Dan Curtis

I like the menus tonight, a few different selections.

My mother decided to look at shiny stuff.  And I resorted to

Yes, it's free.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone !
I can’t believe it’s already Thanksgiving. That means Christmas is dangerously close.
Yippee !  We are already docked in Coz and it appears that we are at the downtown dock !  I believe this is my first time ever to dock downtown.  I had not planned to get off the ship today but I may change my mind now. I didn’t even know that Royal COULD dock downtown.  #firsttimer
No picture right now b/c I would be shooting directly into the sun (boo) but I will try later.
Heading off to <where else> Chops for breakfast.

Does anyone else still squeal like a kid when they walk into the room and see a new towel animal or is it just me?

Now it's time for the latest round of photographic evidence of my gluttony!
Chops bread in special exclusive Thanksgiving turkey leg shapes for our holiday sailing

Tuna tartare artisically turned as to not see the bite I took before I remembered my faithful followers

Shrimp cocktail -1..dang my mother is quick.

Meat party!!!
Bone in ribeye

Filet with meat tartar sauce, photobombed by asparagus..dry, no salt, no butter, no fun. Thanks mom ?

They haven't started decorating for the holidays yet.  I helped.

Also, found the butter for my aspargus.
My steak tasted faintly like a Christmas tree.  Otherwise it was decent; more impressive than my prior Chops experiences.  Not saying much as we got the special @WAAAYTOOO treatment with barely lukewarm food.  Still on #teamGiovannis when it comes to the best filet.  Coastal Kitchen didn't get a fair shake as we are in genpop this sailing.  
No dessert for me as I couldn't finish my steak and thus I don't deserve dessert.
My mother didn't finish either as she didn't gnaw off all the meat from the bone.  But she doesn't play by the rules.
Warm chocolate cake

She forced me to order a dessert so she could try two..but buttered asparagus is bad for you ?‍♀️
Key lime pie

All this washed down with the swill I affectionately ordered as the free Diamond red stuff.  Merlot, Cabernet they asked...I just nodded and said the stuff that you eat with steak.  It tasted like wine that people who know nothing about wine would drink.  It swirled around the glass just like the expensive stuff the table next to us ordered.
This is night 3 in a row that I ordered red wine but then realized the entree I really wanted was fish.  I had no choice but to order red meat as to not upset any nearby Pinnacles for wining wrong.  We all know they are the experts at wining. ?
 

Today's drink of the day..woooo x2 (+18%)

It's almost weird being on a long cruise again.  My last cruise on Allure was shortened to 4 days because of Hurricane Dorian.  My Harmomy cruise was a 3-nighter special sailing that they do when there's a charter for the other 4 days. Before that was Mariner..so it's been a while!
 

I am writing to you from the Rhapsody of the Seas and we are currently on our 4th day. Sorry for the delay. 
  I am currently traveling with three people and two of us are in one stateroom and two of us are traveling with The Key.    Embarkation Day:  Embarkation was a bit of a mess. The Key members were given a priority boarding and our group decided to split up between Key and non-Key. There were not many agents helping Key members and we were waiting so long that the non-Key member of our group was through the check-in process about the same time. The check-in process took forever and I got onboard with a headache and took the longest nap once in my stateroom.    The Ship:  I’ve read a lot of negative reviews about people’s gripes with Rhapsody. I think I had to change my mindset prior to boarding and I reminded myself that this is not an Oasis Class ship. Once I was in the right frame of mind, I was pleasantly surprised by what I’ve found. The ship has an intimate feeling to it and I regularly run into the same people. The ship is clean and the staff have been great. It may be a little dated in some areas, but this hasn’t interfered with my ability to enjoy all she has to offer. As Matt once said, there are no bad Royal Caribbean ships.    The Food:  The food is okay. There has been one dinner in the MDR that I couldn’t finish because it was so bland, but everything else has been adequate. The buffet food is plentiful and there is decent variety to please most palettes. Nothing has really blown us away, but I’m satisfied with what the majority of food we’ve had thus far.    The Activities:  Rhapsody doesn’t have as many activities as the bigger ships, but we’ve managed to keep ourselves busy. We’ve been to one show, we’ve taken advantage of the trivia nights and I personally have caught up on my sleep. It’s been 9 years since our last Caribbean cruise and I was surprised that Royal charges for their galley tour, which used to be free. I can’t comment on activities for children, but imagine that there isn’t a lot for teenagers to do.    Tendering:  Key members are supposed to get priority boarding on the tenders, but honestly we didn’t need it. We got to Grand Cayman early in the morning and there was no difficulty getting off the ship. The staff offered to let Key members cut the line at a non-tender port, but we didn’t feel the need to do it.    Staterooms:  The staterooms are satisfactory and clean.  I’ve taken everybody’s advice and have brought my magnets and am using a multi-USB hub to charge multiple devices.    The Shows:  Saw Piano Man and thought it felt like a high school production. The magician last night was more entertaining. Overall, both were okay.    The Internet:  The Surf & Stream is generally good so far. There have been a few moments when it has been a little slow, but it’s not terrible. I have been able to stream Netflix and shows from my ITunes account.    Coffee Card: The regular coffee onboard isn’t much to write home about. I pre-purchased the coffee card and I am satisfied with the overall value. The staff on Rhapsody have been generous with their “punches.” I ordered a double shot of espresso this afternoon and it was only one punch.    We are having a great time here on Rhapsody and have no big complaints so far. Please let me know if there are any questions out there. 

