Ogilthorpe

Dinner on this night featured a souffle. Back in 2006/07, we went on a Princess cruise where the dessert chef made souffles every night, even doing a savory souffle on one occasion. To this day, I feel like that spoiled us because whenever we get a souffle on a cruise, we’re inevitably comparing it to something from (now) 13 years ago. Unfair? You bet it is.

In this case, the souffles were a bit overcooked. It still tasted good, but you could almost imagine Gordon Ramsay throwing a fit and inventing about 20 new curse words to describe the not-perfect souffles. The mains, however, were on point. Kids aren’t big fans of alfredo sauce so we asked to get a red sauce for the linguini – no issues with that substitution.
 After dinner, we went to see the revue show, “Once Upon A Time”. This was a song and dance show with sets based around popular fairy tales. In a sense, it’s similar to what DCL does with their “Wishes” and “Believe” shows, subtracting Disney songs and any semblance of plot, while adding contemporary music and more choreography. Including what I think was an original disco song to open and close the show. The less said about THAT song, the better.
 I will not say that it was the most enjoyable show ever, but it wasn’t the worst I’d seen either. But certainly not a show I’ll need to see again, whereas I happily rewatch Blue Planet (Allure) and Columbus: The Musical (Harmony) again.
 So on my own again, I took another loss at the casino, and then I decided to take in the late night curiosity known as The Quest. I’d heard a bit about this, and after some time to digest this, my main impression is
 
 
I mean the host calls out some task like “I need 5 different shoes attached together by their shoelaces” and suddenly shoes are raining down onto the Studio B floor and I’m all
 
 So yeah, this game is nuts. There are points awarded. But I think, like in Whose Line Is It Anyway, the points don’t matter.
 
I tip my virtual hat to those of you with enough guts to be the captains. My team won, I think. Only the captains win a prize, so I guess I had a moral victory. So, yay?
The next day was our final full day on board, as we headed back to Fort Lauderdale.

Day 4 - Cozumel
The itinerary today found us coming into Cozumel around 10:30. Later than I’m used to, but with only one other ship in port (I think it was Disney Dream), not a big issue. Due to being in port on a Sunday, a lot of the popular beach clubs were closed. As a result, our plan was to go to Paradise Beach, but the backup plan was to stay in and around the port area.
Once we got off the ship, we headed out to the taxi area. The stand captain mentioned that the waters were pretty rough along the beach, but we were willing to risk it. Taxi rates were clearly listed at the stand, so that was good. Overall, it was $20 (incl tip) either way, and was about the same to just about any club in that area.
Paradise Beach has both an all inclusive and a la carte option, and seeing as we weren’t looking to eat and drink too much, the a la carte option (which involves a $3 cover and $10 food/drink minimum per person) seemed like the better option. After confirming this with the host, we headed out to the beach area. Sure enough, the waters were choppy and the floating obstacle course was still on the beach.
We took some beach chairs, and a waiter came by and took our $12 admission. Seeing as it was close to noon, we also ordered some food – guacamole and coconut shrimp, as well as some drinks for the kids. The guac was actually pretty good (although I prefer the one at Nachi Cocom better) but the shrimp was just so-so.
 



Hannah wasn’t actually feeling great on this day so Olivia and I headed to the pool. The pool area was busy but not crowded, so it was easy to maneuver around and enjoy ourselves.
 
 

We decided to leave the club around 2pm.  We were there roughly 3 hours, so at the end of the day, we weren’t there not long enough to truly take advantage of an all-inclusive package, so going a la carte was the best decision for us.

Hard to pull a fiber optic cable to America  behind a ship.  

It might very well negate the need for life boats ?

Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought that!! ?

We just got Royal Up’d today ...... 4 days before our cruise on Harmony this coming Sunday 1/19/2020 ....... originally booked a Grand Suite 1 Bedroom ........ got upgraded to an L1 Crown Loft # 1758.  
 
I actually didn’t even put in our bid until this past Sunday when we were 7 days out.  I got the original email about bidding before Christmas. We bid the lowest bid that got us into the “strong bid” zone on the bid meter.
 

Congratulations!!!!

Odyssey October 2021 Italy/Greece. 9 nights with overnight in Athens. Will spend a few days in Rome before cruise. So Excited! This itinerary has been on my radar for a few years. Each year we cruise to celebrate another year cancer free. This cruise will be the 5 year mark. I was given a 15% chance to make it 5 years. I have every intention of making this cruise. Stage 4B endometrial cancer. I also have Lynch Syndrome which is a hereditary cancer gene that puts me at risk for another 12 cancers. So looking forward to living life to the fullest! 

I actually thought the title referred to a Biblical miracle!

