Cruzinfun

highlight of our cruise.

NC was so great, I've been twice now.  It's quiet and a lovely way to spend the day. 

We are super excited and days away from our first cruise on Quantum class . We have done Canada/ New England multiple times before, and love the itinerary so planning has been easy!  My sister and her husband will be joining us this time.  They will have the drink package.  We went back and forth since they were going with us this cruise, but opted to just use our diamond drinks.  We have 5 port days on this cruise and enjoy the New England brewery scene, so we feel that between that and Diamond drinks-- we will come out okay.
This will be our first inside virtual balcony, and I am looking forward to experiencing it.   We will be flying into Newark the morning of the cruise.  Generally, I don't like to do this, but we have a super early direct flight so I feel okay about the timeline.
Here is our wallmount itinerary for the cabin.

 

I mean, I totally can. Ryan and I laugh about this whenever we go to Labadee now. "HEY, WANNA TRY THE ZIP LINE AGAIN?"
SO... second cruise with my at this point soon-to-be in laws. It had already been kind of a comedy of errors, and now we had our first visit to Labadee and it was raining pretty much all day. We had a 10 am zip line time, and until probably 3 in the afternoon we alternated between shopping around and checking back to see if we could get on the zip line. Eventually, there was a break in the rain and we were able to get going. We completed the practice zip line no problem. 
Finally, we make the long steep drive to the top of the zip line. It's HIGH. Full of nerves, I quickly raise my hand when asked who wants to go first, because if kept standing there it would keep getting worse. Ryan and I get strapped in, getting ready to leave the rest of our family behind at the top. 
We get let go and start our decent. For a couple seconds, it's amazing and gorgeous. And then we realize the rain picked up again, and we're getting pelted with sharp little bits of cold rain. And then the WIND picks up. We feel ourselves getting blown sideways, and slowly coming to a stop. All five of us stop very far from the ending platform... in a rain storm with wind and huge waves beneath us. We were later told by our family that the operators were laughing at us before the rest of the crowd made the scary descent back down the muddy hill and in to the beach area. 
Meanwhile, we're still dangling over the water soaking in the rain. Eventually, the tour operators form a plan and they run in to the choppy water (getting pulled under continuously) to throw me a rope and instructing us to keep throwing the end of the rope to the right until everyone is holding it. After we're all holding it, they take the other line back up to the beach and start pulling us to the end platform. 
The very first words from anyone's mouth once our feet touched the ground - "You're getting a full refund!" ... ?
So yeah. That was my first visit to Labadee. 

I have always been "colorful" and not one to follow the beaten path. I have had a couple occasions  where staff had to ask me nicely to stop fishing off my balcony. This time I decided to go a slightly different direction. Brought my daughter to Coco Cay when she was about seven and came up with a "good way" to spice her trip up some. I brought her to the little shallow beach away from the popular snorkeling one to do some "special snorkeling". Being a fisherman and diver over the years I developed a collection of old galleon "pirate coins". brought one along tucked in my waist band. The water on that south beach was maybe knee deep, sand bottom and of course gin clear. We were maybe thirty yard from shore and I tossed the coin out in front of us without her seeing... I nudged her and kept her on course to "find" it... I remember her making noises through her snorkel when she "found" it.  
"Daddy its a pirate coin!" Wow was she excited! Mission accomplished  (or so I thought). We exited the water and she ran off showing the coin to every person she saw. Before I knew it,  the other areas emptied out and we were "joined" with a couple thousand "treasure hunters"... She's 27 this year and getting married. I had that coin set and unbeknownst to her I will make it available for her to wear when I walk her down the aisle... ?

So, our first cruise with my brother and sister in law on the Navigator. One cruise day after a morning by the pool, screwdrivers, bloody marys, beer, etc my wife says "let's get changed and have lunch in the MDR" to which we all concur. We get to the MDR and were seated with a group of folks from Missouri. Table conversations continues (my brother in law is a TALKER, he could be a politician) our lunch arrives and I chow down. My wife asks "so where in Missouri are you folks from"? One of the gentlemen replied " just south of Platte,  just across the river from Leavenworth, KS". At that point in time, I quietly sit back, wipe my mouth and said "Leavenworth, yeah, I spent some time there." Conversations ended, there was a total silence and the Missouri folks started looking out the window, their plates and anything except us. Of course, after I explained to them that I spent a year at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth when I was on active duty they livened up and we were all friends again. We still get a chuckle out of that. 

