FlowBro Ty

By FlowBro Ty  -Day One Port Canaveral- 
Today Is Cruise Day! I Sleep In Today Because It Is A Perfect Way To Start A Vacation. For Breakfast I Got Up And Drank A Smoothie For A Snack Until I Got On The Boat. We Loaded The Car The Night Before To Save Time. We Left The Home At Ten And Next Stop Turkey Lake. The Port Is An Hour And A Half Away From My House. After A Hour And A Half Being Cramped In The Back Of The Car We Arrived At Park Port Canaveral. This Is A Nice Place And This Is My Second Time Using Them. It Is Less Than Five Minutes Away From The Port. And We Always Had A Good Experience Here.  Today They Where Boarding At Twelve Forty Five Because The Coast Guard Were Doing A Routine Inspersion On The Boat. Because We Were In A Suite We Used Suite Check In. It Took Us Five Minutes To Get Past The Security People And Upstairs. When We Got There Then We Where Past Check And Headed On The Ship In Less Than Ten Minutes . So We Were On The Ship By 12:50. For Lunch We Tried To Go To The Windjammer But There Was A Line Down The Stairs So We Went To Wipeout Café. Not Disappointed The Food Was Good And Had No Line. I Had A Hamburger With Cheese And My All Time Favorite Free Drink Strawberry Kiwi Water. So Good.Then Since We Were Near The Flowriders I Had To Go On It. So I Did. There Was No Line For Stand Up Or Bogie Boarding Until 3:00. One Of The Workers Was Blown Away Because I Did Every Trick He Told Me To Do And I Did Not Wipe Out. Also Had A Great Chat With One Of The Worker. Now It Is Time To Head To Muster Drill. 

                     

Day Three Labbadee Haiti Part Two
I Went To Sorrento's And Tonight They Had Barbeque Chicken Pizza. There I Met Up With @Twangster Fan Me And Him Ate Two Pizza. They Where So Good. After That I Went To Dinner And Had A Creaser Salad. For The Main Entrée I Had A Baked Potato With Lots Of Sour Cream.

For Dessert I Had Cheese Cake And Three Scoops Of Ice Cream. After Dinner I Went Strait To Bed. Tomorrow Will Be A Long Day In Jamaica.    
             

-Day Three Labbadee Haiti- 
`By FlowBro Ty
I Got Up At Seven To Watch The Sail In To Labbadee. We Docked At Seven Forty Five And Then We Saw The Workers Arrive To Work. Via Jet Ski And Speed Boat.
 
After That I Met Up With @Twangster Fan At The Windjammer For Water. I Did Not Want To Ruin My Island Barbeque So I Had Just Water. After My Met Up With @Twangster Fan I Headed To The Flowrider For The 9:00 Session. I Hit The Flowrider Until 10:15 Then Headed Of The Ship. First Stop The Dragon Rock Café. It Was The Same Choice As On The Freedom In April. The Mac And Cheese Was So Good I Had Thirds. After That I Got On A Tram To Columbus Cove. There I Did The Aqua Park And Dragon Tail Coaster Combo. The Aqua Park Is Pretty Small But Since I Was Here On The Freedom They Added Three New Inflatable's. One Of My Favorite New Inflatables Are This Clift Jump / Slide Inflatable. Here's A Photo Of It. 

After The Aqua Park I Headed To The Dragon Tail Coaster. I Rode It Once And The Ride Was About Three To Four Minutes Long And The Line To Get On The Coaster Was Over Five Minutes Long. The Coaster Was Very Fun And I Would Recommend It To Anyone. After That I Headed Back To The Ship. I Notice That They Painted The Pier Brown. And They Added Better Speaker On The Pier

Here's A Photo Of Our Ship. The Oasis Of The Seas.

Back On Board I Went To The Pool And Spent And Hour In The Hot Tub And Grabbed Some Ice Cream . When I Heard The Horn I Went To View Our Sail Away From Labbadee Haiti. We Kick Up A Lot Of Dirt From Engines. The Sail Away From Labbdee Is One Of My Favorite Sail Away In The Caribbean From A Port.


