LindaN

Things we loved
We loved all the shows (Hair Spray was my fav), the pool contests (sexy man, belly flop), line dancing at boleros, and the adult games we went to.  I loved that they took pictures at night around dinner and that there were so many backgrounds and photographers.  I loved that some of them had little steps my daughter could stand on.  I loved all the frozen drinks had alcoholic and non alcoholic.  Even the bionic bar had non alcohol drinks my daughter could try.
We loved all the games at On Air every night.  We played Majority rules, Rock the Room, several music ones and we even sang family karaoke, although they need more Toby Keith songs to choose from.  We sang Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (probably not as appropriate on an international cruise as say How Do You Like Me Now or Red Solo Cup would have been).  We had a blast at the selfie scavenger hunt.  We loved all the parties on the promenade.

Excursions
St Kitts, we did the dolphin experience.  Was awesome and we had time to shop after.
St Thomas, we did a sail and snorkel to Turtle Bay.  It was awesome too.  I wanted to see turtles and we did, they were all over.  A guy from a diff boat almost drowned though.  They had to rescue him on a raft and revive him.  I swam right by him and saw him hanging onto the boat line.  A few min’s later we heard the call for a rescue.  I kicked myself for not recognizing he was in trouble.  We had rum punch on the boat back and it was all around awesome.  We even had time to buy some souvenirs at the port before our excursion.  
Nassau, we did Atlantis.  I’m glad we did it but it was a rip off for that price.  By the time we got to Atlantis it was 11:30, and we were the first group off the boat.  The bus and directions and wristband were so disorganized.  We had to head back to get the 2pm bus at 1:30.  We basically had 2 hours there.  We did the rapid lazy river twice, had lunch and left.  It was basically $100 a lap around the river.
We we’re back on the boat by 3 and I watched for pier runners.  The boat left around 5:00 ish, even though all aboard was 3:30.  Not even the late people were not running.   If you want to watch for pier runners on the Eastern Caribbean get a room on the starboard side.  We watched for runners at all 3 ports.
 
Limits on Things
One thing I did not like was the limits on things for my daughter.  Try telling a 7 year old she can’t do a zip line cuz she doesn’t weigh enough, or go on the flow rider cuz she’s not tall enough, or swim with dolphins because she’s not old enough.  She does zip lines all the time off the boat.  We took her to Theater of the Seas after the boat to get pushed and pulled by dolphins, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but RC seems to have higher limits on things than other places.  Oh, and they said kids under 18 couldn’t even play some game at on air on night.  It was a finish the lyrics game and the host said kids wouldn’t know songs from the 70’s and 80’s, or something like that.  I thought it was pretty  lame because compass did not list the game as 18+.
 

Food
We did the main dining room every night and Windjammer for breakfast.  We tried a few places for lunch.  Our staff in the main dining room was amazing, we loved them. I wish we we were not on the 5th level.  We watched joggers and a life boat every mean.  I was pretty upset by the view, I wanted to be watching the ocean.  I will check our dining room view and table first thing for every cruise from now on, when I first get on the boat.  I requested a big table, was hoping for 2 other families with kids at our table.  We were at a table for 6 and our table mates were not there half the nights.  Our MDT was my biggest problem with the cruise.  The WJ view was what I wanted to see in the MDR.
We tried playmakers one afternoon and it took 30 mins just to get waited on and another 30 before getting an appetizer.  We left before my husbands sandwich even came.  The potato skins cheese was runny and gross.  We sat down at Jonny Rockets one afternoon to get shakes but no one waited on us so we just left after 30 min’s.
Sorrento’s had the best fast food pizza ever.  They needed to put the all meat pizza out. They had it one night then not again.   The cafe in Central Park had the best creme puffs I have ever had in my life.
I wish there had been a late night small cafe for desserts, like 10-1.  Our daughter did the 5-7 dinner with AO 2 nights and they don’t let the kids get desserts.  We picked her up and WJ was closed.   Some nights we wanted sweets after On Air games and nothing was open but the candy store.

