SweetPea

You know you need at least one post from Wonder. I think you need to do that for the record for most cruises blogged in one blog!

I have the laundry sheets. Make sure you bring a stain stick or equivalent! They are not my fave but definitely are convenient for travel!
I thought about that cup holder, but opted for a bag that goes over the handles as well. My backpack has too many compartments and the older i get, the less i remember which compartment i put what ... 

You know you need at least one post from Wonder. I think you need to do that for the record for most cruises blogged in one blog!

Slight long-winded story.
I canceled the celebration cake. I am not really a cake person. I was getting the cake for my brother's birthday mainly. He and my mother can eat cake and sweet things like crazy. I am not actually huge on sweets. I eat more sweet things when I cruise than in real life. But my brother can eat a whole cake almost every day. During the pandemic, he or I was making him a cake every other day 😱🤯🤣🤪.
Since I don't normally cruise during his and my birthday "season " I had forgotten about his birthday shenanigans.
For over a decade I have been getting him his favorite cake from a local bakery, it's a double tiered tres Leche. It usually takes him 2 days to finish. Then my mother gets him a traditional sheet birthday cake. His best friend gets him a fruit tart. Now for a couple of years as a mechanical engineer he has been working from home. But prior to that he always got a birthday cake from his compay. Last year his company went back into the office, though it was now a communal one. He also started doing freelance with two other firms. On Monday's he commutes to meet with all three.
Which is a long way of saying between Saturday and today he got 5 full sheetcakes. This is on top of the fruit tart and tres Leche cake. My BFF is into the instasnaps and whatnot, so he got him the viral McDonald's sheetcake 😂🤣😂😂😂. I came home to a refrigerator filled with so much cake. I'm talking cake. Which will last him well into next week. So much cake that my mother took the equivalent of half a sheetcake home, and that will last her until next week. My brother hits the gym 3-4 times a week to afford that type of lifestyle 🤣
My brother does love him some cake but he needs variety and it would take him at least a month to want basic chocolate or vanilla cake. So he was like I doubt I will want to eat half a cake on a cruise. This is also compounded by the fact that because my mother has worked for a local supermarket chain, 42yrs, she gets all the holiday sweets and candy for next to nothing. We are currently sitting on a treasure trove of Easter candy. A ton of which I will give to the crew. Don't worry none of it is expired, it's just wrapped in pastel colors. 🤣😂🤣😂
 

14 days to go......
The luggage tag and my setsail pass updated at 17 days to display the cabin numbers on my first GTY. Since I used the barcode trick at check-in, I already knew the cabins. 
I have a Chase sapphire reserve card. Usually I spend on cruises: paying them off, gambling, etc. then I use the points earned to book my hotels and flights. Some airlines are now only allowing you to earn status if you book directly through them, cough, cough AA. Which sucks because if you book through Chase travel they give you 50% extra. I booked the flights for this cruise through the portal. For my mom, I booked her a nonstop flight home from MIA that left at 6:30. Last week I got an email that, that flight was cancelled, and they rebooked her on a connecting 7:30 flight from FLL that got in after midnight. I was pretty upset because my mother is not the well-traveled woman, she tells her friends she is. Her "brand newness" comes out hard when she has connecting flights and/or have to travel after midnight. Usually with SWA and well most airlines, if they change your flight, you have the option to select another without any fees or cost online. I had to call the travel department of Chase instead. She lucked up, sort of, there was a direct flight from Mia at 8:30pm. She doesn't care about waiting at the airport because she has audiobooks and tablet games to farm. As a nice gesture the rep gave her SWA "business select, " which will give her a nice seat selection and alcoholic drinks. 
I am sorry if the pictures are too big🤣.
So here are a couple of the offerings I made to Bezos:
Amazon.com | riemot Luggage Travel Cup Holder Free Hand Drink Carrier - Hold Two Coffee Mugs - Fits Roll on Suitcase Handles - Gifts for Flight Attendants Travelers Accessories Grey | Travel Accessories
 