 In Two Hours We Passed Through This Channel. There Were Land And Sail Boats On Each Side Of Us. It Was So Cool. Here's A Photo Of Our Path Out Of Labbadee.

Here's A Photo I Took Of Mainland Haiti From The Channel.
 
 

Day Three Labbadee Haiti Part Two
I Went To Sorrento's And Tonight They Had Barbeque Chicken Pizza. There I Met Up With @Twangster Fan Me And Him Ate Two Pizza. They Where So Good. After That I Went To Dinner And Had A Creaser Salad. For The Main Entrée I Had A Baked Potato With Lots Of Sour Cream.

For Dessert I Had Cheese Cake And Three Scoops Of Ice Cream. After Dinner I Went Strait To Bed. Tomorrow Will Be A Long Day In Jamaica.    
             

I just realized I'm way overdue for writing this. But that's good, it gives me a chance to remember what was easily the most amazing meal on my recent sailing on Freedom of the Seas!
I booked this dining experience on the Cruise Planner, about 2 months ahead of our sail date, for $89. I got to choose from any night of our sailing, so I chose our third night (second sea day), figuring it would be better to enjoy this on a day when I wasn't completely worn out from a port day excursion.
I did not receive a confirmation of this booking when we boarded. Instead, I had a paper delivered to the cabin on Night 2 noting to meet in Bolero's Lounge, where we would all be escorted to the actual table once everyone had arrived. Oddly, the invitation said to dress in Smart Casual style, where the Cruise Planner indicated Formal. I don't know if this was a glitch in the on-board system or if Royal is moving yet another dining venue to less formal wear, but I decided I was going to ignore this and dress as if it were formal night. And it was a good thing, as everyone else who showed up for the meal was also in their fancy dinner best!
The experience actually started while waiting for everyone to gather, as we met the gentleman who would be our waiter, sommelier, and host. His name was Mario, and he came out dressed in a very formal charcoal gray suit and white gloves. If this wasn't an indication for everyone attending to be dressed formally, I don't know what is! That made the invitation's suggestion of Smart Casual even more inexplicable.
Mario had a tray of champagne glasses waiting for us, and we were welcomed to enjoy a glass while we waited for everyone to gather.

As I usually do on events like this, I showed up about 10 minutes early and ended up being the first one there. Mario and I chatted a bit, and he told me his nickname among the crew was "Super Mario" because of all the jobs he has to manage among the dining staff, including his role in the nightly Chef's Table experience. No, he's not that "Super Mario", but they actually do know each other and get along very well.
The other guests arrived, and it turned out we were a small group -- only 7 total (I was the only solo guest, as I was never able to convince my younger daughter to join me). Two of the three couples were also from NJ, but much further south than me; the third couple were from Texas. We were told that normally they have between 12 and 15 guests each night, but for whatever reason this particular night had only about half that.
Now the second discrepancy from the printed invitation came out – While the invitation said that we would be dining in Giovanni's Table, it turned out that our group was so small that evening that we would be dining in the MDR, on a small balcony towards the top of the staircase that's located between decks 4 and 5. This was kind of amusing, since we had the My Time dining folks on deck 5 and several of them walked down the stairs and past our table to leave; we got more than a few stares as they looked us in our finery and dining on food that was definitely not the same cut as what they had on their menus. I'm undecided if I preferred actually eating in the MDR, with the elegant decor all around us that I felt fit the theme of the night better, or if it would have been a little better to eat in Giovanni's just for a chance at fewer bystanders walking by.

