spiralqueen

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! 

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! 

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! 

So I should now know better than to fall asleep relistening to podcasts about cruising. I just had an “awful” nightmare where I somehow slept through pretty much all of the first 2 days of my cruise and only woke up at 4 am when nothing was going on. I started to panic when I realized that I missed both my Grease and Aquashow reservation as well as my Coco Cay cabana and that’s around when my alarm started blaring. So I know I can’t be alone here. Who else has had literal panic nightmares about cruising? Bonus points if they are low stakes but seemed like the worst thing in the world in the dream realm. 

I also use Travelpro, but I have the 21" expandable crew spinner one because the 4 wheels make it WAY easier to navigate with. Also this one has magnetic wheels that helps the bag roll straight without any effort from you to keep on it on track. I bought it back in 2016 and while I don't travel a ton, I've been on at least 10 flights since then and checked it half those times. It's still going strong. 
 
 

So I should now know better than to fall asleep relistening to podcasts about cruising. I just had an “awful” nightmare where I somehow slept through pretty much all of the first 2 days of my cruise and only woke up at 4 am when nothing was going on. I started to panic when I realized that I missed both my Grease and Aquashow reservation as well as my Coco Cay cabana and that’s around when my alarm started blaring. So I know I can’t be alone here. Who else has had literal panic nightmares about cruising? Bonus points if they are low stakes but seemed like the worst thing in the world in the dream realm. 

Anthem pubs have food options that Oasis class pubs lack.  That's left over from the food options that "Michael's Pub" had when they were affiliated with Michael Schwartz on Quantum class. 
While Michael's Pub is no more, Quantum class pubs still have food and their own menu (from a small but dedicated pub galley).  That's why soft pretzels were available in the Anthem pub but not in the Oasis pub.  There is no pub galley in the back for Oasis class pubs.  

The best way to tell the difference is if the location is listed as “Starbucks” on the deck plans and cruise planner then it is considered a stand alone one and not included in the drink package. If it’s something like Cafe Lattitudes or some other coffee shop on the smaller ships and they happen to have a sign posted saying “we proudly serve Starbucks coffee” (or similar) then it IS included. 

So I should now know better than to fall asleep relistening to podcasts about cruising. I just had an “awful” nightmare where I somehow slept through pretty much all of the first 2 days of my cruise and only woke up at 4 am when nothing was going on. I started to panic when I realized that I missed both my Grease and Aquashow reservation as well as my Coco Cay cabana and that’s around when my alarm started blaring. So I know I can’t be alone here. Who else has had literal panic nightmares about cruising? Bonus points if they are low stakes but seemed like the worst thing in the world in the dream realm. 

So I should now know better than to fall asleep relistening to podcasts about cruising. I just had an “awful” nightmare where I somehow slept through pretty much all of the first 2 days of my cruise and only woke up at 4 am when nothing was going on. I started to panic when I realized that I missed both my Grease and Aquashow reservation as well as my Coco Cay cabana and that’s around when my alarm started blaring. So I know I can’t be alone here. Who else has had literal panic nightmares about cruising? Bonus points if they are low stakes but seemed like the worst thing in the world in the dream realm. 

So I should now know better than to fall asleep relistening to podcasts about cruising. I just had an “awful” nightmare where I somehow slept through pretty much all of the first 2 days of my cruise and only woke up at 4 am when nothing was going on. I started to panic when I realized that I missed both my Grease and Aquashow reservation as well as my Coco Cay cabana and that’s around when my alarm started blaring. So I know I can’t be alone here. Who else has had literal panic nightmares about cruising? Bonus points if they are low stakes but seemed like the worst thing in the world in the dream realm. 

