CruisinUngs

Cruise Day:
All 6 of us are onboard.  Left the hotel at 10 and they were boarding at 11:30.  We were the first on the ship!  A quick photo drop.
Suite area pier 18
i don’t remember seeing umbrellas in splash away bay.  
Handwashing stations in windjammer
skypad fun. I’ll describe later. 
JS toiletries

Trying to distract myself as both of my teams lose their football games today, catching up on some blog reading.  Came upon a Matt mention from EastSleepCruise! 

https://eatsleepcruise.com/2018/11/why-we-are-excited-to-sail-on-symphony-of-the-seas/ 
Hope they enjoy hanging out with our awesome RC Blog folks this week! 

It was the whole ship. We were in the theater, so we thought it was just time to start the show. Lights out for maybe 1 minute in there. The. The captain came on the PA about 5 minutes later to talk about what happened and say that there were no other ships near us. 

Day 13 - Disembarkation ?



Time to say goodbye - unfortunately. After our last breakfast at Park Cafe we waited in the Theater until our number was called. At least disembarkation was a breeze - no immigration, no costums, we just walked off. Wish I could say the same about getting to the car rental station. While the new terminal looks beautiful, they apparently didn't think traffic through. Bus and shuttle have serious problems turning and have to reverse out of the berths - this takes time and only worsens the chaos. Additionally, there are no lines for the bus - it's survival of the fittest. Took us 1.5 hours to get on a bus, but getting our car took 5 minutes once we arrived at the rental station. The day was spent shopping at the Disney store and Walmart. When it was time for checkin, we went to our Hotel - Sense Beach House in South Beach. It's a nice little hotel on a quiet block of Ocean Drive.


As promised, we went to South Pointe Park for Symphony's sailaway. We also got to watch Mariner's sailaway and the fireworks for Symphony. Sad to see her go, but we'll be back with Oasis 5 ?




















A little stroll around South Beach:







For those who made it that far: thanks for following along, I really enjoyed blogging for you. I'll do our final verdict (and a little comparison to Princess) later, probably when I'm home.

What an epic trip. Can’t wait to follow along. I’m hoping your wife takes to the water by the end!

Day 12:
The last full day of this cruise and only our second port of call – Cape Canaveral. As we booked the Kennedy Space Center Guided Tour, we had an early breakfast at Park Cafe. Meeting for the excursion was in the Royal Theater at 8 am. As we’d arrived early, we were already in line to get off the ship at 7.50 am. Unfortunately, this didn’t help much. Immigration in Port Canaveral was mayhem for non-US citizens. We stood in line for 2.5 hours, shortening our 8h tour to 5.5 hours. This was our first major gripe with Royal. While they can’t speed up the immigration process, their organisation was truly disappointing. They sold way too many full day tours resulting in thousands of people trying to get through immigration at the same time. And instead of reserving the first hours for full day tours, they also let half day tours and passengers without any tours off the ship at the same time. Never seen such a bad organisation and we’ve already done immigration in Russia.
 
On the bright side: our tour guide Doug did everything he could to show us as many things possible within the shortened time frame. I’m sure we’d have enjoyed KSC more hadn’t we been so tired from standing in line for hours – maybe we’ll just try another time. At least we saw some alligators on the way back to the ship ☺️













We were finally back onboard at 4.22 pm (all aboard 4.30 pm), so our first stop was the pool bar for some much needed alcoholic drinks. We managed to get first row seats in the Solarium for sail away. Symphony’s arrival in the US generated quite some interest, we had 2 helicopters documenting sailaway and hundreds of people watching. Guess Carnival Liberty never had a bigger audience ?
 







Before dinner we finished packing, then we went to Solarium Bistro. I have to agree with Twangster here, it’s a pity we only did this on the last day. Well, as we were able to share, we had a significant advantage: we managed to try everything we wanted! We tried Greek Salad, Ceviche, Tomato & Bocconcini, Tzatziki & Pita Bread, Seafood Soup, Stuffed Zucchini, Greek-style Roasted Potatoes, All-natural Grass-fed Skirt Steak with Horseradish, Chicken Kebab, Lemon Pepper Roasted Chicken, Kofta, Moussaka, Grilled Salmon, Fresh Mussels, Grilled Shrimp, Chocolate Nocciola, Loukoumades, Torta de Mele, Tarte Tropezienne, Panna Cotta à la Romana, Galaktoboureko. I wouldn’t recommend the Chicken Kebab but everything else was really good.