I always have preflight drinks and struggle with finding somewhere to put them, some airports don't have the cup holders. This was recommended to me by a coworker who must have their kombucha and coffee. Plus, it keeps me from having to constantly remove my backpack to access my water bottle. 
Amazon.com: Portable fan Battery Operated Fan USB Desk fan Camping Fan for Tents,Battery Operated portable Fan Personal Fan battery powered fan camping portable fan Outdoor fan Rechargeable Fan with Hanging : Home & Kitchen
 

Every couple of years I update my travel fan. We did a glamping trip last year and a mutual vintage had this fan. It has an adjustable night light and blows out amazing air. Since I am staying in interiors, that light comes in handy. It is also small enough to fit in a backpack or purse without being cumbersome. 
Amazon.com: Greatever G2 Full Face Snorkel Mask with Latest Dry Top System,Foldable 180 Degree Panoramic View Snorkeling Mask with Camera Mount,Safe Breathing,Anti-Leak&Anti-Fog : Sports & Outdoors
 

That is the snorkel mask my brother brought. We hit PDCC 3x on this cruise, so it will have paid for itself. 
Amazon.com: Poesie Laundry Detergent Sheets Fresh Scent 160 Sheets Clear Plastic-Free Hypoallergenic Liquid Less Sheets for Home Dorm Travel Camping & Hand Washing Clean No Waste : Health & Household
 

 
 
Since these cruises are shorties, there won't be any D+ laundry perks, so I am bringing a couple of the laundry detergent sheets. They take up no space and I can wash a few things out and hang them in the shower if need be. 
I don't think I have mentioned this before, but not only do I cut my brother's hair, I do mine as well. So, I will be packing sometime later this week, as next week will be too busy for me. There are fur babies to be dropped off, Mother's Days to be celebrated and of course work. Although these cruises can't come fast enough 🤣. 
 

You know you need at least one post from Wonder. I think you need to do that for the record for most cruises blogged in one blog!

I didn't even realize I earned mine when I did and got no notice in our cabin, let alone someone to drink Patron with, lol.
I got to call C&A when I got home and wait 6-8 months for it to be shipped. I got my paperweight though and that's all that matters... I think.

😍 Hope you don’t have blog fatigue.

Pretty quiet couple of days here on Freedom.  Today is the last day -sea day.
Nothing much to report except that we did our second BOGO tonite at Gios Kitchen.  I was determined NOT to order chicken parm again so I pursued the menu and decided to try the muffaletta (sp ?).  Poor choice on my part, I guess.  It wasn’t too great.  It was a very dense blob of questionable meat(s) wrapped in a breaded coating and deep fried.  In fairness, this is exactly what the server told me it would be (sans the “blob”) but I tried it anyway.  Oh well…I will keep trying.  There has to be something more for me than chicken parm !
Home tomorrow for 2 WHOLE nights and then boarding Wonder on Sunday.

On my Lyft ride in I noticed some folks at the trolley stop in front of Bayside Marketplace with big suitcases obviously headed to the port so I assumed it was common.  The bus driver jumped up to help me with the luggage when he noticed, tho my stubbon, independent self is all yo, I got it. 
If it was a real transit bus it would probably be easier with the luggage but they have wooden trolley seats so the metal parts that bolt the seats down don't allow you to just pull your suitcase into the space between seats. It's only a couple steps up into the trolley. There's multiple trolley lines so you want to make sure you catch the Coral Way one.
For the cost savings it was worth the effort, especially if you have some time to kill.

Not sure if it has to do with at Hideaway Beach they have a couple fake flying birds around. My wife told me that was to scare the seagulls away. 

Hahaha they’ve taken to the upscale fare! Funnel cakes are for the rough-hewn sea pigeons.

Recap of last night:  we lounged most of the day until finally heading out around 4pm where we headed back to the hide away which was at full party mode 😜



We had aqua action at 6pm.  Ok, they just switched over to a new cast and it was short and underwhelming.  The couple Ariel dance was missing and the robot lights wasn’t in the show.  He did have a girl doing an incredible balancing act, which I hadn’t seen yet and they had skate boarders which were Meh.






 
Dinner was at hooked and I failed on pics.  It was ok, I had oyster shooters which were good as were the baked oysters.  For main I had surf and turf and while the lobster was good, the filet they had with it I doubt would even be categorized as “choice”. It was pretty bad and chewy for a filet.
After dinner, I made a donation the the casino and then headed to bed.
Today is Coco Cay.

