Jax

So, not much to report today.  We tried to have lunch at Izumi just to be turned away.  They were having a sushi-making class today so we slunk back to Chops. Keep in mind that we had just come from breakfast at Chops a little while before (remember the Choo-choo nanner ?)....but we made appearance #2 shortly thereafter.  I was not particularly hungry (go figure) so I just had my beloved mushroom soup and a shrimp cocktail.  Dan had a rather bizarre shrimp-cocktail-Caesar-salad concoction devised by our (now bestie) waiter (I can’t pronounce his name but it starts with a V).
We waddled out of Chops AGAIN and I went to the casino.  Big mistake.  I should have gone with Dan to the sauna. Sadly I must report that my casino fortunes have taken a decidedly negative turn.  That particular session ended in a $600 loss and a subsequent follow-on disaster after dinner netted another $500 soaking. Ugh.  Dan is still up over $600 so he’s obviously much better at this than I am but I have the luxury of not caring whether I win or lose so I’m sure I will continue to lose !  

So guess where we had dinner ?  Yep...the ol’ Chops hat trick !  Dan had steak, I had spicy shrimp.  I now have indigestion due to waaaytooo much food today and lousy gambling skills.  Time for bed. Peace, out.
??❤️

At least it didn’t come out the other end.........not that I know from personal experience or anything.......cough.........?

ISince we are docked at the downtown pier, we decided to go out into town for a while. Beside us is docked NCL Breakaway.


Out in the bay, offshore, is the NCL Escape.  She is tendering her peeps ashore with lifeboats.  Glad I’m not on Escape !
We walked down to the Plaza and decided to have a couple of beers and some chips and pico de gallo.  This was the first alcohol that either of us have had the entire cruise !  The cold Coronas tasted pretty good.  More about this, later.

At some point, Dan mentioned something about maybe getting a cheap massage.  Oh yeah....that sounded like a GREAT idea.  After finishing our beers and chips, we asked our waiter if there was anywhere close where we could get a massage. It seemed we were in luck !  No more than 20 paces down the side street was a spa.  The decision was made.  If the price was right, we were getting massages.  Trust me, this is no foo foo spa.  It’s a hole-in-the-wall place but the price seemed right.  $70 each for a 90 minute massage.  Done.  They put us in a “room” for 2.  I put “room” in quotations because it is really just 1 big room with curtains to separate the “private” areas.  Good enough for us.
I will just say up front that this was one of the best massages I have ever had.  Most masseuses hurt me.  I guess I’m just a wimp but the whole “deep tissue” thing is about as far from enjoyable as I can get.  But this lovely lady’s touch was perfect. You start out on your belly, of course, and I was really settling in...enjoying every stroke.  She did my back, neck and shoulders.  Heaven.  Then she moved to my legs....and trouble began to brew.
Here’s where the forewarning from the beer and chips photo comes back into play.  As if, by some awesome force of nature and gravity combined, the moment she started pushing “up” (towards my torso) on my legs, the beer bubbles began to be pushed up from my belly.  Had I been standing, I would simply let out a diminutive “burp” and all would have been fine....but I was laying on my stomach and those beer bubbles were trapped between my stomach and my throat.  I tried to maneuver in a way that would allow them to escape, but nopesville.  They just kept accumulating in a most unpleasant location, soon to be joined by some chips and salsa (thank you, hiatal hyneria).  It was both horrifying and hilarious at the same time.
I thought the legwork would never end.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, she whispered “turn over on your back, please”.  As soon as I moved, the loudest, most manly, horrific belch came roaring out.  It was so loud I’m sure they heard it across the street.  Dan said “are you ok ?”  I was so relieved.  I just muttered “yes, I’m fine”.
The moral of this story is NEVER drink a beer before having a massage !
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Dan kindly took some pictures of the dock area when the sun passed behind some clouds while I was in the shower.  He’s a good egg

 

Hey guys, just popping on quickly to let you know of some Black Friday deals on cruise planner. I booked the All digital photo package for $234.99 and it is now discounted to $149.99 for the next 24 hours.  Looks like there are a number of featured Black Friday deals you may want to check out. I cancelled and rebooked the package at the lower price. ??

