BermudaDice

Plenty other people have confirmed above but just to add my experience, I was on Allure in mid-Sept and I asked the question as I wasn't sure.  Was told that it was included in the Deluxe package and you did not need to be eating at JR to get one.  We proceeded to get one on the Deluxe package.

Not 100% sure on that.  One certainly wouldn't get any state pension so you'd need to support yourself including a significant sum required for health insurance.  Add that to the house prices and the additional taxes I'm sure they would charge to a non-citizen and it would be a pricey retirement.  My guess would be that if someone was wealthy enough to do all of that, then anything's possible.  For most people I would think it is more that they would be priced out of retiring there rather than it being impossible.  At the end of the day, they could make a fair amount of money from a very wealthy retiree. 
One thing I didn't mention is that one of the key ways that Bermuda raises public money is through customs/excise/sales taxes.  As you can imagine, when you're a 'tax haven' charging no corporate tax to the huge financial institutions, and you don't charge your citizens income tax (expats are charged a low flat rate tax for not being Bermudian) you need to make money some way.  And as an island with no other land mass for hundreds of miles, tracking what comes in to and out of the country is an easier prospect which they can then tax.
How that links to the 'wealthy retiree' angle is that Bermuda will already be taxing all imports but luxury imports get an even bigger bump.  If you're a wealthy person in Bermuda and decide you want a fancy car, I've heard the sales tax on that is 100% i.e. you will pay double the retail amount for that car.  I don't know the specifics on taxes on buying properties, but I would wager if someone is wealthy enough to be retiring to Bermuda and has enough money to buy one of the properties that non-Bermudians are allowed to buy, the taxes will be pretty significant.
Other interesting tidbits regarding customs/excise from my experience - They take customs checks at the airport very seriously.  Visitors get a light touch as long as they state that nothing is remaining on the island and they don't say anything suspicious to the immigration officer.  Residents (and more specifically expats) are more likely to get a full search of their luggage and if anything is found that wasn't properly declared and the duty already paid, then they will get a fine of 2 times the duty payable, or 4 times if they think you've been deliberately dishonest.  In fact, to avoid people heading of the the US and coming back with the newest smart phone model, you have to register the serial numbers of your electronics with customs.  When you are searched they will check the serial number and match that to their records.  Another island oddity is that the post service will not deliver packages from abroad to your home.  They keep all packages at the nearest post office and deliver you a card to let you know to come and pick it up.  When you get to the post office, you then need to open the package in front of the postal worker so that they can see what you got and assess the appropriate duty on the item.  The lesson there for residents is, don't order anything from abroad that you aren't happy to open in front of a stranger!

Not 100% sure on that.  One certainly wouldn't get any state pension so you'd need to support yourself including a significant sum required for health insurance.  Add that to the house prices and the additional taxes I'm sure they would charge to a non-citizen and it would be a pricey retirement.  My guess would be that if someone was wealthy enough to do all of that, then anything's possible.  For most people I would think it is more that they would be priced out of retiring there rather than it being impossible.  At the end of the day, they could make a fair amount of money from a very wealthy retiree. 
One thing I didn't mention is that one of the key ways that Bermuda raises public money is through customs/excise/sales taxes.  As you can imagine, when you're a 'tax haven' charging no corporate tax to the huge financial institutions, and you don't charge your citizens income tax (expats are charged a low flat rate tax for not being Bermudian) you need to make money some way.  And as an island with no other land mass for hundreds of miles, tracking what comes in to and out of the country is an easier prospect which they can then tax.
How that links to the 'wealthy retiree' angle is that Bermuda will already be taxing all imports but luxury imports get an even bigger bump.  If you're a wealthy person in Bermuda and decide you want a fancy car, I've heard the sales tax on that is 100% i.e. you will pay double the retail amount for that car.  I don't know the specifics on taxes on buying properties, but I would wager if someone is wealthy enough to be retiring to Bermuda and has enough money to buy one of the properties that non-Bermudians are allowed to buy, the taxes will be pretty significant.
Other interesting tidbits regarding customs/excise from my experience - They take customs checks at the airport very seriously.  Visitors get a light touch as long as they state that nothing is remaining on the island and they don't say anything suspicious to the immigration officer.  Residents (and more specifically expats) are more likely to get a full search of their luggage and if anything is found that wasn't properly declared and the duty already paid, then they will get a fine of 2 times the duty payable, or 4 times if they think you've been deliberately dishonest.  In fact, to avoid people heading of the the US and coming back with the newest smart phone model, you have to register the serial numbers of your electronics with customs.  When you are searched they will check the serial number and match that to their records.  Another island oddity is that the post service will not deliver packages from abroad to your home.  They keep all packages at the nearest post office and deliver you a card to let you know to come and pick it up.  When you get to the post office, you then need to open the package in front of the postal worker so that they can see what you got and assess the appropriate duty on the item.  The lesson there for residents is, don't order anything from abroad that you aren't happy to open in front of a stranger!

Not 100% sure on that.  One certainly wouldn't get any state pension so you'd need to support yourself including a significant sum required for health insurance.  Add that to the house prices and the additional taxes I'm sure they would charge to a non-citizen and it would be a pricey retirement.  My guess would be that if someone was wealthy enough to do all of that, then anything's possible.  For most people I would think it is more that they would be priced out of retiring there rather than it being impossible.  At the end of the day, they could make a fair amount of money from a very wealthy retiree. 
One thing I didn't mention is that one of the key ways that Bermuda raises public money is through customs/excise/sales taxes.  As you can imagine, when you're a 'tax haven' charging no corporate tax to the huge financial institutions, and you don't charge your citizens income tax (expats are charged a low flat rate tax for not being Bermudian) you need to make money some way.  And as an island with no other land mass for hundreds of miles, tracking what comes in to and out of the country is an easier prospect which they can then tax.
How that links to the 'wealthy retiree' angle is that Bermuda will already be taxing all imports but luxury imports get an even bigger bump.  If you're a wealthy person in Bermuda and decide you want a fancy car, I've heard the sales tax on that is 100% i.e. you will pay double the retail amount for that car.  I don't know the specifics on taxes on buying properties, but I would wager if someone is wealthy enough to be retiring to Bermuda and has enough money to buy one of the properties that non-Bermudians are allowed to buy, the taxes will be pretty significant.
Other interesting tidbits regarding customs/excise from my experience - They take customs checks at the airport very seriously.  Visitors get a light touch as long as they state that nothing is remaining on the island and they don't say anything suspicious to the immigration officer.  Residents (and more specifically expats) are more likely to get a full search of their luggage and if anything is found that wasn't properly declared and the duty already paid, then they will get a fine of 2 times the duty payable, or 4 times if they think you've been deliberately dishonest.  In fact, to avoid people heading of the the US and coming back with the newest smart phone model, you have to register the serial numbers of your electronics with customs.  When you are searched they will check the serial number and match that to their records.  Another island oddity is that the post service will not deliver packages from abroad to your home.  They keep all packages at the nearest post office and deliver you a card to let you know to come and pick it up.  When you get to the post office, you then need to open the package in front of the postal worker so that they can see what you got and assess the appropriate duty on the item.  The lesson there for residents is, don't order anything from abroad that you aren't happy to open in front of a stranger!

