MorganMichelle2001

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!
About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 
BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ??” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails ? I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 
Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 
We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ???) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!
After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 
St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!
About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 
BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ??” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails ? I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 
Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 
We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ???) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!
After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 
St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV
 

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!
About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 
BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ??” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails ? I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 
Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 
We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ???) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!
After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 
St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!
About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 
BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ??” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails ? I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 
Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 
We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ???) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!
After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 
St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!
About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 
BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ??” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails ? I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 
Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 
We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ???) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!
After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 
St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

Ok, I’m having a heck of a time w that last post. I tried to edit so I could include notes as well as delete the video (I think it uploaded twice) and not having much luck. Oh well! Onward and upward!
About last night...kids decided they wanted to go to Adventure Ocean Dining, so hubby and I had a meal to ourselves. MDR was much less hectic last night and tho we did bring our own wine into dinner, our wine “refills” were much faster too! 
BTW, we were in Shooners Bar before dinner and I had a pretty full martini I was sipping, and I ordered my Kim Crawford for dinner and the bartender said no, since I already had a martini. I was like, “um, excuse me? I can’t order a second drink ??” He said, “how are you going to drink wine and a martini?” Apparently he doesn’t know I’m a pro at double fisting wine and cocktails ? I explained the MDR wine fiasco and he agreed to get my wine. Still, I thought that was kinda weird that I had to justify ordering a second drink! 
Oh, and the pic of the table was to show how much silverware they give us. Hubby and I both ordered something that needed a steak knife, and when the waiter dropped it off, hubby said something funny like, “just what I thought this table needed, more silverware!” 
We grabbed the kids after dinner then headed to On Air for family karaoke. We had a blast!! My 5 yo daughter was desperate to go on stage (budding Diva she is) but none of the songs she knows were options in the karaoke book (no ABBA Mamamia? No Greatest Showman soundtrack?! No Toto Roseanna!? Yes, those were all options she suggested ???) So I decided to pick something I thought I could sing relatively OK and she just bounced around w the mic and danced. She loved it!!
After we got off stage, my husband proudly announced he took a video of our performance...turned out to be an 8 sec clip, 1 sec of us on the stage then the crowd. LOL, bless his heart, he tried!! 
St. Maarten today, beach excursion! Just finished breakfast on our balcony, now time to lather the kids in sunscreen! 

DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV
 

DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV
 

DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV DD8F5D36-2AA5-47B5-B443-0EB14AE56388.MOV
 

Pools! Johnny Rockets! And naps! That’s what’s been keeping us busy today.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Park Cafe, where my hubby swears they send bad Royal Caribbean employees to work when they’ve gotten in trouble (the staff just seem a little grumpier and shorter-tempered at Park Cafe). The breakfast burritos were super yummy. 
My son hit the rock climbing wall at 9 am sharp and the line wasn’t too long at all. He was done after one try (got up about 12 feet). We changed into swim suits then hung out at the pool for about 2 hours. The pools really are not as busy/packed as what I feared. My son and I tried the “lazy river” pool which was really neat. They all seemed about 10 degrees colder today so most of the time was spent in the “hot pools”. Kids also got their first taste of all-you-can-eat soft serve on the pool deck ?. They were happy campers.
Took advantage of our perks-swap and had JR for lunch. So good! And we were so full! Came back to the room for some down time: hubby and I shut our eyes for an hour while kids watched a movie on their iPads. I’m so glad we got the internet package!!! 

Pools! Johnny Rockets! And naps! That’s what’s been keeping us busy today.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Park Cafe, where my hubby swears they send bad Royal Caribbean employees to work when they’ve gotten in trouble (the staff just seem a little grumpier and shorter-tempered at Park Cafe). The breakfast burritos were super yummy. 
My son hit the rock climbing wall at 9 am sharp and the line wasn’t too long at all. He was done after one try (got up about 12 feet). We changed into swim suits then hung out at the pool for about 2 hours. The pools really are not as busy/packed as what I feared. My son and I tried the “lazy river” pool which was really neat. They all seemed about 10 degrees colder today so most of the time was spent in the “hot pools”. Kids also got their first taste of all-you-can-eat soft serve on the pool deck ?. They were happy campers.
Took advantage of our perks-swap and had JR for lunch. So good! And we were so full! Came back to the room for some down time: hubby and I shut our eyes for an hour while kids watched a movie on their iPads. I’m so glad we got the internet package!!! 

Sorry for my “hand shadow” in the pic. Night 2 MDR Menu. I had the beef carpaccio, lobster bisque, seafood linguine, and peach shortcake. Hubby had Cesar salad, shrimp cocktail, NY Strip and carrot cake. All tasted great! Wine service in MDR is pretty poor. First night I ordered Kim Crawford sav blank and my hubby ordered a cab. They brought 2 Kim Crawford’s.  Took until dessert for the cab to arrive. Same thing but opposite yesterday, hubby ordered cab right away, I had a cocktail still so I waited until I placed our order to ask for Kim Crawford. They brought 2 cabs and my wine didn’t come until dessert ??‍♀️. Today we will bring wine in from a bar and make sure to order more wine right away.
Also, I’ll try to do a My Family Time Dining review. Hopefully we will try it again tonight and have a bit smoother experience.

Pools! Johnny Rockets! And naps! That’s what’s been keeping us busy today.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Park Cafe, where my hubby swears they send bad Royal Caribbean employees to work when they’ve gotten in trouble (the staff just seem a little grumpier and shorter-tempered at Park Cafe). The breakfast burritos were super yummy. 
My son hit the rock climbing wall at 9 am sharp and the line wasn’t too long at all. He was done after one try (got up about 12 feet). We changed into swim suits then hung out at the pool for about 2 hours. The pools really are not as busy/packed as what I feared. My son and I tried the “lazy river” pool which was really neat. They all seemed about 10 degrees colder today so most of the time was spent in the “hot pools”. Kids also got their first taste of all-you-can-eat soft serve on the pool deck ?. They were happy campers.
Took advantage of our perks-swap and had JR for lunch. So good! And we were so full! Came back to the room for some down time: hubby and I shut our eyes for an hour while kids watched a movie on their iPads. I’m so glad we got the internet package!!! 

