mom2mybugs

They said they just don't offer that or chops on the ship and he just kept saying it. What I should have done is just cancelled the BOGO... They probably would have let me... And just done chips and guac at sabor. We are going to Giovanni's today which will be good but we are doing it this summer....i wanted to only hit things I wouldn't see on vision. Fwp but again the inconsistency royal shows at times is annoying. Jane

I think it will be a nice dress up restaurant that isn't chops. I expect about the same meal. I will really miss that the salts aren't offered as that was one fun little difference. And I'm frustrated because they had openings 3 days ago. .it wasn't like I had changed the availability and lost. Jane

Everything in the planner was good in it. Maybe if I'd dealt with a restaurant instead of the stand. Not sure but I just argued for 5 mins, created a huge line behind us and flat out decided it wasn't worth it and I could take my 50 onboard credit and use it towards another meal. But it definitely tips you towards ultimate dining at a sale. I now may not even get into the mdr this trip. Jane

It's the first time it's been this significant. I'm not a lightweight but my husband is and he and I both weren't buzzed until we drank a glass of wine. Which ok, I'm not trying to be a spring breaker but.... Jane

Having the internet helps lol. Also trying to do little snippets as opposed to giant long blogs makes it less intimidating! So far we have just done aqua show... It was fun to watch the show but it really had no storyline... As others have said. I hear the Oasis one is better. Jane

Cruise day 1 on board! We were on the ship by 11ish! First MAJOR complaint is that when I immediately went to do the BOGO, they said 3 restaurants only... Giovanni's, samba grill or sabor. They flat out refused to give us Central Park 150. I was furious as I had gone over every bit of fine print. There was availability... It wasn't that. They just wouldn't include the restaurant. I will not buy the BOGO again... If I'd known that I would have bought the ultimate dining when it was hugely discounted. It didn't start off the cruise well, and I will slam it in the review, but nothing we could do. He did give us a 20 percent off for 150 later but that really doesn't help that much... We didn't want that many specialities or wed have done the pkg. Anyway on to better... Lunch at Park Cafe was wonderful! Lava flow and kummelwick Our bags were in the hall waiting when we went to our room at 115. The room has a ton of shelving space and we have no trouble at all fitting 3 people's stuff. The room will be a bit snug when we are all in it but it won't be bad. Here are pics: We unpacked, Jeff took a nap and then we did muster and sailaway. We watched from the boardwalk behind the aqua theater Dinner was at sabor and it was all over the place. Parts of dinner were amazing... The beef empanadas for example were incredible and my daughter's vegetarian tacos were quite good. But the cobia tacos were meh (and I loved them on freedom) and the bacon/chicken peppers were easy overcooked. Unfortunately our service was awful... The server was new, didn't know the menu and had no idea how to pace the meal. It was really disappointing. This also leads me to the drinks and the drink pkg. I had 3 margaritas at sabor because I wanted to try them. Each one I couldn't taste any tequila at all... And since I'm not a huge tequila fan I was very aware. I watched the blue Hawaiian sailaway drink made and he didn't even put a whole shot of kracken in. It's irrelevant because we have the drink pkg but it was really noticable that the drinks were weak. I've never ever noticed that on my 4 other Royal sailings. So just an observation...we will see how the rest of the cruise goes. We are freezing in the solarium! We have a 1015 aqua theater show but I'm not sure if it will happen since it is very windy. And, lol, I will see if we manage to stay awake that long! Looking forward to Sunshine tomorrow and just a day of laying in the sun! Jane

Cruise day 1!!!! Finally here!!!! We arrived at the terminal with a great Uber driver who shared all sorts of stories from Cuba. I love getting here early...we arrived about 955. A porter led the car all the way in, grabbed our bags and we were in the doors. We literally were 5 mins check in and security with no lines whatsoever... Even at the picture! We are now at 1042 waiting to board! My family of course didn't load the apps yet so we did that...argh! We are ready to go!!! Starting to board!! Jane

We are in room 8440... Can't remember what category that is but it's right off Central Park and it's pretty basic as I understand it. It will be an adventure! Jane

I've never seen a mdr that has this. I always stop for a glass of 🍷 on the way and order a second one immediately before dinner. It usually arrives about perfectly half way through dinner. Jane