I have 2.
1st story
I work for a national mens clothier.  I go off and buy what I think is a great outfit for my husband.  White/navy blue striped cotton sweater, and navy shorts.  One a.m. we were at the pool and it was kind of chilly, but he knew it would warm up, so he wore this outfit.  It is @ 10 a.m. and he is sleeping on a lounge chair next to me...snoring.  Passengers are walking by and glaring.  Thus, I nudge him so he will stop snoring.  He stops snoring, but they are still walking by and mumbling under their breath.  Huh? I don't get it, why are they looking at him this way.   A few mins later a bar staff member walks up to me and asked if I needed a drink.  I looked at him, looked at my husband and broke out in laughter.  His outfit was almost identical, just different stripe design on the sweater.  I am positive all those passengers thought he was part of the crew sleeping on the job!
2nd story
We as a family (siblings and cousins) decided that we were going to surprise my Mom for her 80th with a cruise.  She got wind and said she was not going.  We (siblings/cousins) decided we were still going and celebrate my Mom's Bday without her.  My brother is a practical joker.  He went to Staples and had a 24x32 picture of my Mom printed up.  In his mind, she was going on this cruise with us no matter what.  He took it with him on the ship, but kept it a secret.  Formal night rolls around and VOILA he pulls this picture out for the photos..  I can't recall the Captain's name, but he was European and needed staff to translate.  There is my brother asking the Captain to take a picture of him holding this huge picture of my Mom.  The captain could not wrap his head around he was being asked to do.  I am pretty sure when he got back to the bridge, he told everyone, now he has seen it all for the photo ops.  
My brother also makes calendars for every family member as a xmas gift.  Every month is a photo.  That yr. her bday month was the picture of the Captain holding this picture of her
 

Oh , almost forgot ,to whoever celebrating - Happy New year , "Shana Tova" , a year of as many cruises you wish for  yourselfs  to ever you want with who ever you want ?

Thanks for the picture and for sharing! I know in some of your blogs, you apologize for your English. Don't! Your English is much better than my Hebrew which is pretty much non-existent!  
I know a little Yiddish, but it's not for mixed company!
Happy Cruising!

Home is Tel Aviv , Israel

First vacation breakfast 

And WIFI roaming partner actually works during flight.

and the plot thickens...... 
Today, for fun, I decided to take a look at what was available for suites on our sailing. I noticed that the Star Loft Suite 1722 (the one we were originally booked before changing to aquatheare) had plummeted by $3500! It now only costed 400 more per person (3 of us going) to upgrade and this seemed like a no brainer, so now we are going to the highly coveted 17th floor! so so so excited!!! Will keep everyone in the loop once we get a little closer. We have booked a suite in the 1 Hotel South Beach for 3 nights prior to sailing!

I just saved $100 on our Thrill Park Cabana.  It went down to $299 for our January cruise.  I'm excited.  We have a family of 5.  We can't go to a land water park for $60 per person plus we get the cabana and attendant service.
Now our beach bed for Labadee in June 2020 needs to drop.

Better yet power down the phone and put it in the safe till the cruise is over.  The peace and tranquility is amazing.  A dry eraser or post it notes work great. We tell everyone if their is an emergency just call RC and they will contact us.  Don`t worry be happy.  And ENJOY the cruise.  

Can my teen take this class?  He is our wannabe chef and would probably want to do it with us.

Just wanted to write down a few thoughts about our recent cruise to the Eastern Caribbean on Symphony of the Seas.  There were 5 of us on this sailing, my wife and I, my kids (14 year old son and 10 year old daughter) and my Mother.  We had two connecting cabins.
 
