melmar02

Day 5, Costa Maya
We woke up and decided we wanted to take advantage of the suite breakfast in Chops for the rest of the cruise. DS still wanted the buffet, so after DH, DD, and I ordered, I took him out to fix a plate and brought it back to our quiet corner in Chops.  We decided not to get off the ship at all today, and after breakfast we had a shuffleboard tournament at our son's request - DD won by a mile. After shuffleboard, we went to the room to plan the rest of our day. We purchased internet for the day, and let the kids out of their electronic detox for a little bit then headed up to play mini golf. Parts of the course were 'squishy'. You would step up to putt and the turf would sink a little beneath you, but otherwise it seemed in good repair. There was absolutely no breeze though, and it was really humid/hot up there. While fun, we were all done by the 9th hole; we probably would have been much more comfortable out there on a sea day. Next up was the Windjammer for lunch, and judging by how busy it was, it seems like a lot of people didn't get off the ship today.

After lunch, DH took a nap, DD played on the tablet (she was going through some serious video game withdrawal!), and DS and I went up to Splashaway Bay for the afternoon. Then it was back to the room to get ready for dinner. I had the garlic soup, the roasted beef strip loin (I think... maybe it was the pork loin. Good but not memorable), and the grand marnier souffle.

Tonight was date night, and we dropped the kids off at Adventure Ocean... but we couldn't really decide what to do. The casino wasn't calling us, and we didn't care about seeing Saturday Night Fever. We went to Vintages to try the Oberon Cab Sav, and it was very good. We then went to Olive or Twist for ballroom dancing which was a bust. The few people that were up there were playing cards. There was one other couple that was there for dancing, and we both left in the middle of the first song - the atmosphere was just off with recorded music and the lights all the way up. Off to the Schooner Bar for what was listed as "Piano Bar Sing-A-Long" in the Cruise Compass. Alas, there was no singing-a-long. There were four single women sitting in front of the piano, two other couples,  and a few people coming and going at the bar. We were thinking we would hear Piano Man, Sweet Caroline, and the like. Instead we were treated to a good rendition of Santana's Smooth and a couple of ballads... nothing you would really sing along to. It was disappointing as far as what we thought would be an upbeat fun time, but it good people watching though. By this time, it was getting late for the kids. We decided to just pick them up and get them to bed because tomorrow was their big beach day. Poor DD was asleep on the couch in Adventure Ocean when I picked her up. ?
Tonight we met Flap the bird and Opal the opossum. At least we think it was an opossum? 

 
Our menagerie was starting to take over.

 

Day 5 - Sea Day
Invasion of the towel animals.


Enrichment talk continues.  More sea day activities.  Temperatures in the mid to high 70s.  Sunny pool day kind of sea day. 
Sunset in the Pacific

Day 6 - Sea Day
Sunrise in the Pacific

Captain's Corner and the next lecture in the on-going enrichment talk series later this morning.
Morning temperature 75°F.  Expected high today around 81°F.

We purchased the All Digital Photo Package for our sailing earlier this month. It was a 7 day sailing, and listed originally at $249. The sale price just before the cruise was $235. We had pictures made in the terminal twice (two different backdrops) before ever setting foot on the ship, once at sail away, 3 nights during dinner, both formal nights outside of the dinning room, and both times we got off at port stops. We wound up with 105 total photos, and we could have also had additional photos taken at the one port where we did not leave the ship, other nights outside of the dinning room, and at other locations around the ship.
Were all of them good? No, of course not, but there are at least 15 really good ones that I will share with family and have prints made of. It was worth the $235 to me because that's cheaper than it would cost to have photos made where I live. I went down to the photo area the last night and asked how I would receive my photos. I was told I would be emailed a link or I could download them right then. I HAD TO HAVE INTERNET to download the photos right then. I didn't think this was the case, and the guy helping me thought it was odd too. Fortunately about half way through our sailing we bought internet for the remainder of our cruise. I downloaded all 105 photos to my phone and then was able to easily transfer them to my laptop when we got home. I also received the email link a few days after we got back.

