twangster

5 hours ago, Sweety said:

I was home sick today thinking about my country Jamaica. Thank you for the beautiful pictures of jerk food. @twangster, how was the red velvet cake. I need a piece now. It looks so good. Sorry about the calories. Come on New Year's cruise!!!!

Red Velvet Cake was delicious!

I meant to add earlier, the near flat seas turned very flat.  It was quite a pleasant day and my cabin balcony door was open when ever I was in it.  Around 4:30pm I headed out to grab a glass of wine with the intention of drinking it on my balcony when I ran into some people at a bar.  Then more people.  Somewhere along the timeline I heard someone's wife mention they saw a great sunset tonight.  Oh well, next cruise, I was enjoying my bar friends too much.  YOLO.    

With regerts (pun intended) no sunset pics tonights.

For those that haven't come to this realization themselves, food coma is real.

I chose the Windjammer tonight thinking I would find some of the same old food and therefore could walk away, instead of being rolled away.  I was wrong.

Some food was the same, but it was jerk night.  Oh boy.

Finally @Sweety I met the dessert of my dreams.  So far on this cruise my timing was off and I only managed to flirt briefly with a red velvet cupcake, but tonight was the real deal - Red Velvet Cake.

These calories are for you!

9 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

See if you can find out who the CD will be after Dennis leaves March 9th....please/thank you ?

I asked Enzo. I think he said Chloe Conners but he was in the Esplanade in DJ mode and it's Diamond happy hour so...

Wines Around the World Tasting

I booked this before sailing for $17.70.  It was originally scheduled for day 8 but moved to day 9 for an undisclosed reason.

Wines included:

• Chandon, Brut "Classic", California, USA
• Empress Sissi, Gruner Veltliner, Austria
• Château D'Aussièrers, Chardonnay, France
• Adega Dom Antonio, Reserva Blend, Portugal
• Oberon, Cabernet Sauvignon, California, USA

Several types of cheese were offered. They were used to sample each wine both before cheese and with cheese to illustrate how food dramatically impacts flavors perceived.

It was an interesting presentation.  I'm glad I did it as I learn a little more about my palette. I didn't see this event offered on board, only a Caymus tasting for $50.

Entertainment Backstage Tour

At noon there was a backstage tour of the main theater.  This is presented by two members of the technical crew as well as the dance captain for the theater.  There is a separate dance captain and cast for Two70°.

It was interesting to hear from the technical folks who are behind the scenes as well from one of the cast.

For Broadway shows like We Will Rock Rock the cast has an eleven month contract.  The first two months are spent in Miami at the Entertainment studios for Royal Caribbean.  Following two months of preparation they move to a ship and begin a nine month run for the shows.  The main theater on Anthem has a cast of 24 and they remain together for those eleven months coming to and leaving the ship as a group.

After a short Q&A session we were escorted backstage.  It was interesting to see bits and pieces of The Gift and We Will Rock You put away in storage until they are needed again.

 

With the stage ready for tonight's Going Away show most of the sets for the other shows are secured and will be behind curtains during the show tonight waiting to be set-up once again next cruise.

Here they show one of the wigs used during We Will Rock You.

Luis the stage manager will be moving to Symphony soon.  He's been with the company for 15 years and has moved between a number of ships and has been involved with a number of shows.  His least favorite is Cat's because there is very little to do during the show with just four cues he needs to hit over two and half hours.  On a show like We Will Rock You he is constantly busy with cues and there is little time between them so he is constantly busy which he prefers.

Luis explained it takes around 4 weeks to move a new set onto a ship and at least two weeks to dismantle one to move it off ship.  Everything comes to the ship in small pieces and they have to re-assemble it on board.  When Mama Mia was moved between ships he was sent to dismantle the set which took four weeks in that case.  It's very complex to coordinate because each venue offers multiple shows and there is limited storage between performances so it's not so easy just to move a show from one ship to another as it takes great planning to figure out where everything will be stored between performances.  

