joshgates

Cruise Summary
I've waited a few days to post a summary so I can properly contemplate the experience.  In summary it was amazing. 
With my creative thoughts warmed tonight with a glass of Endurance Scotch I am ready to summarize this voyage.
I've enjoyed some special bucket list cruises on various lines to great destinations.  This experience on the Silver Wind to Antarctica has surpassed them all.
We had some great weather on this voyage but I have the feeling that the experience would be pretty fantastic with or without the weather we had.
I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the Silver Wind.   There is no disputing her age yet I was pleased with the ship and how it has been updated.   
The premium internet plan and the consistent internet experience throughout the voyage given the challenges of internet at sea well away from populated areas was a pleasant surprise for this tech geek.  
When I considered Antarctic itineraries I initially focused on Antarctica exclusively.  Fortunately I realized if I was going all this way, investing in this vacation as required, I should explore the greater area.  This was a great itinerary that included the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Elephant Island and Antarctica.  All of them are special in their own way and all of them worthy of being included on this special voyage.  
Boots on the ground in the Falklands, South Georgia, Elephant Island and Antarctica with a surprise visit to iceberg A23a.  Enough said.  Christmas in South Georgia, New Years in Antarctica.  Does it get any better than that?  
On the way home at the hotel in Santiago with new friends made on this voyage someone asked the best moment of this experience.  In truth there wasn't one, there were many best moments.
Being in a special place is all well and good but I learned the value of a great zodiac driver while in the Galapagos.  That lesson holds true in the Antarctic.  Great guides are equally important and our expedition team were all pretty great.  They all have impressive resumes and their passion for their work is hard to miss.  They were a large part of making this experience what it became.  I am quickly becoming a fan of Silversea expedition cruising.
The Captain along with his bridge and deck teams were also a significant factor in the making of this experience.  They all did a phenomenal job. 
Food is subjective.  I try to refrain from reviewing food because my tastes should mean little to anyone else.  I can't recall a bad meal and there were some pretty great meals on board.  How do they keep food fresh as long as they did?  The only meals that I was not enthused about were the two lunches in The Restaurant that were basically buffets.  Generally speaking the food in The Restaurant where I ate most of my meals was perfect for me.  
As far as my camera kit for this sailing I think I did pretty good.  When you own a boat and pull into a marina there is always someone in the marina with a better boat.   Photography is somewhat similar and I sometimes had some "PE" (photographer envy) seeing what other guests had in their hand.  Despite that I think I did okay and I'm pleased with the results.
I watched the ship provided video again before sitting down to write this summary.  I am so glad they provide the video.   Justin did a great job with it.   Every time I watch it the memories come flooding back.  
This was an incredible experience and I enjoyed presenting it here.  I hope you have found it informative and I thank you for viewing.  

Icebergs ahoy!
You can see one in the distance to starboard.



It seemed to change shape in the time it took to get closer.






This one to port was much larger and further away.

This was the inspiration for the Christmas Vacation theme blog. Lindsay purchased this 1974 Ford Country Squire a couple of months ago and his dream was to drive it in our towns Christmas parade. The lighting isn’t the best but his brothers business was awarded 3rd prize 🏆 It was a crowd favourite. 

ITINERARY:
July 1st - Fly to Barcelona July 2nd - Barcelona, Spain July 3rd - Embark Wonder OTS in Barcelona July 4th - Palma de Mallorca, Spain July 5th - Marseilles, France July 6th - La Spezia, Italy July 7th - Civitavecchia, Italy July 8th - Naples, Italy July 9th - Cruising July 10th - Debark Wonder in Barcelona/Take train to Aix-en-Provence July 11th - Aix-en-Provence/Marseilles, France July 12th - Lyon, France July 13th - Lyon morning/train to Strasbourg afternoon July 14th - Strasbourg, France July 15th - Morning train to Paris/afternoon Paris, France July 16th - Morning Paris/afternoon train to London July 17th - London, England July 18th - Arrive home in Glasgow, Scotland July 19th - 27th:  A quick cruise onboard "Glaswegian Apartment of the Seas" (chance to recharge my batteries) July 28th - Fly to Rome July 29th - Rome, Italy July 30th - Rome, Italy July 31st - Embark Odyssey OTS in Civitavecchia August 1st - Cruising August 2nd - Santorini, Greece August 3rd - Kusadasi, Turkey August 4th - Mykonos, Greece August 5th - Cruising August 6th - Naples, Italy August 7th - Debark Odyssey OTS/Fly home