So I got totally sidetracked by the title and thought RCI had come up with a new amazing aqua theater show where someone is "walking on water."  
 

Day Two - Key West Afternoon Activities
After finishing lunch, I decided to make my way to Kermit's to grab a slice of key lime pie. On the way, I stopped by a cute second-hand shop, though I didn't purchase anything. I spent some time looking through the many key lime flavored items at Kermit's, there's so much! Candy, jellies, lotions, soaps, and even some surprises like olive oil and salsa. The also had samples of their limeade, which was delicious and very tart. I got a slice of pie and headed to their outdoor seating area. It's a nice, secluded little place with a koi pond, and a good spot to take a breather.

The pie was delicious, I enjoyed every bite!

Part of the outdoor area has a relaxing waterfall feature, as well as a koi pond.
As I finished my pie, the time was about 3:15pm. I didn't want to go back to the ship yet, but I wanted to make sure I gave myself extra time before the 5:30pm all aboard. This is about the time that I also realized, the other things that were lower on my list of things to do, and wasn't sure if I'd get to, were back where I'd already been. Oops. I decided that I would head back up Whitehead Street once again, so I could take a photo the Mile 0 marker (I had passed right by this on the way to the conservatory and hadn't realized it. The lure of magical butterflies was too strong) and another photo of the Southernmost Point of the Continental U.S. I had seen buses for a free Duval Loop earlier in the day that would have taken me where I needed to go for those two things, but I'm guessing they ended early for the holiday because I didn't see any while I walked.

Me & the Mile 0 marker, start of US-1
Finally, I got to the southernmost point. There were many food and drink carts around, where people could get drinks in whole pineapples and whole coconuts for about $15. I did take a photo with the bouy, although I did so from a bench in front of it, rather than standing next to it. This is because there was a very long line of people waiting to take photos standing next to it. Even if I had felt like waiting, I think it would have caused me to miss the all aboard time.

Many people lining up to take a photo with the Southernmost Point Buoy
I took a couple more photos out on a pier beside the Southernmost House Hotel before heading back down Duval street to get back to the ship. I got back to Mallory Square around 4:40pm and took a couple of photos in front of the ship before coming back on board. After dropping off my bag in my room, I went up to the pool deck to get ready for sail away. The clouds had come back in, so our last sunset of 2019 was not quite as big as I'd hoped. No pier runners today, but there did appear to be someone unhappily waiting with an officer as the ship left the port. Many in the square waved as we departed, and we waved back as we headed back out to sea for our New Year's Eve celebration.

Various performers in Mallory Square as we prepared for sail away.

Testing out the zoom on my camera to get a photo of this dog in shorts.

A subtle last sunset of 2019.
 

Day Two - Hemingway Home & Museum
After my second go around at the conservatory (where I watched a butterfly nearly hitch a ride out on a woman's straw hat), I decided to check out the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum, at the recommendation of my step mom. I started walking down Duval Street, and eventually crossed back over to Whitehead Street to get to the Museum.

This sign on the way there made me laugh, and also want one for my apartment.

The Key West Lighthouse across the road from Hemingway House had a lot of visitors as well.
Entrance to the museum was $15, cash only. A sign at the ticket window asked guests not to pick up the cats that are on property, which was reiterated by the tour guides. I arrived just as a guided tour was starting. It was a very large crowd, not much space in some of the rooms. The guide asked us not to take photos during the tour itself, but rather come back through once we were finished to get photos. This was mostly adhered to by everyone. Tours are about half an hour in length, and what information you'll hear depends largely on which guide you have. You are welcome to ask the guides questions at the end of the tour. I wasn't fully able to hear the guide at times due to the large amounts of people, but it was still an enjoyable tour. 
At that time, there were 59 cats on the grounds, but it definitely did not feel like that many. Our guide told us that not all of the cats have six toes, but all carry the gene for it. Guests may pet the cats if they come up to you, but again, are asked not to pick them up. I'm not sure how they get all of the cats, if they are rescues or bred for the six toe gene, but all looked to be content and healthy.

One cat enjoying the pool area.

Relaxing by the entrance.
The Hemingway House is built on the second highest of Key West, at a whopping 16ft above sea level. This, combined with the limestone quarried out to build the house, means it has the rare feature of a basement, that the guides claimed has never flooded, even in hurricanes. The whole house is very nice, and I especially liked the second level's wrap around balcony.

