Vangrizz

See ya later Liberty!
We are headed to the airport. Our wallets a little lighter, waistbands a little tighter, and our hearts full of wonderful memories of a great time with family and new friends we met on board.

Star Guest questionnaires have been sent in!  Looking forward to finding out who our Genie is...  I had may daughter and her friend also fill one out, interesting read.   A teenagers  perfect days differs so much from the parents!  Boys, shopping, parties, dancing  etc VS late breakfast, chilling out, reading, an afternoon cocktail, maybe a nap, dinner and drinks ?

After dinner we dropped the kids off at adventure ocean, and we started the arduous chore of packing. Since we have the transfer, we have luggage tags #1. Conveniently our departure time lines up with the suite departure time, so in the morning we will meet Francis to be escorted off the ship. The gangways are still down, so it will be deck 1 for departure.
with most of the packing done we headed off to the farewell show. In the cruise compass, it was described as a comedy show. Turns out it was a variety show, with a comedy act stuck in the middle. The comic was Dean Austin and he was very funny.
After the show we hit the silent dance party. If you have not done this, you should, it’s a great time. They hand out radio headphones with two channels. Each channel has different music playing on them, so you get groups of people singing along and dancing to different songs which results in fun people watching. This is one of Lydia’s favorite events.


Johnny gave it the college try, but soon realized all the cool kids were sitting and watching, so he came and sat on my lap. Of course I wasn’t about to let an opportunity to make him do something slip by, so when the YMCA came on, he of course was made to do the motions.


These two kept at it, and weren’t impressed by us cool kids.

Shortly later, Johnny had no more room in his fun bucket, and that he was tired and ready for bed. We let the ladies continue with their fun, and we headed back to the stateroom. About two minutes after his head hit the pillow, he was out.

It's very windy (the itinerary channel refers to 45 kts Apparent wind) tonight.  The AquaTheature show was canceled, but we had reservations for Hairspray at 8:30pm, so that didn't bother us. At the assembly drill the captain informed us that he was adding about 60 extra miles onto our route to Saint Maarten to hopefully avoid some rougher seas.
After watching all of the other ships depart from the port, we took off toward downtown Miami to turn around in the basin. We took in sailaway from our balcony since we had to get ready for dinner at 6:15.  While sailaway was supposed to take place at 4:30, we didn't start moving until about 5:35.
We enjoyed dinner at Wonderland.  The staff was incredible, and the food was inventive and, we thought, pretty darned tasty.  We booked it twice this week and I'm glad that we did - there were other things we wanted to try!  I was useless with food photos.
I suspect that most of my photos will be from port days.  The ship itself has been covered well by people much better at it than I am. (Apologies to friends back home - I promise to spam Facebook later with ship photos for you later).
The internet is, as the internet speed test showed, "very slow".  Still, I am managing ok ?
 
 

