The Cruise Junkie

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

Not quite.  Running about 18 hours behind in my time line.  Right now I'm on Symphony's port bridge wing getting to sail away to Miami.   My last night on board before Serenade tomorrow.  

The face you make when you realize someone else is live blogging from a ship and you're stuck at home 

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

With my artistic juices flowing (the wine in the Solarium Bistro at dinner was really good) I was inspired to take more night photos around the ship.


The Perfect Storm slides were still open.


Inspired by the color changes within the art in the Solarium that I saw during dinner in the Solarium Bistro I knew I had to try to capture it.








It really is pretty spectacular and something anyone who sails Symphony needs to experience.

Day 11 - Dinner
Dinner tonight would be in the Solarium Bistro.  It's a pretty great location for dinner and with the Solarium changes on Symphony it is a pretty awesome venue for dinner.
For those that want a short summary - come eat here.  Must. do.
The Solarium at dinner is by reservation but at no charge unless you want to enhance your dining experience with a special entree.
The 'menu' is offered outside on flat panel displays for your consideration.


Solarium Bistro is not a full sit down specialty dining venue.  You will be escorted to your table but you will not be presented a full menu to order from. 


With the Solarium right outside the floor to ceiling windows of the Bistro make it a pretty great dining location.


Instead of a dinner menu I was offered a wine list to start and informed that the Bistro is more of buffet of sorts.  A foodie buffet.

My waiter did mention some specials one of which caught my ear.  A filet for $12.  Like a land restaurant the nightly specials don't appear on the menu.   I decided I better try the filet.  For $12 it's all in the name of research.
Having ordered the filet special I was invited to eat from the buffet as if I had not ordered an extra cost item.  
The Bistro is a collection of small items that you are free to pick as many of one, or a selection of many,  as you see fit.  



 


There is also a pasta station where you can pick your ingredients and have them make a unique pasta entree.  



A salad station offers different types of salads to pick from.

My 'appetizer' tonight.  Mixed Salad, Chicken Kabob and Kofta.

By this point the sun had set and the beautiful art of the Solarium was illuminated with ever changing colors.  Quite mesmerizing to watch.  

Perhaps it was the wine, but it is a very unique and nice dining venue that really struck a chord with me.

Very quickly my filet arrived.

Cooked just as I requested and very good.  Yum.
Time for dessert.


O. M. G.  
I would have taken pictures of dessert but I found myself diving into the wonderful flavors.  The Baklava really was good.  So were the two other dessert items I managed to eat.  Three desserts?  I don't normally do that but they were so good.
I wish I had found the Solarium Bistro earlier in the cruise.  While I'm not a foodie by nature the Kofta and Chicken Kabobs were really good as an appetizer.  I would gladly pay the $12 for the filet again.  Dessert - just wow.  
Between the ambiance of the venue itself and the food offered it was a highlight meal of the cruise for me.

Sugar Beach
A first for Oasis class we have space to dedicated to anything that contains sugar.  

Located on the Boardwalk right next to the Carousel.  


Sugar Beach is a self serve fill a bag to your hearts delight pay by the pound candy store.






Take a bag, fill it with whatever you want and place it on the scales.  $11 per pound.  

You don't have to spend $11 if you want a lesser amount of candy.  

They also serve ice cream and sundaes.

1 scoop $3, 2 scoops $4.50, 3 scoops $5.75.  Sugar cone or bowl.

Plus they have some stuffed animals.




 

See this blog post:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/questions/what-wow-band
They are now only complimentary in suites, otherwise $5 each, unless you can trade in one from a past cruise.
 

Do you remember day one I showed my balcony pictures and the obstruction from the black bag that hangs across the boardwalk behind the Abyss?

It turns that contains a fishing net that is part of the HiRO Aqua show.  It's function is artistic only.  At the end of the show it flies out in the air over the Aqua Theater and remains suspended in the air as guests are walking out of the show.  It's secondary function is to turn premium boardwalk balconies into obstructed boardwalk balconies. 
Here on day 11 they have lowered the fishing net and it's bag down to the floor for maintenance and the glorious unobstructed views aft returned (for a few hours at least).  I can actually see all of the aqua pool and stage now!  I can see ocean sitting in my balcony chair!


