PRebecca

Okay so now for some stray observations and anecdotes.
We spent a lot of time in the SL, we didn't buy drink packages because my mother and BFF mother aren't drinkers. We didn't miss the package as we only averaged about 2 extra drinks a day per person. This came out to less than half the price a DX for one person, for the whole cruise. Also BFF was drunk the entire cruise, which resulted in several wardrobe changes each day. Crew members and people would comment on this. Now because we frequented the SL so much we got to know a lot of the suite guest. We met best friends from St. Louis who were obsessed with my brother, even though they were married. They kept saying it was the mom in them but it was weird. They kept touching him and being really friendly.
I was by myself a lot and met a funny couple celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary. The wife was like me, reading books and drinking in the suite lounge alone during the day. My brother told me later that the husband tried several times to get him and BFF back to their suite. That was a theme this cruise, lots of swinging and solicitation. I knew from FB that there was a large group, 300+, of singles on this cruise but I didn't expect that much tomfoolery. While heading to CK one night we were taking pictures of the night stars only to look over and see two nude men getting in and out of the hot tub on the balcony. I have no idea why they didn't close the shades, they saw us and just stood there. We finished getting our pictures and headed to dinner.
During our 2:30pm showing of Mamma Mia a pervert set next to BFF. I figured he was drink and confused. During intermission he asked to switch seats and sure enough this guy was horrible. He had a name tag that indicated he was part of the singles group. Every time the lady next to him got up he grabbed her butt, then spent most of the show rubbing between his legs. I tried to look forward but he was making noises, he also took a sip of my wine! The lady he fondled was solo and didn't seem to mind at all of what he was doing. When we got up to leave he pressed his whole body into her, only to say he was going the other way. 
Literally the day before we left my brother hurt his leg. He is tall and skinny and goes to the gym to try to muscle up. He believes he pulled a muscle but while at the theme parks it swells up pretty bad and we go to the CVS minute clinic, they believe it is a spider bite and gives him a prescription. He says he is not in any pain and a cruise will allow him to relax so we press forward. There are lots of people who seem to be on deaths door, so my brother feels okay about his leg. Except whenever people comment on the leg they mention the wrong one. They think it is his regular leg that is affected, several women tell him not to worry as it will "plump" back up. Several nurses offer to give him medicine from their personal stash. Two women in CocoCay ask him why did he only work out one leg. It was always a conversation starter.
I brought him a painted muscle tee in Scotland. It has a torso with a six-pack and the beginning of a kilt. He wore this with his plaid shorts in St. Thomas and several crew members felt compelled to touch him. We had a good laugh because his arms are so muscular that the shirt looked real. The last night Janet, she hands out the Windjammer plates for dinner, asked my brother where do the plates go? She told him, night after night she hands him plate after plate, yet he gains no weight. He should teach her how to hide the food. I just want to point out that my brother and BFF were hitting the Windjammer every night before wherever we had dinner reservations. 
The casino was by far the most populated venue on the ship. Someone hit a $16,000 and $20,000 jackpot. I was here every night, but the last, and saw quite a few people hit in the thousands. I added up my win total and it was $842, I won way more than I ended up spending. BFF mom lost a lot and was reward with a $100 off your next cruise certificate. We were solicited several times in the casino. The first was a very old man in his 80s who was pinnacle, he flashed his white card and said it opened all the doors and anyone of us could step through. I thought it was funny but my mother was offended. Another 70+ guy came over with a beer and told us this was a beauty contest he didn't want to judge. We should chose who gets to have dinner with him and sit on his lap. BFF mom jokingly told him the only lap she would sit on is the captains and he took a sailors hat out and said he was a captain.......on his boat. We joked a bit as it took a while for him to realize it wasn't happening. The last night I was in there a couple tried to get me to come back to their room. What is sad was I almost went until I realize it was for something else beside a chat, I'm a little slow on the uptake when it comes to that.
I forgot to mention our specialty dining experiences, of which it was one lunch. Half of us went to Sabor and the rest to Izumi for sushi. My brother and BFF mom really enjoyed Izumi but there were complaints about Sabor. They didn't find it spicy or authentic. As usual it was a seasoning/flavor issue, I tried to explain that they might be light on both because they understand that everyone has different palate. Either way it seems the only food that made most of them happy was the Windjammer.
Final thoughts is that.......while I enjoyed the reduced capacity for a large ship, the atmosphere was off. With reduced shows and space, you felt it. People were rude and pushy to get decent seats. In bars and clubs people sat a lot as opposed to dancing and mingling. All and all, even with any negatives, this was the best cruise I have been on. 
If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will answer to the best of my ability.

