ScooterScott22

Yes, I am old.  (For those of you that get the reference.)

Day 6. Breakfast on the balcony as we pulled into Curaçao. Taylor and I were the only ones who went ashore.  Jay walked us off and negotiated a great rate for a cab to stay with us and take us on a tour. We first went to Mambo Beach. I know I told you we went there in Aruba but we didn’t. Because Mambo Beach isn’t in Aruba😁. I might have been drinking that day. Or now. Whatever, we we went there this day!  Then it was off to the Queen Emma Bridge. It’s a pretty cool floating bridge with propellers so it can be rotated to allow boats to pass. When Taylor was only 5 we visited on a Disney Cruise and she must have ran across that bridge 15 times with me in pursuit!  Thank God she’s calmed down and we only walked across once!  Then a little shopping and back to ship. I got off again later and walked to the port shopping area to buy a gift for sweet Lusi in the ice cream shop. Then had a couple, maybe more, Jack Daniels to prepare for Chef’s Table. I have no idea why I went. I’m not a wine person. And I’m not a foodie. I’m a simple steak or hot dog kind of guy. So when you bring me a saucer filled with something that looks like snot and you call it scallops I don’t get too excited. And folks who have enjoyed this event know it’s not a quick meal. But this one…this sucker was four, I say four, hours long!  I was nearly ready to swim back to Ft Lauderdale. To add to the excitement I was seated next to some blow hole that just never took a breath but yacked about everything under the sun.  I didn’t take pictures of the food but from my description of the scallops was enough. Four hours. The only good thing about the evening was sharing it with @Lonnieand his group. 

Day 7 turned out to be by far the best day of the cruise. Maybe even the best day of any cruise I’ve been on. It was a relaxing, casual day at sea. We had breakfast in the room as usual. A little morning pool time for the girls while I explored. And then our first surprise of the day - an invitation to lunch at Izumi with our new best friend Jay. This guy was so fun and pleasant to be with!  We spent a good hour or more eating bait and learning about his life. He may or may not have told us of some of his horror story guests😂. I’ll have more about him later but If you ever have a chance to meet him you’re in for a treat!

After a little rest we hosted a small cocktail party in the suite. We had another of Jay’s guests and @Lonnie, his wife and friends who were sailing with Genie Alan up for snacks and drinks. It was a great couple of hours of stories, jokes and laughter!  Jay and Alan came by for a visit also. Alan came with a tray of fireball shots. Then a room service young man came with another tray of Fireball shots. Rinse and repeat you know?  I’m not saying any Genie or room service dude actually drank any of them they’re just holding those shot glasses for the photos 😉😂🥃. We all had a blast or as Alan would say, Oohh-La-La!

In our initial planning with Jay we had asked for a casual dinner in the suite for night 7. Well as you may have read my comment on the blog by @CravingaCruise, we were in for a surprise!  Jay arrived with two room service guys with a BUNCH of food. And then guests that only I didn’t know about arrived. Our Headliner entertainers from earlier in the week, MO5AIC. Jay said he set it up because he thought both the group and our family would enjoy being together. And I believe he was right. We dined and drank and laughed for over an hour. I’m not sure how many filets and lobster tails were devoured!We listened to their stories, laughed as they teased each other and answered their questions about us. And then they performed in the living room of the suite. They were casual, laughing and amazing. They sang Don’t Stop Believing for Stacy and her new restaurant, Happy Birthday to Taylor and many others. For around two hours we all just hung out and enjoyed their talents. I was amazed with their interaction with us. I once served in our White House on details for four U.S. Presidents. Later I served on protective details for other high ranking government officials. During those years I had many opportunities to meet and be around many, many entertainers, actors, sports figures and other celebrities. But I have NEVER met anyone who was as down to earth, gracious and humble as these five gentlemen. They were in no hurry to leave the party and we gladly skipped the ventriloquist show to hang out with these guys. They sang and drank in the living room and they sang and drank on the balcony. After the first hour it was like we were old friends. All thanks to Jay!

After several hours in the room we all went down to a bar on the Promenade for a few more drinks and many more laughs!  The founder and leader of the group took me aside to talk. We traded numbers and emails and he seriously told me that Las Vegas is a quick drive from us in Southern California and that they would love to shoot down and do the grand opening of our restaurant. And we chatted again about it as we were leaving the ship. Gracious guy!

