heffy2

So sorry to hear, I can't believe how hard it would be on the day of sailing. Thanks for the wonderful Podcast episode this week, and every week.

So sorry to hear, I can't believe how hard it would be on the day of sailing. Thanks for the wonderful Podcast episode this week, and every week.

There is a lot going on around the ship but I'll be back soon enough so I'm not doing the ship's entertainment staff justice.  I'll post the Cruise Compasses once I get home to scan them in properly.
Outside for a walk on the Promenade deck there were a lot of stars visible.  That made me pull out my night sky photography app and see where the Milky Way might be tonight. Sure enough...
Majesty has these shelves along the forward section of the Promenade deck that worked great for my little tripod.

While we were well past sunset the long exposure catches enough light coming over the horizon to make it look like a sunset.  The lights of a city were on the horizon to starboard.
The big dipper was very prominent tonight.  It stood out more with the naked eye compared to this 10 second exposure.

In this one I caught a passing airplane with it's strobe light flashing every second.

For this one I setup on the floor of the deck trying to get into the shade of those Windjammer lights.  In the darkness of the forward deck I got some strange looks as random guests walking past were wondering what I was doing crouched down low in the dark.  Oh well, all in the name of taking a picture.

All in all not bad.  Majesty like Empress is also a good ship for stargazing with it's dark forward Promenade deck.

Thanks for such a great live blog! Your pictures are lovely, I hope you're all having a wonderful time.

Day 2 - Nassau
Been there, done that and it's raining so I'm staying on the ship today.  Besides I'll be back twice in as many weeks.

Navigator joined us shortly after our arrival.

Galley Tour at 11:30am.  Despite it being in the middle of a port day there were a dozen or so participants. 
Here they are getting cheese plates and appetizers ready for dinner.  Formal night tonight.

Bacon.  Yum.

Beef Tenderloin and Duck getting readied for dinner.

Making whipped butter for dinner.

The bakery.  Always the best smelling spot in the galley.


Pastry chefs hard at work.

Chocolate covered strawberries anyone?

First noted on Empress so I inquired some more here on Majesty.  Powdered or "bulk" scrambled eggs are a thing of the past.  They were having trouble with the product turning black upon cooking so the fleet has standardized on fresh eggs being used for scrambled eggs, in fact for all egg purposes, only fresh eggs are used.

Yes, it is.  With that I've sailed every (current) class in the Royal fleet. 

Debark
I was in no hurry today so I took my time, enjoyed a last WJ breakfast and finished packing the last few items in my cabin.  I'm renting a car today which I'll return in the morning but I wanted to keep it to a 24 hour rental to avoid hourly charges for going past 24 hours.  My desired time to turn it in tomorrow drove my required pickup time today which I targeted 9:30am to 10am for.
My JS came with luggage tag #1 but I planned to carry off my own bags.
I wanted to be get out of my cabin so James my cabin attendant could sanitize and ready it for the next guests so I planned to sit around the Schooner Bar area until 9am-ish.  Consequently I was out of my cabin well before 8am.
Early to the pier they called self-assist starting at 7:30am a full 30 minutes early.  I stayed in the Schooner Bar to kill some time.
The self-assist line eventually made it through the theater, through the Centrum and into the Schooner Bar where I was working on my morning pictures I posted above.  
Several management team greeted me as they passed by doing their morning turn-around day thing.
Talking with Jorge our GSM the day before he had stated they typically have to wait until all guests are off before departing crew leaving the ship at contract end can leave.  Not wanting to extend that for them I headed off just before 9am.  
Carrying my own luggage I left somewhere around luggage tag 14 being called.  That's normally 9:15am on the departure letter so they were still running ahead of schedule.
Still routing through the theater and out onto the terminal bridge from deck 5 I followed the line a little but further than self-assist normally go since I was in the luggage tag crowd who had to reach the carousels to retrieve their bags.  Past luggage and onto customs there were none today, we simply walked outside.  Apparently CBP had really cleared the ship when they cleared the ship to debark.
I had a short wait for the Hertz car rental shuttle.  While waiting I saw car rental shuttles for Payless, Avis and Budget (sharing one shuttle bus) and National, Alamo and Enterprise (sharing a different shuttle bus).  My pickup location was the 2nd Street HLE office for Hertz downtown Miami.  Some of the other rental bus customers go to the Miami airport to get their cars.  I'm using weekend points from my Hertz loyalty program so my rental is costing me a whopping $2.16.
My rental only had a 1/2 tank of gas so I had to go back in and get my contract fixed to reflect that but even with that I was on my way and at my Fort Lauderdale hotel by 10am.  My luck continued, they had a room ready despite being very early for check in. 
No real plans today, maybe some pool time at my hotel.  Maybe I'll run out and buy two bottles of wine although I not sure I really need it with a nightly Diamond event on Majesty starting tomorrow night.  

After Shopping We Went To The Schooner Bar.

Day Three Cozumel
 I Got Up And Went To The Windjammer For Breakfast Then Took This Great Photo.

Then We Went And Got Of The Boat. To Go Shopping.

 

After We Went Shopping We Hung Out In Boleros.

 

Meal with an Officer
Today there we so many attending MWAO today that they had to use the MDR and five large tables.  

Our officer was from Shore Excursions.
Typically around 60% of shore excursions are booked in the cruise planner versus on board.  Still, that's 40% that book on board usually at full price.
On the Western Caribbean itineraries Costa Maya will often see the highest shore excursion sales.  It's very popular for excursions.


