USCG Teacher

I say yes.  I sailed on Oasis in May when it was at least 75-80% capacity.  We originally had a Boardwalk balcony room (got a great deal on it to begin with) and won our minimum bid for a 2 br Grand Suite.  If we had booked that suite, it would have cost us over $10,000. Our total cost was under $4,000, which also included internet for all 4 of us, Coastal Kitchen dining, free drinks in the suite lounge, etc.

Not unusual at all.  Post 9/11, I got to do Sea Marshalling duties ON BOARD a few cruise ships out of Philadelphia, including Empress of the Seas.  Now that was sweet duty! 

Just got off a summer cruise for 4 on Oasis sailing at 100%+ capacity in a 1 Bedroom Aqatheater Suite for under $6,500 all in thanks to a minimum bid and without a KSF promo, so yeah, I think you can get some pretty good deals with Royal Up.

I totally know what you're saying.  We were on Oasis in May and there was a great Billy Idol cover band.  A lot of people got there early and took up the seats on the first floor, but didn't seem to know anything about the music.  It was kind of annoying, frankly.  I didn't let it stop me from dancing, though.  So much fun!
 
Looks like you had a wonderful time!  We loved Oasis and I can't wait to go on it again (having a suite definitely enhanced the experience).  Totally agree with you regarding the Suite Lounge, Suite Deck, and Coastal Kitchen.  

I am sailing Oasis for the first time in Jan, I am really enjoying reading your review. Your children sound well-behaved. I have had some questionable experiences with children on cruises. I am always glad when the parents treat a cruise like a family vacation and not 24hr childcare.

I would love the low $60s.  Mine has been either $73 or $78 since day 1.  Not even Black Friday was cheaper.

I expect that businesses in Canadian ports that US based cruises go to will accept US Dollars, however I also expect them to take it at face value. 
 
It’s nothing new.  I grew up in a border town.  USD was always welcome, but at par.  As far as Vancouver, I used to visit when I was doing training at Whidbey, and all of the bars took our US cash…but no exchange rate was offered. 

We use our Visa debit card when visiting my in-laws in NB and have a stash of lower denomination Canadian money for incidentals.  We’re doing the same when we cruise to the Maritimes in October  
 
 

Another point is something like the Ultimate Family Suite or 4-BR Villas will sell out fast, so you might have to be flexible with your timeframes. 

Great opportunity to head over to Ybor City for the day. Grab some Cuban coffee and pastries and recommend the Ybor City Museum. It's right downtown and gives a great history of the construction and culture of the city. Cigar City brewing is good landing spot too. There's also a free trolly with a stop not too far from the cruise port. A ride share to the airport area will run about $35.

That is exactly what I was about to recommend you do. Spend the night and have a 100% stress free disembarkation process. I am doing the same thing on my December cruise where our outbound flight was going to be at 11:30am. Probably would be OK, but spending $150 on a hotel is worth the peace of mind alone. 

Thanks to everyone for their responses. We decided to spend the night in Tampa and fly out the next morning which will make our life less stressful. Thank you again.

Tampa has small terminals and the luggage offloading process really requires guests to pay attention and follow the times that luggage tag numbers are called.  Avoid putting your luggage out the night before for the fastest debarking process. 
The biggest factor will be the ship arriving on time.  Tampa Bay looks big and broad.  It has the appearance of a big body of water but it is shallow.  There are narrow shipping channels that ships must stay within and their transit through the channels is impacted by other shipping.  Some of the channels are not very wide and in places two ships can't pass each other so movement is carefully choreographed between the local pilots.    Other forms of shipping use the same channels, cargo, container and tankers.  Certain times of year are prone to fog.  During inclement weather or fog they won't let ships navigate some parts of the Bay including at times the transit under the bridge.
That all sounds a lot worse than it actually is.  It is a nice port to sail from and the transit through the Bay and under the bridge can be very enjoyable.  On the way back to port much of that occurs in the dark.  It usually goes pretty smoothly and the local pilots are pros at this.  However when weather is off or another ship is delayed or has an issue it can impact all other ships in ways you don't tend to experience in other ports.
In February a few years ago the fog was bad.  We were held outside of the Bay all day waiting for the fog to dissipate.  When it finally did there was a cruise ship that was stuck in port just as we were stuck out of the port.  We then had to wait for that ship to transit the shipping channels on it's way out before were allowed to start our way in as two ships can't use the channels at the same time.  We finally docked at 6pm.  As it turns out I had a 7pm flight and thought I was going to be sitting in the airport all day.  Instead I just made my flight.  At check in they warned my my luggage might not make the plane but it did.   I got to the gate as the flight was boarding.  It was a lot of stress and go, go, go race for a taxi.  But I made it.  Everyone else who had earlier flight times had to spend an extra day in Tampa and fly out the next day.
Other cruises from Tampa have gone perfectly on schedule.  If it's your only option it is doable if everything goes right.  Just be prepared for an extra day in Tampa in case it doesn't go as planned.

I know that US based nuclear submarines do patrol the waters to watch over the cruise ship routes, so perhaps your escort was closer than you thought.

That bread is the best bread I have had anywhere with the exception of some I had in Nice, France. I dream of both, every time I have mediocre bread. 