Hi everyone, thought I would share some details about our upcoming family vacation that we just booked.  I used several tips from posters on this board, so I thought I'd share my gratitude with you all.
WHO: We have a group of 13 from my immediate family.  5 Adult couples and 3 kids (1, 9, and 10).  The only people who've been on a cruise before are my parents and my wife and me, so it should be an exciting experience for everyone.
WHAT: We booked two staterooms to hold the 13 of us.  We booked one of the spacious Aquatheater suites (A1) category and the Royal Loft Suite!  Both staterooms give everyone Star class amenities.  The bedroom configuration between the two stateroom works out perfectly for us.  We have two private balconies that people can hang out at.  One at the back of the ship facing the Aquatheater and one at the top...with a hot tub.
WHEN: July 31, 2022.  Our most likely time of year that we could have booked this trip would be in the Summer.  We have two school age kids, a teacher, and a resident doctor.  Trying to plan around any other time would just not have worked for all of us.  And we did not want to leave anyone behind, because we've been planning on going on a cruise together for years.
WHERE: 6 Night Western Caribbean itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale.  We were originally looking at an Eastern or Southern Caribbean itinerary, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of excursion options with this itinerary that everyone can find something to do.
WHY: We've been looking at doing a family cruise vacation for years now, and just hadn't had a good opportunity to book one.  We had one booked this last December with another cruise line that got canceled due to COVID.
HOW: We booked with Grace from MEI Travel based on recommendations that I received from my first post on this board.  Super knowledgeable, friendly, and courteous booking experience with her.  Very different from the experiences I've had with my Cruises.com booking.  I feel like I have a cruise travel agent for life now!  
A couple of things worth mentioning.  We probably wouldn't have booked such lavish stateroom classes if the price weren't so low.  I didn't believe it when I did the math for our booking, but we secured these two rooms for the 13 of us for $2k/pp!  For my wife and my honeymoon, we paid that same price for a regular balcony stateroom in mid June.  Pretty nuts, but I think the fact that the Allure was rescheduled to the Caribbean for this next Summer forced Royal to offer lower prices to fill the ship in a shorter period of time than their normal deployment schedule.
For those people who pour over data and trends to find the best priced cruise you can, take a look at cruiseplum.com.  It has the most amount of data and tools than any other search tool I've seen on the internet.  It even shows historical prices per cabin category.  You can even filter your search to Star class only.  Definitely was useful when searching for the perfect cruise for the price.
Another pro tip that @Lovetocruise2002 mentioned in previous posts that was applicable to our cruise was to only include 3 people per stateroom on the original booking.  This locks in pricing for any additional guests at the 3rd guest's rate.  This also reduced the non-refundable deposit that we had to pay dramatically ($1500 vs $3250).  We will still have to pay the deposits and cruise fares for people later when we add people on, but doing this reduces the total amount of money we have tied up in non-refundable deposits in the event we have to cancel our booking.  The only risk with doing this strategy is that if the cruise is at max capacity, no more people can be added to staterooms.  We plan on adding the additional people 4 months in advance and checking with our TA occasionally.
One question that I have is whether anyone has had any experiences with people from the same group having two different genies?  Would the genies coordinate between each other if we wanted to reserve dinner or a show together?  Are we only able to be helped by our own genie?  Let me know if you've had any experience with this.
Also, we'll be bringing a 1 year old on the cruise.  Can anyone shed some light on what sort of sleeping arrangement works best for them on a cruise?  Bringing a pack & play?  Sleeping in bed with Mom and Dad?
Everyone's looking forward the trip as we'll have lifelong memories to make.

