KWong

Love this. Great pics!

After lunch, we decided to try out the Perfect Storm waterslides. During minigolf, we were talking to a couple of older teens from Michigan about the slides, and they thought that the slides weren’t great, and that they were slow to the point of almost getting stuck in the tubes. But after we went on a few times, I have to conclude that they perhaps adjusted the water flow, because while the slides weren’t as fast as what you might find at an onland waterpark, they had more than enough speed to get you to the bottom in a hurry.

 If I had a gripe about the slides, it’s that there aren’t enough clear panels to let you see out of the tubes, especially where you travel to the edge of the ship. Really felt like a missed opportunity.

 After we went on the slides, the kids wanted to hit the pool, so they went there while my wife and I relaxed. While we were there, we had the fortune (misfortune?) to witness the Sexiest Man contest. This was definitely… something. Still not sure what, exactly, but it was something. All I will say is that the guy in the Rey Mysterio mask was robbed.

Our final dinner featured Rack of Lamb and Steak Diane, both of which were wonderful. It also featured “Asian pork tacos”, which based on the description, we guessed was actually pork bao. And that’s exactly what it was. I can’t say it was great.

An interesting note was that for the last day, they were trying to get people to go to Chops at a 50% discount. It was tempting, but at the end of the day my wife and the girls wanted lamb chops, and why forgo the included lamb chops in the MDR in order to pay for lamb chops at the specialty restaurant? For us, the value add was simply not there.

 After dinner, we did our final packing and set the bags outside the room. After everyone else went to sleep I took a final trip across the pool deck, where it was pretty quiet.

Going back downstairs, I went to the theatre to watch the comedian, Anthony Acosta. I had a bit of an incident where I wanted to exercise my 2-for-1 beer voucher (I think everyone gets this?) and the bartender was utterly confused by this, thinking I wanted a Diamond happy hour drink. We did get it sorted out and before the show started he came over to apologize to me. Which was nice, but completely unnecessary, since we weren’t arguing – just trying to sort out what voucher I was redeeming. In any case, he gave me another beer, so I ended up with 3 beers for the price of 1. Yeah, that was a lot. Thankfully it was a macrobrew as opposed to something with a lot of flavour, so I got through them all.

The comedian, Anthony Acosta, was pretty good I thought, but his style is quite edgy, self-deprecating and plays a lot off of his ethnicity, and could easily rub people the wrong way. If you watched his act and did not enjoy it at all, well, I wouldn’t blame you one bit.

After the show, I went over to Sorrentos to wash down the beer with some food, and headed to bed.

Day 5 - At Sea

Final day. I hate final days, because you know you have get off the ship and head back to the Real World. Unless, of course, you’re Super Mario. But I think even he gets off the ships every once in a while.

Despite the late night, I was up relatively early, and we ate breakfast at WindJammer. The lack of speed in the MDR made us give up on them as an option, and besides, the buffet never seemed crowded. The only real drawback is that one could easily overdo things at breakfast, so I tried to limit myself to one pass at the buffet. Seemed to work, as I was able to load my plate but not to excess.

After breakfast, we took Olivia up to Adventure Ocean and… there were no kids in the 9-11 room. Curious. Since it was exactly 9 we figured that maybe some kids would come in later. Olivia didn’t want to be the only one there, so we took a walk around the upper deck and came back about 10 minutes later. Still no kids. Looking into the 6-8 club, there were very few kids in there as well. As a result, Olivia opted to hang out with the rest of us by the pool.

This was, to be honest, a bit of a strange phenomenon for the kids. During our August cruises, the kids clubs were usually full, so there wasn’t much concern about meeting new kids and having fun. But here it was the opposite, and I can see why Royal has started to move towards a merged 6-11 program.

Since Hannah and I had sushi making mid-morning, we opted not to swim and instead played a round of minigolf – something that I’d yet to do on a cruise. It was fun, as far as minigolf goes, plus the views were really nice at the front of the ship.

On A Roll took place, unsurprisingly, at Izumi. The idea here is that all the items you need to create your sushi are mise en place, and the chef instructs you on how to assemble each item. We made a California Roll, Shrimp/Avocado Roll, Spicy Tuna Hand Roll, and two Ebi Nigiri. As you can see from the pictures (and Matt has described before in the blog), this is a massive amount of food, which we then got to eat!

Note: We were not allowed to take the food out of the restaurant (apparently there is a health regulation against this), so I highly recommend you bring along a “non-participant” to “help dispose” of the sushi.

Once we were stuffed to bursting, we headed back upstairs to meet with my wife and Olivia. They were now hungry, so we headed over to Windjammer. Hannah and I weren’t all that hungry due to maki overload, but we still grabbed some veg in order to balance out our food pyramids.

