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Tonite dinner was Izumi. There is no hibachi on EX so it’s always sushi only….which is fine with me. I’m not a fan of the hibachi menu (or the “show”) anyway. This was night #2 of our 3 night dining package. Chops on night #9, the last night. Insider tip: if you see chopsticks nearby, this is probably NOT guacamole. We went to the casino after dinner (who’s surprised) and it was a mixed bag. Dan and I played some Dancing Drums (b/c the pigs were all occupied) and we lost a little bit. Dan went and played some video poker and won while I played some UTH and lost. Ugh. Back in the room now. Tomorrow is St Kitts (again) and we have no plans to get off. Today was another visit to Grenada and we just got off for a little while and browsed the terminal shops. I bought Dan a couple of new Caribbean shirts which he DESPERATELY needed. He’s been wearing the same sad ones we bought in Aruba probably 12 years ago ! Most of them are missing buttons and I’m a terrible wife who has never fixed them for him. It’s easier just to buy some new shirts ! He now has 2 new ones…

Greetings, RC Blog friends! It's me, Mrs. Regular, back again for another blog. This year we are leaving the Regular kiddos at home and making it an extended family affair! Follow along for preparations, travel, and semi-live updates from the Brilliance of the Seas! Background Info Picture it... Sicily, 1929... Just kidding. I'm in my Golden Girls era so I often channel Sofia when I begin telling a story. Picture it... my living room, November 2022. Alaska 2024 deployment would be announced and bookings opened within a few days. We already had cruised in the Mediterranean, cruised from NYC down to the Bahamas, and were booked for summer 2023 on the Mariner of the Seas for my 40th birthday. Generally we are a "one cruise at a time" kind of family but something struck me about the 2024 Alaska deployment that just felt.... right. Like it was the exact right time for Mr. Regular and I do book something for ourselves. A treat. A reprieve. Alaska has been on our bucket list for a long time and at first glance when bookings became available, the price was pretty good. I knew I couldn't just book something without speaking with him first, so I laid out all the benefits and trade-offs (small ship! leaving from Vancouver! Aft balcony! I just got a pretty sizable raise so I will foot the bill! He saw no tradeoffs, lol), and got his ok to contact the travel agent. YES! It was so early in the deployment I got to hand pick our room and with over 600 days to go, we started planning and researching. Eventually, our other extended family (mainly our parents) caught wind of our plans. We scheduled a mid-May itinerary for a few reasons, one of the best being our kids wouldn't be able to go. I know, we are Regular mean parents. But also because the likelihood of the ship being overrun by school kids would be lower. We love kids, we have two, we have kids in our family and extended friends group. There's nothing wrong with kids. But, we loved our experience cruising during a non-break time. The last two cruises we've taken have been with our kids during school breaks and they have been vastly different experiences. Not bad, but different. We wanted to return to those non-break vibes. But this time in Alaska. Anyway, our parents wanted to tag along and we were ok with that. Getting my sister to come rounds out our merry group of 6! The Intergenerational Regular Family Tree Me, Mrs. Regular. 40 years old. Working at a university full time and full time PhD student. I am finishing up coursework and successfully defended my proposal last month. This itinerary falls over the one break I have between spring and summer terms. I have been on 3 RC cruises and will reach Emerald on this cruise. Husband, Mr. Regular. 45 years old. Working at the same university and teaches snow sports on the side. He is bummed there will be no skiing or snowboarding while visiting Vancouver or Alaska. Has been on the same cruises as me and will reach Emerald. Regular Mom. My mother! 70 years young. Doesn't travel much, retired 3rd grade teacher. Has always wanted to go to Alaska. Will be her first cruise. Regular Sister. My sis! My best friend. 38 years old, never cruised before. Just there to show up and have fun! Regular Father-in-Law. Mr. Regular's dad. 79 years old, has cruised once before from FL. Certified renaissance man, he is an acrobatic pilot, flight instructor, motorcycle racer, and welder. Ran a multi-million dollar business but never earned a bachelor's degree. He is just so cool. Regular Mother-in Law. Mr. Regular's mom. 84 years old, has cruised once before from FL. Recovering from a mild stroke in January, she is a remarkable person. She's improved so much in 4 months mobility and speech wise. She's still sharp as a tack but just a little slower than before. In her 80's but acts not a day over 60. Why are we "regular people"? My username and the name of my cruise blogs came out of an observation that post-COVID restart, most people in the RC Blogs were taking their "revenge" travel trips and there was a run for a while of suites only travel blogs. No shade to the "suite snobs" out there or to those who are blessed enough to cruise frequently at the premium of a suite. But, while I am still fairly new to cruising I wanted to read more from perspectives that didn't go for all the extras or bells and whistles. Thus, "regular people cruising" was born! Not only do we not tend to travel in suites with the amenities, we also don't splurge on other luxuries like drink packages, unlimited dining, spa treatments, a lot of excursions, etc. Now, this will change a little bit this trip because I think Alaska affords some special opportunities. Our Itinerary My in-laws are flying in on their own schedule, but mom, Husband, Sis, and I are all traveling together from NJ on a direct flight to Vancouver on the 11th. Crossing fingers for smooth travels! We are all staying at the Sheraton downtown and will get brunch on the 12th before heading to Canada place to board our ship! Day 1 - Vancouver Day 2 - Inside Passage/At Sea Day 3 - Sitka in the afternoon. No plans other than walking around port and maybe going to the totem poles Day 4 -Juneau. Mom, Sis, Husband and I have the dog musher's camp excursion in the morning. Regular in-laws may or may not get off the ship, much will depend on how MIL is doing. She can do activities in small bursts but then needs time to sleep and recover. We will be done at the camp by 1 but the ship is in port until 7 p.m. so I am sure some sub-group of us will explore Juneau a bit. This night Husband and I have date night at Chops. Day 5 - Haines. We all have the White Pass Railroad excursion booked through RC. Most looking forward to this one! Day 6 - Tracey Arm and glacier viewing/At Sea Day 7 - Inside Passage/At sea Day 8 - Vancouver. The Regular In-Laws are staying at a hotel on Vancouver Island to relax for a few days and traveling home later in the week. The rest of us have a red-eye back to NJ. We will look into storing luggage somewhere and taking a tour around Vancouver before heading to the airport. Next Update: Packing! Packing! Packing!