Well the cruise is over.  Was a pleasant vacation.  Hate being home.
The port days were fun.  Dove at both so that is always good.  Now some overall observations of my vacation.
Inside cabin was perfect for me.  Got used to the shower so it wasn't as bad as I expected after first day.  Room attendant was perfect.  I rarely saw her but my room was always made up and she had fresh ice for me in the morning and evening.  As expected only 2 towel animals for the week.  It was fine for me but my wife and co-worker were disappointed on their trips with just 2.
Food was better overall than my first cruise with Royal.  I don't count my Odyssey cruise last October since I had specialty almost every day.  Just like the Odyssey I learned not to trust the menus in the app as I got burned again when I chose my night for Chops to avoid a certain nights menu to only have them move it to the night after my Chops dinner.  Ended up have Spaghetti that night.  I was in the same wait teams section every night but one.  I felt sorry for them as they had what appeared to be a 10-12 top with half being children.  I honestly expected to be adversely affected but the whole team made sure I wasn't.  I also watched them work the big table and I hope they got a huge tip because they did what looked like an amazing job with them.
I did the comedian one night and both production shows.  The comedian was enjoyable and Broadway: Rhythm and Rhyme was impressive though I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected I would.  I went to see Tango Bueno Aries because that is just something I do because I enjoy most shows.  Honestly didn't have high expectations but it was easily the best entertainment for the week.
Didn't plan to spend much time in the casino but they had a hand shuffled/dealt table and I prefer that to the machines that normally is used.  I was almost break even for the week and I can really gamble on my next cruise.   We had a second slot pull on Sunday and had 5 new players.  Unfortunately we lost half the money this time but it was still a fun time.
Almost every worker on the ship was helpful and happy.  There seemed to always be someone nearby if you needed help and they helped with what seemed a smile even though you really couldn't see with the masks.  The elevators seemed responsive and never had to wait to long to get one.  Debarkation was just as organized and easy as embarkation.  I was off the boat and in my car by 8:30 and I did not carry my baggage off.
I am looking forward to my next cruise on the Harmony in September.  It will be my first Oasis class and first time Star class.  
Thank you for reading.

haha...not that young anymore. Hubby still loves Lego, Star Wars, and his Toronto Maple Leafs so he is forever young 😄

Is that picture really you or are those cardboard cut-outs ?!
 
😉😍
Looks like it was a wonderful get-away.  So glad you could enjoy it.

Apologies that I did not live blog this one. Feel free to ask any other questions if you have them.
And for those who were wondering, it was amusing to watch Hubby adjust to sailing with no Genie and no Star after 3 consecutive Star sailings. As predicted, he was worse than I was even though he makes fun of me all the time. I spent most of Day 1 saying, "No, this is not Star Class." 🤣

Celebrating 20 years married, and 20 years sailing with Royal 🙂❤️

And another block closer to 🍍😉

Random thoughts about the Royal Suite on Freedom:
- Suite benefits are consistent with non-OA/QN ships. The only added benefit with the Royal Suite is the escort on the ship (embarkation day), and the escort off the ship (disembarkation).
- I loved this room! While not as modern as some of the newer ships (Hubby prefers the modern decor), I can easily overlook that for the space, and the views in this suite. There is so much living space. Throughout the week, I kept thinking that even if the kids were with us, there would be plenty of space for 4 of us.
- As I mentioned before, the piano in the living room is a nice feature, especially in the evenings. I was just worried it would disturb the neighbours, but Hubby ventured out into the hall on the first night and he said you could not really hear it.
- Our stateroom attendant mentioned on the first day that "ding dong ditch" is quite common in this room. There is a switch to shut off the sound of the door bell so we never heard it if it did happen.
- I also loved the balcony in this suite. It is large with enough space for two loungers, a dining table, the faux hot tub, and more than enough space to move around.
- This suite is on the "hump" so the views are great. When you left/right, you don't really see other balconies, and the RS balcony is deep enough that nobody can really see you if you are out of the balcony, unless you are right up at the rails.
- The only complaint about this room is that it is on Deck 10, but almost all the suites on Freedom class ships are on Deck 10. This is unfortunate as Deck 11 is the pool deck/WJ, etc., very busy, lots of traffic. I have long wondered if this would be a problem. Well, it was, but not in the way that I would have guessed. We did not get any noise from the scraping of deck chairs or running or anything of that sort. What we got was the sound of constant toilet flushing! After the first night, Hubby and I went to investigate and it turns out the men's washroom outside of the Windjammer is directly above this suite. So beware if you book this room lol. It's not as bad in the middle of the night, but you will hear it all throughout the day and evening. 
- Would I book this suite again, most definitely! We thoroughly enjoyed our time in this suite and on this ship. It was a perfect way to slow down and decompress after a very busy Norway sailing.