Day 1 - Embarkation Day!!!!!!
Yay! The best day of all!
We woke up at 8:30 and took our time showering and packing up.  My goal was to get to the port by 10:30. We rolled our bags out of the Kimpton around 10:20 - I was so annoyed that I was getting out of the hotel so late!  I ordered a Lyft, and within about 50 seconds he rounded the corner to pick us up.  Fastest. Ride Share. Ever.
We got to the port within 20 minutes (7 minutes to get there, the rest just trying to maneuver through traffic to be dropped off. Our driver was exceedingly patient). A porter descended upon us before we were even out of the car and whisked our bags away.  We checked in in the Expedited Check line (in in?).  We could have checked in with The Key line.  Neither one had more than one person in line, so it was simply a matter of where my eyes wandered first.  A quick run through security with our carry ons, up the elevator, and we waited to be let onto the ship.  We waited all of about 8 minutes.  Shortly after we claimed our spot, they called the Diamond/Diamond Plus members (Pinnacles were screwed?), and then The Key. Boarding was seamless.  Having cruised twice already out of Terminal A, this came as no surprise to me, but Mr SpeedNoodles had never experienced anything like it, and he was newly impressed.  We boarded the ship right next to the MDR, where they happened to have someone waiting to make our specialty reservations. CHECK! Done. We went down one floor to drop our carry on bags off on Deck 3 of the MDR (another Key benefit).  It was still only 10:50 am.
We swang by Boleros to exchange (or purchase new) Wow bands, but there were at least 30 people in line, so we bailed on that idea.  We instead decided to make a quick stop at the Bionic Bar. On Ovation the robots "names" are Mix and Mingle.  On Symphony they are Rock em and Sock em.  Sock em made a reasonable Long Island Iced Tea for Mr SpeedNoodles, and we then decided that an early lunch would not be a bad idea (we skipped attempting any breakfast in the morning before departing the hotel).  Lunch was on deck 3 in the MDR for The Key - Chops menu.  I took no photos of lunch as, really, most people have seen plenty of photos of shrimp, soup, a burger, etc.  We enjoyed lunch, or server was quite nice, and we were ready for our day.
We went up to Deck 15 (pool deck), grabbed a drink (they had no Kracken yet, I had to "settle" for a Tequila Sunrise with Patron Reposado (cuz Momma doesn't do Cap'n Morgan - it isn't a substitute for Kraken).  We wandered until the rooms opened up at 1pm.
We're quite pleased with our room. We have an oceanview balcony on deck 12 midship. It's a very similar layout to Ovation, except the balcony is much deeper!  We unpacked, threw our swimsuits on, and headed to the extremely uncrowded Solarium to hang out in the hot tub (margarita in hand to celebrate National Margarita Day) before the assembly drill.

Day 4 - Cruise Day!!! 
After a leisurely start to the day, checked out of accommodation at 11am. Then proceeded to the cruise terminal via the light rail. Boarding times were being enforced, but managed to get on after 12.30pm. Expedited arrival made the process quick and barely 15 min later was on board Ovation!! We set sail at 5pm. 
 
First impressions
Of course you notice the size to start with! Also being barely 4 years old everything is relatively new. I’ve found the ship very well laid out and each space flows into the other really well. You also definitely know there is somewhere around 4,500 people on board but haven’t had any big issues as yet. 
 
The Room 
Very impressive. The Family Junior Suite is a great room. Well laid out and plenty of storage. Also is generous size of around 300sqft. One unique feature is there is 2 bathrooms in this category one is just a toilet and basin the other has a bath and shower combo. 
 
Solarium Bistro - Dinner 
Had dinner booked at 8pm, the space is lovely but unfortunately was not so impressed with the dinner. Ordered the pasta of the day which was Spaghetti Bolonaise which came barely warm and very bland and tasteless. 

As mentioned previously, the South Beach Food and Wine Festival is in Miami this weekend, so prices for hotels nearer to the cruise port were CRAZY expensive.  We flew into FLL via SWA and then Ubered to our hotel, the Hyatt House Miami Airport.  UberXL for 5 passengers and all of our bags was $80.  The Hyatt House is great.  We got a 2 Bedroom suite, so Abby and I are in one room, the in-laws in another, and Virginia is on the couch.  No pictures because we exploded our crap into the room, but you walk in and there's a full kitchen with a bar and 3 bar stools.  Then there is an "L"-shaped couch and TV.  On either side are the two bedrooms with en suite bathroom.  For all 5 of us the room was about $300, which for us all to be in one room is great, and we have a common area to share to watch TV.  
The hotel does have basic snacks in the bar downstairs, and is walking distance from a Publix, as an option for dinner or supplies pre-cruise.  There isn't a lot of restaurants nearby, but we used DoorDash for some Cuban sandwiches from Rincon Criollo, which were pretty tasty.  Tomorrow we have full breakfast included, so we're looking forward to taking advantage of that before we Uber over to the port.  
Landing was a bit dicey in FLL as there as a big wind shear right as we reached the runway, pilot on got the left side wheel down, and felt a little like we were about to flip and roll.  Luckily he saved it and we're alive to tell the story.  
I do have to remember to start taking pictures for the blog, and promise to do better once we start on our Voyage tomorrow!

