Kelslovestocruise

On harmony right now and we are at Costa maya. Almost all of the royal Caribbean booked excursions were cancelled. We didn’t have one planned anyways as this was our walk around the port for a couple of hours then get back on the ship early stop. Everyone we saw was happy to have us there. We were the only ship in port today. Lots of people in the port area but it is a very nicely done up port. Also lots of people booked their own excursions and were fine. There were also excursions you could book in the port area with no issues. I saw people getting into cabs and there were no problems there either. Other than it being crazy humid it was a great day! 

On harmony right now and we are at Costa maya. Almost all of the royal Caribbean booked excursions were cancelled. We didn’t have one planned anyways as this was our walk around the port for a couple of hours then get back on the ship early stop. Everyone we saw was happy to have us there. We were the only ship in port today. Lots of people in the port area but it is a very nicely done up port. Also lots of people booked their own excursions and were fine. There were also excursions you could book in the port area with no issues. I saw people getting into cabs and there were no problems there either. Other than it being crazy humid it was a great day! 

Day 1 continued: 
Went the room and saw both our suitcases down the hall and grab them and unpack. Then off to the pool deck to swim and tan before muster - why have I never done this before it was great and not busy! Then quickly time to run and change before muster then sail away from deck 16 the sail away party was lame. Then time to sit on my balcony with a glass of wine before dinner. 
 
main dining room for dinner tonight second seating as we eat late in the city anyways. I had the French onion soup, the New York strop and cheesecake. It was all delicious! Next stop to the casino royal took my money way too fast then karaoke where lots of drama was present. Then pizza and water before bed. Tomorrow is perfect day at coco cay. I’m so excited!  
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 

Day 2: perfect Day at Coco Cay 
Woke up this morning at 7:15 and we were already docked! I’m very excited for this day and I can tell you right now it was perfect. Up to the windjammer for breakfast - I love the made to order eggs! We brought all our stuff with us to breakfast and now off to start our perfect day. We were in port until 4 so great time for a beach day. First we wandered the island a bit and took a bunch of pictures then it was off to the oasis lagoon for the morning!  
 
forgot to mention empress was in port with us today. The size difference was crazy! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After a couple hours enjoying the pool and our loungers it was time to find lunch and the beach. By the way the water in the pool was cold like cold for a Canadian cold but I did get in and enjoyed. Lunch was at the shake shack I had the best mozzarella sticks - I was amazed they were fantastic! Then some giant jenga was played and some time was spent on the beach. Then back to oasis lagoon for some more swimming and lounging. At 3 we left and walked back to the ship past the market. Once on board the ship i went to Central Park and enjoyed some sangria while writing a blog entry. After this I headed to my cabin to shower and watch sail away from the balcony. Then I had a quick nap before dinner. 
 
french onion soup, short rib and creme brûlée was what I ate. Lobo the bar service waiter is amazing and always has my wine ready it’s fantastic! I love having the drink package it’s so good. 
 
next up was Greece good show I’ve seen it on land before but I love musicals so it was a must see for me! I can say it would not be the best choice for kids. After this it was time for karaoke the casino then bed. 
 
Almost forgot there was a lot of drama at karaoke tonight. I felt like I was watching one of those tv shows. 
 
more pics to come later of coco cay! 

Day 1 continued: 
Went the room and saw both our suitcases down the hall and grab them and unpack. Then off to the pool deck to swim and tan before muster - why have I never done this before it was great and not busy! Then quickly time to run and change before muster then sail away from deck 16 the sail away party was lame. Then time to sit on my balcony with a glass of wine before dinner. 
 
main dining room for dinner tonight second seating as we eat late in the city anyways. I had the French onion soup, the New York strop and cheesecake. It was all delicious! Next stop to the casino royal took my money way too fast then karaoke where lots of drama was present. Then pizza and water before bed. Tomorrow is perfect day at coco cay. I’m so excited!  
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 

Day 2: perfect Day at Coco Cay 
Woke up this morning at 7:15 and we were already docked! I’m very excited for this day and I can tell you right now it was perfect. Up to the windjammer for breakfast - I love the made to order eggs! We brought all our stuff with us to breakfast and now off to start our perfect day. We were in port until 4 so great time for a beach day. First we wandered the island a bit and took a bunch of pictures then it was off to the oasis lagoon for the morning!  
 
forgot to mention empress was in port with us today. The size difference was crazy! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After a couple hours enjoying the pool and our loungers it was time to find lunch and the beach. By the way the water in the pool was cold like cold for a Canadian cold but I did get in and enjoyed. Lunch was at the shake shack I had the best mozzarella sticks - I was amazed they were fantastic! Then some giant jenga was played and some time was spent on the beach. Then back to oasis lagoon for some more swimming and lounging. At 3 we left and walked back to the ship past the market. Once on board the ship i went to Central Park and enjoyed some sangria while writing a blog entry. After this I headed to my cabin to shower and watch sail away from the balcony. Then I had a quick nap before dinner. 
 
french onion soup, short rib and creme brûlée was what I ate. Lobo the bar service waiter is amazing and always has my wine ready it’s fantastic! I love having the drink package it’s so good. 
 
next up was Greece good show I’ve seen it on land before but I love musicals so it was a must see for me! I can say it would not be the best choice for kids. After this it was time for karaoke the casino then bed. 
 
