SweetPea

Relaxing in the room after our wonderful dinner with @JustMeJoe and his wonderful wife.  We most definitely have made wonderful new friends with them.  What a great couple !
While enjoying our quiet and restful post- gluttony coma, I suddenly got a VERY strong whiff of skunk weed through the ventilation system !  At first I wasn’t sure where it was coming from but since we have NO balcony, there was only one possible source.  It went away quickly so I guess nothing to worry about.  For a while there, we were smelling it far too frequently on other ships but lately haven’t smelled it.  Was surprised when it happened tonite.  Hmph.

I hope all you suite snobs are taking notice of the fact that I am no longer among your ranks.  😥
Be careful what you wish for.  It’s a huge change of “cruise-style” when you decide to trade quality for quantity.  Maybe you guys won’t have to make that shift but we certainly did.  I’m not sorry and I’m very comfortable with my new cruise-style but it WAS a big change !

Today is the last day of our journey.  Sea day.  Nothing much going on.
Dan and I both qualified for comp cruises so we spent some of our morning getting our [other] open booking from NC.  We both ended up making Prime on this set of cruises so that is one headache out of the way.
I hate the last day.  All I can think about is the dread of packing....which really only takes maybe 15 minutes but it's the idea that we are leaving....very depressing.  LOTS of people boarded this cruise last week and will continue on the "crossing" as they refer to it.  It would have been nice to stay on for the crossing but as we have made a pledge not to fly for a while, we couldn't justify it.  We'll just have to settle for Freedom and Wonder in the next week or so.
Tomorrow will be an incredibly busy day as we go home to laundry and repacking for the FR cruise the next day (4-29).  I have a ton of "home" stuff to take care of in this short visit but luckily (or unluckily, I guess) this next one is only a 4-nighter so we will be back home much sooner than we were on this B3B.  Of course, when we get back home from the FR cruise we only have 2 days to get ready for our 7 night Wonder cruise (5-5).  THEN we have a bit of a break.
Still trying to get the specialty dining changes all sorted out.  I made a ton of changes again yesterday.  I discovered through higher math (HA !) that it is actually a better deal (on a per-meal, per person basis) to get the UDP on our 4 night Utopia cruise than it is to do the lunch plus 2XBOGO.  That's a rare situation...but there's also the big bonus of getting to dine at all of the "new" (not really new) restaurants on Utopia so we threw that weighting factor in and decided to the UDP which we haven't done in a very long time.  Truly, it is too much food for us but it's only 4 nights so we will just suck it up and deal with too much food.  A good problem to have, I guess (summoning my inner @OCSC Mike).  There's also the uncertainty of whether or not the UT will be excluding low-level Pinns from the CK/SL and I don't want to wait until we find out that little gem to make my plans....so we will simply plan on NOT eating at the CK at all (unless they let us go there for breakfast which is unlikely, based on recent experiences).
Since we will be doing self-assist departing, we will meet the SL Concierge (haven't seen her at all on this leg since we were banned from the SL) at the Schooner bar 7-ish tomorrow morning.  Hopefully the disembark will go smoothly and we will be on the road bright and early.  Being a Sunday disembark will be a huge advantage.  Unfortunately, we will be making the RT BACK to PoM in less than 24 hours and that will be on a Monday morning so we have that fun to look forward to.
It's been an awesome 23 days.  I could learn to live like this.....

Has anybody else noticed the recent total lack of seagulls on PDCC ?  When we were there the last 2 times, I never saw a single one !  I wonder if they’ve been “relocated” …

Ha! I call it PUI (posting under the influence!).
When this happens, i inevitably hope for the best and post a clarification later.  😅
 
Godspeed! Looking forward to this one!

When we boarded EX for the first leg of our B3B (4-5) there were baby chicks scrambling around with the hens.  They were sooo cute.

We’re on Freedom now and the main pool was shut down before we even got out of port due to a child “throwing up” in the pool.  I know this isn’t the same as potty issues but the result is the same. 

I also just got off Saturday and everyday at least one pool closed. The last sea day it was the main pool. They did reopen it later in the day and I swear there were at least 60 kids in there. 
 
We never use the pools as it’s like bathing in sweat and sunscreen. The fact Icon pools were closed everyday due to vomit or poop proves my point. 
 
Even better: people were urinating in the showers by the pool. 
 
No desire to sail this class again. Royal has finally reached “too big, too busy.” Going back to oasis class. 