As such the average Broadway show runs a minimum of 5 years to recover the costs involved in both cast and sets.  

In May the next cast of We Will Rock You arrives to replace the current on board cast.  They'll begin dress rehearsals in Miami next week as they begin to get ready to take the show over. During the transition both casts will be on board.  The new cast will execute dress rehearsals  until Luis is satisfied they are ready to assume the show safely.  The cast does both The Gift and We Will Rock You so they focus on one show first, then when they have proven themselves ready to assume that show, they begin to practice the other show during the day until they take over that show as well.  Only at that point does the previous cast leave the ship.    

The studios and stages in Miami are common to all shows across the fleet so at any given moment there are many different casts all preparing to move to a ship to relieve the current cast on board every ship.  It's quite an operation when you think about not only the Broadway shows, but Aqua Theater show, Ice Skating shows, Aerial shows and shows like Columbus the Musical, 1887 or The Gift.  All of these shows have multiple casts rotating onto ships, taking breaks between contracts them returning to Miami to start the cycle all over again.

Just RC exploring more ways to create a new revenue stream.  It will go away only if people don't buy it.  If people do... blame them.

Makes me wonder if they'll try to introduce a "Faster To The Fun" option like Carnival has.  Basically buy up to elite status in terms of boarding on day 1 and for tenders.  

On 1/23/2018 at 3:13 PM, Joe01 said:

Do you know who will be replacing him? Tanya is due to take over in April.

Apparently Caroline Peters.

The hallway and those two inside cabins will buffer most sound from the gym.  I'd sail in one of these cabins.  Besides they will be brand new.  Nothing like a new cabin.

Day 9 - Sea Day

Yesterday the Captain explained that we would sail into calmer seas today and we have.  Near flat out there today just off Virginia Beach.

No motion issues experienced so far.  Even after leaving Nassau yesterday in small seas there was little motion felt.

Cool today, not many on the open pool deck.  Most everyone is in the indoor pool area or 16+ solarium.

Indeed schools in some states are closing or cancelling classes due to the flu.

Like others have stated I still see people leaving restrooms without washing. SMH.

On 1/27/2018 at 12:04 AM, mom2mybugs said:

Coco cay was cancelled for us in late march.  It turned out to be ok as the captain sped up and got us into much warmer weather.  Im still disappointed we didnt get to go.  Anyway, april potentially could bring a cancelled trip but hopefully not!  Jane

Here were the weather conditions as we pulled out of Nassau:

This was supposed to be our CocoCay day. 

Watching the pilot getting off the ship displayed how bad it was.  The ship turned to provide shelter to the pilot boat as the pilot got off.  Even with that the pilot boat was bobbing up and down quite violently.  As soon as the pilot was off we turned back on course.  

They have to consider everyone in such tendering conditions.  From 3 years old to 93 years old.  Trying to board a bobbing tender plunging up and down might be doable for healthy, physically fit 20-30 year olds but not so much for kids or elderly.    Someone would likely get injured or fall in the water.  It's just not worth the risk so they err on the side of caution, at least until June when the pier will be complete.

The Captain made the right call, safety first so no regrets.

Not exactly the same and it does vary by ship.  Some provide lobster on formal night, some don't.  

Here on Anthem formal night offers prime rib and lobster on the second formal night.  WJ had a beef brisket as the closest thing to prime rib but clearly not the same.  No lobster.  

Still lots of great options for dinner in the WJ though.  

See my post in a live blog tonight in WJ on Anthem:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5387-anthem-11919-9-night-bahamas/&do=findComment&comment=55280

 

5 minutes ago, PrincipalTinker said:

How do you get all those pictures ( thank you!) without having anyone else in them?Is the Windjammer empty?

I haven't showered for the whole cruise...

On 1/26/2018 at 6:52 PM, PrincipalTinker said:

I have to admit that I now see your food pictures in my dreams.

Sweet dreams, because here comes Windjammer dinner photos.

Formal night tonight, decided to eat in the Windjammer for a change.

