melmar02

Every excursion I have done with Royal that was "something and beach" the beach time was only an hour at most.

San Juan - we skipped breakfast on the ship and ate at a restaurant that looked good along the way to the fort. Took pictures on the hill and toured the fort. Walked down the wall and around the city, then stopped in for drinks at El Covento on the way back to the ship. I think we spent less than $20pp all day, but that was also 15 years ago.

I loved the sticky toffee pudding on UK night on Explorer a couple months ago. Fish and chips were just ok, but DS enjoyed the chicken and mushroom pie. Welcome night is out least favorite followed closely by Italian. If we eat in the MDR on night one I usually get the crab cake, prime rib, and DH and I also split the chicken saag. None of the desserts jump out at me either.

The kids loved to use their C&A drink vouchers on Johnny Rockets milkshakes every day. I'm a simple coconut ranger cookie girl - on Explorer last month they were sometimes on only one side of the Windjammer, so walk around to the other side if you don't see them. The lychee tart was good in the MDR on Asian night, but I wish the raspberry jam they filled the tart with was seedless.

You can get an idea of what to expect in the app by switching your sailing to the current one. There are several steps to get there... Click the person/profile icon at the top of the screen then "select a different cruise". Scroll to the bottom of the screen to the "Don't see your cruise?" section and click "let's add it now." Then you can click "browse our ships". From this point it is easy - choose your ship from the list and then click on the current sailing which is at the top of the dates listed. To get back to your sailing it is a little bit easier. Click the person/profile icon at the top of the screen then "select a different cruise" like you did before. Then you should see your actual cruise listed, and you can just click on it.

Great news! Royal just emailed me the link to the rest of our photos, and they are downloaded! Thanks for following along.

Good to hear! Hopefully since we are used to driving to and staying outside of Galveston it won't feel so bad to us? So a little photo package drama... I pre-purchased the 50 photo package and DH and I each had a free photo curtesy of C&A. I went on the last day and selected my 51 photos with a Focus crew member and was able to access them through the QR code at the end of the transaction. Then DH selected his one photo right after I finished my transaction again with the Focus crew member right there. I didn't bother checking his since it was just one photo, and to be honest, we were really happy with the 51 we already had so it was just a bonus photo. I normally download the photos right away to my phone, but my storage was almost maxed out (forgot to do a photo dump to my laptop before we left), so I thought I'll just wait for the email which I received while still on the ship disembarkation morning. Great, easy peasy, right? Wrong. My MIL came over today, and I was going to show her the pictures. When I access the link I was emailed...only our two freebie diamond pictures are there. Not the 50 "first choice" pictures. Ugh. I took screen shots of the confirmation pages/qr codes from when we selected the pictures and tried to load them using the code from the first transaction. The same two photos pop up. I look at my second QR code screen shot, and the codes are the same. Surely they didn't overwrite my 50 photo order with these two pictures? The photo website help button cycles you through a series of "how to download your pictures" pop ups, and there is no contact information listed. I finally find a photo help form on Royal's main website which will be answered in 10 business days. Y'all, tell me there is hope and these pictures aren't lost forever!

Final thoughts We sailed in connecting balconies on Harmony last spring, and these rooms were definitely smaller. Even the shower tubes seemed a little tighter. The beds were not as hard as those we have had on recent sailings though. Water pressure was great. Service was great. Food was good to really good. There were some definite misses. The Tapas Medley in the MDR was bland and the pizza at Cafe Promenade usually had a burnt outer crust, but for the most part everything else was tasty. We only thought we were prepared for the humidity in Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia. I mean, we knew we were going to rainforests at the equator, so it was bound to be 90% humidity. But it's just something you don't really comprehend until you actually experience it. There are times we were miserable in the moment, but we all agree that we would go back to these ports. I don't like how all the Miami cruise ship terminals are on all on top of one another. It seems to create unnecessary traffic issues especially with 9 ships all trying to turn passengers over at once. I much prefer Galveston and Ft. Lauderdale, and the itinerary will really have to be worth it for us to consider going out of Miami again. We sail out of Orlando next year, so it will be interesting to compare. 11 nights felt like a good length for us. There is so much go, go, go that a 7 day can feel rushed, and it was nice to have two sea days at the end of this sailing. Next up - 8 days on Harmony out of Galveston in October. We're headed back to Coco Cay!

Day 12 - Disembarkation We decided to get the kids breakfast in the MDR instead of battle the craziness of the WJ. They were very disorganized though - it took a long time to seat us and orders were mixed up between tables. The kids must have thought they were never going to eat again, because they each ordered three breakfasts and ate it all! We then went to the theater to wait for our transfer to the airport. Our number was called right at the estimated time of 9:45. They had to keep stopping people from getting off the ship because of delays inside the terminal. Once we were called, we made our way to the outer deck and they stopped the process again. We finally were let off the ship after about 20 minutes of waiting on deck and made our way to collect our luggage. Then we snaked our way to the customs area of the terminal, and the delays all made sense. Of the 26 stations, only 6 customs agents were working to process 3500 people getting off the ship! We cleared and exited the terminal. The transfer busses are located on the far right of the busses parked outside. Fortunately traffic was pretty light, and we made it to the airport in under 30 minutes. We booked a 5:30pm flight because we didn't want to feel rushed, but in our waiting time the our gate changed twice and a plane was refused by the pilot because the AC was not working. We were delayed by about 30 minutes, but he made up quite a bit of that in the air and we landed just after 7:30 Dallas time. Because of all the changes, I was worried we would have issues with our bags. They all arrived, but one caught an earlier flight and wound up at a different terminal. We finally made it home at 10pm. We picked up burgers on the way, ate, and headed to bed because we had classes in the morning. Yesterday, we all felt the after effects of a long day of travel, but DH picked up the dogs, and we are all happy to be sleeping in our own beds again.

