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We were supposed to go see adult comedy tonight but we decided to cancel it and do family movie night instead. Time spent with our girls is precious.

Flowriding is fun, but flowriding with friends is so much better Owen rode out of this one too fast

Me: blackened mahi Sammy Wife: Tuna poke

Lunch with the freeloaders, back at El Loco. Hubby is still at the FlowRider.

Good morning from Miami! I got to listen to a balcony party from 12-12:30am complete with yelling and loud music. Someone from RC must have come to talk to them because it was very abruptly silent. I woke up on time to see us come into the port and do the full turn around to come back to Terminal A. We fully docked at 6:32am. And now, it's time for one final meal in board: The Key breakfast. I forgot to snap a shot of the menu, but it's your standard MDR breakfast menu. I'm taking the RC shuttle to the airport at 8am. I'll probably update with some more random thoughts as the day progresses. It's sad that this cruise is done! My next one isn't until September on Allure (also out of Miami).

Made it to Canaveral. Eating lunch at Fish lips at the port. Disney Wish, adventure of the seas and allure in port presently. Will be pounding a blackened mahi Sammy soon.

Totally slept in this morning. I forgot that Jamaica is an hour behind and I did not turn my phone off from automatic settings. Even with airplane mode on, my phone will automatically reset unless I change it, which I forgot to. Anyway, have done much because I ended up sleeping an extra hour than I intended to. Off to the FlowRider for private session #2 and play the supportive wife

2 more days! Today's exciting updates... Ummm... my wife's Spring Break started today so she's of course doing school work b/c teaching sucks and she wants to get as much done for post-break as she can. She mentioned gathering stuff to pack later today. I have a little work to do; not much else planned. Packing doesn't involve very much prep for me. I'll just need to iron a few polos at some point (that's as dressy as I get). Besides the cup holders (which I'm still not sure we need) I made one small Bezos purchase earlier this week. The little plastic waterproof thingy that holds cards and cash I've been using for years finally ceased to be waterproof so it has been replaced by a waterproof wallet of sorts. It's a little bigger so I won't have to cram in folded up cash along with sea passes and ID's when we do a water-based excursion but it's flat so I don't even think I'll notice it in the pocket of my swim trunks. It's also less likely to fall out while lying in a hammock like the old one did on CocoCay a few cruises back. Fortunately I thought to go back and look in the hammock and found it. The FB page for this cruise continues to be unbearable. I woke up to a flame war between a woman whose 85 year-old father wanted to bring walkie-talkies b/c they don't want to pay for 7 people to have internet and he's concerned about losing touch with them. She was basically attacked by a guy telling her they are not permitted. I just don't get people. You have nothing better to do days before a cruise? Much like the guys who sat next to @Lovetocruise2002 and started fighting at that show... I don't even understand what they were fighting about. Other people were already sharing stories of travel shenanigans. There was a big snow storm in Colorado apparently and some people wound up driving to Texas to fly out of there. I also saw mention of tornadoes around Ohio. I'm definitely not Florida's biggest fan but I fully appreciate the one hour drive to PC. Being the nerd that I am, I started checking to see if any ships might be joining us on CocoCay Monday that were previously scheduled to go to Labadee. I know a couple got switched to CocoCay later next week but I *think* we're still going to be there alone. That's all I got for now. Reading back, there wasn't much reason to post all that, lol, but I feel the need to post something since I started this so early.

Dinner was at Hibachi tonight. Great food, excellent company, good laughs. Shane had all his families there tonight and we all know each other. Fun times had by all. My whole family had success in catching the egg. I had success in catching it down my shirt

I think we definitely got the “genie special” this afternoon! I have to say, I am not easily surprised but I did not see this one coming! When getting drinks with @recogneyes, she asked me if we had been to the pub. I said no and that we are not huge fans of the pub in general. She said we have to at least pop by for a visit to see the pub signer because he is really good. Later then evening, we ran into @recogneyes again at playmakers, and Stephen, the pub signer was there. She introduced us and we said will try to find time to see him. If you are wondering where I am going with this, keep reading… Today is a sea day, and Shane overheard us saying last night that we might do El Loco today. He suggested that we do a delivery because it might be busy and our kids never get anywhere early. When we came back to our room to eat, this is what we found.

Sunset was AMAZING tonight. If you zoom in kind of close, you can actually see the Miami skyline underneath the sunset.

I don't understand people who get upset at others for being helpful. Walkie talkies aren't permitted a lot of places, why is this a big deal? I don't really have FB in general but whenever I breeze by people are just mean.