Feeling completely full we changed clothes and headed to the pool for some laps and just relaxing in the hot tubs. We fled when it started raining – yes I know we were already wet, but our cover up clothes weren’t ? The evening ended with some final drinks at – you guessed it – Playmakers.



Side notes:
15k steps
Nearly forgot to pick up our pictures – fortunately it suddenly dawned on hubby before they closed the foto shop.
We’re missing Symphony soooooo much ?

Firstly let me thank all on this site for the knowledge they have shared, being a new cruiser i didnt know what to expect but the information and friendliness shared on this site has made me less worried about things.
For me this upcoming cruise has been a long time coming, in fact over 20 years, it's a bucket list item that i thought i would never be able to tick off! I have dragged my wife to some strange cities and countries around the world, be it on vacation or for work but one thing i could never do was get her to go on a cruise due to her dislike ( thats an understatement ) of water. However this year as this trip is for my 50th birthday she had to relent ? hopefully this cruise is the first of many!
We fly British Airways (BA)from a very cold and wet North East of Scotland on Thursday, heading to New York via Heathrow with a 7hr layover in JFK before boarding our Delta flight down to Peurto Rico for a 2 day stay before our cruise. I booked both of these flights as soon as i was able to (11 months out) and i have watched prices daily, BA has never dropped, Delta i could have saved a little ($100) if i waited one month. Since then prices have risen so it was a good idea to ignore my wifes advice to wait until 2 or 3 months out.
The hotel of choice having read good reports on it was the Sheraton in Old San Juan, right opposite the cruise port or so i thought! Thanks to info on here i found out that RC leave from another terminal, that along with the fact my wife saw a photo of a hotel with a beach with hammocks on it where we could just chill on our first day sipping cocktails  after a long flight, i decided a change was needed, booked the Courtyard by Marriot Isla Verde ( yes the one with hammocks) as soon as dates appeared available and since then i was watched the prices rocket, so again good idea to book as soon as you can.
The cruise itself was booked through a UK travel agent, i didnt have a clue which one to use but noticed one was giving you a price match, $100 OBC and free drinks package and 6 bottles of red wine if you booked through them, the wine was the deciding factor and i must admit they tasted nice. Room is an oceanview on deck 9, i wanted a balcony but had to compromise as my wife wasn't keen on a balcony on first cruise.
For UK cruisers i used trivago to look for best deal on hotel, skyscanner for flights and just searched for best deal on cruise, i then went onto  TOP CASHBACK and used that as a link to BA, Booking.com and company for insurance and have ended up with a £200 payback which is extra money to spend on holiday
ONBOARD
Voom purchased for my wife using OBC so she can keep in touch with family back home
As i got drinks package FOC, theres no point adding up bar bill to see if i break even, also the fact as im scottish the batterey would probably run out an calculator from over use??
Schedule 
Thursday 22nd Aberdeen to Newyork 
Friday 23rd New York to Peurto Rico : 2 night stay
CRUISE ITERNERARY
BASSETERRE, ST KITTS & NEVIS 
ST. JOHNS, ANTIGUA 
CASTRIES, ST. LUCIA 
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS 
PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN
Back to San Juan
SJU TO JFK
As we just like to wing it and decide what we want to do when we wake up or sober up lol, the only things we have planned are Bernards tours in St Maarten and Atlantis Submarine in Barbados ( another bucket list item so i had to bribe my wife for this one) 
After the cruise we head back to the big apple and heres where the bribery kicks in, a 2 night stay in the Grand Hyatt in NYC taking in the xmas lights etc, ice skating in Bryant Park even though i've never skated in my life( just as well i have idiots abroad travel insurance)  some Xmas shopping at Jersey gardens, however my wife wants to visit Tiffany's for her present ? and just when i thought everything was done and i could relax without having to spend anymore more money, John Legend announces a tour where his only New York date corresponds with our time there and knowing full well what my wifes reaction would be if we get there and she see's advertisements for his concert, its easier for me to have a quiet life if i just open my wallet and purchase 2 tickets
All packed and counting down the days ? 
 
