Va4fam

Day 3 - dinner at Wonderland 
Bottom line: I liked it, and I definitely would go back. I didn’t think that I’d be saying that, but maybe I’m more adventurous than I thought? I am a foodie, and I appreciate all of the work that goes into making the dishes so pretty. It reminded me of Victoria & Alberts at WDW, just less formal. V&A dabbles in molecular gastronomy, while Wonderland goes all out. Our waiter brought all of the appetizers and thoroughly explained each one as they arrived to the table. He recommended that we choose 3 to 4 entrees and share them family style. We chose 4: pork belly, halibut, short rib, and chicken. For dessert, again, he just brought them all. 
Buffalo Chicken Eggs


Something mushroomy and Liquid Lobster

 
Shrimp Kataifi

Crispy Crab Cone

Reconstructed Caprese 

Oceanic Citrus

Baby Vegetables in the Garden

Halibut Cooked in Clear Paper

Short Rib

Pork Belly

Chicken. That “egg” is made of cauliflower and butternut squash!

Magical Mushroom dessert 

The World dessert 

Sadly, the picture for the Forbidden Apple dessert was too blurry. We liked that one the best. 
Kids Meal was comprised of mac&cheese fries and popcorn chicken: 



 

Mercedes Lafuente.
While the Gift lacked cohesiveness, it was visually appealing. I think that if you like theatre, then you’ll appreciate the talent on stage. It’s not their fault that the storyline is a little wonky. 

Mitch went on vacation a few weeks ago.

Day 4 (Day 2 of cruise) Sea Day
So we are boring folk, we had coffee in the room and Scott ordered danish.  Ordered for 7-7:30 and got the call at 6:30.  Coffee was good and Scott was not impressed with the danish and said they were better on Disney, but the danish were eaten....so not sure what were not good.  LOL  El Loco Fresh opened at 8a so we are there, Scott enjoyed the breakfast burritos and my cold scrambled eggs were well cold.  My only complaint about the food would be breakfast, you can't keep skillets of scrambled eggs warm and they are full skillets.  Breakfast was never busy that we saw here but the skillets always were full.  After El Loco Fresh we went to the Solarium to see what was there and shockingly Scott ordered an omelet and I had an apple.  Scott was impressed with the omelet as it was served quick (Disney omelet station is a mess) .  After breakfast #2 it is time for a Cold Brew from Starbucks then we walk around and people watch.  
The carousel opens at 10a and well we must ride it!
 
F
For reference I am the one with sun glasses.  ?
So the reason the carousel was a must for us is because it was made in our hometown.  Both the Oasis and Allure carousels came from good ole Mansfield, Ohio.  No idea why only 2 of the Oasis class were made here and not the others.  Below is a link to the company and pictures from the install and facts of each
http://www.carouselworks.com/carousel/carGalls/caroGall.htm
 
Lunch was at Windjammers as El Loco had a huge line and well I hate standing in line for food.  LOL  
After lunch it was nap time for Scott while I got my steps and and also zip lined, I figured if I died from the zip line it would be better for him not to witness it.  I made it btw 
Dinner was scheduled at 7:30 tonight but we show up at 7 and get taken in right away.  We were not seated in the same section as the first night and service was slow.  No clue what we ordered but no complaints.  Even though service was slow we were out by 8:45 and then we went and watched Aqua 80s in the back stand up area since we do not have reservations until tomorrow.  Even only seeing 1/2 the show wow it is amazing!  I will hold off my review until I see the entire show.
Bed time for now.
 