Almost forgot there was a lot of drama at karaoke tonight. I felt like I was watching one of those tv shows. 
 
more pics to come later of coco cay! 

Day 2: perfect Day at Coco Cay 
Woke up this morning at 7:15 and we were already docked! I’m very excited for this day and I can tell you right now it was perfect. Up to the windjammer for breakfast - I love the made to order eggs! We brought all our stuff with us to breakfast and now off to start our perfect day. We were in port until 4 so great time for a beach day. First we wandered the island a bit and took a bunch of pictures then it was off to the oasis lagoon for the morning!  
 
forgot to mention empress was in port with us today. The size difference was crazy! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After a couple hours enjoying the pool and our loungers it was time to find lunch and the beach. By the way the water in the pool was cold like cold for a Canadian cold but I did get in and enjoyed. Lunch was at the shake shack I had the best mozzarella sticks - I was amazed they were fantastic! Then some giant jenga was played and some time was spent on the beach. Then back to oasis lagoon for some more swimming and lounging. At 3 we left and walked back to the ship past the market. Once on board the ship i went to Central Park and enjoyed some sangria while writing a blog entry. After this I headed to my cabin to shower and watch sail away from the balcony. Then I had a quick nap before dinner. 
 
french onion soup, short rib and creme brûlée was what I ate. Lobo the bar service waiter is amazing and always has my wine ready it’s fantastic! I love having the drink package it’s so good. 
 
next up was Greece good show I’ve seen it on land before but I love musicals so it was a must see for me! I can say it would not be the best choice for kids. After this it was time for karaoke the casino then bed. 
 
Almost forgot there was a lot of drama at karaoke tonight. I felt like I was watching one of those tv shows. 
 
more pics to come later of coco cay! 

Day 1 continued: 
Went the room and saw both our suitcases down the hall and grab them and unpack. Then off to the pool deck to swim and tan before muster - why have I never done this before it was great and not busy! Then quickly time to run and change before muster then sail away from deck 16 the sail away party was lame. Then time to sit on my balcony with a glass of wine before dinner. 
 
main dining room for dinner tonight second seating as we eat late in the city anyways. I had the French onion soup, the New York strop and cheesecake. It was all delicious! Next stop to the casino royal took my money way too fast then karaoke where lots of drama was present. Then pizza and water before bed. Tomorrow is perfect day at coco cay. I’m so excited!  
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Animal Kingdom day! Woke up this morning breakfast burritos for breakfast then we had to go exchange our rental van (really just do new paper work as we booked the rest of the days using air miles) then off to animal kingdom. As soon as we got there it started pouring rain. Like we were all soaked. Off to Navi River journey thankfully this ride was indoors so we could stay out of the rain. then off to our first fast pass the festival of the lion king! Loved this show it was amazing!! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
next was another fast pass for Kilimanjaro safari. This was really well done too. My sister who has done a safari in Africa says this was really well done for Disney and even for North America. Got to see some cool animals!  
hippos 
 
baby zebra - it was so tiny
 
cheetah 
I will post more animal photos when I go through my camera photos. 
 
Then off to Starbucks we went, everyone was cold and wet still. Hot beverages for all and an animal kingdom Starbucks cup were bought. Then it was time to find lunch wow this was harder than I thought. I found there were less food stands in animal kingdom than in magic kingdom. Finally a hot dog was consumed by me than off to ride triceratops spin this was a fun children’s ride but i enjoyed it. Then off to dinosaur. This was my favourite ride of the day! It was amazing!! A thrill ride was enjoyed! Then time for a bugs life show. This was really well done and we all enjoyed it. It reminded me of the 4D rides at universal but those are better. Then it was time to make the long trek back to the car! 
 
then on to Florida Mall for the m &m store! Got to visit them all! Actually I have! Did some shopping got some new dress pants on sale boring but very useful! Then home for dinner of heart shaped pizza, salad wine and chocolate covered strawberries. All in all a good day! 
 
Final Disney thoughts: I enjoyed going to Disney and it was a fantastic experience! Magic kingdom was WAY better than animal kingdom! Part of it was the weather but I also enjoyed more rides at magic kingdom and more characters everywhere. As a whole next time I will do magic kingdom and universal studios! I think that’s my best fit!  
 
 
 
 
 

Magic Kingdom Day! Woke up earlier than I like to on vacation at 6:45am ate breakfast of French toast casserole and fruit then off to magic kingdom. Arrived at 8:30am and through the craziness of security then the monorail then entrance that is magic kingdom. 
 
finally time for our first view of the legendary castle. It was amazing! 
 
our first fast pass ride was up and that aS the Mad Tea Party! I love the spinning tea cups and it was tons of fun to me my mother on the other hand was feeling a little sick by the end of the ride. Then off to Mickey’s Philamagic orchestra this was super cute and I loved the 4D aspects. Then was Aladin’s magic carpets then another fast pass for Pirates of the Caribbean. Then we wandered to Main Street for the parade this was great! 
 
