CruzOnBye

Everyone has their own style and any blog is better than no blog. You'll be fine.
That said, I do like having my own little niche... not much competition for "frugal guy in interior positing mostly food & drink porn." 🤣
I bet many of us are looking forward to this part! 🍹🥃🍹🥃🍹

Today was Puerto Plata and we did the Ocean World Sea Lion Encounter & Snorkeling with sharks and Lunch.  This is one of the best excursions we have ever taken.  I have lots of pix but of course, they are not yet on my iPad so I will have to post them later.
We had soooo much fun and saw so many awesome critters.
Ocean World is a Dominican Sea World -an Aqua park with shows and exhibitions.  I was very surprised to find it was very well maintained and well organized.  I have been to aqua parks before in other countries that were…well….sad.  But this one is not.  It was thoroughly enjoyable.
There were dolphin and sea lion shows as well as the shark encounter and multiple snorkeling/swimming aquariums.  There were aviary enclosures (small but fun).  There was a beachfront swimming area as well as fresh water pools.  Some of the interactions were additional $$ (dolphins, in our case since we paid for the sea lions and shark interactions) but we did not pay for anything more than our original excursion included and we had a blast !   Lunch was a pretty typical Caribbean buffet….nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t bad….but was very busy !
Transportation from the port was in a big, comfortable, air conditioned bus….may 15 minutes from the port,  fast, efficient and well organized.  I will definitely recommend this excursion or the one like it that included the dolphin interaction.
This excursion wasn’t cheap.  It was nearly $200 PP but you got a lot for your money and I think it was worth the cost.  We go on VERY few excursions.
We were exhausted by the time we got back to the ship.  The bus left the port area at 8:30 and we got back at 2:00 so it’s a very full day and there’s lots to do.

Sorry Turnaround went so poorly. Hopefully dinner and your new view make up for it.
BTW, I stay in the real dungeons... you had a window! 🤣

Awesome...we can definitely plan something!

Oh my gosh - this is so sweet of you! Would love to meet up! 

We got screwed at Check in!  (overly dramatic)   I stayed up passed midnight on check in day, but Royal's IT Department pulled some issue out of its bag. I have been using the same password for the Royal site and App for 5 years or more. The night of check in , it told me my password was wrong.  I was too tired to try and correct it, so I got up the next morning and sure enough thousands of us had to change our passwords.  I now have a 11:30 check in.  We are always get on the ship quickly type of people, so this hurts 🙂

Day 3 was pretty slow.  Woke up at 9:27 so missed our breakfast for the first time on this trip.  Had to go to you-know-where and was NOT happy about it.  On EX, they use Chops as overflow seating for the WJ so that’s where we sat.  I just got some fruit and a bowl of grits.  Happy to get in and out quickly.  it was a zoo.
I did my usual morning routine - up to the CL for a cappuccino, then down to the computer lounge, which is right around the corner from our room on Deck 8.  Rozel always cleans our room while we are on our morning walk-about but she got a late start today since we totally dicked up her schedule by sleeping in.  I’m sure she was cursing us but still all smiles when we saw her in the hallway.  I don’t deserve such good service. 😓😓
Today is a sea day; on our way to Falmouth.  Since it’s the first (of 2) sea day, it is the traditional day for the Top Tier event.  For some completely unknown reason, EX has the TTE at 5:00 !  What a lame time to do it !  Early diners have dinner at 5:00.  We totally missed the TTE on the first leg but went today.  I’m guessing there were maybe 20 people there ?  It was embarrassing, TBH.  They usually have the TTE on the first sea day at 10:30, followed immediately by the TT (Cheers with an officer) luncheon.  That makes SO much more sense than doing it like they did it here.  Of course, no luncheon on this shorty 5 night cruise so I really just DO NOT understand doing the TTE at 5:00.
We visited both the CL and the SL during Happy Hour today - first time on this trip.  The CL was D.E.D.  The SL was much busier, which surprised me.  I thought it would be reversed.  Shows how much I know…. I took some pix but, as you all know by now, must wait for the pix to populate on my iPad.  Gigi, the Suites Concierge, is leaving tomorrow in Jamaica for vacation.  Not sure who will be taking her place.  
No casino today or tonite.  I won a little at Ultimate last night but are being lazy today and staying in.  Kinda nice, actually. We went to the ice show last night.  We always enjoy the ice show no matter which ship it is.
Sorry…nothing really interesting to report - oh wait !  I met @JustMeJoe last night !  That was very cool.  Looking forward to chatting more since we also have the next cruise together. 

