Pookie

We are in single digits.   Happy dance!   Just have to make it through the work and hockey schedule for one more week!!!  
 
Have had a successful few games    Eldest son scored his first ever goal on Sunday (3rd year of hockey- and 3rd year of skating.   The struggle has been real!).  And youngest son has been playing better and better each game and keeping the team in the mix after our team got tiered up and our competition is tough!   Squeaked out a tie the other night against a team that beat us 10-4 in pre-season, and parents on the other team were asking “did you guys get a new goalie?   He’s on fire!”   Proud hockey Mum here - will require a champagne celebration when we are on board!  ? ❤️ 
Haven’t started packing yet - but the list is done and the suitcases are out and all pre-cruise shopping is done.  
Also scored $150 saving on a photo package - so was pretty chuffed about that.  AND scored an over the water cabana for our December 2020 cruise.  #forthewin
 
woot!

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

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

 

Thanks SO much for making me snort my morning cappuccino.  I have been giggling ever since. Happy Dan thinks I’m nuts. Nothing new, I guess...

This morning I went adventuring to take some specific recon photos for someone.  Nothing exciting and blog worthy..just some hallway photos. 
As I was leaving my room I realized I only had my phone and forgotten (in the name of research, of course) my room key.  I did have my Digital Key enabled phone with me and again it just blinked green and didn't want to actually unlock the door.
So I did my photo recon which led to being asked to take more photos..I swear one good deed...I don't mind really and it gives me something to do when I am avoid the sun and interacting with people.
Of course since I don't sleep in my WOWband and didn't have my room key or working digital key I had to People of Walmart it down to Guest Services in my PJs.  

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  

 
 

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

I got the spicy tuna roll with soy wrapper. Delicious.  Dan got some kind of tuna thing and the DX platter. They were so good. Much better than lunch was !

 

Yes.  I have a cruise in 29 days and the are still emailing me trying to get me to bid.  
A few posts up in this thread @CruiseLife72 posted a link you can try.  
Read about the program before bidding, make sure you understand the nuances.  It works for some but not everyone and there is no guarantee that such an upgrade is even available.  

Good morning !
<clap><sway> ?Oh, Happy Day? <clap><sway>. It’s cruise day !!
Concierge Club recon


I will say that breakfast was a site better than last night’s evening festivities.  Nothing special but at least the usual suspects - eggs, bacon, bread, juice. All Continental.  Nothing made-to-order.
Beautiful morning, here in Tampa. I awoke to the sound of a ship’s horn...not sure which ship or where, exactly.  My view does not include any cruise ships. ??
We plan on leaving here at 10:00 AM.  Will call on Uber again.
A bit of disappointing news from Joyce, our Oasis Genie.  Beginning yesterday, Nov 24, Chops is no longer open on embarkation day (we had asked for lunch rezzies there on boarding day).  She stated, in her email 3 different times that Chops was closed....not that Chops was not available.  I thought, perhaps, that they were restricting Chops just to Key people, but I don’t think that is the case.  It appears, as far as I can determine, that Chops will not open at all on embarkation day for lunch.  We chose Giovannis as our second choice.  We’re going to CK for dinner that night, anyway, so we will get our filet !  Of course, Giovannis has an awesome steak, too...but we will save our steak lust for CK.
Next up - boarding Brilliance of the Seas !
 

So, here we sit at the Admirals Club.  First Uber ride I’ve ever taken where the driver never uttered a single word.  Wasn’t creepy b/c Dan was there but would have been very bizarre if I had been alone.
Nothing particularly striking about the Club.  Pretty standard stuff. For those familiar with AA Clubs, there is the obligatory avocado kiosk. Not quite sure why AA has put all its chips (pun intended) on avocados, but I have yet to enter an Admiral’s Club anywhere around the world where they don’t have someone serving avocados in some form.
Dan, intently pecking away on HIS iPad

Approximately 30 minutes before we have to board. According to the AA app, our plane is at the gate so no reason to believe we won’t depart on time.  Tampa, here we come !

I promised Sabrina that I would do this, so here goes.
First:  I am the worst live blogger EVER since I hate to take pix.  I DO realize that long, text review/live blogs are less effective b/c nobody wants to sit and read line after line of text.  I hate it myself !  So I am going to TRY and be brief-er than usual and TRY and incorporate photos, which are 2 things I am not very good at (brevity and photography).
Who:  Dan and I (Raye)
What:  S2S cruises on Brilliance and Oasis.
Where:  Tampa then Miami
When:  24 - 30 Nov (Brilliance out of Tampa) then 1 - 8 December (Oasis out of Miami)
Why:  Because we can...and this will be our first S2S
At home, writing this but leaving for the airport (DCA) at 2PM.  Uber, cost $81.56.  We have to have an XL due to luggage. Honestly, it's not that far to the airport.  We live about 20 miles south of DC so it's not more than 15-17 miles to the airport.  Kinda high, IMO but still cheaper than parking the car in Long Term Parking for 15 days. 
We will pass some time at the American Airlines Admiral's Club prior to boarding and then fly First Class to Tampa. Flight is at 5:00, arriving TPA at ~7:30PM.  Will Uber from airport to the hotel (Tampa Marriott Water Street); used rewards points for the hotel.  We could have used airline miles for the air but we're saving those reward points for a yet-to-be scheduled Alaska trip !!