 
 
 
then off to Be Our Guest for lunch! This was not quite what I was expecting but was still enjoyable. I had the French onion soup ( no where as good as Royal Caribbean’s) and the grey stuff cupcake - I trusted them and it was delicious  
 
 
 
then it was time for our final fast pass the little mermaid while in line I booked another fast pass for buzz lighter. After both those off to the space orbitz then the carousel of progress, another fast pass monsters ink laugh floor, then the people mover. 
 
got my magic kingdom Starbucks mug!!! And an iced coffee as the humidity was killing me then off to TGI Friday’s! Had my normal the sampler platter then back to magic kingdom for the fireworks then home to bed! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As a whole magic kingdom was amazing!! So cool! I never felt too old or that we were judged for being a family of adults. I would definitely go back!

Tomorrow Thursday: Magic Kingdom 
I’ve never been to Disney in Florida (I did universal last year), but did Disney in California 10 years ago. I’m very excited our 3 fast passes are booked arriving at 8:30 preopening to hopefully get on a couple of rides before our first fast pass! We have 1:15 reservations for be our guest and plan to leave at 5:30 to go to TGI Friday’s then come back for fireworks! 

After 3 long flights I arrived in Orlando at 4:45am this morning, got my bag and checked both Lyft and Uber with Uber being $2 cheaper decided on that as my way of getting to our villa. We have a rental car but no one was picking me up at 5am so Uber it was. I arrived at the villa and my first action after finding my room was to find the fridge for a snack strawberries and yogurt sure made life better, then a quick shower and a nap that lasted until 10am.
 
We ate breakfast as a family then off we went to REI. I’m a big canoe fan as well as really into backwoods camping and as REI is not any wear close to where we live that was a stop to make. Then off to Disney springs! I enjoyed walking around, got a Florida Starbucks mug (I collect them so this will be a theme) and a dole whip! I found it to be a little humid but overall the heat is welcome for this Canadian! ? 
finally it was evening time everyone else was going to the Orlando magic game but I wanted to enjoy time to myself the really large jacuzzi bath tub at our place and some wine! And that is what I did and I enjoyed it so much! 

Hi all, this is my first time live blogging (gonna be honest not sure if it will be 100% live) but I enjoy everyone’s blogs so much that I thought I would contribute. 
 
Who is going: this cruise involves myself (f 22), my mother Bobbi (I know better than to share her age), her partner Suzanne, my younger sister Breanna (19) and a family friend Chantale. The five of us have 3 rooms booked all across the ship in 3 different room categories as we like our space. My sister and I in a boardwalk balcony 10329, my mom and her partner in a ocean view balcony and Chantale in a Central Park view interior. 
 
Where to: port Canaveral (Feb. 16), Perfect Day at Coco Cay (February 17), sea day, Costa Maya (February 19), Roatan (February 20), Cozumel (February 21), sea day. 
 
precruise: we are all flying out on different flights due to schedules but I leave tomorrow evening and have a red eye from Canada to Orlando arriving very early Wednesday morning. We have a large villa rented as we enjoy our space (as said before) and cooking our own breakfast versus a hotel breakfast. We have 2 days at Disney booked magic kingdom on Thursday and animal kingdom on Friday and have plans for enjoying TGI Friday’s (a favourite to us with the nearest one being over an 8 hour drive from us) and some shopping. 
 
that’s it for now I will add excursion plans and some pictures tomorrow! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Writing this from Central Park after a perfect day at coco cat. Wow life can’t get much better! So yesterday the start of the cruise. We left our villa at 9am and arrived in port Canaveral at 10am after a 10 minute wait in line to drop off the car on the shuttle we went and off to the port. The porters grabbed our luggage (we over pack 5 people 6 large suitcases, 2 small carry on roller bags and a small duffel bag) and off to the terminal we went. Literally 2 people ahead of us for security then off to check in that took less than 5 minutes no line but I needed a new photo then right onto the ship. We were on-board by 10:45! Next we went to bolaros to reprogram our old wow bands and to get the first drink. I have the deluxe drink package so at the recommendation of this blog the first drink I grabbed was a kracken lava flow. Then off to the solarium my favourite place on any ship. I do notice the lack of pool in harmony’s and do miss it. Ate lunch at the solarium bistro this was an amazing idea as we did not wait found a table no problem and the food was good. Then the rooms were ready! Rest of day 1 later I’m going to go enjoy sail away from my balcony with some sangria! 

Today was shopping day! Time to visit all those places we do not have in Winnipeg or even in Canada. Woke up had homemade eggs Benedict and mimosas for breakfast! My favourite can’t wait to eat more of that on the ship! Off to the outlet mall! We drove to the Orlando premium outlet mall and shopped for 3 hours. I bought way more than I thought I would but got some amazing deals! Then off to Ulta to stock up on makeup. This is way cheaper than in Canada! Then back to our place for some time by the pool in our yard with frozen cocktails. Then off to the clubhouse for some swimming or floating I guess in the lazy river. Then time to pack up - wow that’s always stressful. Then time to bbq in the back yard and drink sangria. Then off to bed and get ready for a cruise tomorrow!