Day 6 - Sea Day
 
Apologies in advance for the lack of photos today, it was definitely a casual lounge about day!  We woke up at our leisure this morning, threw on our bathing suits and made our way up to the Windjammer a little after 9:00 for some breakfast, and it was a madhouse.  The line to get in wrapped past the hallway leading to the hand washing station and into the elevator lobby.  I wanted to scrap the Windjammer and head down to Park Cafe, but DW LOVES her a buffet breakfast, so we persevered. The line did move fairly quickly (they seemed to be letting about 15-20 people at a time), and we were “scrubbing in” within about 10 or 15 minutes.  We divided and conquered once inside, with my youngest and I finding a table while my oldest and DW loaded up their plates.  We managed to find a table tucked away in a corner right between the two sides of the buffet, so I texted her our location and waited for my turn to grab some food. Getting through the line was definitely like playing a high-stakes game of Frogger; the number of people combined with the lack of coffee in their system led to some interesting decision making by the crowd.  All in all, we had a nice breakfast, but it was a bit more chaotic than I like to start my day, and personally would prefer to start my mornings elsewhere.
After breakfast we made our way out to the pool deck and up to the suite sun deck.  Did I mention previously that this is a criminally underutilized space?  It’s really nice up there with plenty of loungers, some fun alternate seating options like covered daybeds and even a few semi-private rooms right over the bow available on a first come, first served basis.  Even the towels are nicer up there, and you don’t have to sign them out.  We hung out on two of the day beds for a bit, then moved our things to some out-of-the-way loungers to make our way down to the pool.  After a few hours of pool deck fun, we headed back to El Loco Fresh for lunch (probably our favorite quick-service lunch spot!).  The boys wanted to go try Adventure Ocean for the afternoon, so they headed back to the cabin while I took advantage of a lull in the line to go down the Ultimate Abyss (fun!) and then come back to meet them.
Since we had registered the boys on Day 1, drop off at AO couldn’t have been easier.  They tapped my SeaPass, checked off their names and reminded us we had to pick them up by 7, which wouldn’t be a problem since we had reservations at Izumi Hibachi at 7.  We went back up to the suite sun deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with some quality time with our favorite bartender Dana and lounging about on our own.  Around 6 we headed back to shower and change for dinner, went and picked up the kids and headed down to deck 4 for dinner.
Dinner at the Hibachi was a fun experience.  We were seated with two other families at our table who were also friendly conversationalists, so that always helps the experience.  I forget the name of our chef, but he was pretty good.  Sure, many of the jokes and interactions are canned, but it was still a good time, and something the kids hadn’t experienced, so they really loved the “dinner and a show” aspect.  In my experience, hibachi restaurants are much more about the entertainment than the food itself, but the main courses were surprisingly good.  Both my kids went with chicken which they enjoyed.  I had the Geisha combo; the chicken was quite good and the steak (medium rare) was surprisingly tender and delicious.  My wife had the Izumi combo and thought the scallops were just okay, but loved the lobster.  On the whole, if you have a good hibachi restaurant near home, Izumi may not quite match the quality of what you're accustomed to, but it is still a really good time. It may not have been the best meal we had on board, but it was the most fun!
After dinner, the plan was to let the kids go back and try the late-night party at AO, but my oldest protested a bit.  Turns out he didn’t have as great of a time at first during the afternoon as he had hoped and was reluctant to go back.  After a little investigation, it turns out that the staff has all of the kids start out in the “arena,” which is the sports area, then they start to split off for different activities from there if they want.  He is not the least bit competitive and not a fan of group sporting events, but he is also an extreme rule follower, so rather than ask to go somewhere else immediately, he just sat and moped on the sidelines for a half an hour or so before finally being given some other options.  We talked about it, and I told him he is allowed to just ask to do something else right away, and he agreed to give it another try.  We’re glad that he did, because he had a great time.  We checked in on him after 90 minutes, and he asked to stay longer, so we let them stay until midnight.  He made a few new friends, played some video games and even decided to join a group game. Turns out asking for what you want combined with the slightly less structured format of the late night sessions were just the thing. My youngest also loved both experiences, as he is our athletic social butterfly who just goes with the flow no matter what!  For the late-night session (I forget if that starts at 9 or 10 PM, but it runs to 1 AM!), it is $7/hr. Per child, and worth every penny!
While the kids enjoyed AO, we explored some of the bars and music venues. We went to the Music Hall to see the Def Leppard cover band, but it was a really odd crowd.  There was one guy on the first level who was really, REALLY into Def Leppard, then everyone else grabbed all the seating or lined up along the rail on the second level, but obviously couldn’t care less about the band.  Like I said, weird scene, and as huge live music fans and concert goers, my wife and I just couldn’t get into it and opted to try some other venues, which was a shame because the band was pretty good.  Next we went to the Schooner Bar, and the young lady playing piano and singing there was fantastic.  After that, we headed down to the Irish Pub where there was pretty good acoustic guitarist and I discovered my new favorite beer cocktail: the Beer’s Knees: The Botanist gin, lemon juice, honey and Paulaner Weiss.  I wish I had found this drink earlier in the cruise, or perhaps it’s better that I didn’t or else my memories and “being present” goal might have suffered!  Finally, we ended up at the Trellis bar in Central Park, where we were convinced to try the best Chocolate Martini anywhere according to a fellow guest.  I don’t know about the best ANYWHERE, but it was really good, and a perfect nightcap.  Once we finished the drinks, we picked up the boys from AO, headed down to Sorrento's for a bedtime pizza, people watching and conversation, then finally headed off to bed to get ready for our last full day on board.


IMG_4209.HEIC

Day 5 – Perfect Day at Coco Cay
 
We pulled in nice and early and were awoken by the ship maneuvering onto the pier.  From the moment we opened the blinds and saw the island from our balcony we were blown away.  Pictures don’t really do it justice.  We had Beach Club access, so we knew there would be continental breakfast and coffee available there, so we were anxious to get ashore as quickly as possible, and we were on the island by 7:45. Thanks to a fairly remarkable Black Friday sale, we were able to score our passes for $79 for my wife and I and $54 for the kids.  I assumed at that price point it would be worth it.  After spending the day there, I would easily pay double or more for the experience.  Everything was absolutely spectacular.  The beach, the service, the drinks, the food, we even had strong Wifi signals.  The boys loved going back and forth between the infinity pool and the beach and took their first real shot at snorkeling.  Despite being told that the Beach Club beach was not the best location for snorkeling (and it may well not be), we were able to see several decently sized schools of fish, a few sting rays (including one that swam right under a woman on her float) and even a small shark!  The complimentary floating mats were wonderful to laze about in the ocean on and the life jackets were perfect for letting my youngest really adventure out with us to see what he could see.  There’s a pretty cool sandbar a ways off of the beach there as well, where we found a conch and some sea anemone.  The lunch was also fantastic, as was our server Lenice.  I loved the Bento-style boxes the appetizers were served in!  The ceviche wasn’t the greatest, but the Babaganoush, hummus and shrimp cocktail were fantastic.  My wife went for the grilled lobster and I had (with Lenice’s encouragement) a surf & turf.  The kids went for a burger and mac and cheese, which were far better than I anticipated children’s menu items would be!  As good as everything was, it was Lenice’s attention and service that impressed us the most.  You know those servers who are watching your table like a hawk making sure everything is just right without making you FEEL like you’re being overly watched over?  Personable, friendly and engaging and beyond professional, we were lucky to have met her.  The bartenders there were equally fantastic, mixing up drinks for adults and the kids quickly (and in the case of the adults, strong!).  We had every intention of exploring the rest of the island, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave the Beach Club, everything was just so…perfect!  Late in the day, about and hour before we needed to be back on board a storm front started to roll in.  We could see the dark clouds and even hear the thunder.  Low and behold, we watched the little system break in two and skirt around the island!  Not a drop of rain fell on us!  As we walked out to head back to the ship, an empty tram just happened to be going by and he stopped to ask if we wanted a ride back to the ship.  It really was a perfect day!  This was far and away our favorite day of the entire trip.  Coco Cay is a home run, and the Beach Club is a grand slam.  I hope to be back there soon!
 
