JohnK6404

Good morning!
Oh, and @WAAAYTOOO will love this!  😃
We will be keeping our eyes 👀 open for 3 very important "subjects"... both human and canine!
Capt. Henrik (aka "Capt. Hottie" per my wife 😳), Rover, and Chris (@CHRIS WONG)!
 

 
Capt. Henrik and Chris should be relatively easy to find during the course of the cruise, but Rover is the wildcard!  🤣
On our Facebook group established for this sailing, I suggested we create a real-time "Rover Alert" 🐕‍🦺 ... it's gaining traction with tons of likes and comments! 
I'm starting to feel the "pressure" to book Star OTS! We also have to meet Sailor! 🦮
We'll see how many of these "icons" 😆 we can see or meet on this sailing!  😎

Phew! All done! The most stressful part of committing to a live blog is naming it!  🤣
@Lovetocruise2002 sets the bar so high! I waffled between “ICON Sea Clearly Now” and “ICONic Anniversary Cruise”.  I hope I made the right choice!  😀
Once again, starting the blog a little early to get a head start. We set sail in 7 days! It’s so crazy how time flies… we booked this cruise almost 19 months ago back in late OCT 2022 when they first opened up the bookings for Icon!

 
My wife (Christine) and I (John) will be celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary 💒 🍾 a little early on this cruise. Our actual anniversary is June 4th… the not so clever “6404” in my screen name!  😆
It will be just the two of us this time since none of our cruising cohorts could make this sailing due to scheduling conflicts (both couples booked, but had to back out early on… they are soooo jealous! 😉). Our last “solo” couple cruise was back in OCT 2021 on Oasis shortly after the return to cruising.
There will be a number of new experiences during this vacation both on land and on the cruise. Of course, Icon is completely new to us! So excited and ready to go!
This itinerary has eluded us to date. We had booked this itinerary on Harmony prior to the shutdown. Harmony turned into Symphony (moved us as Harmony’s planned dry dock was moved up at that time), but when Covid hit, that sailing was of course cancelled. This will be our first visit to Costa Maya and Roatan!
 
* Time for some trip details…
Cruise Details:  
Icon of the Seas, 7-night, Western Caribbean & Perfect Day itinerary Out of Miami, FL 5/11/24-5/18/24 Itinerary:
Day 1 (5/11):    Miami, FL Day 2 (5/12):    * At Sea * Day 3 (5/13):    Roatan, Honduras Day 4 (5/14):    Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico Day 5 (5/15):    Cozumel, Mexico Day 6 (5/16):    * At Sea * Day 7 (5/17):    PDCC, Bahamas Day 8 (5/18):    Miami, FL Cabin Details & General Plans/Stuff:
Ocean View Balcony Stateroom (Deck 12, Midship, Starboard side) Selected Traditional Dining (5:00 PM) Purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package Purchased VOOM Surf+Stream Package Purchased 10-Photo Package Purchased a-la-carte specialty dining lunches (Chops Grille, Hooked, and Izumi Hibachi) Purchased Chef’s Table... wanted to try Empire Supper Club, but the $472 charge for the 2 of us was a little too steep this time around! Purchased the Day Pass to Hideaway Beach (CocoCay) Purchased “Semi-Sub Glass Bottom Boat and Monkey & Sloth Park” excursion in Roatan (Christine insisted) Purchased “Chacchoben Extreme Tour” through Native Choice in Costa Maya Purchased admission to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel Purchased Crown’s Edge for both of us (Note: Christine is terrified of heights, but insisted on joining me when I booked it! 😳) Booked all major entertainment via Cruise Planner (The Wizard of Oz, Starburst: Elemental Beauty, Aqua Action!, Headliner: Adam Kario, The Effectors: The Origin Story, Adult Comedy LIVE! (x2) What did we skip this time?
The Key… we do not feel it’s worth it right now with all of the changes and price increases. We’ve purchased it 4 times since 2019 – very familiar with the changes to the program over the last 5 years. It’s also been holding at $49.99/day pp for our sailing! Unlimited Dining Package… tried it for the first time last OCT/NOV on Wonder. We enjoyed it, but we don’t feel it’s necessarily worth purchasing every cruise (our decision will likely be based on cost and itinerary). Will try it again down the road. Currently selling for $420.99 pp! We traditionally purchase the 3 Night Dining Package, but also skipped it this time and elected to go with specialty lunches and Chef's Table for a change. Miscellaneous Stuff:
Flight on Southwest Airlines out of Islip/MacArthur Airport (ISP) on Long Island (NY) very early 🥱 on FRI (5/10) morning to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL). Taking a shuttle (SAS Transport Service) from FLL directly to our hotel. Staying overnight at the InterContinental Miami (booked a Bay View room). Plan on exploring Bayside Marketplace and some other local areas as time permits. Our current plan is to use Uber or Lyft from the hotel to the port on SAT morning. We booked the earliest boarding period available (11:30-12:00) for our sailing (completed check-in right after midnight). We likely will arrive a little earlier just in case! We love to start our vacation and exploration of the ship ASAP!  🚢🍹🧉🍷  * Oh yeah! We'll finally be Diamond after this sailing!  🥳 🎉 🍾
 
