CruisinUngs

Day 12 - Sea Day Continued
After getting Virginia from Adventure Ocean, we just decided to go to Windjammer for dinner.  There was turkey on the menu, along with plenty of desserts and sides.  Everything was ok, but it was pretty relaxing for once because there weren't many people in the Windjammer.  After dinner, V went back to AO, and Abby and I went to pack.  Then we headed to the Centrum for the parade of flags, which is always one of my favorite things.  Then it was to bed early so we could be up early the next morning for dreaded disembarkation.
Day 13 - The final day
We awoke pretty early, at around 6:00, as the ship had been quite the rollercoaster all night.  Nothing too extreme, but a constant barrage of waves coming from the east, and we were heading north.  I got ready and headed to the shops on deck 6 to pick up our liquor from Nassau, and then threw it into the one suitcase we left in the room.  It was off to Chops for breakfast, and to meet the concierge for our express exit from the ship.  
The port had the same number of customs lanes open for Enchantment as they did for Oasis, but obviously it went much quicker with Enchantment.  We were off the ship, with our bags, by 8:30.  Then we had to wait on our pre-booked shuttle to the airport.  
We got to MCO by 10:45, checked in with SWA, and then grabbed a snack before heading through security.  The line was very short for PreCheck, and we were through in about 2 minutes.  We like to eat at Cask and Larder in the SWA portion of the terminal, so we grabbed a late lunch there before boarding.  
The flight was mostly uneventful, with some turbulence throughout.  It got a little harry close to landing.  We were probably 200 ft off the deck on approach when the pilot baled out and circled again.  There was some pretty strong rain coming down, and they had detected a wind shear.  I don't mind flying, but landings are always an anxious time for me.  Adding rain, wind, and turbulence to that really amped up the anxiety.  Virginia also picked this time to start fussing about wanting to be home.  
Finally we landed safely, and V decided that was the perfect time to fall asleep.... Bags all showed up with no issue.  The first Uber we booked cancelled on us, and then I saw him pick up another ride... Got a rescheduled Uber and headed home.  Pizza was ordered on the ride home, and arrived shortly after us.  Then it was time to check out in front of the TV for a while, and put off unpacking until the next day.  
 
Final Thoughts
- This was almost too much for us.  I think we'd have been ok with back to backs on the same ship, but having to pack, unpack, launder, and repack in the middle for the changing of ships took it out of us.  
- We didn't do any trivia or anything on Oasis, but when we wanted something to do on Enchantment, they didn't have anything scheduled.  The last sea day was pretty sparse with activities, which was kind of a let down.
- The noise bleed in our room on Enchantment was really bad, especially being in a Grand Suite, from both above and next door.  
- Chops is better on Enchantment, so was the Windjammer.  Overall though, the variety of specialty restaurants on Oasis was great.  
- If we are cruising with Virginia, I think we will have to be Voyager or Freedom class and above only.  She loved Adventure Ocean on Enchantment, but I think if we were on her for another day or two, she would have gotten tired of it.
- We are really looking forward to Anthem for 9 nights, to experience another new ship, as well as new ports and a new embarkation port.
Thank you all for following along.  Hope you all enjoyed.

Woohoo Red Velvet Cake!!

No extra charge for milkshake on Anthem OTS.

On anthem now and we just asked at Johnny Rockets and they said free with deluxe or refreshment but of course not soda.   So we got a couple.  Pretty good.  
My complaint is everything breaking on ship.  Bionic bar been down most of week.  They got one working but when it shakes the drink it throws liquid everywhere and people get wet with alcohol.   I asked and they said they have to bring in mechanic.  
Also I am used to room attendants learning your name and making towel animals all the time.   We have one animal and one other night he repaired the one from a few nights ago.  So I guess you can say 1.5 towel animals.   We saw him once or twice and only when we were in room when he came to clean. 
 

I normally try to eat healthy, but today I’m having this ... ... because I’m going on the Liamuiga Volcano Hike today... and it’s my birthday.
 

Bots make jokes, I like it. 
Thanks!

