melmar02

DS and I hit the beach the pool and back to the beach after breakfast. There were quite a few jellyfish bits on the beach, and we found a few intact shells. We headed back to the room and the kids had leftover pizza. DD had a little school work to turn in, and then we took an Uber to The Master Escape Room in Boca Raton. We escaped with 16 minutes to go and almost made the leader board. The lady working the desk said we were the first group to not get a single clue. Then we caught another Uber to JByrd's Muddy Waters for dinner. It was OK. I would go back if we lived here, but probably want to try some place else the next time we sail from here. The spinach artichoke dip was really good - DS even kept eating it which says a lot. I had the gator poboy, DH had the French dip, DD had the seafood mac and cheese, and DS had fried chicken tacos. Nobody left hungry. We're back at the hotel and winding down for the night. We didn't use our drink vouchers yesterday so DH and I are each on our second strawberry margarita.

A few hotel pictures. The spa is closed on Mondays and about half the gym cardio equipment had out of order signs. Looks like drink prices are on point with RC, but you can get pitchers of drinks here.

Thank you! Funny thing, I have never been able to get jalapenos in an omelet in the suite breakfast. I have had them kind of figure out what I wanted and add fresh around day four. One of the reasons we like the Freedom and Voyager class is the WJ being right next to Chops where the suite breakfast is held. I can get a little cup of jalapenos from the buffet to add to my breakfast. 🌶

Girl, I live for jalapenos! DH and I were shocked we didn't have the option to have them on our cheesesticks last night. #youknowyourefromtexaswhen

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here in Ft Lauderdale. High of 84, and there are a few clouds in the distance. With the rip current warning still in effect, we think we made the right decision to forego surf lessons today. We went to the hotel's included breakfast and were able to catch the sunrise over the pool. The ocean is just on the other side of the pool. Breakfast was the typical just OK free hotel breakfast. A step up from Homewood suites with an omelet station in addition to buffet eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, muffins, bagels, and oatmeal. There was no waffle maker which disappointed the kids. after breakfast we walked over to the beach which was clean and drops off pretty quickly at the foot of the loungers. DS and I are headed to the pool, DH is taking a nap, and DD needs a break from yesterday's over stimulation and is going to watch TV until DH is up. They'll join us at the pool then.

We're not at the Embassy suites in Ft Lauderdale. We're staying in Deerfield Beach which is 30ish minutes north.

Thanks, same to you! Right! DH and I looked across the pizza covered table and let out a collective sigh that today was over. Dinner was a success! Tomorrow we are going to enjoy our free breakfast and check out the beach in the morning. We booked an escape room for tommorow afternoon, and the kids have requested seafood for dinner. We have a plan! Right now we are all happily in our jammies letting the vacation vibe wash over us.

Made it to the hotel, and they are renovating. DH said they sent him an email this week about it. First impressions are that they could use an update. We arrived 20 minutes too late for tonight's free happy hour so DH went on a search for a bottle of wine. We do get 2 beach chairs with an umbrella, and 2 tropical drinks of the day each day. We're all tired so we decided to go with a known quantity for dinner and ordered a pizza. Our room has a living room, separate bedroom with 2 queens, and 2 bathrooms. We didn't pay for the upgraded view, so we overlook the pool...of the motel across the street. MIL texted that it sleeted a little back home. Glad we missed it!

The flight had a bumpy start but smoothed out once we got above the clouds. In the Uber, and it's $70 for an XL to the hotel. Should be a 35 minute ride.

At the gate. Still on time, and we board in about 10 minutes.

Out the door. Stopping for gas then on to the airport. So far our flight is showing on time and it has only been sprinkling.

It's travel day! Kids just need to add a couple items to their bags this morning after they get dressed. DH and I are 90% packed - it's all there and just needs to be tetris-ed into the bags. Weather looks maybe a little better here is Dallas. 40% chance of rain all day, but at least they aren't saying heavy storms. FLL is now supposed to be only partly cloudy today through embarkation day which with just a 25% chance of rain.

I tried over the summer, and it did not go well either.

Marketing works! I just received our last call to book in the cruise planner email. Since we probably won't be taking surf lessons at FLL, I booked flowrider lessons for the kids for day 2. There are actually a couple flowriders at city pools near us and we had a chance to practice this summer a couple times. DD can stand for about 10-15 seconds. DS goes down pretty quick, but doesn't like to wait in lines so didn't practice as much as DD. A dedicated lesson will be good for them.

Night 5 which is supposed to be our second formal night is showing as casual, so maybe? I'll definitely report back on this. Maybe there will be some in the WJ on day one since Liberty is only scheduled for shorter 4/3 day sailings after our 6 day. The kids are hoping they will need to get rid of it all the leftovers from New England on our trip.