Day 4: We arrived in Picton around 11:00am but the gangway wasn't open till 11:45am. One of the downsides to living on Deck 3 is that they block off both sides so you can't get to your stateroom easily... everytime we'd have to get someone to move the barrier for us if we wanted to go back our staterooms...but it's whatever, not the end of the world, but I should have known when Royal assigned us Deck 3. Picton is a nice little town that basically takes about 1 hour to walk around the entire city centre. Royal? Or the Port? provides you with free shuttles into the town centre though, since Picton is a working port and pedestrians aren't allowed to wander. It's full of timber logs. I didn't want to pay for a shore excursion cause it was a bit expensive.. I walked around the city why my dad just sat and waited for me (He had a sore leg so he couldn't walk much, which is fair enough), we got back around 2:30pm. I booked North Star for 4:15pm but went earlier cause they had room... I don't get why you'd want to do the North Star on Sea Days.. it's basically just ocean. Went to get a bite at SeaPlex Hotdogs. Very underrated venue that I think many people don't know about. Dinner was UK themed... the Fettucine Alfredo was very good, and the soup has been the best since Night 1. Definitely better than last night. Tomorrow is Caribbean themed. There was an encore performance of Live. Love. Legs that I considered going to, but I'd already seen it so I decided to walk around the Royal Esplanade instead... I would buy one of the Rolex's or the Invicta's... if they didn't cost an arm and a leg. But alas. It was around 9:20 so I decided to get to the Royal Theatre early to secure a seat for the Love and Marriage game show. Needless to say... some secrets were revealed. A couple from Indiana won , there was this couple who were married for 58 years, but I don't think they really knew what was going on, cause some of the answers didn't make sense. Regardless, it was still extremely funny to watch. Although, the woman sitting next to me would not stop talking the entire show and it was very annoying and everytime she laughed she did that really weird squeal thing that people do when they think something is hilarious. She ruined the show for me... plus the guy on my right spilled my drink as he was sitting down cause he accidentally knocked it over - he offered to buy me a new one after the show, but it's whatever, it was already almost finished so It wasn't like a huge deal, just a slight annoyance. Nothing else really on now so bed time! Day 5 tomorrow- Napier The ship is rocking again.. we're back in rough seas...

This is for all you ELF fans out there. I managed to get there right before they closed at 6pm. I then took the contents of my chicken burrito and dumped it on my nachos. It was DIVINE. And a Painkiller to sit with now for sunset!

Afternoon report: With lunch done, I headed to Starbucks for my daily Strawberry refresher. Then Hubby said he was going back to the FlowRider, D17 is reading on the suite sundeck, D15 is chilling with her books in the cabin. I had to go to the suite sundeck to grab the sunscreen from D17 to bring to Hubby at the FlowRider (see, still playing home genie) so I grabbed some pics of the crowds on the suite sundeck. Not bad. Perhaps it got too hot for everyone . I will try to go again earlier over the next two days.

You have spent much more time at the flowrider being a supportive wife than in the past. I’m very impressed

IMO, Mason Jar is way better than Portside BBQ

My homeland.

This is the best part of blogging....just sayin' "hi".

I was just about the write the same thing. No creeper has a CHANCE in my room b/c we clean EVERYTHING out from under the bed to shove all of our $hit underneath ! We always take the spare comforter and fold it at the bottom of the bed to use when we are napping (which is almost EVERY day at some point). I can't really understand why the folded comforter seems to completely perplex the stateroom attendant. 100% of the time I have to tell them to please just leave it like it is. Don't put it inside a sheet cover...don't move it back under the bed. Just leave it folded at the bottom. One of the recent attendants began mumbling something about us invading his "kit"...so I suspect that the spare comforter is something that they use when they make up the room for the next guest. Sorry...I don't care. Just leave my nappy blanky alone !

i don’t look under the bed, but that’s only because i shove so much luggage down there that it would injure/maim any unwanted stowaways

That pretty much sums up what happened I will say though, Shane is truly one of a kind.

Balcony hack (if you have one): it's big enough to make into your own private sun lounging area.

We are staying at Hilton garden inn cocoa beach. It’s right on the ocean. Modest Looking from the outside but beautiful inside. Evidently it’s been “amplified” at some point. I’d post pics of the pool area but it includes people in bathing suits and I don’t want to offend anyone’s sensibilities. So here’s a pic of the bar area.

I was on the allure of the seas, someone took my custom door magnet. I notified security and they found it, they knocked on the person's door and it was a 33 year old man with his family, he said he was goofing around, and he was really embarrassed they found him

We recently booked a B2B on Wonder but have to wait till Christmas 2025. We are all so excited to try the brunch and dinner at Mason Jar. The dinner menu reminds us of some of Portside BBQ offerings. Look forward to following along.

Hey @GatorCruiser, if you didn't know, a Starlink launch was scrubbed last night and is now scheduled for 6:39pm tonight.

Oh we heard the story! He told us that story earlier this week. I thought it was terrible, could not believe it. It was because of that story that they posed for an “air hug” for that photo lol

Well how cool is that! We had a good chat with Stephen last night…at the pub…and he told us he had a great time with your family yesterday. Now you can say you have experienced the Royal Loft concert series.