Today we are in Nassau. There is Liberty to my left. And Anthem to my right. I feel like the inside of a Royal sandwich.

Thursday, day 7. Due to call at St Kitts today but not arriving until 11 AM. Nothing planned for today. We have been blessed with beautiful weather and calm seas for this entire trip. So fortunate ! Off to breakfast at Giovanni’s. It’s one of my very favorite Pinn perks.

Adding my 🫨. Holy crud. That's really unfortunate. Pretty sure we only use our range bag for the range but now I'll be paranoid and extra cautious. I've accidentally brought aboard airplane bottles of liquor that they gave me on the plane and i kept in my bag and didn't think about. Or heaven forbid the time i forgot i had some gummies in my bag that were never caught (thank God). You often forget that what's perfectly legal and normal in your every day life doesn't translate when you travel.

Others have already posted tibs and tabs about this but I don't think there's a thread devoted to it...at least, not that I know of. There has been a CP "sale" going on for a couple of days. It is "on again/off again" but it's back on today. BUT - BE CAREFUL. Some of the dining packages include gratuities in the "list price" and some do not so be careful cancelling something that you already have until you know for SURE that it's going to be a savings. 1. It appears as though MOST of the packages - UDP and 3 night, already include the grats. If the grats are included, it will say so below the advertised price. If it says "Gratuities Included" then the final price will simply be the number of packages that you are purchasing, multiplied by the price of the package(s) you are purchasing. If it says "pre-cruise savings", the grats are NOT included in that price so you will have to calculate the total price to see what the final $$ will be. 2. It APPEARS as though the requirement to eat at least one meal on nights #1 or #2 is gone. The CP no longer required me to choose a "first" meal time. That's a good thing, IMO. Hopefully you can now use your packages on any days/nights that you choose. 3. It appears as though all of the individual restaurants still require you to calculate gratuities....IOW, the grats are not included in the posted price for individual restaurants. Some of the individual restaurants that I checked were less $$ than when I first purchased and some were not. Just be sure that you know what you'll be paying BEFORE you cancel anything and/or purchase at the "reduced" price. It seems like the package prices include grats. 4. I was not able to use any of my available OBC when I purchased/repurchased my specialty dining. It gave me the option of using the OBC but the final price was never reduced by the amount of the OBC so I am HOPING that the OBC is still there. This is uncertain to me at the moment. Hopefully the OBC will reappear in a day or so. 5. As far as I can tell, the ability to make pre-purchased dining reservations ahead of time has still not been implemented. I was never prompted to make any specific reservations. 6. Other items in the CP may also be on sale. I have only looked at dining so I am unaware if other areas of the CP are similarly affected. The prices are pretty good (considering the upward trend for specialty pricing) and I saved quite a bit of $$ by cancelling and repurchasing but it took me a while to figure out the secret code.