After getting back to the ship and showering and changing, it was up to the Suite Lounge then over to dinner at CK (spoiler alert: it was good).  After that, it was off to see Aqua80 again, but this time from the Aquatheater.  The concierge suggested we arrive 15-30 minutes early to ensure a good seat.  If you are a suite, Pinnacle, or Key guest (there was one more category that I can’t recall.  Maybe Diamond or Diamond +?  There were four boxes…)you may not need to be there THAT early, as there is prime seating reserved right in the middle for those guests.  It took us a minute to figure out what that area was for, but then we saw a young lady standing off to the side of the roped off area holding a sign.  We showed her our SeaPass cards and just like that, best seats in the house.  At about 5 minutes before showtime, they dropped the rope and allowed anyone to take the remaining seats.  The reserved section was about 2/3 filled at that point, so I wouldn’t count on being able to grab a preferred seat at the last minute.  If you do not have access to reserved seating, you definitely want to be there that 20-30 minutes early if you want to choose your seats.  It filled up fast, and there were more than a few arguments over saving seats in the rows around us.  Also, as I heard the poor young lady with the sign have to explain a few dozen times: HAVING RESERVATIONS DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE RESERVED SEATING AREA!  Your reservation gets you in the theater, nothing more.  In any event, do get there, because as amazing as the show was from our balcony, it was even better in the theater!  I could have watched it every night of the cruise, because a.) I’m a child of the 80s, so the music was spot on for me and b.) each time I saw it, I picked up on something I missed previously.  The cast of the show are really spectacular.  After the show it was off to Sorrento’s for a late night pie then off to bed to get ready for our last two days at sea.  I’m going to have to pause here again, because this is taking far longer than I anticipated, and I’m trying to pack up for another upcoming (much smaller!) vacation while also cleaning the house for guests coming over tonight.  I hope to finish tomorrow! Thanks to all who have been following along, and feel free to keep the questions coming!
 

Day 4 - Nassau, Bahamas
Another late entry to port allowed us a lazy morning before heading ashore.  We decided to do breakfast in the MDR for a change of pace and for the kids to just see what it's like.  We got there around 9:00 and there were only two groups ahead of us.  We were at our table in under 2 minutes, and had pastries on our plate and drinks on the way a minute later.  Both the food and service were quite good (although the coffee, as frequently noted, was not), and we were through the meal in under 45 minutes.  We could've been out even sooner, but we were in no rush.
We headed up to the Suite Sun Deck a bit before finally heading back to slather up in sunscreen before heading ashore.  As an aside, the Sun Deck is a criminally underutilized space.  It's really fantastic up there!  Oasis' Sun Deck bartender, Dana, is worth the visit alone.  After our first visit, she remembered all of our names, our cabin number AND what types of drinks we liked (not just a favorite drink, but more like a flavor profile.  VERY impressive!). We opted to do the Blue Lagoon Deluxe Beach Break excursion through RCI.  Our tickets told us to meet on the pier at 2:00, but we got there closer to 1:45.  There were plenty of crew members shoreside point us to the gathering area, so finding the Blue Lagoon personnel was fairly straightforward.  Once we got to our gathering point, things were a little chaotic; there were literally hundreds of people already there (good thing we didn't show up at 2!).  Everyone who had any of the Blue Lagoon excursions (Dolphin Encounter, Sting Ray Encounter, Segway Tour, etc.) met in the same location, and then they lined us up by excursion to be loaded onto separate tenders to the island.  The process was slow and HOT, there was absolutely no shade on the pier, and the sun reflecting the heat off of the concrete combined with the mass of humanity gathered there made it doubly so.  Once we got loaded up, the tender took about 20 minutes to get to Blue Lagoon, and it was pleasant ride, both for the scenery and the welcome breeze!  Once there, there were lots of employees everywhere directing you where throughout the island.  The included lunch wasn't anything special, but it filled us up.  Sodexo-esque hot dogs, burgers, BBQ chicken, fries, rice, and a salad bar.  There was also a fruit punch or lemonade included.  The island itself was quite nice, particularly so if you have little ones.  The water is clear, bathwater calm and not very deep.  I'm 6'3" and could easily walk the entire swimming area without the water getting much past my waist.  There were drinks of adult and alcohol free available for purchase, but we didn't get any as we brought our own water.  You can also walk through the sea life enclosures to view the stingrays and dolphins, even if your excursion doesn't include them (you just can't go down the floating docks and interact with them).  Since we were the last ship to arrive, beach chairs were fairly slim pickings when we arrived and shade was at a premium, but you could always find some.  Once some of the other ship's guests departed, you could find seats anywhere you wanted.  As the last ship to depart, the return tender process looked insane but was actually quite easy.  Three tenders were tied up, and the line to get on them at boarding time stretched back at least a hundred yards (maybe more, that's just where I could see to!), but once boarding began the line moved very quickly.  All three tenders were heading back to Oasis, so the crew members all along the line were telling us to board any boat, it doesn't matter which one, just make sure you stay together with your family!  Oh, an important note: once arriving back at the pier, we were required to show our SeaPass cards AND our passports to Bahamian officials to get off the tender pier and back to the ship.  No one checked to see if we had them with us when we left, and despite the fact that it says to bring them on the paperwork, I'm guessing more than one family has forgotten to/ignored that.  I'm not sure if you'd actually be detained as indicated or not if you didn't have it, but we opted not to find out.  Final verdict?  After a rough start and a forgettable lunch, we did rather enjoy our time at Blue Lagoon.  It's a nice option for families with little ones who just want a no-frills beach day.  That said, I probably wouldn’t do it again.  I'd either try checking out Pearl Island or just staying on the ship.  I get why so many people skip Nassau.
Dinner at CK again.  Very good (again!).  Wait staff really getting to know us now; a glass of Merlot waiting for me and a Prosecco for my wife upon my arrival, Shirley Temples for the boys.  Also starting to enjoy going up to the suite lounge for a beverage prior to dinner each night.  The suite lounge is an underrated space, we enjoyed just relaxing there a bit before our meal.  After dinner we opted for another quick family ride at Rising Tide for a digestif then the plan was hit the sack a bit early for an early morning arrival at Coco Cay the next morning.  I say that this was the plan because tonight we learned the one major drawback of the Aquasuites: they are LOUD when Aqua80 is playing!  We had been watching the show from our balcony the previous night, so we didn't appreciate just how loud it would be in the cabin while it was going on!  It was over by 11:30, and we're all typically night owls, so it wasn't a huge deal for us, but if you like to go to bed on the earlier side, these rooms are probably not for you.  In any event, we wandered back out to the balcony to see the last half our of the show again, then we went straight to bed to get ready for a Perfect Day tomorrow.

