FionaMG

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount!
The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line!
The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

What D+ luggage tag? Is it still a thing? Can I ask the LA for one on my next cruise???

Day Seven - Cruise Day Four - Aruba
Today was the first of our three ports of call. 
We were in port from 8 am until 9 pm. 
We had booked an excursion through Royal, called "Aruba's Hidden Gems". The amount of information in Internet Land about this particular excursion is extremely sparse, so we had little more than Royal's own description to go by and we all know how "good" those are. 

The excursion was initially supposed to start at 1.30 pm but in the week before the cruise it was changed to 12.30 pm. As I understand it, this excursion sometimes operates in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. The fact that this was an afternoon one meant we didn't need to be up early, which was great. I hate getting up early! 
The meeting point was on the pier at 12.15 so we had a leisurely breakfast and still had time for a stroll through the town to do a little bit of souvenir shopping. This would turn out to be a good call, because by the time we returned to the ship at the end of the excursion (5.30 pm ish) it was coming up to closing time for the shops in main street (6 pm). The souvenir stalls beside the port stay open until later though.
Given the lack of information, I was quite surprised to discover that there were two full busloads for the excursion, which was operated by De Palm Tours. It departed on time and our driver/guide was Ray. He was very good but one thing I did not like was that he did not have a hands-free microphone, so he was essentially driving with one hand and using the other to hold the microphone. I meant to comment on this on the post-cruise questionnaire but forgot ☹️. The bus itself was comfortable and had air conditioning; it wasn't one of those open-sided ones.
I did keep notes on this one, so I would be able to give a good description afterwards.
Our first stop was at a place called Tourism Plaza where there is an Aruba sign and, behind it, a path to Surfside Beach, which is apparently popular with locals. It was nice enough but not a patch on Eagle Beach, which has to be one of my all-time favourite beaches anywhere. My pic of DH is far better than either of the ones he took of me, which is why you're getting him! 😂

Surfside Beach. The ship in this pic is P&O's Britannia. Ours was parked behind it so you can't see it from this vantage point.


Our second stop was at Mangal Alto Beach. Mangal Alto means Tall Mangroves and the beach was hidden behind them to the extent that you couldn't see it from the road. DH did a better job with the camera this time. 

From here, we drove through the future art district of San Nicolaas, 19 km southeast of Oranjestad, where we saw lots of murals that reminded me of the ones we'd seen when were driving through Wynwood in Miami. Ray told us that the Aruban government is putting a lot of money into this area and that work is ongoing to build a brand new cruise port here. When it is ready, it is to be used for the larger cruise ships while the smaller ones will continue to dock in Oranjestad. The area did look very nice. Unfortunately, since the bus was moving and we didn't stop here, I didn't get any pics of the murals.
Next, we stopped at the Grotto of Lourdes, a religious landmark with a roadside shrine built into the cliff that is used for Catholic worship.


From here, we went to the first of the two sets of caves we would visit during the excursion. They are located in the Arikok National Park.
Quadirikiri Cave.
View from the mouth of the cave. Note that there are some very steep uneven steps to get up here.

Inside the cave:




The "heart" above us in this last one is formed by the light interacting with the minerals on the cave wall. Ray told us all exactly where to stand and kindly took pics for everyone who wanted one.

The next cave was the Fontein Cave, which has ancient paintings inside it. There was no steep staircase to get into this one but you still had to take care because the ground is uneven under foot and it is dark inside the cave.

The green colour on the rock is caused by the mineral content.



There are porta-potties at the caves. Obviously not ideal but when needs must... Be sure to have tissues and wipes to hand.
From the caves, we drove a very short distance to see a cove whose name I can't remember and, unfortunately, I did not get a pic of the sign with the name on it.
To get on to the beach, you have to go down a staircase.

Swimming is not allowed at this cove because the sea is too dangerous.


The area around it is very barren.

The roads in the national park are not paved so it was quite a bumpy ride even though Ray drove very slowly. However at least we didn't get covered in dust like the folks we saw in some jeeps.
From here we headed to our last stop, the Casibari rock formation. We had been here before on a previous visit to Aruba. There is a passage through the rock that you can use to get to the top. You need to be very careful of your footing and also mindful of the very low ceiling. Alternatively, walk round to the left where there is an actual staircase.

There is a good view from the top and you can see the ships off in the distance. It was a bit hazy at this time of day, but you can still see them in the pic even so.