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here.  I lived on Bermuda for 2 years and can confirm that if you work in financial services (specifically insurance/re-insurance or investment management) you can get a job in Bermuda fairly easily.  That also includes skilled professions which support those industries like auditors and lawyers.  As you note, since Bermuda has no corporate income tax these industries set up there to simplify cross-border business.  For example, for investments, the fact that no tax is levied on the fund itself means that investors from any country can invest and then they only need to worry about being taxed once in their resident jurisdiction without having to worry about double-tax treaties etc.. 
Since you can fit more people in to a large-ish football stadium than live on Bermuda, there are not enough Bermudians with the qualifications to fill the jobs, hence the expat market.  You still need to go through a strict immigration process involving the usual references, police background checks, chest x-rays etc., however most of the onus is on the business that is filling the role to prove that they tried and failed to fill the role with a Bermudian.  I feel like I had a particularly easy time of it since I am British and Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory, however I worked with people from all over the world so its not more difficult to move there being one nationality or another.
One thing I would add though is that just because you can get a job there doesn't mean they'll let you stay there forever.  When you get a job, you'll be given a work permit for 2 or 3 years.  If you want to stay they will make you re-apply and ultimately they decide if you stay or not.  Lose/leave your job or get in any sort of serious trouble and you're kicked out sharpish.
Generally speaking, Bermuda is very self-protective.  Strict immigration (i.e. permanent immigration rather than a few years working there) is one way they do that.  An example is that I have a friend who was born in Bermuda to British expat parents, lived on the island since birth (20+ years) and is still not considered a Bermudian legally.  She has a British passport by way of her parent's nationality rather than a British Overseas Territory passport that are issued to Bermudian citizens.
Other protectionist policies include things like owning property as you have already mentioned and also owning businesses.  I believe any business needs to be at least 50% owned by a Bermudian.  That's why you will see very few recognizable branded consumer locations - in fact you could probably count them on both hands: KFC, Esso, HSBC, Butterfield and M&S are the ones I can think of - all of which are either Bermuda-owned franchises or are grand-fathered in before the law came in to place.
More protectionism: You won't find any legal 'lewd' businesses.  There was talk about a riverboat-style casino at one point but that got thrown out pretty quick.  The only 2 days there is table gambling allowed (sports betting is available year round) is over Cup Match weekend where they play Crown & Anchor.  Cars are also limited throughout the island.  Each eligible home is given a registry number and one car is allowed per registry number.  That is why there are no car rental services available on island.
To touch on the house prices discussion, I don't know this first hand but from speaking with a Bermudian friend, a nice proper house could be in the area of $4m.  I think a basic small apartment would be setting you back $1m.  I do have first hand knowledge of the rental market, albeit from around 5 years ago.  As an indicator, a good average is $1,500 per bedroom per month.  That is for a normal unfurnished outside of Hamilton (but not too far - everything's relative) without a pool or any other special amenities.  You will pay more than that if there's fewer bedrooms (say, $1,800 for a one bedroom) and you will pay less the more bedrooms there are to split the overall cost (for example, say you get a 4 bedroom house, you could pay something like $1,300 for your one bedroom).
 
@JLMoran - a couple of late blog related queries:
1. What is a 'The World'?
2. Do you remember the solutions to the Day 4 and 5 riddles/stick puzzles?

"The World" is a dessert served in Wonderland and (based on my own experience and others' accounts) at Chef's Table. When it first comes out, all you see is a large ball of chocolate (we're talking 5 or 6-inch diameter) with some strawberry slices and crisped rice around it on the plate. Then they pour hot caramel sauce over it, and it quickly melts to reveal that it's hollow with a small scoop of ice cream inside, which sits on top of a small shortcake-type base. It's utterly decadent and something you have to try when you get the chance. Here's the video from when I had it at Chef's Table:
As far as the riddles and stick puzzles go:
Day 4
"The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never uses it. The one who uses it, never sees it" -- answer is a coffin
For the stick puzzle, you move three sticks to make this final shape (I'm hoping this renders reasonably cleanly):
-------    ------- |    |    |    | |     |    |    | |-----|-----|-----|       |     |       | |       |-----|  
Day 5
"Poor people have it, rich people need it. If you eat it, you'll die." -- Answer is, "Nothing"
Stick puzzle -- Take one of the short sticks off the equals sign and put it on the "+" to form the equation "141 - 11" (where the 4 is more a block-style number)
Final challenge -- Put the 5 in the center of the 3x3 matrix; once you've done that, there are multiple solutions that satisfy the conditions.

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here.  I lived on Bermuda for 2 years and can confirm that if you work in financial services (specifically insurance/re-insurance or investment management) you can get a job in Bermuda fairly easily.  That also includes skilled professions which support those industries like auditors and lawyers.  As you note, since Bermuda has no corporate income tax these industries set up there to simplify cross-border business.  For example, for investments, the fact that no tax is levied on the fund itself means that investors from any country can invest and then they only need to worry about being taxed once in their resident jurisdiction without having to worry about double-tax treaties etc.. 
Since you can fit more people in to a large-ish football stadium than live on Bermuda, there are not enough Bermudians with the qualifications to fill the jobs, hence the expat market.  You still need to go through a strict immigration process involving the usual references, police background checks, chest x-rays etc., however most of the onus is on the business that is filling the role to prove that they tried and failed to fill the role with a Bermudian.  I feel like I had a particularly easy time of it since I am British and Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory, however I worked with people from all over the world so its not more difficult to move there being one nationality or another.
One thing I would add though is that just because you can get a job there doesn't mean they'll let you stay there forever.  When you get a job, you'll be given a work permit for 2 or 3 years.  If you want to stay they will make you re-apply and ultimately they decide if you stay or not.  Lose/leave your job or get in any sort of serious trouble and you're kicked out sharpish.
Generally speaking, Bermuda is very self-protective.  Strict immigration (i.e. permanent immigration rather than a few years working there) is one way they do that.  An example is that I have a friend who was born in Bermuda to British expat parents, lived on the island since birth (20+ years) and is still not considered a Bermudian legally.  She has a British passport by way of her parent's nationality rather than a British Overseas Territory passport that are issued to Bermudian citizens.
Other protectionist policies include things like owning property as you have already mentioned and also owning businesses.  I believe any business needs to be at least 50% owned by a Bermudian.  That's why you will see very few recognizable branded consumer locations - in fact you could probably count them on both hands: KFC, Esso, HSBC, Butterfield and M&S are the ones I can think of - all of which are either Bermuda-owned franchises or are grand-fathered in before the law came in to place.
More protectionism: You won't find any legal 'lewd' businesses.  There was talk about a riverboat-style casino at one point but that got thrown out pretty quick.  The only 2 days there is table gambling allowed (sports betting is available year round) is over Cup Match weekend where they play Crown & Anchor.  Cars are also limited throughout the island.  Each eligible home is given a registry number and one car is allowed per registry number.  That is why there are no car rental services available on island.
To touch on the house prices discussion, I don't know this first hand but from speaking with a Bermudian friend, a nice proper house could be in the area of $4m.  I think a basic small apartment would be setting you back $1m.  I do have first hand knowledge of the rental market, albeit from around 5 years ago.  As an indicator, a good average is $1,500 per bedroom per month.  That is for a normal unfurnished outside of Hamilton (but not too far - everything's relative) without a pool or any other special amenities.  You will pay more than that if there's fewer bedrooms (say, $1,800 for a one bedroom) and you will pay less the more bedrooms there are to split the overall cost (for example, say you get a 4 bedroom house, you could pay something like $1,300 for your one bedroom).
 
@JLMoran - a couple of late blog related queries:
1. What is a 'The World'?
2. Do you remember the solutions to the Day 4 and 5 riddles/stick puzzles?