Final Thoughts
The kids are hooked! This was a great experience for all of us evidenced by the two cruises we already have booked in the future. We are also thinking about a Southern Caribbean sailing in 2021, and then Alaska with a land tour in 2022 for DH's 50th birthday. The planning spreadsheets are already created! We should have taken advantage of the Suite Lounge sooner. We didn't go in the morning until a couple days into the cruise, and we didn't go for happy hour until day 5. We thought since we have the drink package it wouldn't really be a benefit, but we were so wrong. Even though we had the drink package, there was something special about being pampered by the service in the suite lounge. We met some wonderful people both in the morning and during the happy hour, and we really clicked with one couple who happen to live just 10 miles from us. The kids were well behaved and felt welcomed by Eliana and the passengers in the lounge too. Even with the gold card, we needed to get to the shows EARLY. 20 minutes wasn't cutting it on this cruise. Of course, we over packed. We all came home with clothes that went right back into the closets. However, this was a good warm up for February when we're going to cram one more person and bag into our little SUV. We think we can all use rolling carry on bags instead of our bigger suitcases for the 5 night, and we'll be just fine. I am an over planner and typically fill up every minute of a vacation with plans. I tried to take a much more laid back approach this time because the kids were with us, and I knew pool time would be at the top of their to do list. Everyone is right in that you can't do it all, and this is especially true with kids. We never made it to the rock wall, ice skating, or the family activities, and this was just fine. It was nice to just plan the big thing of the day, and then let any other activities just fill in if it felt right at the time.  Internet - we're planning on purchasing the internet for my MIL in February and will probably get it for us as well. DD needed that down time. Drinks - We didn't break even on the drink package... well, the kids and I may have. ?  With the coffee machine in the suite lounge and happy hour in the evening, it definitely made the daily quota of drinks go up. However, we will most likely purchase the package again due to the advantage of pre-paying.  I'm sure I left something out. Let me know if you want details on anything else I may have missed writing about, and I'll try to get our Cruise Compasses scanned and emailed to Matt. Thanks for following along!

Final Thoughts
The kids are hooked! This was a great experience for all of us evidenced by the two cruises we already have booked in the future. We are also thinking about a Southern Caribbean sailing in 2021, and then Alaska with a land tour in 2022 for DH's 50th birthday. The planning spreadsheets are already created! We should have taken advantage of the Suite Lounge sooner. We didn't go in the morning until a couple days into the cruise, and we didn't go for happy hour until day 5. We thought since we have the drink package it wouldn't really be a benefit, but we were so wrong. Even though we had the drink package, there was something special about being pampered by the service in the suite lounge. We met some wonderful people both in the morning and during the happy hour, and we really clicked with one couple who happen to live just 10 miles from us. The kids were well behaved and felt welcomed by Eliana and the passengers in the lounge too. Even with the gold card, we needed to get to the shows EARLY. 20 minutes wasn't cutting it on this cruise. Of course, we over packed. We all came home with clothes that went right back into the closets. However, this was a good warm up for February when we're going to cram one more person and bag into our little SUV. We think we can all use rolling carry on bags instead of our bigger suitcases for the 5 night, and we'll be just fine. I am an over planner and typically fill up every minute of a vacation with plans. I tried to take a much more laid back approach this time because the kids were with us, and I knew pool time would be at the top of their to do list. Everyone is right in that you can't do it all, and this is especially true with kids. We never made it to the rock wall, ice skating, or the family activities, and this was just fine. It was nice to just plan the big thing of the day, and then let any other activities just fill in if it felt right at the time.  Internet - we're planning on purchasing the internet for my MIL in February and will probably get it for us as well. DD needed that down time. Drinks - We didn't break even on the drink package... well, the kids and I may have. ?  With the coffee machine in the suite lounge and happy hour in the evening, it definitely made the daily quota of drinks go up. However, we will most likely purchase the package again due to the advantage of pre-paying.  I'm sure I left something out. Let me know if you want details on anything else I may have missed writing about, and I'll try to get our Cruise Compasses scanned and emailed to Matt. Thanks for following along!

Day 7 - at sea
Alas, we have sadly come to our last day at sea. Chops again for breakfast, then we stopped by the suite lounge. One of the suite perks not listed anywhere is that a person from the Next Cruise office is there every evening. We asked Eliana, the Suite Concierge, if he would be there tonight, and she said no and that the last night it was all hands on deck in the promenade office, but she could make us an appointment for him to come up to the suite lounge. This sounded perfect - back to the room to make sure what we wanted to book! We'll be going on Liberty again in November 2020 in the same cabin, but the Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Cozumel itinerary. I could get used to having two cruises booked at a time!
We had a short bridge tour at 10 which was also put together by Eliana and was lead by the Loyalty Ambassador. Its amazing how small all the equipment is and how little there seems to be. It seems like there should be a lot more instruments to steer a ship this size! After the quick tour we were able to ask the first officer questions. It was interesting, and just the right length for the kids - I'm not sure they would have done well on the longer All Access tour.
 

We went back to the room to grab a cruise compass and found Bingo the bat. We explained to the kids that he was probably going to be the last one, and that the zoo may disappear while we were at dinner tonight since tomorrow Wilbort was going to be very busy trying to get all his rooms ready for his new guests. Insert sad sigh here.

Off to lunch in the Windjammer where a farewell cake was waiting. 

DH and DD spent the afternoon napping and playing on the tablet, DS and I went up to pool one last time. He really wanted to go on the big slides, but he was JUST under the 48" requirement. I was expecting a lot of disappointment, but I think since we had told he we were planning on booking another on Liberty, he was OK with it. It was really windy on the Splashaway Bay side of the pool, and being the last day, it was packed. Time to get ready for dinner. The French Onion Soup, Rack of Lamb, and Cherries Jubilee were calling me!

After dinner, we packed a little and then decided to all go out dancing for a little bit. The star lounge had a band that started at 8, so the kids weren't too tired... yet. We lasted almost all the first set, and then it was time to get the kids to bed and finish packing - DD was falling asleep on the couch of the Star Lounge. We were welcomed by one last towel animal, a lobster...or is it a squid?... named Squishy.

