Thetechie

Day 9 - Last full day....
Didn’t take a ton of pictures today, but I have a few  
We had a slow start to the morning, and went to the spa about 9 for a nice massage / nap! 
We were done just after 11 and went to the Windjammer for lunch. 
After lunch, we caught the show with the house band, it was a big band style and we loved it

We went out on the deck and played shuffle board for a bit before heading up to the pool deck

pro-tip, do the pool at slides starting at 5PM, there is no one out there!

While walking the halls today, I looked up and noticed this right outside our cabin door, makes sense that we had good WiFi reception all throughout the cabin!

Tonight’s dinner was at the Windjammer, it was seafood night, which meant I grabbed a burger and fries from the kids section

After dinner was the fair well show in the theater, it was great

After the show, we hung out at the Bamboo room, this became our favorite place to relax! Played some games and enjoyed our last few hours

The Key breakfast was moved to Chop’s grill tomorrow

 

Day 9 - Last full day....
Didn’t take a ton of pictures today, but I have a few  
We had a slow start to the morning, and went to the spa about 9 for a nice massage / nap! 
We were done just after 11 and went to the Windjammer for lunch. 
After lunch, we caught the show with the house band, it was a big band style and we loved it

We went out on the deck and played shuffle board for a bit before heading up to the pool deck

pro-tip, do the pool at slides starting at 5PM, there is no one out there!

While walking the halls today, I looked up and noticed this right outside our cabin door, makes sense that we had good WiFi reception all throughout the cabin!

Tonight’s dinner was at the Windjammer, it was seafood night, which meant I grabbed a burger and fries from the kids section

After dinner was the fair well show in the theater, it was great

After the show, we hung out at the Bamboo room, this became our favorite place to relax! Played some games and enjoyed our last few hours

The Key breakfast was moved to Chop’s grill tomorrow

 

That’s funny, gotta figure it could happen!
And that wouldn’t have been me in the Diamond lounge, I am still pre-gold. After today I will be gold though!

That’s funny, gotta figure it could happen!
And that wouldn’t have been me in the Diamond lounge, I am still pre-gold. After today I will be gold though!

Here ya go. 

Day 8 - at sea
Today was our first of two sea days headed back to Miami, and it was wonderful! 
I got up early and took my laptop down to the promenade about 7:30 to get some stuff done, it was wonderfully quiet down there, and I grabbed some fruit from the Cafe. 
A little later in the morning, they had a Bloody Mary bar set up on the promenade 

There was a “flash sale” on accessories, and it got pretty busy

I stopped in one of the shops, and noticed that the ship models have already bred updated with the new slides and such, but a lot of the picture related items have not

While wandering  around, we came across the Stowaway Piano Player. This guy is awesome 

We went to a Q&A with the singer/dancer/ice skaters that was quite interesting. Did you know that the singers and dancers will help out backstage with costume changes etc. at the ice show, and the other way around? They also run spot lights for each other’s shows

Tonight was formal night, we went to the main dining room 

With celebrations of the the 50th anniversary for Royal, the had birthday cakes

Tonight’s headliner show was a Whitney Houston tribute, she was great! She was backed with all live music from the house band, they are incredible. 

After catching the late show, we wandered around the ship more, made a stop at the R Bar and got a red velvet, wow!
After playing some late night (early morning) mini golf, we decided to call it a day. Last full day tomorrow!

Here ya go. 

Day 8 - at sea
Today was our first of two sea days headed back to Miami, and it was wonderful! 
I got up early and took my laptop down to the promenade about 7:30 to get some stuff done, it was wonderfully quiet down there, and I grabbed some fruit from the Cafe. 
A little later in the morning, they had a Bloody Mary bar set up on the promenade 

There was a “flash sale” on accessories, and it got pretty busy

I stopped in one of the shops, and noticed that the ship models have already bred updated with the new slides and such, but a lot of the picture related items have not

While wandering  around, we came across the Stowaway Piano Player. This guy is awesome 

We went to a Q&A with the singer/dancer/ice skaters that was quite interesting. Did you know that the singers and dancers will help out backstage with costume changes etc. at the ice show, and the other way around? They also run spot lights for each other’s shows

Tonight was formal night, we went to the main dining room 

With celebrations of the the 50th anniversary for Royal, the had birthday cakes

Tonight’s headliner show was a Whitney Houston tribute, she was great! She was backed with all live music from the house band, they are incredible. 