Thursday morning we found ourselves docked next to Harmony of the Seas. This is my first time seeing an Oasis class ship up close, and they are MASSIVE. I'll be on Oasis next year so I will soon get to experience them first hand. While everyone was getting ready for the day, I did a coffee run and snagged a few pictures. Here you see the famed "gated community" that is a favorite of many user here.

@Lovetocruise2002 will recognize these shots..


I tried to get an Aricelli sighting, but alas, she was off doing what genies do!
Once on the dock, that canyon feel between the two ships is really neat.


We met up with our fellow excursioners, and were whisked away to Chakanaab for our dolphin experience. We had a great time with the dolphins. We got plenty of interaction time. There were kisses, and cuddles and petting the dolphins. We got to do the dorsal tail pull, and the experience where the dolphins push your feet and you end up standing up. Lydia being light and a cheerleader did really well with this, and was completely out of the water! Unfortunately we don't have pictures from that. They don't allow your own cameras because they want you to buy their package. For us, as a group of 5 would have been $275 for the pictures, no thanks. Following the dolphin encounter, we got a brief encounter with a manatee as well.  Lunch and drinks were included in this excursion as well, which was pretty tasty.
After lunch, we did some snorkeling and beaching etc. It was a very fun day over all. 



These were the dolphins that we met, 

This is an overview of the area the dolphins are in. They all remain in the middle area which is quite large. There are smaller pens on either side where they do some of the interactions. If you are doing the dorsal tow etc, your experience will be in the large middle area. Helpful hints, wear water shoes if you have them. The platforms you stand on are metal grates, and if you are barefoot, they aren't that comfortable. 



With our day done there, we headed back to the port. We browsed the shops, tasted some tequila, bought some t-shirts and souvenirs. No matter what side you fall on the political spectrum, this shirt is funny...

Soon enough it was time to say goodbye to Cozumel.

Once back on board, we got changed and ready for dinner. We went up to the suite lounge for some pre-dinner snacks.

Tonight’s menu.

Appetizers consisted of the Goat cheese and Tomato Tart, and the coconut shrimp.


Entreés were the braised lamb shank and the pappardelle Caronara.


nothing exciting for dessert.

Update from the field: Mr SpeedNoodles has already declared the Oasis Class his "favorite class of ships". We've only seen the pool deck and Deck 4 so far. 

I use cruisemapper.com for this! 
https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Celebrity-Summit-713
I only clicked on Halifax and Sydney but both of them are showing a port schedule for August 2020 and farrr beyond. 

Halifax you got the place to yourselves!

Sydney not too bad!

There was a little bit of wandering around after dinner. Johnny and I ended up seeing the parade of room attendants on the promenade. They all were carrying towel animals. One was given to him, which made his day.

later, we headed to Studio B to catch the ice show Encore, An Ice Spectacular. This was a “review” of musing through the years, from Broadway Musicals to modern pop and rock. I though it was interesting, it started off with Phantom of The Opera, which they must not have a full license for, because they changed the lyrics for the show. 
 
The skating and the choreography was very good. There were plenty of spins, triples, flips, lifts etc. I did feel bad, one skater was having an off night, and just could not land his jumps. The show still was very enjoyable.
Love and Marriage came later. Always entertaining. 

The evening was topped though by accidentally twinning with the cruise director, Cory.

Wednesday evening was Caribbean night, so we all got dudded up in our finest Caribbean wear and headed to dinner. (Sorry about the rotated pictures. For what ever reason, when on the mobile site, if you choose a smaller size, the pictures rotate. We are going through some rough weather right now, and Voom seems spotty and slow) 
The menu:

Appetizers included escargot, burrata, and the crab cakes.



