Thetechie

First shower on a cruise ship... check!
It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but a little background.. Our vacations (at least up to this point) have been primarily in our travel trailer, so the room/bathroom here is a fair amount bigger than our travel trailer, which I am used to, so we feel like we have plenty of room!
It’s a beautiful day as we make our way to Labadee. We can see Cuba off in the distance 
 

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Started off this morning with a couple of fruit plates and a bowl of oatmeal with the complimentary room service.
After we got ready, we headed up to the windjammer to grab some fresh made omelettes, awesome view out the aft of the ship while eating!
There was a dance/workout class happening on the Promenade that was entertaining 
Finally got the info for The Key program. Took three trips to Guest Services, and the people there didnt really know anything about it, couldn’t tell me any of the specific times for activities or anything. I’m not upset, I just wish I could help them with their documentation and processes!
Getting ready to head to the MDR for lunch now. More later!

Started off this morning with a couple of fruit plates and a bowl of oatmeal with the complimentary room service.
After we got ready, we headed up to the windjammer to grab some fresh made omelettes, awesome view out the aft of the ship while eating!
There was a dance/workout class happening on the Promenade that was entertaining 
Finally got the info for The Key program. Took three trips to Guest Services, and the people there didnt really know anything about it, couldn’t tell me any of the specific times for activities or anything. I’m not upset, I just wish I could help them with their documentation and processes!
Getting ready to head to the MDR for lunch now. More later!

Also, VOOM seems to be working OK for now..

Started off this morning with a couple of fruit plates and a bowl of oatmeal with the complimentary room service.
After we got ready, we headed up to the windjammer to grab some fresh made omelettes, awesome view out the aft of the ship while eating!
There was a dance/workout class happening on the Promenade that was entertaining 
Finally got the info for The Key program. Took three trips to Guest Services, and the people there didnt really know anything about it, couldn’t tell me any of the specific times for activities or anything. I’m not upset, I just wish I could help them with their documentation and processes!
Getting ready to head to the MDR for lunch now. More later!

First shower on a cruise ship... check!
It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but a little background.. Our vacations (at least up to this point) have been primarily in our travel trailer, so the room/bathroom here is a fair amount bigger than our travel trailer, which I am used to, so we feel like we have plenty of room!
It’s a beautiful day as we make our way to Labadee. We can see Cuba off in the distance 
 

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Started off this morning with a couple of fruit plates and a bowl of oatmeal with the complimentary room service.
After we got ready, we headed up to the windjammer to grab some fresh made omelettes, awesome view out the aft of the ship while eating!
There was a dance/workout class happening on the Promenade that was entertaining 
Finally got the info for The Key program. Took three trips to Guest Services, and the people there didnt really know anything about it, couldn’t tell me any of the specific times for activities or anything. I’m not upset, I just wish I could help them with their documentation and processes!
Getting ready to head to the MDR for lunch now. More later!

First shower on a cruise ship... check!
It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but a little background.. Our vacations (at least up to this point) have been primarily in our travel trailer, so the room/bathroom here is a fair amount bigger than our travel trailer, which I am used to, so we feel like we have plenty of room!
It’s a beautiful day as we make our way to Labadee. We can see Cuba off in the distance 
 

First shower on a cruise ship... check!
It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but a little background.. Our vacations (at least up to this point) have been primarily in our travel trailer, so the room/bathroom here is a fair amount bigger than our travel trailer, which I am used to, so we feel like we have plenty of room!
It’s a beautiful day as we make our way to Labadee. We can see Cuba off in the distance 
 

First shower on a cruise ship... check!
It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but a little background.. Our vacations (at least up to this point) have been primarily in our travel trailer, so the room/bathroom here is a fair amount bigger than our travel trailer, which I am used to, so we feel like we have plenty of room!
It’s a beautiful day as we make our way to Labadee. We can see Cuba off in the distance 
 

Hello all! First off, after @twangster's epic blog on this same itinerary just last week, I'm not sure how I can live up, but I'm sure we will have some different experiences  and I'm happy to share ours!
Lets get started....
This will be our first ever cruise, always wanted to do it, and finally making it happen! We are celebrating our 10-year anniversary and will be sailing with my Cousin and his wife, also celebrating their 10-year. This will also be our first trip without the kids (5,3, and 1) so we are a little nervous, but still super looking forward to it!
We are flying into Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. We are coming from Seattle, WA, so its a bit of a flight with a layover, so we wanted to make sure we give ourselves plenty of time before the cruise. We will be staying in Miami Beach at The Confidant hotel for the two nights prior to the cruise.
We have a balcony stateroom on Deck 9, mid ship. We considered just doing an interior room, but decided to splurge a little bit and I think its going to be great!
We did purchase The Key for this sailing, as well as a BOGO dining and the Deluxe Beverage Package, shaping up to be a good time!
We have several things planned and booked at our ports, you'll have to check back to see what happens!
I'll try to post pictures and update as much as time and VOOM allows me to. If you have any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them!

