Ogilthorpe

That is really bad news when you put it in that perspective! 

Well that was just about the best filet I've ever eaten at 8am in my bed on a cruise ship.

My least favorite  note left in my cabin ?

Royal nailed everything here.  The sets and costumes were great.  All of the actors and actresses did a good job.  Singing and dancing was excellent.  It appears to be updated and modern. 

As for condensing from the original, I know musicals are supposed to be about music and have songs but this entire show was song after song. There really was no in between the songs points which could have helped someone unfamiliar with the musical figure out what is going on.  (Spoiler alert: a cat dies.)
I had to Google it to make sure I wasn't missing something.

I followed The Gift on Anthem better than this.  I'd like to think that's on Andrew Lloyd Webber and not Royal though.

I had to ask about my Diamond pin at Guest Services.  I hit 80 points after my last cruise.
I am somebody now.

Good thing too.  I have been Diamond Lounging 6 whole days without this proper piece of attire.  I felt naked.

As an American I am feeling so profiled right now.

My least favorite  note left in my cabin ?

My least favorite  note left in my cabin ?

Just kidding.

I told the host that I had a 9:15 dinner reservation but didn't realize that I was going to a show at 10:00. I said I didn't think I was going to be able to make it if sat down, so I asked if I could just get the food to go.
I guess the host misunderstood me because he made a big deal of leading me to a table and trying to seat me. He told me that he'd be able to get me quickly through the meal but obviously having had BBQ I wasn't really feeling a huge sit-down dinner. I reiterated that I'd rather just get a plate to go.  He still tried to sell me on sitting.
It's formal night; I am wearing shorts.  Chops has a formal dress code per the app.  I told him I just wasn't comfortable sitting in the dining room dressed inappropriately.
He told me that it didn't matter, which is true because an entire table of high schoolers were there wearing booty shorts and red sweatshirts.  But still...then he told me he could make a table outside. ??
Finally he got the idea and got a waiter to take my order.  My food was brought to me 5 minutes later, no lie.  They tried to push a dessert to go as well, but I wasn't having it.  They didn't even have me sign a slip and held the door for me as I left.
1am Ashley thanks 9pm Ashley in advance.
First spotting of Christmas decorations

PS: Shoutout to WOW bands for making opening doors so easy while carrying a plate and a steak knife.

My least favorite  note left in my cabin ?

Of course you did, Genie stalker ???

Final verdict is that this is BBQ that's good enough to be on a cruise ship. My personal opinion is that if they are going to put this on Allure of the Seas during the amplification and then send it to Galveston, they may want to reconsider it so they don't embarrass themselves.  You don't mess with Texans and their BBQ.
The price point is good for the amount of food you get and it's nice to have another alternative when you have the dining package.
My mother says that it is far better than Celebrity EDGE's pay BBQ restaurant..for whatever that's worth.  But she doesn't like onions, so I'm not sure we should trust her opinions.
PS: She says the cornbread is spicy and has jalapenos..surprise!

Are you REALLY cruising if you don't get your drink in a bucket??!?! ?

They are very good with dietary needs at Izumi.  My mother was able to request no onions at hibachi last night and they made the veggies first without them and then cooked up the onions and blended  them in for the rest of us who like flavor in our food.
This afternoon's special request is the shrimp wonton soup without the wontons but add noodles.  She really likes their broth, I guess.  ?‍♀️  They added the chicken without her asking for it.  They're lucky it was white meat..phew that would have been bad.

I'm almost as bad.  I ordered the spicy ramen without noodles ??  Told them to give them to her.  I present to your my oxymoron of a lunch noodleless ramen.

I also ordered the ahi & albacore tataki salad..so soup & salad for lunch for me today.  I'm trying to eat lighter these days and all..

My mother got the spicy shrimp roll but I didn't take a dedicated photo because she didn't get any of the stuff on it that makes it photogenic so see the rice log in her wontonless wonton soup photo.
No dessert for us.  We are on a diet, obviously.

And second dinner is poke nachos from Playmakers.  Just took the whole basket to the show with me.  Zero shame.  I will bring it back to them on my way out.