I've taken a look at the dates on the other blogs so that I am not too early to start mine.
I figure there is at least one blog already for the same week I am going, I have already got my set sail pass, and luggage tags (allegedly) will be up for print some time today, I am well within my window to begin blogging? Part of the early start is so that as I prepare and pack, I can pick up last minute tips, hints, advice, and guidance from folks out here. You all are a wealth of information and even though I don't post often, I do read daily and feel like I have gotten to know so many of you ?
Itinerary: Baltimore to King's Wharf, Bermuda back to Baltimore.
Prologue: I had always wanted to go on a cruise but my former spouse (key word being FORMER) would pitch a fit if I suggested it. I won't list his complaints, I have seen you all are familiar with all of them. FINALLY during our 12th year of marriage, my parents offered to take the family on a cruise. Our daughter was 5 at the time and I was so looking forward to it. Without going into detail, the cruise was awful. Wait. No. My x was awful which made the entire trip one that I remember with just sadness. We went for the Thanksgiving week that year and on the 6th of December (a few weeks after) I was escaping in the middle of the night with two packed suitcases and my baby girl. I share this so everyone knows that "cruise" has held such unpleasant memories and feelings for a very long time for me and there was a time that I swore I'd never go on one again. (I thought I had gone on RC but I found my old card in a box of papers a few months back and turns out we'd taken a line that must not be named...)
Fast forward ten years. Yup. Ten years. December 2019 was my 10 year anniversary of sneaking those packed suitcases out of the house in the dead of night. I celebrated last year with my daughter (we are both doing amazingly well, are incredibly happy, and have not once regretted the decision to evacuate) and by deciding that I would like to try another cruise because it's not fair to let that one bad experience taint an entire vacation option. To be fair, the cruise was miserable because I was stuck with a falling down drunk x who was being a jerk face and refused to do anything other than drink endless Grey Goose martinis and sleep in the dark room. There were a few highlights like taking my daughter to swim with dolphins but overall.... ?
The universe sent me a sign last year in the form of a Fraternal organization that I am a member of decided to take a group cruise. It was so spur of the moment and the price was so good and there is another single lady that has a similar background to me as it pertains to the x so I had a room mate to share the cost and I just decided to, as they say here, "YOLO Book It!"
I am really excited for this cruise. We will be going to Bermuda, which I have never been to. (The previous one was to the Bahamas). Sailing out of Baltimore MD which is right near where I live in Washington DC (NOVA) area. Last weekend, I had breakfast with the group who is going. There are 32 of us! Our travel agent is the wife of one of our members (it's an International organization) as well as a member herself. The "core group" that is going from my Chapter is myself and my single gal pal and two other married couples we are quite chummy with.
I have been slowly preparing since we booked so have been buying a few cute outfits and other goodies. For Xmas, Santa gave me a huge box of those Chlorox with Hydrogen Peroxide wipes and the special luggage tags and a charger thing that I have seen recommended out here by many so my gal pal (GP) and I can charge our stuff up.
Side note: we are all a bit on the older side (40s, GP is in her 60s, etc) and no kids coming with. Many of us work long hard jobs so we are looking forward to relaxing and decompressing versus "party all the time".
I hear the Neil Diamond Cruise Director guy has left this ship so I am a bit sad about that.
Things I am looking forward to:
Not working. Although I will stress a little about leaving my assistant in charge without me there for a full week. Prepping her now. She can do this. It will all be fine. (Right?)
We are going to be touring the Crystal Caves on a special tour our TA set up for us. We are docked in Bermuda for three days so there is no worry about missing the ship if it runs late.
I hear we are going on a pub crawl. I don't drink but I adore a nice pub (there were some gorgeous ones in London when I went).
Karaoke and Trivia.
Mocktails by the pool.
Sunshine.
This will be my first real vacation in over ten years. (I think y'all know what I mean when I say that I have gone on holiday but have ALWAYS had either my daughter or parents with me so that's not always a "vacation"....)
I plan to live blog as the internet allows. I am going to plan my packing here as that kind of helps me focus and make sure I am not forgetting things. I am taking my fancy camera as the wife of one of the couples we will be with does photography so hoping she helps me learn more how to use the camera. And with all respect to those who like bigger ships, I am so looking forward to sailing the Grandeur before she leaves Baltimore because I feel like I prefer the smaller, quieter, less "Mall of America" ships. (Even though I have never been on any RC ships so a research project is probably called for ?)
I've also found very little in reference to what Grandeur has with menus and food etc so I'll share that for those like me who are trying to find things and can't.
My GP also booked this as a YOLO and both of us are kind of apprehensive about our first solo vacations in YEARS. We have spent so many years taking care of others that going on a cruise by ourselves and not having to tend to children or elderly parents is like...... what do I do?
My ultimate goal is to erase that prior "incident" and make happy new memories with friends. I am calling this the "DO OVER CRUISE!"
On that note.... 60 Days to Go!!!!!!

