AshleyDillo

The saddest day of the cruise came way too early. I had my last in-room espresso from the Lavazza machine and finished shoving the rest of my stuff into my suitcase and zipping it up. The first call I even heard in the room was that they were debarking luggage tag numbers 1 through 33. By 8:30 they had all the numbers called and kept making announcements that all numbers had been called and to GTFO the ship. We still hadn't heard from Alan but they didn't page our name, so no harm done. Alan rang the doorbell promptly at 9:15. He had a crew member with the luggage cart and they followed us the entire way off the ship, even going so far as to put the luggage cart into the elevator with us so we had eyes on it at all times. Alan was able to walk us up to Passport Control where we had to say our final goodbyes to him. He told us to keep in touch with him, add him on Facebook, etc., so now we don't have to feel creepy about all the cyberstalking we did before the cruise Our luggage cart was handed off to a porter. The machines stared deeply into our eyes and cleared us through. We didn't have to stop at Customs to talk to anyone. If there had been a line or a crowd to get off the ship, the Genies can bypass all of that but since we left so late there was nothing. We were in our car and on the way probably 15 minutes after leaving our room. And thus ends the best Star Class experience for us to date! When I get back to an office with a real scanner I will get the Cruise Compasses all scanned in and sent to @Matt to add to the website.

We moseyed down to the Boardwalk and they were doing something sort of mini show the aquatheater. A lot of the cast from the ice show and Mamma Mia were out this evening enjoying a night off. We decided to pay a visit to Johnny Rockets since we hadn't hit them up yet during the week. No milkshakes since we still had Starbucks but we had the usual burgers, fries, onion rings schtick. It was nice to eat a hot french fry for the first time all trip. Room service fries don't hold their heat and even a hot day at Cococay Beach Club doesn't keep the fries piping hot all the way to the cabanas. My mom called it a night and went back to the room and I went to the casino which was pretty much the only place I ever saw anything close to a crowd on the ship. By midnight most people had cleared out and the only crowds that remained were at the casino bar. We walked back to the room and the hallway was already absent of the suitcases that had lined the way earlier in the evening.

Alright, I suppose it's time to finish this up. We left off in the room with shots of Fireball. The evening didn't get much more exciting than that. We started the packing process which consisted of a lot of bickering with my mother that we didn't need to empty the minifridge into our suitcase just because "we paid for it". I was really ok with leaving a few drinks behind. We took all of the Coke Zero's of course. The procedures for luggage collection was that we were to have it ready 15 minutes before the time we wanted to get off the ship, so really we could have saved packing until the morning of debarkation, but we know how that goes. Most of my clothing was clean (thanks Star Class free laundry) so it was an easy pack up for me. Alan had asked us a couple days before when we were planning on leaving the ship. Since we didn't have too long of a drive we asked for 9:30 and he told us we could do 9:15. He had given us Star Class tags for our bags which were just the same purple tags that the porters had put on when we arrived. After that we decided to track down some crew that deserved an extra thank you which this time included our waitress from Giovannis (the tip charge we had added to our $0 check never posted to our onboard account), Carlos up in Coastal Kitchen since he was our server the three times we ate there (again no check to tip on) and we also stopped by for one last round of Starbucks and to give them a thank you as well. They always remembered our names and drink orders when we stopped by.

@Traveler is not Canadian, but his country uses a PDF and he was able to board using that.

We didn't do Chef's Table even though it was included for us. We have a picky eater in our group so it wouldn't have been worth it. We did have the dessert brought to us in Coastal Kitchen and it was the same dessert as the one on the menu in the app. Can't attest if the rest of the menu was the same.

This is the hardest thing for me and my brother to wrap our heads around. My mother has absolutely zero problems with it, though. Our Genie said it makes their job so much easier when you are specific in asking for things. You aren't being high maintenance or demanding at all when asking for what you want. If you don't ask you can't be upset that they didn't read your mind. And that makes sense to me now. I used to think they were there to orchestrate the entire experience, but we got a lot more out of it when we actually gave the Genie something to work with.

