AshleyDillo

Chill Island is likely to be quieter than Hideaway. It used to be the loud music was at the Oasis Lagoon but Hideaway Beach opened and they moved the DJ over there. It wasn't too obnoxiously loud when I was at Hideaway, though. I do think Chill would bring the quiet now that the Oasis Lagoon is quieter.

My birthday twin to the day and year!

Suite guests on Icon have access to Coastal Kitchen for lunch.

That's why I like 3-card...no bluffing involved. I don't even know how to play anything else really But for anyone who knows, I was betting 10-10-5 and managed to come away ahead and last that long..so I had quite a good run!

Woke up to this... And this... Then debarkation was a cluster. Only one gangway was open and they had two places for self-assist to congregate at 7:30 the MDR and the theater. My room was more forward so I went down around 7am and they had the doors from the elevator to the theater closed so everyone was piled into the Schooner. They had the casino doors closed as well. Elevator after elevator of people and luggage were coming down and trying to exit to the closed off lobby. They made an announcement for no one else to go down and finally at 7:30 they opened the casino doors and made us drag our luggage through the casino and Playmakers all the way to the dining room where they sent us out the port side of the ship and back to the forward entrance We were then fed through the theater and out the starboard side of the ship to the aft gangway where we merged in with the MDR folks getting off the ship. They didn't use facial recognition at this terminal and the passport guy was having a full on conversation with every party. I was finally off the ship and on the road by 8am. Parking at the garage across from terminal G was $88 for the 4 nights.

I napped a lot this cruise. It was glorious. Last night in the MDR was Caribbean night which is my least favorite menu, so I had the French onion soup and strip steak, my usual standby order. Then I went and casinoed. I finally got up the nerve to play 3-card poker after I had decent success with the slots. I bought in for $200 and played for nearly 4 hours and left with $665 My points total jumped up over 400 points from the last time I was at the slots. This was the first time it automatically showed in my points total without having to ask the casino host to convert my table points for slot freeplay. Of course I had to play up to an even amount I did well on my Radiance cruise too..earned about the same number of points..so I'm 80% of the way to prime for the new casino year. I wasn't trying for any instant certs. I checked the 1200pt list on Radiance but didn't look on Independence. I didn't expect to point churn so much on either sailing. I didn't keep track...but I only brought a handful of singles onboard and left with almost enough cash to cover my onboard account on both sailings. This includes daily service charges too.

The 2 bedroom grand suites on Deck 12 are the cheapest entry point for a hot tub...otherwise you have to go Star Class.

Smoking is be allowed on one side of the pool deck and in the casino. The pool deck is open and not in a box like NCL.

Yesterday's MDR was Italian night which has my favorite dish on all the menus. I call it the Indian meatballs dish. It comes with papadum and roti, too. Bonus is that they usually have it in the WJ..so I can always get a second helping. They also have traditional eggplant parmesan in the WJ, which they don't have on the MDR menus.

If you want to use Snapchat you would have to purchase the VOOM internet.

I did try it..it's actual white meat chicken in a panko coating..definitely not hand-breaded. They weren't bad but they're also available in the WJ. The fish is hand battered..I saw the flour dredge bowl and the batter bowls back in the kitchen. They need a dessert though... funnel cakes or churros would be easy.

When they honor a price drop it is a repricing. If you had originally booked with an OBC incentive and you go to reprice, if there's no OBC being offered you lose it. NextCruise OBC would still stay but the get $X OBC when booking is only available if you book at the current pricing.

Well fish and chips is always blah tasting..even in the UK. I wasn't expecting much. I may go back and try the fish sandwich and chicken fingers later.

I've moved this to our Roll Call forum where hopefully it can get more attention. You may want to look for a Facebook group for your sailing as well. If anything make sure he goes to the teen group orientation on board..that's where a lot of the kids establish friendships onboard and then they go off and hang.

This is probably as close to Grand Turk I will get. It is sunny and the outside does not have A/C Maybe when I come back in less than 2 weeks...I'm just a creature of habit when I'm solo. If I ever came back and wasn't alone I would probably rent a golf cart and explore.

Fish n Ships as requested. Everything just tastes beige It's dead out on the pool deck and everything was sitting there pre-plated already under a warmer..probably would be better if it was busy and things were being freshly made. When this was a pay venue the shrimp were Chops sized, hand breaded and fried and not these popcorn shrimp they have now.

You will have to report back if it tastes different out of a plastic bottle

They will still have all those activities..the only thing that may be disappointing is the lack of other kids on the sailing..you never really know what the overall demographic will be but there do tend to be less children outside of a normal holiday or summer sailing.

Time for a little PG-13 inappropriateness.

I envisioned it something like this NYC restaurant..the Journey 360 part. https://journeyexperience.nyc/

Grand Turk is tomorrow..replacement for Labadee. I've never been...any suggestions that aren't fry at a beach or Margaritaville? I'm okay with a low key beach bar with lots of shade as long as there's minimal walking in sand to get there I've heard Jack's Shack is the place to go but I dunno if I'm gonna be motivated enough to get out early enough to beat the crowd.

I got the Buffalo crunch roll with my "spicy" margarita on boarding day...can't promise I will drop any more $ there on this cruise...maybe when I come back. It's my fave but I try to limit myself to one per cruise unless I have UDP..then it's one per day

I'd just love to be able get Wonder this time around..PC is way easier for me to get to. Not gonna lie though..would probably snag Icon if they let me just on $ value principle alone

Here are the picked over Crown Lounge offerings at 8pm. I'm just here for the coffee. Nothing here is compelling enough for second dinner. The deviled eggs look sad compared to the ones I had on Radiance.

Yes! I noticed that on my NCL sailing..everyone was outraged! They also hide the cookies from genpop. We got a tray of them in our suite but none were ever available at the buffet.