I think that’s it for the synopsis... now we just need to pack this weekend! 
*** As always, please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to post pictures of something you are interested in... I'll do my best to keep up throughout the sailing!
 
My current iPhone lockscreen… always a pic of the next ship we’ve booked!
Having at least one in the hopper, even if it's a year away, helps soften the pain of disembarking the ship! 

 
Have a good night everyone!

I am surprised how quiet and empty the CK was this morning for breakfast.  I guess lots of folks are getting off today (PDCC).  It’s nice to have a “new” breakfast menu.  We’d been eating at Giovanni’s and/or Chops for over a month now and those menus never changed.  While the CK breakfast menu isn’t really that much different, it IS different in a few minor ways.  Dan was so excited to be able to get his flatbread eggs !  It’s kinda like breakfast pizza with an egg on top.  It’s actually better than it sounds !

Surprisingly, we are at PDCC alone.  I was certainly expecting another ship to be here as this is a "traditional" 7 night cruise, leaving port on Sunday.  To my surprise, nope.  Just us here.  I guess the new mix of shorter cruises has provided a schedule of PDCC stops that no longer revolve around Sat/Sun departures.  I suspect that this is no accident....I personally believe that the new shorter cruise schedule is designed to intentionally bring the ships to PDCC throughout the week.
Since we (or at least, I) will not be getting off today, it is a nice, quiet day onboard.  Dan had hinted that he might want to go snorkeling, but once I agreed to go with him to the Suites' Sun Deck, which we will do later this afternoon, I think he was appeased and so he may or may not go ashore.
After breakfast I agreed to go and play putt-putt with him.  This is NOT something that I actually enjoy, but he likes to pretend to play so I agreed.  It is, after all, his vacation, too !  🙃  I am a notorious putt-putt cheater and today was no different.  It is a fun course, though, and I had to admit (after it was over) that it wasn't all that bad.  Beware, if you play putt-putt on Wonder that the first "hole" has a treacherous starfish, which will devour your ball !  My shot went through, but Dan's got "lost" in the starfish.  I suspect that there is a bounty of balls in the belly of the starfish b/c there were only about 4 balls available when we started playing.  There are now 3.  I imagine the rest of them are forever lost in that treacherous starfish's belly !
The elevators continue to be the biggest headache on this sailing.  I ran into a new Pinn "friend" when I left the SL for the first time (more on my merry journey, later) and he said he'd been waiting for an elevator for 20 minutes !  Holy cow !  Now....this was right at the peak time for the hordes to be disembarking but still....that's a little ridiculous.  I left Dan in the SL where he was dutifully translating an investment document for one of his mining stocks (this is an obsession of his which I rarely discuss as it bores me to tears) from Danish to English.  
An elevator finally arrived and we both boarded.  My destination was deck 14 where I had been told by one of the Suites Concierges (I still do not know any of their names.  I need to get that info.) that there was a library on deck 14 where I could access laptops.  Well, guess what.  No, there isn't.  There IS a card room there, but no computers.  So, totally miffed, I reboarded one of the elevators (after a fairly lengthy wait) bound for deck 17 only to find that the Suites' access doors were now secured.  Now please understand....I do NOT mind that they are secured.   AaMoF, I think that they should be secured ALL the time, but now I was stranded outside, b/c my freaking SP card would not work to open the doors.  DRATS !  Luckily, there is a "call" button above the sensor, which I depressed, and was given access, remotely.  My first stop was to inform Dan that I had utterly failed in my computer quest and then I strolled over to the Concierge to register my gripes.  #1, why the F'K wasn't my card working to gain entrance, and #2, where are the F'N computers !  His answer to #1 was...I will check into it.  I'm not sure what will or can be done.  I guess time will tell on that one.  Actually, I have -0- confidence that anything will change.  That's ok.  As to #2, he quickly informed me that there were NO [public] computers on this ship, save the 2 in the Crown Lounge.  Just about that time, the Concierge who had provided me with bogus gauge, showed up and was embarrassed that he didn't know that the computers had been removed on Wonder.  He apologized profusely, while backing up.  I guess he thought I might make a "move" on him.  HA !  I may have a "mouth" on me at times, but I am not a threat !  LOL   He had recently moved over from Harmony, where (apparently) they still had the computer area.  I guess we both learned something, today !
So.....I rested up for my long journey forward, to the CL, then set out once again, on my quest to find a laptop.  Eureka !  I finally got to the 'puters and here I sit, pecking away.