 
The final collection

 
Debarkation Day
The Suite Lounge is closed the morning of debarkation, so DH had to go to make his own coffee this morning. *Gasp* Reality started to set in. Chops was open for breakfast, and after, we went back to the room to pack the last bit into our backpacks. We said good bye to our animal friends and made our way to Vintages which was the suite departure lounge. There was an announcement about a delay in departure, but it was only 15 minutes or so. Eliana led our group down the casino stairs and out a side door of the casino to debark. We picked up a porter and were on a shuttle within 15 minutes of leaving Vintages. A quick stop at Buccees to fill up and grab snacks, and the kids were out less than 30 minutes later - the mark of any successful family vacation!

 

Enrichment talk in Two70° today.  History of Owahai, the original name for Hawaii.  Very interesting historical information.  I really appreciate these types of sessions being offered.  I understand there are more coming building on today's lecture.  

This was a great write-up by the way! Thanks for sharing, and glad that the kids had as good a time as you and hubs!

This is absolutely true. Did a 5-night to Bermuda last year and my wife and I both had no problem with packing all that we needed into our carry-on size suitcases. Now that 5-night sailings just have "dress your best" instead of a true formal night, it's super-easy since you don't have to worry about packing a suit or fancy dress, or any dressier shoes.

Day 7 - at sea
Alas, we have sadly come to our last day at sea. Chops again for breakfast, then we stopped by the suite lounge. One of the suite perks not listed anywhere is that a person from the Next Cruise office is there every evening. We asked Eliana, the Suite Concierge, if he would be there tonight, and she said no and that the last night it was all hands on deck in the promenade office, but she could make us an appointment for him to come up to the suite lounge. This sounded perfect - back to the room to make sure what we wanted to book! We'll be going on Liberty again in November 2020 in the same cabin, but the Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Cozumel itinerary. I could get used to having two cruises booked at a time!
We had a short bridge tour at 10 which was also put together by Eliana and was lead by the Loyalty Ambassador. Its amazing how small all the equipment is and how little there seems to be. It seems like there should be a lot more instruments to steer a ship this size! After the quick tour we were able to ask the first officer questions. It was interesting, and just the right length for the kids - I'm not sure they would have done well on the longer All Access tour.
 

We went back to the room to grab a cruise compass and found Bingo the bat. We explained to the kids that he was probably going to be the last one, and that the zoo may disappear while we were at dinner tonight since tomorrow Wilbort was going to be very busy trying to get all his rooms ready for his new guests. Insert sad sigh here.

Off to lunch in the Windjammer where a farewell cake was waiting. 

DH and DD spent the afternoon napping and playing on the tablet, DS and I went up to pool one last time. He really wanted to go on the big slides, but he was JUST under the 48" requirement. I was expecting a lot of disappointment, but I think since we had told he we were planning on booking another on Liberty, he was OK with it. It was really windy on the Splashaway Bay side of the pool, and being the last day, it was packed. Time to get ready for dinner. The French Onion Soup, Rack of Lamb, and Cherries Jubilee were calling me!

After dinner, we packed a little and then decided to all go out dancing for a little bit. The star lounge had a band that started at 8, so the kids weren't too tired... yet. We lasted almost all the first set, and then it was time to get the kids to bed and finish packing - DD was falling asleep on the couch of the Star Lounge. We were welcomed by one last towel animal, a lobster...or is it a squid?... named Squishy.

 
The final collection

 
Debarkation Day
The Suite Lounge is closed the morning of debarkation, so DH had to go to make his own coffee this morning. *Gasp* Reality started to set in. Chops was open for breakfast, and after, we went back to the room to pack the last bit into our backpacks. We said good bye to our animal friends and made our way to Vintages which was the suite departure lounge. There was an announcement about a delay in departure, but it was only 15 minutes or so. Eliana led our group down the casino stairs and out a side door of the casino to debark. We picked up a porter and were on a shuttle within 15 minutes of leaving Vintages. A quick stop at Buccees to fill up and grab snacks, and the kids were out less than 30 minutes later - the mark of any successful family vacation!

 

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on our way to Cozumel.

And we docked next to Allure who was rerouted due to Hurricane Dorian. She made ship #7 in port today.

We went to breakfast again in Chops (with a plate from the Windjammer for DS), and left the ship around 9:30am to catch a cab to Paradise Beach where we learned some important lessons for next time. After a quick ride, we were at the check-in stand with a Caribbean Cooler in hand. They had my reservation in their system, but couldn't find record of my deposit. Fortunately, I brought my payment confirmation email and PayPay receipt with me. The lady at check-in called her manager, and it turns out they have been having PayPal issues. Lesson #1 - bring your paperwork! Glad we did. We paid our balance and were brought to our four loungers by the ocean. We had two umbrellas and were about 4 rows back from the water.


