henrysea13

I'm taking a page from @KLAconQueso and splitting out my review of one of our major excursions to this board, rather than making it part of my live blog. Now, I've already posted the photos from that excursion on my recent live blog; you can view them here. This entry is more to talk about the excursion and the folks who run it, how to book it and what to expect when you go.
The official name for the company that runs this tour is "Soualiga Destinations", and this is also the name of their web site. But everyone who's told me about it, and the owner himself, tends to refer to just as "Capt. Bob's". They're an independent outfit and don't do bookings through Royal; everything is done directly with the owner, Capt. Bob himself. They only offer this one tour, which runs daily from 10 AM (with 9:30 checkin) to 4 PM; they expect that if you book with them, your all-aboard time is no earlier than 4:30 PM so you have enough time to walk or get a cab back to the port. In all honesty, our trip with them was back at the marina at 3:45, and I've heard other accounts that indicate 4 PM is really a buffer, and they tend to get back a bit earlier so no one misses their ship.
They currently have 9 boats (having lost 3 to Hurricane Irma in 2017); the larger ones hold about 16 people, while smaller ones hold groups of 8 or 12. While all of the boats have a canopy of some sort, none of them offer full-time shade and you will definitely need to bring a lot of sunscreen for this trip and/or things to cover up with!
At the time we booked in April of 2017, the price was $119 per person plus 5% tax, with a 20% deposit. Payment of the deposit is done via PayPal, and the balance is due in cash when you check in at the port. I was able to pay in full up front, as I wanted to do this for budgeting purposes, and Capt. Bob was up-front that he holds on to your money until you've arrived and taken the trip; if your ship can't make or a disaster like Irma strikes, he issues a full refund of whatever you paid. You are welcome to charter a boat for just your group, but pricing will be affected depending on how large your group is.
Booking with them is done through email. The site's Contact page also lists phone numbers in the US and St. Maarten, but it's clear that email is the preferred method. I actually had a lot of questions before I booked, due to my mobility limits and concerns I had about how much I could take part, and Capt. Bob took the time to answer every one of them before I booked. He's very low-key and has no problem if you end up saying no after first contacting him.
When you arrive in St. Maarten, you'll go through the port market to the main road and make a left. You'll follow the road until you see a yellow building with a cheese shop, which is where the Dock Maarten marina you embark from is located. There's a little walk-through archway on the side of the building that gives you direct access to the marina, and this is where you'll find Capt. Bob and the other boat captains who will be taking care of you. It's a fairly easy 15-minute walk, even for a moderately mobility-limited person like myself. We took a taxi to get there only because we were running a bit late and didn't want to miss check-in, and walked back to the ship afterward.
Our captain that day was Bob's son Brett, and our first mate was his fiancée Laura. We were going out on the only boat that had been docked in Dock Maarten during Irma and survived (albeit banged up and in need of some minor repairs); not just the only boat of theirs, the only boat in the entire marina. Capt. Bob's other surviving boats (two that he owned himself and 7 owned by the other captains who he works with) were docked elsewhere during Irma, so they definitely did well by not pulling all of their figurative eggs in one marina-shaped basket!
I'm going to take a moment here to talk about Brett and Laura, as they were just amazing hosts for this tour and we couldn't have asked for a better pair to guide us around and help make the trip memorable. I was especially grateful to them since I ended up staying on the boat almost the entire time and it was good to have someone to chat with while everyone else was in the water snorkeling or swimming. They told me (and eventually the others on our trip) their back story, and it kind of blew my mind. If you'd rather skip this part, just pass over the quote block.
 
