WAAAYTOOO

Riddle me this.... What possible purpose could a “stopper” be on a bidet ? That little “stick thing” in the back is a stopper plunger (not sure what the proper plumbarian term is). Maybe I’ve been using it wrong all this time ! Why would you ever need to fill that bowl up with water ?

Joyce just brought us a hard copy Portside BBQ menu and she is going to place the order to be delivered in the suite. She also confirmed tonite’s schedule. 150 Central Park at 6:00, One Sky at 8:15 (show at 8:30) and Phoenix at 10:30 (show at 11:00). Yesterday she said she was ordering Izumi to be delivered this afternoon but we asked her to please cancel that. It’s just waaay too much food. We still have food here from yesterday ! If we have BBQ now I’m already worried I won’t be hungry for dinner. There’s no way we could sneak afternoon sushi in there, too ! I know Matt would disagree but there’s NOT always room for sushi ! ??? #starclassfoodcomaisreal

I know that it seems like you are at the back of the line but you absolutely are not. Star Class has first choice of all of the venues. On ships that offer SC, all of the restaurants hold reservation times open so that SC can be placed if they need to be. I have never been denied any restaurant reservation when I have asked for it when I was SC. You really have nothing to worry about. I know it’s hard to do, but just trust me. You will have your pick of times and locations

What type of toiletries are provided depends upon the cabin type you have. Those for non-suites are bare bones and many people prefer to bring their own. As the cabin categories go up so do the complimentary toiletries. Some people still prefer their own but I never bring my own -even when I’m in a non-suite cabin. I’m just not that picky.

Is it that easy ? Lemon pound cake ? ???? Im waaay overpaying !

Hmmmm....I hadn’t noticed it until this morning but I see that Joyce has failed to schedule us for a Phoenix concert in the new Music Hall. I’m going to have to remind her and get it into our schedule. Tonite is formal night, of course, and we have dinner scheduled at 150 CP and the new show in the theater (One Sky) at 8:30.

I knew you’d make it. We went after all. It seems that the Aqua Theater is still going through some final tweaking so instead of hosting the event there, as is the normal procedure, they held it in the ice skating rink instead. Bobby said that they only started performing the new Aqua Theater show 4 nights ago. I’m looking forward to seeing it. Normally you get a little mini-AT show at the TTE but this time we got a mini skating show. Nice change of pace. Certainly cooler in the ice theater than the AT !

I won. Once. That’s not really “winning” yet. We walked through the casino when leaving the TTE but it didn’t look like any of the tables were open yet. At least neither of the UTH tables were going. E just came back to the room. Sorry you had. Bad experience. That leaves a bad taste for a long time. We definitely will be trying the BBQ. I think we will ask Joyce to have some delivered. I don’t really feel like going out in the hot sun. I wish it wasn’t “presauced”. I generally don’t care for BBQ sauce. It’s almost always too sweet for me.

Me too !

Dan is on a walkabout in search of Mario’s “office”. No luck so far. I am hiding in the shade out on the pool deck. This is our suite from the pool deck So, if you are concerned about privacy on your balcony (meager though it is) this might not be the suite for you. Personally, I couldn’t care less. If someone wants to watch what I’m doing on the balcony, they are more than welcome. I’m not that exciting. The privacy shades (and 2 sets of drapes) keep prying eyes away from the interior. You can see to the right of the balcony that the privacy shades are up on the bedroom. I already shut the drapes in the bedroom, too, to keep hell’s fire out. The solar loading caused by the sun coming through all that glass is unbearable. Soon I will have to close the ones in the living room as well. We missed the CC Meet & Mingle (9:30) but still have time to make the cattle call (Top tier event). Not sure whether we will bother with that or not. I did alert our Genie that we would be eligible for a crystal block on this cruise but they don’t award those in person on the big ships so not really any reason to go. I’ll bet the Twangbot will be there !

The din finally died down last night about 6:00. I was relieved. It was really loud and I thought “this going to be a long cruise” if this is going to be a regular thing. But apparently it’s not. We have had peace and quiet (from outside, at least) since. Breakfast in CK. I love love love the CK on the O class ships and I like some others, I love the setup on Allure and Oasis best b/c of the bar. The bar overlooks Splashaway Bay instead of looking at a blank, boring wall

So excited for you ! Sounds like you’re off to a good start !

We are in 9730 a few years back. You’re going to love the ATS. For big groups, you can’t beat it.

