spiralqueen

Yes!  My wife and talked about this same thing while driving home from Bayonne today.  We like to cruise as cheap as possible, so we can cruise more.  BUT, one of the reasons we were willing to sail the Anthem last week was the extra comfort of having booked a balcony.  By coincidence, our next two cruises booked (Harmony & Anthem) are also balconies.  Like @Mljstr, I think we are going dig deeper into our pockets going forward.  Also another benefit was the view at 6:32AM on Friday the 13th...

I’m going to make sure to follow the 20 second rule with hand washing because I didn’t realize you had to wash for that long for it to be effective. I’ll also be more religious about taking zinc 2 weeks before and through the trip to help my immune system fight cruise crud. 

The Oasis captain just made the announcement. Full refund or 125% FCC to be used by the end of 2021 with an option to change your mind in favor of a refund later.

Well crossing my fingers for my Sailing on Oasis May 3rd will be a go

Just heard that the Port of Baltimore has closed until further notice.

It has been a crazy few days. Lots of back and forth between go and don’t go. Ultimately, a few things sealed the deal for us.
Never were we worried about the virus on the ship. I am still of the mindset that the ship is likely one of the cleanest places at the moment. Quarantine on the ship was also an afterthought, because how bad could it be in the ATS?  
What really made us re-think over the last few days was the possibility of being further quarantined in Trenton (military base). That is where they are taking all the Canadians on the Princess ships. That does not sound like a great time.
Yesterday, Delta also waived change fees for all travel this month, and Royal revised their “Cruise with Confidence” policy in that we would get back our FCC that we redeemed for this sailing. So really, we would lose nothing by not going. It was beginning to get harder to justify going.
The ultimate deal breaker is that Plan B, was better than Plan A. This blog is officially, “To be continued...” in 166 days.  
We are sad, but at the same, for the hockey people out there, we feel like we just won the Stanley Cup of cruising!  

When one door closes, another one opens. ?

IMG_4844.MOV Yesterday was great other than the weather. Just yours the ship with our friends who were on their first cruise. Went to the ice skating show after MDR and then stopped by the Schooner Bar, Boleros,  Studio B and the Pub. Didn’t stay in any more than 15 minutes, just wanted a feel. Had to get up early for today but that’s only after I won $50 playing blackjack. I know small stakes but that’s big for me. ?  The folks with My time dining were very accommodating with our party of 14. 
i have cruised before but my major takeaway if this cruise, and forgive the All CAPS but it’s “ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT”. The worse they can say is no or offer an alternative but they will bend over backwards to accommodate most requests. 
Today in St.Kitts and went to the Marriott resort for the day on the beach and this hotel pool.  The weather is beautiful, 83 and sunny. We have been starving for good weather. We have reservations at Wonderland tonight with the kids. Look forward to it. 
Sidebar:  The Starbucks on board is like being at home other than they don’t have the warmer for breakfast sandwiches or lunch sandwiches. They have the vast bay majority of the drinks you want from home with the sweetness that Starbucks offers, they don’t use the Royal Caribbean sweetness. They are truly an independently owned type of operation who happen to be on a cruise ship. Yes you can use your Starbucks apps to purchase but NOT redeem. You can also use your Seapass or being a Starbucks gift card. No, your drink package DOES NOT WORK. I see this question gets asked a lot and I did myself prior to the cruise. 
As with most who travel on the larger boats when you pull into a port you feel as you are the big dog, the big man ok campus and compared to the other ships most folks are truly in awe. Once you get off the ship and compare to the other ships it makes you appreciate how huge this ship is. Thank you for taking the time to read my  Rambling  ? 
 
The drones at the ice show are GREAT!