Ray 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

T-2 Packing and stressing out 
Who?  
Welcome to the Skis crazy family travels.  I'm Mel, married to Mr. Ski and we have 4 kids:  DD18 College Ski, DS15 Football Ski, DS12 Soccer Ski and DD7 Cutie Ski.
I'm not a great blogger and I'll be without my computer this trip.  All updates and pictures will be on my Iphone.  I'll try to remember to upload the daily activity sheet and I'll send Matt the Cruise Compasses after the cruise.
Where?
This sailing will be Independence first regular Caribbean cruise after her TA and the "Bliss" clothing optional cruise.  Yes, I have medical grade sanitation wipes to wipe down the stateroom.  This 5 night Western Caribbean takes us to Labadee and Falmouth.
Why?
Why this cruise instead of the amazing group cruise on Symphony also going on this week?  I'm having a bit of FOMO but this works better for us.  We typically go to WDW every 2 years this week and I just couldn't do it again!  WDW is the exact opposite of a relaxing cruise vacation.  So in January, I looked at cruises and felt that we got a good deal during a school holiday for 2 connecting Junior Suites. Also, in the mix was College Ski.  She wanted to spend some time at home seeing friends.  So the 5 night was a compromise.  I want my kids to want to vacation with us as we will most likely only be able to do family vacations with everyone for a few more years.
What could go wrong?
Flying separately on 3 flights over 2 days.  Soccer, Cutie and I will fly out tomorrow.  Weather looks good.  I'm not worried which probably means I should be!
And here comes the drama(s).  When I booked in January, I knew there was the slimmest chance Mr. Ski and Football Ski would not make the cruise.  That slim chance has become a 50-50.  DS HS football team is in the quarterfinals (awesome) and if they win Friday night Mr. Ski and Football Ski will not be on the cruise (bummer).  I have to root for the win even if that means missing the cruise.  If the team loses tomorrow night, they will fly out Saturday morning.  A day of the cruise flight and it would be horrible to lose and then miss the cruise due to a flight delay. 
Next, College Ski is in the path of the nor'easter that is hitting today.  Hopefully by Friday night, it looks that by tomorrow night it will be dry.  This is her first flight by herself to somewhere other than home and school.  I've checked the aircrafts entire path for tomorrow and other airlines flights out to FLL.  Fingers crossed.
Starting to question the decision to take this trip.  Too much pre-cruise excitement and I haven't started packing!  Speaking of packing, I should start!  I'll come back with plans, excursions, etc.  It will be my reward for packing.  Brothers Osborne "It Ain't My Fault" is my packing theme song!
 

I never miss a chance to talk about Gaelic Storm because I think the plastic world of today's entertainment is missing out on the absolute best.
 
If you get a chance to spend 15 minutes check out the songs 'Damn Near Died in Killaloe' and 'Raised on Black and Tans'.  Fans also love 'Don't Go For the One' and 'The Night I Punched Russell Crowe in the Head' which is billed as a true story.
Here's another great story abut them.  One night in Indy they did an all ages show (many of their shows are 21 and up).  My friend's son was about 11 and LOVES Gaelic Storm.  Pat saw us in the crowd and saw the boy with his 'Designated Driver' shirt on.  Pat called the boy up onto the stage and had him play the symbol in the song 'What's the Rumpus' which has a heavy symbol.  By the end of the song, Pat had Michael running across the stage jumping in the air and coming down hard on the symbol.  The kid will never forget it.  
Additonally after every show, they come out and do a meet great until every fan has gone.  No other band would dare do such a thing.
 
That's Gaelic Storm.

@RCVoyager Of course I googled- how could I not lol. The picture is hysterical. It’s such a large group that you really can’t see much but you can definitely tell. 
I think I would do this- but NOT be in the front lol.