Adventure Ocean
My daughter loved it and wanted to go there the min we were not doing something fun.  I thought she would want to be at the pool 24/7 but she had so much fun at AO. She is 7 and not can be a handful.  When you register your kid they ask if they are on any meds and I said Ritilan.  Because she is hyper they immediately flagged me for getting a phone and they handed me one every time I dropped her off.  They said if she was more than they could control they would have me pick her up.   The people that work there are saints,  I didn’t hear complaints or get calls.   They did want to call me one day but they had written the wrong phone number down, but they got her to settle down.
AO info
On Sea days the sessions are 9-12, 5-7, and 7-10.  There is also a 10-2 session but you pay $7 an hour for that.  Your kid can go in with a diff age group but once they switch they have to stay in the new group.  My daughter was in the 6-8 group but she made friends with a 9 year old and so she wanted to move groups.  They let her try the 9-11 group (with a trial pass) to be with her friend, but told her after that session she had to decide which group.  She was almost in tears when I picked her up and said she wanted to stay with 6-8.
I really wish they had a 12-2 session.  RC scheduled adult only things during the 12-2 session that my husband and I would have gone too if we could have left her at AO.  For example, Martini seminar, Next Cruise presentation, adult scrapbooking, and slot tournaments were all around 1pm.  Hello RC???? You would have gotten more money from me if I could have put my kid somewhere!!!  Another scheduling oversight was the Easter Festival stuff.  Why would they put that at 5:15?  Most parents with young kids probably have 5:30 dinner.  Put the Easter stuff from 12-2 on a sea day and put the adult stuff when AO is avail.
Anyway, I was very pleased with the entire AO staff.  They must be exhausted when they get off.  When I pick my kid up from stuff I always hear about problems, and have to give a long explanation of why she’s that way, why she’s not socialized as well as other kids her age, and beg places to let her stay.  
One last comment, my daughter kept coming back from AO with a British accent, probably nothing they can do about that.  Could not take pictures in there.

Food
We did the main dining room every night and Windjammer for breakfast.  We tried a few places for lunch.  Our staff in the main dining room was amazing, we loved them. I wish we we were not on the 5th level.  We watched joggers and a life boat every mean.  I was pretty upset by the view, I wanted to be watching the ocean.  I will check our dining room view and table first thing for every cruise from now on, when I first get on the boat.  I requested a big table, was hoping for 2 other families with kids at our table.  We were at a table for 6 and our table mates were not there half the nights.  Our MDT was my biggest problem with the cruise.  The WJ view was what I wanted to see in the MDR.
We tried playmakers one afternoon and it took 30 mins just to get waited on and another 30 before getting an appetizer.  We left before my husbands sandwich even came.  The potato skins cheese was runny and gross.  We sat down at Jonny Rockets one afternoon to get shakes but no one waited on us so we just left after 30 min’s.
Sorrento’s had the best fast food pizza ever.  They needed to put the all meat pizza out. They had it one night then not again.   The cafe in Central Park had the best creme puffs I have ever had in my life.
I wish there had been a late night small cafe for desserts, like 10-1.  Our daughter did the 5-7 dinner with AO 2 nights and they don’t let the kids get desserts.  We picked her up and WJ was closed.   Some nights we wanted sweets after On Air games and nothing was open but the candy store.

Things we loved
We loved all the shows (Hair Spray was my fav), the pool contests (sexy man, belly flop), line dancing at boleros, and the adult games we went to.  I loved that they took pictures at night around dinner and that there were so many backgrounds and photographers.  I loved that some of them had little steps my daughter could stand on.  I loved all the frozen drinks had alcoholic and non alcoholic.  Even the bionic bar had non alcohol drinks my daughter could try.
We loved all the games at On Air every night.  We played Majority rules, Rock the Room, several music ones and we even sang family karaoke, although they need more Toby Keith songs to choose from.  We sang Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (probably not as appropriate on an international cruise as say How Do You Like Me Now or Red Solo Cup would have been).  We had a blast at the selfie scavenger hunt.  We loved all the parties on the promenade.

