Mrs. RoyalMoyal

Keep in mind the regular buffet, beach chairs, and umbrellas, are still "complementary"
We have been to Cococay both ways - free chairs and shade, buffet lunch, with our own snorkel gear. 
Last time we actually made it to Cococay we rented a Bungalow on South Beach. It was fabulous. Very different trips!
Anthem of the Seas, at Cococay April 8, 2020 (the week before Easter)
Excursion        Adult        Child Thrill waterpark Cabana & Full Day Pass $699.00   Floating Beach Mat $18.00 $18.00 All Day Snorkeling  $37.00 $22.00 Parasail Adventure Tour $99.00 $99.00 Stingray City, Bahamas Tour $59.00 $49.00 Swimming with pigs $109.00 $79.00 Kayak Adventure $43.00 $43.00 Kayak & Snorkel $72.00 $57.00 Glass Bottom Boat $42.00 $33.00 Reef Snorkeling and Sandbar $54.00 $44.00 Scuba without equipment $57.00 $57.00 Scuba with equipment $68.00 $68.00 South Beach Cabana  $399.00  

We took a Phil and Ted's E3 sport on a cruise, and it was a mistake because it did not fit through the stateroom door.  The following trip we used a small folding stroller, it was primarily for naps and it fit down the hall around the room steward's cart and past scooters with ease. The smaller stroller also fit through the security machine (not with the child in it!) 

@Vee2525 it IS nice on the budget.  That’s what I keep reminding myself.  I can’t believe the 4 of us can go for $1300.  And it’ll be way easier to say yes to the drink package and other fun additions. 
I really thought I’d never book an inside room but my girls wanted the Pullman beds and the ones with a window were deck 2 and $300 more.  We choose an inside room on deck 9 (easy walk to pool deck) for less money and better location!  

On your anthem trip in a JS, you still get to go to CK for dinner!  With a window seat, of course. Safe travels home
 

The towel animal zoo is now complete.

We will be on Freedom out of OSJ Easter Week, your comments and photos are very helpful. Thank you.

Breakfast today was in the MDR on deck 3, Leonardo's Dining Room.

A Canadian couple from Vancouver told us a Cozumel story at breakfast.  They went scuba diving in Cozumel booked directly as it was full through RCI.  Coming back to the ship the waves were up and the dive boat couldn't dock.  After several attempts to dock, it was clear they couldn't without smashing into the pier, so as a result they were going to divert to the a downtown pier and were told they would need to take a taxi to the ship, but it was getting close to 'back on board time'. 
Plan B was to jump in and swim to the pier where Freedom was, so they did.  Port security freaked out and there was much shouting back & forth between the dive boat staff and port security but in the end they were allowed up a ladder and onto the pier.  Absent of towels they boarded Freedom dripping wet but just in time.
They had a one year old in the nursery so missing the ship was not an option.   I've heard of pier runners, but this was my 1st account of pier swimmers. 

Day 8 - Sea Day Galley Tour
Part of the Crown and Anchor benefits for Diamond Plus or Pinnacles this free galley tour is always a great way to learn some behind the scenes secrets.
For example the MDR menu is set by the Food and Beverage Manager along with the Activities Manager.  They can change it from time to time however the actual entrees are fleet standards.  Apparently the menus displayed in the Royal app are out of sync with the ship and in some cases are way off the actual menus for each day. 
One of our Sous Chef Brian will take us around today.


Preparing fruit plates.

Navigator received some galley updates during the refresh.  This is a new dishwasher that can accept just about anything and it performs a rinse, wash, dry and polish.  In the past clean items would have to be hand polished to remove water spots.  Now it's fully automated.

They simulate a health inspection as a step to get ready for the real thing.

 
Some of the food prepped in the kitchen works on a 4 hour time control plan.  Detailed logs are maintained.  Food has to be kept at specific temperatures in different phases of the 4 hour windows it goes through.  There are several check points and if the right criteria is met food is discarded.  It's not saved for the next day in the Windjammer or fed to the crew, if it crosses a threshold it's discarded.  

Our baker getting bread ready.

Some danish and pastries are not made on the ship.  They are loaded pre-made and baked on demand.

Protein cooking station


The butcher spends the most money of anyone in the galley.  On a daily basis the meats cost between $10,000 to $15,000.  On a nine night cruise like this corporate gives him or her around $100,000.00 to spend on the cruise.  That's just the meat and doesn't include other items.
These elevators are dedicated to the galley use.  They run down to the food stores in the lower decks and bring food to all levels of the dining room.