Part of the wrap around balcony. The lighthouse is off to the left of this photo.
Day Two - Lunch at Sloppy Joe's
I finished up at Hemingway House around 1:00pm, and was feeling quite hungry, so started back towards Duval Street to have lunch at Sloppy Joe's (my dad's recommendation this time). The atmosphere of Duval Street varies. Down by the conservatory felt a little more upscale, bed and breakfast type, but the closer you got to Mallory Square, the more it took on a party vibe. I briefly stepped into a Walgreens that looks like it had once been an old theater. I wanted to check out what the prices of sunscreen were here, as I had debated if the two 3.3oz bottles I'd packed would be enough before leaving. They ranged from $12-$15 for your typical sunscreen to ~$25 for high end sunscreen.

It was cool to see massive trees like this in the middle of a busy area.

This bar, and a couple others, were plastered with stapled dollar bills EVERYWHERE.
I made it to Sloppy Joe's and started looking for a place to sit, as it was self seating. I don't know how busy it is on a typical day, but for NYE, every single seat was taken when did my first look around. I waited in the gift shop area for about five minutes before going around again, still without any luck. Not even a barstool to be had. I was about to chalk it up as a loss and find somewhere else to eat when a woman approached me and said if I didn't mind sharing, she and her husband had a table at the back with extra seats. I thanked her, and followed her to a table near the kitchen.

A margarita to go with my nachos. An excellent combo.
I had a lovely conversation with the two, who were from Jacksonville and had spent the past month renting a place in Key West to test out if they could run their business away from home. I told them about my cruising adventure so far, and found out that they had a daughter that was actually visiting Philly that day, at one of my favorite places in the city. The universe makes funny coincidences like that. We went on talking and listening to the live music for about an hour before we parted ways. I'm very glad I met them, and we added each other on Facebook to keep in touch. It's those kinds of experiences that make me happy to do solo travels.

There are multiple things that could be in play.  Wifi in cabin can be weak causing slow speeds.  Yesterday to call the Royal redeployment desk I had to stand near my door with the door cracked open so enough wifi could leak in and allow me to talk on the phone over Voom.  Over by the desk near the balcony the wifi is very weak in this cabin.
The western Caribbean is covered by more than one satellite and the system switches between them as you sail across the Caribbean Sea.  The system may be fringe on one satellite and hasn't cutover yet.
The satellite might be "seen" through the ship exhaust so the signal is degraded because of the heading of the ship relative to where the satellite is positioned in the sky.
They could be downloading stuff to the ship systems.  This uses the same bandwidth and can make Voom slow.  
They could be getting cheap and not buying more bandwidth as demand has increased.  More people are connecting and more devices are trying to put stuff in the cloud.  After leaving a glacier Voom is terrible because hundreds of devices are trying to upload thousands of pictures to the cloud.

The other reason to keep detailed notes about FCC is because you never know what's going to happen.  
When the crane fell on Oasis my cruise was cancelled.  I had used an FCC for that cruise.  With detailed notes I was able to get the original FCC reinstated plus get the full refund offer and new FCC for the full amount, not the FCC reduced amount.  Without detailed notes you end up having to accept whatever their wonky calculator comes up with.

Many are way more out of control than me these days lol.
Thank you my fellow bot friend. ?

I'm calling BS.  I thought we already proved @Matt holds the premature blogging record... but I guess since it's his site, he gets a pass.

I would never start a live blog as early as @Lovetocruise2002 does! She's out of control!

Here is a sample of what it's like going through the Gatun Locks near Colon.  This was from Vision as she transited the full Panama Canal but if you book an excursion that goes through the Gatun Locks it will be similar just on a smaller boat.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/16344-?panama-?-vision-of-the-seas-oct-30-2019/&do=findComment&comment=169003
My day in Cartagena:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/16344-?panama-?-vision-of-the-seas-oct-30-2019/&do=findComment&comment=169354
This is Costa Rica on the Pacific side, so different from Puerto Limon but gives you an idea what the country is like:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/16344-?panama-?-vision-of-the-seas-oct-30-2019/&do=findComment&comment=168077
I've got another cruise booked to Puerto Limon but it's a year away.
 
 
 
 
 

Your wife shows exceptional wisdom. ?

Yeah and just wait until our 2022 sailing. I have a suite booked...oh no!!!! Now I have gone and done it.

I've seen one here and one there but three full weeks and maybe more? Then some were being offered dates that would be right in the middle of the other cancelled weeks? For example one being offered on Nov 19th which would be right in the middle of the 14-21st cancellation... This is certainly weird... At least 12,000 inconvenienced... They are only offering $200 for lost airfares which doesn't come close...
 

Current 2020 on board CAS offers.  These are from Anthem but pretty standard across the fleet and if nothing else validation that not much has changed.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Two - The Butterfly Conservatory
One place that I had checked out ahead of time, and knew that I wanted to see, was the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. I spent a little time in the marketplace around Mallory Square before heading up Whitehead Street towards the conservatory. The conservatory itself is on Duval Street, but I wanted to walk up a little more scenic way first.