Any 5 are fine.... smaller is fine as sometimes the bigger ones struggle to stay on the tree. Thank you again for your help!
Thanks for the offer!!!!
 
My wife and I have a "vacation" tree with ornaments collected over the 29 years we've been married. Hope to add lots of ships over the coming years:-)
I could still use a Radiance OTS ornament from our Alaska cruise in June if anyone is sailing on her.....

LOL - Yes, us too!  We usually try to get an ornament on each sailing/trip we go on.  Makes for some nice conversations with the family when we're putting the tree up! 
KJ1231 - Is that the type of ornament you'd like?  Last time we were on Anthem I believe they had 2 or three sizes (I could be wrong).  The picture I see from ebay looks like it's a smaller size.  If so, that would be 5 of those - I'll see if they have different styles so they are not all the same.  Is that ok?

It really was a lot of fun, and something none of us will forget.  I have a copy of the photo that was given to everyone who did it by the Barenaked Ladies.
 
They were amazing hosts.  Totally accessable and did more appearances than advertised.  I also have an 8 X 10 portrait that was also a gift from the band.  It is the 5 of them and the 4 of us in our travel party.
 
Not only that, but that was the cruise were we discovered Gaelic Storm which has become the favorite band of virtually everyone in my family and many of our friends.  Great music, an unmatched stage presence, so entertaining, and the most fan friendly band you will ever meet.  A couple of years later my brother became ill with ALS.  The last time he saw Gaelic Storm he had a cane.  Patrick, one of the two front men, asked him about it.  He was visibly shaken as he had gotten to know us.  We lost my brother 5 years ago, and Pat still asks me about him  and his family every time I see the band.    Even dedicated a song to him last Spring in Indy.

Day 11
FINALLY! This is the first day with nothing planned in the morning – well, tbh we’re skipping the final choir meeting. Instead, we’re having a pool morning. Breakfast was in the MDR as we had the time to do it. Then it was up the stairs and on the waterslides. Unfortunately I only did one waterslide – the blue one. That was enough to wreck my swimsuit & waterproof bag for my asthma inhaler. Lesson learned: don’t take the bag with you on a waterslide – in other words, don’t go on the waterslide as I wouldn’t risk going anywhere without the inhaler. At least I can report that hubby did enjoy the waterslides immensely. I took the opportunity to swim laps in the pool while he was having fun on the slides. Unfortunately, the sports pool’s correct name should be „stand in the damn way pool“ so after half an hour I had enough. As we’d climbed the stairs already, we had lunch at El Loco Fresh. We really like the nachos and build your own tacos.
At 3pm it was finally time for the postponed Hairspray matinee. Wow, what a brilliant performance! The cast is amazing and I’d haver never thought they could do all that on a moving ship. We really liked Hairspray, even  though it’ll never be our favourite musical – these are still Phantom of the Opera and Dance of the Vampires.














Time until dinner was spent at Playmakers again. I can report that on day 11 we finally managed to empty Symphony’s stock of Guinness. Guess the provisions master miscalculated a bit. While we were at the Boardwalk anyway, we finally managed to go on the carousel – must’ve been the first time for at least 20 years. We also managed to spend our arcade credit on Mario Kart – I won every time ?
Tonight’s dinner was in Izumi – sushi night! If you’re on the drink package, try the Sake cocktails, they’re really yummy. For starters, we had the shrimp firecracker spring roll (sorry, forgot to take a picture). As main course we had five different rolls: Champagne Lobster in Yuzu Wrap, Crispy Philly, Izumi Spider Roll, Surf & Turf and Izumi Ryu Futomaki. The latter roll was the best sushi roll we ever had, the others were also very good, even though not really Japanese sushi. Apparently American sushi is more bells & whistles ?

As planned, we went from Izumi to the MDR for dessert. This was a good opportunity to say goodbye to Baptiste and Juan – and to realize what we’d missed on our other visits. We had Tiramisu, No Sugar Added Coconut Rice Pudding, Royal Cheesecake and Royal Chocolate Cake – the latter was soooo good!