What?! You know what Night 1 is right??!

Everything was covered at Playmakers for SC. 
 
probably not staying up for the balloon drop. 
 
after Muster Drill we grabbed a drink at Schooner Bar. We were delayed out of Miami due to an Alpha call and an ambulance needed. Now we’re going and beat the Norwegian Encore out of port since it had to turn around. Heading to Izumi for Sushi tonight and we can’t wait. Then watching the Aqua80s show from our balcony at 10:45. 
 
 

Hotel was great for the night, and the free breakfast this morning was good. They had an omelette bar, waffles, scrambled eggs, etc. having been up since 7 am, we are restlessly waiting to go to the port. If Virginia had her way we would have left the hotel at 7:30. She was going around to all four of us saying “come on and get going. We need to get our taxi to the ship.”
We will probably leave here around 10 am and get to the port around 10:30 ish. Already planning what we will eat for lunch and what my first drink will be. We are leaning Playmakers for lunch and I’ll probably get my Kraken Lava Flow so that I’ll really feel like I’m on vacation. 
 
Virginia is currently in her “pillow car” driving us to the port. 

Update from the field: Mr SpeedNoodles has already declared the Oasis Class his "favorite class of ships". We've only seen the pool deck and Deck 4 so far. 

Friday - Miami Day!!!
Today was a long day.  We booked a full 3-part tour that included a double-deck bus tour of Miami, a boat tour of the Miami harbor (with an emphasis on the islands between Miami and Miami Beach, where many celebrities live), and a short air-boat ride in the Everglades.  We booked it through Trip Advisor, and figured it'd be a convenient way to see a variety of things with little effort.  One of our traditions is to take some sort of harbor tour in each port we sail from at least once. It was touristy to a cliche, but we were ok with that. (https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g34439-d11451472-Miami_Combo_Tour_City_Sightseeing_Biscayne_Bay_Cruise_and_Everglades_Airboat_Ride-M.html)
We caught a Lyft around 7:50 am, as there was a lot of traffic/construction/road closures around the Kimpton and ride shares were taking a little longer to find us.  We arrived VERY early to the Miami Beach area from where the tour departed, and did a little walking and people watching.  We went to CVS (since I lost my hair tie in the hotel in a matter of about an hour, and I forgot to bring makeup remover wipes.  There was a pigeon in CVS. I seriously just wanted to catch it and rehome it outside with its pigeon friends, but I managed to quell the desire.

I'll be frank here. I didn't take a lot of photos.  While we sat on the top level of the bus, and we could see a lot of things, to get good photos I would have had to stand up, which would have put me at risk of (quite literally) losing my head to low branches.
We were taken through the lovely Art Deco regions of South Beach, then headed over to Little Havana, were we debussed and were told we could get some "free Cuban Coffee" at store right where the bus was parked.  I don't drink coffee, but Mr. SpeedNoodles does, and he was told by his Cuban coworker that he MUST get some Cuban Coffee.  We peeked into the store where people were getting their free coffee, and it was a paper cup about the size of a ketchup container at McDonalds, so we wandered across the street in search of a shop that he'd see on one of his many, obsessive, Google Street View "walks".  We just couldn't find it.  Until...... some very kind local recognized what we were looking for and pointed us to a coffee shop that opened at 10am (it was 10:15, and he simply shrugged and said "Island Time").  He wasn't wrong.  Within minutes they opened the door. And Mr SpeedNoodles was in heaven.  Communication was somewhat tricky since we don't speak Spanish, but with some pointing and back and forth he managed to get two very strong coffees before we had to get back on the bus.  It was a beautiful little shop and almost made me wish I drank coffee.



