DDaley

Ahahah I had googled and found that it was illegal before we got there on a land vacation so I was very surprised to find guys shouting up to my hotel room balcony offering it! Even in the ocean they would paddle up offering it and even sold us some directly in front of a hotel security guard who did not care at all. I had no idea it was so common!

Another amazing blog, thank you!! I am sailing my first Quantum class (on the og, herself) next September to Alaska and loved reading about all the new-to-me venues on this class. Your port reports are my favorite, too! Where are we (the royal we) heading to in April?

Wow $1624 for a balcony on Ovation? 2023 pricing was around $799 for OVB on Ovation/Quantum at release. That's a wild increase!

Not every RC excursion from Cozumel has a ferry, only the ones that take place on the mainland of the Yucatan Peninsula like Xcaret, Tulum, Chichen Itza... The excursion will list the ferry there and back as part of the description. RC has several excursions that don't require leaving Cozumel!

Pebbles Beach on Carlisle Bay is very nice with vendors and has the sea turtles swimming off shore that all the excursion boats gather to see. Brandon's Beach closer to the cruise port was pretty if you don't need amenities!

We went with Emilio on our Ensenada stop a month ago, too! The hot spring sounds so awesome.

We Ubered to the Acropolis from Piraeus, price 14€, took about 15 minutes and we were dropped at the base of the hill where the second, smaller entrance gate is located. I definitely recommend this mode of transportation! In Athens, Uber uses the available taxis so we were never waiting to get one, we caught them all over the city and to the airport for very affordable prices. We got there right as the gates open at 8am and beat a ton of people to the top, as we were coming down around 9am there were a lot more people and it was already so much hotter (we traveled in August).

Oh no! I live in San Diego and walked the dog this morning in 41º temps!! I am sure its even icier feeling on the water. I hope your wetsuits are extra thick!

We're doing our first trip to Alaska this September and at this point I still plan on only using my carry-on.. but I'll check back in here in 10 months! haha I think it's definitely doable, especially if I wear my coat and hiking boots on the plane. No pool floats needed in The Last Frontier!

I realized on a recent land vacation that people don't do this, we kept hanging with the same couple every day at the pools and the wife had the same bathing suit on every day while I, naturally, changed mine for all 7 days of the trip! I guess I think of it more like an outfit since I wear the bathing suit from around 8am-3 or 4pm and then the night time outfit only gets worn for an hour or two. Even my husband brings 5-6 pairs of board shorts! We're pool/beach people though, that might also account for it.

We went on a 17-day Greek honeymoon (7 night cruise within that) with only our 22in Away carryons and a backpack/travel tote each! With compression cubes I was able to pack 16 dresses/rompers, 2 additional active excursion outfits, 9 bathing suits, and 5 pairs of shoes, plus a camelpak, pool float, beach bag, fanny bag, purse, reusable tote bag, umbrella, binoculars.. I could go on and on. I packed detergent and a sink stopper to wash items but we baarrrely needed to repeat outfits so we didn't end up using it. I can't imagine ever needing a full size suitcase again!

I thought I was crazy but thankfully Wikipedia is there to confirm exactly what I was thinking. I go to San Francisco a couple times a year and those sunset pictures look exactly like the Bay Bridge!! "The 25 de Abril Bridge is based in part on two San Francisco Bay Area bridges. Its paint is the same International Orange color as the famous Golden Gate Bridge, and the design is similar to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Both the Bay Bridge and the 25 de Abril Bridge were built by the same company."

They will populate in the app 1-2 days before you set sail and become bookable once you board. I did the 4 night Oasis last November and we still saw the ice show, Aqua80s and a comedian! I am sure they performed Cats too and we just skipped it due to its nonsensical plot.

I found it listed in their offered excursions so it's possible it'll still show up! http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=2C02&DestinationCode=

Oh wow can you book one-way to the ship via Air2Sea? I see Round-Trip listed as a query item in my search but it's greyed out and I can't change it.

I went to Coral World in STT when I was 7 and loved it!!! I am now 36, lol, so it's not a fresh memory but I definitely remember writing about the touch pool in a school report later so it left an impact.

On disembarkation morning we docked around 6am and we finished packing up the last of our items. Since it was only 7 and we didn't have to vacate the room until 8 we headed to the Windjammer bag-free. We were planning on just getting a plate and bringing it to a table outside since we knew it would be a madhouse in there but we found Jamie's open and empty so we grabbed a perfect window seat in there. Definitely check the specialty dining places if they're inside the WJ and tables are scarce! They had Homer Simpson donuts this morning! Cloudy deck timelapse heading back to the room. Left our sweet room attendant a tip via our new friend! We left the room at 7:45 and were waiting inside the terminal for passport facial scans by 7:56. The line looks pretty long but we were back in the car and cruising out of the lot by 8:15am! We had a great time even which such limited time to enjoy everything. We missed both the ice and Showgirls headliner shows due to being overstuffed at dinner, oops. I would definitely sail Navigator again, the slides alone were worth the trip to me! I was sad this ship has done away with the daily cruise compass. I think I could've requested them from the stateroom attendant but for such a short sailing I didn't really feel the need to. One last thought was that I loved having this European outlet adapter since it greatly expanded our charging capabilities! With 2 phones, 2 Apple watches and an Insta360, two outlets just don't cut it for an efficient night of charging.