The area in front of the inflatables is relatively sandy, but as you get further to the left, towards the pier, it becomes pretty rocky with sea urchins. DD wasn't wearing her water shoes, started out in the wrong spot, and quickly decided that she didn't want to swim in the ocean much today after slipping on the rocks. Lesson #2 - water shoes are your friend. We played on the inflatables a bit, and decided DS would be more comfortable going out to the far inflatables with a life jacket. No, problem because we have the AI, right? Not exactly. They want an ID to leave as a deposit. I got my passport (because we're #bringitwithyou people) out of the locker and went to get the life jacket. But... they use a binder with baseball card size page protectors to hold the IDs. Because my passport wouldn't fit in the driver's licence size slot, they wouldn't take it. I could have left a $20 deposit instead, but DS really just wanted to get back in the water at this point. Without the driver's license (or maybe a passport card), or cash deposit, we also couldn't use the kayaks, snorkeling equipment, etc. It wasn't a problem this time because the kids were happy with the close inflatables and the pool, but next time they'll probably want to try all the 'other stuff' too. Lesson #3 - bring a driver's license/passport card. 

We decided to order lunch. There is no sit down restaurant at Paradise Beach. Your waiter brings your food to you at your lounger, or you can also order from their taco truck. I had the volcano nachos, DH had the chicken quesadillas, DS had a cheese pizza, and DD had popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, and a cheeseburger. There was a quick rain shower while we were waiting for our food, and we were mostly protected by the umbrellas. We were wet anyway, right? It stopped by the time our food was brought to us, but we did see a couple waiters bringing food out in the rain. They carried huge umbrellas in addition to the trays of food keeping it all dry. There was nothing gourmet about our meals, but it was what we expected from a beach front restaurant. Everything was tasty and came to us hot. Even with 7 ships in port, it seemed like only half the chairs were full. The pool was pretty full when we left, but never felt too crowded. This was a good beach day, and we would certainly come back keeping in mind the lessons we learned. Time to head back to the ship to get ready for formal night.

After having the Vidalia Onion Tart, Lobster, and Baked Alaska, we went back to the room and met a creation the kids dubbed Old Grandpa and Tarzan who was sporting a pair of DS's swim trunks.

We walked around a bit after dinner, and the wanna be @twangster in me took a shot of Splashaway Bay at night. I have a long way to go! DS shed a few tears tonight because tomorrow would be our last day. ?

 

Final Thoughts
The kids are hooked! This was a great experience for all of us evidenced by the two cruises we already have booked in the future. We are also thinking about a Southern Caribbean sailing in 2021, and then Alaska with a land tour in 2022 for DH's 50th birthday. The planning spreadsheets are already created! We should have taken advantage of the Suite Lounge sooner. We didn't go in the morning until a couple days into the cruise, and we didn't go for happy hour until day 5. We thought since we have the drink package it wouldn't really be a benefit, but we were so wrong. Even though we had the drink package, there was something special about being pampered by the service in the suite lounge. We met some wonderful people both in the morning and during the happy hour, and we really clicked with one couple who happen to live just 10 miles from us. The kids were well behaved and felt welcomed by Eliana and the passengers in the lounge too. Even with the gold card, we needed to get to the shows EARLY. 20 minutes wasn't cutting it on this cruise. Of course, we over packed. We all came home with clothes that went right back into the closets. However, this was a good warm up for February when we're going to cram one more person and bag into our little SUV. We think we can all use rolling carry on bags instead of our bigger suitcases for the 5 night, and we'll be just fine. I am an over planner and typically fill up every minute of a vacation with plans. I tried to take a much more laid back approach this time because the kids were with us, and I knew pool time would be at the top of their to do list. Everyone is right in that you can't do it all, and this is especially true with kids. We never made it to the rock wall, ice skating, or the family activities, and this was just fine. It was nice to just plan the big thing of the day, and then let any other activities just fill in if it felt right at the time.  Internet - we're planning on purchasing the internet for my MIL in February and will probably get it for us as well. DD needed that down time. Drinks - We didn't break even on the drink package... well, the kids and I may have. ?  With the coffee machine in the suite lounge and happy hour in the evening, it definitely made the daily quota of drinks go up. However, we will most likely purchase the package again due to the advantage of pre-paying.  I'm sure I left something out. Let me know if you want details on anything else I may have missed writing about, and I'll try to get our Cruise Compasses scanned and emailed to Matt. Thanks for following along!

Day 7 - at sea
Alas, we have sadly come to our last day at sea. Chops again for breakfast, then we stopped by the suite lounge. One of the suite perks not listed anywhere is that a person from the Next Cruise office is there every evening. We asked Eliana, the Suite Concierge, if he would be there tonight, and she said no and that the last night it was all hands on deck in the promenade office, but she could make us an appointment for him to come up to the suite lounge. This sounded perfect - back to the room to make sure what we wanted to book! We'll be going on Liberty again in November 2020 in the same cabin, but the Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Cozumel itinerary. I could get used to having two cruises booked at a time!
We had a short bridge tour at 10 which was also put together by Eliana and was lead by the Loyalty Ambassador. Its amazing how small all the equipment is and how little there seems to be. It seems like there should be a lot more instruments to steer a ship this size! After the quick tour we were able to ask the first officer questions. It was interesting, and just the right length for the kids - I'm not sure they would have done well on the longer All Access tour.
 