UPDATE: Still planning to go!
Pinged our TA yesterday to ask about keeping an eye on canceling folks to see if we could wrangle a free or cheap upgrade as they were out of balconies by the time we booked.
One of the men with the group sent an email out asking if we should go ahead and cancel as a group and I think every wife in the group shut that down immediately.
At this point in time he appears to the be the only one worried about going. The rest of us are still planning and now that my big event I had to put on is over, I can start thinking about packing!
Luggage tags are printed out.
We have booked our excursion through the TA. As we are in Bermuda for three days, the excursion is on day 2 in the middle so no worries about missing the ship.
Our excursion is being put together by the TA who also happens to be a member of our group and is going to be a LONG all day one and includes:
History of Dock Yard and Attractions
17th Century home and evolution of the unique Bermuda Home construction
Somerset Bridge - the smallest drawbridge in the world
The Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Vista
Tour along the beautiful South Shore (beach and ocean views)
Horseshoe Bay Vista
Botanical Gardens and the official home of the Premier of Bermuda
Tuckers Town and Glimpse of the home of New York’s Mayor Bloomberg
The Crystal Caves
The town of St. George - a UNESCO World Heritage site & Bermuda’s Capital for 200 yrs
While in St George Collect a few pieces of colored, weather worn glass at GLASS BEACH
17th century reenactment (Mon through Thurs) - participants in period costumes
Lunch Bermuda Style
Tour along the North Shore
View the Governor’s mansion
Driving tour of the City of Hamilton - current capital since 1815
Driving tour of Harbour Road - view of Hamilton from across the Harbour
Scenic route back to Dock Yard
 

I know everyone loves food so I thought my next post would be of our Day 1 dinner.
To start with we had Caeser salad (no photo since everyone knows what that looks like lol). For my main I had the Slow Roaster Prime Rib was supposed to come with potato croquette, but they ended up giving me a baked potato because of my allergies. For desert I just had berries as nothing was safe for me to eat :(. Sandra also had a Caeser salad for the starter. For a main she had the Southern Fried Chicken. She also had the berries as she had some sweets in the Windjammer.
         
I also got you guys some photos of the Windjammer dinner options.
















Hope you enjoyed ?

Yesterday ended up AMAZING!  After Playmakers had a 6PM at Park 150 for 10. Our server Ben went above and beyond. I had the short rib AND Caesar Salad for starters, both really good. Wifey had the beet salad that she really enjoyed. Their bread is the BEST EVER!  Hit, warm and buttery. For my entree I chose the Tenderloin AND Lobster. Everyone was trying to decide which “one” for their entree and a very nice lady behind said “ Get both” and everyone had the lobster and another. The lobster was fine I just didn’t like all that cream and cheese just lobster. Tenderloin was very good. 
For Desert most ordered from the menu, me and another person decided to be those folks. I had the warm chocolate cake from Chops and she had the brownie from Jamie’s as we dined at 150. Yes they can do that, as with everything cruise “you just have to ask”. Again, Ben was great and everyone tipped him accordingly. 
afterwards in that “ what do we do now”. Used the app and digital touch boards that help you determine “what to do now”.  We went tonBoleros for the Dj for about thirty minutes, then we landed on Vintages for the Karaoke show and Stevie Wonder review. The band was GREAT and a young girl killed it at the karaoke as the last performer singing John Legend’s “All of Me”.   The place was packed as the Karaoke was ending and Stevie Wonder Review began. 
On the way to the midnight “silent party” stopped by the jazz club, appeared very nice and a little bit of blackjack in the Casino. Then to the attic for the “silent party”. The line was LONG. For those who haven’t done it they hand out earphones to everyone and either you are on the blue or green station. Music isn’t playing out loud on the club speakers just on the earphones.  Two stations, green and blue. The 40+ crew I was with had the best time ever dancing we’ve had in years. It was fantastic. Haven’t danced that much since my late twenties. No need for workout today as that was 90 minutes straight of dancing and Enjoying ourselves. All ten adults in my party loves the concept and most importantly the music/Dj’s played everything we loved. Afterwards we went to Sorrento’s and to the room at 2:30am. Look forward to what day three has to bring. 

Back from our experience with our South Beach Cabana - it was perfect!  Loved every minute of it!  Our attendant was awesome, you are right on beach, close to floating bar, bathrooms, food, drinks, everything you could ever want.  Plus the weather was amazing!  We definitely had our perfect day at CoCo Cay!!

