WAAAYTOOO

So we’re finally here !  Yeah !

Embarkation was awesome. Only epic fail was in getting the taxi driver to drop us at the right place. We are 1 for 5 on this issue. Not sure why we have such a hard time getting to the SC banner (so far only successful at Port Liberty) but we schlepped our bags down to the purple banner and made contact with the SC kiosk. Of course, we had to fight off numerous porters trying to take our bags but we trekked forward until we reached our destination.  
 

Then we had to fight off the SC greeter who also insisted that we surrender our bags but our will was great and our mission clear-our bags are staying WITH US !

So once we cleared the greeting area our next challenge was Security.  Dan wasn’t particularly pleased when he realized he was going to have to pick up all of the bags and place them on the security conveyor himself (the price you pay for keeping your bags WITH YOU.).

I thought I had captured the bags going through the scanner but I guess I didn’t.  They did, however, all make it through successfully and our next stop was up the elevator to the Suites waiting area.

That luggage cart would become very important in about 5 minutes.

The moment we walked into the Suites waiting area, they announced that boarding was beginning.  We had to wait for Joyce, but it was no more than 5 minutes and I spotted her.  We met and she summoned a ship’s porter to help us with our bags.  So for those who wondered how it works (to keep your bags with you rather than having the porters bring them), here it is in action  

They loaded up the luggage cart and on we went, straight through boarding to our suite (Grand Panoramic Suite 1758).  There are no stairs on this suite so I had the porter just drop the bags inside but if we had been in a Loft suite, I would have asked him to take them upstairs.

I really, really like Joyce.  She is funny and has an infectious smile.  Look what she did for us before we even got to our room !  It is on our Suite door.

Dan claims he never wants to leave the suite.  It is, in fact, the nicest room we’ve ever had.

3 minutes ago, DanielB said:

@WAAAYTOOO Good morning and enjoy your transition to Oasis.  Happy Sailing and again thanks for taking us along.  

Good morning, to you, Daniel !  Thanks so much.  It’s another beautiful Miami day !

Great job, Ashley.  You were a true blog sleuth and not afraid to go out of your way to report every detail.  Thank you for the time and effort it takes to do that.

Today was incredibly busy and I am beat.  Will give a very brief overview

Walked off with self assist at 7:15 with the Suites Concierge. Without a doubt the best disembarkation ever, including Star Class.  Dan and I were #3 an 4 off the ship.  Basically never even slowed down. Walked straight off.

First disappointment - no National Rental car shuttle but in fairness, it was 7:15. I suspect they showed up later.  We grudgingly paid $8 ea for a shared shuttle to the airport where we got our ride for the day from Tampa to Miami.  Total cost - $17.09 b/c I wanted XM radio.  Great deal (used points).

We did 2 real estate recons and neither really suits our needs.  Honestly, The only thing that is going to make Dan happy is a high rise condo in downtown Miami that overlooks the port.  That’s all....

After leaving our second stop (Lakewood Ranch), we began the very long and very boring drive to Miami.  I thought it would never end !  

Finally pulled into Miami airport to return the rental car a bit after 6 PM.  Called for an Uber to pick us up but he never found us and cancelled the trip on us.  Very annoyed !  Ended up taking a taxi from MIA to the Marriott Biscayne Bay. It didn’t cost much more than Uber would have been but it was still annoying.  Is there a way to rate an Uber driver if you don’t actually complete the ride ?

We hadn’t had anything to eat since b’fast at Chops at 6:30 so we were famished.  The slop they were offering in the Concierge Club was utterly unappealing so we went down to the restaurant downstairs.  I had forgotten (until I looked at the menu) how awful the food was the last time we ate there....but I was out of options so I ordered a quesadilla. Ugh.  2 bites and I was done.  The truth is when I am very tired I just can’t eat so I don’t think I would have enjoyed it even if it had been appetizing. Dan gobbled down his poke bowl.

Can’t wait to board Oasis in the morning.  We anticipate calling an Uber at 10:00AM. Sorry you are having to disembark, Ashley.  I enjoyed your blog so much !

Night, all.

I can’t believe the LA said to go online to do your preferences !  Of all people, they should know that that is no longer an option for anyone !  Pure incompetence or laziness.

I brought some plastic straws with me on this trip.  Didn’t use a single one on Brilliance and bet I won’t use one on Oasis either.  It’s a nuisance to carry them around and no way to keep them clean until I use them.  Great idea but not so easy to implement.

The bottom line -with any  Royal “sale” is to ignore the discount bologna and look straight at the “bottom line”. It’s all voodoo mathematics and the only thing that really matters is what amount are you paying. Find a price that you are comfortable paying, purchase it,  and watch to see how it fluctuates from there.  If it goes down, cancel and rebook. Ignore the “fake” gimmicks 

17 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Take pictures!  Still no pics of any of the Star Class suites on any social media forum.  And see if Joyce will sneak you into an ATS for a quick pic too. 

I will try !

Final thoughts on Brilliance

Our suite (1052) was very nice  The fixtures in the bathroom seem a bit dated (lots of gold) but it was clean and everything worked !  Of course we are directly beneath the pool deck so there’s a bit of bumping and chair-moving overhead, but they aren’t super loud and it wasn’t objectionable.  The room is close to the elevators without being noisy.