We went back to the room to grab a cruise compass and found Bingo the bat. We explained to the kids that he was probably going to be the last one, and that the zoo may disappear while we were at dinner tonight since tomorrow Wilbort was going to be very busy trying to get all his rooms ready for his new guests. Insert sad sigh here.

Off to lunch in the Windjammer where a farewell cake was waiting. 

DH and DD spent the afternoon napping and playing on the tablet, DS and I went up to pool one last time. He really wanted to go on the big slides, but he was JUST under the 48" requirement. I was expecting a lot of disappointment, but I think since we had told he we were planning on booking another on Liberty, he was OK with it. It was really windy on the Splashaway Bay side of the pool, and being the last day, it was packed. Time to get ready for dinner. The French Onion Soup, Rack of Lamb, and Cherries Jubilee were calling me!

After dinner, we packed a little and then decided to all go out dancing for a little bit. The star lounge had a band that started at 8, so the kids weren't too tired... yet. We lasted almost all the first set, and then it was time to get the kids to bed and finish packing - DD was falling asleep on the couch of the Star Lounge. We were welcomed by one last towel animal, a lobster...or is it a squid?... named Squishy.

 
The final collection

 
Debarkation Day
The Suite Lounge is closed the morning of debarkation, so DH had to go to make his own coffee this morning. *Gasp* Reality started to set in. Chops was open for breakfast, and after, we went back to the room to pack the last bit into our backpacks. We said good bye to our animal friends and made our way to Vintages which was the suite departure lounge. There was an announcement about a delay in departure, but it was only 15 minutes or so. Eliana led our group down the casino stairs and out a side door of the casino to debark. We picked up a porter and were on a shuttle within 15 minutes of leaving Vintages. A quick stop at Buccees to fill up and grab snacks, and the kids were out less than 30 minutes later - the mark of any successful family vacation!

 

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on our way to Cozumel.

And we docked next to Allure who was rerouted due to Hurricane Dorian. She made ship #7 in port today.

We went to breakfast again in Chops (with a plate from the Windjammer for DS), and left the ship around 9:30am to catch a cab to Paradise Beach where we learned some important lessons for next time. After a quick ride, we were at the check-in stand with a Caribbean Cooler in hand. They had my reservation in their system, but couldn't find record of my deposit. Fortunately, I brought my payment confirmation email and PayPay receipt with me. The lady at check-in called her manager, and it turns out they have been having PayPal issues. Lesson #1 - bring your paperwork! Glad we did. We paid our balance and were brought to our four loungers by the ocean. We had two umbrellas and were about 4 rows back from the water.


The area in front of the inflatables is relatively sandy, but as you get further to the left, towards the pier, it becomes pretty rocky with sea urchins. DD wasn't wearing her water shoes, started out in the wrong spot, and quickly decided that she didn't want to swim in the ocean much today after slipping on the rocks. Lesson #2 - water shoes are your friend. We played on the inflatables a bit, and decided DS would be more comfortable going out to the far inflatables with a life jacket. No, problem because we have the AI, right? Not exactly. They want an ID to leave as a deposit. I got my passport (because we're #bringitwithyou people) out of the locker and went to get the life jacket. But... they use a binder with baseball card size page protectors to hold the IDs. Because my passport wouldn't fit in the driver's licence size slot, they wouldn't take it. I could have left a $20 deposit instead, but DS really just wanted to get back in the water at this point. Without the driver's license (or maybe a passport card), or cash deposit, we also couldn't use the kayaks, snorkeling equipment, etc. It wasn't a problem this time because the kids were happy with the close inflatables and the pool, but next time they'll probably want to try all the 'other stuff' too. Lesson #3 - bring a driver's license/passport card. 

We decided to order lunch. There is no sit down restaurant at Paradise Beach. Your waiter brings your food to you at your lounger, or you can also order from their taco truck. I had the volcano nachos, DH had the chicken quesadillas, DS had a cheese pizza, and DD had popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, and a cheeseburger. There was a quick rain shower while we were waiting for our food, and we were mostly protected by the umbrellas. We were wet anyway, right? It stopped by the time our food was brought to us, but we did see a couple waiters bringing food out in the rain. They carried huge umbrellas in addition to the trays of food keeping it all dry. There was nothing gourmet about our meals, but it was what we expected from a beach front restaurant. Everything was tasty and came to us hot. Even with 7 ships in port, it seemed like only half the chairs were full. The pool was pretty full when we left, but never felt too crowded. This was a good beach day, and we would certainly come back keeping in mind the lessons we learned. Time to head back to the ship to get ready for formal night.

After having the Vidalia Onion Tart, Lobster, and Baked Alaska, we went back to the room and met a creation the kids dubbed Old Grandpa and Tarzan who was sporting a pair of DS's swim trunks.

