Skigoofy

I'm really glad this tour took us out of the city to see the countryside.

In the far distance is the port area.


Lots of grape vines.

No farmland is complete without some...

Did I mention this region has a lot of wineries?



We continued our drive in the countryside to the sights of Te Meta Peak range.


More rivers at low levels.


Beehives in the foreground.

Stunning views for a bus ride.

Day 6 continued...
Today's excursion is Hawkes Bay Panorama through Royal.  I looked at external vendors but I managed to get this on sale through Royal so it was cheaper than an equivalent 3rd party excursion.   Our bus picked us up on the pier so no shuttle required.
Leaving the port area we see our first glimpse of a local beach.

We drove through town and our driver explained various things about the area.  This next photo shows an outdoor concert tent at the Mission Estate Winery where some big names are playing.  Sir Elton John performed last night and will be performing again on the 15th of February.  That gray tall structure is a stage facing the hillside and you can see people wandering the hillside cleaning up the trash from last night's performance.

Summer season and the rivers are dry so not a lot of water flowing at the moment.

More wineries.

This entire region is fertile farmland.  At one point this larger area was a plantation and this driveway was a tree lined entrance to the plantation house.  Now it's a public road.

We stopped at a fruit shop for a bathroom break and in case anyone wanted to buy some local fruit.   

Housekeeping items:
Pools are heated to 24°C or 75°F.  Indoor and outdoor.
BOGO Deluxe package reappeared on day 4 but has since not (that I've seen).  No drink cards that I've seen but buckets of beers have been available for a small discount.  When a deluxe beverage package discount appears mid cruise it generally means sales have been slow so YMMV.
Voom internet has performed just like it does when sailing in the Caribbean on Anthem.  Typical speeds are 4 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.  This may be slow for people used to fiber or other super fast internet on land but for a ship at sea it's pretty darn good.

You are truly a class act, @twangster. You are so appreciated, and not just for the amazing photos.

As the sun was setting we sailed past the White Island Volcano.  The tragedy that occurred on December 9, 2019 resonates with me because I was originally booked on that excursion for this day.
Out of respect for those impacted by this tragedy I wasn't sure if I was going to mention it.  I wasn't even sure we would be close enough to see it.  With a solemn heart and with the victims in my thoughts this will be the only post that I'll share.

After a bite to eat it was back outside for sunset.


The moon was particularly bright tonight.

Back to the Tauranga port area we had a little bit of time to wander around the nearby beach.
Since it was Waitangi Day there were lots of people enjoying the beautiful day.


Jumping off piers and docks must be a New Zealand thing as it was popular here as well.

With a lot of walking over the past week my feet were sore so back to the ship.


Looking back down the entrance we came in.



Soon enough it was sail away time.




This was a really enjoyable stop with so much to do.

Our last stop was at a Redwood Grove.

Redwoods were imported roughly 100 years ago from California.  

The other species our driver wanted to show us were the Silver Ferns.   This type of fern is only found in New Zealand.  The Silver Fern is a symbol of national identity to New Zealanders and there are even some sports teams that use the name.


The Silver Ferns can grow quite tall as ferns go.






It's a popular spot and they have set up an elevated course through a section of the trees that carries an additional charge.

We are back on the ship after a nice day in Labadee!  We loved beach lounger for 2 and would highly recommend one!

This was our view from the chairs!  Outstanding!

It was a very windy day and got worse as it went on.  We only saw the parasails for a short time in the morning and then it must have been too windy.  Lots of whitecaps!

We took a little walk around and got this shot back towards the main area

All good things must come to an end...unfortunately!  So walked back to the ship and now hanging out in the solarium for a bit and then dinner!

We just love these days at the private stops!  So relaxing and low key!  Especially when home just got about 6” of snow!  Haha!

Just pulled in to labadee!

We were able to get a beach lounger from the wait list so we will be heading there after breakfast!

We seem to have a real addiction to booking cruises.  We did not blog our cruise on Enchantment last month, because we did not really expect to enjoy it as much as we did since our last two cruises were Star Class on Allure.  We went in with low expectations and were pleasantly surprised by the service and food on the ship.  This showed us that we should be more open-minded to the smaller ships that Royal offers.  Our only other experience on a Royal ship smaller than Voyager Class was on Brilliance, and it was horrible.  We were new to cruising and didn't understand anything about stateroom categories or differences in ship classes.  We booked an interior for five of us and had kids on pullman beds above us and a pack and play that made it nearly impossible to even walk in our room.  We struggled to fit our stroller down the hallway and could see the frustration from the room attendants when they had to move their cleaning carts to let us by.  We also could not fit our stroller in our stateroom.  We were expecting the bells and whistles of an Oasis Class ship, but what can I say, we were cruise noobs and didn't realize we needed to research our ship before we booked.  If you would have asked us a few months ago what our least favorite ship was, we would have said, hands down, Brilliance of the Seas, but after how much we enjoyed Enchantment, we decided that maybe we were a little harsh on Brilliance and that we should give her another chance now that we are a little more experienced at cruising.
We did not expect to book another cruise anytime soon since we have cruises booked all the way through the end of 2021.  We were browsing Royal's website the other day, when the hubs brought to my attention something that we thought was surely an error.  On the February 27, 2020 sailing on Brilliance, there was a grand suite listed for less than a junior suite and close to the same price as a balcony.  We were excited to see this price, but it said it had a max occupancy of five.  We called Royal to see if they would make an exception for our family of six.  They said no, but we don't know how to take no as an answer.  We dug out the number for our senior cruise planner at Royal to see what magic he could work.  He put us on hold for a few minutes and came back and said it wasn't a problem since our youngest two are in pack and plays.  After he quoted us a price of $2,077 (before prepaid gratuities) for all six of us, we quickly decided it was too good of a deal to pass up and channeled our inner @Lovetocruise2002 and say Yolo.
This will definitely be a laid back cruise, but we are really looking forward to relaxing and giving Brilliance another shot.

