Jax

One of my favourite areas on this ship. Deck 5 aft, where all the specialty restaurants are, along with Michael’s Club. Even though it’s dark, I love the decor here. 


 

Casino and Shops 

The well talked about…Café al Bacio
The snack and pastries here rotate daily. I have yet to see the same snack/pastry twice. Pretty impressive! 
 

I like how this ship also has small lounge areas at the aft of Decks 6-10. The Hideaway is so cute, but people say that depending on the sailing; it can be overrun with teenagers.

I was most happy that we got in there before mass crowds showed up! I am still having visions of yesterday lol

Time for what promised @OCSC Mike! We swung by the buffet right before lunch today. Turns out they weren’t open yet but we were able to walk around to take some pics. Pretty standard fare. I did not see anything that was too different from WJ here. There was a gluten free station and a vegan station. 

Lunch was at Sushi on Five. Hubby said he doesn’t really have a preference for this or Izumi. However, I think I prefer Izumi. The starters here at Sushi on Five were better, however the roll and noodles I prefer the taste on Royal more. But that is all very subjective. 
 

When we came back to our room, we received the one thing that is often talked about here on X in these suites. 
They are ultra soft, and seem to be super comfy. We will see how they hold up when washed. 

Backtracking a bit to breakfast before our home skunk emergency. Breakfast was in Luminae and it continues to beat CK. The quality of the fresh fruit is fantastic, and today we tried the potato waffle. It was heavy and greasy, but yummy! 
 

We are not going to Murano. We decided the menu is not for us. We barely like 150CP and this looks fancier, not really our thing. We are going to Tuscan tonight! I am pretty excited. Determine to power through even though food coma is real.

it took me entirely too long to realize this was happening at home. 
i truly was wracking my brains trying to understand how some kids called on the pool deck to advise about a skunk…. and how said skunk even made it aboard since you weren’t referring to 🌿

Tiny humans are here but better behaved than on Royal. Our butler told us yesterday that prior to Reflection doing the 3-4 night sailings, there were hardly any kids on this ship. Now there are. 

The suite that we have comes with everything, just like star class. The internet included is 4 devices per person, so much better than Royal. However, VOOM is much better. Uploads  have been fine but FaceTime with our kids has been very spotty. 

Our morning started off pretty calm. Woke up and had breakfast at Luminae again. Then we started walking around an emptier ship to take some photos. It was shortly after that when all hell broke loose. Kids called and said there was a skunk in our pool. Have spent the last two hours troubleshooting with them. The good news is the skunk is out. The bad news? It left quite a mess in our Oasis Lagoon. 😕 Have I mentioned how much I hate animals? 

Tonight we cancelled our original dinner plans for Murano. Murano is like a fancier version of 150CP. After looking carefully at the menu, we just weren’t feeling it so we tried to change it this afternoon to Sushi on Five. I can confirm that our experience was the same as @AshleyDillo and her family back in November. They could not move is because the sushi place was full. Meaning, this is another difference between SC and upper level Retreat. They are obviously not as flexible and don’t hold seats back like they do on Royal.
We ended up a Lawn Club Grill which is sort of like Samba Grill but better in the sense that it’s not enclosed, and you don’t smell chlorine when eating. The downside? It’s pretty windy. Hubby liked this place a lot. While I thought all the flavours were good, it’s a lot of meat. You make your own salad and then you order as much as you want of the other stuff. 

Limited dining options on AD. The UDP wasn’t too worth it but because we had just come off VY, I could not handle doing MDR twice in one month. 
Hubby has been looking for the Mongolian station for a while now. Maybe that will make a return.
The food has been outstanding this sailing. Good to get a break from the usual at Royal too. 

Keep gathering intel. I am still not clear on the split responsibilities between the concierge and butler so I am anxious to hear your thoughts. Curious who would accompany you off the ship at the port tomorrow (if you were getting off); Concierge or Butler.  I think you mentioned you aren’t getting off but I’m still curious.  I imagine J is missing the flow rider and other activities.  

Nah, I get it, you like what you like... and you can appreciate very different things (you just skew towards the finer things, on vacation at least). Johnny Rockets isn't exactly fine dining but I'm sure you enjoyed it on Adventure.
Obviously I skew towards very frugal but the interiors are truly b/c we don't use our balconies and we like how cold interiors get so even for a few hundred more, why would I pay for a balcony? I can also fully appreciate CK, our beach club cabanas, etc. when treated to them and I know a good filet (or which Gio's has the superior carbonara)... but I'm just as happy stuffing myself with included food and sprinkling in our few specialty meals. BTW, if you didn't notice, other than checking out WJ just to look for certain items (like my favorite Indian dishes, those ribs Wonder had for lunch every day 7, etc.) we really didn't eat there much on Wonder. Now if Utopia's WJ has a cook-to-order station for dinner (I've seen videos of one for lunch), we're ditching the MDR like we used to.
That Porch menu looks amazing to me, btw.
 

Continuing to try to make the most of our included specialty dining. We ate lunch at The Porch today. Another great quality meal. Great ambience sitting out on the open deck, not too windy. They have fans there but by dessert, it did get a bit warm. 

To be honest, I am not clear either. Yesterday when we boarded, it was the concierge in Michael’s Club who escorted us on and brought us to our room. We didn’t meet our butler until much later. Also, because we did not meet our butler until much later, it was also the concierge who made our lunch reservations for us. Our butler did message us this morning to see if there was anything we needed. He also reminded us that tonight is formal night and there are reserved seats in the theater for all retreat guests, but there is no saving of individual seats like a genie would do for you. 

You guys! I am dying laughing right now! 😂 @GatorCruiser is probably right in that I am a bit of an enigma! I never thought about it that way. Tourist trap buffets in Orlando hit a soft spot for me I think because of the vacations I used to take when I was young with my family. Cruise buffets I literally want to run the other way. I did promise @OCSC Mike but I had to abort mission because it was just too nuts! Will try again tomorrow lol

They’re  enigmas 

She told me she was checking out the buffet...  and she ate at a tourist trap seafood buffet not far from me before her cruise out of PC, lol.

She don’t do gen pop amigo 

Keep gathering intel. I am still not clear on the split responsibilities between the concierge and butler so I am anxious to hear your thoughts. Curious who would accompany you off the ship at the port tomorrow (if you were getting off); Concierge or Butler.  I think you mentioned you aren’t getting off but I’m still curious.  I imagine J is missing the flow rider and other activities.  

Obvious early symptoms of Flowrider Withdrawal Syndrome..................