I should note that at Windjammer they have an assistant waiter there with a guitar whose sole purpose is to sing songs featuring “washy-washy”. They are not great songs, but I definitely appreciate their attempts to hammer the point home about washing hands.

The track is on a separate island near downtown so probably traffic around there before and after the races I guess? 

4 hours ago, rita805 said:

Many thanks.  I'm finding many of the downtown hotels are booked the weekend of June 12-13. I will keep looking.

Rita from DC

I did a quick search and apparently you’ve got the Montreal Grand Prix (F1) going on. 

Ive only stayed at the Sheraton and the Fairmont downtown. Both are quite nice. 

On 1/13/2020 at 11:20 PM, Dan Curtis said:

We have started picking up some Lysol at a Walgreens or someplace after arriving the night before cruise. Never know if someone had a cold or flu in room before you.

It's a great idea. We get disinfectant wipes from the dollar store and use them on the plane as well. 

3 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Looks like at least the air wasn't as chilly for you?

No, it wasn't as windy, but the water was definitely choppy. A little chilly, but nowhere near Lake Ontario-in-summer frigid, if you know what I mean.

14 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Lol... I like your Quest reaction.

To be honest, I had stronger feelings, but I was trying to keep it PG. 

17 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Btw...who is your cruise director?

Cruise Compass says it was Cuddy. But in my mind I saw him as Not James Corden.

One thing I neglected to mention about Cozumel was that, going into the terminal from the ship, they had dogs out to sniff out contraband. But they weren't looking for drugs - they were looking for fruit! I mean, it makes sense that you don't want foreign fruit with potential foreign pests getting into the country, but it's kind of funny (in a serious way) when you're faced with the realization that, yes, this is actually happening.

So as much as you might want to bring in a banana, don't do it!

Dinner on this night featured a souffle. Back in 2006/07, we went on a Princess cruise where the dessert chef made souffles every night, even doing a savory souffle on one occasion. To this day, I feel like that spoiled us because whenever we get a souffle on a cruise, we’re inevitably comparing it to something from (now) 13 years ago. Unfair? You bet it is.

In this case, the souffles were a bit overcooked. It still tasted good, but you could almost imagine Gordon Ramsay throwing a fit and inventing about 20 new curse words to describe the not-perfect souffles. The mains, however, were on point. Kids aren’t big fans of alfredo sauce so we asked to get a red sauce for the linguini – no issues with that substitution.

 After dinner, we went to see the revue show, “Once Upon A Time”. This was a song and dance show with sets based around popular fairy tales. In a sense, it’s similar to what DCL does with their “Wishes” and “Believe” shows, subtracting Disney songs and any semblance of plot, while adding contemporary music and more choreography. Including what I think was an original disco song to open and close the show. The less said about THAT song, the better.

 I will not say that it was the most enjoyable show ever, but it wasn’t the worst I’d seen either. But certainly not a show I’ll need to see again, whereas I happily rewatch Blue Planet (Allure) and Columbus: The Musical (Harmony) again.

 So on my own again, I took another loss at the casino, and then I decided to take in the late night curiosity known as The Quest. I’d heard a bit about this, and after some time to digest this, my main impression is

I mean the host calls out some task like “I need 5 different shoes attached together by their shoelaces” and suddenly shoes are raining down onto the Studio B floor and I’m all

 So yeah, this game is nuts. There are points awarded. But I think, like in Whose Line Is It Anyway, the points don’t matter.

I tip my virtual hat to those of you with enough guts to be the captains. My team won, I think. Only the captains win a prize, so I guess I had a moral victory. So, yay?

The next day was our final full day on board, as we headed back to Fort Lauderdale.

Day 4 - Cozumel

The itinerary today found us coming into Cozumel around 10:30. Later than I’m used to, but with only one other ship in port (I think it was Disney Dream), not a big issue. Due to being in port on a Sunday, a lot of the popular beach clubs were closed. As a result, our plan was to go to Paradise Beach, but the backup plan was to stay in and around the port area.

Once we got off the ship, we headed out to the taxi area. The stand captain mentioned that the waters were pretty rough along the beach, but we were willing to risk it. Taxi rates were clearly listed at the stand, so that was good. Overall, it was $20 (incl tip) either way, and was about the same to just about any club in that area.

Paradise Beach has both an all inclusive and a la carte option, and seeing as we weren’t looking to eat and drink too much, the a la carte option (which involves a $3 cover and $10 food/drink minimum per person) seemed like the better option. After confirming this with the host, we headed out to the beach area. Sure enough, the waters were choppy and the floating obstacle course was still on the beach.

We took some beach chairs, and a waiter came by and took our $12 admission. Seeing as it was close to noon, we also ordered some food – guacamole and coconut shrimp, as well as some drinks for the kids. The guac was actually pretty good (although I prefer the one at Nachi Cocom better) but the shrimp was just so-so.