Sorry for the extra picture above. as we were walking this morning we spotted the full moon

Yesterday was a very busy day. We had breakfast in Coastal kitchen and then off to hide ducks. We hid ducks till lunch at Johnny Rockets and then immediately went for the bridge tour. after the tour we went for a 3 o’clock show. We saw The ventriloquist again but a different show this time ,he was very funny. We lost another hour at 2 pm.time will not change today. dinner last night was 150 service was off we may not go back there on this trip. Filet veal fried cheesecake

I did not get off yesterday in Bimini. I could see it from the ship and it didn't look worthwhile to get off. I do not adventure solo so when I'm on a solo trip. If I get off I just walk around the immediate port area if there isn't an excursion that gives a generalized tour of the area with no water activities or beach breaks. If I wasn't solo I would have likely rented a golf cart and explored. It was Caribbean night in the MDR and I still went despite the uninteresting menu. My table neighbors are all nice. My table is a 2-top in a row of other 2-tops so we're all super close like one big table. Fortunately this cruise everyone shows up early and there's less waiting around for ordering and food delivery. Makes the meal go faster.

This is why my range bag is only a range bag and nothing else.

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion! It feels like vacation in the house this morning. I usually have the kids up by 7am so we can start school by 8. They are both still in bed though, so it's me and the dogs snuggled up on the couch with a cup of coffee, enjoying the quiet. I'm all caught up on emails to clients. I have some icing I need to package and freeze for future samples, but otherwise, I can turn on my out of office. DH originally requested tomorrow off in addition to all of next week. He toyed with the idea of going into the office anyway, but only briefly. It should be a relaxed pace for him to pack tomorrow instead of trying to get it all done Saturday morning. Today's to-do list includes a stop by Ulta, the bank, and my mother in law's place to pick up some goodies - she gives me all her Estee Lauder free gifts, and I just ran out of mascara. The kids have piano lessons this afternoon and those errands are all conveniently around area of their studio. Pick up the dry cleaning tonight, then one last taekwondo class for the kids. We plan on starting the drive about noon on Saturday. Right now it looks like we may have rain both during the drive and possibly for sail away on Sunday. The flowrider may have to wait until day 2.

You do not want to be caught with ammo there. Apparently it carries a 12-year prison sentence. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/turks-and-caicos-ammo-prison-sentence-american-tourists/ Ironically (or Google shenanigans), that story popped up in my Chrome newsfeed today.

Oh..I forgot to mention this last cruise but they did kick someone off the ship in Grand Turk and today on the Facebook group we got this explanation.

Thanks. It's very "resting bitch face" while doing everything in your power to NOT look at your partner. Right! I loved my Capezios. That was exactly my thought. These are designed for west coast swing, so the toe box isn't blocked for stands and the soles and heels are thinner. Other than than that, they feel just like my old Capezio pair. So we met up at the dance shoe store and we both bought a pair of shoes. I'm not sure what happened, but somehow a new practice skirt made it into my car as well. They had a cute tank top, but it wasn't meant to be. We have a west coast swing class tonight, so we'll try to break the shoes in. DH will have to get used to the different feel of the more plastic-y soles for sure. Keeping this a cruise live blog and not a dance journal...I also dropped off a little bit of dry cleaning. The at home laundry saga continues as well. We can ALL officially start packing now too.

I am doing my first Alaskan cruise this Sept on Quantum. I too normally cruise regular. We are in Interior VB and have excursions planned for 3/4 ports. So, I am looking forward to this blog.

Ok, with our flight to Miami less than 24 hours away, I'm happy to report that Kelli is completely packed, and I.....am not. But don't worry I have plenty of time to have things squared away before the car services arrives to take us to the airport in the morning . One interesting thing of note that I'm not sure I've seen mentioned before. It seems that Hard Rock Hotel has teamed up with Club Royal. Sounds fun and exciting And we just found out that both Phoenix and DSB will play on this sailing! We love live music, so this is a real treat! We are also checked in for our flight and ready to go in the morning! The plane we are taking starts the day in Houston then makes a quick turn in New Orleans and then back for our flight at noon. The excitement is building! Tic Toc

I would never use a bag that had previously been used with firearms or ammunition of any kind. Just too many things can go wrong. Sniffing dogs, for example. Why add that risk of suspicion and attention.