After catching the late show, we wandered around the ship more, made a stop at the R Bar and got a red velvet, wow!
After playing some late night (early morning) mini golf, we decided to call it a day. Last full day tomorrow!

Here ya go. 

Here ya go. 

It’s amazing, that’s what it is! I will swing by there today and take a better picture of the menu

Day 8 - at sea
Today was our first of two sea days headed back to Miami, and it was wonderful! 
I got up early and took my laptop down to the promenade about 7:30 to get some stuff done, it was wonderfully quiet down there, and I grabbed some fruit from the Cafe. 
A little later in the morning, they had a Bloody Mary bar set up on the promenade 

There was a “flash sale” on accessories, and it got pretty busy

I stopped in one of the shops, and noticed that the ship models have already bred updated with the new slides and such, but a lot of the picture related items have not

While wandering  around, we came across the Stowaway Piano Player. This guy is awesome 

We went to a Q&A with the singer/dancer/ice skaters that was quite interesting. Did you know that the singers and dancers will help out backstage with costume changes etc. at the ice show, and the other way around? They also run spot lights for each other’s shows

Tonight was formal night, we went to the main dining room 

With celebrations of the the 50th anniversary for Royal, the had birthday cakes

Tonight’s headliner show was a Whitney Houston tribute, she was great! She was backed with all live music from the house band, they are incredible. 

After catching the late show, we wandered around the ship more, made a stop at the R Bar and got a red velvet, wow!
After playing some late night (early morning) mini golf, we decided to call it a day. Last full day tomorrow!

Day 3, Labadee!
Started this morning off at the Windjammer just after 7am with a nice little breakfast while watching us back into the dock at Labadee
We went down to StudioB at 7:50 for our Key debarment, and were escorted off the ship about 8:15
Hopped on a golf cart that took us to our Over the Water Cabana
We are in the one on the left. This is amazing!
The water here is incredible. Remember, we live on the west coast, and haven’t ever been down here before. We have been to Hawaii several times, but it just doesn’t compare. Did some snorkeling under the cabanas, some neat stuff
Spent the day relaxing. Amazing...
Our attendant, Jantee, was awesome, and kept the Labadoozies and Pina Colada’s flowing! Definitely made use of our drink package today!
Sailaway from our balcony

Dinner was in the MDR tonight
Tonight’s headliner was a Journey tribute band, they were...interesting

Thats all for now. See you later!

Day 2,at sea, continues...
We hit up the MDR for lunch, and decided to do the salad bar/buffet. It was incredible! We will definitely be doing this again! It was so good in fact, that I forgot to take any pictures!
We then went and got changed, and headed out to the pool deck. It was pretty busy when we got there, but we found my cousins, sat down, and people watched while enjoying some drinks from the Lime and Coconut. 
We enjoyed some time outside, and went down both water slides several times. I think I enjoy the mat racer most, but my wife and I did the tube together, and that was quite fun as well. The lines weren’t too bad at all, and they kept the turnover moving pretty well. 
Tonight we are eating at Hooked, but with a dining time of 8:30, we had some time to wander the ship. We grabbed some espresso from Cafe Promenade, and noticed it was now Seattles Best, must have been a change from Illy during the revamp
We found the stowaway piano player just outside the Windjammer!
Stopped by the Bamboo room and grabbed a drink. I got the Banana Colada, and it was awesome!
Ventured outside and caught an amazing sunset. Sunsets at sea are like no other!
We still had some time before dinner, so we went down to Cafe Promenade again, and I grabbed a vanilla smoothie, stopped by Playmakers and got a Rum Punch, and combined the two. Total win! I will be doing this again. 
It was then time for dinner, so we made our way down to Hooked. Our waiter there was great and took care of us well. I opted for the Messy Fish Sandwich, and it did not disappoint! My wife got the Turf and Turf and enjoyed it very much as well
We were wanting to make it to the show, so our waiter offered to give us dessert to go, which was awesome! I got the bread pudding, it was incredible. 
Now off to the show, “Showgirl!”, it was a lot of fun, and quite talented people up on stage!
We got back to our room and had a nice fruit plate waiting for us
As well as another letter with information on our priority debarkation process for the coming ports
Tomorrow is Labadee!!

