Al Horner

To be fair, we're all trying to think of new things to do while docked in Nassau.....

We don't have children cruising with us so losing the DreamWorks characters is actually a plus.

Call me weird....but I don't like the look of some ultra modern NYC fufu hotel for a cruise suite.  ?

Day 3- Sea Day
Had to get up early today as had the all access ship tour at 8am.  Had a quick stop for breakfast in the windjammer.  Saw this cool picture of a watermelon carved with good morning.  

Tatiana was our tour guide and she was awesome. She joked around quite a bit, but was also very informative and answered lots of questions. The tour started in the kitchen galley where they make all the soups and appetizers. 
We then headed to the engine room. The chief engineer was pretty entertaining. Someone asked him what his biggest fear was and he said having to do all access tours lol. 
We then headed to the galley where all the food is stored. It was massive. They have 19 different coolers or freezers for items. I asked about how much their weekly food bill was and he said over $600K. Me being in the restaurant business this part of the tour was interesting. They took us into where they store all the alcohol as well. They said that wasn’t usually included but we were special. Who knows if that was true or not. 
Was interesting to know that Corona is the most popular beer. Guess everyone gets into that Caribbean mode. 
After that it was to the garbage area. It was neat to hear about how they separated everything and what they did with it, but boy did it smell bad. They truly waste nothing. All the food that isn’t eaten gets ground up really fine and dumped to feed the fish. Then it was on to laundry. Probably the coolest part here was seeing the massive machine that dries, irons, and folds everything. Everyone needs one of them at home. 
Then it was on to the bridge. While it was neat to be up there and see the view, I was a little disappointed the captain wasn’t there to talk to us. 
a video was playing of the ship being built. 
I’m not sure why but they wouldn’t let me drive the ship 
Captain Rob and Captain Rick. We had Captain Rick. 
all the plaques from the different ports symphony has been to 
the lookout is looking the wrong direction. Luckily we are in the Caribbean so no icebergs! 
 

So I have decided to dip my toes into this live blogging thing.  I have enjoyed reading so many others and learned so much I wanted to try and give back and hopefully do the same.  I will admit up front I am no great writer or photographer, so please don't hold me to an @twangster level, but I will try my best.  
This will be my second cruise.  First was back in March 2018 on Harmony of the Seas.  This cruise was originally going to be a quick get away in November on Brilliance of the Seas for my wife and I for our anniversary.  Dates weren't really working out with our schedules and then in my constant talking about cruising my Aunt and Uncle expressed interest in going.  They have never been on a cruise so in trying to decide the best first cruise for them it brought us to Symphony of the Seas.  They will be bringing their 15yo daughter and her friend along with.  My wife and I are leaving the kids at home and getting away for some much needed time together.  
Itinerary:
We will be flying from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale this evening.  My sister is going to pick us up from the airport and drive us down to Miami.  Staying at Hyatt Centric Brickell Miami.  
Day 1 - Miami
Day 2 - Sea Day
Day 3 - Sea Day
Day 4 - St Kitts  Snuba underwater adventure excursion booked
Day 5 - St Thomas  Tree Limin Extreme Zip Line excursion booked
Day 6 - Sea Day  All access ship tour booked
Day 7 - Nassau  Blue Lagoon Island Segway excursion booked
This cruise was booked about 30 days ago so as soon as we booked all shows, dinner, etc were booked.  We plan to see each of the shows while on board.  I think I am most looking forward to Hiro since on Harmony they cancelled all the water shows when we went.  They did perform one during the day while we were in port and while it was still impressive, seeing it during the day and missing all the lighting had it lacking some.  We have mytime dining and have booked reservations each night for 7:30pm.  No specialty dining booked at this time.  
I have a few hours of work to do this morning before heading to the airport, so I guess since I can't sleep I might as well get up and get started on that.  Hope you all enjoy the blog, and please feel free to ask any questions.  I will try and update at least once daily and source out any pictures or answers to questions you have.  

Last cruise I tipped the room attendant and the concierge with a little something extra, other than that....left it at pre-paid on everything.

AKA an interest free loan using your money.  

The DreamWorks characters were a nice option, but we just sailed on Symphony with our kids and RC has really stepped up their kids programming to the point that I don't think my kids even noticed/complained that we weren't seeing any characters.