I saw that story about the ammo and was like wow. But 12 years seems excessive.

I get impatient when I'm waiting in lines so I get hyper observant and notice everything

Yes, got the conformation. I'm happy.

I never even considered Alaska but my wife did and spent a year planning (with an outside company) what turned out to be a bucket list type extravagant 18-day land/sea trip in 2018. It cost a small fortune (especially given that we normally just drive to PC for 7N's in the Caribbean in an interior) but it was the best trip we've ever taken. I've been thanking her for making me go ever since. Enjoy!

I booked Wonder on Aug 11. Wanted to do the 4th but it was on the naughty list. I did upgrade to GTY neighborhood balcony for $146. Taking my youngest son as a special dad and son trip since I’ve previously booked up all my wife’s PTO

Oh my word! Checking and double checking our back packs, they do in fact accompany us to the range on occasion. So sad for this man, what an unfortunate and horrible mistake. I'm glad the particulars were shared, just wow!!

I'm solo too, so not distracted by my immediate party. But again I also get distracted by everything else going on when I am with my immediate party and see everything...maybe it's just us

I think this is me, I feel seen .

This happened to me. I was fortunate to have an excellent travel agent, who took care of everything for me. Sorry this happened to you.

The people (not all) in the WJ are often a special breed. I will never forget that kid sucking that sausage and putting it back, the mom seeing but not telling the staff.

We use our card for all everyday purchases and then redeem the points for on board credit for our cruises. I have never used the points for an actual cruise.

I've noticed the pricing plateau as well the past several months. I think we may have finally hit the ceiling on dining (and beverage) package pricing. Now if only internet and shore excursion pricing would finally top out too...

Symphony seems like a popular choice. I also chose Symphony for Dec 1-8, upgraded to a gty balcony. I actually tried to sneak in an 8 day on Oasis for the same week but 3 different reps weren't having it. I'll usually try something 3 times with different reps (like upgrade prices) before I go to plan B.

Well, we spent Saturday at Baha Bay. It's a nice place but expensive. Our tickets said to meet at zone 3, but it was actually zone 2. At the designated time, we got our wrist bands and walked to the buses. The buses were packed. 15-20 drive to the resort. After a quick security check entered the resort. If we come back in Dec, the grandson is going to love Turtle Beach (kids area). We explored the area and ended up relaxing at Baha Bay Lagoon. Overall, it is a very nice facility, but expensive. Example - $5.00 for a 12 oz. can of water, $16.25 for a double scoop cup if ice cream. If you decide to leave early, It's a $25.00 can ride back to the ship. We are discussing weather it is worth going in Dec.

It would seem i need to start up the novena again! And i agree: much easier to buy new than mend!

The sale that came out today had the best deal I've seen yet on a three-night dining package for our sailing (October 13 on Symphony) -- 30% off the the rack rate instead of the usual 20%. Not sure if this affects many other sailings, but if you've been on the lookout for those rare deals on the three night package, now might be a good time to take a look.

THREE WEEKS!

The live blog I did last month was almost nothing but food and drink porn, lol, so unless I decide not to do one, you'll find my thoughts there. The plan is to go on night one... so my wife has already warned/ordered me in advance not to go nuts eating like I tend to do on embarkation day, lol.

I post way too much to remember everything, lol, but I do now. We're still going to try GK in June with our first ever BOGO but thanks for the follow-up. GT was always a big meal (which works for me) but I don't see how GK would be any smaller. I'm actually expecting it to be bigger b/c I will want to try a pizza (somehow) after ordering 1-2 apps, a filet, a pasta dish, and dessert. I may get the pizza to go. In any case, I'm not worried about portion. Ambience doesn't matter a ton to me. I can appreciate it but I'm there for the food. Taste... leads us back to subjectivity... and there's only one way to find out what our subjective opinion is. Hope that didn't come off as argumentative or dismissive. I do appreciate you resurrecting this and we were already on the same subjectivity page. Enjoy the rest of your cruise! I've been following along when you pop into @WAAAYTOOO's live blog.

Remember our conversation about GT vs GK @OCSC Mike? Ambience, taste, PORTION --- evidence from GT last night below. She could only eat 1/3 of that but said it was great. I had the garlic prawns - everything was outstanding!