After dessert we hurried to the Royal Theatre for the last headliner show, Adam Kario, a juggler and comedian. We were a bit late so we wouldn’t have gotten the best seats anyway, but as we were thinking of skipping the show (the other headliner shows weren’t really to our liking), we chose seats at the end of the row to sneak away if necessary. Much to our surprise, this headliner was by far the best, really funny and we definetely regretted our choice of seats.




From the theatre we hurried to Studio B for The Quest – our first I might add. I came close to being forced to be the female captain of our team – luckily someone else volunteered eventually. I can report that Bobby did a brilliant job with The Quest, we had so much fun and were howling with laughter. I won’t get into details here as you know – what happens at The Quest, stays at The Quest ?


After The Quest it was back into the Theatre for the last adult comedy show – we sneaked out halfway through as it was mostly the same material as the last time. Instead of bar hopping, we went to the cabin to start packing.
Side notes
11 k steps

Day 4 - Falmouth
Not a whole lot to report today, and I didn't really take too many pictures.  Today we were in port in Falmouth.  We woke up a little later, and headed to Windjammer for breakfast.  Unless I am missing a section of the restaurant, the Windjammer on Majesty is much bigger.  Food was ok, nothing great to report.  We miss having all of the assorted pastries to eat.  Then it was up to AO for Virginia, and Abby and I headed off the ship.  In Falmouth we mainly just walked around a little bit. We hit up a shop to get some coffee and Havana Club rum.  I was going to get some cigars as Casa del Habano, but I thought I remembered a discussion that the one in Cozumel was better.  After some more walking around it was back onto the ship.  Disney Fantasy was in port with us today, and Abby commented that all of the kids in port from that cruise look like they had been brainwashed, and were walking around like zombies...  I can't say I disagreed with her.  Definitely a little "cult-ish".  
Back on board was a light lunch at Park Cafe, then to the thermal spa for a while to relax.  After that we spent some time in a cantilever hot tub, before getting Virginia and getting cleaned up for the night.  

Tonight's entertainment was "Oasis of Dreams".  The story line must have been from an LSD filled dream, because I could not follow it at all.  However, I will say that the athleticism on display is absolutely amazing.  This was an all new cast, and it was their first performance.  I could see some hesitation, but it was still amazing.  We had seen some of the divers on the beach at Labadee, and at least one had an Olympic Rings tattoo, so I think it's great for those athletes to have something to do, get paid, and still practice their sport.  Virginia does swimming and gymnastics at home, and we've talked about starting her in diving after she turns five.  We haven't mentioned this to her at all, and after the show, we asked her what she though.  Her response: "I want to be a swim-gymmer!"  I guess that means we're heading for diving lessons.
After that, we grabbed some pizza for her, and then took her to AO for Pirate Night.  Abby and I had reservations at Giovanni's.  We rode the Rising Tide a few times before our dinner, and then prepared for some Italian. We had the plank to start, and it was ok.  Nothing as good as the ones in Jamie's look.  For pasta, we had the bucatini bolognese and the tagliatelle carbonara.  Both were amazing.  I preferred the tagliatelle.  It was cooked perfectly, and seasoned very nice.  For entrees, I had the osso bucco, which was very tender and flavorful.  Abby had the filet, and we both believe it was better than the filet at Chops.  It seem more tender, and a little more flavorful.  It's splitting hairs, but I would go back to Giovanni's for the filet before I went to Chops.  Plus, everything else was seasoned much better in Giovanni's.  For dessert, we split the tiramisu and the chocolate torte with vanilla gelato.  The tiramisu was ok, but the torte was amazing.  Dessert edge goes to Chops, but just slightly.  
Then it was up to AO to get Virginia, and head to bed for an early night.  Day 5 is a sea day, formal night, and we have 2 shows scheduled to go see, Come Fly with me and the Ice show.  

