wannabecruiseexpert

After lunch we walked around more and when we got back we had more snacks 

 
More sushi! Smitha is doing a great job sending assorted mixed drinks for the adults and virgin drinks for the kids. Earlier I said I don’t eat sushi but those fried things in the picture at about 10 o’clock were amazing. Anyone know what those are called? 
The night before, one of my kids asked if there was anywhere to get a pickle, and I told her I didn’t think so but I would find out. I asked on Facebook and they said maybe the Windjammer but everything was already closed so I asked Smitha the next day if there was anywhere and she said they have sliced pickles didn’t know about big ones but she would find out. Less than 10 minutes later the doorbell rings and we got this

Smitha for the win!! 

Yesterday started with breakfast on the balcony from Johnny Rocket’s. I was worried about the temperature of the food but it was still hot.  
 
Today was a sea day and our first formal night. The big kids roamed the ship and we took the little one to the pool. I haven’t noticed any capacity limits for the pool but they were enforcing a limit of 7 (or 8 ) on the circle current thing that makes you swim around in circles. Not sure what it’s called but it was really neat and after a a few minutes we were told to get out, even though there were no people waiting to get in. I’ll take pics of it later.
For lunch, half of us went to Johnny Rocket’s and the other half went to Izumi for sushi. I don’t eat sushi but they said both the food and the service was great!
 
Our waiter at Johnny Rocket’s began telling us all the prices and how shakes were extra and then I asked if it was included in star class and he was like, “oh you have a black card? Forget everything I just said” Told us we could order anything we wanted and as much of it we wanted and then told us we could take the chairs if we wanted😂 Kids thought it was hilarious! It was also really great seeing the staff dance. DD6 got up and danced with them and it was so cute 🥰 
 

After lunch we walked around more and when we got back we had more snacks 

 
More sushi! Smitha is doing a great job sending assorted mixed drinks for the adults and virgin drinks for the kids. Earlier I said I don’t eat sushi but those fried things in the picture at about 10 o’clock were amazing. Anyone know what those are called? 
The night before, one of my kids asked if there was anywhere to get a pickle, and I told her I didn’t think so but I would find out. I asked on Facebook and they said maybe the Windjammer but everything was already closed so I asked Smitha the next day if there was anywhere and she said they have sliced pickles didn’t know about big ones but she would find out. Less than 10 minutes later the doorbell rings and we got this

Smitha for the win!! 

Yesterday started with breakfast on the balcony from Johnny Rocket’s. I was worried about the temperature of the food but it was still hot.  
 
Today was a sea day and our first formal night. The big kids roamed the ship and we took the little one to the pool. I haven’t noticed any capacity limits for the pool but they were enforcing a limit of 7 (or 8 ) on the circle current thing that makes you swim around in circles. Not sure what it’s called but it was really neat and after a a few minutes we were told to get out, even though there were no people waiting to get in. I’ll take pics of it later.
For lunch, half of us went to Johnny Rocket’s and the other half went to Izumi for sushi. I don’t eat sushi but they said both the food and the service was great!
 
Our waiter at Johnny Rocket’s began telling us all the prices and how shakes were extra and then I asked if it was included in star class and he was like, “oh you have a black card? Forget everything I just said” Told us we could order anything we wanted and as much of it we wanted and then told us we could take the chairs if we wanted😂 Kids thought it was hilarious! It was also really great seeing the staff dance. DD6 got up and danced with them and it was so cute 🥰 
 

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it. 

 

So getting on the ship was horrible! 

We arrive at 11:30 and didn’t get on the ship until about 1:20. It took forever to get the test result for the little one. Finally get the negative  email and finish checking in and we had no clue if we were supposed to wait for Smitha or not. I ask someone if we’re supposed to be with our genie and they went and asked a different person who told them that Smitha had been there waiting for us. 
 
Once we got with her, she took us to our room which was full of snacks and drinks. 
 

Tomorrow’s the big day! I can’t contain my excitement. This trip has been such a long time coming. 
1 CVS test and 6 at home tests done and all negative. Our flight to MCO was Friday at 6. I saw on our FB group that cancellations were starting due to MCO halting flights in and out due to some bad storms. I saw 4 flights heading to MCO and 3 were either delayed or canceled. Ours said on time. We boarded and started moving, only for the pilot to say they were told we couldn’t land so we’re going to wait a while and they would update us in 30 minutes. Then another 30. After about an hour and half they had us get off and said they were trying to figure it out. 
I had no clue what I was going to do. The drive would have been about 8 hours and by this time it’s after 8 pm so I figured I better go ahead and start the drive. Decided to check one last time and by some miracle, they said we were allowed to land and we’d board again in about 15 minutes. We ended up landing about 11:30 pm. So many people are still having issues trying to get here!
 Now off to TRY and get some sleep and dream of an easy embarkation  😴 💤 
 

Thank you to all of the fabulous bloggers on here that have helped feed my newly found addiction this past year. I am going to try and give back and hopefully give you something to read while waiting on your next cruise!
 