Hellooooo San Juan.

Ugh.

That's way to healthy looking food for a cruise, ha.

Day 3 - Port Canaveral! 
 
On Day 3 since we had such a slow experience in the MDR for breakfast we decided to go with the Windjammer for breakfast and boy was that the right choice. The WJ on Grandeur is probably the freshest food I’ve come across in a Windjammer on any ship I’ve been on. We have found that going around 8am is the best time to go because as we were leaving closer to 8:45 it was really starting to get crowded. I went with an omelet which was way better (fresher) than the one in the MDR and some yummy, crispy hash browns. There was also this unpictured sweet bread I got that was pretty good on its own, but amazing if you added a sprinkle of cinnamon from the container next to it. The cinnamon roll was meh though. I’m picky about pastries. 
 
After breakfast you will be SHOCKED to learn that it was.........SOLARIUM TIME!!!!! I DID warn y’all when this blog started that this would be a Solarium heavy cruise. We got there around 8:45 and scored prime loungers near the bar and the pool entrance where we had a great seat to watch the lifeguard drills. The doll they used was delightfully creepy. 

 
As I was reading I could tell that we were getting vaguely close to land since I had a little friend join me! 

Around 10am which was about half an hour before we were supposed to arrive in Port Canaveral, the Captain (I think) came on the speakers to tell us that we were going to be delayed getting into Port Canaveral but that they would extend when we had to be back on board. It went from something like 10:30-6ish to 2-10. This didnt affect us at all since we were treating it like a sea day and staying on the ship, but I felt bad for people who wanted to go to Disney for the day. I had originally planned to walk off the ship and get lunch and some drinks at Fish Lips or Grills or whatever the restaurants right next to the pier are, but then I did some research and found out that we would be docked in terminal 10 across a bridge that didn’t have pedestrian walkways since Mariner was launching that day and using RC’s main terminal. 
 
At some point after noon I relocated my seat in the Solarium since it suddenly was directly under the sun and thus very hot. Luckily because the pool deck was open it wasn’t as crowded today and I could easily find another lounger. A quick dip in the pool helped me cool off before I got settled to read some more. The salt water in the pool was good and bad. Bad for the eyes, but nice in that I barely had to tread to keep myself floating. It was mostly to keep myself upright. I felt like a cork just bobbing there in the water lol. 
 
I went back to the room around 4:30 to take a little rest before dinner in hopes that I could stay up later than 9 since I apparently turn into a grandma on cruises. Lounging is so exhausting. WOE. Dinner was nice, though I was really longing for my spice rack when my spaghetti bolognese came. It desperately needed some garlic, Parmesan and red pepper flakes. The royal chocolate cake was surprisingly good though. YUM. 
 
After dinner we went to the Pacific lounge to watch this show called “60 seconds or less game show” and it was really cute. People volunteered in sets of 2 to go up and try and complete various tasks within 60 seconds or left and one of them was declared the winner which was just bragging rights since everyone was given a little prize for participating. People of all ages took part and the host was good about matching up ages so it’s not like a 50 year old was against a 10 year old. Some of the tasks included blowing up a balloon and using the air to knock over some cups, throwing a paper ball into a trash can and the best was one where they tied a pair of tights that had tennis balls in the feet around their waist so it dangled between their legs and had to knock over some bottles. It was.....quite a sight. I think some of the kids didn’t understand why the adults were laughing so hard. It was one of those things that sounds silly and dumb, but ends up being a lot of fun. I’m really glad we went. 
 
After that though it was bed time because the next day (aka today in real time) is Coco Cay day!!!!! 
 
- this post brought to you from inside a chill island cabana. ?

I promise the entire 'blog' is forthcoming...re-entry into the real world has been bumpier than I planned on!

Awesome, thanks for sharing,  this will be a blast for,a cause. 