Now for the actual tour!
Every boat that is going out leaves the marina separately, and I think each one also changes up the overall timing of the itinerary a bit to avoid overlap. Even though there are a total of nine boats, and from what I saw at least five of them were going out the day we were there, the only places we saw any other boats from Capt. Bob were at lunch and when we arrived at Maho beach towards the end of our trip. At our snorkeling and beach destinations, ours was the only boat anchored there at that time.
After leaving the marina, you make your way along the coast and quickly move into another inlet. This leads to the most expensive marina on the island, where the truly wealthy dock their multi-million dollar yachts in the winter months. You get to see a lot of amazing vessels here, although when we went through there were several that were damaged (and one sunk) thanks to Irma. Your captain will tell you about the ships that are there at the time; one of them on our trip belonged to a Russian oligarch, and cost a cool $500,000,000! That is some seriously insane (and from what I've heard separately, most likely illegal / laundered) wealth on display!
From the marina, you make your way through a channel and continue along the Dutch side of the island. The channel is wide enough that you speed along, seeing all the buildings built on the shoreline as well as the natural beauty of the island. Even with the devastation still visible everywhere, it was amazing. The color of the water alone will blow your mind. You'll also pass by the mansion of the French side's governor, prominently on display by itself at the top of a modest hill.
At this point, you'll pass under a small drawbridge and cross to the French side of the island. You are warned that on this side the beaches are clothing-optional, but we never saw anything at any point that made us stare (or want to look away quickly). The channel opens back onto the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean not long after, and you'll continue along the coast for a bit before cross over to your first snorkeling stop, Tintemarre Island. This is a small little island with no inhabitants, and is part of a nature preserve that surrounds a lot of St. Maarten and encompasses the surrounding little islands. (islets?) The island is home to sea turtles and sting rays, both of which often keep to the sea grass under the surface of the water.
For those who didn't bring their own snorkeling gear, your captain will hand out fins and also a mask with snorkel. You're instructed to hold onto these for the duration of the trip, until the last snorkeling stop is done. The mask is sprayed with some anti-fog solution so you can see clearly at all times. Those who are unfamiliar with snorkeling get about 10 minutes of instruction here, and both the captain and first mate will check that your mask is on your face correctly before you dive in to the water. Everyone is free to jump in from either the sides of the boat or from the back. You get about 45 minutes at this stop before everyone has to board again. Boarding is done through a short rail-less ladder that gets attached to the back of the ship after everyone has gone into the water. Based on my experience using this ladder at our lunch stop, it's not really something for a mobility-challenged person like myself with a lot of foot problems. The steps of the ladder tended to be a little slippery, and since it's rail-less you need to hang on to the side of the ship, or the engines, or the thick fuel hoses, or anything else that offers a grip while you're pulling yourself back up into the boat.
After everyone is back on board, you go straight to your next stop – Pinel Island. This is also part of the wildlife refuge, but has a small strip of beach with umbrellas and loungers, plus a little bar / restaurant and a small gift shop selling hand-made and -painted bird feeders, wind chimes, and carved trinkets. There is a "bathroom" here, but it's really more of an outhouse; there was no running water to flush with that I could see, and there is also a warning sign outside the little cabin telling you in French and English to not put any toilet paper into the toilet! This is the only spot where you'll have access to any kind of bathroom, though, so if this just doesn't work for you then you'll need to either hold it until 4 PM, or do like the fish do.
I suppose I should mention at this point that from the moment you set out from the marina, there is plenty of water and also beer to be had. Brett told us that the beer was actually cheaper to buy than the water! For our boat, we had Coors Light and a very nice French lager that I'd never had before. There were only a few bottles of that, and I only scored one of them, so the rest of the time it was Coors beer-like tap water for me! But this does make it difficult to avoid needing a restroom the entire trip! 
While at Pinel Island, everyone is free to swim, relax on the beach, visit the gift shop, and also enjoy lunch. While they used to do lunch in a different spot that had its own restaurant, that place was destroyed by Irma and hadn't yet been rebuilt. While I clearly smelled food cooking at the bar here, we were more or less told that we couldn't get anything to eat there; if I had to guess why, it was because on the French side they only accept Euros, not dollars, and this place didn't take credit cards. In any event, the new arrangement is for plenty of fresh-made sandwiches that are packed on the boat before you head out. These are really good and come in a nice variety – we had ham, tuna, chorizo, crab, and veggie as our options; and all were on fresh-baked mini-baguettes from one of the local bakeries on the French side. The sandwiches are served with chips and apples, and there are enough sandwiches for everyone on board to have two or even three if they want.
After about an hour and a half, you head out to your second and final snorkeling stop, a large rock that juts out of the water and is named Creole Rock. This is where you will snorkel to see a wide variety of fish, octopi, and sea urchins. The latter tend to make their home on the sides of the rock, so you get a pretty strong warning to stay clear of the rock and stick to the areas marked by little buoys that let you know where the fish tend to congregate. You also have to keep to the side facing the Caribbean Sea, which is much calmer; the other side faces the Atlantic, which has much more wave action, and you'll be warned that going to that side could lead to getting smashed against the rock and the sea urchins.
This stop is shorter, about 25 minutes, and then the really fast part of the trip begins. After everyone's snorkeling gear is gathered up and stowed, the captain opens up the engines and you go flying back to St. Maarten and the Dutch side of the island. It's a literal "hold onto your hat" ride, as the wind is strong enough to rip baseball caps or loose sunglasses off heads and send any loose towels or garments flying off the boat, never to be seen again. You quickly make your way to Plum Bay, where you will see the Dutch governor's home, as well as a large mansion currently owned by the 43rd President of the US. After a quick look and bit of background on that mansion, you fly off again and quickly make your way to Long Bay, site of the white villas with red tile roofs that show up in so many photos from St. Maarten. This is your final beach stop for the day, and you get another half hour or so to just relax and swim. The water is a bit deeper here and the current into the beach a lot stronger than on Pinel Island, so if you want to go to the beach you'll need to prepare for a bit of a fight back into the deeper water where the boat anchors.
When this round of beach time is done, the captain opens up the engines again and you speed along the coast to Maho Beach. You don't get that close to the actual beach area, this is more about hoping to catch a plane flying close overhead. It's kind of luck of the draw here; on our outing, we had a plane pass overhead just as we arrived, with no chance to pull out a camera and get it lined up for a picture. You only spend a couple of minutes before making one last speed dash back to the marina. I'm not sure if this part is common, but there were three other boats from Capt. Bob's at Maho when we arrived, and all four of us left and once and turned that final run into a race to the finish line. It was actually really fun to see which boat would end up "winning", and everyone was hooting and hollering for their captain to the be the one to come in first.
After returning to the marina, your captain will winch the boat back up part-way in its lift before you disembark. You'll be asked for a very well-deserved tip, and you'll also be advised to stop in the cheese shop that you passed on your way to the marina; here you can get a free treat by just mentioning that you were with Capt. Bob. It's normally ice cream, but in our case they had sold out and were instead giving away small caramel waffle cookies. You'll also have a chance here to buy some cheese (no Monty Python jokes, please!), made following authentic Dutch recipes and guaranteed by the owner to travel just fine for the rest of your cruise and your flight home. When we were there, they were giving samples of a really tasty Gouda that I'd have loved to buy, but I wasn't certain it would hold up to the time out of a fridge between getting off the ship and finally getting home.
You'll definitely be pushing the boundaries of your all-aboard time with this trip, but it is incredibly worth it in my opinion. This was far more than any excursion we saw offered by Royal, the group size was very small and made for great snorkeling without a lot of people crowding you, and your captain and first mate are excellent tour guides. I also think they're far less expensive relative to the duration of this trip vs. anything you can book in the Cruise Planner. $119 per person for a six-hour outing is, I want to say, half the price I saw for an equivalent duration excursion on the Cruise Planner. And judging by the feedback from my wife and daughters, the snorkeling was really good and offered a lot to see. Throw in the included beverages and food, and you've got one heck of a value for this trip, even after including a good tip!