Pools! Johnny Rockets! And naps! That’s what’s been keeping us busy today.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Park Cafe, where my hubby swears they send bad Royal Caribbean employees to work when they’ve gotten in trouble (the staff just seem a little grumpier and shorter-tempered at Park Cafe). The breakfast burritos were super yummy. 
My son hit the rock climbing wall at 9 am sharp and the line wasn’t too long at all. He was done after one try (got up about 12 feet). We changed into swim suits then hung out at the pool for about 2 hours. The pools really are not as busy/packed as what I feared. My son and I tried the “lazy river” pool which was really neat. They all seemed about 10 degrees colder today so most of the time was spent in the “hot pools”. Kids also got their first taste of all-you-can-eat soft serve on the pool deck ?. They were happy campers.
Took advantage of our perks-swap and had JR for lunch. So good! And we were so full! Came back to the room for some down time: hubby and I shut our eyes for an hour while kids watched a movie on their iPads. I’m so glad we got the internet package!!! 

Pools! Johnny Rockets! And naps! That’s what’s been keeping us busy today.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at Park Cafe, where my hubby swears they send bad Royal Caribbean employees to work when they’ve gotten in trouble (the staff just seem a little grumpier and shorter-tempered at Park Cafe). The breakfast burritos were super yummy. 
My son hit the rock climbing wall at 9 am sharp and the line wasn’t too long at all. He was done after one try (got up about 12 feet). We changed into swim suits then hung out at the pool for about 2 hours. The pools really are not as busy/packed as what I feared. My son and I tried the “lazy river” pool which was really neat. They all seemed about 10 degrees colder today so most of the time was spent in the “hot pools”. Kids also got their first taste of all-you-can-eat soft serve on the pool deck ?. They were happy campers.
Took advantage of our perks-swap and had JR for lunch. So good! And we were so full! Came back to the room for some down time: hubby and I shut our eyes for an hour while kids watched a movie on their iPads. I’m so glad we got the internet package!!! 

The Irish 25% of me cried when I read this.
I learned this is the right way to go after my first cruise last year, on Freedom. Dunno why bar service is always so abysmal in the MDR, no matter the ship. ??‍♂️

Great photos, thanks for sharing! My kids, spoiled as they are, are dying to for a pullman bed experience.

Beverage service is so poor b/c about 5 years ago Royal got rid of all of the beverage servers in the MDR. There used to be dedicate beverage servers that did nothing else.  Now the assistant waiters have to double as beverage servers.  It really slows everything down.

Sorry for my “hand shadow” in the pic. Night 2 MDR Menu. I had the beef carpaccio, lobster bisque, seafood linguine, and peach shortcake. Hubby had Cesar salad, shrimp cocktail, NY Strip and carrot cake. All tasted great! Wine service in MDR is pretty poor. First night I ordered Kim Crawford sav blank and my hubby ordered a cab. They brought 2 Kim Crawford’s.  Took until dessert for the cab to arrive. Same thing but opposite yesterday, hubby ordered cab right away, I had a cocktail still so I waited until I placed our order to ask for Kim Crawford. They brought 2 cabs and my wine didn’t come until dessert ??‍♀️. Today we will bring wine in from a bar and make sure to order more wine right away.
Also, I’ll try to do a My Family Time Dining review. Hopefully we will try it again tonight and have a bit smoother experience.

Formal night #1! MDR is SOOOO busy but our head waiter is trying his best to make us feel special. Food was great.  Kids at Adventure Ocean #myfamilytimedining. Now hubby and I taking an hour to ourselves before Oceanaria! 

#sorrynotsorry
Ideally, you come on vacation to unplug, but I have 21st century kiddos! Hubby and I enjoying a drink and some quiet time at Bow & Stern while the kids stay entertained on their Kindles! 

Couple shots from Day 1 that didnt upload correctly: MDR menu and pic of our Pullman Bed setup (my kids are big-time wrigglers in their sleep, so I specifically booked a room w a Pullman. Plus what 8 year old can resist a bunk bed?!)
 

Morning fun on the Boardwalk! Are breakfast at Windjammer, now exploring the ship! 
 
My son is begging to go Rock Climbing! Soon!!

 
Jungle Gym


 
Bean Bag toss game!

We’re in Miami! Our newly booked flight out at 8:45 am went without a hitch. Funny enough, they were overbooked by 4 and were offering $ to volunteers willing to take the 12:50 flight (what we were originally booked on before I moved it because of the winter storm advisory, we were supposed to get dumped on around noon.) They got all the way to $1200/ticket! Dang, we could have made some major moula had we been willing to go back to our original plan. Oh well, we are here now and ready for fun!
Some pics below from the airport and hotel. Of course, the kids HAD to go swimming first thing, though the pool is SUPER cold, so that didn’t last long. We are staying at Windgate by Windom Airport...I’d say it’s only meh ? Nice clean rooms, pool small and very cold, nothing around the hotel...I got it cheap on Priceline so I’m not upset, but since we arrived earlier than planned I wish we were closer to the action by the Pier or Miami Beach. Oh well, we’ll be off to bed early and onto the ship early! Daylight savings tomorrow only means an hour closer to the fun! 


Our hotel is very nice and clean...just too far away from the action. Next time I’ll get closer to the pier! 


And we are super close to the airport...it’s like a mini preview for our Maho Beach excursion ?