Skigoofy

Mail call!
Umm..ok nice little envelope with nothing useful.

Recognize my status!

Now we are talking..

And the exclusive offers I have earned my letting my mother take me on cruises..

 
 

Video of it working! Smooth, smooth.
Number of times I have tried to tap my room number circle on the door with my WOW band to enter before this: 2.
Number of drinks I have consumed: 0.
20191124_1337151.mp4

Welcome to the Dungeon.

Hello, my love ??

That's totally a napkin dispenser charging my phone while I BBQ it up.

Just kidding..floor porn.

And bathroom..that IS a new backsplash.

And somehow I rated fancy tube stuff!

But as a back-up plan I have

Standard balcony room set up. Couch by the balcony.

Couch looks and feels like it wasn't replaced.

However the carpet is actually very clean, new and plush feeling under my toesies.  (No photos of that, creepers).

And another officer says it's something new that it is no longer included with the package but they must not have updated the site.  
But end result for us is reservations made.  Next battle shall come when we try to pay when dining.
Round 1 for the little guys!

Genie huddle and photo op! @Lovetocruise2002

Yup..that's London Tea company goods.

And the cookies were raided before they were even uncovered.  I mean who knows when we will ever see food again?!?!?

At 9:45am with no debarking passengers is a dream at Terminal A.  Someone read our SetSail pass wrong and we got sent up to the Suites area to wait ?‍♀️.  Checked in on a tablet and told 10 minutes until boarding.  Plus free baby sodas!  

PRO-TIP: Before settling in to sleep at a hotel, check to make sure the prior hotel patrons have not set the desk clock alarm to go off at a way, way too early time.
I mean it's still CRUISE DAY and all..but it's still early!
Guess I might as well make sure the ship is still there ??
It is..and it has been joined by another Royal ship, Explorer of the Seas as you.can obviously tell here and not have to look up on the port schedule website.

For those following along closely, #currentkindlestatus:

That about wraps up pre-cruise (read: I've finally become bored enough with my own drivel to sleep).  Tomorrow will be a day of decisions...do we take the extra Hilton Honors points or free breakfast? do we Uber or Lyft to the port? what is going to be the first food item I put in my face onboard Oasis?  I almost can't stand the suspense.
As everyone else that tries to do LIVE blogs, I will try to keep up and post random nonsense of what's going on.  I don't usually experience things behind a camera lens, I often come back from trips with tons of memories but very little photos captured.  Hoping this blog will force me to do a little bit more of that so I can relive the memories in the future.

For ports, we are visiting San Juan, Labadee, and St. Thomas.  
For Labadee, I bought the unlimited coaster pass and travel insurance in case it breaks me.  This will be my first time at Labadee.  I expect water and sand.  I live in Florida.  We have water and sand.  I avoid said water and sand outside of social situations.  Again, this is not a social cruise so probably going to ride the roller coaster until some body part cries mercy and then go back to the ship and eat all the things at all the places that cost money but are included with the dining package just so I make the most of it.
I honestly have no clue what I am doing in St. Thomas.  My prior couple of visits have included renting a Jeep and touring the entire island on my own and then a rainy day spent in the shopping areas. Pretty much saw and did all the things that I've read are the things to do.  Not really looking to beach it up, so will probably decide based on how appealing where we dock looks relative to anything nearby if I bother to leave the ship.  I can walk around the ship while it's emptier and explore.
Puerto Rico is a later visit as we aren't scheduled to arrive until 1pm and then we leave at night.  I enjoy evening sailaways.  I am doing on the Royal Caribbean Blog Freedom Group Cruise over New Years which is in a couple of weeks.  The cruise leaves from San Juan, so I will be right back there again in about a month with a whole day before the cruise to explore.  Therefore there's nothing really pressing to accomplish this visit.  I will probably get off the ship at some point in the afternoon once the sun has started to go down, walk around San Juan a little, complain about it being too hot and returning to the ship vowing to come back at night when it is cooler.  Spoiler alert: Not going to happen.
 