Final thoughts, in no particular order:
I am not a fan of the WOW band. Every time I wore it, my wrist would sweat like crazy even when the surrounding area was chilly with air conditioning; it didn't matter how loosely I'd wear it, something about the band's material just doesn't agree with my skin. And while the tap terminals were all in reach everywhere I tried using it, it was awkward to do so unless I rotated the band to put the medallion on the inside of my wrist; and then I'd have to flip it back around when I wanted to unlock our cabin door. I gave up by Day 2 and just carried my Sea Pass card everywhere.
The Junior Suite was absolutely a really nice splurge, and much nicer than a regular balcony. But I still had a couple of nitpicks.
The separate tub and shower are nice in concept, but I was the only person to use the tub, and that was only once to soak my aching feet for a bit. The shower door can't be closed tightly from inside the shower, as there's no handle on the inside; even when it was as well-sealed as we could managed, the gap between the door and bottom of the door frame allowed a good bit of water to get out onto the bathroom floor, making for slightly slippery tile and a wet bath mat. I completely agree with what others here have said about the crowd flow in The Via on deck 4, and Royal Esplanade on deck 5; those areas have far too many choke points, which are worse on days that the shops have displays set up in the corridor.
Generally, pretty small potatoes. On the whole, Anthem is a pretty good ship and I'm glad to have this option in my "backyard", so that I can take cruises without having to fly to Florida or another port. But how does Anthem compare to Freedom?
Anthem didn't really feel all that much bigger than Freedom, or (when not in the Via or Esplanade) any more crowded than Freedom Anthem is much better when it comes to the top-tier headline shows (Spectra's Cabaret and We Will Rock You); but if I decide to sail Anthem regularly, how many times can I really see those before it starts to wear thin? I know they don't change out shows more than once every decade or so, when the ships undergo major refurbishments, and Anthem's only been in service for 3 years; a long way to go before there's a change on that front. At the same time, I felt Anthem's other available theater entertainment was a little worse than Freedom's (see The Las Vegas Tenors) Maybe short sailings like this one don't get as good a set of performers as longer sailings, and if I take a longer sailing I'll find that it's better overall. Certainly, after reading @firebuck's blog, that does seem to be a good possibility, as we had no cover band; no extra shows in Two70 besides Tonight at Two70, one robo show, and Spectra; and none of the other extra performances that he'd noted on his 7-night trip. North Star is a very nice feature on this ship, but the reality is that if you're not in port then all you have to look at from up there is the ship. But Freedom doesn't have it at all, so still a point for Anthem. Vintages on Anthem was a disappointment compared to Freedom. The wine selection was far smaller, and the vast majority of what was offered was only available as full bottles, not by the glass. Bearing in mind that I only had one experience with it, I found the American Icon Grille MDR on Anthem disappointing. I much preferred the multi-story grand dining room on Freedom, and I have to say that I'm glad the newer ships like Symphony are going back to that design. Hopefully whatever follows Spectrum of the Seas in the Quantum class will also follow suit. That said, I have no idea if my impressions would have been different if I'd eaten dinner in one of the other dining rooms like Grande or Chic. As a ship, Anthem's overall quality and design was for the most part quite a bit nicer than Freedom. While a modern ship, it didn't have the metal-and-glass ultra-modern decor and style of other new ships like Seaside, which I definitely appreciated. I loved the design and decor of Coastal Kitchen, that was definitely one of my favorite spaces on the whole ship. I thought the Solarium on Anthem was light years better and nicer than Freedom's; having four hot tubs instead of two definitely doesn't hurt It was nice having Izumi available on Anthem instead of the to-go cart that Freedom had There were small room details on Anthem that I really appreciated and others that I found a bit disappointing As weird as it sounds, the balcony door was a high point of the room. The ones on Freedom were an exercise in testing my strength, where the ones on Anthem slid incredibly easily while still locking securely. At the risk of maybe sounding a bit too much like @monorailmedic, I really appreciate the engineering and design that went into those balcony doors on Anthem The USB outlets, while nice to have, were the low-power variety that can only charge phones and other devices at a trickle; it was a good thing I still brought my Anker charging hub So speaking as an adult passenger, I have to say that Anthem wins this competition against Freedom. How would she rate, though, if it were my teenage kids sailing on her?
Honestly, my older daughter probably wouldn't be any more impressed or enjoy the sea days any better. I know she'd almost certainly love Spectra and We Will Rock You, and she might appreciate the live band(s) in the Music Hall. But those are all evening activities.During the daytime, I think she'd still find herself somewhat bored since she doesn't like just sitting around at a pool doing nothing, isn't a trivia buff, and (oddly, given she's a singer) isn't into karaoke.
My younger daughter would definitely love all the extra dining options and chances to try some different styles of cuisine. If we could get a JS for CK access she'd probably think that she'd died and gone to heaven. I'm guessing she'd also appreciate all the art on display throughout the ship, as she's the artist of the family, and would also enjoy the live band(s) in the Music Hall. We'd have to go on a sailing with more kids, though, as she would want to have some people to socialize with.
 
So Anthem was definitely a winner for us. But far more than Anthem, Bermuda was the standout of this trip. It is such a beautiful place, and so different from the Caribbean island experience, that we left wanting to get back as soon as we could. There's still a lot of the island we haven't seen, particularly Hamilton, and we want to see some of the other beaches that are considered the best on the island.
I hadn't really planned on doing another cruise for 2019, seeing as I'm holding out hope for a 2020 CA/NE cruise in the summer. But over the last two weeks we found ourselves looking at what our options were for getting back next October or November. And then the BOGO60 sale stuck around through November, and before I knew it we ended up booking this exact same trip again for October of 2019! Just a regular balcony this time, and only because we lucked out with a really good rate that keeps the monthly pay-down low. 2020 is still on the radar, just waiting for the itineraries to come out and any announcement from Matt!
 
So that's all of it. Apologies for taking almost a month from the trip ending to finally get this wrapped up, especially when some of you have been looking for this ahead of your own upcoming sailings on Anthem; work and regular life have been keeping me tied up since getting back, and photo editing always takes longer than I expect.
Thanks for following along! I'll be back next October for the repeat voyage!

Day 6 - Debarkation Day (a.k.a., The Day of Great Sorrows)
I woke up at 6:15, much too late to catch us going back under the Verrazano but early enough that I got some great pre-dawn views of the New York City skyline and surrounding area.



 
I saw the ferry crossing the river and remembered that it was Thursday; people were already up and going to work.

 
Before long, we were pulling into the port, the sun still not yet risen.

 
The sun came up, as it must every day, and we were that much closer to the time we'd be very politely told to please GTFO.

 
I re-checked my folio and confirmed that the gratuities had indeed been removed. Our only charges were for the clothes we'd bought on board, my wine overages, and the tips I'd left. I emailed Heather so she knew that there was nothing more to worry about besides getting the charge properly applied so the staff could get the tips they'd earned.
We grabbed our carry-ons, and after leaving Allen a much-deserved WOW envelope we headed up to the Windjammer for our final breakfast on board.
It was absolute chaos there. I got cut off while trying to get on the omelette station line, and then when we were told there was another station that was basically empty, I think I may have inadvertently done the same to a woman who had been standing there; meanwhile, the other woman who had cut me off before... very deliberately and actively did it to both of us. Again, in my case! I shook my head, looked apologetically at the other woman who I was afraid I'd cut off, and very happily answered "no" when asked by her if the woman who'd cut us both off was my wife.
After breakfast, we headed down to Two70 to wait for our turn to get off. We actually got there just in time to snag one last round of cappuccinos, plus a couple of bottled waters, with our packages still in effect. I overheard the couple in front of us on the coffee line comment that they were going to be right back on board, apparently doing the CA/NE sailing that evening. Ooooohhhh, was I jealous!
The final GTFO call came at 9:50, sooner than expected. We headed off the ship and made our way back into the port terminal. The porters were calling out for anyone who wanted to get a porter and skip the long customs line, but the line was moving pretty quickly; with so little luggage to deal with, we (and most of the others we saw) just trundled our bags along and stuck with the main line. I'm guessing that porters are not big fans of these short sailings when it comes to the tips they were losing out on.
When we got to the customs area, they were separating out people with passports from those who just had their driver's license and birth certificate. We got in the passport group and, like @firebuck on his sailing, we just had to look into a camera for a few seconds and were cleared to leave. Meanwhile, the no-passports line was crawling forward. People, when you go on a cruise, bring your passports! They really do save time and aggravation!
Ship to curb was all of 30 minutes, tops. Once we got outside, I paid for our parking and we were on the road. We got home at 11:30, much to our older daughter's surprise. She had come home to walk the dog and wasn't expecting us home yet.
 
Here's my sea pass. Now I just need to get a gold one and a purple one!

 
And here is the sand from Horseshoe Bay that had gotten trapped in my water shoes, and that I found all over my suitcase when I unpacked that afternoon. I certainly wasn't going to just throw it away! You can clearly see the red flecks that give it that distinctive pink color.

Day 4 - Bermuda (continued)
The shuttle bus left Horseshoe Bay at 1:30, but we didn't get back to the Dockyard until almost 2:30 because of traffic and rain. With our all-aboard time at 4:30, we didn't have a lot of time to finish up our day. And we still needed to eat some lunch, we were both getting pretty hungry. Rather than burn a lot of time at any sit-down restaurant in the dockyard, we went back to the ship and just grabbed some small items at Cafe Promenade to take the edge of our hunger and let us get back off-ship ASAP.
We headed back out to the dockyard with about an hour we could safely spend without risking being pier runners. Even with that decent amount of time, we were kind of hurried to get our shopping done. We ended up only making it to the craft market, where we got our traditional souvenir holiday ornament and a couple of prints, and one other store where we got some limited print coasters and a few t-shirts. After that, we made our way back to the ship, cutting it a little close as we boarded at 4:15, but not all pier runner territory. To our surprise, as we waited in the security line we heard one of the staff holler down from the card scanner area to the people at the entry booth that there were still over 250 passengers not yet on board! We looked back and there were nowhere near that many in line to board, so it was looking like there'd be at least a few pier runners today!
I have no idea if that ended up being the case or not. Our room was on the opposite side from the dock, and all I wanted at that point was to enjoy my traditional sail-away margarita from our balcony and take in one last sight of Bermuda.