The view of the MDR from our private table / balcony, taken after the meal had ended
Speaking of menus, we had our planned menu for the evening waiting for us at our places:

We were told by Mario that the order of the menu was being adjusted slightly, so as to work better with the order in which the wines were being served. It was also explained to us that the menu was a little misleading in terms of the Entree selection, as there were really only two choices; the branzino or the filet mignon. The Truffle Tagliatelle was a Pasta course that would be served before the entrees, and have its own wine pairing.
Finally, Mario pointed out the dessert – Yes, you're reading that right; we were going to be served the same dessert that is offered in Wonderland on the Quantum and Oasis class ships! All of us were super-excited when we saw this!
Our scallop carpaccio was the only course served without a wine pairing, as it was intended as a palate cleanser. It was absolutely delicious, and as we ate the chef came out to tell us about the dish: what carpaccio meant (a dish of raw meat or seafood that was sliced very thinly), how the dish was prepared, and why each ingredient was chosen / how it enhanced the desired flavors; this would be repeated for each course, and I was really wishing my younger daughter was there as I know she would have absolutely loved this facet of the experience.



 
Next up was the salad, a Maine lobster salad served with hearts of palm of and pineapple, and paired with a Chardonnay named Ausièrres Blanc. I never would have thought that pineapple and lobster would work, but it did and very well! And the Chardonnay was also very good; it's actually one of the few varieties of white wine that I like.


 
Next was our soup course. This was a smoked tomato soup that had been in the smoker literally overnight; the soup actually smelled like barbecue sauce, the smoke flavor was so strong! It was served with a crouton, a slice of fresh parmesan, micro greens, and creme fraiche; the wine pairing was as rosé wine named Whispering Angel. All of us were quite surprised that a mildly flavored, more fruity rosé would be paired with something as bold and strongly flavored as this soup; many of us asked how the wine would not be overpowered by the soup, but Mario assured us that it would balance surprisingly well. And wouldn't you know it, he was right! I'm not a real fan of rosé wines, but this worked remarkably well and the wine itself was quite palatable for me. And the soup itself was amazing! Every one of us was gushing to Mario about how great it tasted; it may have smelled like barbecue sauce from the intense smoking, but the flavor was not at all overpowering, just this rich and intense flavor of the roasted tomato blending beautifully with the smokiness. We all were wishing there was some way to get some to take home and enjoy after our trip.


 
Next we had our pasta course, a truffle tagliatelle. The pasta was freshly made, and the black truffles gave it a really distinctive flavor; not the same as truffle oil, though similar; it was much more intense and I found I much preferred it. The butter was very light, just enough to keep the pasta from sticking. And it was served with what was my favorite wine of the evening – a Tuscan red named Lucente LaVite. I ended up having 3 glasses of this!


 
Next, our main entree was served. I chose the branzino, along with about half of the table, and it was served with a Pinot Grigio named Danzante. This white I wasn't as fond of, but the branzino was quite good. I'd never had it before, and the main reason I ordered it is because of all the seasons of Master Chef that I'd watched, where the restaurant takeover episode would have the contestants serving a branzino appetizer; I wanted to know what the heck this fish tasted like that was such a standard! ?


 
Those who ordered the filet mignon had their entree paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon named Sequoia Grove. Each of us was allowed to try the other's wine to see how we liked it; I've never been a fan of Cab, and I found this one to be no different. I don't know what it is about that variety vs other reds, but I haven't yet found one that I don't wrinkle my mouth at after the first sip.
 
Finally, it was time for dessert. Before we were served, Mario poured each of us a small glass of a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc named Errazuriz. This was definitely a dessert wine, very sweet and not something to have with an earlier course. With the wine poured, each of us had a plated chocolate globe placed in front of us; not one who knew what this dessert was failed to take a "before" picture:

Mario then went around the table with a gravy bowl filled with melted caramel, which was poured over the chocolate until the surprise inside was revealed. And again, not one of us who knew was this dessert was failed to have our phones out, ready to take video as our turn came to pass:
 
We all agreed that this was one of the best desserts we'd ever had, whether we'd already gotten to enjoy it on a previous Oasis / Quantum cruise, or if it was the first time we'd had it. And the wine worked very well with this; I will have to remember to see if this wine or a similar one is offered when I sail Anthem in October, as my wife and I agreed we would like to try Wonderland during that trip.
After dessert was done, we were allowed to enjoy another glass or two (or three!) of whichever wines we particularly enjoyed. Mario had multiple bottles of each one available, and we all stayed at the table for maybe another half hour while the plates were cleared and our chef came out one final time. We all thanked him heartily for one of the best meals we'd had, and each of us took our photos with him to remember the experience by.

