DDaley

"CRUISE BIG, OR GO HOME" – OA 3/10/2024-3/17/2024

There once was time, many blogs ago, where I said, “Dreams…that is how many things begin; that is how this adventure began.  But with every dream that comes true, there is always a journey.”
Anyone remember that blog? It was the one where many claimed I corrupted them (I’m looking at you @GregD lol); it was also truly a dream come true for us. Since that 2019 sailing, we have been blessed beyond measure, and we never take any sailing for granted.
But in the midst of all this, there was also a greater dream, a greater wish, that started way before 2019, or even 2016 (when Royal started their Royal Suite Class program) for that matter. This was a dream that began over 14 years ago, in December 2009, when Hubby and I sailed on Oasis of the Seas for her maiden voyage, and I realized that there was a cabin, way up on Deck 17 (this was my pre-suite snob days), corner starboard side, that I wanted to be in one day…#cruisegoals
The journey to get to this sailing, in this cabin was a long one. I know I have said it before, but we were not always suite snobs. We have done our share of interiors, ocean views, balconies, etc. Even when I turned into a suite snob, this particular cabin was always out of reach for us. Either financially, or the pandemic took it away, or it wasn’t available, or @Rags1 would not adopt me. What I am trying to say, is that it is not lost on me the road it took us to get here, and how grateful I am that we now have this opportunity, and how this likely will be the only opportunity for this cabin. We are committed to treasuring every moment of this.
I have tracked the price of this room over many years. For the times of the year that we can sail (March, July, August, December), March is always the best price for this room.
This sailing is also beyond bittersweet. It is more than being able to check off a cruise bucket list item for us and the journey it took us to get here. It’s our final March Break sailing with our oldest. We have been sailing with the girls over March Break for years and there will never be another March Break sailing with all 4 of us together. This is it. That is the main reason why we had to take the leap and do this now. I knew back in December 2009 when I first heard that such a room existed, that I wanted to do it, but not without both kids. With D17 graduating this June, and the uncertainty of her university and life schedule (she will not have a March break that is for certain), it really is now, or likely never.
Like a wise @Baked Alaska recently said, “Time is like a thief.” Life is too short; it’s about seizing the moments we have, it’s about not having regrets, and we never want to look back and say, “We wish we would have done it.”
With that in mind, Hubby and I decided that YOLO, it’s going to be now, to “Cruise Big”, really big, and then go home.

After discussion with Spouse, the larger suitcase has been purchased. 👍😃👍😃👍

OMG!  I just looked up the moon phases for June and a Strawberry Full Moon will be on June 21st!  Not really sure I will get to Desert Watchtower…BUT…I was planning on taking Valen to the Lowell Observatory on the 21st even before I knew it would be a full moon.  Super excited she will get to see this!
@DDaley and @Cactus527 Thanks for enlightening me with my Non-cruise vacation!

Today was the first of our two port stops, Noumea. We have been here a few times but never to the aquarium, so that was the plan for today.

Noumea port is a working port, so you need to take a shuttle bus to the information centre in town. The bus ride takes around 5 minutes.


A lot of passengers take this trip just to access the free Wi-Fi within the terminal building, which is air-conditioned and refreshingly cool. On the top floor, there are market stands where you can pick up souvenirs of your visit. Most, if not all, will accept payment in Australian dollars. Across the road from the visitor centre, there is a supermarket to purchase anything you may have forgotten. The prices are in francs, but you can pay using a credit card.

 


There is not a lot to do in downtown Noumea itself, and it is not a particularly pretty place, and it can also smell at times. If you do not want to venture far, there are a few historic buildings, a square, and a place to buy gelato and play outdoor chess. If you walk to the top of the hill, you can also visit an old church.
Outside the visitor centre, there are stalls to purchase third-party tours, including the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus for around $15 AUD per person.

There are a couple of different vendors offering HOHO, and there is also the option of taking a tour on Tsu Tsu train to see the main attractions. The Tsu Tsu train tour is around 1 1/2 hours.