There are free toilets here but they were out of order on this occasion. They had been in use on our previous visit. However, across the road there is a small facility offering snacks, souvenirs and a proper toilet that you had to pay a dollar to use. We did not go in so I can't say what it was like.

This was the last stop on the tour and from here we headed back to the ship.
Given the timing of the tour - over lunchtime - and with very little in the way of food available during it, we were quite hungry so we made a beeline for Sorrento's for some pizza, although we were careful not to overindulge as we would be eating at 150 Central Park later.
Overall, we enjoyed this tour as it gave us a chance to see some sights that we would not have been able to otherwise. I booked it during a sale at $49.99 each and, in fact, used up some Next Cruise OBC to pay for it. I know it did go up during non-sale periods, but I can't remember exactly how much. I have a feeling maybe another $10 on top.
The description lists the tour as being "strenuous". I would have to say that's probably a bit of an exaggeration, but the stairs up into the cave could be a bit challenging for some people and it would be a definite "no" if you are not normally mobile.
I would recommend wearing trainers (sneakers) or some other comfortable closed-toe footwear. Sandals and flip-flops are definitely not a good idea given the underfoot conditions.
Since this has been quite a long post, I'll do a separate one for our evening activities.

Day Six - Cruise Day Three - Another Day at Sea
Today was largely a repeat of yesterday, i.e. generally loafing around. It was still very windy but as we were farther south it was a bit warmer.
Our Chef's Surprise (or whatever it's called) turned up in the room today. Another sign of the cutbacks. There used to be six bites on this plate; today's had only four. Not that we minded since we didn't eat them anyway. 😂

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, formal night had been shifted from day two to day three to accommodate Super Bowl, so tonight's dinner was the corresponding French menu.

I don't care for any of the starters on this menu so I didn't order one, plus I was saving space for the bits that come along with the Indian main course. I think DH might have had the pumpkin soup but I have no pic to substantiate that suspicion.
I love Indian food. Back home in my native Scotland we have a very large Indian community and we have some very highly rated restaurants. However, I'm the only one in the household who likes it, so I was thrilled when Royal started having a nightly Indian dish, even though they are not as fully authentic as you might get on land. I did ask Stanley about this (he is from India) and he said that, on board, they did not have access to all the spices that they would normally use on land. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the ones that I did have on board.
Tonight's was lamb rogan josh:


DH had the tenderloin and asked for fries with it. Luckily, fries are on the kids' menu so you can get them every night if you want.

He said it was fine, again nothing to write home about but definitely better than the prime rib from the first night.
The desserts were good.
Warm apple cobbler:

And cappuccino chocolate cake with a side of vanilla ice cream.

One of the things we missed on this sailing, in comparison to the "old days", was the nightly show. Our typical routine back in those days would be dinner, show, casino, and tea & cookies before bed.
At something of a loose end, we wandered onto the boardwalk where the aqua show was due to start. We had bookings for the following night but thought if we could get in on the standby line we might as well see it tonight. There didn't seem to be a huge crowd and they let us in ahead of the usual cut-off time.

However, remember that wind I mentioned earlier on... well, it was so strong that the water was literally sloshing out of the pool and onto the stage in huge waves. Obvious outcome, the show that night was cancelled. So much for catching it a day early. Oh well, at least we had bookings for the next night.😂 The cancelled show was rescheduled for 7 pm on night five.
So instead we had an early night in preparation for our first port of call the next day, which would be Aruba.

Day Five - (Cruise Day Two) - At Sea.
Today was a hugely significant day for us. This was the day we accumulated our 175th C&A point. After several anxious days of constantly refreshing my account page, the points have finally posted and we have now made it to the eagerly awaited milestone of D+. Woohoo! 😀 We were among those who really benefited from the post-pandemic double points promo; without it, we would still have been 22 points adrift of D+ at the present moment in time.