We walked around a bit after dinner, and the wanna be @twangster in me took a shot of Splashaway Bay at night. I have a long way to go! DS shed a few tears tonight because tomorrow would be our last day. ?

 

@Matt, you and @Lovetocruise2002 have motivated me to start my blog early.
"It's all Greek to me!" Live Blog Rhapsody of the Seas Oct 3, 2020.
376 days out!!!???

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on our way to Cozumel.

And we docked next to Allure who was rerouted due to Hurricane Dorian. She made ship #7 in port today.

We went to breakfast again in Chops (with a plate from the Windjammer for DS), and left the ship around 9:30am to catch a cab to Paradise Beach where we learned some important lessons for next time. After a quick ride, we were at the check-in stand with a Caribbean Cooler in hand. They had my reservation in their system, but couldn't find record of my deposit. Fortunately, I brought my payment confirmation email and PayPay receipt with me. The lady at check-in called her manager, and it turns out they have been having PayPal issues. Lesson #1 - bring your paperwork! Glad we did. We paid our balance and were brought to our four loungers by the ocean. We had two umbrellas and were about 4 rows back from the water.


The area in front of the inflatables is relatively sandy, but as you get further to the left, towards the pier, it becomes pretty rocky with sea urchins. DD wasn't wearing her water shoes, started out in the wrong spot, and quickly decided that she didn't want to swim in the ocean much today after slipping on the rocks. Lesson #2 - water shoes are your friend. We played on the inflatables a bit, and decided DS would be more comfortable going out to the far inflatables with a life jacket. No, problem because we have the AI, right? Not exactly. They want an ID to leave as a deposit. I got my passport (because we're #bringitwithyou people) out of the locker and went to get the life jacket. But... they use a binder with baseball card size page protectors to hold the IDs. Because my passport wouldn't fit in the driver's licence size slot, they wouldn't take it. I could have left a $20 deposit instead, but DS really just wanted to get back in the water at this point. Without the driver's license (or maybe a passport card), or cash deposit, we also couldn't use the kayaks, snorkeling equipment, etc. It wasn't a problem this time because the kids were happy with the close inflatables and the pool, but next time they'll probably want to try all the 'other stuff' too. Lesson #3 - bring a driver's license/passport card. 

We decided to order lunch. There is no sit down restaurant at Paradise Beach. Your waiter brings your food to you at your lounger, or you can also order from their taco truck. I had the volcano nachos, DH had the chicken quesadillas, DS had a cheese pizza, and DD had popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, and a cheeseburger. There was a quick rain shower while we were waiting for our food, and we were mostly protected by the umbrellas. We were wet anyway, right? It stopped by the time our food was brought to us, but we did see a couple waiters bringing food out in the rain. They carried huge umbrellas in addition to the trays of food keeping it all dry. There was nothing gourmet about our meals, but it was what we expected from a beach front restaurant. Everything was tasty and came to us hot. Even with 7 ships in port, it seemed like only half the chairs were full. The pool was pretty full when we left, but never felt too crowded. This was a good beach day, and we would certainly come back keeping in mind the lessons we learned. Time to head back to the ship to get ready for formal night.

After having the Vidalia Onion Tart, Lobster, and Baked Alaska, we went back to the room and met a creation the kids dubbed Old Grandpa and Tarzan who was sporting a pair of DS's swim trunks.

We walked around a bit after dinner, and the wanna be @twangster in me took a shot of Splashaway Bay at night. I have a long way to go! DS shed a few tears tonight because tomorrow would be our last day. ?

 

Day 6 - Cozumel
Time lapse of backing into the port next to Allure.
20190906_065537.mp4

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on our way to Cozumel.

And we docked next to Allure who was rerouted due to Hurricane Dorian. She made ship #7 in port today.

We went to breakfast again in Chops (with a plate from the Windjammer for DS), and left the ship around 9:30am to catch a cab to Paradise Beach where we learned some important lessons for next time. After a quick ride, we were at the check-in stand with a Caribbean Cooler in hand. They had my reservation in their system, but couldn't find record of my deposit. Fortunately, I brought my payment confirmation email and PayPay receipt with me. The lady at check-in called her manager, and it turns out they have been having PayPal issues. Lesson #1 - bring your paperwork! Glad we did. We paid our balance and were brought to our four loungers by the ocean. We had two umbrellas and were about 4 rows back from the water.


The area in front of the inflatables is relatively sandy, but as you get further to the left, towards the pier, it becomes pretty rocky with sea urchins. DD wasn't wearing her water shoes, started out in the wrong spot, and quickly decided that she didn't want to swim in the ocean much today after slipping on the rocks. Lesson #2 - water shoes are your friend. We played on the inflatables a bit, and decided DS would be more comfortable going out to the far inflatables with a life jacket. No, problem because we have the AI, right? Not exactly. They want an ID to leave as a deposit. I got my passport (because we're #bringitwithyou people) out of the locker and went to get the life jacket. But... they use a binder with baseball card size page protectors to hold the IDs. Because my passport wouldn't fit in the driver's licence size slot, they wouldn't take it. I could have left a $20 deposit instead, but DS really just wanted to get back in the water at this point. Without the driver's license (or maybe a passport card), or cash deposit, we also couldn't use the kayaks, snorkeling equipment, etc. It wasn't a problem this time because the kids were happy with the close inflatables and the pool, but next time they'll probably want to try all the 'other stuff' too. Lesson #3 - bring a driver's license/passport card. 