I am so very sorry that I am behind!! The Wedding and planning events and entertaining our guests has taken up ALL of my time. Literally I’ve not even seen half of the ship! Let me back track a bit! 
  We woke up at 4am on Sunday morning because I of course was so excited that I was wiggling my toes under the covers LOL I sprang out of bed to look out the window and try and get a glimpse of our ship….of course Oasis is the first terminal A…so there were multiple shops blocking her LOL I couldn’t go back to sleep after that so we just ended up watching tv and packing. I am NOT a morning person so I was pretty impressed with myself…and without coffee! At about 9am we walked to CVS to get $100 in one doll of bills for tips and then came back to do final packing and finally call our uber! Our Uber arrived at roughly 10:45am and we arrived to the port around 11am. We rushed passed the porters who all tried to take our bags because I had been warned that we should only relinquish them at Star Class banner. We quickly found it in all its purple glory! 
After giving our bags away and checking in with the nicest young woman we were told to wait to be led up to security and then to the suite lounge to meet Shane our INCREDIBLE genie (More on him later) 
Eventually we were led up and it took awhile to get through security since there was only one lane open and there was apparently a small debacle over a misfit extension cord trying to be brought on by a person ahead of us LOL No big deal nothing can ruin our day…we are going on a cruise! Once in the suite lounge we sat excitedly waiting for Shane! 
Then suddenly we looked up and like a vision in Blue…a beacon of light…a cruise Unicorn if you will…Shane was there r greet us! I cannot ever actually express how much I adore this man even after two days but I will say that I can’t imagine ANYONE else taking this wedding cruise journey with us. He is the best of the best. There….I said it!
After meeting us he brought us to the dining room to do our muster stations and it genuinely took 3 minutes. We were in and out in a flash and now it was finally time to see our suite! 1720 Star Loft! We chose this because of the balcony and the entrainment space and pictures will NEVER do it Justice! 

I must say…it was the BEST dang filet I have had on any ship! That sauce was OUT OF THIS WORLD and I’d venture to say that I could have cut it with a spoon! 
Shane also informed us that he HAD procured our wedding tuxedos despite there being some question if it was even possible due to Covid. He is magic! He also had welcome aboard snacks eating for us! 

We also ran through some of the wedding details and he gave us our weekly schedule and reservations. Then we were off to Playmakers to meet our friends for lunch. Playmakers was delicious! We had a TON of food. Basically one of everything LOL if you like sports bar food then this is for you. My burger was AMAZING!
After this we went to the Facebook group meet up! Can I just say what an INCREDIBLE group of people that were compiled in this group. The most positive, loving, FUN group of people. I can’t thank everyone enough to has come up and said hello or congrats to us. You have made our hearts smile! I also finally got to try for lava flow with kraken rum! Matt would be so proud! 
After the meet up it was time for Sail Away party on our balcony with friends! Shane arranged for some snacks and appetizers to be delivered and we were able to give our guests the giant welcome bags we had custom made for them! They had things like thermos cups, sunglasses, towel clips, cat ears for when we see CATS LOL, fans etc etc. 
Sail away was amazing. We sailed at 6 so there was time for us all to have cocktails and mingle before our 8pm dinner at Coastal Kitchen!
We were really excited to eat at Coastal for the illustrious and sometimes controversial Filet! I must say…it was the BEST dang filet I have had on any ship! That sauce was OUT OF THIS WORLD and I’d venture to say that I could have cut it with a spoon! 
Burrata was fresh and delicious and not too heavy

Tomato soup was a real treat and the smokiness added a real depth of flavor! I also loved the pour over service! 
I must say the filet was the BEST dang filet I have had on any ship! That sauce was OUT OF THIS WORLD and I’d venture to say that I could have cut it with a spoon! 