Day 7 - At Sea
 
After yesterday’s late night, we opted not to set an alarm and just get up whenever it happened.  That turned out to be around 8:30, so we all quickly got dressed, grabbed a quick bite on the Promenade, then dropped the kids off at AO for the morning session.  DW and I did some pre-packing, headed up to the suite sun deck for a few mimosas, then picked up the boys around 11:30 for lunch at Portside BBQ.  Of all the meals I had throughout the week, this was the only one that was disappointing.  Maybe I made it out to be too much in my mind (I LOVE burnt ends) and I was looking forward to it all week, but it was really just kind of meh and I actually preferred the food in the Windjammer.  While I finished my lunch (2 meats, sides and the Banana Dream dessert, which was good), no one else did, and in fact they went around the stern to El Loco Fresh for quesadillas and burritos.
 
Fortunately that was the day’s only disappointment, and it was about to get a LOT better for everyone.  My youngest had been dying to go back to Splashaway Bay, but my oldest wasn’t thrilled about the prospect as he was significantly older than all the other kids there.  Lucky for him, I had booked the two of us on the All Access Tour, and according to our tour guide, this was the first week it was back in action since the restart.  My oldest is obsessed with all things nautical, my youngest would have been bored to tears, so everyone was a winner!  The All Access Tour is absolutely fascinating.  You end up in the galleys, the engine control room, I-95, the provisions lockers, the laundry and of course, the bridge. If you get the opportunity to take the tour, I strongly encourage you to!  It took about 2 ½ hours, and everyone on the tour was fantastic.  Everyone took the time to answer our questions thoughtfully and as thoroughly as they could, and my son had a lot of very specific and technical ones he threw at them!  After the tour, we met DW and my youngest up on the pool deck, and while we were away, he finally decided to give going down the waterslide in Splashaway Bay a try, and he loved it!  So much so, that he just kept going down it over and over almost the entire time we were gone.  Given his new found courage, I asked if he wanted to try the big slides, which he enthusiastically agreed to.  That’s not my wife’s cup of tea, so I quickly ran down the two decks to our cabin, changed into my bathing suit, and lead him over to the slides.  Turns out he’s 49”, so he’s too short for Cyclone and Typhoon, but he made Supercell’s cut off by an inch, so up we went!  The nerves started kicking in once we were up the spiral staircase and on the platform, but credit where it’s due, he went for it, and loved it, too!  There was a group of 4 teenagers in line right in front of us who couldn’t have been kinder or more encouraging with him once they picked up that he was starting to get a bit scared.  My wife told me they even waited for him at the bottom to congratulate him and give him high fives at the bottom! I didn’t get any of their names, but if by some twist of fate you’re reading this, thank you so much!
 
After the tremendous afternoon we all had, we headed back to the cabin to finish packing and get dressed for our final dinner at CK.  We had our bags in the hall by 7:00 and were up on Deck 17 for dinner by 7:15.  Dinner was once again fabulous, but here comes ANOTHER story that exemplifies why I continued to be so impressed throughout this vacation.  Every night for dessert (except for our Izumi night), my youngest wanted chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  I don’t know what it was about those cookies (I mean, they WERE tasty!), but he was OBSESSED with them.  So dinner comes and goes, and right near the end of our entree, a table of 12 comes in without reservations.  It was fairly slow, so of course they were seated, but our server Amilia and another server (Alma, who we also had several times throughout the week) were assigned to cover the unexpected large party.  Amilia came over to take our dessert order, and of course my youngest orders cookies.  A few minutes later, she comes back to tell us that they’re out of cookies in CK, but not to worry, she called down the MDR galley and they’re going to send up some fresh ones. About ten minutes pass, and no desserts, and Amilia and Alma are really hustling to cover the large party plus their other tables.  Fifteen minutes now, and Amilia comes flying out of the back, all of our desserts in hand.  She then proceeds to APOLOGIZE to us for the wait, no one from the MDR ever showed up, so she had Alma cover the large party on her own for a few minutes and ran down there herself to get ONE ORDER OF COOKIES FOR A SEVEN YEAR OLD.  We apologized to her and told her she didn’t have to do that, we could have just run to the Windjammer or the MDR or even ordered them to the cabin from room service!  Without batting an eye, she just matter of factly stated, “There’s no way I was going to let him leave on his last night without his cookies.”  And THAT ladies in gentlemen is why two chocolate chip cookies perfectly encapsulate why this cruise impressed me so much.  Disappointing him even in a minor way simply was not an option for them.
 
After dinner, the boys wanted to do the late night AO time again, so we dropped them off for a few hours while we revisited some of our favorite bartenders to have a last drink with them, say our goodbyes and hand out some final extra gratuities, then picked the boys up around midnight again and went back for one last late night pizza and reminiscing about what our favorite moments about our incredible vacation were at Sorrento’s.