Yaaaaaay!! The power just came back on!!
celebrating with this....it’s been an interesting few days

I wish i was still on vacation.......

 
Damn it didn't work!
 
I am 100% having the back to reality blues.
 
This was my first Royal Caribbean cruise but it won't be my last. I'm already planning my next cruise!
 
While looking through pictures there were a couple things i didn't post that i wanted to mention.
 
At port arrival a glitch in the system allowed the in-laws into the suite area even though they were not staying in a suite. We were able to have them stow away at the port and at the suite lounge until they got their physical sea passes. The app had them as sea or sky class even though they weren't.
 
I am proud to say my 8 year old daughter ate steak EVERY night of the cruise! No matter where we were that was what she wanted. The only time she  was disappointed with the steak was at the windjammer. Her favorite was from Coastal Kitchen. I thought the beach club had the edge though.
 
This was the first time i have ever really traveled with a group, I value family time vacations because i can be pretty busy and stressed out with work. It is really important to me to create lasting memories on trips, and i enjoy getting my wife and child to myself. Traveling with a group was a lot different and i think i made some mistakes. I thought staying in a suite would give us more time together, but juggling time with our travel mates and living the "suite life" was pretty difficult. Some of what i see as value in suite amenities was lost because no one else could use it and we were supposed to be all together.  We didn't even eat dinner at CK until night 4 and as soon as i tasted my food i wished we could have eaten there more. Little things like not sitting together at shows because i had to utilize the suite seating sections might have caused some tensions with my group. I am very used to a higher end experience when vacationing but i may have to really look at things differently if we are traveling with a group again in the future.
 
Speaking of the higher end experience. Everything that was included with the suite perks were amazing. The concierge staff,  Mohamed and Jeremias were amazing.  They were extremely attentive and put in extra effort multiple times throughout the trip.  All of the staff knew us by name and it always felt very inviting. I really liked both of the main suite lounge bartenders as well,  Marlin was the man! I made sure to give them all extra praise in the survey.
 

 
Even though i had a great time at the overwater cabana, I probably wouldn't get one again. There weren't a ton of offerings in the beach club for my daughter aside from swimming, and the weather wasn't the best for that. I felt she probably would have had a better time on the rest of Coco Cay. Sure we could have done some of that as well but then it would have taken time away from the cabana, which i wanted to experience. She'll be 10 by our next major cruise so maybe a waterpark cabana is in our future!
 
Drink package and drinking: I'm torn on this one. I don't drink a lot normally, only on the weekend while socializing or special occasions. I drank a lot on the cruise, but i never over did it.  Staying in a suite on an oasis class ship i probably would have been fine without the drink package and just having beer and wine 11-11 in the suite lounge. The drink package did let me try a bunch of drinks i have never tried. Pretty sure there wasn't a single thing that i didnt like. I want to thank this board for suggesting the Kraken Lava Flow.  One of my favorite drinks on the cruise!
 
I was also pretty happy that i could order 2 drinks i wasn't expecting to be available.  Port wine was available in the suite lounge, i did some research prior to cruising and didn't think I could get it. I tried a few other bars but came up short. The other drink was a Sake and Sake Bomb, it was not on the menu. I always order a Sake bomb and a bottle of Sake when i go to hibachi. They wouldn't let us use the chop sticks to balance the glass of sake though. Something about safety.  It was still pretty damn tasty though! Don't i look classy slamming the drink in my tie? lol...

20200129_194541.mp4  
 
The survey has been completed, the bags are unpacked, and  i'm depressed it's all over. ?
 
Thanks for reading everyone! Doing this blog was a lot of fun! I will be doing one again on my next cruise.