The Suites lounge (Iliana) was very helpful.  We did not go into any of the lounges during Happy Hour so I have no idea how crowded or uncrowned either of them got.  IMO, the Diamond Lounge has a better view than the Suites Lounge.

We never set foot in the MDR so I have no idea how good or bad it was.  We went into the WJ once for lunch on day 2 and it was standard.

Voom service was sluggish occasionally but once I learned how to successfully switch from one device to another, I had no problems with Voom. To my knowledge the signal never dropped entirely. I will say, however, that there seemed to be a lot of people out in the “common areas” with laptops so I feel that there may be some dead spots.  No direct knowledge of that.  Just an impression. 

I did not go to any shows.  Dan went to 1 magic show which he said was ok. Sadly, we never made it to a showing at the Cinema.  I hope others did.

The kids’ water splash area is a small and uninspiring place at the aft of the ship, completely separated from the main pool area.  While I’m sure the kids couldn’t have cared less (they seemed to be having a ball), I felt bad for the parents b/c they were totally isolated from the rest of the adult areas.  We did go to the Solarium one afternoon.  It’s lovely there but there is only one TINY hot tub. Even Grandeur has 2 !  It was day 4 before I realized there was a Park Cafe back there.  The roast beast looked good we but didn’t try it. The main pool area seemed very busy. 

The casino is smallish and was hoppin’ the entire time it was open.  That probably has a great deal to do with the fact that this sailing was on the “complimentary” list for a long time. It makes sense that there are a lot of gamblers on this cruise. BTW, the same is true for next weeks Oasis cruise, so I expect the casino to be very busy there, as well.

No opinion on bar service as we never ordered a single drink other than our coke or pelligrino with meals.

I’ve already talked about the specialty restaurants. Chops got progressively better all week. I think embarkation lunch is a logistical nightmare for Chops. The suites breakfast at Chops was always good.

We will be walking off with the Suites Concierge tomorrow at 7:15.  We will go directly to the Tampa airport via National Car Rental shuttle where we have a car reserved.  We will be doing  a little house hunting recon during the day, and then on to Miami where we will spend the night at the Miami Biscayne Bay.  Then, boarding Oasis at 10:30 on Sunday.  Looking forward to meeting Joyce, our Genie.

33 minutes ago, bossdog421 said:

This also wont interfere with any on board credits I already got as part of my initial promo either right?

All of the booking promotions from your original booking (AoNC etc) will move over with your upgrade. What would NOT move with you are cabin-type promotions such as those that go along with Central Park and Boardwalk rooms. 

Yes. If you are upgraded to a Star Class suite, you get all the SC amenities including the Genie

4 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Be prepared @WAAAYTOOO!

No worries from me.  I don’t even so much as brush up against a slot machine.  As long as they don’t dick around with the tables. I’ll be good-to-go. 

I don’t think there are any negatives to the humor on Freedom.

On the Oasis class ships if you are on the “forward hump” and you’re on Deck 8, it’s a very long walk to get to almost anywhere, as you have to walk behind restaurant row just to get out.  But that’s the only negative I can think of.  Hump balconies are generally sought after.  Good job !

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 !

Everybody !  Ignore my post completely!  I thought the question was about RCCL Visa card points.

Sorry

#readthethreadtitlebeforeposting

We were on NAV in June and July and had the UDP.  We found that Izumi was often open at lunchtime (on port days), unadvertised.  Believe it or not, sometimes you just have to skulk around and check these venues individually.  

59 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I have to agree with your Coke Zero hierarchy - it's my soda of choice as well.

Me, three

Nice gobbler !

It’s not that bad, really.  I suspect that if you had a rowdy crew next door (that isn’t you, is it ? )  it might be a problem but our neighbors are even older than we are so they’re .

The rooms are very nice. The balconies are a bit narrow but that’s about the only side effect of the narrow ship.

Happy Dan kindly took some pictures of the dock area when the sun passed behind some clouds while I was in the shower.  He’s a good egg

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone !

I can’t believe it’s already Thanksgiving. That means Christmas is dangerously close.

Yippee !  We are already docked in Coz and it appears that we are at the downtown dock !  I believe this is my first time ever to dock downtown.  I had not planned to get off the ship today but I may change my mind now. I didn’t even know that Royal COULD dock downtown.  #firsttimer

No picture right now b/c I would be shooting directly into the sun (boo) but I will try later.

Heading off to <where else> Chops for breakfast.

My guess is a hard “no”.

6 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

I ordered the Filet Mignon from the Chops menu in the MDR as a Key guest on the Empress.  It was the most unsightly piece of steak I’ve had in my life, not to mention the shriveled (supposedly grilled) asparagus.

 

Wow !  I’ve never seen anything as pathetic as that asparagus !  Besides being grossly unappetizing, I’ve never seen Chops serve it any way except “family style”.

I am so excited for you guys !  I know you’re going to have a blast.  I have often, secretly, considered a “girl’s cruise” but I don’t think I would ever be able to ditch you-know-who.  He has one of those sad dog faces when he is disappointed and I don’t know if I could enjoy myself (plus, I’d never hear the end of it !).

Good for you that you are doing it !

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Nothing beats the excitement of that first star class cruise!

...except the countdown to your NEXT Star Class Cruise !

3 more days !