Entreé choices included the ahi spiced tuna, and  the roasted beef strip loin.


We all chose the Grand Marnier Soufflé. (Favorite dessert of the week so far)

We're here in Miami!!!!
We've been having a fabulous time in Miami. It's my third time here, and Mr Speednoodles' first time.  While I'm in charge of cruise planning, he's always in charge of pre-cruise planning (hotels, food, activities).  He did a fabulous job.
Our Sun Country flight left Mpls/St Paul  International an hour late (we really don't know why - they told us that we'd be leaving early and then sat at the gate for an extra hour with no explanation).  It was fine. Other than being wedged into a middle seat, it wasn't a big deal.  Mr SpeedNoodles was appropriately dosed with Xanex and deeply buried in a movie that he'd downloaded on Netflix.
We still hit Miami by about 11:30, and by some stroke of luck our luggage was the first onto the belt, so we hauled butt out to the rideshare area to secure our Lyft before the crowds descended.  Within 10 minutes we were off to the Kimpton Epic. (For pics of the Kimpton, refer to my Navigator blog - I was able to get many photos on that trip: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/16871-navigator-911-hits-the-high-seas-dec-2-dec-6-2019/).
We arrived at the Kimpton by 12:30.  Our room wasn't ready, so we stowed our luggage, made a quick change from Minnesota layers to Miami shorts, and hailed another Lyft to make our first culinary visit -  We. Were. Hungry. !!!!!
Mr. SpeedNoodles had been drooling over this place for about 3 months now, so we Lyfted ourselves over to Little Havana to have lunch at La Camarona Seafood Market.  Recently it was just that, a seafood market, but not too long ago they'd taken a sledgehammer to a wall (that's literally how it still looks) and expanded into a dining section.
      
We were jonesing to get a fried snapper sandwich and we were NOT disappointed.  The service was speedy and friendly - the food was awesome.  It will now be a regular stop for us when in Miami.  We started with a shrimp empananda (which we ate so quickly that I neglected to get a photo #badblogger), followed with some A-MAZE-ING fried shrimp and we both had the snapper sandwich.
     
After lunch we hailed another Lyft and weaved our way over to the Wynwood area to grab a beer, some alligator bites at Kush, and wander around looking at the urban graffiti.  My photography devotion was seriously lacking (beyond food and drink), so I didn't get a lot of photos of the artwork.  Some of it was absolutely spectacular.   More than once I tripped over one of the thousands of rental scooter parked absolutely everywhere while ogling the beautiful walls.
Being absolutely overstuffed, and deciding that one, or both, of us would surely kill or maim ourselves by trying to ride a scooter back to the hotel (and believe me, we seriously considered it after a few fairly strong beers at Kush) we called another Lyft to haul us back to the Kimpton to get ready for.....dinner.  (Is there a theme here? I'm sensing one.)





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Kimpton Epic has a small wine bar available from 5pm-6pm, so we grabbed a glass and headed up for a much-needed shower.   Our plan was to go to Joe's Stone Crab on South Beach for dinner.  We decided on Thursday because we read (on their website) that it's very crowded on Friday and Saturday, and get there before 7pm or there will be quite a wait.  Well, our plan was to be there at 6pm.  Guess when we arrived?
At 7pm sharp we put my name on the waiting list - they do not take reservations or bribes (as if we could out-bribe anyone on South Beach!! BWWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!). The promised to seat us within (ready????) 2 hours.  Well, we came all this way, we've been planning on it for months, and we had plenty of lunch and snacks to tide us over.  We found a spot at a drink rail and prepared to wait "within 2 hours".  After 45 minutes I wandered off to the ladies room and came back to find Mr SpeedNoodles had given my chair to some woman!! THE NERVE!  I walk up and he says "hey, these folks are from Northfield, MN!" (guys, literally not 20 minutes from our house).  So 1700 miles away from home and we end up chatting with what are, for more or less, neighbors!  It was a mom and her two college-aged daughters spending some time in Miami together.  We had a lovely time, and wished they'd been booked on Symphony as well.

