melmar02

Liberty is one of our favorites. All day beer wine is not available in the suite lounge on her though.

I am bringing a microfiber towel, but I have purple- magenta-ish hair that is getting freshened up tomorrow. I don't want to turn all of Royal's white bath towels pink on Sunday, so my blue one is is coming along.

Picked up a pair this morning. They're a little "chunkier" than I wanted for one of my dresses, but they will work. Plus, they're really comfortable - I've been wearing them around the house for about 20 minutes and they're just about broken in.

I know Matt does the Facebook / YouTube Live stuff, but I only ever watch them after the fact. You might ask on the main Discussion page so someone who is more knowledgeable has a better chance of seeing your question. Sorry I couldn't help!

Other than the big suitcases, we use our bags for different things when not traveling, so I keep a "cruise box" in the closet. It has all the towel clips, hooks, luggage tag holders, passport holder, etc. Easy to pull down and distribute the stuff between everyone's bags so I'm not lugging it all!

It can go right next to the thread with @asquared17 's styling advice.

It's actually an excel sheet because I thought it would be easy to update as things change, but the only thing I ever seem to correct is the trip info at the top.

Seven days to go! I've been watching the Galveston webcams off and on all day, but I'm not sure it has been making time go any faster. DH finally tried on clothes last night and fortunately neither of us are good about throwing out old clothes. He too was able to fit back into quite a bit of a smaller wardrobe he had tucked in the back of the closet, and he will only need a couple pairs of nice shorts, a belt, and maybe a swim suit - I couldn't get him to try his on last night. After all the dress clothes, he was kind of done. He can pick up all that up after work tomorrow. One more check mark! Here's my packing list - it's served me pretty well over the years, and I use it for land travel too. I just leave certain stuff off like the magnetic hooks. I print it out and on the back I list the details for the outfits I plan to wear kind of like this: Day one / embarkation - blue shorts, tie dye shirt, tennis shoes Day one / dinner - yellow floral dress, brown sandals, silver bangle bracelets On the front, in the blanks around the clothes, I just list a short description of everything. Once I pack, I put the list in my suitcase so I can make sure I repack everything. Packing list.pdf I decided I need a new pair of black heels. I tried wearing just black flats the last two cruises, and it worked ok. But my formal night dress will look better with heels and while I'm 5'1", DH is 6'4" so I think it's a valid purchase. I have them picked out, just need to pick them up tomorrow while running some errands for this week's cake order. I would have done it today to get one more day of break in time, but DS's Blue & Gold Cub Scout ceremony is this evening, and we've been doing some prep work for that.

That little brown one on the edge of the hot tub is only 4 years old. She definitely looks younger when her hair is grown out - it gets curly and she is scruffy - cute. The black one is about 15 and has quite a lot more gray than when we got him from the shelter when he was just a pup.

I have not. Land's End has been a good fit for me for the last few years, so that's where I ordered from this time around. I knew their measuring charts were accurate, so I went with them for the purple suit. I'll have to check out your suggestion - my goal is to shrink out of these two suits by our Halloween cruise. I want a jumpsuit to work for me so bad! I tried on one romper at a consignment store a couple weeks ago, and it was quite comical.

10 days to go! A little clothing drama to go with the @Ampurp85 and @asquared17 blogs. I ordered a new swim suit since one of the two that fit me last season was way too big now. I was busting out of the other one last year, and it now fits well. I'm usually a tankini girl since I'm only 5'1", and I can get a top that's big enough without all the extra length in a one piece. One piece shopping is usually very unproductive for me because by the time I find one big enough for the top part to fit, I have a good 3 inches of extra material hanging from my bum. However, my plan is to do the flow rider with my son, so I need a one piece for this trip. I found a cute one at a place that offers cup sizing and ordered my new smaller size and a skirt to go with it for the pool and beach. The suit was purple ombre that turned navy toward the waist with ruched fabric crisscrossing the front, and the skirt I ordered to go with it was navy with adjustable side ties. I was really excited about this swim suit, and when it came in on Saturday evening, the length looked perfect...but there were giant holes in it and the criss cross fabric was unfinished and not attached everywhere. It really looks like someone took a pair of scissors to it. The back has matching cuts. I didn't have time to return and wait for a new one as delivery took about 2 weeks the first time around. We had plans with my MIL that night, but I did manage to make it into one store that evening only to be disappointed in the options. The next day, Easter, I couldn't go look for anything as the stores were all closed. I scoured the internet Saturday night and Easter Sunday trying to find something local that was in stock, and at this point I figured I was out of luck. DH didn't understand that I needed to mourn the loss of this article of clothing, so I turned to cleaning. I started with that stupid swim suit drawer and decided to throw out all the too big sets. Buried in the bottom of the drawer was an old swim team style suit I haven't worn in for-ev-er. I quickly tried it on and low and behold it fit (with only about an inch of baggy-ness at the bottom). I was planning to wear jogging shorts that have a draw string over the new suit for the flow rider, so I'll wear them over the old suit and it will be fine. Crisis averted for the flow rider, and I could purchase my go to tankini top to go with the cute new swim skirt that arrived undamaged. Whew! I know this was such a first world problem, but swim suit shopping is traumatic for us ladies. Adding the time restriction to get a replacement definitely put me in a mood for a couple of days. Since I have stuff strewn all over the house, our pups have realized something is up. DH, last minute packer that he is, hasn't started trying on clothes yet. They always know! The little one has been extra clingy for a few days, and the black one has been extra grumpy...like his mama shopping for swim attire.