We decided to order lunch. There is no sit down restaurant at Paradise Beach. Your waiter brings your food to you at your lounger, or you can also order from their taco truck. I had the volcano nachos, DH had the chicken quesadillas, DS had a cheese pizza, and DD had popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, and a cheeseburger. There was a quick rain shower while we were waiting for our food, and we were mostly protected by the umbrellas. We were wet anyway, right? It stopped by the time our food was brought to us, but we did see a couple waiters bringing food out in the rain. They carried huge umbrellas in addition to the trays of food keeping it all dry. There was nothing gourmet about our meals, but it was what we expected from a beach front restaurant. Everything was tasty and came to us hot. Even with 7 ships in port, it seemed like only half the chairs were full. The pool was pretty full when we left, but never felt too crowded. This was a good beach day, and we would certainly come back keeping in mind the lessons we learned. Time to head back to the ship to get ready for formal night.

After having the Vidalia Onion Tart, Lobster, and Baked Alaska, we went back to the room and met a creation the kids dubbed Old Grandpa and Tarzan who was sporting a pair of DS's swim trunks.

We walked around a bit after dinner, and the wanna be @twangster in me took a shot of Splashaway Bay at night. I have a long way to go! DS shed a few tears tonight because tomorrow would be our last day. ?

 

"In an exclusive interview later, the whale admitted 'I swear, I thought that the ship was going to zig, so I zagged, and it was just chaos after that!'"

Housekeeping items...
O3b internet is back!  While in Alaska Ovation used the old legacy satellites.  Now that we are staying within range we are using the newer O3b satellites.  Yay! I asked the hostess at Coastal Kitchen about Junior Suite access for dinner.  It's accommodated on a space available basis. NFL coverage.  Two stations added to the channel line up.  Channel 40 and 41 have East/West games.  Channel 40 is labeled Sunday/Monday/Thursday.  Channel 41 is Sunday only.  Early games Jets/Patriots and Ravens/Chiefs.  Late games Texans/Chargers and Saints/Seattle.   We changed time last night.  Current time is 4 hours off Eastern time.  We change time again tonight.   By the numbers (of guests):
Australian 367 Brazil 27 Canada 860 China 41 Germany 91  Great Britain 41 Ireland 18 Israel 15 Mexico 70 New Zealand 55 United States 2,588  Children on board 238

The end of day one turned into night.

North Star was running on a walk up basis so why not?
I didn't realize it until later but I caught the reflection of the monitor with the North Star logo in this shot.


Hard to see in this photo but the night sky was full of stars.


The North Star Bar remains a favorite with incredible views and it's lightly used at night.   
Earlier on my way to muster a crew member stopped me in the hall and said he recognized me. I had to do a double take but saw it was Monaj from the North Star bar. He remembered me from May as I was often at or near this bar taking in the majesty of Alaska.  So happy he is still on!  That's him facing the other way taking care of another guest.  Really nice guy and great bartender.

Unfortunately it's nearing the end of the Milky Way season in the Northern hemisphere but I did catch the dipper from my balcony.  

We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on our way to Cozumel.

And we docked next to Allure who was rerouted due to Hurricane Dorian. She made ship #7 in port today.

We went to breakfast again in Chops (with a plate from the Windjammer for DS), and left the ship around 9:30am to catch a cab to Paradise Beach where we learned some important lessons for next time. After a quick ride, we were at the check-in stand with a Caribbean Cooler in hand. They had my reservation in their system, but couldn't find record of my deposit. Fortunately, I brought my payment confirmation email and PayPay receipt with me. The lady at check-in called her manager, and it turns out they have been having PayPal issues. Lesson #1 - bring your paperwork! Glad we did. We paid our balance and were brought to our four loungers by the ocean. We had two umbrellas and were about 4 rows back from the water.


The area in front of the inflatables is relatively sandy, but as you get further to the left, towards the pier, it becomes pretty rocky with sea urchins. DD wasn't wearing her water shoes, started out in the wrong spot, and quickly decided that she didn't want to swim in the ocean much today after slipping on the rocks. Lesson #2 - water shoes are your friend. We played on the inflatables a bit, and decided DS would be more comfortable going out to the far inflatables with a life jacket. No, problem because we have the AI, right? Not exactly. They want an ID to leave as a deposit. I got my passport (because we're #bringitwithyou people) out of the locker and went to get the life jacket. But... they use a binder with baseball card size page protectors to hold the IDs. Because my passport wouldn't fit in the driver's licence size slot, they wouldn't take it. I could have left a $20 deposit instead, but DS really just wanted to get back in the water at this point. Without the driver's license (or maybe a passport card), or cash deposit, we also couldn't use the kayaks, snorkeling equipment, etc. It wasn't a problem this time because the kids were happy with the close inflatables and the pool, but next time they'll probably want to try all the 'other stuff' too. Lesson #3 - bring a driver's license/passport card. 