I hope not!  That feels as bad as taking our Disney concierge’s mouthwash. ?

Update on pre cruise communication with our genie Andres
So far my interactions with Andres have exceeded the mediocre experience from Royals main customer service group. I heard from Andres on Sunday, I replied the same day and heard back from him again this morning. ??  Andres and I are off to a great start! 
What kind of things did Andres want to know? 
A list of our “must haves” Port arrival time and boarding procedure  Mini bar requests  Information on our preferred dining times, entertainment and activities  Any special celebrations ?  What has Andres done so far? 
For some reason the cruise planner would not allow me to reserve the thermal suite even though it shows as available. The main call centre couldn’t help.  When I told Andres this was a “must have” for us, he reassured me that he would take care of it once on-board! ✔️ for Andres. 
We expect to arrive at the cruise terminal around 10:30am and Andres said he will  try to have our suite ready early. ✔️ Andres (even though we are totally fine exploring the ship and eating lunch I appreciate the effort and it would be nice to get unpacking out of the way) 
Andres confirmed that you cannot go up in North Star until last bridge has been cleared but he will make arrangements for us to do this immediately following that! ✔️ Andres 
Pepsi is my drink of choice but I said I am totally fine with Coke. Andres said he would try to get Pepsi for me. ✔️ Andres 
Andres has already confirmed he will sign me up for cupcake decorating class (complimentary for star class) and Lindsay and Reyd for sushi class (also complimentary) and bridge tour for all 3 (complimentary for star class). ✔️ Andres
Holiday menus have not yet been finalized but I will receive a draft dining/entertainment schedule closer to sailing. All in all I am feeling pretty good about everything.   
 

Casino update:  I came out + $25 tonite so I was able to repay Lootenant Dayan for his generosity last night.  Now sitting at even Steven after night #2. Winner, winner, chicken dinner !
I have figured out the mystery of using two devices interchangeably.  It seems that logging out (log off.com) is not enough. I must turn off the WiFi on whichever device I do NOT want to use before trying to log on to the second device.  This is a bit of a pain as I choose to take photographs with my iPhone but want to blog with the iPad so I am constantly changing between the devices. But since I broke the code I have had no problems at all and I have not bounced Dan off of his device once since figuring it all out.  I feel so smaaaat.
Night night.  Sea day tomorrow. #sleepingin

Update on pre cruise communication with our genie Andres
So far my interactions with Andres have exceeded the mediocre experience from Royals main customer service group. I heard from Andres on Sunday, I replied the same day and heard back from him again this morning. ??  Andres and I are off to a great start! 
What kind of things did Andres want to know? 
A list of our “must haves” Port arrival time and boarding procedure  Mini bar requests  Information on our preferred dining times, entertainment and activities  Any special celebrations ?  What has Andres done so far? 
For some reason the cruise planner would not allow me to reserve the thermal suite even though it shows as available. The main call centre couldn’t help.  When I told Andres this was a “must have” for us, he reassured me that he would take care of it once on-board! ✔️ for Andres. 
We expect to arrive at the cruise terminal around 10:30am and Andres said he will  try to have our suite ready early. ✔️ Andres (even though we are totally fine exploring the ship and eating lunch I appreciate the effort and it would be nice to get unpacking out of the way) 
Andres confirmed that you cannot go up in North Star until last bridge has been cleared but he will make arrangements for us to do this immediately following that! ✔️ Andres 
Pepsi is my drink of choice but I said I am totally fine with Coke. Andres said he would try to get Pepsi for me. ✔️ Andres 
Andres has already confirmed he will sign me up for cupcake decorating class (complimentary for star class) and Lindsay and Reyd for sushi class (also complimentary) and bridge tour for all 3 (complimentary for star class). ✔️ Andres
Holiday menus have not yet been finalized but I will receive a draft dining/entertainment schedule closer to sailing. All in all I am feeling pretty good about everything.   
 