The HOHO bus you board depends on the colour of the wristband provided to you when purchasing your ticket. You can only get on the same brand of bus when you want to be picked up. The buses are air-conditioned and clean. The HOHO stops at Lemon Bay 1, Lemon Bay 2, and the aquarium before heading back to the starting point, picking up passengers along the way.
We took the bus to the aquarium, which took about 20 minutes. We walked to the aquarium, which is about 50 metres from the bus stop but found it is only open for group tours and opens at 1 pm.

To pass the time before it opened, we went for a walk around the beachfront and found somewhere to get a drink and have some lunch. It was very warm, so we selected somewhere shaded to have a milkshake before returning to the aquarium.



There was only a short queue for the aquarium when we returned, and we were soon inside. The aquarium was a little disappointing, as I felt, for this day and age, the tanks were too small for the fish and turtles that lived there. The tour of the aquarium lasts about 1 hour, and you exit through a gift shop.





We finished at the aquarium and headed back to the ship as we had dinner reservations at Wonderland.


Before dinner, we spent some time in the suite lounge and had a long chat with Willie, our genie, a thoroughly lovely man. He was one of the original concierges on Wonder of the Seas, and it was interesting to hear his take on the opening of a new ship.
Dinner at Wonderland was enjoyable as always, and we ended the evening with the Starwater production show.
 

Seconding the view from Desert Watchtower! @PPPJJ-GCVAB If you’re in the area a few days I also recommend a tour in Antelope Canyon (suuuuper cool slot canyon) near Page, AZ. We took a calm rafting tour down the Colorado from Page when we visited the Grand Canyon and got to go around Horseshoe Bend from the water’s vantage! The slot canyon was an easy add-on to our day. 


Sorry to hijack the blog @Cactus527,  got to help promote lovely Arizona!! 

Seconding the view from Desert Watchtower! @PPPJJ-GCVAB If you’re in the area a few days I also recommend a tour in Antelope Canyon (suuuuper cool slot canyon) near Page, AZ. We took a calm rafting tour down the Colorado from Page when we visited the Grand Canyon and got to go around Horseshoe Bend from the water’s vantage! The slot canyon was an easy add-on to our day. 


Sorry to hijack the blog @Cactus527,  got to help promote lovely Arizona!! 

I did an ultra race through the slot canyons up there once. Unbelievable how beautiful it is. That's another 2-3 hours east of Flagstaff up by Page, @PPPJJ-GCVAB.

Seconding the view from Desert Watchtower! @PPPJJ-GCVAB If you’re in the area a few days I also recommend a tour in Antelope Canyon (suuuuper cool slot canyon) near Page, AZ. We took a calm rafting tour down the Colorado from Page when we visited the Grand Canyon and got to go around Horseshoe Bend from the water’s vantage! The slot canyon was an easy add-on to our day. 


Sorry to hijack the blog @Cactus527,  got to help promote lovely Arizona!! 

Seconding the view from Desert Watchtower! @PPPJJ-GCVAB If you’re in the area a few days I also recommend a tour in Antelope Canyon (suuuuper cool slot canyon) near Page, AZ. We took a calm rafting tour down the Colorado from Page when we visited the Grand Canyon and got to go around Horseshoe Bend from the water’s vantage! The slot canyon was an easy add-on to our day. 


Sorry to hijack the blog @Cactus527,  got to help promote lovely Arizona!! 

Seconding the view from Desert Watchtower! @PPPJJ-GCVAB If you’re in the area a few days I also recommend a tour in Antelope Canyon (suuuuper cool slot canyon) near Page, AZ. We took a calm rafting tour down the Colorado from Page when we visited the Grand Canyon and got to go around Horseshoe Bend from the water’s vantage! The slot canyon was an easy add-on to our day. 


Sorry to hijack the blog @Cactus527,  got to help promote lovely Arizona!! 

More like Dim None. 😂

Love these choices! I always try to buy art as my souvenirs. Usually I can only afford prints but a couple places I have been able to get originals. We’re going to Amsterdam, Germany, France and Switzerland this summer and I’m hoping to add 2-4 A3’s to my staircase travel art collection! 