Joe and Family thank you once again for the time and effort you put into this fabulous account of your travels .As for sea days I look so forward to them I love the ships even when I was on my first I found so much adventure in these floating cities to be fair when my uncle was alive he owned an 83 foot island hopper and I cruised often the islands such as martenique grenada and Barbados it has always fascinated me the sea life I love the open ocean even having a huge whale scratch himself on the keel for 20 minutes or so it astounded me when I realized how small and insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. I love the ports don't care much for sand but it has become a thing of mine to try to meet the locals and get there viewpoints of life in general I often spend much time on the lifeboat deck 4 or 5 listening to the healing sounds of the sea going by and many times especially in the heat of the summer will stay on the ship especially at labadee or like ports just to enjoy the grandeur of these magnificent ships and all they offer. Sailing was my goal in life but was cut short by my uncles passing and the sale of the magnificent yacht Sorrento. Your picture treasures are so detailed it brought back so many memories I had of the good times in the BWI bars and magnificent scenery and color changes I shared with my kids. I have learned to so to say wake up and live it all again while there is time on my next cruise in OCT I will open my eyes again peak my senses now that I come to realize that for the most part on my cruises I had taken the been there done that attitude. Thank you once again for the great blog and helping me to bring back the wonder

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

Well, this is a little overdue; but life, as usual, had other plans for me the last couple of days...
Final Impressions
I'm actually going to break this down into a few different sections, since there were so many firsts and so many aspects to cover.
General
Overall, we all agree this was a really good first cruise that everyone enjoyed I think we all found the sea days a little too slow on those first two full days, but the last one was appreciated for the down time after four intense port days For me, and maybe my wife, it was because we weren’t fully utilizing the Cruise Compass and trying out things like trivia events or other little “one offs” For the girls, I think their mistake was skipping the first-night Teen Meet and Greet, so they ended up having to do their own thing all the time One aspect that I really came to appreciate was the people I met at lunch or on the helipad, just as casual meetings during breakfast/lunch or sail-away, as I got to meet a lot of nice folks from areas I've never been to (even within my own country) and shared in some good conversation each time I think I'm no longer the only one who's gotten the cruise bug, but we all understand our daily lives make going more frequently problematic right now That said, my wife is very much looking forward to our trip on Anthem in October, where it will just be the two of us Dining
Every one of us had no problems with eating only at the included venues, and especially the MDR; service there was great for all but bar service, and even that was resolved by Day 3 with the addition of the extra staff that we noticed Speaking for myself, I only had one entree in the MDR that was a little disappointing (a fish entree that was a bit tough and dry); I think everyone else had at most one entree or appetizer that they tried and didn't finish The one specialty dining stop at Sabor was OK, but not great, and since I also did Chef's Table I really didn't feel the need for any other specialty dining on this cruise Speaking of Chef's Table – that's getting its own full write-up in the Shore Excursion section, but it really was just an amazing experience and something I think everyone has to do at least once if you're even remotely into good food and good wine Please don't ask me to sample Sorrento's again. Ever. Drink Packages
I definitely got full value out of my drink package, but only because I got a good sale price that made breaking even that much easier, and we had Labadee in the trip If there were more port days or I had to pay a higher price, I’d have lost money Because it was relatively easy to "break even", I didn't really feel any drink fatigue; I drank when I wanted a drink, and never found myself asking, "Am I buying this because I really want it, or because I want to break even?" Best of all, I didn't ever feel like a lush or that I was getting unpleasantly beyond buzzed Based on what I know they got each day, I would say that my wife and D14 also got full value out of the Refreshment Package, though it was close and again helped by the $18 pp pd sale price we got D17 did not get her money's worth out of the package, as she just typically ordered a single covered beverage a day, two at the most; definitely would have been better to just let her go a la carte Internet
Very worth it for the intended purpose of communication, as we were regularly messaging each other to meet up at this place or that one, or say that one of us was going to some place ahead of dinner and would meet up with everyone It was frustrating as hell in our cabins, though; I lost count of how many times one of us would have to go down to the Promenade or another part of the ship with stronger signal so we could forcibly log off and then back on, or at least get a signal good enough for the authentication to re-establish Port stops
St. Maarten was everyone’s favorite port, and we would happily sail with Capt. Bob / Soualiga Destinations again San Juan was a close second, and I think we all wish we could have had more time there so it wasn't so rushed and we'd have been able to explore more I'm going to call Labadee a tie for second, or at worst it lost that race by a nose; it was a really nice beach / relaxation day and a great chance to try some off-the-beaten-path things (coaster, zip line) The cabana absolutely made the day in Labadee for us; I can’t see not getting one of these on every future visit, as long as I can get a similarly good sale price Sharing the day and the cabana with our table-mates also made it a lot of fun St. Kitts was everyone’s least favorite port; without the dolphin excursion or something similarly bucket-listy to improve the visit here, we’d have likely just stayed on the ship. We all agree that we’d prefer an itinerary without this port on any future eastern / southern-ish Caribbean itineraries Flight and pre-/post-cruise hotel stay
United was totally fine for our trip; no lost baggage, no issues getting our seats or having last-minute changes (beyond typical flight delays that were made up in the air) I'd still like to try Jet Blue, though; next Florida cruise, I suppose Fort Lauderdale Airport is way nicer than Newark, although it does look like Newark has had a lot of renovations since the last time we flew out of there I definitely would not fly in so early again, or if I did would absolutely have to get a cheaper hotel further away from port Staying at the Embassy Suites on 17 was nice and very convenient for getting to places to eat or the public trolley, and they had one of the best included breakfast buffets I've ever had, but it was so expensive that just on its own I lost all the savings from the earlier flight Factor in the cost of meals in that area, even at chains like Outback, and I was even further in the hole I will freely admit this was done in full knowledge and that I was splurging to extend our vacation and make it as nice as I could, but I really did put the cart before the horse with booking the flight before looking at hotel rates and doing all the math like I've done with every other aspect of this trip The same goes for staying a day later; the final extra costs for hotel and meals when I was already past the point of what I'd saved on the flight made it just not worth it, and it would have been better to fly home Sunday afternoon since there wasn't a major increase in price to do that In addition to the above, the girls incurred extra absence days at school that bit us once those extra snow days forced the schools to be open almost all of spring break week; they now have 15 absences at school and only a few left before graduation would be blocked, so here's hoping they don't get any bad spring colds!