Day 5
Labadee
We were excited for this beach day but the wind and rain had other ideas.  We did make it off the ship early.  Love the LABADEE sign when you first enter from the pier but we never got a picture as everyone is there first thing.  We collect ornaments and this is the only port we have not been to so first thing on list is to get a christmas ornament.  Growing up on a working farm I am used to tractors, but honestly I didn't think one would be pulling the tram on the island.  We made it to the vendor market and well the we did get our ornament but the vendors were so aggressive that I just wanted to get back to the ship.  Scott thinks I am over reacting but it was not my cup of tea.  I know many prefer Labadee over CoCo Cay but I look forward to trying CoCo someday!  LOL  I grew up on dirt roads and well I prefer then paved or concrete or something....sand roads and random animals (I swear a dog was following us and was hungry- I can run faster than Scott so if needed I will sacrifice Scott).  The ship was empty and we just walked around and again people watched.  The shirtless crew may have been doing the slow rider and we may have watched as well.  
Lunch was at Windjammer and El Loco and refreshments from Starbucks.
Dinner was back in the section from the first night, we were asked where we were last night and we told them we were seated in another section.  They told us they had 2 tops free all night so that made no sense.  Service was great and dinner good.
Tonight is Aqua 80, however due to ocean conditions it was cancelled.
Bedtime for us 
 
 

Thanks.   Don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing them.
We haven't "earned" the pins yet, still Gold until our cruise next month.
Will be Diamond by October of next year (fingers crossed).

Thanks.   Don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing them.
We haven't "earned" the pins yet, still Gold until our cruise next month.
Will be Diamond by October of next year (fingers crossed).

To celebrate my Mother in Law’s birthday this year, we’re taking her on her first cruise! My FIL passed away a couple of years ago, and then she had a really hard time selling her home of 40 years. She’s finally settled in her new place, and my husband and I thought she was overdue for a getaway...or maybe we are just using her as an excuse to YOLO go on another cruise. ?‍♀️ Either way, we are boarding Enchantment of the Seas ON HER BIRTHDAY for a 5 day Western Caribbean cruise! I’ve been sending her videos, photos, reviews, menus and the like just about weekly since we booked, and it seems to have become all we talk about. She is so excited!

I'll post all the specifics over the coming days as I get a few minutes of free time. In my typical fashion, I've crammed as much as possible into this last full week at home - 4 client meetings, orders to fill, doctor and dentist appointments for everyone, hair appointments, plus our regular school and evening activities... at some point I'm really just going to learn to clear my calendar the week before and after vacation! 
Here are a few of the details to get us going:
DH, the kids, and I haven’t really changed from our September cruise on Liberty. Well I have purple hair now, but otherwise, we’re the same! My mid-life crisis included drastic hair coloring and buying a bicycle ?‍♀️ - I figure it’s a lot less expensive than a new sports car! Here’s a link to my post from Liberty a few months ago. In case you want the short version, DH’s a VERY early riser and a type A personality who likes to relax and do nothing on vacations. I’m a night owl, and much more relaxed in our day to day lives, who wants to do it all when we travel. Sounds like a sitcom, right? Did I mention he’s 6’4” and I’m barely 5’? I homeschool the kids on an almost year-round schedule, so this will be one of our two spring breaks. My DD is 11 and on the Autism Spectrum, and my DS is almost 8 and made of rubber. My MIL (Mimi) will be turning 7… Well I’m not going to say exactly, but DH (who I have no problem ratting out) is 47, so you get the general idea. She broke her ankle a couple of years ago, and we have tried to be sensitive to her walking long distances and on shifting beach sand in our planning.
MIL and I get along really well and we’re all staying in a 2 Bedroom Grand Suite (8052) similar to the one we stayed in on Liberty. Besides squeezing in another person, we’re on the side, not an aft this time, so the balcony is sadly going to be much smaller. The two aft 2br suites were both booked already, so we're in one of the remaining two that are directly under part of the Windjammer. From deck maps, it looks we pretty close to the very front of the WJ annex though; hopefully there won’t be too much scraping of chairs above us (and gnashing of teeth in our cabin).

We've used the soda package before, as my wife doesn't drink much but ordering a soda helps keep our table when we are dancing!

I decided to celebrate my 40th birthday with my first ever cruise! My birthday is in August, but I decided to go in June. Oasis of the Seas, leaving June 7th from New Jersey. Anyone else going?
I appreciate Brock with M.E.I. Travel for helping me. He'll probably be sick of all my questions by cruise time! ?