We don't have children cruising with us so losing the DreamWorks characters is actually a plus.

We don't have children cruising with us so losing the DreamWorks characters is actually a plus.

Parents are on HOTS and mentioned a guest jumped from the ship and met an unfortunate end to their life on the concrete pier at Labadee this am. 

The vast majority of my cruises are on Royal Caribbean but occasionally I will cruise with another line. Recently, I booked a cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line. I was utterly amazed when I looked at my cruise summary on their website. It was wonderful! It listed all the details, payments, addons (like promo drink packages, specialty dinner packages, etc.), trip information, ship information, and so on. Basically, it had all the information on my cruise laid out in a very user friendly way, the way that Royal Caribbean used to have it. I knew I wasn't happy when RCL changed to the Cruise Planner and now I know why. I wish RCL would, at least, go back to the cruise summary information page the way they used to have it.

I'm curious exactly how anyone is productive at work, in the first couple weeks after a cruise. I sure am not, lol! Also, anxiously watching and waiting for my C&A status to switch from Pre-Gold, lol. It's been 10 days!

I received my offer today for Brilliance of the Seas March 4 Western Caribbean. We went from an ocean view on deck three to a 1D balcony on deck 9 for 100 per person. I'm a first time cruiser and don't really plan on the ability to cruise often to build points so C&A status isn't something I'm chasing. For this trip I'm traveling with my best friend, I won't have better half and tiny humans in tow so many of the decisions I've made have been to purchase items at their lowest and make it as nice as a vacation as it can be within the budget I set forth because I'm paying for 1 (or 2 if I'm covering it as a gift) rather than 4. Even if I love this trip, as a family we wouldn't be able to justify cruising once a year much less multiple times a year so options like Royal Up and The Key allow me to have a wonderful vacation with my friend and enjoy amenities that would normally be out of my reach. I'm probably the target market Royal has chosen for these programs and I am very excited for my long overdue break! 

This. 
I know drink packages get a lot of attention, but if you aren't going to drink 5-6 drinks a day, every day of the cruise, then forgo the drink package and pay as you go for drinks.

Allure of the Seas? Secret Battleship? ????????????
https://www.theonion.com/shelling-from-royal-caribbean-s-m-s-allure-sinks-car-1819580080?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=theonion_copy&utm_campaign=bottom&fbclid=IwAR21TI27_rLBrnNbLKOR-eUVJzQ_wf8JKjfgdCOq9BdwGBVFnwj8mSl12_I

Don't be sorry. In case you haven't noticed, this message board is for people suffering from "notcurrentlyonacruiseitis". Any and all chances to talk, think & dream about another cruise for ourselves or others helps us cope with our very serious disease.

I almost always travel with my own Yeti and already have mine packed for my trip on Mariner this weekend. Just make you you do as JL said and don't fill it from the tap and fill a glass to pour in to the Yeti. 

Yes, you can do that. But, for sanitation / health reasons they will require you to get the beverage in a standard cardboard cup from them, then pour it into your travel container.

If RCL is going to introduce new on-ship excursions - how about the .50 cal pirate shoot? You get 200 rounds of .50 cal and whoever sinks the most Somali pirates - wins a prize!

I'm one of the people who don't get off the boat when it goes to the Bahamas. The reason is that, in my opinion, the people who live in the Bahamas are generally unfriendly and make little to no effort to be welcoming. How many times do you have to hear, "Hey Mister, nice shore excursion!" When I say no thank-you I suddenly get a muttered F##k You. This isn't a one off. It has happened to me a number of times.

This just reinforces what I have thought about the Bahamas in general. I typically try to avoid cruises going to the Bahamas but, if I do go, I stay on the ship.

Maybe this is inappropriate, but I want to commend KLA for using the word "they're" correctly. In this day and age of using shortcuts for social media, many people have forgotten some basic grammar and punctuation rules. A personal pet peeve is when someone uses "there" for the contraction for "they are". OK. I'm done.

Thank you for sharing, SO sad and tragic especially for his coworkers!  I know that "the show must go on" but I also know that it will be extremely hard to continue and perform with their loss!