Firefly

Anyone else sick to death of people sending articles about this to them, apparently as some sort of warning as to why you should not cruise, or are my friends just jerks?

Tiramisu Martini. We seriously skipped dessert the last 4 nights of our Oasis cruise and enjoyed drinking dessert. Yes, they are slightly over the drink package limit, but we thought they were well worth it. The Chocolate Martini was was covered in the package so we indulged on those other times.
 
Have a great cruise!

Thank you so much for your wonderful live review. I will miss checking in each day. We are just getting started on our cruise vacations so heaven only knows if we will ever even consider Star Class, maybe once the kids are done with college....I can dream, right. Until then at least my hubby has agreed that we get a cruise without the kids for each cruise we take as a family. It looks like you and your family had the most amazing vacation- I bet you splurge again after a week like that because how can you go back?  

March 16, 2019.
Mariner of the Seas made history this morning by becoming the first ship to dock at the new pier at CocoCay.  
The ship docked in the dark and secured her lines following a brief pier test last week.  Last week’s brief pier trial docking occurred after the ship spent the day tendering guests to the island.  The ship spent a few minutes at the pier before continuing on with her regularly scheduled departure from Cococay.   
Today for the first time guests will disembark visiting CocoCay using the pier and experience a soft opening of a couple new Perfect Day features.  
This historic visit to CocoCay is occurring with fortunate timing for RoyalCarribeanBlog.com readers since it coincides with the blog group cruise involving dozens of blog followers led by @Matt and his family.
Still dark as I write this you know Matt and many others on the RoyalCaribbeanBlog group cruise will be posting about this historic event. 
If you don't already follow Matt both here on the blog and on social media today where he will be posting about this historic day in the life of CocoCay as it unfolds.
http://www.facebook.com/royalcaribbeanblog
http://twitter.com/therclblog
http://instagram.com/royalcaribbeanblog
https://www.pscp.tv/therclblog
https://www.youtube.com/royalcaribbeanblog
 
Pier construction will continue over the coming months to allow even larger ships including Quantum and Oasis class.

We forgot to pack goggles for our kids a few years ago and in October the only store that had them instock enroute to our destination was a sporting goods store $$$. Of course heaven forbid the kids couldn’t swim at the hotel. We absolutely loved Allure last year. My boys still talk about Washy Washy Woman at the MDR. Have a great cruise!

3 more days until we leave for Miami!!! And just in time too, it seems. Thank goodness we decided to fly out a day early, Minnesota is expected to get major weather starting around Saturday night into Sunday. I just hope and pray for all of the spring break travelers' safety and hope no one (including us) miss their vacations! 
I have another secret/tip to share! We booked a Central Park Balcony room which came with certain "perks": bottle of wine, lunch for 2 at Giovanni's, and a "Casino Lesson". Well, hubby and I are already knowledgeable Blackjack and Poker players (we don't play other casino games other than Roulette which is easy peasy), and we have the Deluxe Beverage package, so we didn't really care about the wine. On a whim, I Facebook Messaged Royal Caribbean back in October and asked if there was any chance they could switch our perks to what the Boardwalk Balcony gets: Lunch for 4 at Johnny Rockets, 2 Soda Packages , and a family Rock Climbing session. They needed to check with a manager, and after a few days wait, much to my surprise, they said YES! They did say it was a "one time exception" which I take to mean I probably can't ask this of them again in the future (understandable). I just wanted to share my experience and suggest that if you too want to swap your "perks", it can't hurt to ask! You might be pleasantly surprised! 
Royal's Facebook team is great! I have used the message feature about 10 times when planning this trip. Someone gets back to me right away, usually within minutes! I needed to reach out to Royal the week before my trip to confirm that our perks-swap was logged with the ship, and I just used Facebook Messenger to do that! They contacted the ship, made sure the swapped was logged (and I specifically asked for the soda packages to be assigned to my kids), and they messaged me back to confirm all was set and ready to go! I used a Travel Agent to book, but Royal's Facebook team was like a second, often more helpful, vacation assistant! Can't say enough great things ?

Wow, 7 pages and you’re not even on the ship yet...I can tell this will be a fun live review. Have an amazing cruise!

I just finished lunch with our hotel director here on Navigator.  This is the last cruise of his current contract.  When he returns from his break he is becoming the manager at CocoCay and he will live there full time.  The pier is basically finished but the bridge is not in place yet.  Any day now for the bridge but the pier is ready to accept ships.  