We try to use the port-heavy vs. sea day equation but also factor in if one of the ports is Coco Cay or Labadee.
Our next cruise has 4 ports in 7 days (no private island) so we chose the refreshment package and will supplement with our 2 bottles of wine, drink specials, and lots of "day drinking" on the beaches.   I'm curious to see if we come out ahead.  

+1 for the Lemon Meringue Cheesecake at Jamie's!

So... My final take-aways.  First of all, I focused this blog mostly on the trip and not necessarily the ship because it's something different.  I really like vision.  The crew, the cruise director, the activities director, my stateroom attendant...I have no complaints!!  They were all amazing.  I'm not a picky cruiser and vision was totally fine, especially for a port heavy itinerary.  It truly never felt crowded except when chair hogs hit the decks.  I felt like the ship was in good condition (yes a bit of rust here and there, but hey, that's me too lol) and the shower curtain doesn't bug me.  That being said, we had some negatives as well.  The music venues are very limited, the bars were limited and the activities are limited.  For me, that was fine.  My sea days involved myself and 5 novels!  My husband, who had previously been on adventure, freedom and allure surprised me by saying he really prefers the bigger ships.  He would rather sail on a bigger ship if we can get the same itineraries and trade the price difference by staying in an interior room.  We are scheduled on rhapsody for next spring break...we got an amazing deal and great itinerary (including Belize and Roatan) but we may cancel and save up a bit... Especially if we decide to go to the UK next summer.  
   Speaking of itineraries... Europe was mostly amazing!!!  We did find that just like the Caribbean, there are better ports and that we are excursion people.  A whole day of shopping won't work for us...we need something to do.  Otherwise, you start seeing the same shops, just like in the Caribbean!!  
   Long trips:. We found that 12 days was just awesome!  But I was still sad to get off... The 2nd to last day is always gonna suck no matter how long your cruise is!
   Eating:. Unless there is lots of variety, we will probably decrease our specialty dining... It's just too much food.  Same for the dining room...we will continue to do my time because we just don't want 2 hour dining every night.  We enjoyed windjammer on those days we were tired and just wanted to relax, or had eaten big at port.
   Drink pkg:. The drink pkg even on 12 days was totally worth it.  We went through at least 3 bottles of water every day, coffee every morning, 2 glasses of wine with dinner and at least 1 cocktail a day.  Could we do without it, yes but for us it is really worth it and again, I'd be willing to go with a smaller room to afford it.  It was pricy but it worked for us absolutely.  Just FYI, the lowest price we ever saw was $48/day, and $57 with the internet 1 device each.  The drink card never showed up on our 12 day cruise so people must have been purchasing enough drinks!  
Packing:. Ok... So I definitely did better this trip, but could have done a bit better.  We managed 3 checked bags and 1 carry-on and didn't bring back a lot of souvenirs.  I could have done better... The laundry bag was amazing and my stateroom attendant made me fill enough for two bags and charged for one.  Nothing shrunk and next time I could easily pack fewer bathing suits and PJs and cover-ups.  Still would worry about my dresses, but none of Jeff's nice polos shrank!  
So that is our trip.  I'm so sad it's over...we have dreamed of this for a lifetime and planned it for almost 2 years.  But we have memories to last us forever, amazing pictures and the knowledge that we will do what we can to continue traveling.  Life is way too short not to try and travel, and for us it's a priority!  Thanks for coming along on our voyage with us!  Jane

As promised here are some archive photos from past Anthem cruises.
Indoor Family Pool at Night




Solarium at Various Times on Different Cruises









Some Outside Pictures








Inaugural Miami Visit

Suggestions for a good travel agent? I recommend and personally use MEI Travel (Disclosure: MEI Travel is a paid sponsor of this site. I used them even before they were a sponsor) https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/mei

Not trying to hijack the thread......my next cruise is in 4 weeks and some of the deals I see right now may not be around by the time I get onboard and meet with NextCruise.  
NextCruise has been fantastic with getting my TA (MEI travel) the information when I make a booking.
 

