twangster

Day 3 - Sea Da
Not to be outdone by the sunset last, the sunrise this morning tried to do better.  Good effort.









And so begins our day at sea.  A Chops Grille breakfast is calling my name.

All aboard for Empress was 2:30pm so we could make San Juan by 3pm after a sea day. 
Around 2:45pm as I wandered up to deck 11 to take in sail away I heard the announcement -   "Would the following guest make their way to guest services...".  Not one, or two or five or eight but ten guests were about to become Mariner passengers.  Then came the ship's whistle several times.
Looking down from deck 11 I could see Julie our Hotel Director and Jorge our Guest Services Manager on the pier.


Pier runners!  At 2:47pm five guests came running up the pier.  

At 2:53pm a golf cart delivered the remaining guests.  Finally we could leave.  With a brief horn exchange with Mariner we were off.

A last look back at Mariner and Perfect Day at CocoCay.


I needed to ensure they still had ample Guinness on board so I headed to the Schooner Bar. 

They have the Heineken draught beer machine out for this sailing.  It's a self contained countertop beer cooler and dispenser since Empress doesn't have permanent taps.

I went back to the ship to drop off my camera stuff and grab my snorkel gear.  It's so nice having a pier now at CocoCay.

They were handing out cards to remind people of our 2:30pm all aboard time.

While going up the stairs to my cabin I found the wireless link that ties the ship network to CocoCay.


It wasn't hard to find a 2nd row lounger for my stuff while I snorkelled.







The Sergeant Majors were pretty friendly today.



This part of CocoCay still resembles the CocoCay of old for folks who just want a chill beach day.

August 10, 2019
You know what that means?
IT'S CRUISE DAY!
Like a kid on Christmas morning it's 6am, I'm awake and ready to go.  It looks like the C&A team has been busy putting presents in my account.  Overnight my points from last week have posted, including the solo-in-a-suite gift.

When cruising in hurricane season I always keep an eye on the tropics.  While only early August this is a great thing to see.  Tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 5 days.

Looking at the MarineTraffic.com app I've caught Empress gliding past Symphony as she arrives into the Port of Miami this morning.

I'm here.  The ship is here.  There are no tropical storms on the radar screen.  Phew!
Can you tell I'm bored with nothing to do?  Tick tock.  Tick tock.  Is it time yet?

Interesting story from the previous 8 night Eastern Caribbean Empress cruise.  
A guest on my Empress B2B last week had been on for a month and she told me this story.  Empress has a 2pm departure from CocoCay in order to make San Juan a day after a sea day.  On the last run of this route, several guests missed the ship in CocoCay.  Apparently they didn't note the 2pm departure.
In one case a couple were enjoying CocoCay.  Oblivious to the ship's whistle the woman went to get something to eat while the man went to a bar for a drink.  When he presented his Empress SeaPass card they informed he was about to miss the ship and whisked him away in a golf cart.  Unsure where the woman had gone he got back on board, she missed the ship and it left (late now) towards San Juan.  
Once she figured out she missed the ship, they put her on Mariner and she was taken to Port Canaveral.  She then had to make her own arrangements to get to San Juan which she did at her expense.  The problem is San Juan had some civil unrest and Empress skipped San Juan as a result.  So she missed the ship again.  This time, since Royal cancelled the call on San Juan they paid for her hotel and airfare to Tortola.  Tortola doesn't have an airport so she flew to a neighboring island and had to take a water taxi over to Tortola where she finally re-joined the cruise. 
From what was explained to me they stated the excursion they booked said it ended at 3pm so they thought they were good until 3pm.  
A total of five guests missed the ship at CocoCay.  Unsure what happened to the rest other than being put on Mariner for the ride over to Port Canaveral.  
Lesson learned.  Even at CocoCay, don't miss the ship!
Side note - when Empress skipped San Juan they had already taken on the San Juan pilot when Miami decided they should skip San Juan.  Because the pilot had already boarded they were on the hook for the ~$10k pilot fee.
Hoping we don't skip San Juan but an overnight in Tortola does sound very tempting.
 

Day 3 continued...
Forgot to post the rainbow at sea this morning.

Lots of sargassum at sea.  They don't call this the Sargasso Sea for no reason.  That's the Atlantic for you.  This is the source of that stuff that lands on beaches like Florida and Costa Maya.

Top Tier at 5pm in Boleros.

730 total Crown and Anchor members.  That's up quite a bit from the last sailing.
412 Gold 130 Platinum, 49 Emerald, 91 Diamond, 36 Diamond Plus, 12 Pinnacle
944 new to Royal this cruise.
Main theater show tonight is a new act that wasn't on my previous B2B.  Replacing the hypnotist we have The Dangerous Comedy of Wilde and James.  Juggling three knives on a unicycle. Yep, that just happened.

Captain's address.  Guest cout 1,674.  Top speed for Empress is 19 knots and we are running at that speed today.  The Captain announced we should have an extra hour in San Juan.  With a scheduled arrival at 3pm we should be at the pier and ready to go closer to 2pm.

Saw this as I walked through the smoke free casino.

Buy it!  Even if you are unsure you can always cancel later.
I scored a zip line and thrill water park combp for ~$60 for an upcoming cruise.  Then Perfect Day demand went through the roof and prices adjusted upward.

Day 3 - Midday
Pool deck is popular.

Carving demonstration in the Centrum.


Trivia in the Schooner Bar.  That's Brittney our Sports Deck Manager.  Her parents were on for the 2nd leg of my B2B last cruise. 

Beer sale!  