The pinkest Starbucks I have ever encountered.

I’m so glad you got new dance shoes! As a dancer I love dance heels. Regular heels or even shoes in general no thanks. Dance shoes yes please

No guarantee you get what you ask for of course but no harm in trying. I know the 2-top rows you're talking about and I get it. Last cruise (Wonder in March) we were one 2-top removed from a window (after my request) so it was kind of like being at a 4-top with another couple but fortunately they were nice and we got along and chatted for a while.

I’ve never even thought about requesting location…just the 2-top. Now I will definitely add on window or edge near railing. I hated being smooshed in between a bunch of other 2 -tops. They might just as well sat us together they were that close. Jane

Here it is....

I'm glad they are starting to offer it in the cruise planner. The fact you have to call to book it is archaic.

They can be loose. I see people bringing them on in plastic grocery bags all the time.

Wow, it's a good thing you were able to find this almost 6 year old thread to post your opinion. Strange that there just haven't been any discussions of specialty restaurants since then.

I liked the CL on Indy between the crown view and the outdoor area. Although when we were on her in 2022 the automatic sliding door to the outside wasn't working so you had to manually pry it open, lol. The warm snacks were also awful. Everything is a trade-off I guess. I'm used to Oasis class with the CL in the basement and I'll take Wonder's virtual window, nice food spread, and TWO coffee machines at this point over a nice view. I don't actually lounge there for long anyway... I usually just grab my cappuccinos and pastry to go in the early AM and pop in at night to check the snacks and maybe sit there eating them for 10-15 mins.

Suite Lounge must be boring. The Pinns keep infiltrating the Crown Lounge and blinding me with their bling

I still can't get over that sad little warming tray, lol.

Here's the Crown Lounge snacks since I was up here to grab a coffee..

Ok. I’m gonna try and upload these Ocean World photos. Wish me luck. I know this is hard to read but it will give you an idea of the content of the Park. It’s much bigger than I would have thought before I saw it for myself. Again, maybe not so easy to read, but some idea of the show schedules This is the only photo I got of an actual dolphin since the dolphin encounter wasn’t included in our excursion. I will say though, they make it very easy for you to watch all of the interactions/encounters, even if you haven’t paid to participate. The shows are all readily visible from a distance. You just don’t get to interact with the animals if you haven’t paid for the excursion. Lots of opportunities to observe. We (at least, I did not. Dan watched a bit) did not watch the dolphin show but this is a photo of the dolphin show area. As you can see, it’s pretty easy to watch a show from this vantage point even if you’re not directly involved. Fresh water pool Dan actin’ the fool. This is by the kiddie area of the fresh water pool. OBTW, the fresh water pool was COLD They have 2 bird houses. This is the macaw area. Beautiful birds. The second bird house was for the smaller birds, primarily love birds. No explanation needed for this one… …or this one… The snorkeling area had a couple of plexiglass viewing areas. Lots of fish and coral to see. I really enjoyed snorkeling in this area but we were fortunate enough to have done this early. Later in the day it was crowded and chaotic as there were kids in there who had no idea how to snorkel and were thrashing about maniacally. I’m sure it was very disruptive to the fish. Glad I missed that… Bizarre photo of Dan in the snorkeling area. Actual arms and reflections of arms. Yikes ! This is a rather crappy photo of the shark encounter area. It’s actually quite large. The sharks in this interaction are nurse sharks and the are extremely wimpy as sharks go. They ran and hid in the rocks once the snorkelers entered the water. When this photo was taken (before the snorkelers got in) the sharks were just looking for a free meal. They know when the chow is coming out ! Moving on to the sea lions. Here is Dan about to get a kiss. While I was taking this picture, I had an employee telling me, “Sorry, no photographs allowed”. I just ignored him and took this one but put my phone away after that. I had no interest in seeing the inside of a Dominican jail. After the encounter was over, photography wasn’t a problem. This was during an actual sea lions show which was open to the public Obligatory balancing-the-ball-on-the-snout photo. Heres the sea lion (I can’t remember his name) giving mouth-to-mouth (or boca-a-boca, depending upon which narration you were listening to) to an unfortunate member of the staff who nearly drowned when this SAME sea lion pushed him off the rocks, moments earlier ! Scene of the crime… Welp, that’s all of the exciting things we saw and experienced at Ocean World. If you get the chance to go when in Puerto Plata, I do recommend it.