Jax

Just in: We have 3 negative test results! And our friends are negative as well.

Yes that’s Cami! She takes such great care of us. You may miss her as she is leaving in 3 weeks to return to Romania.

Photo package In the past we always purchased the unlimited photo package but that is discontinued and it is now 100 digital prints. So we went to the photo area to finalize our prints. Within 4 days I will receive the link via email and while onboard I have an access code I can use. Going to try it shortly. They told me photo books have also been discontinued. That is too bad as we always purchased one.

Merry Christmas from somewhere in the Caribbean. A beautiful start to Christmas Day; sunny and 28. The day began with our PCR tests at 8am. Results have been trickling in with Lindsay’s back within 30 minutes. Lindsay and I are negative. The process went smoothly with one exception; my result initially reported as TNP (test not processed) but a quick message to Shane and he was on it with his team. Within the hour I had my results. Waiting on Reyd’s results. Had a light breakfast of fruit at CK as we are pacing ourselves for lunch at Playmakers and dinner at Chops. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

Currently on Oasis and as others have notes beverages are included, food is not. Shane offered to do a standing delivery for Starbucks and at other venues for cruise smoothies. The few times we have made a request, Shane has delivered the order himself.

More gifts, these from our suite attendant Cami. So thoughtful. I will post our gifts to Cami, Azis and Shane tomorrow.

Special Genie Delivery We came home after the shows to find we had a special delivery from Shane. A cake for our 30th anniversary, chocolates, more chocolates, a glass ship ornament and more! Shane is so thoughtful.

Headliner Stephanie Parker ️️️️ maybe ️️️️️ If you are a Whitney Houston fan you will love this tribute. We all enjoyed her show. Wish she would have talked less and sang more. It was quite interactive.

Frozen in Time ️️️️️ We all enjoyed this show. For some reason we thought it was based on the Disney movie Frozen. I have no idea why because why would Royal create a show about a Disney movie. Regardless it was excellent. So much talent and we learned from the cruise director Mike that Laura the skate captain is from Canada along with another of the skaters. The seats Shane reserves for us are the best!! We are so spoiled.

Currently we are experiencing quite a bit of movement on the ship. Hope it improves for the aqua encore show planned for tomorrow. It’s really the first time we have felt this much movement. Very windy conditions.

Today has been a very busy day. Let me catch you up. Lunch: Hibachi - Even though we were there already today felt like a new experience. We did another hybrid order with a bit of Izumi and a bit of Hibachi. Everything was great! Dinner was at 150 Central Park. Shane always selects us a great table. I can’t say enough about how much we love him. Tonight we had the Holiday menu but were able to order the Lobster Thermidor that I have heard so much about. Our group sampled many of the appetizers; Caesar salad, short ribs, scallops and also tried the beef tenderloin and halibut. @Lovetocruise2002Lindsay said the urban martini would have been good if not for the cucumbers. lol And the garlic bread was so yummy! Good call.

Vitality Spa The experience was much better this morning although the steam shower turned itself off again mid way through my steam. It was a quick fix once I alerted the staff. Given the limited amenities I have decided it’s best to return to our suite to shower.

Returning to Canada early Just prior to our flight to MCO, Canada issued a travel advisory on all non essential travel. We suspect further border restrictions and quarantine measures will be announced just after Christmas so we moved up our flight hoping to avoid them, returning home on Dec 27th instead of the 30th. It was a hard decision but ultimately it came down to Lindsay’s return date for work. He is in the film and television industry so working from home is not an option. He has to be available for work when the production resumes. There were some upsides; we can now use the shipboard PCR test results. We will have to catch the Margaritaville resort next time. We will enjoy our remaining days because when we arrive back in YYC it’s expected to be -32.

Shipboard PCR tests I can’t believe it’s time to do our onboard PCR tests tomorrow. Shane scheduled them for tomorrow morning at 8am deck 3 forward in conference center. He included our friends at the same time. He will accompany us to the testing center. They schedule guests requiring PCR tests first thing in the morning to ensure results are back.

BINGO Today was the first day Bingo was offered and the line ups were huge. Shane took care of getting us cards and dobbers and we were able to bypass that huge line and head right to the first row of the theatre. Our friend Robert was in that huge line but Shane quickly pulled him out of it. Shane truly is one of a kind. Once Bingo began it only took 30 minutes to get through the 3 games. We had lunch plans at Hibachi for noon but given the long ticket sales line Bingo was delayed until noon. Shane worked behind the scenes to reschedule us for 12:30 and spoke to the Bingo host about speeding the games along. #teamShane #genielife **Bingo was an unvaccinated activity held in the Royal Theatre so the Bingo host gently reminded everyone to wear their masks.

Thank you for all the tips. I am actually really looking forward to this one. I will encourage Lindsay to try the cucumber martini and report back. Haha

Photo package I learned once onboard that they have changed the photo package slightly. On formal nights they use to offer white backgrounds but now you have to purchase a private photo session in studio to get the white background. I purchased the 100 digital prints on the cruise planner but likely would have opted for a private photo session because our favourite background is the white one. I am going to go to Focus today to start selecting my 100 pictures as this process must be done while onboard.

Happy Christmas Eve Day everyone. It’s Day 6 already and it’s a sea day for us. I think Bingo may finally be offered today. Shane mentioned that it was only being offered on the final 2 sea days. We hope to do mini golf and maybe the flow rider. We are scheduled to eat at 150 Central Park for the first time and are really looking forward to Frozen on Ice. I am off to the relaxation room shortly and will report back.

Rising Tide Bar With the cancelled Aqua Showtime we decided to experience the Rising Tide Bar for the first time. It goes from deck 5-8 with stops on deck 5&8. I wasn’t sure if Reyd could join but Shane contacted his beverage manager and made it happen. Shane met us there; he is so good at always popping up.

Still to come: Airing of grievances and feats of strength.

Aqua Showtime (Encore) Postponed due to technical difficulties which Shane said was due to movement of the ship and water. It’s been rescheduled to Saturday night. Hoping the scheduling will work as their is OTS Christmas Showtime that night as well. It’s instances like this where having a genie is do helpful. I just know Shane will make things work.

Family Comedy - Paul Agato ️️️️️ You guys are probably wondering why I am giving everything 5 ️ Ratings but honestly everything has been outstanding. There really has not been a dining or entertainment experience (other than Cats) that hasn’t been worthy of this rating. This show didn’t disappoint. Holy smokes he was funny. It felt good to laugh for 45 minutes without a mask on and see other people do the same. **Once again masking on deck 4 in Royal Theatre is optional regardless of whether consuming a beverage. Masking is mandatory on deck 5 (unvaccinated) and parties are asked to socially distance.

Chops ️️️️️ Our selections looked much like they did the first time so I won’t repost a bunch of pictures. Always a great choice and one of our favorite specialty dining venues. We are eating their Christmas Day and weather permitting Shane is going to seat us outside. Honestly everything we have consumed throughout our cruise has been excellent.

Random photos of our trip to SXM.

This is kind of a funny story that mothers may relate to. Reyd and Lindsay were on the beach watching to video the planes. I was at the loungers watching our stuff. I swear it was mothers intuition but I look up as a large plane takes off and see this young person holding onto their hat and glasses running to stay upright as the jet blast pushed him into right the ocean. It took me a few seconds to realize it was my Reyd! He says the sand burn and heat blast is real. His legs are well exfoliated and burnt. Lindsay got caught up in it to a lesser extent but he went into protection mode and thankfully kept my iPhone 13 safe. At least they got their moneys worth. These will make for great stories when we return home.