Full disclosure - I've missed some food.  There are too many food stations to capture it all so I've tried to capture the popular ones.

I think that stick is supposed to represent North Star however objects in photos may appear larger than they are.

They are new, being added next week in dry dock.

Same with the panoramic OV cabins.

1 hour ago, DunkelBierJay said:

So....when do you get your pin?

I never got a Platinum pin, not sure if that is a thing.  My Emerald pin came on my 2nd cruise as an Emerald.  My Diamond pin came on the 1st cruise as a Diamond.

It depends on you and why you are booking a cruise.  

I've booked in September a few years in a row.  Yes it is prime hurricane season but they won't have their ships anywhere near one if it happens.  If you can tolerate last minute changes and possibly completely different ports then you can reap the savings booking off peak. 

If you go you will be safe and over the last 10 years most September cruises have executed normally.  However if a storm occurs can you roll with the changes and be fine or will it be utterly disappointing?  I'm fine being on a ship no matter where it goes.

PS - it's cheaper because it's not in peak vacation season, not because of risks from storms.  Since most kids are back in school it doesn't tend to have a lot of kids which itself is escaping a whole different kind of hurricane.

NextCruise Presentation this morning pushing Symphony and Celebrity Edge. 

Unfortunately none of my future cruises are eligible for the OBC schedule they publish.  However I did win a trivia question.  GTV stands for Gas Turbine Vessel.

This netted me a NextCruise bag full of goodies including three neck straps two of which have Symphony bottle openers on them.  I had to do a double take assuming they were made in China.  

Looks like I caught them changing slides as I took my panorama:

1 minute ago, rjac said:

So, is that a bad thing? I, personally, do not think so. May piss off the folks behind you in the bacon line, but hey, more bacon will come out from the kitchen.....evntually.

When I was a kid we had a game called 'KerPlunk".  The object was to remove sticks without the whole bundle of marbles crashing down.  

This is how they have presented the bacon mound in the Windjammer.  Try to pull out just one piece and you'll likely have the whole mound crash onto your plate. 

Good or bad varies betweens one's own perspective and that of your doctor's.

17 hours ago, mworkman said:

I printed out our luggage tags for our next cruise and it still says gold, but who cares...just as long as our luggage  shows up at our room ?.  Our boarding pass has platinum on it. The mystery of Royal Caribbean website will never be known, as too how it works or doesn't on many occasions ?

Luggage tag status is purely random in my experience.  I booked a cruise as an Emerald on board a ship at the NextCruise desk.  My luggage tags for that cruise would eventually say gold.  I made Diamond in the beginning of December.  My luggage tags for the cruise I am on said Emerald.  

On board Anthem right no and I can't access my luggage tags - the website won't resolve but if I VPN home then I can access my luggage tags for an upcoming cruise.  

Welcome to Royal IT.

10 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Wow, looks like you were second row this time around. Really good shots!

Curve of the stage edge on some of the shots makes me think you were using wide angle lens for the full-stage pics, tele for the shots on small groups? Or was this a prime lens with a decent range of focal lengths?

All taken with a 14mm fixed lens.  Some cropped in software later.

One thing about the second row - sound wasn't as good as a few rows back.  I think the speakers are focused towards mid-theater.

Time for a Windjammer breakfast.

There are some small variations day to day but this pretty much represents the standard Windjammer breakfast.

Day 7 - Evening

Windjammer for dinner, sadly no red velvet cake tonight.

In the main theater tonight would be "We Will Rock Rock". This marks my third time seeing it.

Once again I really enjoyed.  

3 minutes ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

Will do and I'm sure extra tipping might make things easier lol. If you find a good bartender who doesn't have an issue putting you're paid shot in the blender with the free virgin drink better keep them coming to you ;). I have always been a believer that if someone helped me save a little or have to go out of the way they deserve some extra and sometimes I even give what I saved back to them (well depending on how much I actually saved lol.) Living in a tourist destination you learn a lot. 

Absolutely.  I carry a lot of singles with me.  It helps.