Love these choices! I always try to buy art as my souvenirs. Usually I can only afford prints but a couple places I have been able to get originals. We’re going to Amsterdam, Germany, France and Switzerland this summer and I’m hoping to add 2-4 A3’s to my staircase travel art collection! 

This is the same Noodle Shop/Spashaway menu we had on our Quantum cruise last September so I have to assume it’s staying! cc @Ampurp85

Love these choices! I always try to buy art as my souvenirs. Usually I can only afford prints but a couple places I have been able to get originals. We’re going to Amsterdam, Germany, France and Switzerland this summer and I’m hoping to add 2-4 A3’s to my staircase travel art collection! 

7 days to embarkation, 6 days to travel.
Last night, I was laying out all my clothes in piles for "Cruise" and "Conference." Not a whole lot of overlap, unfortunately. My oldest daughter, Bookworm, kept trying to find ways to combine outfits for both and they were hideous. Also, I'm afraid I'll get all sweaty wearing it for "cruise" and smell horrible in it for "conference." UGH. Held my credit card last night in terms of buying a bigger suitcase as I remember we have a soft-sided larger one buried deep in the recesses of The Forbidden Closet. I may try that if I need more space. With two large suitcases, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack planned, I invested in this, which arrive this morning. #thankyoubezos

Now that I've tried it, I wish Wish WISH I would have had this years ago! Live and learn, I suppose.
Spent the morning getting my hair done so that I look younger than my age. Oh, gray hair, how I loathe thee. Funny story - the last time I was there, I walked in and my stylist was sitting in her chair scrolling on her phone. I greeted her and then patiently waited for her to say "okay, your turn!" But she didn't. She ignored me. I was getting really irritated/pissed when my stylist walked in the door and apologized for being late. WTH. Turns out, she has an identical twin who was waiting for her to show up to pick something up! We had a great laugh about it once I realized what was going on.

That will be amazing. I hope you're able to find some good ones. 😊

Day Nine - Cruise Day Six - At Sea
Since this was another sea day and we didn't have anything pressing to do, we had our one and only MDR breakfast. We arrived just before 9 am and there was a very long line of people waiting for two-tops. We agreed we didn't mind sharing and so were seated pretty much immediately with seven other guests. We enjoyed chatting with all of them over the course of our lengthy breakfast. And it was LENGTHY. It took ages for our orders to be taken and then the food came out in dribs and drabs, with some items clearly being ready for the waiters to grab and others having to be made.
The menu.

DH ordered the Bagel and Lox with a side of sautéed mushrooms and hash browns. His bagel presumably was one of the grab and go items because it came out pretty quickly. His sides didn't come out until much later, along with the other cooked stuff, so you couldn't really call them "sides" by the time he actually got to eat them. 😂

I ordered the breakfast power wrap. I absolutely love this and it's why I always insist on going to the MDR for breakfast at least once because I've never found them anywhere else. Today's did not disappoint. Highly yummy stuff.

The morning was spent doing typical day at sea activities (loosely translated as not a lot). Here a few pics from around the ship.






As usual we had lunch in the WJ and today was the one and only time I took a lunchtime food pic. Only because a friend from home messaged me just as I sat down to ask if I was having any yummy food today. 
Chicken and mushroom pot pie. It's exactly the same as the one they serve on British night in the MDR. It was very good.

As we wandered onto the Boardwalk after lunch we realised that there was a show going on, actually just ending, in the Aqua Theatre. This was NOT in the compass but when I checked I found it in the app, so that's something to bear in mind if, like me, you tend to prefer the paper compass. As it turned out, the show, which was called something like Aqua Nation was repeated again a couple of hours later so we were able to see it. No reservations needed.
The pictures don't do it justice. It's every bit as good a show as the evening ones.




This was Royal - aka Lobster - Night in the MDR.

Avocado and melon salad, nice enough and refreshing:

I decided not to bother with the lobster tail since we'd already had lobster at 150 CP and would be having it again at Hooked. DH did order it and by the time Stanley had shelled it for him there was practically nothing left. It was the teeniest tiniest lobster tail I have ever seen and did not even deserve to have its photo taken.
I ordered the spicy shrimp jalfrezi. Like all of the Indian dishes it wasn't really spicy but it was tasty anyway.