We completely loved this balcony and spent most of our week here:
 

We boarded Freedom on Monday, July 25th.
Because this was our 20th Anniversary, I am a total, unashamed suite snob, and I cannot let a good deal pass, I booked Hubby and I into something that I have always been curious about...
Warning: Massive photo dump ahead. There are videos in my highlights on IG.
The Royal Suite on a non-Oasis/Quantum class ship.
Entrance to the suite from the hallway on Deck 10:

Main entry way inside the suite:


.
Living room area with complete wet bar.
Yes, that piano does play itself or you can play it. Not sure if there are piano nerds out there, but as I long wondered and confirmed, it's a Yamaha piano. This was actually one of the many things I loved about this suite. In the evenings, Hubby and I would sit and have a drink, let the piano play itself (even though we can both play), it was like our very own Schooner Bar lol.



Being ones that drink a lot of water, and this not being a Star Class sailing, I did ask the concierge ahead of time to have water delivered to the suite. I asked for Evian, they delivered Aqua Panna. Not a big deal. There was no water package available on the cruise planner this sailing so I made the request. The amount of water that you see here is what was delivered. It was more than enough for both of us and it cost just under $80. Because we did not have any beverage package this cruise, and the suite lounge on FR is not like Oasis class (where you can pop in and get bottled water throughout the day), Hubby and I saw this as $80 well spent.



Not a true hot tub for those who are interested. It is more like the ones on the balconies of the Owner's and Grand Panoramic suites (on Oasis and Allure), more like an outdoor bath tub with jets. This one was also way more shallow than the one we had in the Grand Panoramic (1758) on Allure. 



Bedroom Area:



Master Bathroom in the Bedroom:






Closet and Storage:


This is the second full bathroom just to the side of the entry way. I always thought this suite had a full bath and powder room, but no, this was complete with a second shower.

For those of you wondering why I always stay at the Intercontinental Miami, this is the reason right here. 
What hotel can give you this view of the ships? It never gets old!
 

Here we go again...
Our last blog left off with a promise that our first star class cruise would not be our last.  We’re making good on that promise!  This will be number two, and we have two more already on the books.  I promise that this won’t be ending any time soon.  When I start talking about cruises now, my hubby’s first question is if it’s Star Class (he’s just as hooked as I am).  🤣
Partners in crime on this cruise: 
Hubby & I (Tim & Kathy) Our youngest daughter (who was on our first star class cruise with us) and her best friend/our honorary daughter (Kenzie & Kayla) Mother-in-law and her youngest sister (Mom & Aunt Cindy)  Ship:  Allure of the Seas
Cabin:  2 Bedroom Aquatheater Suite – deck 9 – Star Class!
Dates:  September 25 – October 1
Ports:  Sailing RT from Ft Lauderdale (FLL) to Roatan, Costa Maya, & Cozumel
Booked Excursions: 
Roatan, Honduras:  Splitting up the group - Some on the All-in-One Tour & some on the Turquoise Bay All Inclusive Horseback & Beach Break  Costa Maya, Mexico:  Chacchoben Ruins Exclusive Drive (all of us) Cozumel, Mexico:  Splitting up again - Some doing the All Inclusive VIP Dolphin Encounter & others enjoying the Chankanaab Day Pass with Lunch & Drinks Pre-cruise Hotels:  We’re sporting Holiday Inn this trip both in town the night before our flights out, and again in FLL the night before the cruise.
Flying:  Five of us are flying in the day before from Oregon and one is coming from New Jersey (fingers crossed that we all make it on time with our luggage – which is now a thing we think about after @Lovetocruise2002's experience last Spring)
Travel Insurance:  Absolutely!!  We got policy quotes and picked the best one for us through Insuremytrip.com (in case you were curious)
This is a special trip for our family and all about memories and celebrations:  
Our 30th Wedding Anniversary (the original reason for this booking); Mom’s birthday; Kenzie's birthday; Kayla's birthday; and most importantly We want to give mom the vacation of a lifetime! I know…nothing special for Cindy listed above. Don’t worry - I’m sure we’ll come up with something before we cruise.  
 