Thank-you Joe and family for taking me on your wonderful first Cruise I truly felt like I was there with you your photos were outstanding and the narration was even better I will never forget the site of the pidgeons and will actively seek this out for my girls in nov in OSJ once again thank-you Joe and Family for a second shot at having another First Cruise an experience I thought I lost in time 
PS I love the two birds my daughter frequently expresses this sentiment when my camera comes out 

I feel everyone's pain, I've got such a long wait between cruises.  I'm at least 17 days from the single digit dance.

Day  -2
Well after few months it is time again for funny spelling mistakes/bad grammar and near real time blog.
If everything will be ok and nothing  change our flight we will be on the Symphony Of The Seas at this Saturday from Barcelona.
So why this ship ? – really should I explain why one wants to go on Symphony ? ?
Actually, when the first itineraries were published we already booked a cruise for September time but six weeks ago we decided we need some extra vacation until September, we thought first to travel to Thailand for some land vacation but after checking the April/May weather over therel we dropped this idea.
I started to look for April  cruises and I preferred something around Europe to shorten the flight  time , apparently the only available ship was the SyOTC , so well we decided to volunteer and as  @Matt says : do it for the research.
For sure I have not canceled the September cruise as I believe it’s going to be two different experiences.
Europe April Weather  can be still cold and rainy while  September weather will be much warmer (in Italy too warm) so we are planning to focus  doing internal ship activities and some shore excursions while in September focus on other stuff like the water slides and water activities.
Another difference  is that for this cruise we booked Ocean view room as I do not think we would use the balcony too much (too cold) while in September we do have a balcony.
Here is the itinerary: (this is the third time we are doing the same one with Harmony OTS and Liberty)
Day -1 – Barcelona (getting to the hotel and find a nice Tapas restaurant)
Day 1 – Barcelona (We have BOGO deal)
Day 2 – Palma de Mallorca, we will take the bus to the city see what is new.
Day 3 -  Marseilles , we took a  ship tour around the city ,  last time we went on a  tour  to one of the small cities in Provence  .
Day 4 - Florence/Pisa (La Spezia) – We will stay around la Spezia which is a nice small city , Florence is quite far and we already have a tour booked  for the next cruise to visit Florence. I guess we will do some of the shopping there (wine, Balsamic vinegar and yes maybe shoes)
Day 5 - Rome (Civitavecchia) – We have a ship  tour that will transfer us to Rome , we will have around 6 hour to tour Romr  by ourselves , since we already been to Rome (land tours) I think we can find our way. I took the ship transfer to make sure we will be back on time, train and buses can be delayed from time to time.
Day 6-  Naples (Capri) – We did not plan what to do there yet , we might take the bicycle tour if the weather will be nice or just go off the ship and tour the city (by tour the city I acutely mean go to eat a pizza ? ) . From all the ports of call this one is the closet to the city center, walking distance .
 
So tomorrow early morning we are planning to catch the train to the airport (15 minutes) and start our journey to Barcelona (the flight will be via Rome which is funny consider our itinerary, but it was very cheap comparing to the direct flight, so cheap that it would not make sense to use miles).
Drinking – No drinking package this time, we will bring two bottles of wines  and we are planning to buy drinks from time to time (it is a very heavy port itinerary and they want 49 $ per day for the package ).
Special restaurants – We got the BOGO first two night restaurants , I hope one of them will be Hooked and will try Wonderland (even if we need to add some money) but almost everything will be nice, but must have Hooked at least one time to write a report for the blog.
Please feel free to ask questions or ask me to take  pictures of certain things on the ship, I will try to bring as much information as I can.
My partner finally got her SLR camera back from where we left it last time (long story) so maybe we can have some better pictures (although still it is a basic SLRs).
 
Tomorrow Barcelona
 

 
 Hey , you do not need to buy me ticket , I will be in the suitcase , no one will notice 
 
 
 
 
 

Day 9 & 10 (Debarkation, Return Home)
The dreaded day has arrived. There are no more ports, no more sea days. We didn’t even have a docking to watch when we woke up.