Cuba excursions were a lot of work for the ShoreEx team.  There was a lot of record keeping and paperwork that went along with meeting the US OFAC regulations.  Our officer was on vacation when Cuba became off limits.  Coming back to this ship after the itineraries changed she doesn't miss the paperwork aspect of Cuban excursions.
Sometimes crew can participate in an excursion but the vendor that operates the excursion has to agree.  
Someone at my table used a dirty word at lunch.  PACKING.  Something I should start thinking about.  

Congratulations on getting your block!

Day 8 - Sea Day
Miami tomorrow and the dreaded debark.
With a layer of cloud on the horizon this morning I could look at the full sun without burning my retinas.  

Our progress...

Crystal block cruise! 
With my own little Empress sailing on the Seas I have another memento of this fabulous cruise.

Another hidden discovery is that Wow! bands can be used to access your cabin.

Unfortunately when used in this fashion anyone on the ship can use your Wow! band to access your cabin.

Okay, that's a lame joke but I was enjoying drinks at the Schooner Bar up to this point...

So, thanks to this friggin' wonderful live blog, I YOLO booked the November 14th. 2020 sailing of the Empress. I'm in a studio ocean view. What made me pull the trigger is there was no single supplement. I had no idea until looking at sailings last night, that the Empress had any single cabins. Thank you @twangster for taking the time to do this.

In the words as sung by Britney Spears...  ? Oops, I Did it Again ?
For those who are wondering what is he talking about?  (or thinking I've enjoyed one too many happy hour drinks)  I just finished 14 nights on this little beauty last week.  You can read about that B2B experience here:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14213-empress-b2b-14-nights-on-the-biggest-little-ship-july-2019/
Those cruises were great but they were Western Caribbean and this 8 night cruise is Eastern Caribbean including a stop at Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.  Royal hasn't visited the BVI very much in recent years so when I saw the BVI added to the itinerary in the wake of the Cuba cancellations I knew I had to do it.  Icing on my cake comes courtesy of another visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay. 
Itinerary
Miami Perfect Day at CocoCay Sea Day San Juan Tortola St Thomas Sea Day Sea Day Miami Our Perfect Day ends at 2pm so we can make it to San Juan for a 3pm arrival after a day at sea.  We stay until midnight in San Juan so if all goes well I hope to get some evening and night pictures around San Juan.
Sailing in a Junior Suite I have scored one of the most forward deck 9 JS cabins this time.
I love this small ship and her big heart.  It's a good thing I love this ship because this will be my fourth cruise on her.  My Crown and Anchor points haven't been posted yet from my last cruise on her so with the "paint still wet", I'm heading back to the love of my life, or at least the love of my life right now. 
Because I'm flying I don't like taking just one cruise so with a night off the water in between, I'm doing a side-to-side over to Majesty right after this cruise.  A few years ago I started dreaming about a tour of the small ships and this marks another step towards completing that goal.  
I think I set a record this time having packed my suitcase a full two days before the cruise.  Basically I took my cruise clothes from the dryer and put them right back into my suitcase.  
      " You see my problem is this
       I'm dreaming away
       Wishing that heroes, they truly exist
       I cry, watching the days
       Can't you see I'm a fool in so many ways
       But to lose all my senses
       That is just so typically me
       Oh baby, oh "
Okay that doesn't make total sense but it's the only part of the lyrics that somewhat fit so I'm going with it.  

So, thanks to this friggin' wonderful live blog, I YOLO booked the November 14th. 2020 sailing of the Empress. I'm in a studio ocean view. What made me pull the trigger is there was no single supplement. I had no idea until looking at sailings last night, that the Empress had any single cabins. Thank you @twangster for taking the time to do this.

So, thanks to this friggin' wonderful live blog, I YOLO booked the November 14th. 2020 sailing of the Empress. I'm in a studio ocean view. What made me pull the trigger is there was no single supplement. I had no idea until looking at sailings last night, that the Empress had any single cabins. Thank you @twangster for taking the time to do this.

So, thanks to this friggin' wonderful live blog, I YOLO booked the November 14th. 2020 sailing of the Empress. I'm in a studio ocean view. What made me pull the trigger is there was no single supplement. I had no idea until looking at sailings last night, that the Empress had any single cabins. Thank you @twangster for taking the time to do this.

Ummm, please do not include pictures in your replies.  
LOL!  

So, thanks to this friggin' wonderful live blog, I YOLO booked the November 14th. 2020 sailing of the Empress. I'm in a studio ocean view. What made me pull the trigger is there was no single supplement. I had no idea until looking at sailings last night, that the Empress had any single cabins. Thank you @twangster for taking the time to do this.

Thank you for another wonderful review! Empress is going to have a TON of new guests now.

This visit to Hubbard Glacier is a special one. 
Hubbard Glacier is not a regularly scheduled stop for Ovation of the Seas.  This may be one of those rare occasions when an itinerary lines up like the stars.  Who knows when Ovation of the Seas might return?  
While the day started out cold and wet in full Alaskan fashion that didn't last long and we we treated to a fantastic finish.




From North Star as we swung out over the side of the ship.

Pretty cool seeing Ovation slowly navigating through large pieces of glacial ice in the water.










Zan Ma and Li Bao's first visit to an Alaskan Glacier.

Not a bad seat in the house.








Talk about a change in the weather?  What a glorious day!

Alas it was time to leave...




My third stop here at Hubbard Glacier and this is the best weather I've experienced.  
What a special day!

Definitely won't be having one of those, then. Ever.
Y'know how there are some people who can never even hear the word "tequila" again? That's me with gin. 28 years later. ?