Andrew72681

And hopefully when we get to Aruba on Wednesday I’ll have fast enough Wi-Fi to put up the day 2 and day 3 blogs with all the pictures. It keeps Toni g out because of the slow upload speed.

Word of warning on the Renaissance. If you are a light sleeper, be sure to get a room as far away from the road as you can. People racing up and down 17th street till about 2am wasn’t much fun.

We’ll have to try Carlos and Pepe’s, we’re back down this way Memorial Day weekend for another 8 nighter to the ABC Islands on Celebrity Equinox.

After dinner it was off to our hotel. When we were down in December we stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. This time as I had some expiring Marriott certificates, we used one for a night at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Marina as it’s hard to beat the price of FREE https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/fllbr-renaissance-fort-lauderdale-marina-hotel/overview/ The hotel is in need of a refurbishment which has started, but wasn’t mentioned during booking. Not a big deal as we’re just here to sleep for the night. The room overall is alright, could definitely use some aftermarket USB plugs (the CUBI devices are super easy now) as the only plug on the nightstand was one on the lamp which is unusable because it’s so far down. Hopefully the bathroom gets an upgrade during the renovation as it’s showing its age.

As has become a Port Everglades departure tradition, we decided when we got into town to head to @Lovetocruise2002’s recommendation, Labamba over on Cordova. Didn’t need it this time but there’s a very convenient Publix next door for last minute needs. The food and the service was very good and my loved her coconut mojito.

Day -1. After completing everyone’s health questions we just got on the road to our hotel for the night. Traffic is not being cooperative so far and it’s showing almost three hours and 45 minutes from our house in winter garden. Will still be there in plenty of time to meet up with family for dinner.

I’ll have to check out the offers when we get onboard. Luckily less than 8 days from now.

Probably the last of the cruise planner purchases today. A few weeks ago I promised my daughter we could go to an arcade, but then we had to leave early, so prepurchased some arcade credits for her. It’s a 20 percent savings versus buying onboard, and gives a definitive stopping point.

Two more weeks left. Now to get through work trips to LA and Seattle, then the packing can begin.

3 weeks left. Picked up the Sushi Making class for my wife and daughter today.

Thanks. This time I’ll actually have someone along to take pictures of me looking ridiculous in the IFly. Last time I was solo wasting time and spending severance between roles so couldn’t capture anything.

The casino program has smiled upon us again (Which considering I came out ahead on Apex in December is extra nice) and we now have an 8 night southern Caribbean leaving May 27th, 2023 on Celebrity Equinox. We were supposed to originally supposed to sail Equinox back in May of 2020. Funny thing is that I booked that sailing late March 2020 thinking “there’s no way cruising isn’t back by Memorial Day” and we all now how that ended up.

So things have been so crazy the past year and a half since moving to Florida, I’ve been lax in doing liveblogs. I’m hoping I can use this cruise as the way to get back leading to being probably one of fifty liveblogs on next year’s icon inaugural. Some background- this will be my second time on Odyssey. Was able to sail her during the “dark times” of October 2021 when the ship was mostly empty and you couldn’t even sit at bar stools. I still loved the ship so when the opportunity came up we jumped at it. The Specifics Guests-It’ll be me, my wife, and my 12 year old daughter on this sailing (who the other day informed us that she had counted and this will be her 17th cruise), My mom and aunt will be on as well in their own room Room- we’ve booked a junior suite on Deck 11 pending some unforeseen RoyalUp magic. After having one in 2021, I’m a big fan of the split bathroom over the walk in closet. There’s still lots of room for clothes and having more space to get ready is better. DX- can’t do that one anymore. Stress related epilepsy and a neurologist who says no drinking. Luckily she didn’t say no gambling, so you’ll still find me at the blackjack table, just with a “plain” Coke in hand instead of a Captain and Coke. Dining-not long after we book onboard Harmony this past April, the dining package went on sale for 235, which giving the selection of specialty restaurants seemed like an OK deal, it’s also the last time we’ll be able to get children’s pricing as our daughter turns 13 in June itinerary- as with most southern Caribbean this is a sea day heavy sailing. Our only stops are Labadee, Aruba, and Curacao. Luckily that leads to pretty long times in port with time to explore. We’ve been to Labadee several times, and have flown to Aruba for weeklong vacations. So Curaçao will be the first time for us.

Are you on the 12/17 sailing? We’ll be on that one as well and loved our time on Apex last year.

hey guys. This trip has been a mess and with service lapses, cold food, things never arriving, and today a room that smells like sewage, I’m dumping this liveblog now. Spending the energy to chronicle it all just adds to the thought that I wasted a ton of money.