I’m also seeing $49.99 in my Cruise Planner for Anthem in October. That really stinks, IMO. Anthem’s Izumi has no hibachi option, and so many here have commented how the old $35 a la carte credit was more than enough to walk away feeling stuffed. I’m just having a hard time finding a rationale for this outside of either crowd control or (the cynic in me says more likely) a money grab.
One other thing that bothers me: Does this mean that lunch at Izumi is going away? There’s no option for Izumi lunch in the Cruise Planner like they offer for Chops and Jamie’s / Giovanni’s. I hope that’s nothing and it just means that there will still be an a la carte lunch option on sea days.

This day turned out to be “Contests Day” for me. Here is a recap of how I did:
Disney Trivia - 10/15
General Information Trivia - 6/15
Theme Music Trivia - 6/15
Telephone Pictionary - 2nd Place (Two Team Contest)
Bottom Line: I did not win any contest, but I had tons of fun. (Which is what counts, right?)

Not on 3 night cruises ? 
It isn't always listed.  Neither are BOGO or FNDR.  Like many things Royal seems to make them available for certain sailings but not others.  
The general verbiage for dining packages mentions 3,4 & 5 night.

Seeing this as well for my cruise this Sunday on Anthem. Was going to post and voila I saw this. I wonder if this means for dining packages it’s unlimited instead of up to $35.

For my Grandeur Christmas/NY cruise the deluxe drink package is down to $45 PP/PD. Previously the lowest I had seen is was $49 but most recently it had been going for $51.  I am seriously concerned that we will never be able to keep up the pace we would need for 12 days to make that package attractive, even at $45.  The gun remains cocked but no trigger pull yet.
I did, however, pull the trigger when I saw that they have FINALLY offered a dining package for this cruise !  I have had this cruise booked for the better part of 2 years and today was the first time they have offered any dining package.  They are offering a 3 day package and an Ultimate package.  I purchased the UDP for us at $288 PP which I think is an excellent value for a 12 night cruise, 6 of which are sea days (meaning there will be other dinner and lunch offered) AND which includes Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day.  The wording on the website specifically states that there are no exclusions for the dining pkgs so it looks like they will be good on all of the holidays.
My guess is that neither the drinks pkg nor the obscenely expensive holiday special events were selling well and they relented and offered the dining packages.  I can tell you that, with the exception of Izumi, the specialty restaurants here on NAV this week have been ghost towns since they offered no dining pkgs on this Thanksgiving Cruise.  Maybe Royal is rethinking the strategy of not offering pkgs on holiday cruises.  Let’s hope so.

Day 9 - Part 2
After a long day, we decided to take advantage of the complimentary room service, as well as being able to order from the MDR menu.  
Food was ok.  Part of it was due to coming from room service, the other was a little lack of flavor.  I didn't get butter or sour cream with my potato.  I guess that's my fault for not ordering it.  
The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, as we are all starting to get a little vacay'd out...  2 weeks seemed like a good idea before hand...

Pictionary Telephone at Schooner Bar
This relay game involves alternately drawing and describing a word/phrase down the line. I was 4th in line and I got it—“Silence of the Lambs”.
But you know how these games go... the lambs were mistaken as horses and our final team answer was “Race Track, Pick a Winner”

Disney Trivia at Schooner Bar

Got 12 out of 20 questions... lost to winner who got 18.

Paper Plane Making Contest at the Centrum

Got a keychain

Sushi Making Class at Izumi

Glad to have met @bcarney at the class.

The price of mine dropped too from $62usd to $55usd which is what we were advised it would cost in the first place when we books the cruise. When I very first signed into CP it was $69usd. So I don’t know what’s going on there...

Harmony dec 2-9 refreshment package is $15/day deluxe $45/day 

I just got the Refreshment Package for 5/12/19 sailing on Allure for $17/day ?

I wouldn't expect Royal to get anything with the word "cyber" in it correct anyways ?

The moment in which you caught that guy is perfection. He looks so guilty like he’ll get caught eating the good food. Lol

LOL at the Carnival officer sneaking on our ship for a bite to eat.

Thanks for letting us know who didn’t know. ?

@Expressman I was the same way, always begrudgingly stopped for photos on the formal nights, we were dressed up why not. Now we are Diamond and we get 1-2 free 8x10's on every cruise, so now I stop whenever we can because I don't want a free bad picture, which I usually take. At least this way she can pick the best bad picture of me, lol. 
 

Day 2 Lunch at Izumi