Taunting me..

I'm  thinking that there may be more available  tomorrow.  Earlier, RCL had a signup for Black Friday  notification. I've seen email  from Celebrity  and Azamara, nothing from Royal yet ... perhaps  saving the best for last!

The Diamond Concierge fetched a MDR menu, Thanksgiving special edition for a photo op.

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

From my experience, on board credit is refunded immediately and is available  for re-use. 

ISince we are docked at the downtown pier, we decided to go out into town for a while. Beside us is docked NCL Breakaway.


Out in the bay, offshore, is the NCL Escape.  She is tendering her peeps ashore with lifeboats.  Glad I’m not on Escape !
We walked down to the Plaza and decided to have a couple of beers and some chips and pico de gallo.  This was the first alcohol that either of us have had the entire cruise !  The cold Coronas tasted pretty good.  More about this, later.

At some point, Dan mentioned something about maybe getting a cheap massage.  Oh yeah....that sounded like a GREAT idea.  After finishing our beers and chips, we asked our waiter if there was anywhere close where we could get a massage. It seemed we were in luck !  No more than 20 paces down the side street was a spa.  The decision was made.  If the price was right, we were getting massages.  Trust me, this is no foo foo spa.  It’s a hole-in-the-wall place but the price seemed right.  $70 each for a 90 minute massage.  Done.  They put us in a “room” for 2.  I put “room” in quotations because it is really just 1 big room with curtains to separate the “private” areas.  Good enough for us.
I will just say up front that this was one of the best massages I have ever had.  Most masseuses hurt me.  I guess I’m just a wimp but the whole “deep tissue” thing is about as far from enjoyable as I can get.  But this lovely lady’s touch was perfect. You start out on your belly, of course, and I was really settling in...enjoying every stroke.  She did my back, neck and shoulders.  Heaven.  Then she moved to my legs....and trouble began to brew.
Here’s where the forewarning from the beer and chips photo comes back into play.  As if, by some awesome force of nature and gravity combined, the moment she started pushing “up” (towards my torso) on my legs, the beer bubbles began to be pushed up from my belly.  Had I been standing, I would simply let out a diminutive “burp” and all would have been fine....but I was laying on my stomach and those beer bubbles were trapped between my stomach and my throat.  I tried to maneuver in a way that would allow them to escape, but nopesville.  They just kept accumulating in a most unpleasant location, soon to be joined by some chips and salsa (thank you, hiatal hyneria).  It was both horrifying and hilarious at the same time.
I thought the legwork would never end.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, she whispered “turn over on your back, please”.  As soon as I moved, the loudest, most manly, horrific belch came roaring out.  It was so loud I’m sure they heard it across the street.  Dan said “are you ok ?”  I was so relieved.  I just muttered “yes, I’m fine”.
The moral of this story is NEVER drink a beer before having a massage !
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here is a true service animal, his name is Dray, and he’s amazing.

The explosion of fake service dogs and fad d’jour of emotional support animals pisses me off to no end. The pictures of the lady and her “service dog” with the thousand poop bags strapped to her purse proves to me that the vest is pure show. My cousin was paralyzed in a diving accident, and he has a true service dog that has been amazing for him. These dogs are trained to so well that he actually has to command his dog to relieve itself. The amount of training that his dog has, and the immense amount of work that my cousin had to do just to be able to qualify to even be able to have a service dog, and the people that throw a vest on their pet and call it a service animal is so insulting..........steps of soap box.......rant over......back to drinking Thanksgiving sangria.....

We saw one earlier  this year on the Anthem ... the dog was being wheeled around in a baby carriage ??

We saw one earlier  this year on the Anthem ... the dog was being wheeled around in a baby carriage ??

Since I'm awake early, now I'm playing the game of what time did 1am Ashley decide she needed her coffee wake up call.  I could go and just fetch my own coffee since I am awake, but then I might miss my room service delivery and that just seems rude.  So I will lay in bed and wait.
View from my bed.  Sigh, life is hard.