It’s amazing, that’s what it is! I will swing by there today and take a better picture of the menu

I knew you would chime in and ask that! ?

Day 8 - at sea
Today was our first of two sea days headed back to Miami, and it was wonderful! 
I got up early and took my laptop down to the promenade about 7:30 to get some stuff done, it was wonderfully quiet down there, and I grabbed some fruit from the Cafe. 
A little later in the morning, they had a Bloody Mary bar set up on the promenade 

There was a “flash sale” on accessories, and it got pretty busy

I stopped in one of the shops, and noticed that the ship models have already bred updated with the new slides and such, but a lot of the picture related items have not

While wandering  around, we came across the Stowaway Piano Player. This guy is awesome 

We went to a Q&A with the singer/dancer/ice skaters that was quite interesting. Did you know that the singers and dancers will help out backstage with costume changes etc. at the ice show, and the other way around? They also run spot lights for each other’s shows

Tonight was formal night, we went to the main dining room 

With celebrations of the the 50th anniversary for Royal, the had birthday cakes

Tonight’s headliner show was a Whitney Houston tribute, she was great! She was backed with all live music from the house band, they are incredible. 

After catching the late show, we wandered around the ship more, made a stop at the R Bar and got a red velvet, wow!
After playing some late night (early morning) mini golf, we decided to call it a day. Last full day tomorrow!

Day 8 - at sea
Today was our first of two sea days headed back to Miami, and it was wonderful! 
I got up early and took my laptop down to the promenade about 7:30 to get some stuff done, it was wonderfully quiet down there, and I grabbed some fruit from the Cafe. 
A little later in the morning, they had a Bloody Mary bar set up on the promenade 

There was a “flash sale” on accessories, and it got pretty busy

I stopped in one of the shops, and noticed that the ship models have already bred updated with the new slides and such, but a lot of the picture related items have not

While wandering  around, we came across the Stowaway Piano Player. This guy is awesome 

We went to a Q&A with the singer/dancer/ice skaters that was quite interesting. Did you know that the singers and dancers will help out backstage with costume changes etc. at the ice show, and the other way around? They also run spot lights for each other’s shows

Tonight was formal night, we went to the main dining room 

With celebrations of the the 50th anniversary for Royal, the had birthday cakes

Tonight’s headliner show was a Whitney Houston tribute, she was great! She was backed with all live music from the house band, they are incredible. 

After catching the late show, we wandered around the ship more, made a stop at the R Bar and got a red velvet, wow!
After playing some late night (early morning) mini golf, we decided to call it a day. Last full day tomorrow!

Day 8 - at sea
Today was our first of two sea days headed back to Miami, and it was wonderful! 
I got up early and took my laptop down to the promenade about 7:30 to get some stuff done, it was wonderfully quiet down there, and I grabbed some fruit from the Cafe. 
A little later in the morning, they had a Bloody Mary bar set up on the promenade 

There was a “flash sale” on accessories, and it got pretty busy

I stopped in one of the shops, and noticed that the ship models have already bred updated with the new slides and such, but a lot of the picture related items have not

While wandering  around, we came across the Stowaway Piano Player. This guy is awesome 

We went to a Q&A with the singer/dancer/ice skaters that was quite interesting. Did you know that the singers and dancers will help out backstage with costume changes etc. at the ice show, and the other way around? They also run spot lights for each other’s shows

Tonight was formal night, we went to the main dining room 

With celebrations of the the 50th anniversary for Royal, the had birthday cakes

Tonight’s headliner show was a Whitney Houston tribute, she was great! She was backed with all live music from the house band, they are incredible. 

After catching the late show, we wandered around the ship more, made a stop at the R Bar and got a red velvet, wow!
After playing some late night (early morning) mini golf, we decided to call it a day. Last full day tomorrow!

Day 7 -Aruba
This is our last port stop on this trip, and maybe the one we were most looking forward to, because of the excursion we had booked.

The ship docked about 7am and the gangways were down and open before 8. Our tour was picking us up just outside the port at 8:45, so we had a little time to grab a quick bit at the windjammer.
Today's tour was a Harley ride, touring the island. We have done this kind of thing in Hawaii before, and have always said there is no better way to see the island. Today did not disappoint.