Day 3 - Port Canaveral
So, due to the prior day's weather issues and our afternoon arrival in port, DW decided to rebook the Casita this morning.  I was shocked there was availability given the capacity of the cruise, but we were happy to get one!  It serves it purpose nicely if you just enjoying hanging out at the pool for an extended period and just want somewhere to stash your stuff and/or take a break for a bit.  We had Casita #7, and it provided excellent sun protection for the first 3 or so hours, but by lunch time it provided very little protection.  What it was also perfect for was as a place to sit outside and enjoy breakfast and lunch.  Wait staff were thorough and responded quickly when summoned with the call button.  It ended up being a very enjoyable morning.  If I was not in a suite, I would book one again in a heartbeat.  Unfortunately for me, I had not yet discovered the Suite Sun Deck on the bow.  If I had, I would not have booked the Casita as the service and amenities there were far superior.  That said, it was definitely a live and learn experience, and given that we still thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I couldn't be too disappointed!
As for the actual port call, I'm sorry to say that on this itinerary that Port Canaveral is just about a total waste.  It gets in too late to make a trip to KSC or Disney really viable, and the rest of the excursions provided through RCI seemed either to be the cattle-call bus tour variety or consisted of a long ride for a short visit somewhere.  Now, as luck would have it, some family friends from NJ happened to be in Cape Canaveral that day for a softball tournament, so (thanks again to the suggestions of my more seasoned message board mates!) we arranged to meet at Grills for a late lunch.  Based on quick Googling and poor research on my part, I assumed we'd be at Terminal 1, leading to a quick walk over.  Turns out, we were at Terminal 6, around the opposite end of the complex.  We walked off the ship and went to the taxi stand, where they informed us it would be $80 for a round trip for the four of us to go the 2.7 miles to Grills.  That seemed beyond insane, so after a little finagling on the Lyft app, we got a ride for $13.  I'm not sure if it was just my phone or it's an app glitch, but Lyft would NOT let me enter Grills or its address as a destination.  Whenever I did, it would default to the Disney Cruise terminal zone.  Oddly enough, I was able to enter Cocoa Beach Parasail across the street as a destination, and that did work. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Anyhow, we arrived 15 minutes later than anticipated thanks to my incompetence, but the place was only half full at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon, so no big deal.  Grills itself was quite good.  The food and entertainment were excellent and the staff was very friendly.  It definitely seemed to be a place that locals frequented but tourists were welcomed.  After lunch and a bit of a walk about, we headed back to the ship where we checked out the previous night's formal portraits (they were quite good!), went hunting for small wonders, then got ready for another excellent CK dinner.
After dinner, we again hit the Rising Tide to enjoy some more family conversation time and listened to the musicians before heading back to the the suite to check out Aqua80 from our balcony.  I am not engaging in hyperbole when I say that Aqua80 is hands down, far and away the greatest, most impressive show I have ever seen at sea, and easily a top 5 that I have seen anywhere.  The combination of elements with the music, the dancing, the diving, the fact that the stage itself serves as a key character, just incredible.  We were constantly looking around trying to figure out what was going to happen next!  A very specific warning for future residents of cabin 12730: when the high-rope walker comes out for his portion of the program, be careful because you CAN be seen in the background on the big screen in the theater for a short time!
I'm going to stop here for the day, and finish up tomorrow or Friday.  I hope something here was useful to someone, and again, please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you might have!  This cruise was such an amazing trip for us due largely to the invaluable input from so many people on this site, I'd like to be able to pay forward their knowledge and kindness in some small way!

The RoyalUp algorithm is more complex than just going with the highest bid. If your bid plus whoever is bidding on your cabin type, and the bid from their cabin type and so on down the line, will net them the highest, they're could accept a relatively low bid at the top level.

Day 6 - Sea Day
 
Apologies in advance for the lack of photos today, it was definitely a casual lounge about day!  We woke up at our leisure this morning, threw on our bathing suits and made our way up to the Windjammer a little after 9:00 for some breakfast, and it was a madhouse.  The line to get in wrapped past the hallway leading to the hand washing station and into the elevator lobby.  I wanted to scrap the Windjammer and head down to Park Cafe, but DW LOVES her a buffet breakfast, so we persevered. The line did move fairly quickly (they seemed to be letting about 15-20 people at a time), and we were “scrubbing in” within about 10 or 15 minutes.  We divided and conquered once inside, with my youngest and I finding a table while my oldest and DW loaded up their plates.  We managed to find a table tucked away in a corner right between the two sides of the buffet, so I texted her our location and waited for my turn to grab some food. Getting through the line was definitely like playing a high-stakes game of Frogger; the number of people combined with the lack of coffee in their system led to some interesting decision making by the crowd.  All in all, we had a nice breakfast, but it was a bit more chaotic than I like to start my day, and personally would prefer to start my mornings elsewhere.
After breakfast we made our way out to the pool deck and up to the suite sun deck.  Did I mention previously that this is a criminally underutilized space?  It’s really nice up there with plenty of loungers, some fun alternate seating options like covered daybeds and even a few semi-private rooms right over the bow available on a first come, first served basis.  Even the towels are nicer up there, and you don’t have to sign them out.  We hung out on two of the day beds for a bit, then moved our things to some out-of-the-way loungers to make our way down to the pool.  After a few hours of pool deck fun, we headed back to El Loco Fresh for lunch (probably our favorite quick-service lunch spot!).  The boys wanted to go try Adventure Ocean for the afternoon, so they headed back to the cabin while I took advantage of a lull in the line to go down the Ultimate Abyss (fun!) and then come back to meet them.
Since we had registered the boys on Day 1, drop off at AO couldn’t have been easier.  They tapped my SeaPass, checked off their names and reminded us we had to pick them up by 7, which wouldn’t be a problem since we had reservations at Izumi Hibachi at 7.  We went back up to the suite sun deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with some quality time with our favorite bartender Dana and lounging about on our own.  Around 6 we headed back to shower and change for dinner, went and picked up the kids and headed down to deck 4 for dinner.
Dinner at the Hibachi was a fun experience.  We were seated with two other families at our table who were also friendly conversationalists, so that always helps the experience.  I forget the name of our chef, but he was pretty good.  Sure, many of the jokes and interactions are canned, but it was still a good time, and something the kids hadn’t experienced, so they really loved the “dinner and a show” aspect.  In my experience, hibachi restaurants are much more about the entertainment than the food itself, but the main courses were surprisingly good.  Both my kids went with chicken which they enjoyed.  I had the Geisha combo; the chicken was quite good and the steak (medium rare) was surprisingly tender and delicious.  My wife had the Izumi combo and thought the scallops were just okay, but loved the lobster.  On the whole, if you have a good hibachi restaurant near home, Izumi may not quite match the quality of what you're accustomed to, but it is still a really good time. It may not have been the best meal we had on board, but it was the most fun!
After dinner, the plan was to let the kids go back and try the late-night party at AO, but my oldest protested a bit.  Turns out he didn’t have as great of a time at first during the afternoon as he had hoped and was reluctant to go back.  After a little investigation, it turns out that the staff has all of the kids start out in the “arena,” which is the sports area, then they start to split off for different activities from there if they want.  He is not the least bit competitive and not a fan of group sporting events, but he is also an extreme rule follower, so rather than ask to go somewhere else immediately, he just sat and moped on the sidelines for a half an hour or so before finally being given some other options.  We talked about it, and I told him he is allowed to just ask to do something else right away, and he agreed to give it another try.  We’re glad that he did, because he had a great time.  We checked in on him after 90 minutes, and he asked to stay longer, so we let them stay until midnight.  He made a few new friends, played some video games and even decided to join a group game. Turns out asking for what you want combined with the slightly less structured format of the late night sessions were just the thing. My youngest also loved both experiences, as he is our athletic social butterfly who just goes with the flow no matter what!  For the late-night session (I forget if that starts at 9 or 10 PM, but it runs to 1 AM!), it is $7/hr. Per child, and worth every penny!
While the kids enjoyed AO, we explored some of the bars and music venues. We went to the Music Hall to see the Def Leppard cover band, but it was a really odd crowd.  There was one guy on the first level who was really, REALLY into Def Leppard, then everyone else grabbed all the seating or lined up along the rail on the second level, but obviously couldn’t care less about the band.  Like I said, weird scene, and as huge live music fans and concert goers, my wife and I just couldn’t get into it and opted to try some other venues, which was a shame because the band was pretty good.  Next we went to the Schooner Bar, and the young lady playing piano and singing there was fantastic.  After that, we headed down to the Irish Pub where there was pretty good acoustic guitarist and I discovered my new favorite beer cocktail: the Beer’s Knees: The Botanist gin, lemon juice, honey and Paulaner Weiss.  I wish I had found this drink earlier in the cruise, or perhaps it’s better that I didn’t or else my memories and “being present” goal might have suffered!  Finally, we ended up at the Trellis bar in Central Park, where we were convinced to try the best Chocolate Martini anywhere according to a fellow guest.  I don’t know about the best ANYWHERE, but it was really good, and a perfect nightcap.  Once we finished the drinks, we picked up the boys from AO, headed down to Sorrento's for a bedtime pizza, people watching and conversation, then finally headed off to bed to get ready for our last full day on board.


