JVPIII

Absolutely. Glad to have you along. When do you sail? We have only sailed once in an AQ room but it was fantastic hopefully no early morning banging sound this time for either of us!

Ok We are officially in the 30 day countdown and I was able to finalize some details today. For travel from our hotel to the cruise terminal I have pre scheduled a Lyft for a 9:30 am pick up. With morning cruise traffic this should put us at the terminal at 10 am or just before and that is exactly what I am shooting for. Uber lets you plan 90 days ahead but Lyft only 30 days which is why I had to wait until today. I am glad I did as an XL was half the price on Lyft. We have 4 not so small people and all our luggage so an XL is a must. Excursions: St. Maarten - Private Tour through Red Rose Island Tours booked through Viator St. Thomas - Private half Jeep Tour by Jammin Jeep Tours LLC booked through Viator Perfect Day at Coco Cay - Beach Club Day pass for everyone I was able to book the two excursions on Viator today after finally wrangling everyone and finalizing what we wanted to do for those days in port. The private tours will allow us to get away from crowds and go at our own pace. Our PDCC beach club day passes have been booked for almost a year. I originally had a Beach Cabana booked as I knew I wanted to spend the day in the beach club and the cabana includes beach club access for up to 4 people . When I originally priced excursions Beach club access was over $200 per person, so it would have been almost $900 for the four of us and the cabana was only $950. Then fast forward to Black Friday sale last year and Beach Club Day passes went down to $88 per person, so I canceled the Cabana and got the passes. Saved myself a significant amount. In other news the cruise excitement is becoming all consuming. I am driving my family crazy because I can think about little else. My brain has officially checked out. LOL My Family Me

Which restaurant do you guys go to that is like Mason jar? Would love to try it next time we are in Orlando

What time did you have your driver pick you up? What time did you arrive in port? I am trying to judge when to have our driver pick us up in October.

OTS was our first Star class Cruise. My first cruise with Royal as a matter of fact and we loved it. It will always be one of my favorites I think.

Writing about it does make it real!! I cant wait to join on your adventures. I love your blogs!!

I can definitely see that. I have definitely had some sub par lobster.

Finally someone who agrees with me. Everyone here seems to adore mushrooms and can not stop talking about the much loved bowl of mud, I mean mushroom soup.

Welcome to the show. I will be documenting the room with lots of pictures so stay tuned for that. I was in an A1 on Oasis so I am also curious how it will differ on Harmony.

This was my plan as well. I will of course tell our Genie that we will be there early.

I did the same thing. Set an alarm and checked in right at midnight. I was surprised that 11:30 was the earliest time available as well. No matter we will most likely be there in the suite area by 10. I already told the family breakfast then ride to the ship. If not ready I will see them when the ship comes back. * For legal purposes this is only a joke

It is good to be prepared but I hope this doesn't happen to you. You guys have had enough travel woes.

Check-in opened for our cruise today at midnight and I quickly took care of that for our group. At least I chose a boarding time for us, the rest of the check-in process can be done at at later time but I wanted to secure a boarding time. I chose 11:30 a.m., which was the earliest available. I wanted to make sure that I chose the earliest time because I have seen that some genies have said that they could only accommodate boarding times that were within a 1 hour window of selected boarding time and I want to get on as soon as possible. That is part of the reason we are staying in Miami, even though we only live 2 hours from the port. What has everyone's recent experience with this? If from the Harmony it would be even better as I know different ships do not always have the same rules.

I love a day at the beach and will be glad for my PDCC day because we will be in the beach club so Beach, Pool, Drinks, and good food will be had by all. I dont know how I will stand it. Talk about first world problems. * Actual footage of me prancing on the beach

Glad to have you along for the adventure. I am sure I am not the earliest but I will take on the burden if it releases @Lovetocruise2002 from having to deal with the stigma. Honestly I am sure that I speak for a lot of us here when I say that you can start you blog as early as you want. In fact I would be happy to read just a daily adventures of you and your family. I always look forward to hearing your perspective on things. That reputation does seem to linger for her doesn't it. I think that @Matt has everything to do with this . You should start whenever you want. If gives us all more to read and I can tell you it helps with the vacation anticipation.

This is the first time that I have had PDCC at the end of the itinerary and I am not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand it is a great way to close out the cruise and on the other there is no sea day to reflect on the vacation and get used to the idea that that trip is over. I let you know how it goes. As far as the food arguably the best part of any cruise. Truffles will not be eaten unless we are talking about the chocolate kind . Unpopular opinion I know but I can not stand mushrooms or truffles.