Our final day was a sea day and we stayed south of Ensenada chasing the sun all day. It was pretty gloomy but not tooo cold, mid 60's, and the sun finally came out a bit in the afternoon. We woke up around 7 and headed to breakfast in the Windjammer, the potato croquettes were amazing this morning if I recall. We snagged two chairs on deck 12 facing the pools after our jaunt to the WJ assuming everything would start filling up quickly! Aside from the packed walking track, the cool temps kept a lot of the chairs open till around 1pm. We had a perfect vantage point for both the belly flop and sexiest man competitions. Not sure why but it was specifically stated that it was a men's belly flop competition although I have definitely seen women compete in the past! Bundled up in Royal blue Currently the big screen is a bit sickly green with some splotches Winner of the belly flop mid dive Perfect sun shade for awhile. We had been sitting in the arched bed thing on the left but this ship has no pillows in any of them! I liked sitting in one on Oasis but with no back support it's a rough go. After hanging out nearly all day + you guessed it, a trip down both water slides, we headed back to the cabin to hang on the balcony for a bit and shower before our dinner at Jamie's Italian. Our server was fantastic and had some great recommendations for us. We ordered the Arancini risotto balls which were sooo good and the Ultimate Garlic Bread certainly can't rival 150CP's but was still pretty tasty. The real standout was the one our waiter said we had to try - the Chianti-braised short rib oh my god it was so tender, it fell right apart with only your fork! The tiramisu was wayyyytoo orange for my liking, and the Epic Brownie should just be labeled Brownie but overall we had a fantastic meal with great service. At dinner another couple was looking over at us a lot and eventually their waiter came over and offered us some of their Moet & Chandon! Couldn't say no to that! On the way out we thanked them again and she said she had received it free in her cabin and that they'd had their fill. So nice! After dinner we headed down to the casino and ended up just $4 under even! Not bad for two nights! We walked out of the casino and outside onto the deck, continuing forward and up the stairs for a nighttime helipad view. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see any stars but we did spy 2 other ships on the horizon. This totally cool guy was waiting to help us with our packing!

Day two we were in Ensenada! We woke up around 6 and the ship was still in motion but you could see the sun starting to rise above the mountains along the coast. We docked around 7:30 and were clear by 8:15am or so. The port is also a shipping port so we got to watch this MSC ship get filled up as the day went on. When we left at 6pm it was towering with containers! Our excursion was set for 9:30am so we went up to the Windjammer for breakfast and had no problems finding seats. We learned later to never start picking up food until you've reviewed the back area since all the best stuff is at the International Cuisine station. We were met by our tour guide by the black pedestrian bridge near the port entrance and were whisked off immediately in a van to the ATV shop a few blocks away. We ended up getting a private tour! The shop offers several tours and while there were other guests riding at the same time as us, no one else chose the Mountain Tour at 9:30. Our guide Enrique was great. Halfway through the tour you get access to a large open dirt area to tool around in and after he saw how good my husband was, the back half of the tour was a LOT faster. I had the gas pressed down all the way (pedal to the metal, if you will) several times to try and keep up! It was super fun and had some great sweeping ocean/city views, I highly recommend ATV Ensenada. The tour starts in town and you wind your way up into the mountains and then off road for a long portion. The off roading trails are vast! You could easily get lost roaming around in there without the guide. I spy the Navigator back at the port! The tour lasted a little over 2 hours and they would've driven us back to the port but we asked after some good al pastor and were rewarded with a drop off at Señor Poblano's instead. After 2 al pastor tacos and a cerveza we wandered up the street to the ever-popular Papas and Beer and watched some of our fellow ship passengers get tossed upside down by the waitstaff. Always entertaining to watch to say the least. After finally giving into a street vendor for the purchase of one woven "I'm on a boat b**ch" bracelet for $5, we headed back to the ship for some drink package usage, and of course a trip or two down the slides. We ended up forgoing a lengthy trip to the MDR for Caribbean night in the WJ. The curry was AMAZING. After dinner we spent some time in the casino and doubled our $40 slots budget on the I Free Games machine. Turns out I do indeed heart free games. A new friend was awaiting us upon our return to the room! He's kinda got a badass MC vibe.