Once you book with the TA, the only way you can get the "Booking Onboard Deal" would be to cancel and rebook while onboard your next sailing. If you book a nonrefundable with T/A, that will cost you. Even if you book a refundable with the T/A, you will have to cancel and rebook at the current rate while onboard.
It works well when you book onboard(especially the longer sailings) and then transfer the booking to get your T/A OBC. You have 60 days after booking onboard to transfer to your T/A. If your current cruise(the one you are on) is through an agent, it will be on file with RCI, and usually is automatically transferred to your agent on file. My agent generally gives about 8% of the cruise fare(before taxes) as OBC.
 
 
Booking a specific cruise
-------------------------
•5-7 night cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $50
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $100
◦Grand Suite and above: $200
•8-10 night cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $100
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $150
◦Grand Suite and above: $300
•11-14 night cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $150
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $200
◦Grand Suite and above: $400
•15 nights or longer cruises
◦Interior/Oceanview: $200
◦Balcony/Junior Suite: $250
◦Grand Suite and above: $500
 

Just make sure it is a refundable deposit  ?

I booked onboard recently. My TA almost immediately found me a much better deal for the same room and I rebooked the next day. Had to pay the higher deposit, but ended up much better off. 

Not much to add here:  stay in right lane, get there by 10:30 am, tip the porters/longshoreman, park and walk back to terminal. 
We had a starboard side balcony and watched the huge traffic jam at 1:30 pm on embarkation day.   
I will ADD that post cruise, as we paid for our parking and were leaving the garage, a big, burly longshoreman said to us "yous guyz have a safe and pleasant journey home."    Very nice touch.

Just got email that Royal Up bid was accepted. Upgraded to Grand Suite from Junior Suite for Feb 20th sailing on Grandeur. Put in the bid about a month ago for $135 over minimum bid of $300. 
 
Received email last night that RC tried to charge the payment card I put down on the bid, but I didnt realize the card expired. The email told me to either contact my original card issuer and RC would try charging again or to change payment method within 24 hours. I updated the card and sure enough about 24 hours after that first email I got a confirmation email of the upgrade. 
 
 

The drink card can be shared..so with a few people makes your liver and wallet hurt a little less!

Not much to add here:  stay in right lane, get there by 10:30 am, tip the porters/longshoreman, park and walk back to terminal. 
We had a starboard side balcony and watched the huge traffic jam at 1:30 pm on embarkation day.   
I will ADD that post cruise, as we paid for our parking and were leaving the garage, a big, burly longshoreman said to us "yous guyz have a safe and pleasant journey home."    Very nice touch.

Not much to add here:  stay in right lane, get there by 10:30 am, tip the porters/longshoreman, park and walk back to terminal. 
We had a starboard side balcony and watched the huge traffic jam at 1:30 pm on embarkation day.   
I will ADD that post cruise, as we paid for our parking and were leaving the garage, a big, burly longshoreman said to us "yous guyz have a safe and pleasant journey home."    Very nice touch.

Not much to add here:  stay in right lane, get there by 10:30 am, tip the porters/longshoreman, park and walk back to terminal. 
We had a starboard side balcony and watched the huge traffic jam at 1:30 pm on embarkation day.   
I will ADD that post cruise, as we paid for our parking and were leaving the garage, a big, burly longshoreman said to us "yous guyz have a safe and pleasant journey home."    Very nice touch.

Not much to add here:  stay in right lane, get there by 10:30 am, tip the porters/longshoreman, park and walk back to terminal. 
We had a starboard side balcony and watched the huge traffic jam at 1:30 pm on embarkation day.   
I will ADD that post cruise, as we paid for our parking and were leaving the garage, a big, burly longshoreman said to us "yous guyz have a safe and pleasant journey home."    Very nice touch.