Wow! That belly flopper really caught some air! Thanks for taking the time to post - it was fun following along!

They do, but we didn't ask.

Interesting. We don't have an option to reserve a time on ours, and thankfully I don't see the age restriction yours had in the description on mine. Our youngest at 11 would be very disappointed to miss this. Both the kids love escape rooms, and I think if we prep them that it's the puzzles, but not the actual room, they would be interested. I'll definitely report back if we decide to take part.

@MLH I found the game I mentioned. It's showing on day 7.

Heard from Smitha today with an updated schedule. We have the "hard to schedule" meals (chef's table and hibachi) so I'm sure she can work her magic to iron out any lingering details and changes. I noticed our set sail passes have Star and our casino status listed again. I saved them just in case that disappears again. I feel official! Lots of activities have dropped into the planner in the last couple days. No headliners are listed yet. I doubled up the kids school load and we finished a couple subjects this week. We'll finish 75% of their subjects by next Thursday, and I told the kids they can work at their own pace now. If they want to work extra and finish it all next week they can. Fingers crossed because my work schedule is packed pretty tight, and no school the week before we go means I can take my time packing. Just in case, I have all my cruise clothes separated in the closet - just waiting to pull out the suitcases!

Thanks @WAAAYTOOO for the answer - we didn't even ask. I do not believe Allure has an escape room. I think that was something that was supposed to be added during her cancelled amplification. Instead, I believe someone posted recently about an escape room type activity, but it's not really an escape room - it's held in one of the bars, like triva, and you solve puzzles as a team. I'll see if I can find that post.

I thought I was close to being done with shopping... you just reminded me of one more thing I need to get. Some people lose socks; somehow I lose travel containers. For cruises I typically just pack my regular bottles of shampoo and conditioner since we drive to port most of the time. I just bought the giant liter bottles though, and I'm having visions of leakage all over my new clothes.

Sorry you had a disappointing formal night dinner. I agree 100% - I have always though Royal's creme brulee was bland. Maybe I'm just used to having it with berries on land, so the bit of acid and sweet help counter the subtle taste. I think my kids will love the scavenger hunt! What a great way to get to know crew members.

Not gonna lie...there are times I consider the other option. lol

Not so much a debate - poor word choice on my part. TBH I haven't paid too much attention to star class blogs until the last year or so since we didn't have one booked. I read a bunch all at once and I guess the policies of the older and newer ones overlapped in my brain. I remember some people say genies wanted WhatsApp, some wanted something else, others are still saying request a dect phone (saw that one on FB just yesterday). Personally, I'm fine with WhatsApp - already have Smitha's number loaded as a contact and counting down the days until I can use it.

Congrats!

You are getting me even more excited! 19 days for us! I think my kids will have those same looks for the pepper grinder.

The only time I really buy new clothes is for a cruise, so it's only once or twice a year. For me anyway. The kids won't stop growing so I just pick up replacements (clothes, not kids) as needed.

DH finally said "whatever you want" in regards to meals, so I emailed Smitha back this evening with our hibachi time and a couple of changes. Except for CK night one, 150 on night 2, and our two dining reservations, we really are flexible with where we eat. Heck the kids would be happy in the WJ or at Sorrento's and El Loco Fresh all week! She did ask we use WhatsApp starting embarkation day to communicate with her - is that still debated? I remember people asking about that previously.