It's views like this I really appreciate on Empress.  The deck 6 Centrum doors to the outdoor deck that wraps around the ship.  The sea feels like it's right there.

Day 3 - Midday
Pool deck is popular.

Carving demonstration in the Centrum.


Trivia in the Schooner Bar.  That's Brittney our Sports Deck Manager.  Her parents were on for the 2nd leg of my B2B last cruise. 

Beer sale!  

It's views like this I really appreciate on Empress.  The deck 6 Centrum doors to the outdoor deck that wraps around the ship.  The sea feels like it's right there.

Day 3 - Sea Da
Not to be outdone by the sunset last, the sunrise this morning tried to do better.  Good effort.









And so begins our day at sea.  A Chops Grille breakfast is calling my name.

The end of day 2 finds us at sea on our way towards San Juan.
I was sitting in Boleros enjoying some latin music with a glass of wine when I noticed a sunset happening behind us.


Our progress so far...

Here you go...


I was going to call these Cloud Porn but that didn't sound very good so we'll just call them cloud pictures
I didn't ride anything this time.  I talked to the Thrill Water Park Manager and obtained special permission to take some pictures.  I've got a Water Park pass for my next visit on Navigator already purchased so now I can just go on that and enjoy the rides without the need to take pictures.

The majority of guests boarding Mariner have never been on a cruise before.  
Perfect Day is proving to be immensely popular for good reason.
Combine the two and I can understand why they are trying this.
If the feedback is positive they'll likely continue, if not they likely won't.
The idea of two stops is appealing.  That's taking me two cruises, one last week and another next week.  
 
Let's examine this concept that the new Perfect Day is a money grab compared to the old CocoCay. 
Thrill water park is a small section of the island.  Beyond the water park the same excursions are available that always have been at CocoCay, except...
Remember the old Aqua Park?  $37 for one hour.  That's it in the distance. Yep, that's what you got for one hour and $37 back in 2017.


Remember the old slides from 2017?  $26 for a day pass.  Not included in the Aqua Park.

Now for roughly the same price of the old aqua park and old slide you get an entire water park with wave pool and multiple slides that are incredible.
Thrill water park is $62 in most of my upcoming stops at CocoCay.  To me that represents pretty great value compared to the CocoCay of yesterday.
BTW - see all those loungers in the top picture?  Notice anything missing?  The $20 umbrellas!
Here is a Perfect Day picture from last week.  Now, umbrellas all over the place and they are free!

If you just want a relaxing beach day without spending a dime that describes 90% of Perfect Day including a free fresh water pool and now Perfect Day is so much nicer than the old CocoCay.  If you want a water park, the price today has so much more value compared to the old Aqua park and inflatable slide of yesterday's CocoCay at the same price.
Plus no more tendering!  Come and go from the ship as much as you want.  
What's not to love about Perfect Day?

Word on Empress at NextCruise suggests Odyssey cruises will be released in December. 

Word on Empress at NextCruise suggests Odyssey cruises will be released in December. 

When in doubt go with the truth.  Did they mention the survey?  If so, then yes.  

Word on Empress at NextCruise suggests Odyssey cruises will be released in December. 

You can!  Applications are being accepted at RoyalCaribbean.com right now.  All it takes is a credit card...

This is exactly why contracts with tour operators are reviewed and cancelled periodically.  

You can!  Applications are being accepted at RoyalCaribbean.com right now.  All it takes is a credit card...

I wish they’d do this to my 3 day navigator sailing next week. We’re already not getting off in Nassau so it would be perfect. 

Day 3 - Midday
Pool deck is popular.

Carving demonstration in the Centrum.


Trivia in the Schooner Bar.  That's Brittney our Sports Deck Manager.  Her parents were on for the 2nd leg of my B2B last cruise. 

Beer sale!  

It's views like this I really appreciate on Empress.  The deck 6 Centrum doors to the outdoor deck that wraps around the ship.  The sea feels like it's right there.

$79 USD is the full price without discount.  Like any excursion pricing varies based on demand.  Like any excursion if you don't like it, don't buy it.  It isn't required.  Still compared to the $63 USD that the Aqua Park and slides cost in 2017, $16 more for a full water park for the full day isn't a bad deal.
With two stops at Perfect Day complete I've spent zero on excursions so far.   Thrill Water Park occupies less than 25% of CocoCay.  It's one small area.  if you aren't into it or can't afford it, don't buy it.  Pretty simple and no conspiracies involved.  
CocoCay was a sleepy little island before that many people found boring.  Perfect Day is popular because people love the additions.  Many people are gladly paying $79 for the water park because they want to, not because they have to.  
Of course Royal wants people to spend money on the water park but they have also added a lot of complimentary items and eliminated the $20-$25 umbrellas.  Umbrellas are free now.  They know full well return guests may buy excursions one time but not another.  
I've spent more than $79 USD on the zip line at Labadee.  I've spent more than that for jet skis at Labadee.  Often at Labadee I don't spend a dime.  CocoCay is no different.  Plus now your Voom plans works at CocoCay.  Hope they do the same with Labadee.

You can!  Applications are being accepted at RoyalCaribbean.com right now.  All it takes is a credit card...

Day 3 - Midday
Pool deck is popular.

Carving demonstration in the Centrum.


Trivia in the Schooner Bar.  That's Brittney our Sports Deck Manager.  Her parents were on for the 2nd leg of my B2B last cruise. 

Beer sale!  

It's views like this I really appreciate on Empress.  The deck 6 Centrum doors to the outdoor deck that wraps around the ship.  The sea feels like it's right there.