Yeah, I definitely look like I've been enjoying the La Volte Toscana by this time!
Each of us was presented with a check showing a zero balance, but all of us wrote in an additional tip to cover the service and meal prep that went far above and beyond the price that we paid. I learned afterward that the tip was recorded in the final bill as a charge to Giovanni's Table, which makes sense since that was the originally planned venue. Keep this in mind should you decide to do Chef's Table yourself and also give an extra tip to your waiter and chef. Because believe me, after that meal and the wine, you may not remember doing it by the time you see your final cruise bill! ?
That wraps up my review of Chef's Table. This is definitely a must-do experience at least once in your cruising life. And I have to say, the price is unbelievably reasonable considering typical on board prices for high end wines like the ones we were served. The Toscana that I enjoyed so much was over $30 a glass in Vintages, and even when I found it in my local wine store it was over $60 a bottle! Considering we were served 5 different wines, that's at least $90 in onboard pricing right there, considering that not one of the wines we were served would be an "average" wine found on the MDR menu or in the lower-priced section in Vintages; on land it would still have likely been at least $40 or $50 for the wines. And the food itself was easily a $125 affair if I had anything similar at a local land restaurant, keeping in mind that I'd likely have to travel to Manhattan or one of the more popular culinary hubs in northern NJ like Montclair, Ridgewood, or Morristown. For only $89, this meal was an absolute steal and one of the few true bargains I would argue you will find on board without buying a package of some sort. This is true fine dining and 
And don't feel that you can't bring your kids to this. I know I had asked about this months before my cruise and was told the same, but I want to just offer my own confirmation now. As long you have kids with an adventurous palate or who enjoy gourmet cooking, they'll be fine with this. And while they can't drink the wines offered, as I noted the meal alone is easily worth more than the price you're charged.
On the other hand, it also makes for one hell of a date night with your SO if you can arrange for the kids to be left at Adventure Ocean or the nursery.

I Had A Hand Strap And It Worked Very Well. 
Here The Video I Took From The Hand Strap  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1sZh8VOLk&t=25s

No Pressure.  Lol.  

Thank you.  I feel like a new person.  This is from our family pictures, separated by one year.  Should have about another 50 lbs to go...
Also, you know it's time for vacation when you get a text from school saying "Your daughter has been tormenting one of the boys at school today, and decided to pull her pants down and shake her butt and him."  SMH.....

Day -2 - Pre-cruise
As I looked out this morning, the weather in beautiful St. Louis, MO confirmed that it is indeed time for a cruise.