It actually make a huge difference in the boardwalk balcony experience.
After 11 days this is my only gripe with the cruise.  I guess that's not bad.  

Day 11 - Sea Day
Breakfast in the MDR this morning.  Given the large numbers on this sailing, deck 4 has been set aside for Diamond and Diamond Plus.
Breakfast menu for the MDR


Solarium Bar update
It looks complete at this point.

Caulking in between glass panels was added last night.

Did someone ask for some pool pictures?

Day 10 - HiRO Take 2
From my Boardwalk balcony I noted that the wet zone in the Aqua Theater was pretty empty as tonight's first showing of HiRO was filling up.
I threw on some shorts and a water shirt and headed to the standby line.  
It was amazing near the front of the theater like I was the only person in the theater.  Seeing the performers up close was pretty special.
I won't include all the same pictures but here are a few just so you see what the front row in the wet zone is like.





 

Day 10 - Dinner
Playmakers
I've heard good things about the food at Playmakers and after ordering the sliders in the Mariner's Playmakers I thought I'd eat dinner here in Playmakers on Symphony tonight.
Menu



The Hamburger.

The hamburger is very good.  It is not a Windjammer hamburger with a different bun.  It's more of homemade looking cooked to order hamburger with two patties. 
Way back on day 3 I was up early and took some pictures of Playmakers in the morning when it was empty.








While Mariner's Playmakers had only the fleet standard draft beers, Symphony's Playmakers has some additional draft options.



In terms of the question... "Is my game/sport/tournament going to be available on TV?" The answer is... it depends.  
Sports content is licensed and no company can display sports content without acquiring a license to do so (a.k.a pay money).  Royal Caribbean can't steal or pirate the signal and display it onboard.  
What they can do is approach their TV provider Global Eagle and request the cost for a broadcast license.  There is a lot that goes into that request including the ship's position. 
For example, last Saturday while we were in the middle of the Atlantic, the ship could not acquire a license to display NCAA sports.  NCAA strictly controls broadcast rights and NCAA football was not available in Playmakers.  However what several people did was to bring a tablet or phone and watch their favorite team on their own device using a paid Voom Surf and Stream plan while sitting in Playmakers.
That will be different when the ship is in the Caribbean which NCAA in general allows as a region to enjoy their content.
NFL football was available but like other ships they don't tend to display every game that it is active at any given moment.  Using a tablet and a paid Voom account is always a good backup plan if your game/sport/tournament is important to you.

Day 9 - HiRO
HiRO is the story of three competing tribes that start separate and uniquely represented by their own color, red, white and black.





We first meet the three distinct tribes


The tribes begin to compete with a series of dives.

Next a very dramatic rainfall number.







Next the high line comes into play.





Followed by some high diving.

 

Day 10 - Entertainment Tour
Another Diamond Plus tour offered as a Crown and Anchor Society benefit.   

We have the head tech for the ship (all entertainment on the ship) as well as two cast members from Hairspray/Flight.  The Aqua Theater cast is a separate cast.

The cast comes and goes from the ship as a group.  Most entertainment contracts are nine months.  As the 'Take Out' cast for the main theater they had a twelve month contract.  That included three months on land preparing for their arrival to the ship.  This will ensure the initial shows when the ship arrives in Miami will be performed from a cast that is well versed and practiced.
The hairspray used during the show is called 'Fog In A Can' and made for theatrical use.  
The backstage crew work in multiple venues such as the Main Theater, Studio B or the Aqua Theater.   Flight is such a demanding show technically that it requires most of the backstage crew to be involved.  Consequently they can't operate Aqua Shows when Flight is offered.
The plane used for the finale in Flight is mounted on a gimbal and the 3D pulley/cable system moves it around the theater but the plane itself, direction, pitch and roll is controlled by the cast member 'flying' it in their seat on the plane.   
After our question and answer session we are escorted backstage.