Food
We did the main dining room every night and Windjammer for breakfast.  We tried a few places for lunch.  Our staff in the main dining room was amazing, we loved them. I wish we we were not on the 5th level.  We watched joggers and a life boat every mean.  I was pretty upset by the view, I wanted to be watching the ocean.  I will check our dining room view and table first thing for every cruise from now on, when I first get on the boat.  I requested a big table, was hoping for 2 other families with kids at our table.  We were at a table for 6 and our table mates were not there half the nights.  Our MDT was my biggest problem with the cruise.  The WJ view was what I wanted to see in the MDR.
We tried playmakers one afternoon and it took 30 mins just to get waited on and another 30 before getting an appetizer.  We left before my husbands sandwich even came.  The potato skins cheese was runny and gross.  We sat down at Jonny Rockets one afternoon to get shakes but no one waited on us so we just left after 30 min’s.
Sorrento’s had the best fast food pizza ever.  They needed to put the all meat pizza out. They had it one night then not again.   The cafe in Central Park had the best creme puffs I have ever had in my life.
I wish there had been a late night small cafe for desserts, like 10-1.  Our daughter did the 5-7 dinner with AO 2 nights and they don’t let the kids get desserts.  We picked her up and WJ was closed.   Some nights we wanted sweets after On Air games and nothing was open but the candy store.

Adventure Ocean
My daughter loved it and wanted to go there the min we were not doing something fun.  I thought she would want to be at the pool 24/7 but she had so much fun at AO. She is 7 and not can be a handful.  When you register your kid they ask if they are on any meds and I said Ritilan.  Because she is hyper they immediately flagged me for getting a phone and they handed me one every time I dropped her off.  They said if she was more than they could control they would have me pick her up.   The people that work there are saints,  I didn’t hear complaints or get calls.   They did want to call me one day but they had written the wrong phone number down, but they got her to settle down.
AO info
On Sea days the sessions are 9-12, 5-7, and 7-10.  There is also a 10-2 session but you pay $7 an hour for that.  Your kid can go in with a diff age group but once they switch they have to stay in the new group.  My daughter was in the 6-8 group but she made friends with a 9 year old and so she wanted to move groups.  They let her try the 9-11 group (with a trial pass) to be with her friend, but told her after that session she had to decide which group.  She was almost in tears when I picked her up and said she wanted to stay with 6-8.
I really wish they had a 12-2 session.  RC scheduled adult only things during the 12-2 session that my husband and I would have gone too if we could have left her at AO.  For example, Martini seminar, Next Cruise presentation, adult scrapbooking, and slot tournaments were all around 1pm.  Hello RC???? You would have gotten more money from me if I could have put my kid somewhere!!!  Another scheduling oversight was the Easter Festival stuff.  Why would they put that at 5:15?  Most parents with young kids probably have 5:30 dinner.  Put the Easter stuff from 12-2 on a sea day and put the adult stuff when AO is avail.
Anyway, I was very pleased with the entire AO staff.  They must be exhausted when they get off.  When I pick my kid up from stuff I always hear about problems, and have to give a long explanation of why she’s that way, why she’s not socialized as well as other kids her age, and beg places to let her stay.  
One last comment, my daughter kept coming back from AO with a British accent, probably nothing they can do about that.  Could not take pictures in there.

Things we loved
We loved all the shows (Hair Spray was my fav), the pool contests (sexy man, belly flop), line dancing at boleros, and the adult games we went to.  I loved that they took pictures at night around dinner and that there were so many backgrounds and photographers.  I loved that some of them had little steps my daughter could stand on.  I loved all the frozen drinks had alcoholic and non alcoholic.  Even the bionic bar had non alcohol drinks my daughter could try.
We loved all the games at On Air every night.  We played Majority rules, Rock the Room, several music ones and we even sang family karaoke, although they need more Toby Keith songs to choose from.  We sang Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (probably not as appropriate on an international cruise as say How Do You Like Me Now or Red Solo Cup would have been).  We had a blast at the selfie scavenger hunt.  We loved all the parties on the promenade.