 
After dinner we returned to the room to find that Shane had left us amazing beach bags for CocoCay! I love them so much I refused to use them because I want to save them to use at home LOL
Then we were off to the ice show! Now listen…I love Hans Christian Andersen as much as the next thirty something but I will say this story/choice wasn’t be FAVORITE theming. However the TALENT and amazing passion from the performers had me leaping to my feet. What they can do on ice is astounding!
After the ice show it was nearly midnight and we were SO exhausted by the day we had to go to bed! I will stop here for now since it’s 2am and my husband (yay I can say husband) is snoring beside me LOL
p.s. Props to you live bloggers who manage to do this without falling behind! 
 
 
 

The weird thing is, we took our first ever cruise Nov 2019, and we liked it, but didn't LOVE it.

However, since then, we would fondly think back on it, and have booked our second cruise for this month! We're SO excited!

Wife and I have been AI Resort folks...took our first cruise on Freedom last month, just a 3 nighter to CocoCay...We'll be back...Actually looking at bringing the teens on that same cruise in January as a Christmas present and also a 7 nighter in July!!  😎

Oops, Perfect Day got away from me! 
Since we’re cruising today I can recap. I woke up to see Freedom docking next to us! Got some cool pics of both ships together. We hit up the Solarium Bistro for breakfast and went up to the top to see the island in all her glory.


On the island we went straight to Captain Jacks for Coco Locos and meandered to Chill Beach and eventually around to South Beach for the floating bar action! 



Hot air balloon was grounded for the day but went up a few feet later, just for looks?


Water was pretty cold in the ocean and pool but you could get used to it after a lot of just sucking it up and feeling cold. 





Late night Abyss

Last night’s dinner was Giovanni’s and it sadly was not as good as the amazing meal we had at 150CP.. we kinda thought that was gonna be the case, shouldve worked our way up! haha It was still good though and the service was fantastic. Everyone is so happy and friendly, I love the crew spirit. 
Cruising today, Day 3. Should be a laid back day! More slides and Solarium hanging in our future. Got us a sweet spot at the front of the sun deck. 

Good morning from our second day at sea.  This sailing has three sea days which I personally love on a seven night sailing.  I love taking a little time to go to the aft (back) of the ship to see and listen to the wake as we cruise along.  

I was able to do just that as I headed up to meet up with Christine, the group leader, and the rest of the group sailing with Autism on the Seas.  Another fantastic service they provide onboard is dedicated time at various activities onboard.  This means that at a certain time on a certain day, Royal sets aside time at a venue where just the Autism on the Seas group is at that venue or activity.  A lot of people with autism have a challenging time waiting in long lines or in crowds especially with a lot of external stimuli in the environment.  This also gives the child or adult with special needs that extra time to process any directions and sometimes overcome their own fears.  
We started on the rock wall this morning.  AOTS staff is there to assist the individuals to gear up and then the Royal sports crew assists them with the activity itself.  I have always been impressed with the sports crews here on Royal.  They are not only patient and helpful but they are great cheerleaders as well!  The family did great and it is always fun to see and be apart of.





 



We headed over to the Abyss after the rock wall.  The Abyss is a dry slide on the aft of the ship.  Two riders can go at the same time and race down 10 stories to the bottom.  This can be a bit daunting to some, especially those who have a fear of heights.  When you walk up the stairs you are greeted with an amazing view of both the wake out the back and unfortunately for some, the floor is glass so you can see down... There was a little hesitancy from a couple riders but everyone made it down with some encouragement and care.



 



What a FUN morning!!
I was definitely ready for some lunch once we had finished the morning activities. .  Having the Ultimate dining package is well worth it!  It includes all specialty dining and it includes lunch so off to Playmakers we went!  These pork sliders and onion rings are worth every bite, hungry or not!


This afternoon it was time to ICE SKATE!!  No, I didn't partake but watched the staff and families try for either the first time or in some cases first time in a LONG time. This took place in Studio B and again, was only for the Autism of the Seas group for an hour.  The staff gets right in there and I was able to capture some pretty cool pics of the families, staff, and individuals.  






