSECTS/NIGHT TIME SOUNDS IN THE SOLARIUM????? It's creeping me out and making me feel like I'm in the Midwest again.......

MSC is having a bad day....they banned the Youtube channel Cruising with Ben and David from filming video on their ships and the word is spreading. I have my popcorn out.

The Key lunch. I failed to get photos before I started plowing through things, so I apologize. Caesar salad, filet mignon, and cheesecake. All great, 8/10 meal.

I'm teasing @OCSC Mike with photos of food places instead of actual food.

I was literally the first person on board on my gangway side.

10:57am and I've got my first ship meal. Seems to be a tradition to always come here first. Pizza still tastes mediocre but it's so welcome. And I'VE GOT CAFFEINE

10:35 and they just told us that they are going to start boarding the key momentarily. The plan was on board is to go to the muster station, make a reservation for day 3 or day 4 at Izumi, and then find some caffeine.

GUESS WHERE I AM??!?!?? Lyft at 9:30. Port at 10:00. Luggage drop off, express boarding to skip all the lines, and now The Key waiting area. 10:12 arrival here. The longest part was watching my bag get rescanned through the security thing.

After just over 3 hours of sleep, IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!!! But let me back up. We ended up waiting at the Denver airport for almost an hour for some flights that were coming in late. Unfortunately, no one that was on those flights that was supposed to be on our leg showed up, so we left without them. We arrived at MIA around 12:30 a.m., but the bags didn't come out until after 1:00. Then, I had two different Lyft drivers cancel rides on me, so by the time the third driver actually picked me up, it was 1:45 a.m. He got me to hotel, I checked in, and when I was in the room, it was 2:17 a.m. Ugh. I am at the Hyatt Place Miami Airport-West/Doral. It's your standard Hyatt, which is perfectly fine. Went to bed at 3:00 a.m., and it's now just about 7:00 a.m. in time for me to start repacking suitcases, get dressed for the day, and find something to eat since the last thing I ate was in the Denver airport yesterday afternoon. But... IT'S CRUISE DAY!

I could sort of see you guys on the Port Miami cam when Oasis turned away in the basin. Or, it could have just been my imagination, but I ran with it.

Let’s just say that frosted glass gives way to a “shadow puppet” show. mega downside to the suite lmao. Will need to change strategies tomorrow.

Room tour! Main entry Downstairs bedroom and Bathroom Main living area Upper level Balcony

#bezosclub

They opened up the rooms at 1:00 p.m. and I went straight there so that way I could start unpacking. I'm an organization freak, I love doing the unpacking part. Met my state room attendant, got things sorted with him, and now have two of my three suitcases. Once the other one shows up, I will continue to unpack. The view from this room is amazing, though I know it's just Miami's allure. Pleasantly surprised at the size of this room! This room is also set forward of the forward elevators on this deck, which I think leads directly to the bridge through the crew door. It is incredibly quiet. When I look off my balcony, to the left I can see the bridge, to the right I can see the overhanging hot tub. Also saw a pirate ship cruising the harbor. Wtf?

Look, @WAAAYTOOO, heaven!

There are girls boarding that are already in their bikinis. I guess that's one way to be ready for hot tubs early.

It's a start. I'll bulk up on the ship. #hulk I have it for Android and have loved it. Very easy to use. I have it set to Jingle Bells. YEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!

When we were on the balcony, we could hear the noise from the basketball court, even from the hot tub area. When inside, you hear nothing from the outside. I don’t know if that partition closes. I will check later. I get that look quite often. I just ignore it lol

My luggage made it! The pre-teen in me is laughing at the street name...

Tomorrow we are in Nassau and I don’t think we are leaving ship. FlowRider rental is a 8am tomorrow so we need to head to bed soon.

I had to go see what the fuss was about. Goodness, it feels like trying to book a flight on Frontier's website. So many nickel and dime options.