Desserts were Baked Alaska, one of DH's favourites

And the warm chocolate cake, one of the better renderings of this that I've had on recent cruises.

After dinner we went to the headliner showtime starring Finis Henderson. I had never heard of him but he appears to be quite well known. The show was OK but I found it a bit off-putting that he was only singing bits of songs. I would have much preferred him to perform the whole song.
And that was another day done and dusted. Only two more to go before they made us get off their boat. 😭 😂
 
 

Love these choices! I always try to buy art as my souvenirs. Usually I can only afford prints but a couple places I have been able to get originals. We’re going to Amsterdam, Germany, France and Switzerland this summer and I’m hoping to add 2-4 A3’s to my staircase travel art collection! 

Love these choices! I always try to buy art as my souvenirs. Usually I can only afford prints but a couple places I have been able to get originals. We’re going to Amsterdam, Germany, France and Switzerland this summer and I’m hoping to add 2-4 A3’s to my staircase travel art collection! 

Once again I'm late to the party and no doubt i now need to find your Oasis blog. Had i been on time, i know you don't like tequila, but Cozumel makes amazing Peanut Butter Tequila. You honestly can't taste the tequila .... much. It's like a PB milkshake. It's at Rasta's on the east side of the island. Amazing!

Don't you just hate when work interferes with important stuff like cruise blogging? 😭
I am so glad it's the weekend so I can catch up.
Day Eight - Cruise Day Five - Curaçao
Here is our Symphony parked in Curação.

We were at the pier farthest from the town. I think it was a P&O ship at the closer pier but I'm can't remember for sure.
We were doing another cruise line excursion today, although to be fair it was more of a beach transfer than an actual excursion. I knew this when I booked but there was method in my madness. Firstly, it included a stop at Curaçao artist Nena Sanchez's gallery. I had wanted to go here on our previous two visits to the island but had never managed to make it work for us. And secondly, we wanted to try one of the beaches a bit farther from the port so the cost of the excursion for the two of us was more or less the same as the taxi fare would have been but without the hassle of having to ensure we could get a taxi back to the port afterwards. The beach we went to today was called Cas Abao.
So this was the "Cas Abao Beach and Scenic Drive excursion".
There were two departure times, 8.45 am and 11.45 am. We chose the earlier time, partly so it wouldn't run over lunchtime and partly so we would be able to go back out into town afterwards if we wanted to.
The weather was looking very unfriendly when we set off but at least it wasn't cold and I'm glad to say it eventually cleared up.
First stop at the gallery.
There was a nice expansive view from the top of the staircase leading to the gallery entrance.

Note the little white building in the foreground of this one. Bathrooms! It's tucked away on your right as you approach the gallery entrance so not everyone notices it at first. Ladies, there's only ONE for us, so go there before heading into the gallery to avoid the worst of the queuing once others realise it's there! 

I had not realised that the artist had passed away; I kind of assumed she was still alive and working but apparently she died back in 2017 (the guide found out the year for me). The gallery is run by the artist's older sister, who survived her.
It's mostly just a shop that sells prints of her work but that's what I was looking for. What more genuine souvenir could you get than a picture created by a local artist? In the end I bought two prints set in stiff card that are now gracing a shelf at home. I think if you wanted to buy something bigger or less transportable they would ship it for you but these two fit nicely into my bag. I'm very pleased with them.

After a stop of about 20 minutes at the gallery we headed to the beach, where we would stay for about 3 hours. The excursion included a lounger in a dedicated space, a non-alcoholic drink voucher and a shower token. The space set aside for us was roped off and had enough loungers for everyone in the group. Some had full shade, some partial and some were out in the sun so it's best to try to be at the front of the group as you head onto the sand in order to get the best choice of spot.
This is the third beach we've visited in Curaçao and it is the one I liked best (the others were Mambo Beach and Blue Bay Beach). It's a bit rocky underfoot when you go into the water though, so if you do have water shoes it would be a good idea to bring them.