Things we loved
We loved all the shows (Hair Spray was my fav), the pool contests (sexy man, belly flop), line dancing at boleros, and the adult games we went to.  I loved that they took pictures at night around dinner and that there were so many backgrounds and photographers.  I loved that some of them had little steps my daughter could stand on.  I loved all the frozen drinks had alcoholic and non alcoholic.  Even the bionic bar had non alcohol drinks my daughter could try.
We loved all the games at On Air every night.  We played Majority rules, Rock the Room, several music ones and we even sang family karaoke, although they need more Toby Keith songs to choose from.  We sang Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (probably not as appropriate on an international cruise as say How Do You Like Me Now or Red Solo Cup would have been).  We had a blast at the selfie scavenger hunt.  We loved all the parties on the promenade.

So today we explored the ship.  We ate breakfast at the windjammer and then took my daughter to adventure ocean.  She is not always the most well behaved, especially when there are lots of kids and things don’t go the way she wants.  We got a phone for from them when we dropped her off in case they needed to call us, or she wanted to leave.  I’m very happy to report she loved it and wanted to go back for every session.  When I picked her up I didn’t hear 1 bad thing.  They must have amazingly fun stuff and very patient staff!!
We saw Hiro tonight, I can’t believe what they can do in such a small space.  The show started at 8:30 and we got there at 8.  I was worried when I saw the long line but when I got in they said the key people could sit in any of 4 rows, and they were the best seats.  We must have been one of the first key people in because we sat right  in the center and most of the 4 rows they told us to sit in we’re empty.
They took formal Picts of us but I think we get them at the end.  I asked a table mate to take a pict but it came out a little blurry.  After dinner and the show we played the game Majority Rules and my daughter won a key chain because they thought her answer was cute.  They question was if you were on a sinking ship and could only take one thing what would it be?  The 2 answers that tied for majority winners were phone and life jacket, her answer was “teddy”.   After the game my daughter made a drink at the bionic bar and we went back to the room.
We’ve had a great time so far.  I do have 3 little things that could be better.  First, we didn’t get the flyer on how to get onto the internet until after dinner.  I went down right after we got unpacked in our room but guest services was closed for the muster drill.  Luckily a guy down in the lobby told me how because when guest services opened the line was long.  Second, we got 3 cups in our room for the refreshment package and they were all the same color.  Come on, with 3 people in a room why not give them 3 diff colors.  My last issue is we have a horrible view at our table in the main dining room.  After eating at the windjammer watching the waves out the window at lunch, i’m staring at a lifeboat at dinner.  These are not giant issues, and they first 2 are easy fixes that seem just like poor planning.
 

Our Symphony of the Seas cruise leaves tomorrow, Apr 13th, 2019.   “Our” being my husband Mike and 7 year old daughter Delilah.  This is Delilah’s first cruise, Mike and my second.  Our first cruise was Freedom of the Seas in 2007.
I’m hoping cruising will become our family thing, but it depends on how this cruise goes with my daughter.
I printed my Set Sail pass, cruise docs, and luggage tags.  I packed magnetic hooks, a USB hub and sea sick bands and pills.  I am at the airport in Sacramento as I type.  We fly Sac to Denver to FLL arrive in FLL tonight at 12:30am.
We have our drink packages purchased, alcohol one for Mike and I, refreshment one for Delilah.  We have ordered the picture package, the octopus stuffed animal for D, and water in the room.  
We got the key because at 19.99 is was only $3 more than the internet and with the chops lunch, it was a no brainer.  I would have even paid 24.99, since you don’t have to wait in line for shows and to get off the boat.   Waiting in any line with my ADHD daughter  is a nightmare.  I was going to also take advantage of the key for flow rider and zip line times but I read in the cruise docs my daughter is not old enough for those.   Had I realized that I would have probably picked a boat with iFly instead and dreamworks characters.  My daughter loves zip lining.
We booked an ocean balcony, #12610.  I’m kind of worried this room is going to be too far from an elevator.  We tend to forget stuff a lot and I think it’s going to be a pain having to run that far to the room.  To make it less painful I bought a Fitbit watch, so I can be happy getting so many steps.  We made low bids for each RoyalUp category, but doubt we’ll get an upgrade since the ship is full.  It would be nice to get a bigger cabin but I mostly bid in hopes of getting something closer to an elevator.
We requested early dining and have all our shows booked.  My daughters bedtime is usually between 7 and 8 so we’ll see if she can stay awake through the shows.  We have all our excursions booked, Atlantis in Bahamas, dolphin encounter in St. Kitts, and Turtle island Sail and snorkel on St Thomas.
Most of my posts will be more pictures than text but I thought I would make an introduction post here.  I have read all the other Symphony blogs and got a lot of my questions and info from them.  I had lots more questions on traveling with young kids, so I’ll try and include info on that too.  I have no idea if my daughter will like Adventure Ocean or if she’ll be with us mostly.  25 to 1 ratio of adults to kids with 40 kids may not be her thing.  If anyone wants pictures of anything or has any questions let me know. 