Menus are finally on the app. The 6 night has no Royal night, so no lobster. Again, the FB group has people up in arms. Rumor in the group is that Royal changed to only include it on 7+ night sailings when they switched to the one tail rule. I haven't been following the dining policies since the change. Is this now the case?

I'm still received Royal Up emails for the first leg. Come to think of it, I haven't received a single email to pre-purchase anything or bid on the second leg. A lot of people on the FB group have said their bids were accepted so it looks like we aren't sailing at full capacity. Current forecast for Dallas on Sunday. We take off about 2pm. And FLL. We arrive about 5:30 local time. Monday has a 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms. I'm looking for things to do near Deerfield Beach, but so far all I'm really finding are water sports. The beach back up plan search continues!

We sail in suites and used to get the DBP. However, when we hit diamond, we switched to the refreshment package. We get our specialty coffee from the suite lounge usually, but we drink quite a bit of water every day, and while I have no problem drinking the ships water, it's more convenient to get a bottle from a bar when we are out and about. Sparkling water is also included which we like with dinner (right next to our glass of wine), and DH will have an occasional soda. There may have been a sea day or two where we had to pay for a drink outside of the vouchers and happy hour, but that's pretty rare for us. We wait for Black Friday sales and then buy for every sailing we have on the books. For now, this is the most cost effective for us.

Woohoo! You know I love a good packing list! Would love to hear your thoughts on your family cruise.

Then there were two. Unfortunately my kids like to eat, so I'll have to stop to feed them dinner before their taekwondo class. I also have to make a batch of macarons for tomorrow's baking class, so I may not make any more progress until Saturday afternoon. I scheduled a massage for Saturday morning, and I'm not bumping that. Sunday's weather isn't looking great here or in FLL for our flight. The forecast for Monday may cancel our pre-cruise beach plans too. Rain, rain, go away!

Current situation - 1 down, 3 to go. Plus carry-ons. We're planning on 3 smaller bags and one large, but my hair dryer and straightener may make it a tight fit and necessitate 2 big bags. We'll each take a backpack as our carry-on. Planning on laundry at least once on the ship with our $10 off diamond discount. Do we get the discount on the 4 day as well? While DH didn't love how busy we were in Star Class, he sure loved the benefits. He keeps asking if we're coming home with clean clothes again and if Sabor is included. Guess it's time to pull the purple tags off the luggage.

We're starting to actually put ironed clothes in packing cubes and suitcases, so I can see the light at the end of the laundry tunnel! Most of the packing for the kids will happen today. We lose tomorrow because of our co-op. Finish up packing on Saturday and drop the dogs off at the kennel. Then it's real. They have no clue what's going on yet. It always surprises my how into theme nights some people are when in reality, we're talking about a 30 minute event on the in the promenade. Am I missing something? We made a point to dress for tropical night on the kids first cruise (just floral dresses for me and DD and tropical shirts for DH and DS) and besides the waiters, it seemed like we were the only people in the dining room who got the memo? We got cute pictures in match-y-ish tropical outfits, but beyond that I don't see what the hoopla is about. I'm a spiller, so there's no way I am going to participate in white night. I don't even have to be eating anything, and I'll get back to the room with something on my shirt. I understand everyone cruises differently, but what am I missing? We're in that weird period before a trip where we are trying to clean out the fridge, but may not really have enough leftovers to last through Saturday night. I teach cooking and baking classes to the 7-12 graders at our co-op, and I foresee us having class leftovers for dinner tomorrow night.

Thanks for the hair love, y'all. @jbrinkm fortunately we got to avoid that drama. Some of her friends have phones, some still do not and are older. To be honest she didn't really need one since she was with us most of the time, and an adult I knew could have gotten in touch with me if there was an issue when we weren't there. But she went to DFW's homeschool homecoming this year which was over an hour away with over 500 kids. I certainly wasn't going to volunteer to chaperone so we figured it was time. Jayson, the suite concierge, got back to me within 30 minutes this morning. We'll get transit cards before we leave on our turnaround day excursion, and he said he would explain in more detail once we are onboard.

I received our email from the concierge for the second leg yesterday morning - 13 days prior to sailing. I guess with three days without passengers, he can really catch up on some things! We will have Jayson in the Suite Lounge. I emailed him back this morning asking about the process on turnaround day since we have an excursion and aren't staying with the rest of the consecutive cruisers. I have not heard from the Diamond/Crown Lounge concierge yet. Received an email that there's still time for a Royal Up Bid. Suites are showing sold out on Royal's website, but in case you were wondering for comparison, the email has minimums of $55 for an Owner's Suite, $405 for the Villa, and $490 for the Royal Suite. Still no menus in the app. We got DD a phone for her birthday last month. Last night DH pointed out that we only have a 2 device internet package. Surely this will work out, right?