Parents chatting while the kids are skating with the AOTS staff


Sunsets are always a must see at sea...tonight we were at dinner when it was setting so I had to settle for it setting behind one of the infinity hot tubs. Still made for a prety neat shot.

Dinner was at Hooked tonight.  Hooked, as it implies, is a seafood restaurant.  They have quite the variety to choose from.  It definitely gives off a Cape Cod or Maine vibe with the classic nautical feel.  As you can see by the photos, they do offer steak.  If you don't care for seafood but want to dine with your friends or family, they will accommodate you with a Turf & Turf option where you can get two filet mignons or a filet and chicken.  





 

Tonights activities included two of my all time favorites!!!  Adult comedy and the Silent Disco.  

Comedian Landry

 


Comedians Landry and Gary Caouette had us and the entire audience in stitches for the entire show!  Might see them again on this sailing.
If you are unfamiliar with the silent disco, its where everyone is given a set of headphones with two channels you can switch between.  They are playing different songs.  There is no music playing other than what is in your headset.  Everyone sings and dances to whatever they are hearing.  It is an absolute blast!


Tonight I will leave you with a piece of interactive art onboard.  The "Dryer-Wig" is located in the boardwalk neighborhood onboard.  You put the wig on and there is music playing inside.  We danced and sang along getting in a few laughs.  


 
We are excited for our first port day tomorrow in St. Maarten tomorrow.  Come back to see how we chose to spend our day on the island.
 

Okay so lets talk about day 2 which was another sea day. Nobody made it to breakfast because they did too much the night before. They promised they were coming and I waited almost 45min in CK for them. I ended up eating alone. The same thing happened for lunch. This has been a current occurrence on this vacation, only reiterating why I cruise and vacation solo. We spent the day exploring the ship, mostly separate, lounging on the suite deck and our balcony. I had drinks at the sand bar and the suite bar, they were stronger at the suite bar. I hit the casino and hit a small jackpot so I am up right now....we will see if it continues that way for the remainder of the cruise
So I am going to post this as it has put a major damper on my trip
In my younger years I was a waitress, I always tip well and take care of those who take care of me. I still tip when service is basic too. Having been in that position, I have a standard of service that makes experiences amazing to me. I know from serving that each person has a style and I think the mark of a wonderful server is to read the room. My biggest pet peeve is servers who speak to guest like they are stupid, ordering things for them, constantly at the table and interrupting conversations, etc. Since most of the party is newbies, we came to a collective and ate in the MDR night 2. I felt our waiter was extra, he tried to read the menu to us, kept mentioning about giving a 10/10 and brought food he liked to the table for us to try....which is fine but he kept pestering us to try it and standing around, hoovering waiting. He delivered the food and started talking so by the time we started eating, at least in my case, the food was barely warm. I told my party this rubbed me the wrong way and my preference was to enjoy my meal with little interaction and then go to the headliner show. They got super offended with me because they felt he wasn't doing anything wrong. They basically said I was a horrible person because I suggested they tip him and I tip the assistant waiter. None of them are talking to me because they wouldn't allow me to explain why I didn't enjoy this service. They have felt like all the crew have been extra but suggestion something is not the same as saying "no, no, you don't get that, try this." I mention my irritation after the ordering process and then again when he wouldn't stop talking after delivering the food. I think it is rude to eat when the waiter is there asking questions. I was basically reamed out for not having sympathy for this guy and could only sit through a little bit of the Headliners because I couldn't rally. I basically went back to the room and cried all night. I mean we have been late to everything, they have complained and wasted my money and time. Yet I make two comments and I am implied to be prejudice and the worst. I don't want to spend any time with them as no one cared about embarrassing me, they tried to force me into saying my peeves while he was standing there.
Everyone's perspective is different, so maybe I was wrong, has anyone else experienced this and felt that way? I have never experienced anything like this, so the plan is to go to the casino and see if that will turn my emotions around.