Kenzie cruised with us last November on Anthem in a star class suite (her third cruise ever and now wants nothing to do with normal cabins). Mom and Aunt Cindy have both cruised a few times before, but it’s been at least 15 years, and they were nothing like this. Kayla has never cruised, but she heard all about our last one and was experiencing some serious FOMO.  We're so excited to share this cruise with our family!
A little history about our family...
Tim and I:  We're pretty chill individuals, but we know how to throw a bash, and we're all about making special moments happen around us.   Kenzie, Kayla, and Cindy:  All three could stay up for a month straight talking non-stop, and still have more to say.  🤪 Cindy has a thousand family stories to tell and keeps us in stitches all the time Mom is the ultimate caregiver!  She's been caring for everyone in her life (sisters, kids, husbands) for as long as she can remember, and it's hard for her to be pampered.  We're going to make sure she is taken care of!! A little history about this cruise booking…
This cruise was originally booked on Symphony in the same cabin type.  We booked it in the middle of the shutdown and we thought we had gotten a really good deal.  Royal said, “hold my beer”, and last Fall, they redeployed Wonder’s inaugural year sailings during the Summer of 2022, kicked Allure out of Europe, and opened up Allure sailings from FLL.  Someone in our Star Class Facebook thread shared that she got a great deal and I had to look.  The difference was almost $5K and it was a no brainer.  Even though the itinerary was different, and it was one night less on an older ship, we had to follow the savings and we jumped ship (pun intended).  🤣
Allure was supposed to be amplified in 2020, but due to the shutdown, it was only in drydock for regularly scheduled maintenance at that time.  Because of the delay, this ship still has the Champagne Bar (instead of the Bionic Bar), Sabor Mexican Restaurant (instead of BBQ, I think ??), no Perfect Storm water slides, and no Ultimate Abyss (dry slides).  I don’t know if they intend to change Giovani’s during the amplification, but we’re pretty happy it’s still on the ship because none of us really liked Jamie’s on Anthem.  Oh!  And Mom’s all-time favorite musical is Mamma Mia!, which is the show on Allure, so that couldn’t have worked out better!
We’re two months out and planning has fully commenced!  The things we’re looking forward to most are the food (of course), the aqua-theater balcony, the Dux mattress!!!!! (Kenzie is very jealous because she heard ALL about it last time), walks with Mom, drinking without being the designated driver, some great excursions, and making AMAZING memories together!
I hope this blog is entertaining for you because I know we're going to have some very entertaining experiences! 😍🤩
“Memories are the STARS that Brighten Our Dreams”  ~Sharon Repp

As @Matthas stated many times, this is not the forum to discuss the efficacy of masking and vaccines. Please keep the discussion on topic. 🙂

Absolutely !  ...and BTW to @Stelkp, we have been in the 2 BR ATS 3 times so obviously I think it's a cool suite !  The 2 BR ATS were our first 3 SC suites and it wasn't until I tried a suite on 17 that I "graduated".  I still think that the ATS have the very best views and awesome balconies in the entire fleet....so go and enjoy this suite and all of the SC amenities.  There's nothing like them.

Mariana ( correction from Maria) brought our bags and rang the doorbell we didn’t realize we had at about 4:30 before sail away. Honestly, from the line and chaos and endless baggage carts of luggage I figured we’d be closer to 6 or 7 for bags to show up to the room, so that was a pleasant surprise. We enjoyed sail away around 5 from our private loft deck and could hear the sail away festivities from deck 15. After we cleared the Atlantic coastline, we started unpacking and getting ready for dinner.
Night 1 dinner : IZUMI HIBACHI TABLE
We arrived and were seated immediately at 1 of 3 hibachi tables inside Izumi. The “show” and dinner were both fantastic, our chef and the other two were having a great time, and the mood in there was super fun. There were only three hibachi tables that seat 8, so I can understand how it gets booked up. Dinner and fried rice were delicious, lots of garlic, flavor and the beef and shrimp were really good. The dessert was weird / it was advertised as “crispy sesame balls” but what arrived was like sugar cookie dough rolled with sesame seeds. We were so stuffed, I didn’t bother to ask for a different item — and since we have the UDP, it really didn’t matter, but It was gross enough that I would have said something if I had arranged and purchased Izumi as a stand alone. 
 