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Also, VOOM seems to be working OK for now..

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 
We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. 
We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 
We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!
We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. 
We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.
After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. 
Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 
 
While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!
Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 
We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!
Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!

Yesterday was a long day, and didn’t have time to sit down after we finally got to the hotel, so here goes..
Because of the recent grounding of the 737-MAX planes, we were a little delayed leaving Seattle, luckily we had a couple hour layover in Dallas, so we weren’t worried about missing that connecting flight. 
I am not a small guy (6’3”) and always hate flying because of the cramped spaces.. But! I totally scored on BOTH legs of this flight and got this awesome exit row seat!
We landed in Ft Lauderdale about 11:45pm and got off the plane and grabbed our bags. Being the celebration of our anniversary, I decided to splurge for the ride down to Miami Beach
We booked a room at The Confidant, on the beach. It’s a nice room with direct beach access and loungers to use 

 
We are spending today checking out Miami Beach. Just a little different from what we are used to! Tomorrow is cruise day!!

Yesterday was a long day, and didn’t have time to sit down after we finally got to the hotel, so here goes..
Because of the recent grounding of the 737-MAX planes, we were a little delayed leaving Seattle, luckily we had a couple hour layover in Dallas, so we weren’t worried about missing that connecting flight. 
I am not a small guy (6’3”) and always hate flying because of the cramped spaces.. But! I totally scored on BOTH legs of this flight and got this awesome exit row seat!
We landed in Ft Lauderdale about 11:45pm and got off the plane and grabbed our bags. Being the celebration of our anniversary, I decided to splurge for the ride down to Miami Beach
We booked a room at The Confidant, on the beach. It’s a nice room with direct beach access and loungers to use 

 
We are spending today checking out Miami Beach. Just a little different from what we are used to! Tomorrow is cruise day!!

Yesterday was a long day, and didn’t have time to sit down after we finally got to the hotel, so here goes..
Because of the recent grounding of the 737-MAX planes, we were a little delayed leaving Seattle, luckily we had a couple hour layover in Dallas, so we weren’t worried about missing that connecting flight. 
I am not a small guy (6’3”) and always hate flying because of the cramped spaces.. But! I totally scored on BOTH legs of this flight and got this awesome exit row seat!
We landed in Ft Lauderdale about 11:45pm and got off the plane and grabbed our bags. Being the celebration of our anniversary, I decided to splurge for the ride down to Miami Beach
We booked a room at The Confidant, on the beach. It’s a nice room with direct beach access and loungers to use 

 
We are spending today checking out Miami Beach. Just a little different from what we are used to! Tomorrow is cruise day!!

Yesterday was a long day, and didn’t have time to sit down after we finally got to the hotel, so here goes..
Because of the recent grounding of the 737-MAX planes, we were a little delayed leaving Seattle, luckily we had a couple hour layover in Dallas, so we weren’t worried about missing that connecting flight. 
I am not a small guy (6’3”) and always hate flying because of the cramped spaces.. But! I totally scored on BOTH legs of this flight and got this awesome exit row seat!
We landed in Ft Lauderdale about 11:45pm and got off the plane and grabbed our bags. Being the celebration of our anniversary, I decided to splurge for the ride down to Miami Beach
We booked a room at The Confidant, on the beach. It’s a nice room with direct beach access and loungers to use 

 
We are spending today checking out Miami Beach. Just a little different from what we are used to! Tomorrow is cruise day!!

Yesterday was a long day, and didn’t have time to sit down after we finally got to the hotel, so here goes..
Because of the recent grounding of the 737-MAX planes, we were a little delayed leaving Seattle, luckily we had a couple hour layover in Dallas, so we weren’t worried about missing that connecting flight. 
I am not a small guy (6’3”) and always hate flying because of the cramped spaces.. But! I totally scored on BOTH legs of this flight and got this awesome exit row seat!
We landed in Ft Lauderdale about 11:45pm and got off the plane and grabbed our bags. Being the celebration of our anniversary, I decided to splurge for the ride down to Miami Beach
We booked a room at The Confidant, on the beach. It’s a nice room with direct beach access and loungers to use 

 
We are spending today checking out Miami Beach. Just a little different from what we are used to! Tomorrow is cruise day!!

Best seat on the plane!