We sailed away promptly at 5:00, so either everyone made it on board in time or there were some people (possibly happily) left behind.
We had to get ready for dinner in CK, as we were eating a bit earlier to make the evening's showing of Spectra's Cabaret. As it happened, while this night wasn't formal night it was still the night when the kitchen pulled out almost all the stops. That's right, almost all the stops...

This was a set of impossible choices. There was no way I could decide between salmon sashimi or the risotto, nor could I choose just scallops or lobster. So, I did what every enterprising cruiser does in this situations... I got 'em all! Sorry, escargots, but there is only so much room in this stomach and you got the short stick; considering Amar brought me a second lobster tail without prompting, I was glad I left them behind. Appetizers were paired, at Amar's recommendation, with the "Conundrum" blend from the "Adventurous Whites" section; yes, I actually had white wine and I enjoyed it! It was very dry, which I appreciated, and only a little fruity with a slightly spicy finish. With my entree's I also had white wine, this time the "Mer Soleil" Chardonnay; also very nice, and I have to say after having this and the Chardonnay served at Chef's Table back on Freedom that I do like that kind of white. I may have to pick up a couple of bottles for at home when I have meals that traditionally do get served with a white wine rather than a red. 
Cathy kept it far simpler than me, and just had her favorite Caesar Salad and the gnocchi. She said the gnocchi was very good, not too heavy and really good flavor.
Then it was time for dessert. Cathy got the crunchy chocolate bar, which had her back in heaven again; we're all chocolate lovers, and she said that was a really good dessert. I had the Baked Alaska and, as usual on this sailing, an iced Bailey's and coffee. Here's the Baked Alaska.

And lest I forget, our meal once again came with riddles! First was this one: "The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never uses it. The one who uses it, never sees it." I actually figured this one out after a very small hint from Amar, with confirmation that "it" was a real thing and not some metaphysical concept or the like. After this, we got another stick challenge – There are 12 sticks arranged into a square, like so:

Moving exactly 3 sticks, change the four squares into three squares; you cannot double up any sticks, and you cannot have any sticks jutting out on their own. This one neither Cathy nor I was able to figure out; when Amar showed us the solution, I shook my head again. And the solution he showed isn't the only valid one; we showed this puzzle to our kids and my older daughter came up with a different solution that was still valid.
And now, it was time for...

We arrived a solid hour early, actually getting to Two70 as the first show was ending. This was good, as it gave us our pick of the available seats. Make note -- if you want to have a chance to see the cast up very close as they leave the main stage area in a couple of parts and walk around the perimeter, then find the third ring of seats, which are a set of tall couches and love seats. Cathy asked to sit here as her back was bothering her and she wanted something with a taller back than the other seating, and wow was it the perfect place to enjoy the show!
I respected the "no photography" announcement, so I can't show you anything of the actual show, but both Cathy and I were very impressed. This was the kind of show we'd been waiting for, and it really was incredible how they blended the singing, dancing, aerialists, robot displays, and projection wall into one seamless whole. It's not Cirque du Soleil, as I had first imagined it to be. It's something all its own, and you really do have to see it to appreciate it. And if you sit where I indicated, you'll have two times that either the emcee, Spectra, or the full show cast walks past and you can fully appreciate the costuming and the performers' talents. Spectra actually took time on his pass-through to say hello and shake people's hands, including mine, which I thought was a very nice touch. When the show ended, we gave the cast a huge round of applause. And we were even more excited now at the prospect of seeing We Will Rock You the next day, as that show was supposed to be even better!
Not wanting to go to bed quite yet, we decided to wander the ship a bit. There were some interesting chairs laid out in front of Wonderland and by the Music Hall, so we decided to have a goof and do our best Game of Thrones impressions. Cathy played Circe Lannister.

I, on the other hand, was Ned Stark.

After having our bit of fun, we went up to the pool deck and Solarium to see how they looked at night. The Solarium was surprisingly empty.


 We contemplated getting our bathing suits having a private dip in the Solarium's hot tubs, but didn't want to take yet another shower before bed when it would be really late; we figured we'd do that on our sea day tomorrow.. 
At this point, Cathy was ready to call it a night. I was still pumped up between my evening Bailey's coffee and Spectra, so I continued to wander for a while. I stopped off at Boleros and tried out a Royal Mojito; not at all bad, but not as good as the one I had in Old San Juan back in April. While I sipped my drink, I decided to finally pay a visit to the casino and see how the craps tables might treat me. Not nicely, as it turned out. As soon as I joined the table went cold, and I lost to 8 shooters in a row; I ended up leaving before I could even get a chance to be the shooter, having lost $40 in about 10 minutes. I saw the same thing happen towards the end of my trip on Freedom, and I'm starting to wonder if I make any table I join colder than a Polar Vortex hit in January.
Just for grins, I put $10 into the one $1 Double Diamond slot machine they had, as that has been a somewhat reliable slots game for me. No luck here, either. Out $50 total, I cleared out of the casino and decided it was time for me to get to bed as well.
 
Tonight's drink package tally:
2 cappuccinos 2 glasses of wine 3 cocktails Definitely ahead tonight, but still "making up" for yesterday's big shortfall.

Day 3 – Crystal Caves, Bermuda
The bus dropped us off at the stop for Crystal Caves, which is actually the start of a walking path that leads you to the caves. Next to the path is an ice cream shop, and across the street from the bus stop was the Swizzle Inn. I'd been told it was a short walk from Crystal Caves, but I had no idea it was literally right across the street from its path entrance!
We were both ready for lunch, so we decided to do that before going to the caves. As soon as we were seated and I had a chance to look through the menu, I ordered a Rum Swizzle. I had to try one, in the name of research!

I'm not a big rum fan, and it was definitely no Kraken in this brew, but it wasn't bad by any stretch. I'm just glad I only got the single serving and not the next size up (a half-pitcher) -- that is one strong drink! I was feeling a hefty buzz before I'd even gotten halfway through what was in my pitcher! Knowing I had to navigate a lot of stairs in the caves, I figured it was better at that point to finish the drink quickly, and hope it cleared out by the time lunch was done. Swizzle Inn, swagger out!
The food was pretty good. I had locally caught Wahoo, which to me was about the same as a good swordfish steak. Cathy wasn't super hungry and just had a flatbread pizza. Then I saw they had bread pudding as one of the dessert options... Yeah, I'm weird that way; I love bread pudding, especially if it's got a good vanilla sauce (which this preparation did).
With a full belly and the vestiges of my swizzle still in me, we headed out to the path that would take us to the Crystal Caves. It had rained while we ate, and everything was still pretty wet, but that didn't discourage the large group of people ahead of us. We ended up having to wait for the tour at three o'clock, which was OK as my feet were pretty worn out from all the walking earlier in the day and could use the rest. Cathy took the opportunity to check out the gift shop, and got a couple more items for the girls along with a small stone bracelet for herself.
Our turn to see the caves came around, and we made our way through the gate and descended the 83 stairs down into the caves proper. Along the way, we could see open pockets where the water from the sea was already visible, as well as some smaller stalactites and columns.



When we got to the bottom of the stairs, our guide directed us to the smallish dark opening in the ceiling. This was the original entrance to the caves, the one that the boys who lost their cricket ball crawled through in their effort to find it.

Now here is a part I didn't know about the caves. The water level changes with the tides, to the tune of between two and three feet deeper at high tide. Our tour happened to be going through pretty much at peak high tide, so when we went down the floating walkway to reach the rear of the chamber, several of us had to bend over almost double to get past some of the stalactites without hitting our heads or getting our back's badly scraped by the stone.


Our guide stopped us about two thirds of the way back to talk about the water here, and how deceptively deep it was. It ranges between 50 and 75 feet deep at the spot we were standing, and it's so clear and the refraction from it so strong, that you don't realize that the rocks below that you think are fairly short are actually themselves between 40 and 50 feet tall.





We made our way to the far end of the main chamber, where I noticed there was a small opening in the columns that had a light mounted inside the space there. I leaned down and got what I think was actually one of the prettiest photos of the space, despite what the brochures typically show. The limestone in that space looked more like mother of pearl than rock. I was kind of wishing I could explore that space more instead of this main chamber.


Our guide turned the lights down and showed how, depending on the angle of the light that was hitting the water, you could see just the cave floor below, or the reflection of the ceiling above forming what looked something like the Manhattan skyline, or the head and long neck of a dragon.