Seattle has been cheaper for me whenever I priced it. Check out of Orlando for pricing to see if the 2 hour drive is worth the price savings. There's also Amtrak between the two to make a roundtrip flight. Seward requires flying to Anchorage and taking the Alaskan Railroad, which is an amazing experience, but Anchorage flights are possibly more than Seattle or Vancouver.

I think Optum offers them in smaller packs than eMed, about the only benefit really if you don't need 6 tests.

Boy was it depressing to wake up this morning and not have bacon, eggs and a bloody mary waiting for me. I need to get out of the post cruise slump and write about the debarkation process and wrap things up. But for now for a sign of the times chuckle that you can pay $2.99 to launder a face mask.

As much food and soda as you want to order is included in the cover charge but this doesn't include the milkshakes. The milkshakes will be covered if you have a Refreshment or Deluxe drink package.

Allure had them as well.

She's a Geisha if you like sweet. Spicy Okinawa if you like spicy.

Or we could just have a liquid dinner. Alan stopped by for a visit/check-in and magically Fireball shots appeared.

After a day of sun and relaxing we packed up to head back to the ship. They have tram service right back to the gangway from the beach club. Since it had been a good 3 hours since our beach club meal of course we had our afternoon snack delivery of wings, fruit, chicken fingers and fries waiting on us. My mother decided 150 Central Park was too heavy of a meal so we canceled our reservation for there this evening through a message to Alan. We are winging it tonight for food.

They don't have the legacy Champagne Bar menu though

They do! My mother ordered it without the sticky glaze on it and then complained it wasn't crispy

We picked cabana 25 based on maps and internet searches trying to find one that has not quite as an obscured view. Alan was able to get the one we specifically asked for.

Alan met us in the room and walked us off the ship to the tram to the Beach Club Beach Cabana. This was a last minute fire sale and we got the cabana for $599. It gives access for 8 people and we found someone on a social media roll call group to split it with. Freedom is at CocoCay with us. It's Freedom's turn for the crew to use the island so Allure crew doesn't get to get off this stop. Alan said they alternate.

Then we have today's situation. Life is hard.

No photos since yestetday was pretty much a fitting all the shows in day bookended by an Izumi Sushi lunch and Coastal Kitchen dinner. My mom loves the veal chop so we had to make sure we ate there that night. Alan arranged for us to have the same waiter and table right by the window in the corner. They also brought out some curry shrimp for me and my brother Which i felt was much better than the tuna I ordered.

Today is a sea day. Since we stayed on board for the past two port days it is starting to feel like the movie Groundhog Day. I am absolutely not complaining, though. The one variation we have is every morning we get a surprise with room service. Despite placing the same order every morning, we always wind up with something different. I am assuming this is due to different interpretations by different staff. "A" spicy bloody mary has come in a count of 1, 2 and 3 over different days. 2 poached eggs and an English muffin has come as 4 eggs with 3 English muffins or 2 eggs with one muffin. An omelet with cheddar cheese has come stuffed with mozzarella or American cheese while the bacon and cheese scramble is topped with cheddar. I have been pleased with their ability to get the bacon crispy, though.

Port Canaveral was completely different from what I have seen in Port of Miami. We walked up and they were letting everyone in. There was no separate line for Suite guests, only a podium for Star Class. They had a winding queue outside set up, but there was never anyone in it. We did get there at 11am so not sure if it was different later, but a lot of folks on our sailing arrived earlier and were surprised to be allowed into the line before their check-in times.

My mother likes the 70s show. Somehow her entertainment always seems to include half-naked men.

Then we had dinner from Chops wheeled into the room...sooooo many plates. Eleanor the loft attendant my mom and brother know from prior sailings also popped in to wish my brother a happy birthday. We invited Alan to sit and eat with us and he did. We had even ordered him his own crab cakes. It was nice for him to sit for a bit and chat..again that personal touch that makes Star Class so special.