We took off from the shop about 9:30am and the weather was perfect for riding, not so much for pictures though. Overcast for the most part

Saw some beautiful sights along the way

The last stop before heading back to the shop was Baby Beach. There is a new adults only bar/lounge/pool that just opened about 3 months ago that our guide took us to

The tour lasted almost 5 hours, and it was incredible!

After returning to the shop, they gave us a ride back to the port. We had gotten a recommendation from our guide about a place to eat, and we were hungry, so we walked there, about a 15 minute walk to a little place called El Gaucho. Incredible steak and fish!
We spent some time walking around the shops, then headed back to the ship. All aboard is 6pm, and we were back on about 5.
Dinner in the windjammer tonight was Indian theme, I didn't care for much of it, so I hit the Kids Corner for a burger and fries, perfect!
We went to the main show at 10pm tonight, it was a ballroom dancing show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, it was a lot of fun!

As soon as the show let out, it was time for the 80's party on the Promenade. The people watching during and after did not disappoint! 

The cruise compass for tomorrow shows the drink card as coming available!

That's about all for today. The next two days are sea days as we make our way back to Miami...
 

Day 7 -Aruba
This is our last port stop on this trip, and maybe the one we were most looking forward to, because of the excursion we had booked.

The ship docked about 7am and the gangways were down and open before 8. Our tour was picking us up just outside the port at 8:45, so we had a little time to grab a quick bit at the windjammer.
Today's tour was a Harley ride, touring the island. We have done this kind of thing in Hawaii before, and have always said there is no better way to see the island. Today did not disappoint.

We took off from the shop about 9:30am and the weather was perfect for riding, not so much for pictures though. Overcast for the most part

Saw some beautiful sights along the way

The last stop before heading back to the shop was Baby Beach. There is a new adults only bar/lounge/pool that just opened about 3 months ago that our guide took us to

The tour lasted almost 5 hours, and it was incredible!

After returning to the shop, they gave us a ride back to the port. We had gotten a recommendation from our guide about a place to eat, and we were hungry, so we walked there, about a 15 minute walk to a little place called El Gaucho. Incredible steak and fish!
We spent some time walking around the shops, then headed back to the ship. All aboard is 6pm, and we were back on about 5.
Dinner in the windjammer tonight was Indian theme, I didn't care for much of it, so I hit the Kids Corner for a burger and fries, perfect!
We went to the main show at 10pm tonight, it was a ballroom dancing show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, it was a lot of fun!

As soon as the show let out, it was time for the 80's party on the Promenade. The people watching during and after did not disappoint! 

The cruise compass for tomorrow shows the drink card as coming available!

That's about all for today. The next two days are sea days as we make our way back to Miami...
 

Day 7 -Aruba
This is our last port stop on this trip, and maybe the one we were most looking forward to, because of the excursion we had booked.

The ship docked about 7am and the gangways were down and open before 8. Our tour was picking us up just outside the port at 8:45, so we had a little time to grab a quick bit at the windjammer.
Today's tour was a Harley ride, touring the island. We have done this kind of thing in Hawaii before, and have always said there is no better way to see the island. Today did not disappoint.

We took off from the shop about 9:30am and the weather was perfect for riding, not so much for pictures though. Overcast for the most part

Saw some beautiful sights along the way

The last stop before heading back to the shop was Baby Beach. There is a new adults only bar/lounge/pool that just opened about 3 months ago that our guide took us to

The tour lasted almost 5 hours, and it was incredible!

After returning to the shop, they gave us a ride back to the port. We had gotten a recommendation from our guide about a place to eat, and we were hungry, so we walked there, about a 15 minute walk to a little place called El Gaucho. Incredible steak and fish!
We spent some time walking around the shops, then headed back to the ship. All aboard is 6pm, and we were back on about 5.
Dinner in the windjammer tonight was Indian theme, I didn't care for much of it, so I hit the Kids Corner for a burger and fries, perfect!
We went to the main show at 10pm tonight, it was a ballroom dancing show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, it was a lot of fun!

As soon as the show let out, it was time for the 80's party on the Promenade. The people watching during and after did not disappoint! 

The cruise compass for tomorrow shows the drink card as coming available!

That's about all for today. The next two days are sea days as we make our way back to Miami...
 

We are on Navigator right now, our first cruise. We get back to Miami on Sunday, and I am planning on just getting an Uber or Lyft when we have all our bags and are ready to go

Day 7 -Aruba
This is our last port stop on this trip, and maybe the one we were most looking forward to, because of the excursion we had booked.