The actual tour only lasts about 20 minutes, and that was plenty. Caves are supposed to be chilly places, but either the smaller space created by high tide, or the high humidity there, or the sheer number of people being taken through all day made the place feel like an oven by the time we started walking out.
We headed back to the bus stop, where we met a mother and her two daughters holding a picture of their father, her late husband. They came here on the Disney Magic, and were visiting Bermuda to honor his passing, as it was one of his favorite places to vacation. I took their picture when they asked, the three of them holding his photo and standing with the Swizzle Inn, one of his and his widow's regular places, behind them. After that, we spent the time waiting for the bus just talking about Bermuda, how beautiful it was and how nice the people were. We learned that the Magic was in Bermuda for three days, not just two; if we didn't already know how much more expensive it is to sail Disney than sailing with Royal, we might well have decided to book a return trip on that ship so we could get that extra day!
The bus to Hamilton arrived, and just like before it filled up before we could get on. Partly it was our mistake, we were standing at the wrong end of the stop and a bunch of people who got there after us boarded first; partly it was because it was getting to be rush hour there, and with this stop mid-way on the trip to Hamilton any bus was going to be more crowded when it arrived.
Just like before, we waited about ten minutes and another bus arrived. This time we were at the front of the line and got on right away, but we knew that there was no way we were making the 4:30 ferry from Hamilton back to the ship. Sure enough, we arrived at the bus terminal in Hamilton just a few minutes before 4:30. Could we have walked really fast and gotten to the ferry pier in time? Maybe, but it was raining again and we didn't feel like chancing it. A bus going to the dockyard was right there and leaving momentarily, so we got on and just accepted that we'd have an hour's ride back to the ship, instead of the 20-minute ferry trip.
We got to the dockyard closer to six than five-thirty, and hurried back on board as best we could with our tired feet. We had a reservation at seven-thirty for Wonderland, and while we weren't dressing up, we did want some time to rest and get cleaned up.

Final thoughts:
Pros:
Loved the Allure, great ship   we are confirmed big ship fans. The Entertainment in general was fantastic Food was decent, some better than others but overall I'd give it a B Exception was Chops, that gets an F  and it will be a long time before venturing into another Chops In general the staff was very friendly and pleasant.  Guest Services wasn't the friendliest but they are usually dealing with problems or complaints so as long as they aren't rude, they get a pass from us. Check-In / Disembarkation was simple Cons:
Unorganized Embarkation but that might just be because of the previous delayed disembarkation Did not care for the MDR aesthetics, we prefer the Grand multi-level MDRs Schooner Bar was a let down.  The Vision-Class schooner Bars are way better.  Plus the drinks were terrible.  I loved the Enchantment Schooner Sidecar, the one on the Allure was totally different.  I tried another drink and it was bad too.  I thought it might have been me.  Maybe i've grown soft in my drinking or something.  Then I saw a group at trivia who clearly enjoyed their alcohol, and one or two of their drinks were undrinkable as well The walkways can be narrow around the pool deck.  If there's a scooter or stroller coming, it's a one-way lane.  The outside deck on deck 5 is also narrow.  The jogging track takes up most of the deck. The following is for information purposes as it comes up often in the boards, it's not meant as an editorial:
Dress Code -    there really wasn't a dress code, pretty much anything went.  T-shirts and shorts were prevalent, even in Chops and Giovanni's.  However, there was enough mix on Formal night where either crowd wouldn't be out of place.  There were enough Tuxes, Suits, Ballgowns where if you wanted to dress up, there were others equally as dressy.  I also saw enough T-shirts and shorts where that wasn't out of place.   I just don't want to be the one guy in shorts when everyone else is in a Tux or vice versa and that would not have been an issue.   Smoke:  it is noticeable around the pool bar on the port side where there are several tables with ash trays.  We had started out on the starboard side and hadn't realized there was smoking until we went to the other side to hunt for shade.   The smoking impact on the Casino was interesting.  There was a smoking and a non-smoking section and I did not find the Non-Smoking section to be that bad.   It was too much for my wife but she is hyper-sensitive to smoke but even she said it wasn't as bad as other ships.  The smoke did drift up the Starboard aft stairwell.  You could tell by Deck 6 (casino on deck 4) and one night you could start to get a whiff around Deck 8.   The smoke smell definitely encroached into that elevator bank so we just made sure not to use that one.    Still prevalent but much less than on the Enchantment.

There are so many blogs to read this week it is wonderful!!!  Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all who are taking the time out of their vacations to help those of us stuck in dry dock!  ☺️

To wrap up, and in true @Matt blog style, I’ve noted some of my random thoughts below:
Despite our efforts on our last sea day, we did not manage to tick everything off of our lists.  A few things we had already decided that we wouldn’t try.  We didn’t feel the need to spend extra on any specialty dining and we decided prior to the cruise that we would give Mama Mia and the ice shows a miss.  Most of the things I had planned to try but didn’t get round to revolved around food (and coincidentally, the Boardwalk).  Specifically we did not get round to trying the boardwalk donuts, the complimentary hot dogs, Sabor guacamole, or a Kummelweck.
  I’ve read that they make Oasis class ships easy to find your way around and I have to say I agree.  The neighbourhoods mean there are only a few locations to memorise and then everything else falls in to place.  Similarly I’ve read that the ship is designed to not feel crowded.  Again I would say they succeeded.  Admittedly I don’t know how full the ship was but finding a table at the WJ was only ever a minor inconvenience and we never struggled for a lounger even on sea days.  We only ever tended to be in the Solarium however while walking through the rest of the pool deck there were always loungers to be seen, even if they weren’t right by the pool.
  I find it interesting that on one of the largest ships in the world with however many thousand people you still seem to always run in to the same certain people.  Like the pudgy kid who walked around like he owned the place with his vest top and flat bill cap looking like the stereotypical school bully, the girl with long braids dyed bright red, and the loved up couple who couldn’t keep their hands off each other and liked to sit in pools with their legs wrapped round each other.  Even though I understand that it’s just a form of confirmation bias – I initially noticed those people and therefore continue to spot them – I still find it interesting. 
  We both did enjoy having the drinks package however if we had to pay for it I doubt it would make sense. R doesn’t drink a whole lot.  For me even on sea days and really packing in the cocktails, I likely barely would have broken even.  I guess we will just always have to keep a look out for the deals where they include the package!
  We were in stateroom number 12680 which was aft.  I did put in a bit of thought when selecting a stateroom but since I had never been on an RCL ship let alone Allure specifically, I mostly just based it on checking what was on the decks above and below to avoid noise.  In hindsight the room choice was perfect.  Being aft it was at the right end of the ship for the WJ, Boardwalk and MDR.  The only place we went to often which was forward was the Solarium.  Also, 680 was only a few rooms along from the stairwell which meant no long walks along the corridor to/from the stairs. Being up on Deck 12 was also particularly good for quick stairs access to the WJ and pool deck.
  Speaking of the stairs, we made sure to almost always take them wherever we were going.  Aside from a very small number of exceptions the only time we took the elevators was after we got back from a day in port and we had to get from the gangway to Deck 12 after a long hot day.  R was good for regularly going to the gym on sea days, but for me the stairs were the key exercise throughout the week.  Unfortunately, despite the regular stair use including up to 10 decks at once, when I returned to work the stairs up to the fourth floor seemed no easier that they were before I left.