We decided to order lunch. There is no sit down restaurant at Paradise Beach. Your waiter brings your food to you at your lounger, or you can also order from their taco truck. I had the volcano nachos, DH had the chicken quesadillas, DS had a cheese pizza, and DD had popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, and a cheeseburger. There was a quick rain shower while we were waiting for our food, and we were mostly protected by the umbrellas. We were wet anyway, right? It stopped by the time our food was brought to us, but we did see a couple waiters bringing food out in the rain. They carried huge umbrellas in addition to the trays of food keeping it all dry. There was nothing gourmet about our meals, but it was what we expected from a beach front restaurant. Everything was tasty and came to us hot. Even with 7 ships in port, it seemed like only half the chairs were full. The pool was pretty full when we left, but never felt too crowded. This was a good beach day, and we would certainly come back keeping in mind the lessons we learned. Time to head back to the ship to get ready for formal night.

After having the Vidalia Onion Tart, Lobster, and Baked Alaska, we went back to the room and met a creation the kids dubbed Old Grandpa and Tarzan who was sporting a pair of DS's swim trunks.

We walked around a bit after dinner, and the wanna be @twangster in me took a shot of Splashaway Bay at night. I have a long way to go! DS shed a few tears tonight because tomorrow would be our last day. ?

 

Time to bring you all up to speed, or at least up to date.
It's Day 3 here on Ovation but now that we've entered into our sea day phase I have some time to play catch up.  Unlike some other users who post in this section of the forum, I chose not to start this thread one year before sailing.  
Ten nights Vancouver, BC, Canada to Honolulu, HI.
Day 1 - Vancouver
Day 2 - Seattle
Day 3 - 6 - Sea Day
Day 7 - Cruising Napali Coast
Day 8/9 - Overnight in Maui
Day 10 - Kona
Day 11 - Debark in Honolulu
I flew into Vancouver the day before on September 19 and stayed at the Hilton Vancouver Airport.  It's significantly cheaper staying out by the airport compared to downtown.  I thought about going over to the Lions Gate Bridge for Ovation's arrival into Vancouver but low tide was around 4am when it would pass under the bridge so I stayed in bed.  
I'm not going to post everything in real time for this cruise but will drop in from time to time to post or show some pictures if anything interesting comes up.    

Day 5, Costa Maya
We woke up and decided we wanted to take advantage of the suite breakfast in Chops for the rest of the cruise. DS still wanted the buffet, so after DH, DD, and I ordered, I took him out to fix a plate and brought it back to our quiet corner in Chops.  We decided not to get off the ship at all today, and after breakfast we had a shuffleboard tournament at our son's request - DD won by a mile. After shuffleboard, we went to the room to plan the rest of our day. We purchased internet for the day, and let the kids out of their electronic detox for a little bit then headed up to play mini golf. Parts of the course were 'squishy'. You would step up to putt and the turf would sink a little beneath you, but otherwise it seemed in good repair. There was absolutely no breeze though, and it was really humid/hot up there. While fun, we were all done by the 9th hole; we probably would have been much more comfortable out there on a sea day. Next up was the Windjammer for lunch, and judging by how busy it was, it seems like a lot of people didn't get off the ship today.

After lunch, DH took a nap, DD played on the tablet (she was going through some serious video game withdrawal!), and DS and I went up to Splashaway Bay for the afternoon. Then it was back to the room to get ready for dinner. I had the garlic soup, the roasted beef strip loin (I think... maybe it was the pork loin. Good but not memorable), and the grand marnier souffle.

Tonight was date night, and we dropped the kids off at Adventure Ocean... but we couldn't really decide what to do. The casino wasn't calling us, and we didn't care about seeing Saturday Night Fever. We went to Vintages to try the Oberon Cab Sav, and it was very good. We then went to Olive or Twist for ballroom dancing which was a bust. The few people that were up there were playing cards. There was one other couple that was there for dancing, and we both left in the middle of the first song - the atmosphere was just off with recorded music and the lights all the way up. Off to the Schooner Bar for what was listed as "Piano Bar Sing-A-Long" in the Cruise Compass. Alas, there was no singing-a-long. There were four single women sitting in front of the piano, two other couples,  and a few people coming and going at the bar. We were thinking we would hear Piano Man, Sweet Caroline, and the like. Instead we were treated to a good rendition of Santana's Smooth and a couple of ballads... nothing you would really sing along to. It was disappointing as far as what we thought would be an upbeat fun time, but it good people watching though. By this time, it was getting late for the kids. We decided to just pick them up and get them to bed because tomorrow was their big beach day. Poor DD was asleep on the couch in Adventure Ocean when I picked her up. ?
Tonight we met Flap the bird and Opal the opossum. At least we think it was an opossum? 

 
Our menagerie was starting to take over.