Day 8 - Departure.  Up early with the vibrations from docking. Stacy, Shari and I had breakfast in the Coastal Kitchen. Most of the others slept as late as possible. Katie had an early appointment at Next Cruise to plan the “free” cruise from the casino. Romina met us in the suite at 830 with two gentlemen with luggage carts. It may have been 10 minutes from leaving the room until we were checked in with the Go Port Canaveral folks for our transportation. Very smooth. Go Port worked well for us again this year. It’s transportation from the airport, the hotel room, transportation to the ship and then the return to the airport. There was a large selection of hotels in both Orlando and the Port area. Clean and comfortable passenger busses and friendly staff. I recommend them. 
   Grabbed a quick bite of airport junk food in Orlando. Had a bumpy ride to Dallas for our 3 1/2 hour layover. We ate at Fridays in Dallas before the flight into Palm Springs. It was a long but smooth travel day. And that wraps up the trip. I do have some comments on random things to post in a bit. 

IIf it was just one drink out of many I wouldn't even take note of it. But that's just me. 

We are home safely. 16 hours from ship to the house. After some coffee and chores I’ll attempt to finish with day 7 and misc thoughts. 

Mission accomplished!

If only there were a way to have a centralized database, and a handheld computer of some sort that could produce a unique image of some sort that couldn’t be faked and another computer of some sort could read that image and decipher the vaccine information. 
 
maybe some day. 

Some random photos
 

My cousin and I went in January and ended up at "Frozen Paradise" according to his facebook check in. We went looking for conch fritters specifically, didn't think to look in advance since we didn't have internet on our phones once we left the ship and just kinda ran into that little hole in the wall and they were amazing. The people in front of us walked in, were rude when they saw the decor and lack of party and walked out so we felt bad and a little obligated to stay and I am SO glad we did. The conch fritters were excellent.
 

We have a cruise on Allure 11-14-21.  The original itin was Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Maarten.  They recently changed it to San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts.
This is actually very good news for us as it eliminates all of the prohibited ports and adds new ones that do not prohibit unvaxxed.  Whether Royal will let us sail is, of course, a completely different issue....but at least there is hope now.

Saturday will work. I forgot that tomorrow, since we turned Diamond on this cruise, we have to go to the theatre and watch a live feed of the Pinnacle lunch😂. Enjoy the day tomorrow. I have no plans Saturday so we can meet somewhere or enjoy a drink and a snack on the balcony. Let me know!

I would love a smaller ship like that. 57 ports is plenty of time to get off the ship for me, and then when onboard I can do some work, watch movies, read books, look out at the world go by. I would hate a mega-ship for a cruise like this. 

Me:    Looks at checking account balance.
          Looks at available PTO.
          Looks at annual income.
          Looks at mortgage statement.
          Looks at other financial commitments.
          Looks at other life commitments.
          NOPE.

This will be my retirement cruise in 2024. I hope they offer this again. With my 200 sick days, I am booking this cruise. Maybe get a junior suite. I am loving this announcement. 

My cousin and I went in January and ended up at "Frozen Paradise" according to his facebook check in. We went looking for conch fritters specifically, didn't think to look in advance since we didn't have internet on our phones once we left the ship and just kinda ran into that little hole in the wall and they were amazing. The people in front of us walked in, were rude when they saw the decor and lack of party and walked out so we felt bad and a little obligated to stay and I am SO glad we did. The conch fritters were excellent.
 

I called Bailey he says you can so do tell...

I wonder how much trouble I would get in if I leaked the news here first...

I would love to see RC do seasonal cruises out of South America, perhaps multiple sailings out of Buenos Aires too perhaps Brazil and/or sailing around the tip of South America to San Antonio, Chile.  I know Celebrity already offers seasonal South American cruises but it would be nice to see RCG offer these cruises on a Royal Caribbean ship. 

I have a low offer in on a 2 bedroom ATS. I don't expect to actually win the bid, but am still trying to determine if we really want a 2BATS over a crown Loft. I'd Ike the crown loft with Star amenities 😄

Have an ocean view balcony on the Symphony for 10/30 put in bids on 10/7. Today my bids for 1 bed owners suite and 2 bed owners suite are expired but my Grand Suite is still pending. Fingers crossed! I bid a bit over minimum and all we’re considered weak.