Oh no, get well.

High Seas Rally (30 November - 7 December 2019)
 
In case you ever wondered what a full ship charter is like – I’ll be chronicling this, our third High Seas Rally, and 2nd time on Brilliance of the Seas as a full ship charter.  A few quick notes.  This is a biker-oriented cruise, but with an awesome cause.  Many people don’t realize just how giving motorcyclists tend to be . . . whether it’s looking out for another rider on the road, swarming with support at funerals and memorials for military veterans and community heroes, or donating to a cause, bikers are super generous as a group.  This cruise’s whole purpose is to support dialysis patients.  In fact, each HSR cruise hosts at least 8-10 dialysis patients and their caregivers ON THE CRUISE!  Yes, these patients receive dialysis while on the Brilliance – and they and their caregiver pay $0.00 – yeah, nothing!  On the last cruise in 2017, in addition to hosting our dialysis guests, we raised over $700,000.00 for kidney dialysis.
With three days before we leave for Tampa, most of my prep work is done -- well, except for actually packing the suitcases! Because of the theme, and the nature of the cruise 'crewmembers,' our packing differs a bit from the standard cruise.  We'll have numerous fundraising opportunities while on board -- 50/50 raffles, Pirate Bingo, Treasured Chest, and numerous other raffles for prizes.   Our formal night will be in leathers (vests), and even our shore excursions will include many biker-friendly possibilities -- like Segways on Grand Cayman and scooters on Key West.  For me, one of the most awesome opportunities is getting to meet and talk with one of the 9-10 dialysis patients who are coming with us. 

Current situation...
I know I shouldn’t be complaining but dang Florida has me sick.  
 
MUST GET BETTER!!!

The food order is just a show to justify the pot of goodness.  I would show you my Windjammer plate but I tripped over a table and it accidentally all fell in my mouth before I could take a photo.

That's way to healthy looking food for a cruise, ha.

That's way to healthy looking food for a cruise, ha.

I got off the elevator and decided that the least I could do was help guide him all the way to the act of this ship to Windjammer. I asked him if he minded me walking with him to the Windjammer and he took my arm and we trekked all the way across the pool deck. He told me he had paid extra to have a wheelchair and assistance but that someone complained about it? I didn't really quite understand the story and didn't really ask for clarification. 
He said he took a 16 day cruise and he's going to Africa in April.  Pretty amazing travels he has done.
We got to the Windjammer where I asked the greeter if he minded helping my new friend.  The greeter was amazing and he took his arm and started asking him what he was wanting to eat and helped him to the handwashing station.  I didn't think to catch his name tag but as soon as my room service is delivered I am popping back over to Windjammer to get his name so I can fill out a WOW comment card for him.

Izumi for dinner. Izumi is in a very odd location on Brilliance. All the way aft outside past the pool deck and the Adventure Ocean spaces.  Finally found it.  
 

Just passed beneath the Sunshine bridge. Casino will be opening soon.  The blog will come to a screeching halt then !

At the muster drill. Dan took our cards and had them scanned while I saved us 2 seats looking out over the Centrum. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Pretty much the afternoon was napping and avoiding sun.  We have CP150 resverations for 7:30 so now I am partaking in the free Diamond lounge happy hour.  
Surf & turf and some brie..because you can't dinner without pre-dinner.

I also swung by Izumi sushi to grab some snacks for later.

Awesome blog, great job, we also had to find  ourselves on the web cam as well, even called my mom to tell her how to pull up camera. Looks you all are having fun and enjoying the cruise.

Tried to add some more photos but when I post on my iPad they come out upside down so I’ll try again tomorrow.  We were fortunate to watch the Oasis fireworks show from our balcony as well so that was a treat.

Food porn..we ordered 12 wings, buffalo chicken crunch roll, and the Playmakers classic burger.



Overall this was a bit of a miss.  The wings ARE breaded for those who care about these things. My mom complained the wings were small.  The aged cheddar in the burger was so aged that it reminisced a Kraft single.  The handformed patty I remembered from Symphony is some tough pre-formed thing now. Bacon was crispy though.  Fries were steak fries with parmesan cheese melted on them. They warranted a "good".  The buffalo chicken crunch roll was the star of the show..think shredded buffalo chicken inside of an egg roll wrapper.  Delicious.  
The waiter resolved the UDP issue and brought the check before the food in which I tipped and signed.  Havent seen him since the food was delivered.
Note we were a party of 2 in 2 different rooms. He only took one card and put all $22 on it and zeroed it out.
I wouldn't pay extra based on this experience but I would use it as an included dining option to stave off food coma from dining in the coveted specialty dining restaurants.