Lots of gorgeous homes, museums, and plant life to be had.

I saw a couple of beautiful Banyan Trees. They make such lovely branch structures.

Before I got to Key West, I had no idea how many chickens there were roaming freely, so I was quite surprised.

Though not as business heavy as Duval Street, Whitehead Street also had many shops and restaurants.
After a leisurely walk, I made it to the conservatory. My ticket cost $12.90 after tax, though I believe you can get a dollar or two off if you purchase online ahead of time. The ticket allows you entrance to the conservatory as many times as you'd like all day. I went in first to just experience it and enjoy it, and the a second time after a quick break in the air conditioning of the gift shop to take photos. The butterflies need a higher temperature, humid environment to thrive. I think the temperature was about the same as the outdoors, but it was noticeably more humid.
When you enter the doors after purchasing a ticket, there is a informational area with small exhibits, videos, benches, and even some power outlets, if you're looking for a place to get a quick charge. Through there, there are two more sets of doors, taking care to only open one set at a time, as a precaution to not let any of the butterflies out. The conservatory itself was beautiful, and had such a serene atmosphere. It was wonderful to watch so many butterflies zipping around. Everyone there had the biggest smiles on their faces, myself included. It was like being in a Studio Ghibli movie. My camera doesn't have a great action setting, so I wasn't able to fully get the experience of having all the butterflies flying around (and for some people, into) your head, but I did get some nice photos of the sedentary ones. 



The conservatory also has many birds in addition to butterflies.

Crashing my shot to get some fruit.

Nassau was a blast today!! We went over to Atlantis ( we got a room there through the casino so it’s a lot cheaper than buying the ship passes) 
We played at the waterpark then did some shopping and came back. Ended up having lunch at Giovanni’s. We were supposed to have dinner at Izumi but there was a scheduling mix up so we ended up back at Giovanni’s.... no big deal!
Lexi is making a towel animal zoo, I will post a photo at the end of the cruise.  We are attending the love and marriage game show now then off to bed to get some rest. I hit 10,000 steps before noon.... so I am good and tired.
 
Goodnight all!

Day Two - Morning in Key West
I woke up around 7:00am the next morning. My ear plugs worked wonderfully, but I was woken up partly by what I am assuming were vibrations from the ship coming into port. A little scary at first before I made sense of it. I hopped into some athletic wear to go try out the gym, located above the Viking Crown Lounge. It was quite busy, but I suppose a lot of people had the same idea of getting in a workout before the day in port. I picked out an elliptical, but didn't stay terribly long. I realized that I'm so used to streaming music, I only had about five songs actually loaded onto my phone. That, and the squeaking of my machine, made me want to wrap things up quick and get along with my day. We docked in Mallory Square, along with a Carnival ship. I did not hear the announcement, but we got the all clear to disembark around 8:00am.

Start of the day in Mallory Square
I went to Windjammer for the first time to grab some breakfast, taking great care to wash my hands. I was happy to find that they had whole kiwi, which is a favorite of mine but I rarely think to buy on my own. I found a nice barstool type area on the left side of the ship, near the entrance and what is the Kids Area for food at dinner time.

I enjoyed the waffles and fresh kiwi and much as the view.

A much sunnier morning than the previous day.
Once I finished up breakfast, I made my way back towards the rock wall. I was excited to try it out, as the last time I did rock climbing was back as a child at summer camp. When it opened at 9:00am, there was just myself and another family there. I got all set up with footwear and my harness, and the staff were very encouraging and helpful with tips on how to best scale it. I went on the easy side and, oh my gosh, I did not think it would be that difficult! All those little kids I saw flying up the wall the day before made it look so easy! The staff helped me get almost to the top before I had to call it quits and come back down. My arms were very tired, I think I was relying on them too much, rather than my legs. Even though I knew I was strapped in to the harness and very safe, when I got to the part where the wall starts tilting back near the top, it was an exhilarating sensation, a little scary. I thanked the staff, and happy that I gave it my best, went back down to my stateroom to grab a shower before heading out.
Around 10:00am, I made my way to deck two to disembark and start my day. I did not have a rigid plan of where I was going to go, but had a couple places in mind that I wanted to visit. In hindsight, I should have planned things out just a little better, as I did a lot of back-tracking to areas I'd already been. But, one of the benefits of solo traveling is that you know what pace is doable for yourself. What might have been too much walking in circles for some of my friends/family, was fine with me. A basic map of Key West had been provided with our Cruise Compasses the night before, so after taking a few minutes to orient myself, I started off on my journey for the day!

The Empress in Mallory Square