To wrap up, and in true @Matt blog style, I’ve noted some of my random thoughts below:
Despite our efforts on our last sea day, we did not manage to tick everything off of our lists.  A few things we had already decided that we wouldn’t try.  We didn’t feel the need to spend extra on any specialty dining and we decided prior to the cruise that we would give Mama Mia and the ice shows a miss.  Most of the things I had planned to try but didn’t get round to revolved around food (and coincidentally, the Boardwalk).  Specifically we did not get round to trying the boardwalk donuts, the complimentary hot dogs, Sabor guacamole, or a Kummelweck.
  I’ve read that they make Oasis class ships easy to find your way around and I have to say I agree.  The neighbourhoods mean there are only a few locations to memorise and then everything else falls in to place.  Similarly I’ve read that the ship is designed to not feel crowded.  Again I would say they succeeded.  Admittedly I don’t know how full the ship was but finding a table at the WJ was only ever a minor inconvenience and we never struggled for a lounger even on sea days.  We only ever tended to be in the Solarium however while walking through the rest of the pool deck there were always loungers to be seen, even if they weren’t right by the pool.
  I find it interesting that on one of the largest ships in the world with however many thousand people you still seem to always run in to the same certain people.  Like the pudgy kid who walked around like he owned the place with his vest top and flat bill cap looking like the stereotypical school bully, the girl with long braids dyed bright red, and the loved up couple who couldn’t keep their hands off each other and liked to sit in pools with their legs wrapped round each other.  Even though I understand that it’s just a form of confirmation bias – I initially noticed those people and therefore continue to spot them – I still find it interesting. 
  We both did enjoy having the drinks package however if we had to pay for it I doubt it would make sense. R doesn’t drink a whole lot.  For me even on sea days and really packing in the cocktails, I likely barely would have broken even.  I guess we will just always have to keep a look out for the deals where they include the package!
  We were in stateroom number 12680 which was aft.  I did put in a bit of thought when selecting a stateroom but since I had never been on an RCL ship let alone Allure specifically, I mostly just based it on checking what was on the decks above and below to avoid noise.  In hindsight the room choice was perfect.  Being aft it was at the right end of the ship for the WJ, Boardwalk and MDR.  The only place we went to often which was forward was the Solarium.  Also, 680 was only a few rooms along from the stairwell which meant no long walks along the corridor to/from the stairs. Being up on Deck 12 was also particularly good for quick stairs access to the WJ and pool deck.
  Speaking of the stairs, we made sure to almost always take them wherever we were going.  Aside from a very small number of exceptions the only time we took the elevators was after we got back from a day in port and we had to get from the gangway to Deck 12 after a long hot day.  R was good for regularly going to the gym on sea days, but for me the stairs were the key exercise throughout the week.  Unfortunately, despite the regular stair use including up to 10 decks at once, when I returned to work the stairs up to the fourth floor seemed no easier that they were before I left.

Day 8 – Sept 23 – Disembark day (a sad day - so sad I didn't take a single photo)
We were up at about 6am to get ready and pack.  We headed to the WJ for our final breakfast – sad times.  Back to the room to pick up our cases and then off we got. Overall I was very impressed with how they got thousands of people off the ship pretty seamlessly.
Once we got out of the terminal we ordered an Uber.  I was a little concerned at the prospect as it was a little manic but it all worked out fine.  It was helped by the fact that we were randomly allocated an Uber Lux even though we ordered the normal UberX.  It was a white Jaguar so pretty easy to spot when it arrived since it stood out from the mass of other cars.
Our flight was leaving Miami at 5pm and at this point it was about 9am.  We had thought previously about what to do in the interim.  One option was to kill the time doing one of RCLs excursions which is basically a bus tour which then takes you to the airport.  We wouldn’t have got much from that as it would really have just been a way to do an elongated airport transfer.  I had a better idea.  When we come to the States, especially Florida or Vegas, we like to hit an outlet mall and do a bunch of clothes shopping.  Neither of us particularly enjoy clothes shopping so at least for the past few years it has been a way to do a year’s worth of clothes shopping in one day and then not have to do anything else for the rest of the year.  So I had searched for outlet malls.  At first I saw the Sawmills one in Ft Lauderdale but the problem there would have been that we would need to get from there to Miami airport which is a long enough drive to encounter unexpected problems on our way to the flight.  So I looked for ones near Miami airport and found Dolphin Mall - a mere 10-15 mins drive from the airport.  That seemed like a great option.  The only downside was that since it was a Sunday it didn’t open until 11am so we knew we’d have to wait about. The upside, I imagine they do a fair amount of business from people either coming from or going to the airport so the website noted that they have lockers for luggage storage - ideal.
So that’s where our Uber headed.  We had no issues getting there and the Uber dropped us off at the main entrance.  We found some seats outside in the shade so we camped out and read as we had maybe 80 minutes until the shops opened up.  With about 15 mins or so to go we headed inside to find the lockers.  We found the closest ones we managed to get our two suitcases and all other carry on things in to two of the big suitcase sized lockers.  They were $5 each for the full day.  The smaller ones which we didn’t use were $3 each.  They are automated and seemed to be the exact same make as the ones at rides in the Universal Studios parks except without fingerprint scanners.  There weren’t a whole lot of lockers but I think there were multiple locations throughout the mall.  One thing I found strange was that later when we removed our things from the lockers there wasn’t an option to release the locker.  You pay for all day and they’re meant to be multi entry access so I think the two lockers would then be out of action for the rest of the day even though we’d left – unless they have another way of determining that the contents have been cleared out.
Anyway, we got a map and planned our attack.  We had a very successful shopping trip including purchases in Nike, American Eagle, Converse, Ralph Lauren and Levi – all American outlet mall classics!  At about 2.45pm we headed back to the lockers to clear out.  I had packed an extra duffle bag on the way here so we threw our purchases in there and I would just carry that on our flight.  One final Uber to the airport and that was our trip over.
We got a double whammy of frustrating news when we got to the airport. Out flight to London was delayed by 1.5 hours and our connecting flight up to Edinburgh had been cancelled and we’d been put on another one about 2.5 hours later than the first.  I knew we were likely to make most of the initial flight’s delay back and since we already had a decent layover in London, the extra 2.5 hours was not welcome – especially after a red-eye flight with little to no sleep.
A Taco Bell before security served as our farewell to fine American cuisine.  I then a beer after security while waiting on the plane, suitably shocked when they asked to be paid for the beer.  There was NFL playing at the bar so it wasn’t too painful a wait.
With the jet stream providing a tail wind the flight was only about 7.5 hours and as expected most of the delay was made back.  I watched one film while dinner was served - The Commuter – another perfect plane film.  Pretty silly and mindless with no great scenery that would be missed through the low definition screens.  Then as usual with a red-eye flight there was the usual struggle to get some sleep.  Once in London we settled in to our layover and read/tried not to pass out with fatigue.  One more short flight and we were back in Scotland – one week older, a little less milk-bottle coloured and livers slightly more pickled. 

To wrap up, and in true @Matt blog style, I’ve noted some of my random thoughts below:
Despite our efforts on our last sea day, we did not manage to tick everything off of our lists.  A few things we had already decided that we wouldn’t try.  We didn’t feel the need to spend extra on any specialty dining and we decided prior to the cruise that we would give Mama Mia and the ice shows a miss.  Most of the things I had planned to try but didn’t get round to revolved around food (and coincidentally, the Boardwalk).  Specifically we did not get round to trying the boardwalk donuts, the complimentary hot dogs, Sabor guacamole, or a Kummelweck.
  I’ve read that they make Oasis class ships easy to find your way around and I have to say I agree.  The neighbourhoods mean there are only a few locations to memorise and then everything else falls in to place.  Similarly I’ve read that the ship is designed to not feel crowded.  Again I would say they succeeded.  Admittedly I don’t know how full the ship was but finding a table at the WJ was only ever a minor inconvenience and we never struggled for a lounger even on sea days.  We only ever tended to be in the Solarium however while walking through the rest of the pool deck there were always loungers to be seen, even if they weren’t right by the pool.
  I find it interesting that on one of the largest ships in the world with however many thousand people you still seem to always run in to the same certain people.  Like the pudgy kid who walked around like he owned the place with his vest top and flat bill cap looking like the stereotypical school bully, the girl with long braids dyed bright red, and the loved up couple who couldn’t keep their hands off each other and liked to sit in pools with their legs wrapped round each other.  Even though I understand that it’s just a form of confirmation bias – I initially noticed those people and therefore continue to spot them – I still find it interesting. 
  We both did enjoy having the drinks package however if we had to pay for it I doubt it would make sense. R doesn’t drink a whole lot.  For me even on sea days and really packing in the cocktails, I likely barely would have broken even.  I guess we will just always have to keep a look out for the deals where they include the package!
  We were in stateroom number 12680 which was aft.  I did put in a bit of thought when selecting a stateroom but since I had never been on an RCL ship let alone Allure specifically, I mostly just based it on checking what was on the decks above and below to avoid noise.  In hindsight the room choice was perfect.  Being aft it was at the right end of the ship for the WJ, Boardwalk and MDR.  The only place we went to often which was forward was the Solarium.  Also, 680 was only a few rooms along from the stairwell which meant no long walks along the corridor to/from the stairs. Being up on Deck 12 was also particularly good for quick stairs access to the WJ and pool deck.
  Speaking of the stairs, we made sure to almost always take them wherever we were going.  Aside from a very small number of exceptions the only time we took the elevators was after we got back from a day in port and we had to get from the gangway to Deck 12 after a long hot day.  R was good for regularly going to the gym on sea days, but for me the stairs were the key exercise throughout the week.  Unfortunately, despite the regular stair use including up to 10 decks at once, when I returned to work the stairs up to the fourth floor seemed no easier that they were before I left.