Sorry. I should have mentioned it. I almost exclusively play Ultimate Texas Hold’Em. It’s basically a table version of Texas Hold’Em poker where you play only against the dealer. I had 2 3’s in my hand and the flip had the other 2 3’s. The table minimum on Oasis is $15 which means that the least you can possibly wager is $45 and $60 if you play the hand all the way to the end. That big money for me and I almost didn’t even sit down. The upside (for the casino) with a $15 table minimum is they collect more money from you when you fold or lose but the upside for the player when they have a $15 minimum is that when you WIN a big hand, it’s quite a nice haul. That win paid 10:1 on the blind bet ($150) and 20:1 on the trips bet ($300). Along with the other mandatory bets I won $495 on that hand. A $10 minimum would have netted me $330. So, for that single moment, I was glad they had a higher minimum ! The casino was a madhouse last night and I expect it to be like that the whole week. This cruise was on the “complimentary” list for a very long time. Many gamblers (including me) are on this cruise on a comp.

Came back from the casino a winner tonite ! Quad 3’s (4 of a kind for you non-players). Yippee ! This movie seems familiar to me (started out a winner on last weeks cruise. By the end...not so much).

....and VOOM too !

Woohoo ! Really looking forward to this blog. Have a great time !

There are seemingly 2 deficiencies (that I have, so far, identified) with the suite. Both are bathroom-area-related. There are no storage areas around the bathroom sinks to place toiletries. They are either out in the open or you have to place them in a closet. Similarly, there are no shelves or drawers of any depth, near the dressing/vanity table. Again, thru must be left out or put in a cabinet nearby. Now, these are first world problems that are not going to ruin my cruise but they are design issues that could be addressed at some point. Going to the theater to see the juggler or magician or whatever the heck it is

Dinner in CK tonite. The place was packed ! Good thing we had a reservation. Huge disappointment with the filet. It was overcooked and just -meh. Dans was cooked perfectly but he said his was just-meh as well. Sad that I wasted a specialty dining night on it. I am having desert since I only ate 2 bites of my steak. I normally skip desert. So that I have something else to bitch about, it’s freakin freezing in here ! Headliner (juggler) at 8:30. I hope I don’t regret that decision... I told Joyce NOT to put us up front. I do not want to become part of the show. Since I don’t really enjoy the sauna and Dan does, I asked Joyce if he could use my day pass and she said “of course”. Right answer. Cheesecake is waaay better than the steak

They claim both the drapes and the hot tub are fixed. Yippee !!

Mario is extremely approachable. If you see him just walk up and introduce yourself. He is a really nice guy

We were originally scheduled to have Giovannis for lunch (since they closed Chops on us) but we had decided that we didn’t want to eat that big a lunch. We decided we would eat at Portside BBQ instead. THEN a huge delivery of food from Joyce and we decided to just graze on this instead. So we never really ate lunch at all. #stayflexible Honestly, it was enough food for 4 people. This happens all the time on SC so we weren’t surprised. Speaking of good, we have Coastal Kitchen rezzies at 6:00. Allegedly it is filet night. I guess we’ll find out soon !

More lowdown on refurbishments. Joyce is so wonderful. I’m in love with her already. She assured me that the drapes ARE new. She said that all carpeting on the ship was replaced. Sabrina, JUST for you ! Joyce is going to take pix in 8330 for us. This is one of the suites she is Genie for, this cruise. In case anyone was wondering, there is a LOT of bleed over noise from the sail away deck party into our suite. It’s WAAAY louder than anything in the ATS...even with the doors closed and locked. It’s early so not a problem right now. Later, it would be a definite problem.

Ok. Back in the room after muster drill. Resuming room recon Front door and dining table it seats 7 comfortably. 8 in a pinch, maybe. Wet bar. First time ever ! Complimentary drinks. They just kept coming and bringing more and more. Door to the second bathroom on the table. Second closet Second vanity/dressing area Inside the second bathroom Shower in second bathroom Potty in #2. Wait....that didn’t sound like what I meant to say Couch Duh Winders More winders The balcony is the one aspect where this suite falls short it is TINY compared to most SC suites. Oh you’re looking for a giant balcony, this suite is not for you Hot <damn> tub ! Right now it’s inop. Said something about the drain plug. They came to replace it once and it didn’t fit. Hopefully they’ll get it fixed soon View looking forward on the balcony. The pool deck. There is no view at all (except superstructure) looking aft Our drapes keep getting “stuck”so they are working on them

I am so glad that you made it. I was concerned that the storm might have impacted your flight. Muster drill is over ! Yippee !!