Hannah wasn’t actually feeling great on this day so Olivia and I headed to the pool. The pool area was busy but not crowded, so it was easy to maneuver around and enjoy ourselves.

We decided to leave the club around 2pm.  We were there roughly 3 hours, so at the end of the day, we weren’t there not long enough to truly take advantage of an all-inclusive package, so going a la carte was the best decision for us.

With my recent Indy cruise, it was actually my second rebook as I had been bumped from a Navigator AND an Indy cruise due to charters. The OBC offered from those bumps covered my gratuities, plus the cruise I ended up going on (Jan 2) was more expensive than the original cruises and I was price protected at my original cost, so it worked out for me.

2 hours ago, pmh said:

So I know this is an old topic but what floor/location would be the best for a Central Park Balcony.  Thnks

I would try to avoid 14 on principle. Sometimes you can hear people on the pool deck.

I do think that Central Park is pretty chill, but I also find it a little lacking in terms of breeze on the lower levels. So for me, 11-12 would be the ideal decks.

29 minutes ago, twangster said:

Like you haven’t been to a BBQ at a friend of a friends and told him his BBQ wasn’t the best ever, while it maybe wasn’t?

Oh I definitely have. Better to be honest about food than lie. Otherwise you might have to eat it again.

3 hours ago, twangster said:

In fairness not every BBQ place I've tried in Texas has been "the best ever" either.

I think I just heard the hearts of my Texan friends/relatives break with that comment.

6 hours ago, steverk said:

Does anyone have experience in non-Caribbean ports, such as Australia or New Zealand?

I would probably get some Australian money if I'm down there, or Euros if I'm on the Mediterranean. You should be able to use your credit card for most things in Canada. If you use cash you'll get a bunch of loonies and toonies back (but no pennies) that you'll have no idea what to do with. 

I'll have to do that... but I think I might need to rescan them into a pdf...

Quick note: I'm working on scanning the Cruise Compasses and assorted sheets they gave us. Should I include it here or somewhere else?

On 1/12/2020 at 1:39 PM, NerdDad said:

Dad has figured out that we’re in First Class and asked what they’re serving for dinner. Club Sandwich or a Salad. He is unimpressed.

As he should be. But that's $10 you don't have to spend on food, so there's that.

On 1/12/2020 at 2:48 PM, NerdDad said:

Once a marine, always a marine.

Please thank him for his service for me.

15 hours ago, NerdDad said:

Overall, our fellow passengers seem to skew 40+ generally. Some kids but relatively few. I was curious myself because it abuts MLK day.

I guess this doesn't surprise me as much as it does you. I think it's a little too deep into the start of the school semester for people to justify taking time off, unless they've got real little ones.

Then again, I went on a Disney Cruise one October and that was overrun with kids. Go figure.

Day 3 - George Town, Grand Cayman

We’d only been to Grand Cayman once, on a Disney cruise, and we used that time to have a beach day. This time around, we decided to do something we’d never tried before - swimming with Stingrays. After a lot of research, I signed up with Stingray Sailing and their sister company, Cayman Eco Adventures. They have a very good reputation and do excursions with small groups, so I was willing to go with them despite their tour not being the least expensive.

Unfortunately, fate had other things in mind for us. Because of the diversion back to Key West we arrived to Georgetown around 8:00. At this point we’d already eaten breakfast in the MDR but were unable to finagle our way onto one of the first tenders (which went out around 8:30) out to the terminal. Which if things proceeded apace would not have been a huge issue, but after the first two tenders winds and waves caused a temporary stop to the boats. And since it was looking like we wouldn’t be off before 10, I emailed Stingray Sailing (I’d been in contact with them throughout the morning) notifying them that we would have to cancel our tour.

To the credit of the company, they refunded our deposit even though they did not have to based on the contract language. So while I cannot comment on the tour itself, I have to commend the customer service and will more than likely give them another go if and when we come back.

So with the tour cancelled, we went with our backup plan – Calico Jack’s and Public Beach. Public Beach is one of the well known locations along the Seven Mile Beach, and Calico Jack’s has been an institution there… but apparently they’re leaving. Don’t know what this means for the area, but I’m sure they’ll be missed.

 Seven Mile is also where my brother once went into the water with a cellphone in his pocket. Oops. But thanks to that incident, I now bring those airtight cellphone pouches (several variations can be found on Amazon) with me, just in case.

 Cab/Minibus fare over to Public Beach was $6 per person, and once there, we rented chairs and an umbrella for $20. And with that, we hit the water. What I love about Grand Cayman is that the beaches have some incredibly clear water, and it’s beautiful.