Even the loading of the bread basket is carefully planned:

Beverage station


Navigator participates in Diamond happy hour in the MDR.

Every time you take one of these tours you learn a little bit more.

Kind of bouncing around here.  I came across some day time pool deck photos from right after boarding I'll post soon, but I some news to report.
At 7:30am this morning the Captain announced we would be undertaking a helicopter medical evacuation.  He didn't say anything about the patient which is not unusual due to privacy concerns.  The helipad was closed and the upper decks outside were also closed.  If I'm not mistaken they also ask guests in the forward facing ocean view cabins to leave their cabins. 
Helicopter landings are taken pretty seriously.   They would have had a full fire crew standing by in case the helicopter crashed and caught fire.  These landings are very complex operations that involve breaking the helipad down, removing all benches, lowering railing, lowering the forward radar tower and removing cables that stretch up towards the bridge.   With all that complete the helipad is clear of obstructions. 
The ship then works with the pilot of the helicopter to position the ship and maintain a heading to optimize the landing and takeoff of the helicopter.   
Our location is near the gap between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Instead of turning South and heading into the Caribbean Sea we continued to sail towards Puerto Rico to close the distance so that a USCG helicopter could reach us.  
With that complete we've turned South again and entered the Caribbean Sea heading to Aruba.  The Captain expects us to be an hour late arriving but has added two hours onto our Bonaire stay.

I did a quick run through the Diamond Lounge.  Reminded me of a reception at a funeral home in a small town.  Will drop in again early or late when it’s empty to take picture so as not to offend the dead.   

Cabin pics.
Interior with Virtual Balcony, deck 9 midship.
Cabin 9597.

The Virtual Balcony is down at the moment but the same occurred on Explorer on boarding day so not too worried about it just yet.
New cabin TV's with the newer menu system like Symphony has.

Incredible bathroom update for an interior cabin:

Just kidding, that was my hotel last night.  Here is the untouched bathroom:

Star Class kid problems...
D10: I don’t want to eat at Park Cafe with you, I want to eat Sorrentos and go swimming. 
Me: Ok. Sorrentos isn’t open yet. Call Araceli and ask for a pizza to be delivered from room service. I’m going to the suite lounge. (Leave the room)
D12: (Picks Up the phone) Araceli, can we get 3 slices of pizza? 
(Hubby in the background...”Get a full pizza cause room service comes in a box.”)
D12: Ok, Araceli can we get a full pizza?
Araceli: So 3 pizzas?
D12: (Still thinking of Sorrentos slices) Yes, 3 pizzas.
1/2h later... ?

They ate 3 slices ??‍♀️

Ah...finally...no need for other words...
 

Try all the margaritas.  All of them.

Why B2B Star Class cruises ?
Why not ?
Ok...try again.  HOW B2B Star Class cruises ?
As Prime Club Royale members, Dan and I each get a "free" annual cruise.  Since we had never done a B2B before, I decided (Dan never decides ANYthing having to do with cruising...he is a tagalong) that this is the time/way to do it.  So I booked 2 consecutive inside rooms on Anthem for 15-23 Feb and 23 Feb - 3 Mar.  Wait a minute !  I'm a suite snob !  How can I be expected to cruise in an inside room ?  So I upgraded these cruises to Ocean view balcony rooms (careful to make sure that I found a stateroom that was available for both cruises....so we wouldn't have to change rooms, right ? Ha !  Pure folly !)...then to Junior Suites...then to J1 JS with large balcony.  By now, we have moved WELL past the option of remaining in the same room on both cruises.  All of these upgrades occurred over a period of about 6 months AND I often upgraded one and then a few days later, upgraded another and on and on and on....  If any of you EVER had a question about whether or not Michelle Cunningham is a Saint...wonder no longer.  With EACH and EVERY upgrade, she calmly and patiently complied with my schizophrenic requests and each time she was always entirely successful in getting me EXACTLY what I asked for.
Side note1:  When you book a "free" casino cruise (whether it is one of your annual cruises or some other type of free casino offer) you must pay the entire balance at the time that you book the cruise.
Now it begins to occur to me....why not upgrade ALL the way ?  Do I dare ?  ....then, somewhere in my very noisy mind I hear, "YOLO BOOK IT".  Of COURSE, there is not a SC room that is available on both cruises, so I went in, knowing that we would have to switch suites.  Small price to pay.  F* it.  Done.  15-23 Feb Grand Loft Suite 8724.  On 23 Feb - 3 Mar GLS 10720.
Side note2:  This was quite a learning experience for both me and Michelle.  Neither of us really realized how relatively affordable it is to upgrade a "free" casino comp cruise.  I think this is why I was so emboldened to keep upgrading.  In the end, after all of the changes and upgrades, I was able to go from 2 inside cabins to 2 SC suites for around $7500.   Now, that's still a lot of money...not sayin' it ain't....but for 2, SC 8 day cruises, that is a STEAL.  So for those of you who are [at least] Prime Club Royale members, this is the way to do it, if you have ever considered booking Star Class.  The upgrades - even when you start from an inside room - are as cheap as you're ever going to get them.