I have rented a South Beach cabana for my March 13 sailing, so i will try to take as many pictures as possible and get any more info that you may need/want
~Amy

Oh hey! I’ll be on this sailing too! I’m doing a “girls trip” sailing with my mom and it’s over my birthday which is San Juan day. I admit I haven’t planned a ton for it yet, but I had done some rough research about the ports and potential excursions.
 
If you have never been to St Kitts before, I can’t recommend Thenford Grey’s tour enough. Great deal, super knowledgeable and professional tour guide, and nice comfortable transport. It helps you get a really good feel for the whole island and you can end it with either a couple of hours at the beach or going back to the ship a little early. You can find my recap of the main island tour when I went last May. It starts around halfway down this page. 
I have no idea what we are doing in St Maarten or Antigua (likely a beach of some sort???), but St Lucia my mom and I are going to do the land and sea tour with Spencer Ambrose because it has great reviews and looks like a ton of bang for your buck. Since I figure it’s unlikely I’ll be back to St Lucia, I want to make sure to see the Pitons and do the volcanic mud baths. It just seems so unique to the island! San Juan will be strolling around sightseeing/shopping/having dinner since it’s a later port of call. Probably going to one of the forts for the sunset because that sounds wonderful. Love San Juan because I can use my data for free (TY, US territory) to use google maps and find places to go so it’s very easy to DIY. 
Look forward to sailing with you and I hope your anniversary is super memorable! The best part of a vacation is spending time with loved ones. 

Yes each cabana has the sale attendant all day.  Since you have more than one cabana you may have different attendants at each cabana.

When I had a chill island cabana in Nov it was a dedicated attendant all day. From what I could tell, each attendant had a set number of cabanas to take care of and they seemed to be in blocks.  Very similar to state room attendants. 

When I had a chill island cabana in Nov it was a dedicated attendant all day. From what I could tell, each attendant had a set number of cabanas to take care of and they seemed to be in blocks.  Very similar to state room attendants. 

Final thoughts and things I learned:
Mr. SpeedNoodles has declared Symphony of the Seas as his favorite ship, and wants to book more Oasis-class cruises.  We don't have one booked until Allure in Jan 2022 and I don't know where we'll fit one in between now and then.  But I've been informed.  Also he wants an AquaTheatre suite.  So if anyone runs across a fantastic deal, please clue me in. While we were able to do a lot on the ship, there was so much more that we weren't able to do.  We never even stepped into Jazz on 4 or The Attic. I had reservations for the comedy shows, but something always interfered. There's just SO much to do! We made it to a hot tub once - we really never got to spend any time on the pool deck.   As usual with me, no matter what I was doing I felt like I was missing out on something else. The staff was exceptional.  There wasn't one place on the ship where we didn't encounter helpful, friendly crew members.  If we dined in a specialty restaurant once, and ran into our waiter somewhere else a day or two later somewhere else on the ship, they remembered our names (WHAT WITCHERY IS THIS?????). I figured out a handy packing tip on this trip.  While I use packing cubes, and typically try to pack things together so they are easy to unpack on the ship (like items together that will be placed into the same drawer or closet), when I packed to come home I packed things in the cubes that would be washed together.  All I had to do was open up cubes that contained things washed together and dump them in the wash instead of sorting them at home.  It really didn't take much extra time at all but made laundry much easier. 30 SPF sunscreen doesn't do a damn thing to protect skin that hasn't seen the sun for 5 years. We got really good at using Lyft.  From the time we left the house to the time we returned home we used Lyft 11 times. I learned at the Quest that I cannot twerk, but the 70+ year old woman in front of me could. I saw my very first Booby.  As in Brown Booby - the bird.  A flock of them followed alongside the ship as we left St. Maarten, constantly diving after fish that must have been disturbed in our wake.  I took photos.  Not a Booby can be seen in any of them. You'll simply have to take my word. #birdlifelist We're pretty bummed that we have to wait until October for our next cruise!!! (But it's going to be a SUPER FUN cruise!) 
Thanks for following along. (Now I need to go catch up on all of YOUR blogs that I've fallen behind on!)