IMG_4209.HEIC

Day 6 - Sea Day
 
Apologies in advance for the lack of photos today, it was definitely a casual lounge about day!  We woke up at our leisure this morning, threw on our bathing suits and made our way up to the Windjammer a little after 9:00 for some breakfast, and it was a madhouse.  The line to get in wrapped past the hallway leading to the hand washing station and into the elevator lobby.  I wanted to scrap the Windjammer and head down to Park Cafe, but DW LOVES her a buffet breakfast, so we persevered. The line did move fairly quickly (they seemed to be letting about 15-20 people at a time), and we were “scrubbing in” within about 10 or 15 minutes.  We divided and conquered once inside, with my youngest and I finding a table while my oldest and DW loaded up their plates.  We managed to find a table tucked away in a corner right between the two sides of the buffet, so I texted her our location and waited for my turn to grab some food. Getting through the line was definitely like playing a high-stakes game of Frogger; the number of people combined with the lack of coffee in their system led to some interesting decision making by the crowd.  All in all, we had a nice breakfast, but it was a bit more chaotic than I like to start my day, and personally would prefer to start my mornings elsewhere.
After breakfast we made our way out to the pool deck and up to the suite sun deck.  Did I mention previously that this is a criminally underutilized space?  It’s really nice up there with plenty of loungers, some fun alternate seating options like covered daybeds and even a few semi-private rooms right over the bow available on a first come, first served basis.  Even the towels are nicer up there, and you don’t have to sign them out.  We hung out on two of the day beds for a bit, then moved our things to some out-of-the-way loungers to make our way down to the pool.  After a few hours of pool deck fun, we headed back to El Loco Fresh for lunch (probably our favorite quick-service lunch spot!).  The boys wanted to go try Adventure Ocean for the afternoon, so they headed back to the cabin while I took advantage of a lull in the line to go down the Ultimate Abyss (fun!) and then come back to meet them.
Since we had registered the boys on Day 1, drop off at AO couldn’t have been easier.  They tapped my SeaPass, checked off their names and reminded us we had to pick them up by 7, which wouldn’t be a problem since we had reservations at Izumi Hibachi at 7.  We went back up to the suite sun deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with some quality time with our favorite bartender Dana and lounging about on our own.  Around 6 we headed back to shower and change for dinner, went and picked up the kids and headed down to deck 4 for dinner.
Dinner at the Hibachi was a fun experience.  We were seated with two other families at our table who were also friendly conversationalists, so that always helps the experience.  I forget the name of our chef, but he was pretty good.  Sure, many of the jokes and interactions are canned, but it was still a good time, and something the kids hadn’t experienced, so they really loved the “dinner and a show” aspect.  In my experience, hibachi restaurants are much more about the entertainment than the food itself, but the main courses were surprisingly good.  Both my kids went with chicken which they enjoyed.  I had the Geisha combo; the chicken was quite good and the steak (medium rare) was surprisingly tender and delicious.  My wife had the Izumi combo and thought the scallops were just okay, but loved the lobster.  On the whole, if you have a good hibachi restaurant near home, Izumi may not quite match the quality of what you're accustomed to, but it is still a really good time. It may not have been the best meal we had on board, but it was the most fun!
After dinner, the plan was to let the kids go back and try the late-night party at AO, but my oldest protested a bit.  Turns out he didn’t have as great of a time at first during the afternoon as he had hoped and was reluctant to go back.  After a little investigation, it turns out that the staff has all of the kids start out in the “arena,” which is the sports area, then they start to split off for different activities from there if they want.  He is not the least bit competitive and not a fan of group sporting events, but he is also an extreme rule follower, so rather than ask to go somewhere else immediately, he just sat and moped on the sidelines for a half an hour or so before finally being given some other options.  We talked about it, and I told him he is allowed to just ask to do something else right away, and he agreed to give it another try.  We’re glad that he did, because he had a great time.  We checked in on him after 90 minutes, and he asked to stay longer, so we let them stay until midnight.  He made a few new friends, played some video games and even decided to join a group game. Turns out asking for what you want combined with the slightly less structured format of the late night sessions were just the thing. My youngest also loved both experiences, as he is our athletic social butterfly who just goes with the flow no matter what!  For the late-night session (I forget if that starts at 9 or 10 PM, but it runs to 1 AM!), it is $7/hr. Per child, and worth every penny!
While the kids enjoyed AO, we explored some of the bars and music venues. We went to the Music Hall to see the Def Leppard cover band, but it was a really odd crowd.  There was one guy on the first level who was really, REALLY into Def Leppard, then everyone else grabbed all the seating or lined up along the rail on the second level, but obviously couldn’t care less about the band.  Like I said, weird scene, and as huge live music fans and concert goers, my wife and I just couldn’t get into it and opted to try some other venues, which was a shame because the band was pretty good.  Next we went to the Schooner Bar, and the young lady playing piano and singing there was fantastic.  After that, we headed down to the Irish Pub where there was pretty good acoustic guitarist and I discovered my new favorite beer cocktail: the Beer’s Knees: The Botanist gin, lemon juice, honey and Paulaner Weiss.  I wish I had found this drink earlier in the cruise, or perhaps it’s better that I didn’t or else my memories and “being present” goal might have suffered!  Finally, we ended up at the Trellis bar in Central Park, where we were convinced to try the best Chocolate Martini anywhere according to a fellow guest.  I don’t know about the best ANYWHERE, but it was really good, and a perfect nightcap.  Once we finished the drinks, we picked up the boys from AO, headed down to Sorrento's for a bedtime pizza, people watching and conversation, then finally headed off to bed to get ready for our last full day on board.