Update on pre cruise communication with our genie Andres
So far my interactions with Andres have exceeded the mediocre experience from Royals main customer service group. I heard from Andres on Sunday, I replied the same day and heard back from him again this morning. ??  Andres and I are off to a great start! 
What kind of things did Andres want to know? 
A list of our “must haves” Port arrival time and boarding procedure  Mini bar requests  Information on our preferred dining times, entertainment and activities  Any special celebrations ?  What has Andres done so far? 
For some reason the cruise planner would not allow me to reserve the thermal suite even though it shows as available. The main call centre couldn’t help.  When I told Andres this was a “must have” for us, he reassured me that he would take care of it once on-board! ✔️ for Andres. 
We expect to arrive at the cruise terminal around 10:30am and Andres said he will  try to have our suite ready early. ✔️ Andres (even though we are totally fine exploring the ship and eating lunch I appreciate the effort and it would be nice to get unpacking out of the way) 
Andres confirmed that you cannot go up in North Star until last bridge has been cleared but he will make arrangements for us to do this immediately following that! ✔️ Andres 
Pepsi is my drink of choice but I said I am totally fine with Coke. Andres said he would try to get Pepsi for me. ✔️ Andres 
Andres has already confirmed he will sign me up for cupcake decorating class (complimentary for star class) and Lindsay and Reyd for sushi class (also complimentary) and bridge tour for all 3 (complimentary for star class). ✔️ Andres
Holiday menus have not yet been finalized but I will receive a draft dining/entertainment schedule closer to sailing. All in all I am feeling pretty good about everything.   
 

They have the updated ship models for sale.

You too can subtly advertise.  

If he is supplying Pepsi products then he is finding them somewhere other than the Royal supply chain (IOW I think he will have to purchase them himself).  I have never seen any kind of Pepsi product on any Royal Caribbean ship.
?❤️

Update on pre cruise communication with our genie Andres
So far my interactions with Andres have exceeded the mediocre experience from Royals main customer service group. I heard from Andres on Sunday, I replied the same day and heard back from him again this morning. ??  Andres and I are off to a great start! 
What kind of things did Andres want to know? 
A list of our “must haves” Port arrival time and boarding procedure  Mini bar requests  Information on our preferred dining times, entertainment and activities  Any special celebrations ?  What has Andres done so far? 
For some reason the cruise planner would not allow me to reserve the thermal suite even though it shows as available. The main call centre couldn’t help.  When I told Andres this was a “must have” for us, he reassured me that he would take care of it once on-board! ✔️ for Andres. 
We expect to arrive at the cruise terminal around 10:30am and Andres said he will  try to have our suite ready early. ✔️ Andres (even though we are totally fine exploring the ship and eating lunch I appreciate the effort and it would be nice to get unpacking out of the way) 
Andres confirmed that you cannot go up in North Star until last bridge has been cleared but he will make arrangements for us to do this immediately following that! ✔️ Andres 
Pepsi is my drink of choice but I said I am totally fine with Coke. Andres said he would try to get Pepsi for me. ✔️ Andres 
Andres has already confirmed he will sign me up for cupcake decorating class (complimentary for star class) and Lindsay and Reyd for sushi class (also complimentary) and bridge tour for all 3 (complimentary for star class). ✔️ Andres
Holiday menus have not yet been finalized but I will receive a draft dining/entertainment schedule closer to sailing. All in all I am feeling pretty good about everything.   
 

Your genie sounds like a winner already!  