Cruise -2 and -1! So day -2 was not pretty. No shoes came out of the suitcase and I spent two hours trying to get photos off my phone. My laptop and external hard drive couldn't find them so I couldn't transfer them. I'm hoping I have enough storage but decided to take my camera just in case. Of course that required an hour of clearing off memory cards. I got to bed at 1130 for a 230 wake-up. We didn't oversleep which was a bad thing. After Jeff was already up and showered, I realized that our frontier flight was now 4,5 hours delayed. Ugh. I went back to a sorta sleep for a couple hours and we finally got to Miami! We are staying at the Hampton inn South Beach. I wouldn't want to do a weeks vacation here but it was awesome to taxi in, get right into our room and be on the beach with just a block's walk. We spent a couple hours on the beach and then showered and are dinner at Maxine's bistro. It was a perfect choice...we all could get something a little different and it was literally a couple hotels over. Collins avenue is very pretty at night. The art deco is fun and the neon is cool. We finished the night with a BOGO rum runner at the hotel bar and called it a day. It's only 10 and we don't have to get up till 8!!! Yeehaw!!!! I haven't gotten that much sleep in probably 2 months lol. Tomorrow we plan to call for an Uber at 915 , and hope to be at the port by 10. Because my family have me grief over taking pics, I got them too late for the expedited check in. I'm hoping we will still be onboard by 11!! I am still in a panic over the BOGO reservations and want to get those done! Jane

Yes but not sure if I'm brave enough to scope!! Jane

Cruise -3 days Might I just say, packing sucks! Starting this process earlier than last Sunday might have helped but work was definitely in the way! I watched several Rick Steves videos all about the dangers of overpacking and how you should pack for best case scenarios. Yeah....no. I have packed for every worst case scenario imaginable. I swear I will try harder for our 17 days in Europe this summer, but I can’t do it now. Thank god everything is summer light weight clothes. My suitcase is at 48 lbs and I might have decided to take a carry on suitcase as welll. It might be that I don’t need 7 pairs of shoes for 9 days but after staring at them for 30 mins and not being able to make a decision! I decided to just throw them all in. My brain is most definitely shot and I need a vacation!!! My goal was to be packed, devices charged and photos cleared from my phone so I can be in bed by 10 tomorrow but that isn’t gonna happen either lol. I’m giving up tonight so I can nestle all snug in my bed while visions of beaches dance in my head! Jane

We are so ready for a break!!! Jane

I will take pics of the room! Jane

Hi everyone!! I can't even say how much I love the live blogs between cruises so I thought I would see least try andjot some things down this trip. I have never purchased voom before but we have the 2 dogs at home and I need to get updates as I have a new sitter and a very untrained 11 month old puppy!! I'm guessing that this will be a pretty uneventful blog since I plan on spending most of my time reading in my deck chair and using that deluxe drink pkg!! We have a ton of firsts on this trip... First time in Miami and labadee, first interior cabin and most of all first time on an oasis class ship. We have done vision, Voyager and freedom class but never the big ones. I'm excited for the neighborhoods, worried about deck chairs in the solarium and on the sky deck. Our group consists of my husband on his 3rd cruise, me (on my 5th) and our 16 year old daughter (her 4th). We are headed to St Maarten (I think this is the day I stay onboard and get the hopefully empty solarium), San Juan (we will walk to El Morro and just enjoy old Town for the brief time we are docked) and labadee (can't wait!!! My first Royal beach). We have the BOGO purchased and hope to get sabor night one and 150 night 2, but I'm worried about getting in so we shall see. We also have the izumi hibachi booked and the Brazilian steakhouse (leaving the vegetarian 16 year old to fend for herself that night). We leave out if O'Hare at 530am Saturday...ugh... and will be happily in the Miami heat by 10. We went relatively cheap and are staying at the Hampton inn and suites a couple blocks away from the beach. It will be a very low key day as work and the weather have been truly kicking me in the butt this winter. Feel free to ask me questions...I will try and keep up but this may definitely be more livish than live. I may try to Periscope too but with no 🐹 and no mike I'm nervous about even trying! And now I'm off to read the allure blog from last week!!! Jane