Our cruise is over, boo.  I’ll summarize the rest of the cruise in a few summary posts. 
Things I would do different next Time
1) Next cruise I would fly in a day early.  We got to our hotel this time at 3:30 am and you the time we got on the boat we were so tired we missed to much that first day, and we were still tired day 2.
2) book a room closer to the elevator, although it wasn’t that bad in the middle because when we walked out the door we always had to go to the far right to take our daughter to adventure ocean, but always had to go to the left for food.  
Things we learned by day 2 that helped
1) Boat layout, something obvious if you have cruised before.  If you have not been on a cruise before I’ll save you some time walking to the ends of the halls over and over.   Every hall has 2 lobby’s you exit the hall from, those take you to elevators.  You get to everything through the elevators (or stairs).  Day 1 and 2 we kept going to the end of halls thinking there was exit at the end.  
2) We didn’t really understand how the drink cups worked until day 2.  The cups are in your room and you have to carry them to places on the boat to get sodas.  I know it probably is obvious to anyone whose cruised before but trying to get soda in the windjammer you have to carry your cup.  I only drink alcohol, water and ice tea but my husband and daughter figured out the cup thing by day 2.

Finally got to Central Park today

Finally got to Central Park today

Day 4
The night is young but today we stopped at St. Kitts.  We did the dolphin experience and loved it.  My daughter was scared of them at first but by the end loved them.  She also loved the monkeys in the market place area.   We were worried going into today because our excursion tickets said to meet at 9:30 but compass said the gangway opens at 9:30.  We went at 9 to the gangway so we could be first out but they were already letting people out.  The guy said they tell people it’s 9:30 but really you can get off at 9.  We did some shopping and got back on the boat.  
There is an 80’s party tonight so they were teaching line dancing at 3 and my daughter and I went while my husband stayed in the room on our balcony and longed to have his fishing pole with him.  He said next time he’s bringing it for sure.

Day 3
My daughter went to part of both AO sessions and loved it.  Yesterday after lunch we watched the sexiest man contest at the pool so today after lunch my daughter wanted to run down to the pool to see if there was another contest.  I was about to tell her there wasn’t but it turns out there was a belly flop contest.  We sat on the edge of the pool and cheered people on.  After that it was adventure ocean time and then finally relax time for an hour.
At 4 we picked Delilah back up and went To use the private key hour to climb the rock wall.  My daughter was the only one that wanted to try it and she got really high.  She was too scared to come down though so the guy had to go up and get her to come down.  She was too scared to just let go.
We spent a lot of time walking from place to place.  AO is on one end of the ship and food is on the other.  We also spent a lot of time waiting at elevators.  My husband discovered that there was no 13th floor so that helped the elevator waits.  We’re on 12, AO is on 14, we just walk there now.
We saw hairspray at night, it was amazing, my favorite show so far.