I was just there, and the construction doesn't interfere with a nice beach day - I barely heard it and that was only when I went up to the fence, on purpose, because I'm farily  nosy.  

St Lucia is basically "pitons or bust"

Cococay
Labadee
Two ports, two countries.  I like it

Waaytoooo has good advice, we ended up paying for Wonderland on Christmas plus the 18% gratuity, for 4 people.  A prepaid BOGO or 3 meal plan would have been a much better value for us!  

Not really. I do it that way every cruise. I just make sure my shirts are washed before I pack, then hand them over for pressing service as soon as I unpack them on the ship.
Tip: Paying for some laundry to be done on the ship often costs less than checking a second suitcase with an airline...twice (there and back)...and you don't have to drag around two suitcases.

@Matt I think though that every good community starts with a good leader.  Normally a community starts mimicking the leader.  When leadership is positive and welcoming and their energy is contageous and upbeat, the community will reflect that.  If a community's leader is toxic then the community will be toxic.  If the community is critical, reading like a bunch of Yelpers trying to appear to be food critics, then you reap what you sow.
I know when I went to that other site, the reviews of pretty much every cruise line short of something like Viking were crazy critical.  If they didnt get a new and different towel animal every day of their cruise, they'd start screaming that their cruise was RUINED!  Ruined I say!  (I really did see a review of a ship criticizing the towel animal situation)
Being critical can be a good thing.  If something went terribly, by all means say so.  But if your parsley on your dinner in the MDR isnt perfectly placed and you race to customer service demanding a full cruise refund and they refuse because its a silly piece of parsley.... then you're being unreasonable.  If there's raw sewage pouring into your cabin, and the cruise line refuses to move you or fix it or offer something, then yes you're well within reason to criticize.  

Yesterday I shared on my Live Blog post how I was able to get my Inside Balcony Room "perks" switched to the Boardwalk perks (vs. Central Park perks) using Facebook Messenger. If you don't already know, Royal Caribbean's Facebook team is GREAT, very responsive, and apparently very helpful in making special accommodations or fulfilling special requests via Facebook Messenger!
Well... the Midwest including MSP airport (Minneapolis) is expected to get hit hard by winter storms this weekend starting Saturday morning/afternoon. Our flight was 1 pm Saturday, which is projected to be the time where things were getting heavy, so of course I start worrying about missing our cruise (even though we are on the Sunday, Allure of the Seas sailing...you never know how bad the weather delays can be). I started freaking out this morning and calling the airlines to see what could be done. Since we booked basic economy, we didn't have the option to change flights. The Customer Service agent on the phone said if there was a winter advisory (or what he called a "bulletin") they might be able to change us to an earlier flight. When I got to work, I started Facebook Messaging with Delta. Still no advisory/bulletin but the Facebook agent hinted that it may be coming. He messaged me back as soon as the advisory posted to let me know he could assist me in changing my flights. All through Facebook Messenger, I was able to get my party of 4 re-booked to the 8:45 am flight with no fees,  AND he was able to get me and my daughter seats together and us all together on our flights home. I can't say enough GREAT things about the customer service I received today as well as all of the times Royal has been able to serve me via Facebook Messenger. 
Now, hopefully the weather patterns don't shift too much and we will be able to fly safely in the morning on Saturday! Good luck to all of the Midwest travelers this weekend, stay safe and hope no big delays for your trip! 
 

Let you waiter know the speed that you want service, skip dessert (oh my!) and don't order alcohol (egads!) and the entire meal will be quick.  I wanted to get to the Flowrider at 6:00 PM last Anthem cruise, because it was one of 2 warm days.  We sat down at 5:30, I ordered "just fried chicken", and it came with my family's drinks and I was on my way in 20 minutes, leaving my husband with my teenage boys. My waiter told me that he could have taken my order the night before and had my meal ready for me when I sat down!  

Yes, two ships is a positive sign! Do whatever your heart tells you, it's your vacation, and it is OK to stay on the ship.