OCSC Mike

Standard answer... one of each! Honestly, that's probably what I would do for my first time there. I've already seen pics of everything I think and I won't be there so dealer's choice! Seafood pizza intrigues me. I'm sure the fried shrimp is good... it's fried and I'm normally eating the basic fried snack shack stuff. I saw one video of someone who asked for a bun and turned the fried shrimp into a po boy of sorts. Dunno if bread adds much though. Whatever you feel like trying, I'm there for it.

Will be eagerly awaiting CocoCay food porn. Some of the new Hideaway items looked decent to me. I've read mixed reviews but that kinda goes for any venue. There are people who don't like Mason Jar brunch and it was my favorite meal on a ship ever. To each his own.

Since I can’t come up with a culinary explanation for putting a piece of chocolate on key lime pie, I’m going with yours from now on.

You have to leave your cabin to be "around."

You know (or can guess) why I prefer Oasis class but Freedom with those 2 venues is pretty much close enough. We did 3 shorties on Indy in 2022 (one was a B2B) and were in CocoCay with Freedom all 3 times. I hadn't even tried ELF yet and I was already jealous of the Freedom cruisers we met.

6 days to go and today's exciting update... I went to the bank for a stack of ones (mostly D drink tips) and other small bills for tipping. Told ya I don't normally start blogs early for good reason. Let's all go back to @Cactus527 and @Lovetocruise2002 's blogs now.

I'm sure it is. It was pretty crowded on Allure in October but part of that is b/c they took Wipeout Cafe and quickly made it into an ELF when Allure switched home ports from FL to TX a year or two ago so the layout isn't great. Love the ELF on Wonder. It has an attached margarita bar and a much better layout.

I miss the cows! Actually, they were missing from some Oasis class 7N cruises ( @GregD reported it in his blog). I've been checking each Wonder sailing leading up to next week and there have been headliners although they don't show up until close to the cruise. Still waiting for mine although the last several have been singers we wouldn't bother seeing anyway.

Same here. Small edge to Freedom for having ELF for me.

Did that wake you up?

Hard to eat if you're napping... get that caffeine!

Agreed. I used to just do recaps after I got home like you did (at that other site). I have a pretty epic one from our 18-day land/sea trip to Alaska from 2018. It's extremely long but warranted in that case given the trip length and amount of activities. I was fine doing my Wonder live blog when we were with extended family in a suite in June b/c there was a lot of down time just hanging out on the suite sun deck. When it's just me and my wife, we do spend time lounging in the Solarium, but like you said, it can feel too much like a chore. That's why I'm going to try to follow the style of others... just make shorter posts here and there and include some food pics. The catch is short posts don't come naturally to me and I don't normally take pics, lol, so we'll see how it goes.

Nah, ship is so nice in the early AM!

I'll give you a pass given the travel and small-ish breakfast. Nothing but coffee on cruise morning for me, lol.

Redbull (vodka optional).

Sleep when you're dead! Happy cruise day!

Agreed. I feel like this is the organized, polished version of how to write long, daily recaps. Not my long-winded ramblings in the middle of the cruise, lol. I already told @FionaMG I plan to go back through the MDR info and pics before we leave Sunday.

Airport food porn! I like where this is heading.

Yeah, I was on Oasis twice but it was in 2017. I'd rather have Mason Jar for now. Maybe after I've eaten there 7 times I'll feel differently... maybe not. Could also compromise and try the BBQ at Mason Jar for dinner at some point though people seem to enjoy the Portside BBQ far more.

Looks great every time I see it... maybe someday. OMG! This ranks up there with eating before embarking! You can sleep at home! Happy shopping!

If only Portside was on Utopia instead of whatever that fake food truck is going to serve. I've never even tried Portside and I believe the food truck is free but I KNOW I'd enjoy Portside. Can't have everything I guess. I'm thankful to have Mason Jar and Playmakers on all my upcoming cruises to go with the included venues.

We each do a tiny bit of specialty dining... so there's that.

Me too, but given that I've seen $3499 on other cruises, it's a good price for anyone in the market. It's also a bit more palatable if you have a party of 8 and break it down that way. Some people pay $200pp for just the Beach Club. Those people aren't me of course, just sharing and making conversation.

One of the better phrasings to this beat to death topic I've read. Agree with every word. Well said.

I can relate to that. I don't think I could handle airport shenanigans. I've barely flown at all in the past decade but when we took our epic 18-day trip to Alaska in 2018 I had excessive layovers built in just to avoid any issues. We almost went to the Mall of America we had so much time to kill in Minneapolis on the way there but the peace of mind was worth it. Hope your new travel plan goes as smoothly as possible!