So today we explored the ship.  We ate breakfast at the windjammer and then took my daughter to adventure ocean.  She is not always the most well behaved, especially when there are lots of kids and things don’t go the way she wants.  We got a phone for from them when we dropped her off in case they needed to call us, or she wanted to leave.  I’m very happy to report she loved it and wanted to go back for every session.  When I picked her up I didn’t hear 1 bad thing.  They must have amazingly fun stuff and very patient staff!!
We saw Hiro tonight, I can’t believe what they can do in such a small space.  The show started at 8:30 and we got there at 8.  I was worried when I saw the long line but when I got in they said the key people could sit in any of 4 rows, and they were the best seats.  We must have been one of the first key people in because we sat right  in the center and most of the 4 rows they told us to sit in we’re empty.
They took formal Picts of us but I think we get them at the end.  I asked a table mate to take a pict but it came out a little blurry.  After dinner and the show we played the game Majority Rules and my daughter won a key chain because they thought her answer was cute.  They question was if you were on a sinking ship and could only take one thing what would it be?  The 2 answers that tied for majority winners were phone and life jacket, her answer was “teddy”.   After the game my daughter made a drink at the bionic bar and we went back to the room.
We’ve had a great time so far.  I do have 3 little things that could be better.  First, we didn’t get the flyer on how to get onto the internet until after dinner.  I went down right after we got unpacked in our room but guest services was closed for the muster drill.  Luckily a guy down in the lobby told me how because when guest services opened the line was long.  Second, we got 3 cups in our room for the refreshment package and they were all the same color.  Come on, with 3 people in a room why not give them 3 diff colors.  My last issue is we have a horrible view at our table in the main dining room.  After eating at the windjammer watching the waves out the window at lunch, i’m staring at a lifeboat at dinner.  These are not giant issues, and they first 2 are easy fixes that seem just like poor planning.
 

Have not seen Jamie’s yet but here is playmakers from lots of angles.

The Room
We finished at chops at 12:50 and decided to see if the room was ready, it was.  We passed our luggage in front of a room down the hall, so we picked it up on our way to the room.  We have a ocean balcony on deck 12, right in the middle.  Room 610.  
My biggest concern was it being too small with 3 of us, we tend to overpack.   We have 3 large suitcases and 3 roller bags and 3 backpacks.  I’m happy to report all our bags fit easily under the bed and all our stuff fit in the space provided.  I listened to all the blogs and read up on other things to bring so I also brought 2 over the door shoe things for toiletries etc, a small laundry hamper, magnetic hooks, towel clips and a USB hub.  There are 3 shelves in the bathroom so I ended up not using the over the door things in there, I used it for guess what, shoes!
 

Day 1
After waiting in the first room to board for maybe 30 mins we went to another area, on the other side of the glass, to wait with the Diamond and above people.  We waited there maybe another 30 mins because they were doing “enhanced sanitation”, then we boarded.  They tried to tell us we couldn’t go with the diamond people to wait, but I said we had they key, so they let us go too.  First picture is us in the second room.  
We knew from reading here to drop our carry on luggage at the theater and then we went to chops for lunch.   We got the steak and these 3 appetizers, all were awesome.  We gave our daughter Dramamine for kids at the beginning of lunch and after just a few hours of sleep the night before, she fell asleep.
 

Our Symphony of the Seas cruise leaves tomorrow, Apr 13th, 2019.   “Our” being my husband Mike and 7 year old daughter Delilah.  This is Delilah’s first cruise, Mike and my second.  Our first cruise was Freedom of the Seas in 2007.
I’m hoping cruising will become our family thing, but it depends on how this cruise goes with my daughter.
I printed my Set Sail pass, cruise docs, and luggage tags.  I packed magnetic hooks, a USB hub and sea sick bands and pills.  I am at the airport in Sacramento as I type.  We fly Sac to Denver to FLL arrive in FLL tonight at 12:30am.
We have our drink packages purchased, alcohol one for Mike and I, refreshment one for Delilah.  We have ordered the picture package, the octopus stuffed animal for D, and water in the room.  
We got the key because at 19.99 is was only $3 more than the internet and with the chops lunch, it was a no brainer.  I would have even paid 24.99, since you don’t have to wait in line for shows and to get off the boat.   Waiting in any line with my ADHD daughter  is a nightmare.  I was going to also take advantage of the key for flow rider and zip line times but I read in the cruise docs my daughter is not old enough for those.   Had I realized that I would have probably picked a boat with iFly instead and dreamworks characters.  My daughter loves zip lining.
We booked an ocean balcony, #12610.  I’m kind of worried this room is going to be too far from an elevator.  We tend to forget stuff a lot and I think it’s going to be a pain having to run that far to the room.  To make it less painful I bought a Fitbit watch, so I can be happy getting so many steps.  We made low bids for each RoyalUp category, but doubt we’ll get an upgrade since the ship is full.  It would be nice to get a bigger cabin but I mostly bid in hopes of getting something closer to an elevator.
We requested early dining and have all our shows booked.  My daughters bedtime is usually between 7 and 8 so we’ll see if she can stay awake through the shows.  We have all our excursions booked, Atlantis in Bahamas, dolphin encounter in St. Kitts, and Turtle island Sail and snorkel on St Thomas.
Most of my posts will be more pictures than text but I thought I would make an introduction post here.  I have read all the other Symphony blogs and got a lot of my questions and info from them.  I had lots more questions on traveling with young kids, so I’ll try and include info on that too.  I have no idea if my daughter will like Adventure Ocean or if she’ll be with us mostly.  25 to 1 ratio of adults to kids with 40 kids may not be her thing.  If anyone wants pictures of anything or has any questions let me know. 