IMG_4209.HEIC

Day 6 - Sea Day
 
Apologies in advance for the lack of photos today, it was definitely a casual lounge about day!  We woke up at our leisure this morning, threw on our bathing suits and made our way up to the Windjammer a little after 9:00 for some breakfast, and it was a madhouse.  The line to get in wrapped past the hallway leading to the hand washing station and into the elevator lobby.  I wanted to scrap the Windjammer and head down to Park Cafe, but DW LOVES her a buffet breakfast, so we persevered. The line did move fairly quickly (they seemed to be letting about 15-20 people at a time), and we were “scrubbing in” within about 10 or 15 minutes.  We divided and conquered once inside, with my youngest and I finding a table while my oldest and DW loaded up their plates.  We managed to find a table tucked away in a corner right between the two sides of the buffet, so I texted her our location and waited for my turn to grab some food. Getting through the line was definitely like playing a high-stakes game of Frogger; the number of people combined with the lack of coffee in their system led to some interesting decision making by the crowd.  All in all, we had a nice breakfast, but it was a bit more chaotic than I like to start my day, and personally would prefer to start my mornings elsewhere.
After breakfast we made our way out to the pool deck and up to the suite sun deck.  Did I mention previously that this is a criminally underutilized space?  It’s really nice up there with plenty of loungers, some fun alternate seating options like covered daybeds and even a few semi-private rooms right over the bow available on a first come, first served basis.  Even the towels are nicer up there, and you don’t have to sign them out.  We hung out on two of the day beds for a bit, then moved our things to some out-of-the-way loungers to make our way down to the pool.  After a few hours of pool deck fun, we headed back to El Loco Fresh for lunch (probably our favorite quick-service lunch spot!).  The boys wanted to go try Adventure Ocean for the afternoon, so they headed back to the cabin while I took advantage of a lull in the line to go down the Ultimate Abyss (fun!) and then come back to meet them.
Since we had registered the boys on Day 1, drop off at AO couldn’t have been easier.  They tapped my SeaPass, checked off their names and reminded us we had to pick them up by 7, which wouldn’t be a problem since we had reservations at Izumi Hibachi at 7.  We went back up to the suite sun deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with some quality time with our favorite bartender Dana and lounging about on our own.  Around 6 we headed back to shower and change for dinner, went and picked up the kids and headed down to deck 4 for dinner.
Dinner at the Hibachi was a fun experience.  We were seated with two other families at our table who were also friendly conversationalists, so that always helps the experience.  I forget the name of our chef, but he was pretty good.  Sure, many of the jokes and interactions are canned, but it was still a good time, and something the kids hadn’t experienced, so they really loved the “dinner and a show” aspect.  In my experience, hibachi restaurants are much more about the entertainment than the food itself, but the main courses were surprisingly good.  Both my kids went with chicken which they enjoyed.  I had the Geisha combo; the chicken was quite good and the steak (medium rare) was surprisingly tender and delicious.  My wife had the Izumi combo and thought the scallops were just okay, but loved the lobster.  On the whole, if you have a good hibachi restaurant near home, Izumi may not quite match the quality of what you're accustomed to, but it is still a really good time. It may not have been the best meal we had on board, but it was the most fun!
After dinner, the plan was to let the kids go back and try the late-night party at AO, but my oldest protested a bit.  Turns out he didn’t have as great of a time at first during the afternoon as he had hoped and was reluctant to go back.  After a little investigation, it turns out that the staff has all of the kids start out in the “arena,” which is the sports area, then they start to split off for different activities from there if they want.  He is not the least bit competitive and not a fan of group sporting events, but he is also an extreme rule follower, so rather than ask to go somewhere else immediately, he just sat and moped on the sidelines for a half an hour or so before finally being given some other options.  We talked about it, and I told him he is allowed to just ask to do something else right away, and he agreed to give it another try.  We’re glad that he did, because he had a great time.  We checked in on him after 90 minutes, and he asked to stay longer, so we let them stay until midnight.  He made a few new friends, played some video games and even decided to join a group game. Turns out asking for what you want combined with the slightly less structured format of the late night sessions were just the thing. My youngest also loved both experiences, as he is our athletic social butterfly who just goes with the flow no matter what!  For the late-night session (I forget if that starts at 9 or 10 PM, but it runs to 1 AM!), it is $7/hr. Per child, and worth every penny!
While the kids enjoyed AO, we explored some of the bars and music venues. We went to the Music Hall to see the Def Leppard cover band, but it was a really odd crowd.  There was one guy on the first level who was really, REALLY into Def Leppard, then everyone else grabbed all the seating or lined up along the rail on the second level, but obviously couldn’t care less about the band.  Like I said, weird scene, and as huge live music fans and concert goers, my wife and I just couldn’t get into it and opted to try some other venues, which was a shame because the band was pretty good.  Next we went to the Schooner Bar, and the young lady playing piano and singing there was fantastic.  After that, we headed down to the Irish Pub where there was pretty good acoustic guitarist and I discovered my new favorite beer cocktail: the Beer’s Knees: The Botanist gin, lemon juice, honey and Paulaner Weiss.  I wish I had found this drink earlier in the cruise, or perhaps it’s better that I didn’t or else my memories and “being present” goal might have suffered!  Finally, we ended up at the Trellis bar in Central Park, where we were convinced to try the best Chocolate Martini anywhere according to a fellow guest.  I don’t know about the best ANYWHERE, but it was really good, and a perfect nightcap.  Once we finished the drinks, we picked up the boys from AO, headed down to Sorrento's for a bedtime pizza, people watching and conversation, then finally headed off to bed to get ready for our last full day on board.