After only 35 minutes (too short!) in Little Havana, we headed back to the Biscayne Marketplace for lunch.  While they led us into a specific restaurant (with a promise of free appetizers), we chose to go a more economical route and we just hit Five Guys. The menu at the other place was not only overpriced, but the just didn't have any items on the menu that interested us.
After lunch we boarded the harbor tour boat, and had a lovely 90 minute tour into the "islands" area.  On the way we slipped right past Explorer of the Seas, who was in port exchanging passengers.  We had a fantastic, high-energy, tour guide for this part, and we really enjoyed him (great job, Ricky!). I've never heard anyone so seamlessly go back and forth from English to Spanish.  His jokes worked in both languages, judging by the laughter on the boat.  I got several pics, but really nothing worth sharing.  Little islands  hosting extremely expensive houses owned by people I'll never meet.  I'm not much of a celebrity person.  Frankly I was just as thrilled sailing past the big MSC cargo ship while it was offloading containers - I thought that was pretty cool.  PLUS we saw an actual, live, swimming, wild sea turtle come up twice on that side of the bay.  I'm all about the wildlife.  As anyone who's followed any of my previous blogs knows, I will be just as thrilled sitting around talking to local pigeons and sky rats (i.e. seagulls, for those not previously indoctrinated), as anything else that I do. #formerzookeeper #completenerd
We were told to meet a "double-decker, non-open-top bus" at 2:15 to go to the Everglades right there at the Biscayne Marketplace.  We did so.  We got on the bus, with about 15 other people (not many, but who are we to judge?).  Off we went!  We were really looking forward to this part, having never been there.  The bus took off....east ... across the bridge (full view of Navigator, Explorer, MSC Divina, Carnival Legend, Regent Seven Seas, and a Viking ship) .... but ....
Ok, I'm no geography genius.  But aren't the Everglades BACK THATA WAY???????  We're on the top deck, so we have no communication with the driver.  The driver isn't communicating with us. Other passengers are looking likewise baffled.  Others, not so much. We are all wearing the green "I'm on the 2:15 Everglades tour" sticker.
Traffic was nothing less than awful.  An hour after boarding, we arrive back at the tour company main office, where we are asked to debus and get on yet another bus.  Ummmm, sure! It seems it would have been more efficient to  bring THEM to US since we were already farther west, but again, I'm no geography/traffic genius. We get everyone on the bus. It's the first non-bilingual driver/guide we've had (it didn't bother US, but we the English speakers were definitely a minority on this one).  Harry was our driver and guide.  Harry was different.  Harry made up a lot of ecological "facts" (Harry, they are Turkey Vultures, not "American Vultures", and they didn't come to the Miami area to breed in the winter. I've raised TV babies in Minnesota in June.  They're just here to stay warm and eat.  And don't even get me started on his opinions on the South Florida "Indian Tribes" -lawd man, you don't know who your audience might be).  
We arrived at the Sawgrass Recreation Area shortly after 4pm.. The cold front had moved in, and it was 65 degrees and windy. Most people were not dressed for the weather. This was very good news for the gift shop, as probably half of the bus passengers went in and purchased sweatshirts. or jackets. I had brought a zip up hoodie with me (#becauseMinnesota), and MrSpeednoodles will go out and grill at 11pm in January at 10 degrees in shorts and flip flops, so he didn't care.  The problem?  Gators don't like wind. The crawl back up into the grass and hide so that they don't drift all over the place.  Frankly, I didn't care.  I'm all for Gators.  They're super tasty.  And fascinating, ancient, creatures.  And I would have been trilled to see one.  But I was happy to see the Cormorants drying their feathers as well. I would have loved to see some egrets, or otters, but the weather just wasn't right.  That's ok.  The airboat was pretty hecking cool, and I know I want to come back during warmer weather and maybe book a smaller, more private boat and ask to focus on birds and mammals.  Someday.

I had some time to have a short conversation with this female Boat-tailed Grackle (we have regular Grackles in Minnesota.  The females aren't nearly this pretty).  Unfortunately the camera didn't really correctly portray her beautiful brown color.  (I know - average birds.  I appreciate sh** like that).