 
We woke up at 6:30 to the first announcement, letting those doing self-disembarkation know the ship was docked and that they should be able to leave the ship around 7 or 7:15. We wanted to eat in the MDR and not have to rush, so we up at this point and got dressed. Looking out the balcony window, we could see the port and non-cruise life waiting for us. It was patient, it knew we couldn’t stay on the ship forever.
We went down to the MDR for the final time. As we walked in at 7:20, we heard the first GTFO call for those self-disembarking passengers. No cereal bar in the MDR today, only regular menu. We got seated at a four-top after thinking we’d be sharing a table and at least having some other conversation to distract us, but nope.
No fresh-squeezed OJ available today. The waiter explained the machines were off limits to them on this day. My wife settled for a glass of the regular OJ, but I would not settle; I made do with just water and coffee.
After breakfast, we went back to our cabins one last time and cleaned out the last of our stuff, getting everything into our backpacks and bags.
We went down to deck 5 and were able to get one last round of caramel macchiatos and cappuccinos at Cafe Promenade. It was a little before 9, and we only had a short time before it our time to leave our little slice of heaven. We went to the Arcadia Theater and waited there for our turn to go. The screens in the theater were showing CNN, and it was piped out over the sound system. News?!? What fresh hell was this??
We got called off at 9:15 sharp, and decided to leave rather than stay the extra 15 minutes since we could only stay in the theater and we’d had quite enough news, thanks. We walked out to the deck 4 running track and got in line.

Wade was trying to figure out where to hide until the next embarkation started. Or who to steal the Sea Pass and passport from. He could pass for a Julian Guilfoyle, right?
I do have to say here that the cruise was not exactly giving us an incentive to return to dry land. The second we walked onto that track, before we even got to the end of the line, our noses were assaulted by the stench of the waste systems being emptied. Couldn’t they have done this from downwind? We all really wanted to turn and go back inside where the air was still pleasant.
It took about 15 minutes to actually get off the ship and into the terminal building. There was a bottleneck at the gangway station where they scanned everyone’s Sea Pass card for the last time, and the gangway itself wasn’t exactly moving at a fast clip.
A woman in the building was calling to all the passers-by that an elevator was right there and ready to go down to the ground floor. No one took it, not even me with my bad feet. She asked aloud why no one was interested in taking it. We all thought the same thing, I know we did: It wasn’t a convenience, it was a speedway back to reality and regular life. No one wanted that, and we all took the nice slow escalator, or the stairs.

Once in the main waiting area, we found a porter right away; he helped us find our luggage, and took care of hauling our eight bags while we made our way through the customs line. He then led us to where we could wait for our Lyft, then dropped off our bags and headed back after I gave him a solid $2 per bag tip for hauling those 8 bags on a single dolly all that time.
Our Lyft took us back to the same Embassy Suites hotel where our adventure started, and we checked in very early; we had to wait until nearly 2 for our room to be ready. We hung out in the atrium, going through photos, the girls working on some of their remaining homework. 
Once our room was available, we headed up and  got our stuff squared away, then my wife and the girls went to the trolley to check out the Galleria mall and get some lunch. I stayed behind to rest my feet, got a small lunch from one of the places in the Publix mall right there, and went through the photos I hadn’t yet edited or culled.
We had dinner at La Bamba, bringing the trip full circle and wrapping it up the way it started.
After checking out the next day at 11, we took one more Lyft to the airport and waited for our flight. It got delayed by nearly an hour not long after we arrived, but similar to the flight down, they made up most of that time in the air so people with connecting flights weren’t impacted. We managed to pull up to the gate in Newark only about 20 minutes late.
Our baggage showed up fairly quickly, and we made our way to the off-site parking pickup area. Did I mention yet that it was 41° F in NJ that day, and none of us packed for temps that low? We froze at the off-site pickup area for about 20 minutes while we waited for a van to come and get us. Why is it still in the low 40’s in April?!?
We picked up our car from the Park Plus, and headed out for home. It was after 7 t this point, so we grabbed some dinner at the Tick Tock Diner on the way home. We got home just after 9, and after greeting our cats for the first time in almost two weeks and giving them lots of love and attention, we crashed.
Today as I write this, it’s April 12. There are 183 days until my wife and I board Anthem of the Seas and kick off our next cruise.
I’ll write up the final verdict and the things we loved and... not hated, just... found wanting... when I’m on a computer and can make bullet lists, but I think everyone here knows that this was an awesome trip that everyone really enjoyed.

I'm not paying an upcharge for nachos and potato skins on a cruise ship.  If I'm going to pay more for food on a vacation, it's going to be for an experience that wows me like Chef's Table, Chops or 150.  If I want fried food or chips and dip that badly, then I'm going to support the local economy of the place I'm visiting.  I ain't paying Royal for that.
This is yet another continuation of a nickel-and-diming trend I'm getting less and less patient with.  I'm the sort who budgets a whole vacation and prefers to pay over time and up front for everything so I don't have to have a care in the world while I'm actually on vacation and there will be no big surprise bills at the end to close out my vacation on a sour note.  I do not enjoy spending money WHILE on vacation.  I want all of that sorted before I put my flip flops on.  Cruising Royal used to accommodate me on that, but that's becoming less and less so.
And not only are they adding more for-pay options, they're degrading their complementary offerings too.  I've noticed a distinct nose dive in food quality from the MDR and Windjammer on ships with more specialty restaurants and upcharges.  And there's that rumor they're going to nuke the drink package benefits on Coco Cay soon.  Gotta squeeze the guests more for that water park . . .
If I have to shift my vacation dollars to all-inclusive land resorts or start taking a fresh look at the other cruise lines competing with Royal but offering more for the money without all the nickel and diming, then that's what's going to happen.  It's certainly looking that way more and more.