Now my mom is "not sleeping" with her eyes closed and her Kindle dangerously close to meeting its fate on a tile floor and I'm still pumped and excited.  And I finally got my Coke Zero (thanks Publix).
So what else is in store this week?  
We bought the ultimate dining package.  I want to push its visit multiple venues every day limits.  I'm not much of a fan of the multi course meals.  I love the idea of popping in and eating one dish and leaving..or asking for it to go if possible.  We will see how all that shakes out.  If anything, there's always Izumi sushi and the new Portside BBQ or even Johnny Rockets to meet my needs.  
No drink package this time around.  This is not a social cruise, so I do not expect to consume beverages at the same level as I would on any cruise @Matt is on.  Oh wait...he's not #teamDX this cruise either though.  This will, however, be my first official cruise at Diamond status.  I will have access to unlimited Coke Zero in the Diamond Lounge for a few hours every evening.  That's a lie..they will run out.  They always run out.
I am going to try the Escape Room.  It was $19.99/person and just showed up in the Cruise Planner.  So I booked it and I am going to hope that we can manage to get out in time without the help of that trusty pink Swiss Army knife.

Here are the unknown not Royal ships still in port around 6:30pm.

And here comes Oasis.

We watched her get closer and closer and then turn around and go back the other way to dock at Crown of Miami Terminal A where she currently sits tall enough I can still see her.

Insert obligatory live blog photos of accommodations:
We had room 955.
2 double beds and a pullout sleeper sofa.  


Little minibar area with coffeemaker, fridge, and there's a microwave back there that you won't discover until after you go to the grocery store ?‍♀️

Bathroom has a sink outside the shower and toilet area so you don't have to wait to stare at yourself in the mirror or brush your teeth.

Nice shower for our one night stay with bonus foot soaking tub ??

Good morning !
<clap><sway> ?Oh, Happy Day? <clap><sway>. It’s cruise day !!
Concierge Club recon


I will say that breakfast was a site better than last night’s evening festivities.  Nothing special but at least the usual suspects - eggs, bacon, bread, juice. All Continental.  Nothing made-to-order.
Beautiful morning, here in Tampa. I awoke to the sound of a ship’s horn...not sure which ship or where, exactly.  My view does not include any cruise ships. ??
We plan on leaving here at 10:00 AM.  Will call on Uber again.
A bit of disappointing news from Joyce, our Oasis Genie.  Beginning yesterday, Nov 24, Chops is no longer open on embarkation day (we had asked for lunch rezzies there on boarding day).  She stated, in her email 3 different times that Chops was closed....not that Chops was not available.  I thought, perhaps, that they were restricting Chops just to Key people, but I don’t think that is the case.  It appears, as far as I can determine, that Chops will not open at all on embarkation day for lunch.  We chose Giovannis as our second choice.  We’re going to CK for dinner that night, anyway, so we will get our filet !  Of course, Giovannis has an awesome steak, too...but we will save our steak lust for CK.
Next up - boarding Brilliance of the Seas !
 

So, we made it to Tampa. No-issue flight.  Right on time.  Good deal.
The hotel (Tampa Marriott Water Street), has a shuttle from the airport but we decided just to get an Uber.  They were charging $12 PP plus it probably would have taken them forEVER to come get us.  The Uber was $19.07 and it took her 3 minutes to get to us.  
I think the hotel is probably lovely. It was dark when we got here so it could be a dump for all I know.  We are on the Concierge floor (24) and I feel our room is very - meh.

Happy Dan. That’s his nickname.  

I was extremely disappointed in the Concierge lounge. Hopefully breakfast will be better than our evening tidbits.
The Uber driver told us that the cruise ships are less than a mile from the hotel (yippee !!) so we should have a short trip tomorrow morning.
Calling it a night soon.  Flying just wears my arse out !

So, here we sit at the Admirals Club.  First Uber ride I’ve ever taken where the driver never uttered a single word.  Wasn’t creepy b/c Dan was there but would have been very bizarre if I had been alone.
Nothing particularly striking about the Club.  Pretty standard stuff. For those familiar with AA Clubs, there is the obligatory avocado kiosk. Not quite sure why AA has put all its chips (pun intended) on avocados, but I have yet to enter an Admiral’s Club anywhere around the world where they don’t have someone serving avocados in some form.
Dan, intently pecking away on HIS iPad

Approximately 30 minutes before we have to board. According to the AA app, our plane is at the gate so no reason to believe we won’t depart on time.  Tampa, here we come !