The Forgotten Thought – Drink Package
One thing I meant to talk about in my final thoughts and totally forgot about was the whole drink package thing. Specifically, was it worth it?
I had never meant to buy it, figuring a five night sailing with an overnight port day where I might not be drinking on the ship at all might not be the best conditions for the package. And when I first looked back on it after getting home, I thought that buying it just because of the $42/night sale price was a mistake. I was feeling massive pressure to drink more the last two nights because of the fact that there was no bar option at Wonderland, so I ended up drinking hardly anything that day, exactly as I had thought might happen.
But after working out the breakdown of what I really needed to "break even" every day on another thread, based on that $42/night, I've since realized that I wasn't ever "behind" on the package. What did I need? At $13 covered per drink, and everything alcoholic I had on board being that much or more, it worked out to one cappuccino and 3 cocktails (or glasses of wine) a day; that's one more alcoholic drink a day than I typically have at home.
After going through my daily tally, I was actually ahead by four cocktails ($52) at the end of the trip, all of them from the last two nights. My worries about that were totally unfounded, and that pressure was all my own doing from psyching myself out.
So, the drink package was totally worth it. I could have skipped out on those two extra cocktails that I felt I had to have each of the last two days, drank at my typical vacation level (including my daily cappuccinos and the odd OJ), and been totally fine.
Will I buy it again, given I'm going back next year?
It seems like $50 is the lowest people have been reporting so far for 2019 drink package sales. If I can get a rate at or slightly below it, I think I will do it again so I have that part of the trip paid in advance. The extra $8 per day would translate to a second cappuccino (which I was already having most days) and a couple of bottles of water, or one premium beer. I'd be OK with just the one extra cappuccino and leaving a few dollars on the table each day. Considering I typically indulge the most on embarkation day, I'd likely take care of any "gap" on day one and have nothing to worry about anyway.

@RCVoyager Of course I googled- how could I not lol. The picture is hysterical. It’s such a large group that you really can’t see much but you can definitely tell. 
I think I would do this- but NOT be in the front lol.

@RCVoyager Of course I googled- how could I not lol. The picture is hysterical. It’s such a large group that you really can’t see much but you can definitely tell. 
I think I would do this- but NOT be in the front lol.

One of the coolest things I've done on a ship involves the bathrobes.  January of 2007 on the Carnival Legend was Ships and Dips 1 which was the Barenaked Ladies Cruise.  One morning an announcement came as an invitation to go to our staterooms, remove all clothing, put on the robe, and report to the Lido Deck.
 
With robes on, 700 of us were staged for a photo.  the band was there too.  After about 10 minutes to set the whole thing up, we were told on the count of 3, drop the robes.  You can still find the "Barenaked as Sea" photo on the internet.  We were naked for about 5 seconds, and now 700 people I will never see again were part of one of the coolest things ever.
 
You can check it out.

When you get on board, you can visit Guest Services and put however much cash you would like on your account. We typically do anywhere from $200 to $300, at the most at one time. If you spend your balance, you can go back and add more to your account. During the cruise, you can visit Guest Services to get a printout of your spending or you can view it on your cabin TV. 
On your last night, you will need to visit Guest Services and settle your account. They will give you back anything not spent, in cash. Just make sure you are done spending for your trip. 
We always choose to go this route, as when you use a credit or debit card, they can put a hold on your account that can take up to 7 to 10 days after the cruise to be removed. Plus, an added bonus, we never overspend on our vacation. 

I got an email from RC telling me my excursion changed days. I emailed my TA and found out there was a port day switch. I guess since the TA booked the cruise she got the port change email but since I booked the excursion through RCCL I got the excursion change email.  But I did get an email for it directly unlike yourself.

To relax and see my family in the Carribean.

For me who has yet to cruise ( 11 days and counting) it's ticking a few things off the bucket list.
Always wanted to go on a cruise, visit the caribbean, travel in a submarine and try some Caribbean Malboro while sitting on a beach listening to Bob Marley ? so thought i may as well  do as many as i can in one go. 

Very smart. We will already have one too so it can be a back up though I’m sure it’s also slightly annoying to use.
Think I'm going to pack ‘em! All responses ease my mind a bit. Thanks!

When I travel (e.g., airport, cruise, train, etc) with my knitting, and I'm not sure as to the status of scissors, I bring a fingernail clipper to cut yarn, instead. Also have use successfully sewing and embroidery. When I get home, then I can clean up the back side of my work.