Update on pre cruise communication with our genie Andres
So far my interactions with Andres have exceeded the mediocre experience from Royals main customer service group. I heard from Andres on Sunday, I replied the same day and heard back from him again this morning. ??  Andres and I are off to a great start! 
What kind of things did Andres want to know? 
A list of our “must haves” Port arrival time and boarding procedure  Mini bar requests  Information on our preferred dining times, entertainment and activities  Any special celebrations ?  What has Andres done so far? 
For some reason the cruise planner would not allow me to reserve the thermal suite even though it shows as available. The main call centre couldn’t help.  When I told Andres this was a “must have” for us, he reassured me that he would take care of it once on-board! ✔️ for Andres. 
We expect to arrive at the cruise terminal around 10:30am and Andres said he will  try to have our suite ready early. ✔️ Andres (even though we are totally fine exploring the ship and eating lunch I appreciate the effort and it would be nice to get unpacking out of the way) 
Andres confirmed that you cannot go up in North Star until last bridge has been cleared but he will make arrangements for us to do this immediately following that! ✔️ Andres 
Pepsi is my drink of choice but I said I am totally fine with Coke. Andres said he would try to get Pepsi for me. ✔️ Andres 
Andres has already confirmed he will sign me up for cupcake decorating class (complimentary for star class) and Lindsay and Reyd for sushi class (also complimentary) and bridge tour for all 3 (complimentary for star class). ✔️ Andres
Holiday menus have not yet been finalized but I will receive a draft dining/entertainment schedule closer to sailing. All in all I am feeling pretty good about everything.   
 

I am a huge fan of Tempur-Pedic pillows. My current one is getting old and I’ve been hearing so many things about My Pillow that I was thinking of trying it.

2 points to report on the bread, olive and garlic warm-up
The olives do not have pits !  My already cracked molars thank you !
They did not make us dig the garlic out of the husks !  Much more elegant than making us dig and launch the cloves across the room.
Win, win
No cold soup tonite, by God !  It was steamin’.  Dan had some tuna tartare from Chops, I had minestrone and pork belly.  Our main courses should be coming shortly 

The steak I got tonite at Giovannis was orders of magnitude better than the cold crap I got yesterday at Chops. Everything was better...the food, the service, the ambiance. Everything.  To be completely fair, yesterday’s epic fail at Chops was the embarkation lunch so I will withhold final judgement until tomorrow night when we will go to Chops for dinner. I’m not going to hold my breath though. It will be hard to top that extraordinary steak at Giovannis. 
For those who are counting, this makes 2 filets in 2 days. That’s a lot for me.  I’m not normally a big steak eater. 

Dan has the prawns. Really just shrimp, but prawns sounds fancier. He said his was very good.  
 

 
Reh-Roh. It’s 7:03 and I don’t see how I can drag my feet long enough to miss the start of the cattle call.  Looks like we’ll be going there before heading to the casino.  ??

First of all, we are docked at the Port at the Naval Air Station, Key West.  The last time I remember visiting KW, we docked right downtown.  

The super secret shuttle that was provided by the Concierge was a very nice trip down the elevator to the gangway and a trip to the front of the line to get off the ship.  Then we walked a short distance to where there were a series of shuttle vehicles waiting to drive everyone to town.  This service by the Concierge actually gave us quite an advantage as the line off the ship snaked waaay up the stairs to distances unknown.  We walked straight off the ship without any wait at all.  Our vehicles ended up being one of the conch trains. 


So, we rode the conch train into town along with a very nice guided tour by the driver.  The ride was perfect -  not too hot, not too windy,  just right.  To my utter shock, Lootenant Dayan (his other nickname) suggested that he had seen all of KW that interested him and perhaps we might consider simply remaining on the shuttle right back to the ship.  Imagine my surprise!  This is kind of suggestion that I would normally try and weasel into the conversation but it came out of HIS mouth.  I was delighted !
So we did not detrain when the shuttle stopped.  The “conductor” seemed not at all amused that we were hightailing it back to the ship without even getting off and his audible heavy sigh into the microphone (more like a groan) made us ?.  So....we rode back the same path we had just come as the only conch train passengers.  THIS is how the suites do it !  ??