Day 1
After waiting in the first room to board for maybe 30 mins we went to another area, on the other side of the glass, to wait with the Diamond and above people.  We waited there maybe another 30 mins because they were doing “enhanced sanitation”, then we boarded.  They tried to tell us we couldn’t go with the diamond people to wait, but I said we had they key, so they let us go too.  First picture is us in the second room.  
We knew from reading here to drop our carry on luggage at the theater and then we went to chops for lunch.   We got the steak and these 3 appetizers, all were awesome.  We gave our daughter Dramamine for kids at the beginning of lunch and after just a few hours of sleep the night before, she fell asleep.
 

The Room
We finished at chops at 12:50 and decided to see if the room was ready, it was.  We passed our luggage in front of a room down the hall, so we picked it up on our way to the room.  We have a ocean balcony on deck 12, right in the middle.  Room 610.  
My biggest concern was it being too small with 3 of us, we tend to overpack.   We have 3 large suitcases and 3 roller bags and 3 backpacks.  I’m happy to report all our bags fit easily under the bed and all our stuff fit in the space provided.  I listened to all the blogs and read up on other things to bring so I also brought 2 over the door shoe things for toiletries etc, a small laundry hamper, magnetic hooks, towel clips and a USB hub.  There are 3 shelves in the bathroom so I ended up not using the over the door things in there, I used it for guess what, shoes!
 

So today we explored the ship.  We ate breakfast at the windjammer and then took my daughter to adventure ocean.  She is not always the most well behaved, especially when there are lots of kids and things don’t go the way she wants.  We got a phone for from them when we dropped her off in case they needed to call us, or she wanted to leave.  I’m very happy to report she loved it and wanted to go back for every session.  When I picked her up I didn’t hear 1 bad thing.  They must have amazingly fun stuff and very patient staff!!
We saw Hiro tonight, I can’t believe what they can do in such a small space.  The show started at 8:30 and we got there at 8.  I was worried when I saw the long line but when I got in they said the key people could sit in any of 4 rows, and they were the best seats.  We must have been one of the first key people in because we sat right  in the center and most of the 4 rows they told us to sit in we’re empty.
They took formal Picts of us but I think we get them at the end.  I asked a table mate to take a pict but it came out a little blurry.  After dinner and the show we played the game Majority Rules and my daughter won a key chain because they thought her answer was cute.  They question was if you were on a sinking ship and could only take one thing what would it be?  The 2 answers that tied for majority winners were phone and life jacket, her answer was “teddy”.   After the game my daughter made a drink at the bionic bar and we went back to the room.
We’ve had a great time so far.  I do have 3 little things that could be better.  First, we didn’t get the flyer on how to get onto the internet until after dinner.  I went down right after we got unpacked in our room but guest services was closed for the muster drill.  Luckily a guy down in the lobby told me how because when guest services opened the line was long.  Second, we got 3 cups in our room for the refreshment package and they were all the same color.  Come on, with 3 people in a room why not give them 3 diff colors.  My last issue is we have a horrible view at our table in the main dining room.  After eating at the windjammer watching the waves out the window at lunch, i’m staring at a lifeboat at dinner.  These are not giant issues, and they first 2 are easy fixes that seem just like poor planning.