We really like when our first full day on a cruise is a sea day because you have time to explore the ship at leisure, so that is what we did, especially since it was our first sailing on Symphony.
We had breakfast in the Windjammer. I am not usually a fan, preferring the MDR, but DH likes the WJ because he can see what's on offer rather than having to imagine it from a description on the menu. And to be fair, on this cruise, we never found the WJ to be the seething mass of humanity we were expecting. Perhaps it was because we usually managed to go at off-peak times but we never had to really hunt for a table and we never once heard the recorded message asking people to leave to make room for others.
On the whole, we enjoyed pretty much everything we ate in the WJ, which was all but one breakfast and most lunches. I don't remember either of us disliking anything that we tried. I meant to make myself a  DIY chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream like @OCSC Mike suggested, but I forgot. I am kicking myself over this and will have to remedy the oversight on a future cruise! 😂
First WJ breakfast. All subsequent WJ breakfasts were pretty much identical so I won't be boring you with any more pics of them. And, in fact, I didn't take any pics of our WJ lunches.

As you can tell from the breakfast pic, it was a sunny day but there was a very strong wind and this would be a constant throughout much of the cruise, making sunbathing not such a pleasant pastime unless you were lucky enough to be able to find a sunbed in a sheltered spot. That did not stop many of our fellow cruisers from catching some rays.


Although it does look quite busy we never had any real difficulty finding a spot to sit in. That said, we don't mind not being right beside the pool and we actually prefer the seats over the loungers.
There were a few takers for some of the casitas that can be seen in the pics. I was less than impressed with these. Because the sides are slatted, the wind blew right through them. Also, as the sun moved so did the shade. I did see some of them occupied, though, so clearly some people found value in them. The loungers did have nice, thick padded cushions on them, so I'm sure they were far more comfortable than the normal ones.
Given the weather, the solarium was very busy. I somehow managed not to take any pics of the solarium, which was very remiss of me, but we noticed that it had openings in the ceiling that let the air (and the wind!) in and because the wind was so strong on these days, it was whistling very loudly through those openings. I think that noise would have got to me after a bit. We don't usually spend much time in the solarium anyway but I would have to say I preferred the ones on Odyssey and Anthem, precisely because of that, although I imagine it wouldn't be an issue on a calm day.
There was a parade called "Anchors Aweigh" in the promenade today (it would subsequently be repeated on the last sea day, presumably to ensure more people had a chance to see it). It lasted about 15 minutes and was a lot of fun. Lots of folks staked out their spots well in advance, taking advantage of the chairs at Sorrento's, the pub and the Café. If you don't mind standing, the overlook at Focus, the photo place, affords a great view. Again, you do need to get there early to secure your spot.

Today was Super Bowl and the game was shown in a number of venues. We popped into the theatre just as they were playing the US national anthem and the atmosphere was electric. It was also shown in the Aqua Theatre, which was packed, and at Playmakers. The tables in Playmakers were all roped off; I think you had to book if you wanted to sit there as it said something about it in the app and there was a dollar sign.
Because of the event, tonight was not formal night as would normally be expected and the dinner menu was not the usual French menu. Instead it was a casual night and the dinner menu was the Italian menu.

Minestrone soup:

DH hated this and only ate a couple of spoonsful. He said it had a strong acidic taste to it. I reckon that would have been from the tomatoes. Any time I'm making sauces or soups with tomatoes I throw in some sugar to counteract the acidity. Anyway, since his tummy had been acting up a bit today, he decided just to have a cheese plate and leave it at that.
I had the arancini, which I really enjoyed:

The sole, which was fine, nothing to write home about.

And the Italian chocolate-hazelnut cake, which was better than I had been expecting, having been disappointed with it on a couple of previous cruises:

After dinner, we went to see the ice show, which was very good. We were too busy actually watching it to get much in the way of pictures but it is definitely a not-to-be-missed entertainment item.

This was followed by a few minutes (literally all the time it took!) in the casino for DH to make his nightly contribution and we then retired exhausted from our long day of doing not a lot and needing to rest up in preparation for repeating it all again the following day. 😂
 

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount!
The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line!
The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount!
The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line!
The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

What the jogging track is during peak sunbathing times:
 

Oasis class distances (taken on Symphony). Soooo much better than on the teeny tiny ships. 😂

 

I wish everyone was like you. As a serious runner, I only ever use the track on Oasis class ships (on other ships I use the treadmills in the gym) and it's clearly marked that walkers should keep left and runners keep right. I've lost count of the number of times this is ignored by groups of several people who spread themselves across the whole track and don't listen out for runners. Sometimes they don't move even when I yell at them that I'm coming through and I end up having to try and dodge around them. On a couple of occasions it hasn't been possible to avoid them and I've bumped into them. 😤

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount!
The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line!
The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