Back on the ship in probably less than 30 minutes, we did what all good slugs do....eat.  We wandered into the WJ; I had a burger and Lootenant Dayan had some kind of stewish-looking thing with rice.  He had a chocolate ice cream cone and I had some Boston Cream Pie.   Ahhhh....life is good.  Could be we will try and see Spidee at 4:00.
But for now - nap time !
 

For reason which I cannot explain, my iPad is again working now that we’re in port again.  I know there is some super cyber reason that the internet when in port is different from the internet when you’re at sea, so my simplistic mind will simply accept that when on the ocean internet I will only be able to comm by cell phone.  I am really HAPPY to be back on my iPad though !  Pecking along on the iphone is for people with better vision and skinnier fingers than me. 
So....thank goodness I listened to the voice message that Eliana left last night.  If we go to the Concierge Club between 11:00 and 12:30 (it is currently 11:31) we will get a super-secret escort off the ship to some kind of trolley to take us to town.  I am ALL about shuttle service, so we WILL be leaving shortly for the Concierge Club !
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

We are now pulling in to Key West. It really has been a long time since we visited KY and I feel certain that I refused to get off last time so it’s really been a LONG time since I was out and about on KW. I have agreed to debark on this trip so I must keep my word. No plans...just a walkabout. Maybe we’ll ride the HOHO trolley (I think there’s such a thing). Perfect weather.  76 and sunny. Yippee !!

And finally, the single thing about this class of ship that is truly unique...the Cinema !  I am so glad that Royal has not gotten rid of this feature on the Rad class ships. I fear for its future, but for now, IT LIVES !

 


It appears to show 1 film every 3 hours beginning at 10AM until 10PM.  Kind of a nice option if you stay on the ship on port days (as I almost always do).  I will check to see if the film changes daily.  I feel sure it does  
 

After breakfast, we did a wee walkabout. Now, wee is all of the walkabout you will ever get from me....I’m not a wanderer.  If it doesn’t happen to be in the path between where I am and either a food venue or the casino, I’m likely to miss it. But here goes. 
I am not a wine drinker so I rarely venture into a Vintages, but I will say....the Vintages on Brilliance is beautiful, IMO.  Rather than the dark and deserted space that it is in most ships, it is light (there are even windows ??).  The lighting is very unusual. I found it a delightful space. Not delightful enough to go buy some wine that I don’t want, but lounge-worthy, for sure. 


The poker table is outside of the casino on a side trail leading out of the casino.  I remember this very long and narrow configuration from my last Rad class sailing.  No idea if they had a cash game going last night  Frankly, we weren’t there long enough to really inquire  

 
 

Went to breakfast at Chops this morning and while it was better than lunch yesterday, we still had some downright cold food. The potato wedges (not that great even when they’re hot) were stone gold. Almost refrigerator cold. The orange juice was, no doubt, from a concentrate.  We were never offered any sweet rolls even though they were sitting on a table 4 feet from us.  Maybe we were supposed to help ourselves. We did not leave hungry.  “It’ll make a turd”, one of Happy Dan’s favorite euphemisms.  
The service was also surprisingly sluggish which made no sense as we were 2 of 4 happy souls dining at the time.
I know I sound like a bitcher, which I’m actually not.. but I will admit that as I get older, my tolerance for poor service has taken a nose dive.  I will be in the “You kids get off my lawn !” Club very soon. Happy Dan is already a founding member.  
 




I overheard the only other customers in the place, discussing with our waiter, the fact that the breakfast serving staff in Chops are not dedicated Chops servers, but rather staff from Izumi, Giovannis and Chops that rotate to cover this special breakfast.  I guess that makes sense. It also may explain the spotty service but it still sucks  

So, back from the casino. Very early night for us but we are both beat. Slept very little on that horrid bed at the Marriott.  I lost a whopping $25 but Dan won $230 so we’re up, overall. Yippee !
Tomorrow is Key West. It’s been a number of years since we have been to KW. No plans. We will just ramble. Night night