Yes.  Funnel cake.  😵‍💫😵‍💫

Our family has always sailed in suites. DH and I in Jr Suites before we starting letting the kids tag along, and then the 2 bedroom grand every time the kids have been with us. We really love, and need, the extra space of the separate living room. DH is up without an alarm by 4:30 every morning, and he needs a place to go while the rest of us sleep until a more decent hour. DD is on the spectrum and needs a place to really move around to process the activities of the day before heading out to dinner. Being spoiled in the suite lounge has been a big perk for us too. We're budgeting to replace a car and living room furniture soon though, so we decided to try out connecting balconies for the next few cruises. We're almost diamond plus, so the drink vouchers help take care of what we are missing in the suite lounge, but we sure will miss the service and breakfast in Chops or Coastal Kitchen! 
Along for the ride: Myself, DH, DD (15), and DS (12)
Rooms: 12150 and 12152 - pretty far forward for us aft facing dwellers. 
Itinerary: 7 day Western Caribbean - Galveston, Sea Day x2, Roatan, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Sea Day, back in Galveston.
Pre cruise purchases: soda packages for the kids, 50 photo package (pared down from our usual 100), 24 bottle water package, 3 device internet.
We have MTD with reservations at 6:45 each night. I would do 150 Central Park, Jamie's, or Sabor, but we were in a star class room a year ago on Allure, and didn't eat in the MDR. Since we have only had the new menus on our Liberty cruise this past fall, we will most likely stick with the MDR this time. Who knows, maybe DH and I will have a date night and just send the kids to the WJ. I'm sure we will do Johnny Rockets once for lunch - it's kind of a tradition, and the kids have already been asking about it.
What else... I booked all our entertainment. I want to say it opened up about 45 days out. I meant to make a note, but forgot. I also was able to book Escape the Rubicon about a month ago. It's still showing on my calendar, and they haven't refunded my money yet, so hopefully it is opened back up.
We have a little bit of OBC that will find its way to the casino from the RC card - we redeemed the points on the Bank of America site about 30 days out and they posted to the cruise planner just a couple days later. 
That's all I can think of for now - let me know if you have any questions, and I will try to answer them along the way.

Same! We make a B line to the pub first for a couple Boston Iced Teas, and because the bartenders are always determined to sugar up the kid right out the gate 🤪 he usually ends up with a Shirley Temple or something, and then we go do our muster drill station check-in lol. 

My March 2025 Adventure, and Sept 2025 Star both have excursions, dining, etc. offered too 🙂 I don't have anything booked yet past that point. But these are new, I checked a week or so ago and both of them didn't have offerings except the DBP at original price with no sale. Now I see sales on them....not paying $95.99pp per day on the DBP though...Black Friday better be kind lol.

Funnel cake? If it was actually a ball they screwed it up, lol. That sounds more like a munchkin from Dunkin or a messed up beignet.
EDIT: @Ampurp85 beat me to it. 🤣

Lol funnel cake????? I love this description🤣.

So things really did pick up at Hideaway after my last post. By the time we left the place was packed.  The music finally got to me….and I tagged out.
Will I go back ?  Probably not.  There is very little at Hideaway that I could not get elsewhere on the island for -0- $$.
1. Hideaway pool is heated.  I liked that…but I was still chilly when I got out of the water.
2.  Dan said the choice of alcohol was better at Hideaway.  E.g, he likes Grey Goose for his Bloody Mary and he said he couldn’t get that on the “regular” side.  I have no idea since I’ve never had a [alcohol] drink at PDCC
3.  Padded chairs and couches.  I don’t recall seeing that outside of the Beach Club.  Maybe they are somewhere that I haven’t seen.
4.  No kids
Other than these few things, the “regular “ side and Hideaway are the same (to me).
We each had a crispy chicken/mozz sticks sandwich and I had 1/2 of a fried dough ball with powdered sugar on it (can’t think of what it’s called).  Pretty tasty.