Well as it turns out the Surf and Stream is not great on deck 12 forward which was where our cabin was located. I got way better service mid deck but after losing a post before uploading it I gave up on the Live portion of this blog, oops!! We are home now and had a great time! I will add some more recap photos in the following posts. On Friday after boarding/muster/excessive water sliding we had reservations at Izumi. I ordered two sushi rolls but actually received three since our waiter really wanted me to try the Tataki roll. It ended up being my favorite one! So happy he did that. The Izumi Ryu Futomaki roll was the most impressive visually but the least impressive flavor-wise. The mochi ice creams were so tasty too, especially the mango one. I will definitely be back at Izumi on future ships! How cute is this chopstick holder? I usually make one from the paper wrapper they come in. I love gadgets and things that serve only one purpose! After dinner we hit up Navigator Dunes for a round of mini golf. Always fun and a challenge when you refuse to put down your cocktail as you go along. My one-handed swings became pretty accurate by the last hole! We had planned to see the ice skating show but decided to call it a night early. Henry was there to see us off to bed! haha

Boarding was so easy. Arrived around 1:45 after some LA traffic and basically walked right on. Went straight to the cabin to drop our bags before hitting up the Lime and Coconut for our first drink. DBP on board was $99pp/pd! After that was straight to the water slides, of course. Both were fun and worth a try at least once! No water up the nose like on the champagne bowl on Oasis class. The line for the two person raft was muuuch longer than the mat ride, I recommend hitting the raft ride first upon opening or at least first when you're gonna ride both. That way while you're waiting forever in the icy stair tunnel, you're still dry! The mat line is super quick so you're not as susceptible to the cold. Cabin 1832, bed is the “correct way” Departure from this port isn't exactly glamorous but it's still cool to see all the container ships getting loaded.

Boarding Navigator today! I am so excited to get to sail a Royal ship and not have to take a flight to do so. We are driving up from San Diego around 11am today after my husband gets off work. I have only seen 3 or so blogs from sailings on this coast so figured some additional pics/findings couldn’t hurt. Itinerary This mini 3-night sailing only stops in Ensenada, BC, Mexico. We had originally booked the following 4-night sailing to Catalina on the day bookings opened for these itineraries but after our 2+ week Greek honeymoon I had to switch us to the weekend to give our poor vacation days a chance to recover!! One and a half days off is way easier to swing than the 5 vacation days the original sailing would’ve required. Day 1 - Friday - Departs Los Angeles Day 2 - Saturday - Ensenada, BC, Mexico Day 3 - Sunday - Cruising Day 4 - Monday - Returns to Los Angeles Who’s Going - my husband (Adrian) and I (Daryl) Cabin Ocean View Balcony 1832. I am excited to be on deck 12 with easy Lime & Coconut access. I also put in a bid for a GS that was slightly above the “weak” segment so we’ll see! (This is lifted directly from my last blog as the details are exactly the same! ) Pre-Purchases We grabbed the DBP for a fairly high $75 pp/pd but I will be happy to not have to think about it. We are heavy water drinkers and the ability to grab bottles anywhere really helps when you’re also drinking enough to ensure maximum beverage package usage! We have two dinners reserved, night 1 at Izumi and night 3 at Jamie’s. I have been on ships with Izumi three times but this will be my first time there, I will definitely be trying the She’s a Geisha cocktail I’ve heard so much about! Excursion I booked a third party excursion through ATV Ensenada that departs from town and rides up into the mountains and back. Royal offered an ATV excursion but you had to take a bus out to the Guadalupe Valley to ride and I much prefer getting to ride right from the port area. As native San Diegans we’ve both been to Ensenada a bunch of times before but never up in the mountains for a sweeping ocean view! That should be enjoyable. We took a similar tour from Georgioupolis in Crete this summer and I loved it so much I knew I had to seek out ATVs while we were in Ensenada. Mostly I am excited to try the two Navigator-only water slides since we’ve been on the Perfect Storms on Oasis and Freedom. I love water slides! It’s cruise day!!

I learned Greek on Duolingo (free app) and Rosetta Stone (paid) for a year or so before my trip to Greece over the summer and it came in very handy. We were treated poorly when we spoke with our American accents until I could say some things to the servers in Greek and everything always turned right around. At one point we drove down a private street and needed to turn around and a guy waving a shovel at us was so mad until I rolled down the window and shot him a signomi (sorry!). He immediately broke into a smile! "No worries, fellow Grecians!" I have to say the free app Duolingo was way easier to navigate and more valuable to me than the paid lessons on Rosetta Stone. Give it a try!

I am happy to hear about the crew! I will be glad to people watch the raucous LA crowd next month (hopefully we'll encounter less vomit) and definitely will remember to bring a mask when we stop in the casino, then I can filter a little of it.

So did you enjoy yourself? Seems like a no after reading this blog but hopefully it wasn't so bad.