Got the email that our cruise photos are in, this is one of my favorites.

Speaking of said playlist - I think this will get me all the way to Galveston:
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow All Night Long - Lionel Richie Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett Break for the Border - Acoustic Alchemy Cake By the Ocean - DNCE Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) Caribbean Blue - Enya Cheers - Rihanna City of Dreams - Talking Heads Come Sail Away - Styx Conga - Miami Sound Machine Dance with Me - Orleans Deck 9 - Funkagenda Drift Away - Dobie Gray Escapade - Janet Jackson Freedom - Pitbull Good Times - Chic Haitian Divorce - Steely Dan Heaven - Los Lonely Boys Hey Now Now - Michael Franti Holiday - Madonna Island Girl - Elton John Island in the Sun - Weezer Knee Deep - Zac Brown Band Kokomo - Beach Boys La Isla Bonita - Madonna Let’s Groove - Earth, Wind, & Fire Livin La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega Mas Que Nada - Sergio Mendes Yeke Yeke - Mory Kante Orinoco Flow - Enya Oye Como Va - Santana Runaway - Janet Jackson Sail On - Commodores Sail on Sailor - Beach Boys Sailing - Christopher Cross Sea Cruise - Frankie Ford Seagull - Bad Company Shake Shake Senora - Harry Belefonte Sinner in the Sea - Calexico Smooth - Santana Smooth Operator - Sade Soak up the Sun - Sheryl Crow Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills, & Nash Steal Away - Robbie Dupree Steal My Sunshine - Len Summer Breeze - Seals and Croft Tik Tok - Kesha Totally Nude - Talking Heads Un poco de amor - Shakira Uptight - Stevie Wonder Walking on Sunshine - Katrina & the Waves Where the Boat Leaves From - Zac Brown Band  

Labadee was super relaxing as always.  Last night was dinner was in Giovannis, and Star Class Food Coma is starting to set it.  It was tough to get through all of the food.  We had another "well-done" steak sighting with my MIL.  Can't take them anywhere.  
The carpaccio and the mozzarella di buffalo tasted quite good.  Dinner tonight took almost 2 hours, so there was a lot of waiting in between courses.  I also really wanted lemon sorbet, and they didn't have any.  

 


 

 
After dinner we went back up to Adventure Ocean to get Virginia and head to the Ice Show.  Smitha met us with our seats, drinks, and popcorn.  We were sitting in the first row on the side, which was uncomfortably close, but was with a purpose.  Smitha brought Virginia a tiara, and for those that have not seen the Frozen in Time show before, it's the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales on ice.  During "The Ugly Duckling", Virginia was one of the girls in the swan on the ice, and she absolutely loved it.  She kept saying she was so nervous, but she did great.  Genie moment made!

 
Today is Falmouth, so we will probably just walk around in port for a bit then come back on the ship and hit the pool.  Tonight, dinner is in Portside BBQ so I can't wait.  

Yeah ...don't do that... you just spread misinformation which is almost as bad as outright lying about something.

The three of us will be driving in from our hometowns, Dallas, Austin, and Houston, respectively, to meet in Galveston on Sunday, March 1st. I may or may not be planning to be the first to arrive. I’m crazy about my family, but it’s been 23 years since I’ve been able to move freely about the planet on my own and I’m looking forward to some solitude where I can get it. I’ve booked a hotel on the Seawall which has the shuttle service and cruise parking option. It’s very close to one of my favorite Galveston haunts, Jimmy’s on the Pier, and we had plans for cocktails, dinner, and sunset the night before we sail. However, turns out they are in the midst of a renovation and set to re-open that day. With any luck, they will be ready and not overly crowded, but there are lots of other options, so I’m not worried.