IMG_4209.HEIC

Day 6 - Sea Day
 
Apologies in advance for the lack of photos today, it was definitely a casual lounge about day!  We woke up at our leisure this morning, threw on our bathing suits and made our way up to the Windjammer a little after 9:00 for some breakfast, and it was a madhouse.  The line to get in wrapped past the hallway leading to the hand washing station and into the elevator lobby.  I wanted to scrap the Windjammer and head down to Park Cafe, but DW LOVES her a buffet breakfast, so we persevered. The line did move fairly quickly (they seemed to be letting about 15-20 people at a time), and we were “scrubbing in” within about 10 or 15 minutes.  We divided and conquered once inside, with my youngest and I finding a table while my oldest and DW loaded up their plates.  We managed to find a table tucked away in a corner right between the two sides of the buffet, so I texted her our location and waited for my turn to grab some food. Getting through the line was definitely like playing a high-stakes game of Frogger; the number of people combined with the lack of coffee in their system led to some interesting decision making by the crowd.  All in all, we had a nice breakfast, but it was a bit more chaotic than I like to start my day, and personally would prefer to start my mornings elsewhere.
After breakfast we made our way out to the pool deck and up to the suite sun deck.  Did I mention previously that this is a criminally underutilized space?  It’s really nice up there with plenty of loungers, some fun alternate seating options like covered daybeds and even a few semi-private rooms right over the bow available on a first come, first served basis.  Even the towels are nicer up there, and you don’t have to sign them out.  We hung out on two of the day beds for a bit, then moved our things to some out-of-the-way loungers to make our way down to the pool.  After a few hours of pool deck fun, we headed back to El Loco Fresh for lunch (probably our favorite quick-service lunch spot!).  The boys wanted to go try Adventure Ocean for the afternoon, so they headed back to the cabin while I took advantage of a lull in the line to go down the Ultimate Abyss (fun!) and then come back to meet them.
Since we had registered the boys on Day 1, drop off at AO couldn’t have been easier.  They tapped my SeaPass, checked off their names and reminded us we had to pick them up by 7, which wouldn’t be a problem since we had reservations at Izumi Hibachi at 7.  We went back up to the suite sun deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with some quality time with our favorite bartender Dana and lounging about on our own.  Around 6 we headed back to shower and change for dinner, went and picked up the kids and headed down to deck 4 for dinner.
Dinner at the Hibachi was a fun experience.  We were seated with two other families at our table who were also friendly conversationalists, so that always helps the experience.  I forget the name of our chef, but he was pretty good.  Sure, many of the jokes and interactions are canned, but it was still a good time, and something the kids hadn’t experienced, so they really loved the “dinner and a show” aspect.  In my experience, hibachi restaurants are much more about the entertainment than the food itself, but the main courses were surprisingly good.  Both my kids went with chicken which they enjoyed.  I had the Geisha combo; the chicken was quite good and the steak (medium rare) was surprisingly tender and delicious.  My wife had the Izumi combo and thought the scallops were just okay, but loved the lobster.  On the whole, if you have a good hibachi restaurant near home, Izumi may not quite match the quality of what you're accustomed to, but it is still a really good time. It may not have been the best meal we had on board, but it was the most fun!
After dinner, the plan was to let the kids go back and try the late-night party at AO, but my oldest protested a bit.  Turns out he didn’t have as great of a time at first during the afternoon as he had hoped and was reluctant to go back.  After a little investigation, it turns out that the staff has all of the kids start out in the “arena,” which is the sports area, then they start to split off for different activities from there if they want.  He is not the least bit competitive and not a fan of group sporting events, but he is also an extreme rule follower, so rather than ask to go somewhere else immediately, he just sat and moped on the sidelines for a half an hour or so before finally being given some other options.  We talked about it, and I told him he is allowed to just ask to do something else right away, and he agreed to give it another try.  We’re glad that he did, because he had a great time.  We checked in on him after 90 minutes, and he asked to stay longer, so we let them stay until midnight.  He made a few new friends, played some video games and even decided to join a group game. Turns out asking for what you want combined with the slightly less structured format of the late night sessions were just the thing. My youngest also loved both experiences, as he is our athletic social butterfly who just goes with the flow no matter what!  For the late-night session (I forget if that starts at 9 or 10 PM, but it runs to 1 AM!), it is $7/hr. Per child, and worth every penny!
While the kids enjoyed AO, we explored some of the bars and music venues. We went to the Music Hall to see the Def Leppard cover band, but it was a really odd crowd.  There was one guy on the first level who was really, REALLY into Def Leppard, then everyone else grabbed all the seating or lined up along the rail on the second level, but obviously couldn’t care less about the band.  Like I said, weird scene, and as huge live music fans and concert goers, my wife and I just couldn’t get into it and opted to try some other venues, which was a shame because the band was pretty good.  Next we went to the Schooner Bar, and the young lady playing piano and singing there was fantastic.  After that, we headed down to the Irish Pub where there was pretty good acoustic guitarist and I discovered my new favorite beer cocktail: the Beer’s Knees: The Botanist gin, lemon juice, honey and Paulaner Weiss.  I wish I had found this drink earlier in the cruise, or perhaps it’s better that I didn’t or else my memories and “being present” goal might have suffered!  Finally, we ended up at the Trellis bar in Central Park, where we were convinced to try the best Chocolate Martini anywhere according to a fellow guest.  I don’t know about the best ANYWHERE, but it was really good, and a perfect nightcap.  Once we finished the drinks, we picked up the boys from AO, headed down to Sorrento's for a bedtime pizza, people watching and conversation, then finally headed off to bed to get ready for our last full day on board.


IMG_4209.HEIC

Please don't take this as an attack, I truly don't mean for it to come off as such, but if you think C&A does an insufficient job of recognizing brand loyalty, good luck with the next cruise company you're headed to.