The tour people seemed really super disorganized.  It was easily an hour between when we got to the Sawgrass Visitor's Center and when we actually got onto an airboat.  The airboat tour was 30 minutes, and we didn't see any alligators (and not much of anything else).  Nobody can control the weather, or the animals' behaviour in the weather, so we really didn't care.  The trip back took another 90 minutes in awful traffic.  The driver ended up just going back on city roads, through Hialeah (Big Havana).  Nothing he could do about the traffic either.
We'd been planning to go to Ceviche 105 for dinner, but by the time we got back to the Miami Tour Bus Company in Miami Beach and hailed another Lyft it was after 8pm. We'd been going all day, and hadn't had any food since 1pm.  We were tired and blood sugars were low.  By the time we'd get back to our hotel, shower, change, and get to the restaurant it would have been at least 9:30. Which is apparently when people in Miami leave their hotels and head out on the town.  But be real here. We're middle-aged-plus Minnesotans.  We arranged for the Lyft driver (a fascinating man from Nigeria! Thanks, Daniel!) to drop us off a block away from the Kimpton at Whole Foods.  We picked up some pizza and sushi (not to be mixed, we each wanted different things), and a bottle of wine (O. M G.  Wine at a grocery store??? This is UNHEARD OF in the land of 10,000 lakes! How incredibly convenient!).  We ate, drank some wine, and watched half of "Guardians of the Galaxy" (I challenge anyone to guess who my favorite character is.) and Mr Speednoodles is already asleep.  I'll be there right after I fix all of the typos in this blog (no guarantees, I will offer no compensation for emotional trauma caused by grammatical/typographical errors).  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOMORROW IS CRUISE DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven’t been to the beach club or overwater cabanas, but @bossdog421 had one in his live blog. You can start reading about it on page 5 
 

I haven’t been to the beach club or overwater cabanas, but @bossdog421 had one in his live blog. You can start reading about it on page 5 
 

Enjoy! Looking forward to seeing your liveblog. ?

I’ve heard it said that the two longest weeks in cruising are the one just before you sail and the one right after you come home. I can’t remember which is supposed to be worse than the other, but right now, 10 days out, is pretty rough. I have a cruise crush who only sails solo, and only on another line, but he writes the best live blogs and I wait for them like I was the one cruising. I’m going to try to ease my impatience by following his example and start a pre-cruise live review.
February of last year, my sister and I took our first cruise together. It was a first cruise for both of us, and I think we weren’t quite sure what we thought of it. I liked about 90% of the ship we sailed on, but was fairly annoyed by the other 10%. I decided that I could enjoy the heck out of any cruise if I had the right companion, or barring that, if I had easy access to the outdoors. I discovered that I need a lot more time on deck than my sister, or for that matter, my husband, with whom I took my second cruise last October.
So I was surprised when the sister asked where we were cruising next. After I informed her that pretty much all ships go to Cozumel, at least out of Galveston, I told her that if she was serious, I thought I could put together a cruise we could both enjoy. One of the things on her wish list was a shorter cruise. We’d sailed on a 5-day itinerary, and by the end she was feeling impatient to return to her grandkids and her routines. A 4-day on Enchantment of the Seas looked like a winner.
To be continued ...

Yay! 10 day cruise!

@emsff02 Its kind of sad. As a child we went on a field trip with monkeys, I was about 8. My best friend, Adam, was playing with this monkey who kept touching his butt, laughing and sticking his finger in my bff ear. Adam caught a bacterial infection and couldn't fight it and passed away. I was 8 so I was devastated and blamed monkey's for their filthiness. Every time I see a monkey stealing peoples goods or digging in its butt it brings up horrible feelings. I just think they are the worst animals and can die in a fire...I said what I said. ...Also I don't know why Hawaiian shirts get such a bad rep?

There was a little bit of wandering around after dinner. Johnny and I ended up seeing the parade of room attendants on the promenade. They all were carrying towel animals. One was given to him, which made his day.

later, we headed to Studio B to catch the ice show Encore, An Ice Spectacular. This was a “review” of musing through the years, from Broadway Musicals to modern pop and rock. I though it was interesting, it started off with Phantom of The Opera, which they must not have a full license for, because they changed the lyrics for the show. 
 
The skating and the choreography was very good. There were plenty of spins, triples, flips, lifts etc. I did feel bad, one skater was having an off night, and just could not land his jumps. The show still was very enjoyable.
Love and Marriage came later. Always entertaining. 

The evening was topped though by accidentally twinning with the cruise director, Cory.

This isn't included in the cruise fare, but rather a tip for included with the refreshment or deluxe beverage packages that not everyone knows about. One of my favorite things about the Oasis class ships is that the fresh fruit smoothies and juices at the Vitality Spa Cafe are included in the (non-soda) beverage packages. The only thing not included is if you want to add a shot of protein powder. So yummy and with WAY less sugar than those daiquiri syrup mixes.