One piece of luggage still missing as it is awaiting inevitable forgotten, last-minute items.
So looking forward to Brilliance.  #1, we have never sailed on Brilliance before and #2, it has been many years since we sailed on a Radiance class ship.
PS.  I am already having fits with just 1 pic.  I don't know how the rest of you do it !!  
More, later from the Admiral's Club !!

If you pass through the casino, take a peek to see if @CHRIS WONG is there at the casino host desk... He mentioned in his recent video that this will be his assignment now that he is on Oasis.

Genie huddle and photo op! @Lovetocruise2002

The hotel is attached to a little indoor mall with some shops and eateries.  There were bakeries and coffee shops, a bar with bar-type food, fancy Italian, upscale Chinese, etc.  Didn't really have to leave the building.  There's a free trolley that runs around downtown Miami on Friday and Saturday evenings until 11pm, so that's a nice option for folks who want to get out and see and do things.  I was born in Miami..I no longer live in Miami.  Even though I was a little over a year old when my parents moved me away, I still have a feeling of been there done that when I come to Miami.  
Wasn't feeling any of the eateries (more so wasn't feeling the prices $$) so we opted to walk over to Publix.  It is walkable, even on the way back with bags of groceries.  Great to pick up things like toiletries or sunscreen, wine, etc.  They also have a deli and hot bar to get something quick and ready to eat.  Publix subs are a BIG Florida thing and well worth their reputation.  
I prefer to drink my bread (beer) so I decided to get something hot to eat and since there wasn't anyone paying attention to me at the hot food case (where they had mojo pork, wings, smoked chicken!!) I meandered over to seafood where I had them steam some big 'ol shrimp with Old Bay seasoning for me..$4 for something that Joe's Crab Shack probably would have expected me to pay $25.  I laughed when the seafood lady told me that the shrimp hadn't been cleaned yet when I asked her to steam them..I mean that just means more flavor!

Ok then, find @twangster Bot and get him to take pics of your room. ? and see if you can sneak twangbot into an ATS as well. I have that for March. Lol

UGH.  You know how bad I am at this...but I will make a special effort.  I might EVEN try a live blog.
I just hate lugging a camera around - even a cell phone.  But this is going to be a special cruise.  I will do it for YOU, Sabrina !

I just got an email from my Genie.  She told me that all staterooms have been refreshed.  "New carpets, drapes, TVs and more" were her exact words.
YIPPEE !!!

The luggage bag tags are slightly different on Royal than DCL so I wanted to get bag tag holders that would protect against rips and other damage. These ones from amazon.ca arrived super fast with amazon prime and are compatible with Royal Caribbean. A perfect fit! Would highly recommend.  

So this conversation just happened......I’m doomedd 

Welcome to the message boards!
Honestly no one knows.  @Matt boards on the 24th so keep any eye on this site for lots of information about the new Oasis.   

Day 2: Perfect Day at CocoCay
Allure was finally able to dock in CocoCay, and we celebrated by having a lazy day.  We had breakfast delivered at 9am, and we were still asleep.  I thought I was dreaming of a doorbell ringing, but nope they hit it about 10 times within 5 seconds.  Unfortunately,  it was too windy for breakfast on the balcony, so we ate inside and finally finish Rocketman (started it last time we were on Allure).  Alan escorted us off the ship at 11:15am bypassing all the lines to the gangway.  We went shopping, had lunch at Skipper's Grill, and took the kids to Splashaway Bay and Captain Jill's Galleon.  The food was not as good as the last time we were on CocoCay (before Perfect Day), or maybe we've just been spoiled by Star Class.  After a few bites, we decided to just wait and have lunch on the ship.  When we got back on the ship, we had Starbucks (totally abusing that privilege with Starbuck's holiday drinks) and then ordered room service without knowing that Alan coordinated almost the same meal delivery plus chocolate covered strawberries and shrimp.  Needless to say, my clothes aren't exactly fitting anymore and this is only Day 2.  I tried to order a virgin mango colada at Mama Mia yesterday, but they told me they only had strawberry.  Alan must have been listening,  because he had two delivered to our room today.  After pigging out, I took about a two hour nap and woke up to news of the Caribbean itineraries opening up for Fall 2021.  Alan had Next Cruise in our suite within a few minutes of release, and we scored 8730 for November 2021 on Oasis.  Have I mentioned how amazing "Genie Alan" is?!?!  As we were leaving CocoCay, he was playing games with the kids on the balcony.  About that time, our 9 year old Christian, showed Alan his Pichu stuffed animal.  That stuffed animal is his best buddy,  and boy has it seen better days.  It's head is half way torn off with stuffing coming out, but he loves that thing.  When Alan saw it, he took Pichu with him and 15 minutes later brought it back stitched back together.  #bestgenieever.  It was formal night tonight, but we were feeling lazy and opted for 150 Central Park delivery.  The two older kids just wanted to go to Adventure Ocean, so we grabbed them a quick bite at the Windjammer.  We dropped them off and then had 150 on the balcony.  Alan also surprised us with 6 "the world" desserts after I had briefly mentioned yesterday that that was the only part of Chef's Table that I wanted to try.  Then, off to the second half of Mama Mia.  We preferred the first half, but still enjoyed the second half and are glad we attended.  Now, we are off to bed and ready for tomorrow's adventure.

Beautiful photos of Alan and your lovely family .I hope you continue having a wonderful time...So touched he fixed your sons Picachu what a gem of a genie