The smaller plane prop used during the barnstormer skit within flight.


We continued backstage.




Dressing room


Alien mask used in Flight





The stage floor is covered with tape marks used for setting props.




The plane used for the Flight finale is taken apart and stored in these shipping containers.


The 3D pulley cable system is operated from this little space to the left of the screen.


It's always interesting to see how much effort goes into these high end entertainment shows.

Day 10 - Misc.
I returned to my cabin and found this certificate on my bed.

Our progress...

I feel bad for you all, but then again, that means my embarkation the next day will be faster so....

With that our tribe begins to appear unified and equal.

Each is wearing a common tribal outfit.





I've seen all of the aqua theater shows and this is my favorite.  It's high energy with lots of action, plenty of diving and incredible aerial work.  It's more artistic in places and uses technology to highlight the incredible performance of the cast which itself is outstanding.
The aerial components are incredible and add a lot to the show.  Be aware though, when they get wet by dipping into the water they do drip onto the audience below, all over the theater.  

Day Two 
I Got Up At Seven Thirty Because I Had A Private Flowrider Lesson Booked For Eight. So I Skipped Breakfast And Headed Straight To The Flowrider. I Was Looking And Found That We Were Hugging The Bahamas For Most Of The Day. Here Some Photo Of The Flowrider
       
I Rode The Flowrider Until  11:30. Then Headed Down To Wipeout Café To Get Lunch And Meet Up With @Twangster Fan For Lunch I Had Two Cheese Burgers And Fries And A Cup Of Ice Cream. After I Went Back To The Flowrider And Rode Until 1:30.
 

Then I Went To Sorrento's To Check How Better Sorrento's Got And I Was Shocked. The Pizza Is That Much Better. I Got The Cheese And Boy It Was Good.
 
 

10:00 Am Day 2 Location

  

By FlowBro Ty  -Day One Port Canaveral Part Two-
At 4:30 I Went To Muster. My Station Was In The Royal Promenade In Café Promenade. It Was Really Fast And They Did Not Play The Wash Your Hand Song Yay. In Ten Minutes We Were Sailing Away From Port Canaveral.  After Viewing Our Sail Away I Hit The Flowrider Until Six. Then I Got Ready For  Dinner At The Main Dinning Room On Deck 4.For Dinner We Had Table 678 And For Our Waiter We Had Sattyyendra And For Our Assistant Waiter We Had Vincent. One Of The Best Wait Staff Out There. Every Time I Was On The Oasis I Had Some Of The Best Dining Staff In The Fleet.
 
After Dinner I Went To Bed Because Tomorrow Will Be Full Of Fun.
       

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. 

                     

By FlowBro Ty 
Hi Every One. Welcome To Oasis Of The Seas Western Caribbean Blog. So Let Get Started.
If You Are New Here. Here Is My Last Blog Of The Mariner OTS. Check It Out.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/9405-mariner-of-the-seas-blog-72718-to-73018/
 On This Voyage On The Oasis The Port Of Calls We Will Be Stopping At Are Labbadee Haiti, Falmouth Jamaica, Cozmel Mexico
So We Have Three Port Days And Three Sea Day
The Room We Booked Was A Jr Suite On Deck Eight.
Our Friend's Also Have A Jr Suite Right Next To Ours.
Also On This Sailing We Were Joined By @Twangster Fan
This Blog Will Take A Few Weeks. ATo Post. So Let The Blog Begin  

Given that it's a sea day I worked much of the day.  A periscope notification told me some of the RCPeriscopers and Royal Caribbean Blog readers were starting their Yeti Pub Crawl.  Then they were sliding down the Ultimate Abyss.  Not long after they were below my cabin in Playmakers.  Soon enough they did the Carousel.  All in their bathrobes.
@Big Dawg Ron

@cookingyo and Mrs. Cookingyo







What happens on Symphony of the Seas stays on the internet.