I've been debating on whether to do a live blog for this cruise.  I started one for Harmony a couple years ago, but we had a family emergency and didn't end up going.
But, since I haven't seen anyone do a live Star blog on Icon yet, and we are now just 2 weeks out and fairly certain no emergencies are on the horizon, I figured I'd give it a whirl.
Who's going: my Wife (Kelli) and I (Tim)
Room: Icon Loft 17020
We are flying into Miami from Houston the day before and staying at the JW Marriott Marquis.  We've stayed there before and I have a ton of Marriott points so its free! 🙂 
We got our survey way early on February 1st almost 90 days out!  However, we didn't hear from our Genie (Marla Rivera) until just under 3 weeks out. (More on that in a minute.). Ironically we got another survey exactly 3 weeks out, which I thought was weird, but it turns out a tone of people got the survey that day.   Even folks with sailings in July lol. Royal IT strikes again!
Now back to the Genie e-mail; I kind of panicked when we didn't get contacted by the 21 day mark.  (This is our 4th star class sailing and we've always gotten an email from the genie by at least day 28.). So, me having FOMO like you wouldn't believe, sent a message to Royal Caribbean International through Facebook messenger and asked them to please look into it the next morning.    Imagine my surprise when I had an email from Marla Rivera by that afternoon.  🙂  Apparently Sunil just left and the genie's have had to double up a bit which resulted in the delay.
I've read nothing but great things about Marla as an OG Genie and so far she has lived up to the billing.  I responded with our canned word document that includes our dining, snack, coffee, show, and beverage preferences.  She had our entire schedule sent to us the next day with all of our requests!  Since then, we have been back and forth a few times  as we finalize our arrival in 2 weeks.
Royal Up: So, the Royal loft suite had been available since we booked.  It started out at 110K and has worked its way down to 60K this week and as of last night was still available, but it was gone this morning.  (This has happened before as it would disappear from inventory as someone held it and then show back up a day later.)   Of course I put a minimum bid on it just in case.  We shall see what happens lol.
The only place we are likely to get off the ship is Cozumel as we love Paradise Beach, so we have a reservation there with a day bed.  
We have a Casita reserved while we are in port in Roatan and we do have a reservation at the Empire Supper club which Marla confirmed we will be refunded and only charged $130 pp plus gratuities.
Other Star Class up charges I will confirm if there have been any changes since Icon launch once we get on board (Chops Iconic cuts, Izumi in the park, basecamp, deserted)
We are really excited and can't wait to get this started!  More to come as we get closer 🙂 
 

Same! We make a B line to the pub first for a couple Boston Iced Teas, and because the bartenders are always determined to sugar up the kid right out the gate 🤪 he usually ends up with a Shirley Temple or something, and then we go do our muster drill station check-in lol. 

Whoo hoo! 10:30… Hopefully we’ll be onboard by 10:15.. You’ll find us at the pub having our customary boarding day Stone IPA…

May 26, 2024 on Wonder of the Seas!! 43 days and 22.5 hours but I'm not counting or anything.

Happy 45 day check-in day!! 🥳

May 26, 2024 on Wonder of the Seas!! 43 days and 22.5 hours but I'm not counting or anything.

Sail Date. 02/24/2025. Anniversary and Birthday... We are very excited.

They need to invent pool chairs that have a toaster feature. After a certain amount of time the chairs pop and push you out.

If anyone is local & flexible, pretty good price for an interior GTY on Wonder in 10 days…

Happy 45 day check-in day!! 🥳

My March 2025 Adventure, and Sept 2025 Star both have excursions, dining, etc. offered too 🙂 I don't have anything booked yet past that point. But these are new, I checked a week or so ago and both of them didn't have offerings except the DBP at original price with no sale. Now I see sales on them....not paying $95.99pp per day on the DBP though...Black Friday better be kind lol.