This was our first sailing on an Oasis class ship.  We booked a Boardwalk balcony cabin, since it’s unique to this ship class.  I’m glad we did, but if I sail on an Oasis class ship again I think I will look for an ocean view balcony cabin, more towards the bow.  The noise from Hiro and movies in the evenings was very loud in our cabin, and I missed seeing the ocean. It’s almost doesn’t feel like you are on a cruise ship when you are on an Oasis class ship.
 
Door between connecting cabins is better on Anthem compared to Symphony.  On Symphony it doesn’t fold back all the way and is held open by the door closer locking.  If you accidentally touch it, it will close. From what I recall, Anthem was held open by a magnet and was flush against the wall.  Still, I’m glad connecting cabins are available. It’s not an option at all on Radiance class ships.
 
Finding good beer on Royal continues to be an issue, even on the bigger ships. They lost the wrench they needed to change the Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin key in Playmakers, and they were out of a bunch of their more interesting can/bottle beers, even on Day 2.
 
Solarium was loud and crowded on the first two sea days, it was (slightly) quieter and (slightly) calmer out on the pool area where the kids where.  But that was also a crowded mess. The pools looked almost as crowded as they do on DCL. Almost, but not quite. On DCL I think they only fill the family pools up halfway, the rest of the volume is taken up by all the kids in the pool.
 
Chair hogs/seat saving was out in full force everywhere (as usual).  There were many large groups onboard, so two or three people were saving entire rows.  On the bright side, at least for the shows, their family members generally did all show up eventually.  I find it particularly annoying when people save seats for people that never come.

 
Our itinerary had to be changed because of the hurricane.  Because of the change, we had beautiful weather in all of our ports.  Instead of St Maarten on day 3, they moved up San Juan from Day 4 to Day 3.  Then we went to Labadee on Day 4 instead of day 5. Day 5 was a sea day instead of a Port Day.  Day 6 was a Port Day instead of a Sea Day. At first we were supposed to be re-routed to Coco Cay, which would have been amazing.  I was looking forward to comparing the newly updated Coco Cay with Labadee. But because of the hurricane, Coco Cay had to be evacuated, so we instead went to Nassau.  And our full day at Nassau was eventually shortened, because of concerns about the Port of Miami closing because of the hurricane, so all aboard time was 1:30 instead of 4:30.
 
We made the best of things, and we were able to have a quick visit to Pirate Republic brewery in Nassau for some flights of beer, after we went Laser Tag on the ship.  I had booked Laser Tag for the sea day, but it turned into a port day because of the hurricane. We probably would have skipped it if we had visited coco cay, but i’m glad we didn’t -- we all had a great time doing laser tag.  Well, my mother skipped it, but the rest of our participated. Even my wife enjoyed it, and she was a bit skeptical going in. I managed to get 2nd place on my team, which I thought was pretty good for an overweight 45 year old.
 
This was our first visit to Labadee, and everyone had a wonderful time.  We booked a bungalow. I enjoyed having the bungalow on Labadee even more than the one we had on Coco Cay 16 months ago.  I preferred being able to walk to the buffet for food, instead of getting the box lunch delivered. I felt the cabana attendants were much more attentive and faster.  The beach in front of the bungalows was also better at Labadee vs Coco Cay. When I did the pre-check-in at the information desk near the ship, we were directed to the tram, but one of the golf cart guys ended up taking us off the tram and taking us to our bungalow, which was very nice.  The cabana attendants were also able to call us a golf cart driver for the trip back to the ship. This was a nice surprise, as I wasn’t expecting this service.
 
We had the photo package, so I was always on the lookout for photo opportunities.  One of the ships photographers was in the water at Columbus Cove, taking photos, so I was able to get a few photos of myself and the kids swimming, with our ship in the background.  It reminded me of the time when I was at one of the Disney waterparks, and a photographer was stationed in the lazy river.
 
Three sea days meant three opportunities for the Tutti Salad station for lunch in the MDR.  I’ve been disappointed recently with this on other ships, as I have noticed fewer options available.  I’ve never seen chicken available on Anthem, just shrimp. And on one our our Anthem cruises, they even left the tails on the shrimp -- I had to try to pick shrimp tails out of my salad.  Well, on Symphony the Tutti Salad bar lived up to its name, and did have everything available. They even had steak available for your salad, not just chicken. My wife and I were quite pleased.  One of the waiters running the salad station was Eric, who was our waiter on Anthem 16 months ago, so it was nice to be able to say hi to him again.
 
We had early seating in the main dining room, and our waiter and assistant waiter took great care of us.  We ate dinner there every day except for the first night. We somehow ended up with a complimentary specialty restaurant meal, so we ate at 150 Central Park the first night.  I had the lamb wellington, which was quite nice. I also enjoyed the fried cheesecake for dessert. There were several young kids there crying, which was mildly annoying. At least they weren’t that close to our table.  I would have been more annoyed if I was paying for the meal. On DCL I like that the specialty restaurants are adult-only restaurants.
 
Overall we had a wonderful cruise.  It was fun to finally experience an Oasis class ship.  It’s not my favorite class of ship, but I could certainly see myself sailing on one again in the future.  I prefer ships that have public spaces with windows that let you see the ocean. I’ll book an ocean view balcony next time, which I think will help.  The ship certainly had some great entertainment available, which I think is the big advantage to the larger ships. We all enjoyed Hairspray much more than we expected, and Hiro was also lots of fun.  But sometimes I wonder how they come up with some of the things they include in the shows. I imagine Nick Weir in a conference room with a bunch of other RCL executives. When they were planning “The Gift” on Anthem, someone asks “What do kids like these days?”  Someone says that their son saw some kid on YouTube jumping ramps on a BMX bike, and now keeps asking for one for Christmas. Nick Weir then declares, well we need to add a BMX bike trick scene in The Gift. For Hiro, someone mentions their kid had their birthday party at a trampoline park -- Nick Weir then declares, Hiro must include a trampoline segment, since that’s what the kids are into these days… ?
 
RCL also ended up giving everyone a FCC of 1/7th of the cruise fare, to make up for not going to Coco Cay, which I thought was very nice.  They certainly didn’t need to do that. I think I'll be able to do put my immediate families credit towards our already booked cruise on Anthem next April, but my mother isn’t coming with us on that trip.  So in order to use up her credit, I guess I'll need to look into booking all of us another cruise on Royal Carribean soon…

@Anguillandelight  Welcome to the RCB forums.
Congratulations, it looks like you found the Fancy Schmancy cabanas!!!

You are mistaken. Hindsight is 20/20 and to blame Royal Caribbean in any way for not being able to predict future weather with 100% preciseness is plain silly. Frankly, you're being extremely unrealistic.

Day 2 - CocoCay
I woke and discovered we were already here and tied up to the pier early.

Mariner is with us today.  The NCL Sky was sailing past on her way to anchor at GSC next door.


Live music to greet us this morning.


I think it's going to be a Perfect Day.

Bumping my own post after editing it.  I originally listed the port as Freeport.  It's Nassau.  Figured I'd update it with a minor detail like THE RIGHT ISLAND.  ?

The Key just became available today for our Feb 2020 Harmony cruise and the price is $37.99 ?

Buy it!  Even if you are unsure you can always cancel later.
I scored a zip line and thrill water park combp for ~$60 for an upcoming cruise.  Then Perfect Day demand went through the roof and prices adjusted upward.

Geez $62, I’ll be on oasis next May and it’s $79.  That’s a huge difference when you have a family of 4 or more. I would think it would be cheaper for the bigger ships. Anyway I love the idea of 2 days at cococay, I could definitely skip either port Canaveral or Nassau. Preferably Port Canaveral  

Have a great trip!!!!! Enjoy unwinding and relaxing.

Cruise day is here!
We've been out for a walk this morning to see the ships in port - Saphire Princess (which I forgot to take a picture of)
P&O's Britannia (the largest in their fleet) ,Azura (at the back) and Oriana which finished her final P&O cruise on Friday and is now in port having all of the P&O branding removed as she's been sold. 
And finally, RC's Independence. 
FYI, Indy & Azura are both facing the 'wrong' way today. I assume the captains didn't want to turn them around in last night's high winds. It's worse today though. Fingers crossed we manage to get underway today and aren't stuck in port until tomorrow...