I promised Sabrina that I would do this, so here goes.
First:  I am the worst live blogger EVER since I hate to take pix.  I DO realize that long, text review/live blogs are less effective b/c nobody wants to sit and read line after line of text.  I hate it myself !  So I am going to TRY and be brief-er than usual and TRY and incorporate photos, which are 2 things I am not very good at (brevity and photography).
Who:  Dan and I (Raye)
What:  S2S cruises on Brilliance and Oasis.
Where:  Tampa then Miami
When:  24 - 30 Nov (Brilliance out of Tampa) then 1 - 8 December (Oasis out of Miami)
Why:  Because we can...and this will be our first S2S
At home, writing this but leaving for the airport (DCA) at 2PM.  Uber, cost $81.56.  We have to have an XL due to luggage. Honestly, it's not that far to the airport.  We live about 20 miles south of DC so it's not more than 15-17 miles to the airport.  Kinda high, IMO but still cheaper than parking the car in Long Term Parking for 15 days. 
We will pass some time at the American Airlines Admiral's Club prior to boarding and then fly First Class to Tampa. Flight is at 5:00, arriving TPA at ~7:30PM.  Will Uber from airport to the hotel (Tampa Marriott Water Street); used rewards points for the hotel.  We could have used airline miles for the air but we're saving those reward points for a yet-to-be scheduled Alaska trip !!

One piece of luggage still missing as it is awaiting inevitable forgotten, last-minute items.
So looking forward to Brilliance.  #1, we have never sailed on Brilliance before and #2, it has been many years since we sailed on a Radiance class ship.
PS.  I am already having fits with just 1 pic.  I don't know how the rest of you do it !!  
More, later from the Admiral's Club !!

On our 9-night Christmas cruise 2 years ago, there was a priest on board to perform mass each morning and Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. The Midnight Mass was pretty amazing. Our cabin attendant and one of our waiters came and sat with our family as mass was well attended by crew members. They were definitely missing being with their families and it was nice being able to spend time with them. It's the only cruise I've been on where Mass was held every day.

INTERNATIONAL FLAGS PARADE

Day 5: Costa Maya
Today was another lazy day.  We slept until the kids woke us up.  It was raining and overcast, so we didn't want to take the kids into port.  We wanted to pick up a souvenir spoon to add to our collection, so we stopped by the nursery to reserve an hour.  They were full until 12:30pm, so we coordinated with Alan to meet up then.  We took the babies to the Windjammer and were sorely disappointed.  I was feeding our littlest one scrambled eggs when I found a big piece of egg shell.  I complained about it to the Windjammer staff, and his response was "I didn't know he was using real eggs.  I thought it came from a box."  I called Alan and had him deliver the little ones scrambled eggs to the room, but by then we were strapped for time and it didn't arrive until time to leave.  We got off the ship for about an hour, but it was still raining.  Costa Maya, in my opinion, is an overpriced port.  I searched around for awhile for a souvenir spoon, but refused to pay $35 for what you can get in Cozumel for $6.  I eventually found one for $10, and while it was not my favorite,  we were ready to get out of the rain.  We headed back onto the ship and picked up the kids.  Within a few minutes of being in the room, our daily snacks were delivered.  We, then, took advantage of the free pay per view movies that are included with Star Class.  This is a perk that isn't talked about much, but if you are like us and have little ones who take midday naps or you just like to lounge around, this is an awesome perk.  We took the two older kids to the arcade and the rock climbing wall.  They were about to close, but they let them each go twice since they were Star Class.  The kids wanted Giovanni's mac and cheese for dinner, so we had that delivered to the room.  Alan also had baked Alaska delivered since we mentioned liking it.  After dropping off the kids in Adventure Ocean and Royal Babies and Tots, Steven and I had dinner at 150 Central Park.  We got super fast service and had our whole meal in less than an hour.  Telling Alan we want a fast dining experience in our initial communication was definitely a good idea.  When we have the babies with us or have a set time that we need to pick up the little ones, dinner on a cruise can be stressful since it usually takes more time than we have to get all the courses served.  150 Central Park was delicious as usual.  Alan checked in on us while we were at dinner and then came to our cabin after dinner to take a few pictures on the balcony.  He played with the kids and surprised us with dessert delivery.  We watched the Aquatheater light show (or whatever it's called) from our balcony and now we are calling it a night.

We love NYC and especially eating in NYC.  Here are some of our favorites:
Buddakan- https://buddakannyc.com. It is expensive, but the food is so good we still talk about it.  A sophisticated and very upscale experience.
 
Ninja NYC- http://mobile.dudasite.com/site/ninjanewyork?url=http%3A%2F%2Fninjanewyork.com%2F&utm_referrer=#3031 this place is a super fun and unique experience.  My boys (10 & 15) loved it.  It is designed as a Japanese village and all of the servers are “Ninjas”, food is on fire, literally, they are sneaking and jumping out at you-it is super fun.   If you take the family-just tell them you are going to an Japanese place-don’t give away the secret-they will be totally surprised. Here’s a pic of our experience:

Ships galore on Grand Cayman