I wish everyone was like you. As a serious runner, I only ever use the track on Oasis class ships (on other ships I use the treadmills in the gym) and it's clearly marked that walkers should keep left and runners keep right. I've lost count of the number of times this is ignored by groups of several people who spread themselves across the whole track and don't listen out for runners. Sometimes they don't move even when I yell at them that I'm coming through and I end up having to try and dodge around them. On a couple of occasions it hasn't been possible to avoid them and I've bumped into them. 😤

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount!
The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line!
The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

Yes, you can cancel any cruise planner purchase up until the cruise planner closes, which is usually about 3 days before your cruise. You'll find the exact cut-off date for your particular cruise by scrolling down to the bottom of the page. The money will be refunded to your original form of payment, which may take a few days, depending on your bank.
If you want to repurchase because you saw the item at a cheaper price you do have to pay for it a second time round, so you'll be out the additional cost until the refund hits your account.

Laziness? Allergic to exercise? I could go on...

Oasis class definitely has the best track setup for running.  It's longer and covered and out of the way. 
Quantum class is ok-ish as long as the top deck isn't too crowded. It's longer and usually not too many people (and usually colder weather itineraries), but the front has a slight slope and can be a wind tunnel at times.
Freedom and Voyager class, forget it!  Too many people and too short of a track.
Radiance class, definitely too small.

Love the walking track, 10,000 before 10 (am). During the winter I walk the hallways and admire the art on the cabin doors. Walking track, hallways, stairs, no excuse not to get your steps in. 

Awesome, I was right. Walking to the right. I honestly didn't even see that. 🤣 Good I was in the right though. Thank you. 

Glad it's not just me that has this problem.... 
I'm the same way, I only run on the Oasis class track and treadmill for the other classes since only the Oasis class has the potential to not be running people over every 10 steps.

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount!
The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line!
The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. The markings I was referring to are on the dedicated track on deck 5 of Oasis class ships, so you wouldn't see them on Anthem, where the track is up top. I honestly couldn't say if there's any prescribed walker/runner use on Anthem or other non-Oasis class. Maybe it's just a case of one person starting on a particular side and others following suit.
One thing I did notice on my recent cruise on Symphony was that the loungers and deck chairs on the top deck were all roped together so they couldn't be moved around. That is a huge improvement for anyone wanting to walk or run up top because, in the past, you'd often be having to dodge around loungers that folks had moved to better catch the sun!
I absolutely agree with you that the treadmills are deadly dull in comparison to the gorgeous views you get going around the deck. I only use them because it's the only way to get in a decent session. At least they usually have a nice view out of the window! 😂

I've never noticed that on Indy or Freedom but my wife would know better.
Check out the running track on Enchantment if you're bored. That ship was literally cut in half during a dry dock and they added a brand new middle section then put it back together. You can most easily tell the new section on the track up top b/c there's a big hump in the middle... that's the new part.

Totally agree.  I deal with this at my local gym too.  I warm up on 2 lane track for easy jog before hitting the treadmill.  Frequently navigate around 2 or 3 people walking side by side and totally unaware someone else might be using the track too.  Our track is so small that it takes 18 laps to make a mile.  You wouldn't believe how many people are "surprised" when I come around 40 seconds later and pass them again....and again.   They keep walking side by side.    It's turned out to be good training for the ship.

I do a lot of running on the ship (track or treadmill).  Anxiously awaiting pics and reports of the gym and track on Icon!!
Typically the left is for runners or fast walkers....always common courtesy to go back to the right lane after passing.   Early in the morning is best time for me with less people out and no sunscreen needed.  No shade for most ships.    Anytime after about 7:30 or 8AM turns into people and chair dodging.  No fun.
Oasis ships are better protected from sun and wind and have less people wandering around the track during day.
On Anthem, lanes are marked at starting area towards the back starboard side of the ship....before you get to the groovy van and rock climbing wall.  See pic below. 

I HATE this!!!!!!  They are totally oblivious to the people who are really trying to workout.  I always stay to the right and look behind me when trying to pass the slower walkers.  On Anthem (out of NJ) the 1st day and last day during the winter are the real workouts on the track.  The wind is crazy but fun.  I try to get out between 7-7:30 in the morning at least 4 days.  I have to admit that I don't know how to use a treadmill.  I always run or walked outdoors even in the winter.  Something about being outdoors just makes me feel better.