The ship docked about 7am and the gangways were down and open before 8. Our tour was picking us up just outside the port at 8:45, so we had a little time to grab a quick bit at the windjammer.
Today's tour was a Harley ride, touring the island. We have done this kind of thing in Hawaii before, and have always said there is no better way to see the island. Today did not disappoint.

We took off from the shop about 9:30am and the weather was perfect for riding, not so much for pictures though. Overcast for the most part

Saw some beautiful sights along the way

The last stop before heading back to the shop was Baby Beach. There is a new adults only bar/lounge/pool that just opened about 3 months ago that our guide took us to

The tour lasted almost 5 hours, and it was incredible!

After returning to the shop, they gave us a ride back to the port. We had gotten a recommendation from our guide about a place to eat, and we were hungry, so we walked there, about a 15 minute walk to a little place called El Gaucho. Incredible steak and fish!
We spent some time walking around the shops, then headed back to the ship. All aboard is 6pm, and we were back on about 5.
Dinner in the windjammer tonight was Indian theme, I didn't care for much of it, so I hit the Kids Corner for a burger and fries, perfect!
We went to the main show at 10pm tonight, it was a ballroom dancing show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, it was a lot of fun!

As soon as the show let out, it was time for the 80's party on the Promenade. The people watching during and after did not disappoint! 

The cruise compass for tomorrow shows the drink card as coming available!

That's about all for today. The next two days are sea days as we make our way back to Miami...
 

Day 6, Curaçao. 
Today we visit the island of Curaçao, the weather is in and out overcast, but still plenty warm. We docked about 7:30am and the gangway was down about 8am. We are sharing the port with a Celebrity ship today
We had ordered room service for delivery between 7:30-8, but by 8:05 they hadn’t shown up and we were ready to get going, so we ran up to the Windjammer for a quick bite before heading out. 
We booked at ATV off road tour for today, and they met us out front of the port to take us to their shop. They had a van, and several 6-seat buggy’s to transfer everyone. There were a lot of people that were booked! We were directed to a buggy with Lorenzo as our guide, and he drove the 20-minute ride to the shop. 
We got a good view of the ships from the bridge
Once we got to the shop, everyone went to fill out paper work and pay the money after that was done, we grouped up into our different groups for the tours. Our group was originally supposed to have 8 people on it, but 4 backed out, so it was just us and another couple from the Celebrity ship, nice small personal tour!
Our guide was awesome, so happy and loves what he does! Took us to a spot where we climbed up and through some lava caves and came out up on top with and awesome view

Then to the “cave of doom” were we found some beautiful pink rocks in this little cave
He took us to the only sand beach on the north side of the island. It’s not a tourist spot, and we had the beach to ourselves for a bit till another couple came in. Did some swimming for a little bit before heading back
When we were maybe a mile away from the shop, the drive belt blew on our machine, and left us dead. Luckily he had a tow rope (which he hadn’t had to use yet) and was able to tow us the rest of the way to the shop
It was an awesome tour, and would do it again in a heart beat!
We headed back to the ship to shower and change (we were quite dirty from all the dust) then grabbed a lava flow from the Lime and Coconut and some El Loco Fresh for lunch
Then we ventured in to town for some exploring and shopping. All the colors here are incredible!
Went across the pontoon bridge
We decided to come back to the ship for dinner in the MDR. On the app, the menu stated there would be buttermilk fried chicken, but it was a completely different menu when we got there. (This isn’t the first thing that the app has been different than what actually happens. They still have some work to do) I decided on the Chicken Parmigiana and my wife had her staple, a steak
The service in the MDR was the best we have had thus far, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Our waiter was super attentive and on the ball 
We decided to hit the theater for the headliner act, a ventriloquist/comedian. He was ok, good enough that we didn’t leave, but don’t feel the need to see him again. During the show he was interrupted by an announcement for ‘alpha, alpha, alpha’, I feel bad for that person. 
 
After the show, we went to the helipad to check out the night time view
Went and spent some time in the Schooner Bar listening to the great live music. It’s been the same guy every night, and he is super talented. 
Came back to the room to find it ready for bed, complete with a towel elephant 
Tomorrow is our last port day, at Aruba, then two sea days back to Miami