Day 7 – Labadee
We took advantage of our later port arrival to sleep in a bit. Where in my case, by "sleep in" I mean I naturally woke up at 7 instead of having an alarm jarring me awake at 6. Following my now daily ritual for port days, I went onto the balcony after grabbing my phone and lenses to see what was in view. I thought maybe that Royal had actually routed us to Isla Nublar this time, and instead of lounging in a cabana I'd be running from T-Rexes.

 
But after about a half hour, it clear that this was no dino-topia...

 
Especially not after spying the tiny rowboat making its way past us...

 
When we had gotten close enough, the ship started turning around to actually dock, and I could see the pier and village of Labadee ahead of us.

 
I had my YOLO shirt from RCBlog on, so I kept it all in stride... (#RCBlog_Supporter, #Chillin, #Mellow)

 
Everyone else was up at this point, and we did need to get to breakfast before my wife and the girls had to get to their scheduled zip line run. So we headed down and once again just took advantage of the "cereal bar" in the MDR to have a quick meal without the Windjammer crowds. This time around, we got to the MDR a little late and had to share a table. Our table-mates were two elderly ladies who had no plans for Labadee, having "outgrown that stuff some time ago."
After breakfast, we did the usual trip back to the cabins to sunscreen up and get ready to head out. Unlike the other times, we had a persistent wood block tapping coming in through our balcony windows. We quickly realized it was from the little band that had set up on the pier. With the window closed, the only thing we could hear was that wood block; after opening the balcony door we could hear the whole group, which was a lot less irritating for us.
We ended up being a little too leisurely with getting up and ready, and found ourselves hurrying down the pier so all the ladies didn't miss their check-in time for the zip line. After we found where they had to go, I took  their bags and made my way to Nellie's Bach and the cabana check-in desk there. I did have to ask a couple of times for how to get there and where to go, but I eventually got there and was checked in. I let them know that not only would my family be there, but we had also invited our table-mates and they should be expected later in the morning.
Our attendant was a man named Fritz, and he led me to our cabin, which was the next-to-last one down the line. I had a chance later in the day to confirm that at least for these cabanas, they are not reserved based on when you booked, just on when you show up to claim one. So the earlier you get there, the better the cabana you'll be given as far as its position in the line and the view you get. Ours was definitely not at all shabby...

 
After putting everyone's bags down in our cabana and taking the pics above, I went out and found Fritz, and asked him to please call one of the golf carts for me so I could go and ride the Dragon's Tail coaster before the lines had a chance to build up. It took about ten minutes for a cart to show up, but that was fine; I wasn't in any hurry at that point. Once it arrived, I was quickly whisked to the check-in desk for the coaster, where I filled out my waiver and got my all-day wrist band. While walking the short distance from there to the actual ride entrance, I was surprised to see a wild dog come into view. It was somewhat timid and didn't let me get too close, but I was still able to get a shot.

I rode the coaster a total of four times over the span of about 45 minutes. I recorded every one of them, but I haven't yet reviewed them and decided which is best to share. Two of the times I went fairly slowly; the second time was a little too slow, as I had applied the brake for so long that I almost stopped dead on the track about half-way through! The other two times I went as fast as I was comfortable with while holding my phone (braced in the ShoulderPod grip) in one hand, and using the brake with the other. It was still plenty fast for me, and I definitely had a blast, as well as getting my money's worth out of my all-day pass. I'll try and get one of those videos up on YouTube to share here this weekend.
By this point it was noon, and I was ready to go back to the cabana. The people at the coaster couldn't hail one for me, so I wandered over to the beach bed checkin spot on Adrenaline Beach and asked if they could do it. They could indeed, and paged someone over the walkie-talkies they had there. While I waited for my ride, I attempted to speak to them in French, dredging up what I could remember of my high-school classes to fumble out a basic conversation (prefaced with me letting them know in French that I honestly didn't speak it well but was hoping to have a little chance to practice). They were pretty patient with me and fell back to English when it was clear I just didn't understand / couldn't translate quickly enough what they were saying to me. But it did come back to me to a surprising degree, and I even understood when they said in French that their Creole language was much easier to learn since it didn't have all the grammatical rules and other complications that "regular" French has. They explained that they all had to learn both French and English in school, so they were at least conversant in all three, if not 100% fluent.
By this time my golf cart had arrived. I thanked the gents I'd been speaking with for the conversation, and then hopped on to go back to my cabana. I got there to find that my wife, the girls, and our table-mates were all there. Everyone who'd been on the zip line absolutely loved it, and none of them found themselves scared all that much. They also said the jolt at the end wasn't as bad as the videos we'd watched beforehand made it look, so maybe the next time we're in Labadee I'll give it a try. They wanted to take video and made sure they had hand straps for their phones, but they were told that only head-mounted GoPros were being allowed since everyone had to hold on to the zipline bars with two hands.
Now I was thirsty at this point, and Fritz had just showed up to deliver some drinks for Debbi and Matthew;. I didn't hesitate, and ordered my first Labadoozie of the day (with alcohol, natch). D14 already had a drink in a hollowed-out pineapple that she bought with her OBC, and my wife and D17 were just drinking the Evian that came with our cabana, so I was the only one left empty-handed. Fritz came back in short order, and I tried it out.