Day 6 Jamaica

We used Royal's shuttle bus on the cruise before last and booked it onboard. In fact, it was regularly an option in the cruise planner starting about midway through the cruise. It told people to go to guest services to book. For Ft. Lauderdale it was $20 per person. They use shuttle buses. And they assign you a departure time based on your flight (before noon or after). We didn't use it on our last cruise because the option through our pre-cruise hotel was $5 cheaper per person and could book it in advance so we didn't have to worry about anything being filled up.

I haven't seen anyone express concern that Royal will close Labadee permanently, and I don't have that fear. This isn't the first time that Labadee has ceased operations due to unrest in Haiti. Unfortunately, it probably won't be the last.

Said every cruiser ever unless you have a B2B and it's only the 1st leg, lol. Thanks for the blog and safe travels!

Have you ever checked under your bed to see what's there? After last month's news about the RC employee getting arrested who hid under people's beds, I decided to get down on my hands and knees and check out how much room there actually is under there. Yes, a person could hide under there. What's actually down there on a regular basis though? I discovered blankets and towels! So if you're ever needing either, look under your bed.

I guess I'll have to re-try this along with the quesadilla next week. They were both so bad on Wonder in June I gave up and only made tacos.

We're docked in Picton. Just waiting for all the logistics and then we can get off the ship!

So he delivers ELF the room which is cool but then gets the pub singer there for a private concert ? Mercy, I’m somehow booking star class in the future. That’s sublime genie service.

I sure hope so! We need someone to take care of us when we grow old! And she already knows my cruising style. Thank you @Neesa! And congratulations to you too with your graduate!

This blog is amazing, I can't thank you enough. The joy this last photo gave me, just wow! Congratulations to YOU the parents and your amazing high school graduate D17. I'm sure this young lady is destined for greatness. It is an honor joining your family on this oh so special sailing. Cheers to you, what an incredible family you are!!!!

Shane is amazing! There is no doubt about that! We had lunch and it was awesome having the opportunity to chat with Shane and Stephen. A fun way to spend an unexpected sea day!

Yes, I was actually slightly disappointed in the dinner menu because the ribs and brisket were meh.......not to mention those extremely vinegary greens. The shrimp and grits were also very disappointing. But I could brunch there all day, every day.

I have to say that Portside does bbq better. Everything else at Mason Jar was good but the brisket left a lot to be desired. Meanwhile I could eat Portside brisket for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Not advocating for or against, right or wrong, but as a retired firefighter I understand the likely reason for no corridor or door decorations. The interior finishes and floor coverings in the corridors are likely flame retardant. Stuff placed on corridor walls or doors, perhaps not so much. It isn't as much the fire hazard as much as smoke generation should a fire occur. Smoke packed to the floor in the primary means of escape should an evacuation be required........ Surprising a cruise line wouldn't enforce their own policy. Then again , our first cruise to celebrate Mrs Geezer's 48th anniversary of her 21st birthday had decorations on the corridor side of the cabin door that I ordered from RCL.

What am I, chopped liver? Since you did excellent recon work at Paradise Beach for me... I'll let it slide.

Yes. we have used the Port to MIA shuttle twice recently, purchased directly from Guest Services while we were on the ship. Sometimes, not always, it is available on the app. Cost is 20-dollars each person. And yes, it was a large and modern bus. This works so well for us, this is how we get from any Royal ship back to the airport, every time, regardless of which port we are at. There is one issue I have learned to be pro-active about. For whatever reason, in spite of them asking our flight time, when we get our luggage tags and debark assignments, they never match the actual time we need, to get on the bus. For example, the bus may load at 0830, but our debark group may be such a time that by the time we get to the bus, it's already quite loaded and many of the buses have already left. That means we get leftover seats, and maybe not even sit together. To remedy this, I go to guest services and have them change our debark time to an earlier group. And on my very last cruise from Miami, I discovered it's just as easy to ask our cabin attendant for an earlier tag. He has them all and can change your debark time just for the asking.

Very awesome!!!!

@Lovetocruise2002 Shane’s genie special was worth waiting for and I bet the girls enjoyed the private session w/the pub singer. That was a very generous thoughtful Gift from Genie Shane! Our genie arranged for the pianist/vocalist (also from the pub) to play the grand piano in our RLS. We requested most of the music. Genie and pianist joined us in hilarious laughter filled singalong. The awkward part was how much to tip the pianist? Let’s just say hubs tipped him bigly. It was big fun - an unforgettable experience but I think I’d like a complimentary Genie Special better. What a memorable week to celebrate the graduate with your beautiful family. I’ve had so many smiles and a couple lol’s…just following along.

I actually even had it on the side table last night while I was laying in bed. It keeps the top of the side table clear!

Proof that I do leave the room lol

Current situation: