Dlove707

i hear this — but then why do i keep running into the same people on any cruise?! always the ones i want to steer clear of!!
(to clarify, i mean this in a strictly NON swinging capacity!!! just as someone who finds themselves HAUNTED by the same folks over and over 😂)
i felt it was necessary to add that postscript 😅 but no shade to anyone who swings. 
(,,,okay i’m just going to stop here before i get myself more in trouble hahahah)

Cozumel continued.......
I talked to my grandmother who didn't realize she left my fur baby in the closet and then went on to her doctor's appointment. She was mad she knocked a blouse down to sleep on......I reminded her that she was gone close to four hours, she's lucky no pee or poop was in there. It is cold and rainy in Chicago and in the 80s in Mexico. This is finally the weather I want. I saw some of the guys from the bachelor's party getting their hair braided while they waited to board their excursion. We were shopping for bags and they all must have asked if there will be topless women there twenty times during my five-minute shopping adventure. My brother wanted to see about a silver bracelet, so I got an overpriced drink from the Tequila to Go place and sat in one of the benches close to the ship. I made a few calls and did my Teams meeting. All of my coworkers are having a ball on their perspective cruises; one said their next-door neighbor had been fighting since day one. The staff have come more than once to tell them to quiet down. That means it will always be some drama somewhere.
After about 45min my brother joined me, and we boarded the ship for lunch. We were the second group to dine-in JR but the first to sit outside. This was my brother's first time eating at JR and he got a tuna melt and chocolate soda. JR on Oasis is really good, the burger I got tasted really fresh and not greasy, the same with the fries. My brother said he prefers JR onion rings to Playmakers. The desserts at JR were the best we had so far... real apple pie without raisins and not dry. They didn't have almonds for the sundae, but crushed Oreos worked just as good. We did a lap around the WJ for giggles and then took the stairs for an espresso from the DL for my brother. The Silhouette by Celebrity is parked next to us, and several people are smoking on their balconies.
Tonight, is Mexican themed night and my brother wants to try to squeeze in a MTD before our 8:15 Izumi reservation......I doubt that will happen.
 

Or maybe you pick the right cruises! Have you read @Avfrattner's trip report?? There interesting and there's interesting. 
 

Clearly I pick the wrong cruises because mine are no where near as interesting as yours lol.

Day 3 Sea day......
Currently up checking emails and waiting to get in the shower. Will head to the DL, then the Loyalty event. Our Steward told us the wife has officially moved in the friend's room and that lady's husband is also staying there???? I wasn't even aware she had a husband; I hope they tip him for all the extra inconveniences. 

Some funny observations.....
I have gone in the bathroom twice and found half eaten food on the floor by the toilet. Once a piece of chicken, another some sort of sandwich. Neither were on plates.
While at the casino a lady got mad at me over a drink pour. She watched the bartender pour more after using the jigger for me and asked me what made me so special....I replied tipping.
People keep telling me I need to dress my man better. I keep informing them he's grown, we from Chicago, and that's my brother.
A baby pulled off her pamper in the hallway while waiting for the elevator. I was waiting by the bathroom for my brother. She almost made it to the Music Hall.
Internet is good everywhere but central park.

Day 2 PDCC
Oh the scandal!!!!
First I slept pretty weird on the double sofa bed. The dent in it makes it impossible to get really comfortable. I slept more than I normally do and woke up around 7am. I decided to try to put in some work and make prime. So I showered, got dressed and headed to the DL. Nobody was in there at 8:24 when I came in. I got a hot tea, some orange juice and a croissant. I then made my way to the casino.
I played for over 2hrs and I won a lot and then lost it all because I was trying to get my points. It was hardly anyone in there so I had my pick of the machines and could avoid all the smoke. I shuffled between two or three machines and I made my prime goal. But oooooh let me tell you guys the scandal of it all.....
So I was playing next to this couple. They were kissing and she was sitting on his lap, she was playing, screaming, and bouncing each time she so much as hit a penny. I was on a bonus round and I saw a guy rushing our way, he yelled out "Sarah WTF, not again!!!!" And snatched her off the guys lap. Me and the guy looked at each other in confusion. That lady was cheating on her husband...for the second time on THIS cruise. He aired all her laundry and she talked about his nether regions being old and dried up. I was so engrossed, their children were waiting for them to get off and enjoy PDCC.
Oh but it gets better. On the way back to room was a juicier scandal. This guy was begging my room steward to let him in to the room a few doors down. He said he couldn't, the guy was like it's my friend's room and I'm looking for my wife. The steward said no because the sign was on the door for cleaning. He started talking to me, in hopes the guy would leave. I told him I didn't want the sofa let out. Then he opened the room and it was two naked ladies.......doing stuff. We all were embrassed. I'm shocked because I wrongly assumed the friend the guy was looking for was a guy. Also they wanted to get caught because they put the magnet on the wrong side. It was a lot of screaming and at the exact moment my brother was just coming from the gym. He told me another scandal.
During embarkation we met a group of 23 who had gotten custom Hawaiian shirts with their faces on them. My brother saw one in the gym and they told him poop hit the fan because one told another's husband he is actually the father of his first child. They apparently thought they could handle cruise liquor,  this was their first cruise. However they have done a lot of group vacations but he never said anything......so much good reality TV.

11 days to go......
I packed my luggage. Since I am doing two cruises for 12 days in total, I knew I would have to pack a checked bag. This works out as we plan to take two bottles of wine, not everyone carries what we like, and my brother can put his wine in my luggage. We will check one bag and each of us will have a carry-on and personal bag. I brought new packing cubes, the compression kind in hopes of making it easier to only do a carry-on in the future. I hate waiting for bags at the airport.

They compress pretty well but I am worried that they may cause a lot of wrinkles, we will see. I have my wrinkle release spray. The hard part will be packing my carry-on. We have 4 port days on the Oasis cruise and my brother plans for us to get off at each one. That means lots of comfortable shorts and moisture wicking attire, plus my regular clothes.  Right now, I am trying to decide if I want to do another rolled luggage and my weekender or the weekender and a backpack. 
Since I sail solo and often book the room I want, I don't normally participate in RU. I did it once during the restart and won my bid, on the minimum. I was mostly unhappy with the room because it was forward. I had picked out a perfect interior on deck 10, aft and my brother was okay with it. I got the RU offers literally the day after I checked in. At the time to upgrade for an OVB was $320pp and a neighborhood balcony was $160pp. The OVB was too expensive and neither I nor my brother really like the neighborhood balconies or interiors to bid over a certain amount. I did see an option for a spacious interior and put in the bid for that. After a bit of talking, we decided the location was too great for what we wanted so I went in today and cancelled my bid.
On a whim I decided to see what I could bid on now and low and behold they had OVB at 80% off. The minimum bid was only $70pp!!! I was like a balcony would be more spacious so let me put in a min bid. I was working when I got an alert from my credit card, I was now OVB #8662. So you can win a RUB with a minimum bid. I usually like deck 8-10 because there are only a few flights between my most used locations, and I don't have to take the elevators. This is actually a primo location, on deck 8 and by all the central park specialty restaurants. Although it is midship it is actually closer to aft and right by an elevator. I am amazed I won, I'm now 2/2 on my RUB. 
As long as there is no SWA tomfoolery, this is shaping up to be a wonderful cruise/vacation.......I also endeavor to be a smidge like @Neesa and let all the positive vibes in while still maintaining my honest approach to things. 

@melmar02 😉

Ah…finally back on board. 6 ships in port today. SY, LB, FR, plus 3 Carnival ships. Way too crowded for my liking. But all is good now. 😊

Where we are at now:
We often decided to whether to attend this or not based on who the cruise director is. With HelloClo! here, it was a no-brainer.

That margarita must have really made you tipsy to go into the Windjammer! 😆

After that margarita from the suite lounge, conditions deteriorated big time…

Nothing too exciting to report from Cozumel. We got off the ship, walked around the port area, then hopped on a taxi downtown. The cost is $8 flat for 1-4 passengers. Very easy to get there and back.
 
Sadly, no big purchases today. I did find some things at Effy but decided I don’t really need another piece right now so we left it behind. I really do love their designs though. 
It’s pretty hot here in Cozumel so by about 12:30pm we decided we had enough and headed back to the ship. El Loco is closed until 3pm so I got the next best thing…Room Service Chicken Wings! 
 

Dinner in CK tonight. Its Braised Beef night. Excellent cut, quality, and taste. So far really happy with CK on this sailing. 
 
Last night the girls and I tried out the chicken noodle soup from the kids menu. We had low expectations but it was delicious! You could tell it was made from scratch and fresh. Tonight Hubby tried it and turns out the whole family loves it. D16 said if she could get a double serving, she would be perfectly content having that for dinner. 

I am with you, I loathe monkeys. I can do so many other animals but not monkeys.
When I was younger, I went on a field trip to a special zoo that let the animal's roam. I saw a monkey peeing in its own mouth and was like nope, I'm out. The tragic part was my field trip buddy was playing with one who kept scratching his butt and sticking his monkey paws into my buddy's ear. He ended up getting a bacterial infection he couldn't fight; I was 7 and it traumatized me.
We have Roatan on Allure and my family saw the BF deal for $47.99pp for Gumbalimba Park, I told them you will be going without me.

Back on board now. Lunch at El Loco again. This is probably my most favourite “quick bite” place to eat on the ships that have this. I could eat this every day of the cruise. 


Everyone is now fed and napping. Well, everyone expect the Home Genie. 

Today in Roatan we did the Gumbalimba Preservation Park tour.
 
D14 really loves nature and animals and we thought this might be something that she would enjoy. 
 
Tickets were left in our cabin on boarding day and the instructions were to meet on the pier. Our suite concierges, Mohamed and JJ did offer expedited service to the gangway. This means that they bypass the stops on the elevator from Deck 17 down to the gangway. 
 
After we got to the pier, we hopped on a bus with a tour guide. The bus had a capacity of about 20 people. This forms the tour group for the morning. 
 

The way to Gumbalimba Park takes you through the main road here in Roatan. It’s winding and the posted speed limits are merely a “suggestion”. If you are prone to motion sickness, it’s best to take something before you get on the bus. 
After we got to the park, it was strongly suggested that we lock up our belongings in lockers. This was my first hint that this excursion is not for me lol. Apparently, the monkeys are quite smart and could rob you should you have anything out. 
 
After locking up our belongings. We headed to an insectarium. I assumed that it would be fairly dry, but I was interesting to see some of the biodiversity on the island. 
 




After the Insectarium, we headed to Coxen’s Cave, a “museum like” area dedicated to telling Roatan’s history. It was here that our guide briefed us on the upcoming monkey area. He told us that the monkeys roam freely and not to panic if one jumps on you. He also noted that monkeys have been known to unzip belongings or even take glasses and belongings from people. That was enough for me. I think others thought I was joking when I asked where I could wait if I did not want to see the monkeys lol. For those who don’t know me well, I am not an animal person. I don’t even like dogs, monkeys is way too much of stretch for me. 


From Coxen’s Cave we headed across a suspension bridge to visit the park’s macaws. There was an opportunity here to take photos with the macaws. Park staff took photos that could be purchased but many were using their own cameras as well. 

 




After visiting the macaws, it was time to head to the monkey area. We were once again reminded to stow all lose items, get rid of our water bottles, and not panic if you encounter a monkey. Hubby and the kids went ahead and I stayed behind in the macaw area to wait for them to loop back around. As bad luck would have it, I encountered a monkey while waiting for them. I watched from a safe distance while the monkey dived into the recycle bin, took a Gatorade bottle, unscrewed it, and drank the leftovers like any normal person would. At that point, a trainer came by to scare monkey away and I breathed a sigh of relief.  
 
Hubby and and girls came back around with the group and we made our way back out of the park. But not before stopping to look at some iguanas. As we walked to see the iguanas, some people from group informed me that I was smart to hang back. Apparently monkeys stealing your belongings is not the worst problem. You might want to bring a change of clothing after the monkey encounter as well. I will let you all make your inferences here 😉


The tour takes you in a loop back to where you started. From this point you have the option to remain and use the beach or pool, or head back on a bus to the ship. We decided to head back because they need 20 people to fill a bus before they will go back to the ship. We did not want to get stuck there too long so we opted to head back right away with a few others from our tour group.
Overall the family enjoyed this excursion. It’s about three and a half hours long with 40 mins of that being travel time (20 there and 20 back). On board pricing is $64.99pp but we got it for $49.99 on the cruise planner with the Black Friday sale. 
 
 

You know it! It’s Filet night in CK. Nothing new to report. Food quality and service was excellent tonight. 

NYE reservations (available to book):
I noticed those prices are listed as "per seat"...Yikes!
I think we'll just hang with the crowd in the promenade for free lol

I sailed 70 days. No email though, but that's to be expected with Royal IT...and who knows how Royal math will come up with the count.

Back in 2018 when I would drop off my Hertz rental almost across the street from the port property they didn't offer shuttles until 11am at the request of the port.  I would pay the $8 for an Uber to take me there as it isn't practical to walk despite being close as the crow flies. 

When I do change cabins I usually go and visit my new cabin area when I know the cabin attendant will be working.  I like to introduce myself and let them know I will be moving over from another cabin.  Often they'll make a point of getting my new cabin cleaned and ready first even though I don't ask them to.  

Purchased by MSC to keep Royal out of bankruptcy. 
 
and name changed to Utopiaviglia

From what I've gathered in talking with various executives, I don't see Royal leaving the LA market in the short term.