Nothing like a dreary day with the first flurry of snow for the year covering the roof tops to remind you that it's been 364 days of dry dock, time to start the live-blog, and offer a miserable picture to test out how to insert them into the blog and have them sized correctly. 
Sailings
We will being a pseudo-side to side on Oasis and Enchantment out of Port Canaveral.  Oasis will be a 7-night Western Caribbean starting November 11 through November 18.  One night spent in Port Canaveral, then a 4-night Bahamas sailing on Enchantment from November 19 through November 23.
Itinerary
Day 1 - Port Canaveral, FL
Day 2 - Sea Day
Day 3 - Labadee
Day 4 - Falmouth
Day 5 - Sea Day
Day 6 - Cozumel
Day 7 - Sea Day
Day 8 & 9 - Port Canaveral
Day 10 - CocoCay
Day 11 - Nassau
Day 12 - Sea Day
Day 13 - Port Canaveral
We have a beach bungalow booked for Labadee.  Falmouth we will probably stay in the cruise terminal.  Cozumel we will be going to Nachi Cocom, then heading downtown to Coz Coffee and Chocolateria Isla Bella.  CocoCay we have a Cabana booked, and then probably the cruise terminal again in Nassau.  
Who is Sailing:
It will be my wife, Abby, our 4 year old daughter, and I on this sailing.  I cruised once when I was a kid on the Big Red Boat.  My next cruise was last year with Abby on Majesty of the Seas, and went to Grand Bahama and CocoCay (which we missed due to weather.)  I get cruise incentives from my land-based casino, so we booked that cruise after final payment date on a whim.  It was right before we left on the sailing that I found RCBlog, and now I am fully indoctrinated.  This will be our daughter's first cruise, and she's been counting down the number of "sleeps" left since we were at 20.  She can't wait to meet new friends in Adventure Ocean, and has been trying to convince us that all of her friends from school can come with us.  So while this is our second RC cruise, it will be our first 7-nighter, first Oasis Class, and first just about everything else including first time in each of these ports.  
Other logistics
Packing has been ongoing for about a week.  Hoping to get it all finalized tonight.  We fly out tomorrow from STL to MCO via Southwest.  Tomorrow night will be in the Country Inn & Suites near the port.  We will have a rental car from MCO to the hotel, returning it at the port.  For the night in between cruises, we had the same hotel booked, choosing it originally due to the on-site laundry facilities.  After @Matt posted the blog about the Holiday Inn Beach Club, we changed our stay there, due to in-room laundry, as well as everything else on property.  Possibly even taking the rental car to Publix to cook dinner for ourselves.  After we debark Enchantment, we are taking a shuttle from PC to MCO for our flight back.
Cabins
On Oasis we have a JS on deck 6 booked.  The location should be great for it's location, and we envision Johnny Rockets for breakfast most mornings.  On Enchantment, I've done the best I can do to ensure that my daughter will become a full on suite snob by booking a GS.  The pricing was great for the upgrade, plus we got a great deal on the Oasis sailing by booking during a WOW sale last year with KSF and free gratuities.  (Although I feel like I'm probably heading to #suitesnob status as well.  Looking at booking Oasis again in Feb of 2020, and my eye is on a Crown Loft Suite...)
Other thoughts
-We will be #TeamNoDX.  I had weight loss surgery in February and can't really drink much (down 200 lbs in about a year).  My last drink was 2 weeks before surgery, but I imagine I may have to have at least a sip or two while on the ship or at Nachi.
-We have the 3 night dining package booked on Oasis.  We plan on being #TeamCK (more influence from our favorite Stubborn Canadian (wouldn't let me tag @lovetocruise2002 for some reason).  If we can't do CK, we may opt for Solarium Bistro.  On Enchantment we don't have any specialty dining booked.  We'll either see if there are deals available, or take advantage of the MDR service in our room, especially on Thanksgiving Day.  
-Pictures will be with my iPhone 8 and the moment lenses.  I'm opting not to bring my DSLR this trip, just so I can enjoy the journey, and work on shot selection vs. shot quality.  Once I get a better idea of what shots to take on a cruise, and how to frame them, I move to bringing my DSLR.  
-We are excited for our daughter's first cruise.  This will be her second time flying, but the first was with Grandma and Grandpa, so we're looking forward to that also.  We are doing the Dreamworks Breakfast on Oasis, and the girls will be doing the Cupcake class on Enchantment.
Finally, I'm hoping to do the live blog justice.  Lots of great influences on the site, and I hope I hold a candle to some of them.  We do have VOOM, so I'll try to be as interactive as possible.  If there are questions, I'll try to get them answered.  
Now it's off to iron my best shorts and t-shirt for formal night and finish packing.  
-Lance

WOW! some amazing things on here, new forward facing cabins too!
 

Thanks For Reading. I'm Glad You Had A Great Cruise 
 

Thank For Reading This Blog. Let Me Know What You Think About The Blog And How To Improve You Viewing 
FlowBro Ty Out
    

Nassau Day Three Part 2   
By FlowBro Ty
 
1:45 After Lunch I Went To The Sun Deck/Mini Golf To Take Photos Of The Harmony Sports Deck And Pool Deck.




 
 
2:30 The Harmony Was Sailing Away At 2:45 So I Took Some Photos Of It Leavening
 
 
 3:00 to 5:15 After That I Did The Last Flowrider Session On The Cruise. I Had A Blast And Met Someone From The Sports Staff From My Past Three Cruise On The Oasis The Freedom
And Here The Mariner.   