The who – Myself, DH, 3 daughters (22, 14, 6), and then DD22 and DD14 are both bringing a friend
The what – Our week full of firsts. This will be our first time: in a suite, sailing star class, trying a specialty restaurant, letting the older kids bring a friend (what were we thinking 🤪), trying out the Beach Club, sailing on an Oasis class ship, visiting Costa Maya, sailing out of Port Canaveral and my first ever blog! Those are just the easy ones I can think of off the top of my head.
The when: Sailing October 10 - October 17. DH will drive down Oct 8 by himself (he doesn’t like to fly). Myself, DD14, her friend and DD6 will fly down the evening of Oct 8. DD22 and her friend are flying down Oct 9.
The where: Our itinerary is ORLANDO (PORT CANAVERAL), FL ; COZUMEL, MEXICO ; PUERTO COSTA MAYA, MEXICO ; NASSAU, BAHAMAS ; PERFECT DAY AT COCOCAY
The why: Do we seriously need a reason??? We booked this one sometime mid last year and it has since evolved into a college graduation cruise for the oldest.
The how: As I said above, this sailing was booked sometime last year. I was upset a huge milestone birthday cruise for myself was cancelled. I was reading all of the live blogs about star class and I thought it would be something I could only dream about. Then one day one of the fabulous posters here mentioned a great price on this sailing. I looked it up, price was doable, it just so happened to be fall break according to our school district’s future draft calendar so kids wouldn’t miss school. It's like it was meant to be! I emailed the fabulous @michelleand the rest is history.
 
Countdown: 20 days until flight ; 22 days until boarding 

Yesterday started with breakfast on the balcony from Johnny Rocket’s. I was worried about the temperature of the food but it was still hot.  
 
Today was a sea day and our first formal night. The big kids roamed the ship and we took the little one to the pool. I haven’t noticed any capacity limits for the pool but they were enforcing a limit of 7 (or 8 ) on the circle current thing that makes you swim around in circles. Not sure what it’s called but it was really neat and after a a few minutes we were told to get out, even though there were no people waiting to get in. I’ll take pics of it later.
For lunch, half of us went to Johnny Rocket’s and the other half went to Izumi for sushi. I don’t eat sushi but they said both the food and the service was great!
 
Our waiter at Johnny Rocket’s began telling us all the prices and how shakes were extra and then I asked if it was included in star class and he was like, “oh you have a black card? Forget everything I just said” Told us we could order anything we wanted and as much of it we wanted and then told us we could take the chairs if we wanted😂 Kids thought it was hilarious! It was also really great seeing the staff dance. DD6 got up and danced with them and it was so cute 🥰 
 

Yesterday started with breakfast on the balcony from Johnny Rocket’s. I was worried about the temperature of the food but it was still hot.  
 
Today was a sea day and our first formal night. The big kids roamed the ship and we took the little one to the pool. I haven’t noticed any capacity limits for the pool but they were enforcing a limit of 7 (or 8 ) on the circle current thing that makes you swim around in circles. Not sure what it’s called but it was really neat and after a a few minutes we were told to get out, even though there were no people waiting to get in. I’ll take pics of it later.
For lunch, half of us went to Johnny Rocket’s and the other half went to Izumi for sushi. I don’t eat sushi but they said both the food and the service was great!
 
Our waiter at Johnny Rocket’s began telling us all the prices and how shakes were extra and then I asked if it was included in star class and he was like, “oh you have a black card? Forget everything I just said” Told us we could order anything we wanted and as much of it we wanted and then told us we could take the chairs if we wanted😂 Kids thought it was hilarious! It was also really great seeing the staff dance. DD6 got up and danced with them and it was so cute 🥰 
 

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it. 

 

So getting on the ship was horrible! 

We arrive at 11:30 and didn’t get on the ship until about 1:20. It took forever to get the test result for the little one. Finally get the negative  email and finish checking in and we had no clue if we were supposed to wait for Smitha or not. I ask someone if we’re supposed to be with our genie and they went and asked a different person who told them that Smitha had been there waiting for us. 
 