I am looking forward to MJ on Utopia. We had to get the dinner. I am not missing the seafood spread on day one!

BIG NEWS! we get to add "visit the next cruise desk" to my embarkation day agenda. Last night I somehow convinced Mr. Reg to book a Symphony 7 Night Bahamas and Perfect Day out of NJ. Don't ask me how, don't ask me why, just ask me when, lol. I think it's because when pricing a 5-day Disney trip vs. a 4 night Utopia cruise vs not flying anywhere and doing 7 nights on Symphony, the money spoke for itself! I'm letting my Disney AP lapse since I don't anticipate being able to go much over the next year (I logged 17 days on my current AP but my circumstances, sadly, are changing). I still need to look a little closely at when the current promotion expires and if a different promotion takes effect on Sunday and if it's better or not as great. If it's not as great, getting $100 or whatever in onboard credit (that's usually what you get for a balcony) and a reduce deposit at Next Cruise is not really worth waiting for and I'll just ask my TA to book it before we go. We are looking at September 22-29, so I know it's a bit of a calculated risk weather wise with hurricane season but honestly we aren't in it for the itinerary as we've done it before and been to Perfect Day twice. It's all about that ship for me. Do they still give a gift for booking at Next Cruise on embarkation day?
Anyway, back to the cruise at hand (one cruise at a time, as my TA likes to say!). We are t-minus 6 days! The packing has started, the last minute bookings have been made, planning for pre-embarkation brunch in Vancouver is solidified, and the weather is looking pretty ok for traveling on Saturday (so far). Photos of packing and suitcases and backpacks, etc. to come later this week. Of course our daughter is moving out of college early now so she needs allllll the suitcases 🤪 and I told her she must empty our brand new one no later than Thursday. Mama needs to get packin!

This is frankly how Costco can afford to give the huge rebates. I don't know why they don't participate in RoyalUp but the rebating is purely about volume. 

Ah that is a shame - drinks with moonshine always remind me of being in Disney World and trying the moonshine cocktails at Homecomin' - if anyone is local, I can thoroughly recommend the Blue Hooch! 
With Epic Universe opening next year, a trip back to Florida is definitely on the cards in a couple of years - if Jamie enjoys cruising I'm going to suggest a week at Universal and then a 7 night cruise. 
I'm about to start printing things - going to start with the luggage tags and our Sagrada Familia tickets. I usually hate having a tonne of paperwork and everything else is on my phone, although I want to get a new passport cover from Amazon so may get a document wallet and print everything else too. 

Ugh.  Never mind.  I forgot we have an AT show at 10:45.  I’ll never make it…

Just got back from dinner at the CK.  The apps were really good.  I had the smoky tomato soup and pork belly.  Dan got a Caesar salad with a lobster tail on top.  He said his filet was good but mine was only ok.  I had a gristly end piece and that ruins the entire piece of meat for me.  But I was so full from the apps that I didn’t care about the filet anyway.  We shared a peanut butter  crispy bar and a piece of cheesecake.  I am now miserably full.
We went up to the SL for a drink around 5:00 and I have to say - I am impressed (in a good way) with the SL/CK on Wonder.  The view is so different from the othe O class ships.  We really enjoyed sitting there and having a drink.  That’s not something that we normally do (HH at the SL).
After that we strolled down Central Park and recounted how our previous cruise on Wonder had been so different from this one.  On our last Wonder cruise we were in a CP balcony and did not have access to the SL so never went there.  I must say, when you can enjoy the SL/ CK it is a completely different experience.
We then went to deck 4 and popped into the smoke-free casino where we both came away winners on the Dancing Drums. 🎉🎉
Then, back up to the CK for dinner and now back to the room.  I had intended to go back to the casino but now I’m full, sleepy and tired so maybe an early night ?