**FIRST STRANGE/REALLY BAD  EXPERIENCE OCCURRED IN IZUMI**about photography…
After we were seated, an RC photographer started making the rounds among the various groups seated, and I didn’t think much of it other than these photos would be showing up with our embarkation ones in the gallery linked to our room at some point when we are browsing on a sea day. WRONG! The photographer returns when we are winding down from dinner with printed copies of the photos she took and tries to sell the prints for $35 per single photo, and around $59 for the one photo in the leather bound  booklet that has the Izumi photo on one side and the Harmony picture on the other. I asked about purchasing them later ( based on a pre-booking cruise planner photo option we didn’t do that said you can get 10, 20, 100 digital prints etc. ) and she coldly informed me that specialty dining is EXEMPT from any sort of photo package, and does not offer any bundle discount and the photos are only available right now tonight and cannot be accessed later in the cruise.  I asked her what that means if we are eating in specialty dining every night of the cruise ( which we are — UDP) and was told in specialty restaurants, every night is it’s own unique offer to buy prints. Wow. So.. basically we paid for unlimited dining and won’t get any pictures from any non-main dining room restaurant , except on a nightly basis at an egregious cost of $35 PER PRINT? Totally unacceptable. Thank goodness I didn’t book a package in advance for a certain number of prints that I would have presumed would include our dining nights in specialty restaurants, but would have only included an embarkation photo. What a bummer, I would happily pay an acceptable price for a set of photos that were good, but I won’t pay a ridiculous amount for a first night photo when I haven’t seen the other 7 days. = TOTAL FAIL
 
After dinner we walked around some more to check out the spaces at night. When we were meandering on deck 8 revisiting Central Park, the Rising Tide Bar was ready to launch and my kids convinced me to “ride” it and they would meet me at the bottom. It sort of reminded me of the Haunted mansion stretching paintings elevators at Disneyland, but maybe slower ? We finished our evening with a proper churros  dessert at Sabor to make up for the tasteless sesame dough balls, so maybe I won’t have pictures from our unlimited dining but I will definitely take advantage of going somewhere just for dessert!
 
We are ready for CocoCay in the morning, and excited for some Waterpark and chill time. Until tomorrow! 
 

 

Wow! I can’t say enough about suite class so far - I would pull the $$ trigger on that again in a heartbeat JUST for embarkation on an Oasis size ship. We finally left MCO at 12:15 and the bus ride was uneventful in a good way. There were several people dozing off in the cool A/C after whatever “hurry up and wait” travel situations have finally culminated in getting to the ship. The last few times we have used transportation from the Airport to the ship have been on Disney years ago and the mood on Disney is considerably more amped up with people wearing Mickey ears while being inundated with DCL cartoons and Mickey shorts. I would compare it to a weekend trip to Vegas - the Friday night outbound flight is hooting and hollering ( DCL) and the Sunday flight back is hungover and asleep ( RCL). Speaking of which …. The RCL port rep came on board to let us know there are 6000 ppl checking in, a long line ahead and to have Covid test, and Covid cards at the ready for phase one of spot check. We bypassed the entire cluster of what looked to be nothing short of a 500-800 person line, were shuttled past everyone and waiting behind one family to get into the terminal. 20 minutes from off the bus to door on the ship, but I can feel the elevator pain already as it took almost as long to get to 17. Made it Suite lounge and  Coastal kitchen by 1:35, and Mario already handled the aforementioned adult 12 year old dining situation with the UDP. Interestingly enough, not one person in the whole chain has told us how to get to our room? I guess we just see if there’s keys there. More later - I keep getting alerts that I have a few hours left to complete the safety drill. Here is the line at the port at 1 pm 
 
 

Currently waiting in the bus area for transportation the the ship. We got downstairs about 10:20 and waited about 15 minutes to get our tickets for the bus. There was a voucher page attached in our cruise EDocs that I just handed the agent, very simple. We should be leaving around 11:30. I asked what happens if you have an earlier check in/ port arrival and you are on a later bus, they said it doesn’t matter they will let you arrive whenever you say you just got off the transportation — ( so maybe if you are generally running late for your arrival you say you were on the bus 🤷‍♀️) There’s plenty of seating here and a full Starbucks so we will grab some coffee and wait to be called! 