As you can see, I totally hated it. 
After I had a chance to properly sample my beverage, we asked Fritz to call up another golf cart so we could grab some food from the buffet. Our driver was great, staying nearby so that we could grab what we wanted and then eat it back in the cabana without having to hoof it all the way there. The food was just OK for me, but I'm not a big barbecue fan; everyone else thought it was great.
With lunch out of the way, the girls and my wife went to the Dragon's Tail coaster to try and get a couple of rides in. While they were off doing that, Debbi, Matt, and I went into the lagoon and enjoyed the water. It was very odd after a while; we all kept feeling cold patches going by while we stood there, so the water alternated between feeling nice and warm and feeling freezing cold. I eventually got out and decided to take another time-lapse while I warmed back up.
Wade made another visit and gave his seal of approval...

 
The ladies came back by this point, having only been  able to get in a couple of rides on the coaster due to the long lines that had formed. Lesson learned -- ride the coaster early if you have an all-day pass, or you won't get nearly as much of your money's worth!
The two girls and Matthew then went to the village to find some trinkets to buy. We adults just hung around in the cabana and enjoyed the lazy day, chatting and relaxing. I had another couple of Labadoozies, because why not?
D17 came back from the village feeling robbed. She tried to haggle, didn't know how to properly do it, and ended up paying the full $25 asked for the two necklaces she wanted. D14 did a bit better, getting a carved bird for $12 (original asking price $20). Matthew was an old hand at this, and got 6 necklaces / bracelets for $4 each. The girls decided to vent their frustrations over haggling with a dip in the lagoon.
I had seen a number of birds flittering around and tried to get some pics, but only got this one fellow as he gathered material for a nest...

I did manage to get a shot of D14's "emotional support chicken" as well..

 
And just when I'd given up hope of catching any more birds, I got two in one shot!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
By this time, the cabanas were being cleared out and the beach was empty of people. We got the not-too-subtle GTFO hint and grabbed our stuff (plus the un-consumed Evian bottles) and started heading back. I tipped Fritz for the four of us, and Debbi tipped him some more for herself and Matthew. And we managed to score one last golf cart ride back to the ship, with the same driver who had gotten us to the buffet and back; my wife tipped him as well for taking such good care of us. We did the short walk back to the ship, once again among the very last to board (without being actual pier runners).

 
We really loved having that cabana. If I can score one at the same low price I got this one the next time we're in Labadee, I will definitely do that again. It made the day that much more pleasant and relaxing, especially since that day there was absolutely no wind or any breeze to cool things off. We had the shade of the cabana as well as the fan in it to help us keep cool all day.
No sail-away pics or video this time, we were already facing out to the ocean and sail-away was incredibly fast. I also missed the sunset again this time, but my wife got a nice shot from what we think was the deck 4 jogging path...

 
Dinner this night included tiramisu for dessert. Now I've been on a quest for the best tiramisu for a long time, and I had high expectations. I have to say, when it came out and I took my first bite, I was... disappointed is the only word for it. It seemed bland to me, but my wife and D14 both said I was nuts and that it had really great flavor, and was one of the best they'd had. So, I did what anyone would do... I had a second helping. You know... for research purposes.
I kid you not, it was night and day. That second piece was what I was expecting from a good tiramisu. Jigger was as shocked as the rest of us, and he guessed that because my entree that night was extremely savory and I was drinking some Zinfandel with it, my palate hadn't cleared enough to properly taste the dessert. By the time the second portion arrived, I'd had some additional sweet (a bite of my wife's chocolate panna cotta) and also some water, so I was better set for properly tasting my second helping.
After dinner, my wife and I tried going to the helipad again to try and finally see some stars. And we hit the jackpot! The sky was almost completely clear of clouds, and from the helipad the stars just shined down by the hundreds. We saw more than we'd ever seen before, and could even see their actual colors as well! I'd never seen just how orange Betelgeuse, in Orion, actually is, or how blue Rigel is compared to other stars. We just sat there for almost an hour with a few other adults who'd come out before us, everyone in awe at this amazing view.
And then the teenagers arrived...
First a couple, keeping relatively quiet but using their flashlights on their phones. Then a bunch more, and several of them stupidly trying to take pictures with their flashes going off. Within five minutes, a deckhand came out and escorted every one of us off the helipad, telling us it was closed. Damn kids.
We stayed up to watch the 70s party in the Royal Promenade from the chairs in our elevator lobby. It was OK, but I was glad i wasn't down there in the massive crowd. We called it after about 45 minutes, since it seemed the show was going to go on a bit longer and we'd had enough. Everyone else went to bed, but I wanted another crack at the craps table. Once again, it was cold and no one was doing better than winning a little bit followed by losses. I stopped after I'd lost another $33 on top of the prior night's $25, which was actually perfect -- counting the $50 I'd lost on the slots a few days earlier, I was exactly at break-even. I figured fortune was sending me a pretty strong signal, and decided I was done with the casino for this trip.
I went back to my cabin, where I found a little seal pup waiting for me...

 
Drink package tally for today -- I definitely made up for the prior day's shortfall!!
Fresh-squeezed OJ and cappuccino at breakfast Three Labadoozies -- far too tasty to say no to these! ("Lord, show me how to say no to this!") 1800 Reposado margarita for sail-away, from the Schooner Bar Ravenswood Zinfandel at Vintages Marchesi de'Frescobaldi, Toscana, "Rèmole" at MDR with dinner

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

Looking at the Royal app they have listed the menu for Playmakers. Looks like it will be a nice selection of Sports Bar style grub... Time open per the app is 12pm to 2am
On thing I did find funny is the Wing Challenge.