I was told 4 hours minimum to clean a pool and refill. Lots of scrubbing with brush/stick mops. Lots of chemicals. I watched them clean the kid pool from up over in the Hideaway Pool. After cleaning it has to sit awhile. Long process. 
Royal needs to implement a 5 years and younger area. And not allow the little ones in every pool. It's not working at all. Don't get me started on the swim up bar. Kids allowed, why?

Ok, Update!
It was 2 pools today.
The kids pool and the swim and tonic bar pool. 
Why they even allow kids in a pool that's a bar is beyond me. 
Royal Caribbean needs to rethink age policies on pools on this ship. It's really getting ridiculous. Lots of paying customers are MAD!

Maybe it's just a Baby Ruth candy bar?

Kids 1000% shouldn't be allowed to lay turds at the Swim and Tonic.  

My wife and I used to book directly through Royal when we first started cruising. As you mentioned, it used to be a pleasure dealing with customer service. We would call for a price adjustment and immediately get through. I'm not sure if was because we used to book refundable deposit fares (they knew I could just cancel and rebook), but CS could not be more accommodating. I would call during lunch in the parking lot and the call would literally only take 5-10 minutes and they would immediately e-mail me the revised reservation/invoice while I was on the phone. At that time, I did not understand the value of a TA.
We first started using a TA for the perks (group rates, rewards/gift cards, dining credits, etc.). However, between the pandemic shutdown and Royal's string of tech glitches, the TA was a HUGE blessing since they would advocate for us. They helped resolve a major Covid-related cruise credit issue and major issues tracking credits back to our CC!
We do book NextCruise while onboard (usually Book Later option), but we leave the reservation linked to our TA. Just something to consider... not all TA's are eligible or participate in the RoyalUp program if that matters to you. Our current TA does not, but we usually sail with family/friends and we book adjacent rooms whenever possible so we would feel guilty if we ever won! 
Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you so much! 😀 We prefer a sea day, but PDCC is at least a relaxing day for us!
Thank you!!!

Not all agencies participate... we have used Costco Travel and they do not participate or qualify with RoyalUp. We do not get the invitations to bid on RoyalUp.
Just putting it out there to check when you switch to a new TA if that matters to you. I don't know the mechanics/qualifications, but just make sure and never assume anything. 😀

Hi All,
We made it onboard the Odyssey of the Seas today but once again I need to catch up on what we did yesterday. I have a feeling I am going to be continually behind but hopefully I will be able to catch up since tomorrow is a sea day but then I might quickly end up behind again as the port days start. Anyways all of that to say just bear with me 🥺.
Ok so back to yesterday. We started our day heading to a cafe near the hotel for coffee and pastries. We opted to not do the hotel breakfast again after the first time so I literally searched coffee shop on Google maps and went to the first place that showed up. Here are some pictures of the pastries and coffee:

After that, we once again ordered an Uber and headed to the restaurant for our cooking class. The class was called “3 in 1 Cooking Class near Navona: Fettuccine, Ravioli & Tiramisu” and was conducted in the back room of a restaurant. Promptly at the start time of the class, our chef instructor Danilo came out to check us in for the class and had us come in and wash our hands before starting with the Tiramisu. Danilo already had the eggs separated in two bowls and then added sugar to the yolks. From there he asked for two volunteers to use the hand mixers to beat the egg whites and beat the yolks. I volunteered and ended up beating the yolks and sugar mixture. About halfway through the beating process we stopped and he got another volunteer up to drop spoonfuls of mascarpone in the yolk mixture as I continued beating with the hand mixer. Once the egg whites were stiff and the yolks, sugar, and mascarpone mixture was completely mixed, my job was done. From there he had a few more volunteers come up to fold the egg whites into the yolks mixture. My dad volunteered for this part and ended up being on of the people doing the folding. 
From there, Danilo instructed us how to assemble the tiramisu. We each were given a glass and two lady fingers (they have a much nicer Italian name that I don’t remember 🙃). They had bowls of brewed coffee on the tables and we broke the lady fingers in half and quickly dipped the first half in the coffee and smushed it on the bottom of the cup (smushed is a technical term 😂). We then layered in the cream, the other half of the lady fingers dipped in coffee but not smushed and some more cream. Finally, we topped it off with cocoa powder. We then labeled our cups of tiramisu and put them on trays to go chill while we prepared our pasta.
For the pasta making, we did the whole process by hand including the rolling and cutting. Danilo demonstrated each step and also came around to help. My mom has never been the cook in my household (she likes to talk about how she failed home ec in high school), and she required a lot of assistance to get the pasta mixed, kneaded, and rolled out. Thankfully he helped her out otherwise she wouldn’t have had lunch, he said there was one of her in every class 🤣. Not only did we cut thicker fettuccine noodles, we also filled and cut ravioli. We were given a card to write our name on and select one of three sauces for our fettuccine. My mom and I both selected cacio e pepe and my dad selected a tomato sauce with pork in it called Amatriciana. From there we left our finished pasta on our boards with the cards and headed to the actual restaurant side of the space to sit down at a large table as a group to enjoy what we made. 
The server came around with some house wine for everyone and then our pasta started coming out as it was prepared. Unfortunately one of my ravioli burst in the water so I lost one but it was still really cool eating what we just made. After we ate our pasta, they passed out our tiramisu and each enjoyed what we made.
It was definitely a fun experience that while not a typical tour was a fun way to experience Rome. The class was operated by Eat and Walk Italy and I once again purchased it through Viator. The whole thing including the lunch took about 3 hours and at the end we got to download a recipe booklet of what we cooked to keep. The same operator also offers pizza and other classes and all the recipes for all the classes are included in the recipe booklet. Here are some pictures I took at the class:

After the class, we finally had some free time so we walked to the Spanish steps (about a half mile from where the class was) and did some shopping. Let’s just say we did some damage and now have to figure out the VAT refund process when we leave FCO in 2 weeks. I will report back how that goes if we are successful. From there we got ditched by an Uber driver who started driving in circles trying to get us to cancel until he finally canceled so we ended up shopping some more before getting a cab at a taxi stand to get back to our hotel. We once again ate dinner at the pizza place near our hotel. Here are our pictures from this time:

After that we got some gelato near our hotel:

And finally went back to our rooms to pack up and prepare to board the ship the next day.
Overall, this was our most relaxed day in Rome and definitely needed after the 2 busy days prior. My next post will probably be a shorter post about boarding day, it was rather uneventful as everything went pretty smoothly, as well as finally a hotel review. Spoiler: we definitely would recommend the Doubletree by Hilton Rome Monti.
Thanks again for reading and TTYL!
- Ashley
 
 

I woke up this morning and for a second still thought I was on the ship. But then I felt my dog at my feet and knew I was home. Good to go, but good to come home too. 😊

@JohnK6404 got it. Such a good drink. Unfortunately only available on Wonder (and soon Utopia).

@OCSC Mike , correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a Mississippi Moonlight from Mason Jar on Wonder! Delicious!

That shrimp po'boy was so good, I think I had it twice on Wonder.  I am craving Mason Jar now 😋 😩 😫

MJ lunch was great.  I had the chicken sandwich; Dan had the shrimp po-boy.  We shared a cinnamon roll. OMG, so delicious !  I had the tater tots which were kinda bland but not terrible.  Dan had the Cajun fries.  They had cut my chicken breast in half ( thank goodness) b/c it was such a fatty but it made the sandwich so much easier to eat as I removed half of it.
Dinner tonite is in the CK (filet night).  The only dinner we have scheduled in the CK.  We may pop in for lunch randomly and I assume we have breakfast there (I forgot to ask an about breakfast).  I guess I need to confirm that…
Tonite we have inTENse at 10:45.  Hopefully I’ll still be awake for that !

Alright, I am convinced regarding printing things - I'll do that tomorrow. 
Packing is 90% done, thank goodness. Although looking around my room I've seen a couple of things that will need adding. But so far, one large suitcase and a carry on. For 9 nights. I feel I may have overpacked...
We have secured a new tour - Pompeii, an Italian lunch and wine tasting, and a hike to the crater of Vesuvius. I'm very excited - I did a similar Pompeii and wine tasting tour last time I was in Naples, but never got to get up close to Vesuvius. A little nervous about the hike, just because I can struggle on uneven ground due to questionable depth perception, but Jamie is a good guy and will make sure I'm OK. I'm determined to make it to the top. 
Still feeling overwhelmed - I feel like a first time cruiser again!! But this time next week, we'll be on board!
Also, if anyone can explain how to insert pictures within text, that'd be awesome, ready for the photo spam that will be happening! I not only ramble in writing, I take a lot of pictures!

Type your message, then when you add the pic file, click “insert” under where the pic loads at the bottom.

Then click under the pic (like I just did) and add more text. Rinse and repeat.

Hope that made sense. Let me know if it didn’t.