First let me share a little bit about how we got here.  Sorry some of this maybe a little long.
  This all starts back in May 2019 aboard the inaugural Alaska sailing of the Ovation.  We were sailing in a grand loft suite and did enjoy the experience.  While onboard the opportunity to book the Tokyo to Seattle sailing a couple years out came up and we took advantage.     Fast forward to when things went off the rails, that infamous spring of 2020.  With everything going on we lift and shifted to a later cruise sailing from Sydney to Honolulu.  We were very excited to book into 8734 grand loft suite with some guidance from @WAAAYTOOO   That sailing seemed good for a a little while and then magically the whole cruise disappeared.  Through some work by my wife, she tracked down that they cancelled that whole cruise and scheduled the ship out of Brisbane.  She was able to get things worked out so that we would be in the same room from Brisbane to Honolulu.  Really should have been a no-brainer on Royal’s part to reach out and offer the move but it took quite a bit of effort from DW.  We really thought Royal dropped the ball with managing the change/cancellation but this was happening all over the place and not just to a sigle sailing so they will get a little bit of leeway for now.     All looked settled once again, until Australia cruises were cancelled and did not have a viable re-start date.  At least with everything shut down , it was really just a wait and see thing.     Finally as things started to re-open we looked into sailings that might be interesting.  Having never done the Southern Caribbean/ABC islands the itinerary looked good and with the credits we just had all we needed to do was settle on a stateroom.    We really were looking forward to the 8734 grand loft suite but since we had switched from the Quantum class to the Oasis class it would not be an option.  Since were had always been booked into Star Class, we were thinking that the Star Loft suite would be the best fit for the three of us.  But….  …The option of the Royal Loft 1740 was there, so why not, right???   Of course, so it was settled, Royal Loft suite it is.   Looks like it was finally set, now just a waiting game.

We have been watching the storm and as of yesterday figured it was likely going to impact the sailing.  We are expecting some route changes and maybe skipping Labadee but who knows.
There was a rumor posted that the genies heard pretty good odds of changes.  Yesterday it was said the big decision/update would be tomorrow, so hopefully someone will hear something and pass it along.
 
And now we will return you back to the regular blog posts.

Excited to be sailing this Saturday.
Just sharing a little explanation about the late start  for  this thread.  There is a fairly significant back story to this sailing and some reasons why it is starting at this time.  I’ll share a portion of the story in posts below.     First just the basics.  We will be doing the 8 night southern Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas.  It will be myself, wife and son.  We have added my parents to sail with us this cruise.   For anyone who chooses to follow along, I’ll try to do some brief but regular updates but as this trip is going to focus on the family time, so I’m apologizing ahead of time for any brevity or lack of updates.

First let me share a little bit about how we got here.  Sorry some of this maybe a little long.
  This all starts back in May 2019 aboard the inaugural Alaska sailing of the Ovation.  We were sailing in a grand loft suite and did enjoy the experience.  While onboard the opportunity to book the Tokyo to Seattle sailing a couple years out came up and we took advantage.     Fast forward to when things went off the rails, that infamous spring of 2020.  With everything going on we lift and shifted to a later cruise sailing from Sydney to Honolulu.  We were very excited to book into 8734 grand loft suite with some guidance from @WAAAYTOOO   That sailing seemed good for a a little while and then magically the whole cruise disappeared.  Through some work by my wife, she tracked down that they cancelled that whole cruise and scheduled the ship out of Brisbane.  She was able to get things worked out so that we would be in the same room from Brisbane to Honolulu.  Really should have been a no-brainer on Royal’s part to reach out and offer the move but it took quite a bit of effort from DW.  We really thought Royal dropped the ball with managing the change/cancellation but this was happening all over the place and not just to a sigle sailing so they will get a little bit of leeway for now.     All looked settled once again, until Australia cruises were cancelled and did not have a viable re-start date.  At least with everything shut down , it was really just a wait and see thing.     Finally as things started to re-open we looked into sailings that might be interesting.  Having never done the Southern Caribbean/ABC islands the itinerary looked good and with the credits we just had all we needed to do was settle on a stateroom.    We really were looking forward to the 8734 grand loft suite but since we had switched from the Quantum class to the Oasis class it would not be an option.  Since were had always been booked into Star Class, we were thinking that the Star Loft suite would be the best fit for the three of us.  But….  …The option of the Royal Loft 1740 was there, so why not, right???   Of course, so it was settled, Royal Loft suite it is.   Looks like it was finally set, now just a waiting game.

Excited to be sailing this Saturday.
Just sharing a little explanation about the late start  for  this thread.  There is a fairly significant back story to this sailing and some reasons why it is starting at this time.  I’ll share a portion of the story in posts below.     First just the basics.  We will be doing the 8 night southern Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas.  It will be myself, wife and son.  We have added my parents to sail with us this cruise.   For anyone who chooses to follow along, I’ll try to do some brief but regular updates but as this trip is going to focus on the family time, so I’m apologizing ahead of time for any brevity or lack of updates.