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

if I had to choose it would be Otto Bang capt of the Liberty he was so kind taking my wheelchair bound daughter for a personal tour of the ship 

when I was on the O in nov there was no charge but with the trending changes to Royals policies there could be in the future I didn't even find this buffet till the last day of our cruise my next time on this ship I will use this area a lot food was same as the wind jammer

Earlier I mentioned my slow dinner in Chops Grille. 
I ran into the Revenue Manager in an elevator and he asked about my cruise experience.  i reported I was having a great cruise but took the opportunity to mention my Chops Grille experience as the only outlier.  He mentioned he would talk to the restaurant manager. 
My phone rang last night and it was the Chops Grille manager.  He defended his team and expressed surprise that anyone would have issue in a fine restaurant with relaxed service.  After I explained about the gap between appetizer and entree of over 45 minutes without seeing any wait staff including no water or wine refill being offered his response was he "...would talk to his staff and have them ask guests if they were in a hurry at the start of dinner".  It was rather condescending implying it was my fault for being in a hurry.  He expressed no surprise or concern over the long periods of nothing but did explain it takes a long time to cook a steak to order unlike in the main dining room. 
At home on my grill I cook steak all the time and even manage to pull together a complete dinner with salad and asparagus much like I had in Chops.  I've eaten in steak houses around the country, I think I understand how a cooked to order steak dinner can go.  Apparently in Chops it does take a full 90 minutes to cook a steak.  I can only assume they must thaw each steak from frozen before grilling them.  
He said he saw that I would be in the MDR for dinner tonight and offered a glass of wine for my troubles. 

Day 8 - St Maarten continued...
This afternoon's excursion would be on the catamaran 'Swept Away' which is why this excursion was called "Swept Away Coastal Cruise".  We met on the pier and guests from both Adventure and Serenade were present.  From here it was a short walk to the boat which used the water taxi terminal at the port.
 
The boat featured both covered seating as well as mesh areas in the front where you could sit for an over water full sun experience.
 
 
We left the Great Bay area where the ships dock and headed along the coast.
 
Captain Kevin at the helm had Caribbean music playing stopping it occasionally so they could narrate and inform us of interesting facts along the way.
 
We passed Fort Amsterdam and Little Bay. The Divi Little Bay Beach Resort where the King and Queen of The Netherlands stay when they visit is one of the first and few hotels that have reopened.
 
From here we continued to the water and electric plants that generate all the electricity and water desalination for the Dutch side.  The tankers here were offloading fuel for the generators used to power this side of the island.
 
This was my view straddling the right pontoon most of the day.
 
This is the the draw bridge used for boats to enter the lagoon which is one of the largest lagoons in the Caribbean.  This is where everyone moves their boats during hurricanes.  During Irma over 300 boats were damaged beyond repair and they continue to deal with wrecks to this day.  According to our hostess no sailboat masts survived the storm including the 'Swept Away' we were on.  As a result we had no 'sailing' and our tour used engine power all the way.
 
This took us into Simpson Bay where we saw beaches lined with people and water sports underway.
 
The bay is a popular anchoring spot for many boats and yachts such as this unique craft.  It was reported the entire craft can be controlled by the owners iPad.
 
Continuing along the coast we made our way to Maho Beach, the famous beach area at the end of the runway where people go to watch planes land.  You could hear the music from the Sunset Bar located at Maho Beach with scores of people on the beach just like it used to be.
 
We hung out here for a while and watched as some airplanes landed above us.
Continuing along the coast...
 
This beach in Mullet Bay is where the locals like to spend most weekends.  The water was crystal clear and we were told it was 35' deep where we were but you could see the sand bottom very easily.
 
The spot marks the border between the Dutch and French sides of the island.  If you look very close there is a small green fence separating the two sides even though it is an open border and you can freely move between the two countries.
 
We continued sailing up the French side of the island with Sylvia our bartender keeping the drinks flowing.
 
This area Baie Longue (Long Bay in English) on the French side is one of the most expensive parts of the island.
 
At this point we turned and started making our way eventually back to Philipsburg and the ships.  A few dolphins swam near us briefly on the way back.
 
 
 
It was a very enjoyable excursion and it was great seeing the coast of St. Maarten from a catamaran.  Our hosts explained everyone on the Dutch side has power and water at this point and they were very proud of how strong and resilient the people of St Maarten have been through to this point. 
One them explained that the boat she used to work on was destroyed and she was so happy to be working again now on the 'Swept Away'.  They were all very happy to be working again and they thanked us for that.  With only one or two hotels open it really drove home the impact that the cruise industry has on the local economy.

I haven’t forgotten about this blog, but the last three days have been jam packed! What free time I’ve had (and it hasn’t been much) was only enough to edit my (many, many) photos and take notes for the daily recaps I’ve yet to write. They are coming and right soon! Now that we’re clear of our four port days and have a sea day tomorrow, plus a chill day in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, I’ll be getting back to writing about everything that we’ve been up to!

Twangster your photos are incredible I just love them

This was posted somewhere on Cruise Critic.  Not sure where it came from but it's awesome!!
It's drink packages explained and for those that "already know this stuff" it's noted that any changes to the RCCL Drink policies are noted in red in the article.  This document ALSO contains Harmony's Bar Menu and Drink Listing WITH prices!! 
 
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...the last 4 pages documents the names of special drinks and how they are made so you can make them at home for yourself OR you will know what to order on your next cruise.  I love this pdf and wanted to share with you all.  Enjoy!!!
 
 
Cruise News Harmony 2019 Drinking.pdf

in my experience with royal lobster night is the last formal night of the cruise of course you can have lobster anytime you want in the main dining room but you have to pay extra