I pop over to that "other" site every now and then.   Was just checking it out during lunch today and it never ceases to amaze as to how ugly it gets over there.   I see so many people (even mods) who just get salty and vile with people posting simple questions.    My wife was laughing at me the last time i was reading over there because i let it get under my skin way more than it should, if at all.   So many trolls as well.     @Matt it really makes me appreciate all of your hard work that has gone into this place, not to mention the great attitudes of everyone here.    Thanks again everyone!    My time spent here makes me really enjoy cruising much more than I ever intended.    I always log off knowing more than I started out and generally have a good laugh as well.   Cheers!

We sailed on Allure in a deck 8 ocean balcony and loved the convenience of being an easy walk to central park. We were close to the forward stairs/elevators which I was nervous about at first, but it was never an issue. The location was very quiet and it was awesome being so close to the Park Cafe and Trellis Bar. We liked the location so much we booked deck 8 again for Symphony next year. 

We sailed on Allure in a deck 8 ocean balcony and loved the convenience of being an easy walk to central park. We were close to the forward stairs/elevators which I was nervous about at first, but it was never an issue. The location was very quiet and it was awesome being so close to the Park Cafe and Trellis Bar. We liked the location so much we booked deck 8 again for Symphony next year. 

Would you actually utilize this luggage for a 4 night cruise??  Be honest as I have seen many of you pack as if you are going away for a year when it's only 4 nights!! ?

Sadly friends, this live blog must come to an end. Not because I want to end it, but because I am being forced to vacate this ship. 
Thanks for reading and following along. I have to admit I really enjoyed this format of live blogging, and I’d love to do it again. It’s certainly a lot simpler approach compared to my other live blogs. 
Thanks again and hope you enjoyed it.  So long, and thanks for all the fish. 

We are at Paradise Beach!

We got ourselves ready to go and grabbed a cup of coffee from Cafe Lattetudes.  Amazing how easy it is to get going without kids!

No lines for disembarkation.  We walked off to perfect beach weather. 

Speaking of @twangster I learned one important photography lesson, which is the best time for photos is the hour or so around dusk. Great contrast in the sky and the ship. 

Another beautiful sunset this evening. 

In case anyone was wondering, here’s boarding day spa specials

we enjoyed a spectacular sunset as we passed under Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Absolutely perfect sailaway weather!
For dinner, we headed to Izumi on deck 12. 

I never I experienced this in until this past December after our Oasis cruise. We had very rough seas the second to the last night, so I thought maybe that caused it. I mostly felt it when I laid down or closed my eyes. It didn’t matter if I was sitting or even standing. It took a good 4-5 days before it went away, it was so annoying. Hope the feeling goes away for you soon.

Yeah, how do I choose “a” favorite ???  But I will contain myself (and reduce them).
A nice pic of the Allure courtesy of hubster, Alaska’s Endicott Arm, and near San Juan’s port ❤️
 
 
 

Here are mine- only one under my belt so just a couple to pick from ?. St.Maarten port and Honeymoon beach on Water Island. 

Loving all the pictures, can’t  choose just one favorite from our cruises last year. Sorry for the pic overload.
Our view from our balcony on the first morning on Allure was nothing short of spectacular. 

My sons and nephews had the best time cruising together on Allure.

We fell in love with the water in SXM

The stop in Old San Juan was way too short. Loved the culture and the resilience of the people we encountered there. So sad to see the mark Hurricane Marie left there.

Loved the viewof Allure from Columbus Cove in Labadee.

Time of our life snorkeling in St. Thomas on our Oasis cruise in December. Cannot wait to swim with the turtles again next year on our Symphony cruise.

Our second visit to SXM took us to Pinel Island. Love that place!

Loving all the pictures, can’t  choose just one favorite from our cruises last year. Sorry for the pic overload.
Our view from our balcony on the first morning on Allure was nothing short of spectacular. 

My sons and nephews had the best time cruising together on Allure.

We fell in love with the water in SXM

The stop in Old San Juan was way too short. Loved the culture and the resilience of the people we encountered there. So sad to see the mark Hurricane Marie left there.

Loved the viewof Allure from Columbus Cove in Labadee.

Time of our life snorkeling in St. Thomas on our Oasis cruise in December. Cannot wait to swim with the turtles again next year on our Symphony cruise.

Our second visit to SXM took us to Pinel Island. Love that place!

Loving all the pictures, can’t  choose just one favorite from our cruises last year. Sorry for the pic overload.
Our view from our balcony on the first morning on Allure was nothing short of spectacular. 

My sons and nephews had the best time cruising together on Allure.

We fell in love with the water in SXM

The stop in Old San Juan was way too short. Loved the culture and the resilience of the people we encountered there. So sad to see the mark Hurricane Marie left there.

Loved the viewof Allure from Columbus Cove in Labadee.

Time of our life snorkeling in St. Thomas on our Oasis cruise in December. Cannot wait to swim with the turtles again next year on our Symphony cruise.

Our second visit to SXM took us to Pinel Island. Love that place!