 
6:00 We Had Dinner In The Dining Room. Half Are Table Did Not Show Up. Meal Was Great And We Had Go Wait Staff.

 
 
 

Nassau Day Three
 
7:30 Time To Get Up.
 
8:00 We Arrived In Nassau  

We Were Joined By The Harmony Of The Seas And One Other Ship.

9:00 To 11:00 I Hit The Flowrider And Met Up With A Fellow Flowborders.com User And Flowrider Geek And Royal Cribbean Fan 

There Was No Line And We Rode Back To Back And Had A Blast.

11:00 I Went On The Water Side 12+ Times 
12:00 Went To The Mini Golf. They Did A Great Job 

 
1:00 When The Heat Gets You Go To The Windjammer. Had A Great Meal And Made A Great Timelapse

 

More Of Day Two On The Mariner


11:00 to 11:45 I Hit The Water Slides. They Were Awesome. I Liked The Blue One That Went Off The Ship
 

 

After I Looked At Great Surrip Cay 
 

 

 
12:00 to 3:00 I Went In The Pool And Had Ice Cream Lots Of It.
 
 
3:00 to 5:30 I Got Back On The Flowrider And Had A Blast. I Was One Of The Best On The Flowrider.

 
6:00 Dinner On Deck Three. 
 
8:00 Skypad VR Trampoline. I Had A blast and met some great kids. I did the candy choice for VR.

9:00 to 10:30 I Did Night Flowrider Session. It  Was A Blast.
 
11:30 time for bed  
 

Day Two Coco Cay
 
7:30 Time To Get Up 
 
8:00 Windjammer. They Did A great job Redoing It

 
 
8:45 Time To Get In Line. Flowrider Open At Nine Had To Be First In Line
 

9:00 to 11:00 Flowrider. There Was Two People In Line
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

By FlowBro Ty - Day One Port Miami - 
This Is On A Three Night Bahamas Voyage On The Mariner Of The Seas To Coco Cay And Nassau Bahamas. On This Cruise I Will Be Staying In A Interior Cabin. So With That Said Lets Start This Blog. At Seven I Left My House And Is On The Road To Breakfast. At McDonald's I Got A Egg And Chesse On A Bagel. It Was Pretty Good.

After Mc Donald's We Started To Drive The Four Hour Drive. After Just Ten Minutes In The Car We Ran In To Bad Traffic. Really Bad Traffic. At One We Got To The Port And Check In. There Was No Line And Here Are Some Photos Of The Skyline. 


At Four Thirty We Went To Muster It Was So Long And Hot.Then After Muster We Stared To Sail Away From Doge Island. Love The Sail Away From Doge Island.
  

After The Sail Away  I Hit The Flowrider. 

For Dinner We Had Diner On Deck Three. It Was Pretty Good And The Wait Staff Was Amazing. After Dinner I Went To Play Laser Tag At Studio B. It Was So Fun And Cool. I Hope All Ship Get It.
 

After That I Went To Bed, It Was A Long Day . Tomorrow Will Be A Fun Day At Coco Cay. 

Agree It Must Be Fixed 

Hi Every One I Have A YouTube Channel About Travel And Other Cool Things. Come And Take A Look 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4RaENEj8y01ErdL_EShdQw
Thanks
Twangster Fan   

That was added during last dry dock but obviously never added.

That has been there for a while.  Both on the ship and on their online deck plans (before spring re-categorization).  I remember someone posted a while back that some of the elevator signs even had Wonderland there.  I remember a few years ago, when Oasis had her first dry dock, they thought they were putting in Wonderland but then abandoned that plan.  That is where those signs come from.

I really think one of the remaining vessels will get an ifly. maybe not, they might just keep them to quantum class but it would certainly set it apart  from the others if they do. instead of the sky pad have an ifly? hmmmmmm

I heard that aswell, due to massive power drains on the ship

I hear that every ship going into dry dock is going to have the Flow Rider removed! ?

@twangster Here Are Some Photo I Took Of Your Boat Docking In Port Canaveral. Hope You Enjoy