Excited to be sailing this Saturday.
Just sharing a little explanation about the late start  for  this thread.  There is a fairly significant back story to this sailing and some reasons why it is starting at this time.  I’ll share a portion of the story in posts below.     First just the basics.  We will be doing the 8 night southern Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas.  It will be myself, wife and son.  We have added my parents to sail with us this cruise.   For anyone who chooses to follow along, I’ll try to do some brief but regular updates but as this trip is going to focus on the family time, so I’m apologizing ahead of time for any brevity or lack of updates.

We have been watching the storm and as of yesterday figured it was likely going to impact the sailing.  We are expecting some route changes and maybe skipping Labadee but who knows.
There was a rumor posted that the genies heard pretty good odds of changes.  Yesterday it was said the big decision/update would be tomorrow, so hopefully someone will hear something and pass it along.
 
And now we will return you back to the regular blog posts.

WE INTERRUPT THIS LIVE BLOG TO PROVIDE SOME BREAKING NEWS.
Fiona had formed officially.

First let me share a little bit about how we got here.  Sorry some of this maybe a little long.
  This all starts back in May 2019 aboard the inaugural Alaska sailing of the Ovation.  We were sailing in a grand loft suite and did enjoy the experience.  While onboard the opportunity to book the Tokyo to Seattle sailing a couple years out came up and we took advantage.     Fast forward to when things went off the rails, that infamous spring of 2020.  With everything going on we lift and shifted to a later cruise sailing from Sydney to Honolulu.  We were very excited to book into 8734 grand loft suite with some guidance from @WAAAYTOOO   That sailing seemed good for a a little while and then magically the whole cruise disappeared.  Through some work by my wife, she tracked down that they cancelled that whole cruise and scheduled the ship out of Brisbane.  She was able to get things worked out so that we would be in the same room from Brisbane to Honolulu.  Really should have been a no-brainer on Royal’s part to reach out and offer the move but it took quite a bit of effort from DW.  We really thought Royal dropped the ball with managing the change/cancellation but this was happening all over the place and not just to a sigle sailing so they will get a little bit of leeway for now.     All looked settled once again, until Australia cruises were cancelled and did not have a viable re-start date.  At least with everything shut down , it was really just a wait and see thing.     Finally as things started to re-open we looked into sailings that might be interesting.  Having never done the Southern Caribbean/ABC islands the itinerary looked good and with the credits we just had all we needed to do was settle on a stateroom.    We really were looking forward to the 8734 grand loft suite but since we had switched from the Quantum class to the Oasis class it would not be an option.  Since were had always been booked into Star Class, we were thinking that the Star Loft suite would be the best fit for the three of us.  But….  …The option of the Royal Loft 1740 was there, so why not, right???   Of course, so it was settled, Royal Loft suite it is.   Looks like it was finally set, now just a waiting game.

Excited to be sailing this Saturday.
Just sharing a little explanation about the late start  for  this thread.  There is a fairly significant back story to this sailing and some reasons why it is starting at this time.  I’ll share a portion of the story in posts below.     First just the basics.  We will be doing the 8 night southern Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas.  It will be myself, wife and son.  We have added my parents to sail with us this cruise.   For anyone who chooses to follow along, I’ll try to do some brief but regular updates but as this trip is going to focus on the family time, so I’m apologizing ahead of time for any brevity or lack of updates.

We have been watching the storm and as of yesterday figured it was likely going to impact the sailing.  We are expecting some route changes and maybe skipping Labadee but who knows.
There was a rumor posted that the genies heard pretty good odds of changes.  Yesterday it was said the big decision/update would be tomorrow, so hopefully someone will hear something and pass it along.
 
And now we will return you back to the regular blog posts.

Excited to be sailing this Saturday.
Just sharing a little explanation about the late start  for  this thread.  There is a fairly significant back story to this sailing and some reasons why it is starting at this time.  I’ll share a portion of the story in posts below.     First just the basics.  We will be doing the 8 night southern Caribbean on the Allure of the Seas.  It will be myself, wife and son.  We have added my parents to sail with us this cruise.   For anyone who chooses to follow along, I’ll try to do some brief but regular updates but as this trip is going to focus on the family time, so I’m apologizing ahead of time for any brevity or lack of updates.

@Rags1 have a good cruise, bon voyage!

For those wondering how the air conditioning works in this room, this is Taylor during afternoon nap. The AC works like a champ

We are local and had to be dropped off once just before 7:30 and the porters were there and took our bags. Just sharing that they are there but that was unusual circumstances, and not recommended.  
If you are driving yourself, they may not let you enter the parking if you are too early.  

@Rags1 have a good cruise, bon voyage!

I’m working on explaining to Jay the difference between singular and plural. As in “shot” vs “shots.”  Glad I’m not driving this week. And Putu and Benjamin are very good at the animals!

Wonder had the casino open both at Coco Cay and St. Maartin a few months ago.  Not sure if that was the island you are thinking of?

Wonder had the casino open both at Coco Cay and St. Maartin a few months ago.  Not sure if that was the island you are thinking of?