Train ride from Union Station to Newark Penn Station is 2.5 hours on the Acela and then short uber to airport (or port ? ).  Business class $220, first class $380 *prices vary based on actual train
Train ride from Union Station to EWR (at the airport) on Amtrak Regional Rail (more stops) is 3 hours.  Coach class $130, business class $180 *Prices vary based on actual train
The train IMO takes the same as a flight factoring in security lines at airport, time to arrive ahead of departure, etc....plus parking at the train station is cheaper in many cases and you don't have to deal with baggage issues (weight, checking, liquids)
According to my son....the pan roasted Shrimp on a bed of wild rice was the very good.  ?
 

Lunch at a local hotel that had a central courtyard and garden with a restaurant.  I didn't take pictures at lunch as I was seated with a family from Australia and it seemed rude taking pictures with them in it.  Suffice it to say we all agreed it was a pretty good lunch.
After lunch we drove over to the Government Gardens.  


The main building is closed due to damage from earthquakes.





One of the first hot springs of Rotorua.


That's 212°F.

Back into the van for the drive to our next stop.

Well that was an experience getting to the port...
We signed up for the shuttle service from the hotel but someone jumped on our spot.  The staff did not stop the people from doing this so we sat at the hotel for another 30-45 minutes.  When the driver came back he picked us up and we then went to a different hotel and picked up a van full of Norwegian Cruise passengers.  We went there first and dropped all them off.  Then he said he was going to pick up more people to bring back.  We sat for a bit at a gate but no one came so he drove to our dock and then stopped.  He came over to the door and opened it and we asked if this was our spot to which he said it was.  It’s been a strange morning getting here.....but WE MADE IT.  It was about a 2 hour adventure to get to the port!
In regards to the coronavirus stuff, we did not notice anything different other than that they asked more questions about where we had been and who we had been with but other than that we did not see anything different (but we did get there later than normal as mentioned above).
Here was security...not too bad


We went to the diamond/diamond plus line and had about 12 couples in from of us.  Then we looked at the platinum/emerald line and there was 1 couple!  We should have payed better attention to the lines!
Check in was a breeze and took no time at all.  Walked right on the ship with no real wait!
We went straight to the shore excursion desk to try and get a bed-thingy for labadee but they were sold out!  We are number 1 on the wait list!  He said we might be able to get 1 since people book 2 since they don’t realize that 1 reservation is for 2 people.
 
more to come soon....we did our usual rounds and then sat at the “mouth-jammer”! 

Quick update this morning.  Woke up to HEAVY rain pretty early.  This is what it looks like outside!

This is not what we had in mind for our first day of this trip and boarding the ship!  

We signed up for the hotel shuttle service which was $10 a person.  Not too bad of a price.  
 
The issue with luggage tags and set sail pass was solved!  The hotel had an area where they had a desktop computer with a free printer to use!!!  CRISIS AVERTED!!  ?
 
Leaving for the ship in about 3 hours so stay tuned!  Thanks to all that are following along!
 

Just arrived JFK and saw boarding delayed until tomorrow. We’re ok with that.  Booked 1 night at the Newark Courtyard. So we ended up flying in 1 day early after all !  Lets hope they cancel Nassau and not Coco Cay !

We made it to the terminal by 9:45, checked in and upstairs just before 10. Ranger cookies, check.✅
 

Wheels rolling! We should be at cruise parking by 9:30. The Galveston marathon is this Sunday, but we shouldn't have any traffic from that today. 

We decided on Cheesecake Factory for dinner so everyone could have a different culinary experience if they wanted. Tuscan Chicken, Carne Asada, and Tuna Poke graced our table along with the kids' pasta and chicken strips. It was all good, and no one had any room for cheesecake. I peeked at the pasta that was available at the hotel, and we made the right choice on going out. DH is downstairs doing a load of laundry and I've started to repack. Luggage tags are on the bags, and it's time to open a bottle of wine. ? We're planning on leaving at 9:00 in the morning. It will take about 40 minutes to get to our parking lot. We're parking at Lighthouse again. There's a direct line of sight to the RC ships when you pull up to their lot, so MIL will get a good first look at our home for the next 5 days. 
Also, I received the email from the concierge, Jorge, on Saturday the 1st, 6 days pre cruise. We've been emailing back and forth setting up a couple birthday surprises for Mimi. 
The kids are wound up. I may have to run them around the building a few times before they get to sleep! ?

After the presentations we were given some free time to explore on our own.
We had been told there area is dry right now and in need of rain.  Normally these would be mud puddles bubbling with steam.

The geysers were going off again.




It's kind of weird seeing steam coming from the ground in every direction.




With that it was time to meet our driver and move on to our lunch stop.

Then we were brought to an outdoor theater for some Māori cultural presentations.

One event was involved singing and throwing sticks with the goal of no stick hitting the ground.

Songs and dances were a way to remember and pass down items of cultural significance which ranged from love songs to war dances.









All very well done and well received by the crowds.

We were led to a viewing platform for two geysers, a small one on the left and a bigger one on the right.   



In places everywhere you look there is steam coming from the ground.

This small pool of water is at or near 100°C or 212°F.  It's bubbling like a pot of water on a cooktop. 





The geysers from a different view platform.