We also had some lunch. Kept it simple and had chicken tenders and pan-fried grouper. I’m fairly certain the grouper was previously frozen, but whatever spices they use on it make up for that – very tasty!

After a few hours at the beach we headed back to the ship. An interesting note was that on the way back our minibus had members of the Grease cast. Interesting because it seemed like they were mostly from the British Isles or Australia – I have to say that their onstage accents really fooled me, so kudos to them!

Once back on the ship we headed to Sorrento’s to grab a couple of slices. Didn’t feel right to overeat at Windjammer when a slice or two would do the trick. And after the snack it we had just enough time to see the Texans win, shower, change and head down for dinner.

Dinner on this day was probably the slowest that I’ve seen on a ship. Ryan had mentioned that this was a new menu combination so it’s possible that the kitchen staff were working the kinks out. It does make me wonder if this was why the dinner was my least favourite of the cruise. I had the sole and everyone else, the short rib, and both seemed heavily reliant on underwhelming sauces to carry them. So I’ll say that if you were on Independence and saw this menu, I’d recommend taking this day to do a specialty restaurant.

The show tonight was the ice show, Freeze Frame. Based on our experience with Grease, Hannah and I got there early, and managed to nab some decent seats.

As always, the performers worked hard and generally did a good job with a few tumbles here and there. The highlight was when one of the women did a spin that featured something similar to this:

This is what I call a crazy trick.

The plot of the show was a trip through the various dance and music styles from the 40’s to the 70’s. I don’t know that it entirely worked for me. There were some fun moments (for example skating around with handlebars during “Bicycle Race”) but I wasn’t really feeling it.

After the show Hannah went off to sleep while I went down to Playmakers to catch the end of the Patriots-Titans football game. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the crowd was firmly anti-Patriots (I’m sure there were some Titans fans, but people REALLY wanted the Patriots to lose). Not having a horse in this race (I’m a Texans fan, and while I expected us to get smushed, last weekend was a step beyond smushed.), it was fun to watch.

Overall, we didn’t get to do what we’d planned, but the pivot to the beach still made for a nice day.

We did not have lobster on our recent 5-night on Independence. Formal night was on Day 2

49 minutes ago, WhiteSoxFan said:

I'm going to be "that guy" on formal night though.  Just slacks and a polo shirt for our group, we are all "packing light".

Judging from my cruise, you won't be the only "that guy" on formal night. Lots of guys don't want to get all dressed up for one night, and I completely get it.

On 1/11/2020 at 7:59 PM, KevinS said:

First of all, thank you to everyone for all the helpful hints as we approach our cruise in March.  When we cruised on Oasis 2 years ago, we were able to purchase a punch card good for 10 alcoholic drinks for somewhere between $80-$100.  We purchased on board a couple days into our cruise.  We aren't big drinkers, but like to get a couple drinks a day.  Even if we buy a couple of these cards, it will save us a lot of money versus purchasing the drink package.  Anyway, I wanted to see if anyone else has seen these cards before and if they are still available on Harmony.  Thanks for your input. 

First of all, great name Kevin!

I've seen the punch card on nearly all of my August cruises (I wasn't looking the first time I went on Allure), but I think that might be because of the time of year. 

Thought Sorrento's in Indy wasn't bad. Not the best ever, but than your average Large Chain pizza (or as I call it, "replacement level" pizza).

On 1/11/2020 at 9:29 AM, 1978bucketlist said:

I’m not a very good blogger

Yeah I can't do a "day of" blog either. No idea how Matt manages it. So I jot down notes and revisit when I do the actual writing.

18 hours ago, 1978bucketlist said:

Sitting at airport waiting on lost luggage. We made flight to Baltimore. 2 of our bags didn’t. My daughter made her flight to DC. 2 of her bags stayed in Fort Lauderdale

One time we had a piece of luggage like Maui so much that it stayed a couple of extra days.

You should have kept it. What autocorrect comes up with at times is just... let's go with amazing.

15 hours ago, LisaV said:

What is the digital format of the photos provided if you buy the Digital Package ahead of time? Disc or Thumb Drive? Heading on Brillance soon although smaller I hope they stop printing soon too. 

I think it might be just via download at this point.

On 11/26/2019 at 10:00 PM, lh193 said:

These are showing up the same price in my cruise planner. While doing research, it appears most people purchase the digital package. What is the advantage of the digital package over the print? It seems to me that the print package would be superior since it would cost extra to print my favorite digital photos after. Is there something I'm missing?

The way I see it, if you've got a scanner and time to spare, you can get the prints and do your thing. Just remember that you will need to collect the physical prints and put them away for the trip home. One print may not weigh that much, but get 100 prints and it starts adding up.

With digital, you can print whichever pictures you want, at whatever size you want, at minimal extra cost. No additional scanning required, and you can download at your leisure. Weight, obviously, is negligible.