Jax

The new changes to the photo process are great! I selected my 100 pics and was immediately able to download them in the app.  Here are some highlights of our shenanigans or as @WAAAYTOOO called us #starclassbehavingbadly. 🤣🤣
One picture is not obvious, so let me know if you see it.  It took me a minute to see what was going on.  🤦‍♀️ I knew something happened because the photographer was laughing.  The 3 photos we now call “crouching tiger hidden dragon” started off with good intentions. The photographer asked Lindsay to crouch and then crouch more. We all assumed our legs wouldn’t show and then we see the end result. 🤣🤣 Pictures can get boring night after night so this kept the guys happy and cooperative.  We have laughed more at some of these picture's and will for years to come.  Our group, has become very recognizable to the photographers. 🤣🤣 A few stopped by as I was picking my 100 just to see them again.  





 

 

Going in the comment card. I stole it from @SweetPea 😉

Ignore. Posted in wrong blog. 🤣
I’m going to catch up on your blog promise! 

Back tracking to yesterday. When we returned to our suite we found gifts from Berty along with a nice note. 💜💜🧞‍♂️ More on Berty later but it will come as no surprise he is one of the best genies in the fleet.  He has given us an incredible week. Any request is met with “it shall be done 🙏”

I can see why; however, short rib app, short rib main, short rib dessert might change your mind! We are brazenly planning to do that in May! 😁 #StarClassBubble as you say! 😂🤣🤣

What!? What floor are you on? I had the best sleeps, heard nothing and no ear plugs. Your pictures look closer to the pool than we were.  After the Tremont House last week anything seems quiet. That was the noisiest place ever. 

Our last supper was in 150 CP.  It was originally planned for Jaime’s but since Lindsay was recovering from his lunch at Turquoise Bay he only had soup.  It’s probably my least favorite specialty restaurant with the exception of Wonderland but the others in the group really wanted to go back so I took one for the team.  It always seems to be consistent with service and food quality. Tonight was no exception. Everything was 10/10 and they even brought a sugar free dessert for my friend. Random thought tonight at supper: this will be the last zero bill I get. 

Emerald Free Play
Since reaching Emerald we learned about the $6 free play in the casino. I thought it would be fun to use it. Well tonight is the last night so it’s use it or lose it.  Reyd had turned his $6 into $62 so far. 🙌🏻 Lindsay’s status is unknown as I am in the suite packing. Wish them luck. 

After watching @tonyfsu21 sail away on SY, we finally saw the sun. It was a beautiful sunset! 

He seriously gave you each a watch?  Is a gift like that normal from a genie?  First star class, our genie gave us a casino hat. He definitely didn’t think that gift out, as I’ve never wear hats. Sometimes, it’s better to not give a gift.  I had to thank him for that silly regular man’s hat. Second genie gave us a really nice Royal picture holder with our picture inside it. He put some thought into it. 

A few pre-cruise thoughts before bed:
- This is the first star class cruise ever where we have received nothing in terms of a tentative schedule. I literally have no clue when and what we are doing each day. However, I know Sergii is a great genie because he is very on top of things. I can tell by his texts that he even has small details covered. So maybe this no tentative schedule thing is just his personal style. I know each genie has their preferences. 
- The earliest check in time for this sailing was 11:30am. Even if it had been 10:30, we probably would not have gone that early because it’s NYE tomorrow and we don’t want to get up too early. I have Lyft booked for 11am so that should give us lots of time. 
- Tomorrow is cruise day! 🎉🎊🍾🥂🏝️

La Bamaba…Round #2! 


We are not kidding, we truly love this place. Tonight as we were eating, we came to the sad realization that it might be quite some time before we can come back. We have zero cruises that leave from Fort Lauderdale in 2024 and we have not booked the rest of 2025 yet so it’s uncertain when we can return to our most favourite restaurant in all of North America. So we soaked up our memories here, had some great laughs, and walked away with happy hearts and full bellies. 