Once we got with her, she took us to our room which was full of snacks and drinks. 
 

Tomorrow’s the big day! I can’t contain my excitement. This trip has been such a long time coming. 
1 CVS test and 6 at home tests done and all negative. Our flight to MCO was Friday at 6. I saw on our FB group that cancellations were starting due to MCO halting flights in and out due to some bad storms. I saw 4 flights heading to MCO and 3 were either delayed or canceled. Ours said on time. We boarded and started moving, only for the pilot to say they were told we couldn’t land so we’re going to wait a while and they would update us in 30 minutes. Then another 30. After about an hour and half they had us get off and said they were trying to figure it out. 
I had no clue what I was going to do. The drive would have been about 8 hours and by this time it’s after 8 pm so I figured I better go ahead and start the drive. Decided to check one last time and by some miracle, they said we were allowed to land and we’d board again in about 15 minutes. We ended up landing about 11:30 pm. So many people are still having issues trying to get here!
 Now off to TRY and get some sleep and dream of an easy embarkation  😴 💤 
 

There were a few cans of Dr. Pepper in the fridge. Not sure where she found them but the kids were extremely happy about that!

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it. 

 

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it. 

 

So getting on the ship was horrible! 

We arrive at 11:30 and didn’t get on the ship until about 1:20. It took forever to get the test result for the little one. Finally get the negative  email and finish checking in and we had no clue if we were supposed to wait for Smitha or not. I ask someone if we’re supposed to be with our genie and they went and asked a different person who told them that Smitha had been there waiting for us. 
 
Once we got with her, she took us to our room which was full of snacks and drinks. 
 

So getting on the ship was horrible! 

We arrive at 11:30 and didn’t get on the ship until about 1:20. It took forever to get the test result for the little one. Finally get the negative  email and finish checking in and we had no clue if we were supposed to wait for Smitha or not. I ask someone if we’re supposed to be with our genie and they went and asked a different person who told them that Smitha had been there waiting for us. 
 
Once we got with her, she took us to our room which was full of snacks and drinks. 
 

There were a few cans of Dr. Pepper in the fridge. Not sure where she found them but the kids were extremely happy about that!

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it. 

 

So getting on the ship was horrible! 

We arrive at 11:30 and didn’t get on the ship until about 1:20. It took forever to get the test result for the little one. Finally get the negative  email and finish checking in and we had no clue if we were supposed to wait for Smitha or not. I ask someone if we’re supposed to be with our genie and they went and asked a different person who told them that Smitha had been there waiting for us. 
 
Once we got with her, she took us to our room which was full of snacks and drinks. 
 

Tomorrow’s the big day! I can’t contain my excitement. This trip has been such a long time coming. 
1 CVS test and 6 at home tests done and all negative. Our flight to MCO was Friday at 6. I saw on our FB group that cancellations were starting due to MCO halting flights in and out due to some bad storms. I saw 4 flights heading to MCO and 3 were either delayed or canceled. Ours said on time. We boarded and started moving, only for the pilot to say they were told we couldn’t land so we’re going to wait a while and they would update us in 30 minutes. Then another 30. After about an hour and half they had us get off and said they were trying to figure it out. 
I had no clue what I was going to do. The drive would have been about 8 hours and by this time it’s after 8 pm so I figured I better go ahead and start the drive. Decided to check one last time and by some miracle, they said we were allowed to land and we’d board again in about 15 minutes. We ended up landing about 11:30 pm. So many people are still having issues trying to get here!
 Now off to TRY and get some sleep and dream of an easy embarkation  😴 💤 
 

So getting on the ship was horrible! 

We arrive at 11:30 and didn’t get on the ship until about 1:20. It took forever to get the test result for the little one. Finally get the negative  email and finish checking in and we had no clue if we were supposed to wait for Smitha or not. I ask someone if we’re supposed to be with our genie and they went and asked a different person who told them that Smitha had been there waiting for us. 
 
Once we got with her, she took us to our room which was full of snacks and drinks. 
 

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it. 

 

We had lunch at Sabor, which we ALL loved but the portions are huge. I had the chicken stuffed jalapeños and shared quesadillas with DD6. The staff was also really good, especially with the little one. There’s not many things she likes better than being called princess 👑 
Dinner was at Coastal Kitchen. I’ve talked up the filet so much (after reading all about it here) that everyone other than DD6 got it and everyone loved it.