For some of us it's our only chance to swim all year long. Folks can be selfish and irresponsible. There childs needs don't come ahead of thousands of people's. 

Seems simple enough to enforce a 5 and older rule for the main pools. Any child younger than 5 has to stay in the splash/kiddie pool area. Most children are bladder and potty trained by 4 so restricting younger than 5 should mostly fix the issue. It should be good with most people since almost every public play/rides have height, weight or age restrictions. Then its up to Royal to ensure there is some kind of wet play area for those under 5.

Multiple (bordering on endless) Facebook posts week after week, that at least one pool on Icon has been closed every single day of every cruise. This is due to parents allowing children who are not potty trained to go in the pools. Apparently many times it's the main large pool. Once it happens it's closed for the entire day to clean. People please don't be selfish. If your child is not potty trained, stick to splash pads. It literally takes a pool for 7000 people out of commission for the entire day. Selfish and ridiculous. 

Given your username, you either really love the cup or actually bought it (or both).  Which is it?

$100K and you still have to drag around a Freestyle cup for the soda machines.

I made it onto the trolley...a full size suitcase is a bit big for the aisles so it has to sit on the seat with me. Honestly if I had the time and could handle my luggage I would 10/10 do this again for the cost savings. Bonus is I can fly in day of to Miami on the first out flight that gets me in at 7:30am and do the Metrorail/trolley combo to help kill the time.

Lots of confusion from lots of people on the trolley who didn't know where they were going or where to get off..then the driver only spoke Spanish and English and most of the folks on the trolley didn't really do either of those.
They only are running the green line on the weekends so everyone has to transfer. Usually you can grab an orange line and not have to transfer.

I think YouTube knows I'm reading your blog. This popped on my feed today. So sad. For 2 bullets. Not even a firearm. And sadly there are others in this same situation. 
 

I think YouTube knows I'm reading your blog. This popped on my feed today. So sad. For 2 bullets. Not even a firearm. And sadly there are others in this same situation. 
 

I think YouTube knows I'm reading your blog. This popped on my feed today. So sad. For 2 bullets. Not even a firearm. And sadly there are others in this same situation. 
 

I took my time getting off the ship. Had departure breakfast in the main dining room where it took 20 minutes waiting in line just to get in.  I was done with breakfast around 9:05 which conveniently was right after they called all luggage tags. The line to debark was sent through the back of the Deck 4 MDR. It was a pretty slow crawl out of there. Terminal G uses luggage carousels and they're long and winding so my baggage took a while to surface. Fortunately I was in no rush.

Yeah! My bday is in May also and I've been on a ship several times for it. I ❤️ ❤️❤️ cruising in May. I don't recall ever having any bad weather and it's not Africa Hot yet. Can't wait to follow along, and I'm so glad ... for me and the rest of your loyal readership ... that mom is coming again!  Yippee!!!!!

somehow i feel like this is very on brand for her... 🤣
 
OMG. imagine if this were true, though???? i could literally never go on a shortie cruise 😆
 
bezos really out here getting the most from us all!!!

Ha! I call it PUI (posting under the influence!).
When this happens, i inevitably hope for the best and post a clarification later.  😅
 
Godspeed! Looking forward to this one!

I did notice that but I don’t know why you’re so confused 🤔 OBVIOUSLY it means only kids are allowed to eat on Nights 2 & 3!!🤓 However, breakfast and lunch menus are there so we better eat real good then🤣🤣

It would seem i need to start up the novena again!
 
And i agree: much easier to buy new than mend!

Adding my 🫨. Holy crud. That's really unfortunate. Pretty sure we only use our range bag for the range but now I'll be paranoid and extra cautious. I've accidentally brought aboard airplane bottles of liquor that they gave me on the plane and i kept in my bag and didn't think about. Or heaven forbid the time i forgot i had some gummies in my bag that were never caught (thank God). You often forget that what's perfectly legal and normal in your every day life doesn't translate when you travel. 

Adding my 🫨. Holy crud. That's really unfortunate. Pretty sure we only use our range bag for the range but now I'll be paranoid and extra cautious. I've accidentally brought aboard airplane bottles of liquor that they gave me on the plane and i kept in my bag and didn't think about. Or heaven forbid the time i forgot i had some gummies in my bag that were never caught (thank God). You often forget that what's perfectly legal and normal in your every day life doesn't translate when you travel.