Day 8 – Sept 23 – Disembark day (a sad day - so sad I didn't take a single photo)
We were up at about 6am to get ready and pack.  We headed to the WJ for our final breakfast – sad times.  Back to the room to pick up our cases and then off we got. Overall I was very impressed with how they got thousands of people off the ship pretty seamlessly.
Once we got out of the terminal we ordered an Uber.  I was a little concerned at the prospect as it was a little manic but it all worked out fine.  It was helped by the fact that we were randomly allocated an Uber Lux even though we ordered the normal UberX.  It was a white Jaguar so pretty easy to spot when it arrived since it stood out from the mass of other cars.
Our flight was leaving Miami at 5pm and at this point it was about 9am.  We had thought previously about what to do in the interim.  One option was to kill the time doing one of RCLs excursions which is basically a bus tour which then takes you to the airport.  We wouldn’t have got much from that as it would really have just been a way to do an elongated airport transfer.  I had a better idea.  When we come to the States, especially Florida or Vegas, we like to hit an outlet mall and do a bunch of clothes shopping.  Neither of us particularly enjoy clothes shopping so at least for the past few years it has been a way to do a year’s worth of clothes shopping in one day and then not have to do anything else for the rest of the year.  So I had searched for outlet malls.  At first I saw the Sawmills one in Ft Lauderdale but the problem there would have been that we would need to get from there to Miami airport which is a long enough drive to encounter unexpected problems on our way to the flight.  So I looked for ones near Miami airport and found Dolphin Mall - a mere 10-15 mins drive from the airport.  That seemed like a great option.  The only downside was that since it was a Sunday it didn’t open until 11am so we knew we’d have to wait about. The upside, I imagine they do a fair amount of business from people either coming from or going to the airport so the website noted that they have lockers for luggage storage - ideal.
So that’s where our Uber headed.  We had no issues getting there and the Uber dropped us off at the main entrance.  We found some seats outside in the shade so we camped out and read as we had maybe 80 minutes until the shops opened up.  With about 15 mins or so to go we headed inside to find the lockers.  We found the closest ones we managed to get our two suitcases and all other carry on things in to two of the big suitcase sized lockers.  They were $5 each for the full day.  The smaller ones which we didn’t use were $3 each.  They are automated and seemed to be the exact same make as the ones at rides in the Universal Studios parks except without fingerprint scanners.  There weren’t a whole lot of lockers but I think there were multiple locations throughout the mall.  One thing I found strange was that later when we removed our things from the lockers there wasn’t an option to release the locker.  You pay for all day and they’re meant to be multi entry access so I think the two lockers would then be out of action for the rest of the day even though we’d left – unless they have another way of determining that the contents have been cleared out.
Anyway, we got a map and planned our attack.  We had a very successful shopping trip including purchases in Nike, American Eagle, Converse, Ralph Lauren and Levi – all American outlet mall classics!  At about 2.45pm we headed back to the lockers to clear out.  I had packed an extra duffle bag on the way here so we threw our purchases in there and I would just carry that on our flight.  One final Uber to the airport and that was our trip over.
We got a double whammy of frustrating news when we got to the airport. Out flight to London was delayed by 1.5 hours and our connecting flight up to Edinburgh had been cancelled and we’d been put on another one about 2.5 hours later than the first.  I knew we were likely to make most of the initial flight’s delay back and since we already had a decent layover in London, the extra 2.5 hours was not welcome – especially after a red-eye flight with little to no sleep.
A Taco Bell before security served as our farewell to fine American cuisine.  I then a beer after security while waiting on the plane, suitably shocked when they asked to be paid for the beer.  There was NFL playing at the bar so it wasn’t too painful a wait.
With the jet stream providing a tail wind the flight was only about 7.5 hours and as expected most of the delay was made back.  I watched one film while dinner was served - The Commuter – another perfect plane film.  Pretty silly and mindless with no great scenery that would be missed through the low definition screens.  Then as usual with a red-eye flight there was the usual struggle to get some sleep.  Once in London we settled in to our layover and read/tried not to pass out with fatigue.  One more short flight and we were back in Scotland – one week older, a little less milk-bottle coloured and livers slightly more pickled. 

Day 8 – Sept 23 – Disembark day (a sad day - so sad I didn't take a single photo)
We were up at about 6am to get ready and pack.  We headed to the WJ for our final breakfast – sad times.  Back to the room to pick up our cases and then off we got. Overall I was very impressed with how they got thousands of people off the ship pretty seamlessly.
Once we got out of the terminal we ordered an Uber.  I was a little concerned at the prospect as it was a little manic but it all worked out fine.  It was helped by the fact that we were randomly allocated an Uber Lux even though we ordered the normal UberX.  It was a white Jaguar so pretty easy to spot when it arrived since it stood out from the mass of other cars.
Our flight was leaving Miami at 5pm and at this point it was about 9am.  We had thought previously about what to do in the interim.  One option was to kill the time doing one of RCLs excursions which is basically a bus tour which then takes you to the airport.  We wouldn’t have got much from that as it would really have just been a way to do an elongated airport transfer.  I had a better idea.  When we come to the States, especially Florida or Vegas, we like to hit an outlet mall and do a bunch of clothes shopping.  Neither of us particularly enjoy clothes shopping so at least for the past few years it has been a way to do a year’s worth of clothes shopping in one day and then not have to do anything else for the rest of the year.  So I had searched for outlet malls.  At first I saw the Sawmills one in Ft Lauderdale but the problem there would have been that we would need to get from there to Miami airport which is a long enough drive to encounter unexpected problems on our way to the flight.  So I looked for ones near Miami airport and found Dolphin Mall - a mere 10-15 mins drive from the airport.  That seemed like a great option.  The only downside was that since it was a Sunday it didn’t open until 11am so we knew we’d have to wait about. The upside, I imagine they do a fair amount of business from people either coming from or going to the airport so the website noted that they have lockers for luggage storage - ideal.
So that’s where our Uber headed.  We had no issues getting there and the Uber dropped us off at the main entrance.  We found some seats outside in the shade so we camped out and read as we had maybe 80 minutes until the shops opened up.  With about 15 mins or so to go we headed inside to find the lockers.  We found the closest ones we managed to get our two suitcases and all other carry on things in to two of the big suitcase sized lockers.  They were $5 each for the full day.  The smaller ones which we didn’t use were $3 each.  They are automated and seemed to be the exact same make as the ones at rides in the Universal Studios parks except without fingerprint scanners.  There weren’t a whole lot of lockers but I think there were multiple locations throughout the mall.  One thing I found strange was that later when we removed our things from the lockers there wasn’t an option to release the locker.  You pay for all day and they’re meant to be multi entry access so I think the two lockers would then be out of action for the rest of the day even though we’d left – unless they have another way of determining that the contents have been cleared out.
Anyway, we got a map and planned our attack.  We had a very successful shopping trip including purchases in Nike, American Eagle, Converse, Ralph Lauren and Levi – all American outlet mall classics!  At about 2.45pm we headed back to the lockers to clear out.  I had packed an extra duffle bag on the way here so we threw our purchases in there and I would just carry that on our flight.  One final Uber to the airport and that was our trip over.
We got a double whammy of frustrating news when we got to the airport. Out flight to London was delayed by 1.5 hours and our connecting flight up to Edinburgh had been cancelled and we’d been put on another one about 2.5 hours later than the first.  I knew we were likely to make most of the initial flight’s delay back and since we already had a decent layover in London, the extra 2.5 hours was not welcome – especially after a red-eye flight with little to no sleep.
A Taco Bell before security served as our farewell to fine American cuisine.  I then a beer after security while waiting on the plane, suitably shocked when they asked to be paid for the beer.  There was NFL playing at the bar so it wasn’t too painful a wait.
With the jet stream providing a tail wind the flight was only about 7.5 hours and as expected most of the delay was made back.  I watched one film while dinner was served - The Commuter – another perfect plane film.  Pretty silly and mindless with no great scenery that would be missed through the low definition screens.  Then as usual with a red-eye flight there was the usual struggle to get some sleep.  Once in London we settled in to our layover and read/tried not to pass out with fatigue.  One more short flight and we were back in Scotland – one week older, a little less milk-bottle coloured and livers slightly more pickled. 