Alright everyone, I am going to try this blogging thing but I make no promises that it will be any good. I am currently sitting here at work and I can not stop anticipating how great it will be to get back onto a Star Class sailing!! I feel the food coma already!! The next 47 days can not go fast enough. Why is it that it is always so slow getting here but zooms by so fast once you get on the ship? Who's Going? Me- John (Everyone calls me JT), Boyfriend - Rick, Mom- Donna, and Dad - John Make sure to stay tuned for Pictures. We tend to be a camera shy bunch but we usually make an exception on vacations. Pre-Cruise Travel / Stay We live on Florida's west coast and usually drive to the port the morning of as it is an easy 2 hour drive to Miami. This time however we will be getting to the port a day early and staying at the Hilton Miami/Downtown. I found and booked two King Bed Bayview rooms with a Park and Sail rate for one so we can leave our truck at the hotel. while we are on the cruise. We have never stayed at the hotel but I liked the pictures I saw online and I like the idea of being able to wake up and see the ships out our window. Anyone who has stayed her before have any thoughts? It will also be nice to be able to not have to get up so early and rush through breakfast to drive across the state. We plan to take a Lyft or Uber the morning of the cruise depending on prevailing rates. We will need a large truck or suv as the four of us (read my Mom and I) do not pack light and we will need room for the luggage. They both can be booked 30 days in advance so once I am able to price I can finalize those plans. Itinerary This will be a 7 night sailing roundtrip from Port Miami visiting Philipsburg St. Maarten, Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, and Perfect Day at Coco Cay Bahamas. I liked this itinerary because it starts out with two sea days that will allow us to soak up the star class amenities on the ship at the beginning of our vacation. Day 1 Departs Miami Day 2 Sea Day Day 3 Sea Day Day 4 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 8am - 5pm Day 5 Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas 7am - 3pm Day 6 Sea Day Day 7 Perfect Day at Coco Cay, Bahamas 9am - 5 pm Day 8 - Back to Miami (Cue the Crying) Cabin A1 - Spacious 2 Bedroom Aqua Theater Suite Cabin #8330 We liked this room on our first Star Class sailing so we decided to try it again on a different ship (we were on Oasis of the Seas the first time). The only thing that would have made us switch was the Royal Loft Suite, due to the upgraded bathrooms and hot tub on the balcony, however I could not justify the jump of $7000 for the week for just those differences. Thoughts so Far While myself, Mom and Dad have all sailed on an Oasis class ship before this will be Rick's first time and I can not wait to see the look on his face when we walk on the ship the first time escorted by our Genie no less. Then again to see the excitement in his eyes when he walks into our cabin and gets a glimpse of the view off the back of the ship that we will have the whole week. I am usually the trip planner of the family, as I own and operate my own travel agency (Barefoot Vacation Travel). It is nice sometimes, although painful , to let go of the reigns a little and let the genie plan out shows and meals. Just for my own curiosity I did play around on the cruise planner and priced out what the Deluxe Beverage Package, Ultimate Dining Package, The Key and the internet Package for the four of us and just those amenities would have been an additional $5300 for the week so while not inexpensive I feel Star Class definitely is worth it for us. We plan on eating at all the specialty restaurants as well as doing the chefs table. We are excited to try out Wonderland, even if it turns out to be a one and done as we all like to try new things. Chefs table will be at Rick's request as he has never done it. We got the generic pre cruise survey just a few days ago and filled that out and sent it back. While like most we felt that this was not used on our first cruise it is fun to get together as a family and fill it out. For those wondering the three people I would invite to a dinner party is Lucille Ball, Betty White, and Stephen King ( make of that what you will). Please feel free to follow along and ask any questions. If there is anything that you would like me to check or take pictures of please let me know and I will be happy to oblige. Here is to hoping that the next month goes by fast and that our cruise does not.

Sadly mine were the same. I love the Ranger cookies and mine did not come out anything like they should have. More fluffy. Definitely not as good as the ones direct from the source.

Funnily enough I had the same experience with the Bao tacos on my Freedom of the Seas cruise this past weekend. I usually enjoy them but I thought they were dry and did not have the same flavor as in the past. No worries. my waistline can attest to the fact that I found lots of other things to sink my teeth into!

I never understood why you wouldn't want to get this out of the way to enjoy the rest of your cruise.

No worries. You are on vacation. While I am sad about the news I cant say I was surprised. Thank you for checking.

Sorry to see your week end!! I have enjoyed your thoughts this week. By chance were you able to inquire about the escape room and when/if it will be repaired? Thanks again.

Absolutely agree! Too cold for this Florida man.

Thank you so much!!

I am looking forward to you blog as we will be in room 8330 just on the other side of the ship. We love the 2 Bedroom Aqua Theater and look forward to your impressions of Harmony.