Now chilling out, packing up a bit, and heading to bed soon. 

Nope! We have decided that if we are somewhere where there is a La Bamba, that is where we will be! No more of these La Bamba substitutes lol

Reyd’s birthday celebration was perfect! We came back to the suite after pictures and karaoke to this amazing chocolate mousse cake.  
You may remember me mentioning that Berty decorated the suite with a bunch of pictures he got off Facebook. Well he also got creative with decorating Reyd’s birthday cake. Reyd is a high school RAP student enrolled as a heavy diesel tech so the decorations were well done. 
We have made so many memories this week that we will cherish for many years.   ❤️

Our group at Chops tonight. A much better experience than when the 3 of us ate there on Christmas Day.  Food quality and service was excellent.  I should know better but one of the managers was chatting with us while we waited for our group to arrive and wondered if we were celebrating anything tonight.  I mentioned that Berty arranged for a cake to celebrate Reyd’s birthday in our suite later tonight. Well sure enough they surprised Reyd with a dessert and singing of happy birthday.  Very nice of them ❤️. Posted a video on IG stories. 
Although I was tempted by the organic chicken I stuck with my usual; ribeye and lobster and a bunch of sides that we shared.  
We went for pictures after dinner and Lindsay was up to his usual antics. I will post a couple more of the funny group shots.  There are some real doozies. 🤣 
 

So what did Jessica and I do when everyone else went ATVing….MASSAGES I walked, more like stumbled out of there not knowing who or where I was. 🙃 Sign of a relaxing massage  
Because we have the all inclusive rates are discounted from $45 for 30 minutes to $30. We each had a 1 hour massage. Followed by lunch. More on food in a bit.  

It’s a beautiful day. Currently 25C and sunny.   I didn’t check the temperature this morning during the flowrider session but if I had to guess it was around 19/20C at 7:45am. Flowrider water is warm and yes people are in the pools.  

Emerald Free Play
Since reaching Emerald we learned about the $6 free play in the casino. I thought it would be fun to use it. Well tonight is the last night so it’s use it or lose it.  Reyd had turned his $6 into $62 so far. 🙌🏻 Lindsay’s status is unknown as I am in the suite packing. Wish them luck. 

While I never heard an “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha” call, the Capt just came on the intercom to announce that, due to a medical emergency, we would be temporarily diverting to Grand Turk to deliver a passenger for a medical emergency.  Apparently this diversion will not impact our schedule to arrive in Port Canaveral as scheduled tomorrow.  Prayers for whomever is unwell. 😞

@WAAAYTOOO and @RCL_Cruiser_Dan still waiting to sail with you both one day! 

my favorites!!! 🥰😍💚

@WAAAYTOOO and @RCL_Cruiser_Dan Christmas cruise on Adventure

Thank you Royal Caribbean and Merry Christmas to all!

TL;DR - All is well.  Christmas is coming.  The BOGO process is a Charlie Foxtrot.
 