 

And now folks, we are now caught up! Its now Saturday afternoon. We have received the dreaded luggage tags and departure information. The seas are much calmer now and we are moving at about 20kts towards Galveston. We should be tied up around 6:30am. Earlier in the cruise Johnny mentioned that he wanted to see the bridge. We had talked to Francis about this, and apparently due to "security reasons" this is no longer a suite perk (we got a tour on Anthem) so he signed us up for the all access tour that cost $. Oh well, its something that the geek side of me enjoys so why not.
We met this morning in the MDR for the first part of the tour, where one of the managers discussed how many meals are prepared etc. On average 125, 000 meals are prepared weekly. We toured the galley, and saw all the different areas where food is prepared.
Shrimp Cocktail anyone?

Jonny was impressed at the stacks of covers

Bakery operations where 50,000 rolls are baked a day

This is the main hot line. Each dining room has its own dedicated line. All food for the windjammer is made in the deck 3 galley. The specialty restaurants have their own galleys.

Meals and portions are tracked as they go out so they know what is moving.

Following the galley, we headed below to tour the provisioning area. 
We met with the manager who spoke about how the provisioning happens. Since about 2007, RC has been keeping track of their provisions and what meals are ordered. The provision manager orders the supplies 3 weeks ahead of time. He knows based on historical trends what to order more of and when. All of the loading of the 496,000lbs of provisions happens in 5 hours on turn around day. Currently since we are at the end of the cruise, the ship is nearly empty.
You can see some of the remaining fruit being gathered up by crew members.

Normally, these stacked metal pallets are full of supplies

 
All of the galleys and food storage areas are completely encased in stainless steel. These are washed down completely every day. The provision manager is actually looking forward to Sunday because he hopes he gets inspected by the health department. Apparently enchantment just was. He feels that with the inspection and the anticipated good marks, he uses that as a tool to show the crew why they go through all the trouble of the extensive cleaning that they do. 
Next up was the laundry area. We couldn't see all of it for some reason, I couldn't hear what he said very well. I did catch that their main washers have a 9 ton capacity. I should get one of those for my house, that will make laundry much easier.  
Here is a folding machine

Pressing shop

All along "I95" the main passageway down the middle of the ship. You can see the weeks recycling all bundled up ready to be offloaded.

Crew mess

We hit the engine control room where the mechanical parts of the ship is controlled. 

More elaborate deck plans


Close up shots of the propulsion systems and stabilizers

Next stop the bridge.
The crew gets some more detailed maps of the ship, obviously


Emergency plans

Finally the bridge. 
Here are the controls on the port side wing. These mirror those on the center, and starboard side.


These guys have a great view

Someone was a little excited to drive the ship. We apologize to our shipmates who suddenly felt the ship turn hard......

After the tour we got a sheet of fun facts about the ship that I will post later. I'm off for some more advantures!
 
 
 

Sorry about the time between posts I was busy enjoying the cruise. But it’s over I’m home again in the cold waiting for a bus to take me to the university. 
 
Day 3: cruising 
I will admit right now that I am not an entertaining sea day kind of person. I eat find a lounger, drink, swim and repeat. 
 
woke up and got a chai tea latte from cafe promenade they already know my order so that may be a problem. Then off to breakfast in the main dining room. I really enjoy a leisurely breakfast on sea days. I had eggs benedict and a mimosa it was good but not fantastic and I’ve seen better service I’m not sure if it’s because it was near the end of breakfast or what but just not as attentive as I’m used to. 
 
off to the pool deck now i found a lounger on deck 16 and a couple of frozen mojitos were drunken then I moved on to grey goose and pineapple. Every hour or so I had to get up to swim as it was really hot. Next it was off to lunch in the park cafe I loved the roast beef sandwich it was delicious! Then back to the pool deck for more swimming, lounging, reading and drinking. At 5pm I called it a day went to get a latte then up to the room to get ready for formal night! 
 
We are not a photo taking family always say we will get photos but never do. For dinner my white wine I’ve had the last 2 nights was perfectly chilled and waiting for me thanks Lobo! ? French onion soup, steak and  cheesecake was consumed.  Then off to watch the aqua show drink sangria, then to the casino where I gave Royal some money then off to karaoke where there was no drama just a drunk guy who loved show tunes but as I did as well this was not a problem for me!  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well clearly THAT is the worst one on here!!! ?
 
Lol I’m sure there’s been someone that hasn’t been a dream for too!