Thanks for sharing this live blog!

Thanks for sharing your vacation!

Completely agree on both of these points.  That was our same experience.  Three different restaurants the first three nights and we saw several of the same people in each (to include the MDR).  And while finding a "prime" lounger might have been difficult, finding a lounger was not an issue at all.

Thanks a really good blog, @BermudaDice!

Day 7 – Sept 22 – Sea day
The last day of the cruise.  Again R got up a bit earlier and went to the gym.  Some impressive willpower on the last day of our trip!  I stayed in bed for a little longer and then headed to the main pool for a quick pre-breakfast swim – it seems this has quickly become a sea day ritual.  I lazed in the pool for a bit until R showed up.  She stuck her feet in for 10 minutes but then we got packed up and headed back to the room to get dried off for breakfast.
We once again opted for the WJ for breakfast, plus it turned out to be quite a large breakfast as they also had a chocolate delight stand set up with various chocolate items. I had some mousse from there which was good but very sweet.
Since it was our last day we wanted to try and tick things off that we hadn’t got round to doing so far.  First on that list was some bingo.  It happened to be the win-a-cruise version so that worked out quite well.  Unfortunately, not only were we unsuccessful, but we didn’t even get within one number of a full house at any point.  We only bought the lowest number of sheets possible so we didn’t have much of a chance compared to some people who were buying a ton of sheets.  The guy who ran the bingo said that someone had bought 45 sheets and that seemed to be confirmed by people who had to shout for him to slow down even though the pace between numbers was already quite slow.  I can’t imagine the feeling of winning a free cruise on your last day on a current cruise.  It would be an even sweeter feeling if, like us, it was your first time and you didn’t buy many sheets.  By the law of averages I guess that must have happened for someone at some point – sadly not for us this time.

We went to see if we could play some shuffleboard but it was closed for Aqua Theatre rehearsals.  We opted at that point to go to the Solarium.  It was another hot day so we both alternated between being in the pool and reading on some loungers.  I like to spend most of my time in the pool and R is the opposite but she did very kindly bring me a couple of cocktails to the pool.  I know that the bar staff would take orders and bring you drinks to the pool but not only did that involve having your Seapass card in the pool, mostly it just seemed a bit too indulgent for my tastes so sit in a pool while someone fetched you a drink!
We headed back to the room to get showered and changed for the evening.  We opted for the WJ again tonight since the MDR menu didn’t look spectacular.  I however went down to the MDR just after it opened to find our waiters to thank them.  As ridiculous as it sounds, they were so friendly during the week and since we were also at the WJ last night I wanted to make sure they knew that we hadn’t abandoned the MDR because of the service.  I know what you’re thinking - big softie!
While down on the lower decks, before we headed up to the WJ, we ticked something else off of our list that we hadn’t done yet - Sorrentos pizza.  I had read from a few posts that the pizza was awful and, being quite a pizza fan, I was keen to see how RCL managed to mess up dough, sauce and cheese.  I’m not sure if they have upped their game or I just have lower standards than some, but I thought the pizza was perfectly good.  Sure, it wasn’t gourmet Neapolitan pizza but it was as perfectly adequate in my eyes.
After our snack we headed to the WJ.  Unfortunately I wasn’t so impressed by the food tonight.  It was meant to be a wings/butchers night.  The wings were ok and so was some other stuff but they also had a seafood section that smelled really strongly.  Even R who loves seafood steered clear of that.
After dinner we headed out to the Flowriders and caught the end of some really good folk do their thing which was impressive to see.  The main reason we went out was to play mini golf – another item on the list – but there were no putters available.  We headed down to the boardwalk to play the game of shuffleboard that we had failed to play earlier.  I trailed R right to the end and then won it by one point with the last puck.  Pretty smug.

We dropped by the windjammer briefly so that R could get a cup of tea before heading back out and finding that the mini golf was much quieter.  R beat me to make up for the crushing shuffleboard loss, but I wasn’t really taking it all that seriously… honest!

We headed black to the stateroom at that point.  Sadly it was about that time so R did a bit of packing.  I had already got a lot of things ready for packing.  We had opted for the express departure so since we didn’t have to put our cases out tonight, my plan was to get everything ready to go but actually pack in the morning. 

Day 8 – Sept 23 – Disembark day (a sad day - so sad I didn't take a single photo)
We were up at about 6am to get ready and pack.  We headed to the WJ for our final breakfast – sad times.  Back to the room to pick up our cases and then off we got. Overall I was very impressed with how they got thousands of people off the ship pretty seamlessly.
Once we got out of the terminal we ordered an Uber.  I was a little concerned at the prospect as it was a little manic but it all worked out fine.  It was helped by the fact that we were randomly allocated an Uber Lux even though we ordered the normal UberX.  It was a white Jaguar so pretty easy to spot when it arrived since it stood out from the mass of other cars.
Our flight was leaving Miami at 5pm and at this point it was about 9am.  We had thought previously about what to do in the interim.  One option was to kill the time doing one of RCLs excursions which is basically a bus tour which then takes you to the airport.  We wouldn’t have got much from that as it would really have just been a way to do an elongated airport transfer.  I had a better idea.  When we come to the States, especially Florida or Vegas, we like to hit an outlet mall and do a bunch of clothes shopping.  Neither of us particularly enjoy clothes shopping so at least for the past few years it has been a way to do a year’s worth of clothes shopping in one day and then not have to do anything else for the rest of the year.  So I had searched for outlet malls.  At first I saw the Sawmills one in Ft Lauderdale but the problem there would have been that we would need to get from there to Miami airport which is a long enough drive to encounter unexpected problems on our way to the flight.  So I looked for ones near Miami airport and found Dolphin Mall - a mere 10-15 mins drive from the airport.  That seemed like a great option.  The only downside was that since it was a Sunday it didn’t open until 11am so we knew we’d have to wait about. The upside, I imagine they do a fair amount of business from people either coming from or going to the airport so the website noted that they have lockers for luggage storage - ideal.
So that’s where our Uber headed.  We had no issues getting there and the Uber dropped us off at the main entrance.  We found some seats outside in the shade so we camped out and read as we had maybe 80 minutes until the shops opened up.  With about 15 mins or so to go we headed inside to find the lockers.  We found the closest ones we managed to get our two suitcases and all other carry on things in to two of the big suitcase sized lockers.  They were $5 each for the full day.  The smaller ones which we didn’t use were $3 each.  They are automated and seemed to be the exact same make as the ones at rides in the Universal Studios parks except without fingerprint scanners.  There weren’t a whole lot of lockers but I think there were multiple locations throughout the mall.  One thing I found strange was that later when we removed our things from the lockers there wasn’t an option to release the locker.  You pay for all day and they’re meant to be multi entry access so I think the two lockers would then be out of action for the rest of the day even though we’d left – unless they have another way of determining that the contents have been cleared out.
Anyway, we got a map and planned our attack.  We had a very successful shopping trip including purchases in Nike, American Eagle, Converse, Ralph Lauren and Levi – all American outlet mall classics!  At about 2.45pm we headed back to the lockers to clear out.  I had packed an extra duffle bag on the way here so we threw our purchases in there and I would just carry that on our flight.  One final Uber to the airport and that was our trip over.
We got a double whammy of frustrating news when we got to the airport. Out flight to London was delayed by 1.5 hours and our connecting flight up to Edinburgh had been cancelled and we’d been put on another one about 2.5 hours later than the first.  I knew we were likely to make most of the initial flight’s delay back and since we already had a decent layover in London, the extra 2.5 hours was not welcome – especially after a red-eye flight with little to no sleep.
A Taco Bell before security served as our farewell to fine American cuisine.  I then a beer after security while waiting on the plane, suitably shocked when they asked to be paid for the beer.  There was NFL playing at the bar so it wasn’t too painful a wait.
With the jet stream providing a tail wind the flight was only about 7.5 hours and as expected most of the delay was made back.  I watched one film while dinner was served - The Commuter – another perfect plane film.  Pretty silly and mindless with no great scenery that would be missed through the low definition screens.  Then as usual with a red-eye flight there was the usual struggle to get some sleep.  Once in London we settled in to our layover and read/tried not to pass out with fatigue.  One more short flight and we were back in Scotland – one week older, a little less milk-bottle coloured and livers slightly more pickled.