After lunch we headed across the bridge again over to the Tower of London. This fortress was larger than I thought and we explored all over the place. We saw some of the carvings that the infamous “guests” left in the walls and eventually saw the Crown Jewels. They don’t mess around in there with their no photography policy. There were many teenagers who got yelled at for simply having their phones in their hands.
Traitors Gate

Johnny was ready to defend the fortress!

We didn’t try messing with these guys…

We were in awe as to what was inside here.

 

We are winding down at the Hyatt inside the Orlando Airport for the night. The super early wake up and travel day, followed by a few hours at the pool have all of us ready to get a good night’s sleep before embarkation tomorrow. This Hyatt is an absolute sea of pleasant calm in the chaos of the airport, and so convenient for a pre-cruise stay. We went with a patio room this time because the rooms that look over the airport atrium don’t have doors that open even though they have balconies, some sort of “safety risk” and I love the fresh humid air and rain that we don’t get at home. We are using the ship’s bus transportation in the morning to the port so it’s just a matter of getting up when we are ready and going down to level 1. No proper breakfast needed for sure, as we will be starting our 7 days of food. 
 
Here are some pictures of the room ( 2 QNS with patio), the very quiet hallway atrium outside the room that you would never guess is right above the hustle and bustle of the security lanes, and the rooftop pool area with views of planes taking off — definitely not a resort mega pool area with bells and whistles, but more than enough to swim in and cool off, and way bigger than anything we will be dipping our feet in on the ship! We can’t wait for tomorrow, my son asked whether we will be on the loud terminal forklift loading side at PC, or the harbor side looking out towards Cape Canaveral. I’m not sure how the ship is normally oriented while in Port so we will find out soon. 

Headed home. 

Well we are now at T3 in LHR waiting for a gate to be posted. They will not post the gate until an hour before departure. 
 
How can I describe the chaos that is T3 at LHR? The train ride from T5 (where Sofitel is) to T3 was quick and easy. Things started to go wonky when we went to check our bags. Because we are Canadian citizens, but flying into DTW, there was a slight delay as the ticket agent explained that their system doesn’t allow them to check off that we are just passing through the US, and their is no address that we are staying at. I already anticipated this would be a hold up because yesterday when I was doing the online check in, it wouldn’t let us check Hubby in online. And when I was filling in the contact tracing, it would not let me check that I am passing through and not remaining in the US. Anyway, after explaining to the ticket agent that our car is parked at DTW and we drive back to Canada from there, they said all is good and boarding passes were printed. I told them that as long as there is no trouble at the gate, we are all good. 
 
Next came the part where everything you see on the news lately (about LHR) is true. Massive lines to get from checking your luggage to security. The line was wrapped around to the outside, 5 lines deep. Hubby took a pic but the pic doesn’t truly show the craziness here. 


Once you make it into the part of the line that is inside the terminal, it’s about another 75-90 mins to actually get to the security check point. As the ever optimist (glass is half full person), Hubby said at least there are lots of staff directing the crowds, which there was. 
 
Our flight is scheduled to depart at 12:55pm. Last night before bed, the family discussed what time we should get to T3. In normal times, 3 hours is the general guideline for international flights. I told them that news about LHR has not been the greatest. We decided to give ourselves 4 hours and we left our hotel room at 8:30am this morning. Thank goodness we did. It is now just past 11:00am and we are relaxed and waiting for our gate, praying that our flight does not get cancelled. All is on time for now. Fingers crossed. 
 
In other news, lots of reports from our FB roll call group this morning and last night of people getting home and testing positive for covid. Not great news for FR coming up. 😕

My kids claim they can happily sail in a regular cabin. In fact, they keep telling me they look forward to it. They say that I am the only suite snob in the family. 
We shall see 😂