I promised a live blog for this sailing but in keeping with my utter unreliability for doing live blogs, I have failed again....this being day 3 already.
I will skip all of the pre-boarding and boarding details as these are not of particular interest to anyone and it was entirely uneventful.  All went well. We are here.
The ship is in great shape for her age.  We sailed on Adventure relatively recently so there haven't been any changes since that time.  Sure, she needs paint in some areas and there are patches of carpeting that are in need of replacing but these are purely superficial issues and have not impacted our enjoyment at all.
We are in a Panoramic Ocean View Suite (VP), a room which was converted at the time that part of the spa was removed.  The room has an ENORMOUS panoramic view with ceiling-to-floor window panes.  It makes for a really lovely view....particularly at sunrise and sunset.  LOTS of space.  There is a large-ish closet area that they advertise as a second bedroom but that's not fair.  It's just a couple of bunk beds in a closet with a curtain.  Yes, it provides additional beds. No, it is not a second bedroom.  There is a bath-and-a-half (full bath and second toilet and sink) but the full bath is somewhat disappointing as it is the same size and layout of a typical stateroom bathroom with a space tube shower (ugh).  Nothing special there.  It is considered a full suite so we have access to the Suites Lounge and all of the suites' amenities.  Breakfast is in Giovanni's on this ship (it's typically in Chops) b/c Chops is on Deck 4, forward and Gios is the only specialty restaurant on deck 11....and it is in an unusual place (instead of being located inside the Windjammer entrance as it is on most VY and FR class ships, the entrance is outside of the WJ).  The food and service have been very good.
It's a good thing that the VP is considered a full suite b/c we would otherwise be denied access to the Suites' Lounge on this sailing.  There are 65 Pinns onboard this sailing (and I'm sure we are #'s 64 and 65 in seniority !).  Only the top 30 are permitted in the Suites' Lounge and we certainly are not among those 30...but since we are in a full suite, we are allowed in.  As may be expected, the SL is an empty wilderness and the Crown Lounge (CL) (or Clown Lounge as some are calling it) is a whirlwind of chaos.  Since the only [public] computers that I am aware of are located in the back of the CL (there are 2), that is where you will find me in the AM.  At least there is SOMEwhere to get on a keyboard !
As one would predict, there are many families and children on this sailing but I have not found it to be a concern.  Everyone is having a wonderful time and the children are all looking forward to Santa's arrival.  
There was a show in the theater last night called "Can't Stop the Rock" which we fully intended to attend but failed (we decided that the hot tub would be a better thing to do)....but I heard it was tolerable.  We went to the ice show on our last AD sailing so we will probably skip it this time but as I recall, it was very typical of all the ice shows and definitely worth going to if you haven't been before.
We have not stepped foot inside the WJ and intend to keep it that way.  Our one night of dining in the MDR (so far) was fine.  Welcome Aboard is one of my least favorite MDR menus and that happened to be the night that we decided to eat there (having eaten lunch in Chops on boarding day....didn't think 2 big meals in one day would be a good idea).  We will also eat in the MDR on Christmas evening and one more time during the last part of the sailing...which night, escapes me at the moment.  We have a 3 night dining package plus 2, BOGO which works soooo well for us.  Speaking of BOGO I thought I would relay the mechanics of using the BOGO on AD...or at least, on THIS sailing on AD as it never seems to be the same process, even on the same ship !  We ate at Giovanni's last night (night #2) and told the server that this represented the use of the first of our BOGO dinners and that we would be eating in Chops later in the week.  Knowing that it is MANDATORY that you pay for your BOGO meals on nights #1 or #2, we requested that the server go ahead and charge us both, full price for our Gio's meal.  That utterly confused her....so she called the manager over.  The manager finally decided that the thing to do was to call Chops, have them charge us for our [yet-to-be-consumed] Chops BOGO and then when we get to Chops later this week, we will already have pre-paid.  PERFECT !  Exactly what we wanted.  We paid for our Gio's BOGO and went home full and happy.  Later that evening we checked our onboard account.  Gio's was charged...but no Chops.  UGH.  So this morning when enjoying our breakfast in Gio's we queried the manager...what happened to our charge for Chops ?  Blank stare.  So she got on the phone with someone...the final determination is that they will charge us for the second BOGO when we get to Chops in a few days.  WHAAAAT ?  I thought the charge had to be completed NLT day 1 or 2 ?  It's an utter mystery and it's yet-to-be-seen whether or not this process will actually work but if I get to Chops and have some bill-issue, I will turn full Karen and somebody's going to be sorry.  LOL  I will report back.
This is already waaaytooo long.  That's what I get for waiting 3 days.  I will catch up later.
Merry Christmas to all !  Santa comes tonite !!!!

Here’s a hint. 
I guess I posted the pics prematurely; he’s in the editing phase now. 🤣