We have a cabana which is nice.

and the current view😜

We’ll see what we get into here today 😉.

Just checking in with the girls.
The cabin mirror still does not suggest that I tweeze my eyebrows. I’m convinced that once I get home I will have to elicit the help of my lawn guy instead of my wax girl.
That’s it for now. 

I’m a little better at taking pictures so here are a ton from Paradise Beach if anyone is interested. It was pretty quiet there and I didn’t get the feeling of being in a pool with 30% water and 70%…umm..bodily fluid…like some of the pools on the ship. Speaking of that, bathrooms are very clean too. 

Ok, to get caught up, we managed no further food pics at Paradise Beach, though we did get the ceviche and quesadillas which were both good.  On the way back I snapped a quick pick of the ship it is just so impressive.

we had asked for some charcuterie along with a couple glasses of red wine and we got the wine glasses, but they forgot to put the wine in it. We were besides ourselves laughing when we sent this pic to Marla.  Of course she was appalled and apologized profusely. We weren’t even angry. It was actually just too funny that someone from the beverage department brought wine glasses with no wine. 😂

dinner was hibachi and you all have seen a million pics of that so we didn’t even bother. 😂😜
after dinner we wondered up to the schooner bar and I had to try the toasted marshmallow old-fashioned.

quite tasty indeed 😉
After that Kelli decided it was time for bed and I made my way to the casino, where I finally got to meet @CHRIS WONG and I managed to walk out ahead after a bit of 3 card poker.

That was all the excitement I could handle for one day.
Today we are being lazy, we had breakfast on the balcony 

 
but other than that haven’t managed to leave the cabin yet and it’s almost 2pm. 😂🤣
To steal Kelli’s line that she stole from toby Keith… we ain’t as good as we once was…
now that we’ve recharged a bit, we’ll see what we can get into.

Guilty!

I just went to turn off your post moderation and I think it's already off. One of the other mods probably let you loose. 😄

Since my posts still need to be approved by a moderator, I’m posting once thanking all for the happy birthdays! 😊
Also wanted to add, if you like these, you’ll love this drink. I know these chewy wax paper covered filling extractors get a bad rap, but I personally love them. Yes, these came from the cheap house, the next neighborhood over from the “full Snicker Bar house”, but who would’ve known Screwball Whiskey and pineapple juice would mimic this delicacy from our youth? 

“Trick or Treat” Asian bartender named “Jim”, fill her up! Cheers! 

@Ampurp85, i did not know this was one of your faves too 🥰😍❤️❤️. I agree with you @WAAAYTOOO. Hard to find a good version of that live by someone not named Peter Gabriel!
And thanks again for your perspective. We keep flirting with early retirement, and like you, will probably stick where we have most of our loyalty points. If we can't afford the Haven, i may be able to talk Batman into 'Haven Lite' + a mini suite (because even i cannot do without a walk in shower 😆).
Anyone else thinking WAAAYTOOO can have a YouTube channel to pay for cruises? You have amazing tips and know policy inside and out from all perspectives. I know you probably don't want to, but you could! I worked with a girl half my age who left a stable job to do just that. She's got a ridic 2M+ subscribers. I'm not sure how, because, TBH, i think her content is pretty boring (but niche), but she didn't need to work anymore and has been invited to the White House (not that that's any great honor), but it's crazy how much you can make. 

Hmpph, as funny as it was, i bet the R-rated version was better. 🥰
I think we need an "after dark" section of the board that's age protected 🤔 😂😂😂

Me too!
Happy Birthday, @Mrscalvink669, fellow Taurus!
It sounds like we should cruise together. Can you imagine that inebriated blog?! 

Hmpph, as funny as it was, i bet the R-rated version was better. 🥰
I think we need an "after dark" section of the board that's age protected 🤔 😂😂😂

Me too!
Happy Birthday, @Mrscalvink669, fellow Taurus!
It sounds like we should cruise together. Can you imagine that inebriated blog?! 

Hmpph, as funny as it was, i bet the R-rated version was better. 🥰
I think we need an "after dark" section of the board that's age protected 🤔 😂😂😂