Ok. Back home and time to wrap this trip report up. I'm typing on my laptop, but my pictures are still on my phone so I'll post them seperately. The last two days of our cruise were sea days. On day 10 DH and I went to the Bachata dance class in the morning, then DS and I went to the flowrider for the last time. After 2 runs, he was worn out and we called it quits for the rest of the cruise. We tried to go ice skating, but I forgot we needed reservations. Fortunately they just added the sessions to the last day, and I was able to get a 10am reservation. We all napped, hit afternoon trivia, and got ready for our last dress your best night which was Taste of Royal night in the MDR. Escargot and Vidalia Onion Tarts, Chicken Marsala and lobster (DD explained to our waiter how to tell if the lobster was a male or female), Baked Alaska, Strawberry Shortcake and Warm Chocolate Cake. We received two mini towel animals this evening. The next day we went to our ice skating session. Because this was the first session of the day, I think we got a little extra time on the ice. DD asked for tips from the skaters running the session, and they offered her some suggestions and the let her use a walker. They only had one tall walker available, so I am glad we got there early. DH and I took the a Cha Cha dance class, we went to Johnny Rockets for lunch, and then we went to trivia and played a round of shuffleboard before packing to go home. Bon Voyage in the MDR - Mediterranean Tapas (blah), asparagus, shrimp cocktail, braised lamb, steak, and chicken. Peach trifle, Black Forest Tart, and Crema Catalana for our final desserts.

Curacao - day 9 We had another early RC excursion this day and met once again in the theater. The process was fortunately quick and we on our bus shortly for the Beach Hop and Turtle Snorkel. We drove for about an hour to reach the far north western point of the island where we donned our snorkel gear and walked into the cool water. As far as snorkeling goes, there wasn't a lot to see, but there were 3 turtles around the pier we were next to. My phone cooperated enough to get a picture of the largest. After 30 minutes in the water, we were back on the bus with a 20 minute drive to the second beach. We had an hour at this location and we're given a ticket for a beach chair, a shower, and a soda or water. We had about an hour and 15 minutes at this beach, amd DD and DH stayed on the beach while DS and I snorkeled a little more. Here we saw some coral formations and a skate, parrot fish, small barracuda, and a variety of other fish. It wasn't the best snorkeling we have experienced, but not bad for a quick swim. We were driven back to the port area where we picked up our souvenirs then boarded the ship. We had a quick lunch in the WJ then got in the hot tub while DS waited for the flowrider to open up. It was Taste of Asia night. Tom Yum soup, dumplings, and spring rolls for appetizers; pad Thai, Kung pao chicken, salmon teriyaki, and a steak for entrees along with the chicken biriani; and Bahn flan, lychee tart, and matcha passion fruit cake for dessert. Our waiter was very concerned when I asked for limes for my pad Thai, thinking it was dry. He kept asking if I wanted another one with more sauce. I had to reassure him that it was great, that's just how I have always eaten it - am I the only one who squeezes lime on this dish? After dinner, DH and I made our way back to the casino where we played blackjack for a few hours. We had a much better day, but are still down a little.

That night was Taste of Caribbean in the dining room. Bao Tacos and coconut shrimp appetizers, Caribbean chicken and tiger shrimp entrees, and pineapple sunshine cake and brownies for dessert. We ran off the ship to get some night time pictures, but we couldn't get far enough away to get the whole thing in one shot. Then back onboard for some latin dancing before bed. We have been getting the same towel animals in both rooms each time they are left for us. Tonight was a departure from that, and DH and I received the frog while the kids got the crab/spider/octopus (depending on who you ask).

It wasn't so much a tart, but a circle of puff pastry with a little ratatouille and goat cheese and herbs on top, basalmic on the plate. It tasted good, but it was definitely all made separately and scooped onto the pastry as opposed to baked together. Keeping with tradition, my live blog fell apart part way through the cruise. Here's the recap for our full day in Aruba. We had a 3rd party excursion with ABC Tours. All the excursions pick you up just steps from the ship, so they were easy to find. We made the short drive to their headquarters and we're assigned our jeep for the day. We chose the morning Natural Pool and Indian Cave Jeep Safari tour which included lunch. They advertised the tour for 8 people, and a couple on a land vacation were on our jeep. Another couple was assigned to our jeep as well, but they missed the departure (we waited a while for them). They eventually showed up, and someone drove them to the first stop on the tour to catch up with us. We're not sure if they were cruising or staying on the island - they didn't talk to anyone during the excursion. Our first stop was the Casibari rock formation where indigenous people would send other smoke signals to warn of invaders. You can climb to the top by a combination of crawling through part of the formation and steps, or there is a full set of (steep) stairs on the back. Next we drove to Arikok National Park for the rest of the tour. We saw one of the the remaining natural bridges then continued to the natural pool. The waves were too high to get in the water, but we did meet this guy on the 95 steps down for pictures. We then went to a beach where we could get our feet wet, but not actually swim. On to the Indian Caves. There is a small fresh water pool where you can get a free fish pedicure there too. This was the last stop on the tour, and we returned to ABC's location for lunch. They sent an email the day before the tour asking us fornour order - BBQ chicken breast or thighs (that'swhat we all ordered), fish, vegetarian pasta, pumpkin soup, and a vegan option. They also offered kid's burger or hot dog. After lunch, they dropped us back at the cruise terminal. Aruba was downright refreshing after the humidity of central and south America. It was warm, but the breeze keptnus comfortable. We had a good time on this tour, and would go with ABC again. My only complaint is that the seats face the center of the vehicle so I was looking over my shoulder to the left all day.