At the beach there is a bar/snack bar where you can buy drinks and food. We didn't so I can't say what the prices or quality were like but we did see some people in the loungers behind us happily digging in to some generously sized burgers. Next to that is a smaller bar that only has the included waters/sodas, which is where you pick up your included drink. Then you have the bathrooms and showers. The showers are outside and are only really meant for you to rinse off. There was a lady on duty by the showers to turn on the water for you and turn it off again after about 30 seconds so there's no point in taking shampoo and shower gel! 😂 
And there is also what appeared to be a very well equipped dive shop. Details are available on the beach's website. https://casabaobeach.com/facilities/
WiFi is available free in the vicinity of the beach bar and the password was displayed on a poster at the counter. The signal was strong enough that it worked at our loungers, which weren't right next to the bar.
The amount of time we had here - about 3 hours - felt perfect to us. Long enough to actually get settled, relax and go for a dip or two, but not so long that we were bored or getting too hot and frazzled.
On the way back we had a bit of a drama. Smoke starting billowing out around our feet in the bus, accompanied by an electrical burning smell. We and others around us called out to the guide and the driver pulled over. The guide told everyone to get out of the bus and it was good to see that nobody panicked and everyone exited in an orderly fashion. The guide had us all move well away from the bus while the driver investigated. It turned out to be a short circuit in the wiring of the safety lighting and it was deemed safe for us to continue our journey as long as he kept the lights switched off. So we all got back on but had only gone a short distance when the guide told us the company operating the tour (FBTT Travel) was sending out another bus to meet us as they didn't want to take any chances.
After we had changed buses everything went smoothly. We stopped on the way to the port to drop people off who wanted to stay in town and who would later make their own way back. We stayed on the bus as we didn't fancy traipsing around town with all our beach stuff. Plus we were hungry! With these delays we only just made it to the WJ in time for lunch. I heard the maître d' in charge telling the staff at the counters "As soon as these last people (us!) have served themselves, clear everything away!" 
Although we did not go back out again after lunch, there would have been time if we had wanted to, so that's worth bearing in mind if you're not sure whether to get off the bus in town or head back to the ship first.
Tonight's dinner was the Caribbean menu. We think it's an OK one. It wouldn't be our first choice to skip for specialty dining.

Coconut shrimp. Has never disappointed.

DH's pork chop which he said was good but was too big for him to finish. He really liked the plantains although he mistook them for sweet potatoes at first.

Garlic herb-buttered tiger shrimp. One of my favourites. It never looks the same from ship to ship and sailing to sailing but I always enjoy it.

DH's pineapple cake, which he didn't really like, although he didn't say why.

And my all-time favourite classic, the Royal Chocolate Cake. In the past, I would have had this almost every night. I was devastated when they took the classics away in the menu reshuffle. Most of the other desserts I had during the week were second best to this one.

This being Valentine's Day, they had the Love and Marriage Game Show on in the theatre so we went along to that after dinner. It was quite funny but I've seen much better ones. I don't know what it was, I just felt the CD wasn't really interacting very well with the couples.
And after that, and our usual casino and tea & cookies ritual, it was time to head off to bed in readiness for the next day, which would be another sea day.

Brilliance is my favorite ship to date! I keep thinking about booking a Pacific coastal cruise just to sail one again (but without a cross country flight). 
I’ve always wondered, if you got a casino comp do they hold you to gambling while on the comped cruise? Or do they just assume you can’t resist?

Since we almost always have a couple of specialty meals stuck into the itin. somewhere, I suspect we will stick with MTD.  I don’t want to take up a “fixed” seat when chances are I’m going to be somewhere else more than half the time.
I guess we have been extremely lucky with MTD.  We’ve never really had a bad experience.  As long as it continues to work for us, we will continue to use it.

Back when Canada required a COVID app be filled out for every entry this type of itinerary required filling out the app twice as each entry to Canada was unique.  
When a ship stops in Victoria before ending in Seattle the immigration process is performed automatically, at least for US citizens.  Like any cruise ship arriving to a port of call, the ship announces that the ship has been cleared.  At that point everyone is free to leave the ship without being processed or seeing CBSA on land.  Citizens beyond WHTI countries may be handled differently.