After 1:40 minutes my name was called (cheers all around - literally, the entire bar cheered every time someone's name was called) and we were seated.  I don't know how many people they put through there every night, but the dining room is enormous and they were still rotating people in regularly at 10pm.  It is an absolute machine.  Every single person, from host, to waiters, to bus folks, were working their a**es off.  They never rushed anyone through a meal, but the millisecond they vacated a table, it was cleaned to perfection and reset in less than a minute. It was amazing to watch.  Mr SpeedNoodles got the Joe's Classic Meal (Stone Crabs, sides, and Key Lime Pie) and I got the Cold Trio (Stone crabs, 1/2 lobster and King Crab).  This was the night that I learned that I wasn't a fan of cold seafood.  An expensive lesson, to be sure.  I found it annoyingly cold, without drawn butter, and without the flavor I'm used to on each species.  That being said, I simply didn't know that I didn't like cold seafood before this, so I'm taking it with a grain of salt.  Mr SpeedNoodles loved his (and the Key Lime Pie and unique cole slaw was pretty amazing) and I found the entire spectacle worth trying once.  I'd even go back again, arriving closer to the 6pm hour, and just ordering something else.  They have a great business philosophy.
             
We caught or 5th (that's right, FIFTH) Lyft of the day to get back across to the Kimpton and passed out (neither of us were able to get any sleep the night before, so it'd been quite a while since either of us had slept).
 
 
 

Day 3 - Pre-cruise - Sydney 
The last day before the cruise! Went for a great walk around the harbour and the Barangaroo area finishing with the nice lunch. A relaxed afternoon and evening one again. Organising everything for the cruise tommorow. 

I assume that you are sleeping on the couch, because your daughter is definitely wondering why you are taking pictures in HER room.

I’ve heard it said that the two longest weeks in cruising are the one just before you sail and the one right after you come home. I can’t remember which is supposed to be worse than the other, but right now, 10 days out, is pretty rough. I have a cruise crush who only sails solo, and only on another line, but he writes the best live blogs and I wait for them like I was the one cruising. I’m going to try to ease my impatience by following his example and start a pre-cruise live review.
February of last year, my sister and I took our first cruise together. It was a first cruise for both of us, and I think we weren’t quite sure what we thought of it. I liked about 90% of the ship we sailed on, but was fairly annoyed by the other 10%. I decided that I could enjoy the heck out of any cruise if I had the right companion, or barring that, if I had easy access to the outdoors. I discovered that I need a lot more time on deck than my sister, or for that matter, my husband, with whom I took my second cruise last October.
So I was surprised when the sister asked where we were cruising next. After I informed her that pretty much all ships go to Cozumel, at least out of Galveston, I told her that if she was serious, I thought I could put together a cruise we could both enjoy. One of the things on her wish list was a shorter cruise. We’d sailed on a 5-day itinerary, and by the end she was feeling impatient to return to her grandkids and her routines. A 4-day on Enchantment of the Seas looked like a winner.
To be continued ...

Back on the ship, we went to check out the water slides. Lydia and I tried out the perfect storm slides. She was too light to do the other one. I’m wondering if there is an issue with all the water pumps back there. The flowrider has been out of commission all week. With the slides, they were not fast at all. I actually had to push myself out the bottom of them. They were almost painful when you went over each joint in to tube. Oh well, ✔️ those off the list of completed activities. One trip each in each color of the slides then we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the hot tubs and drinking rum punches. 
 

After our trip along the beach on the horses, the benefit of having our own dedicated guide became quite apparent. Our plan was to go to the beach for a bit. William informed us that all the other guides had a group chat going. It was at this time that we learned of the third ship (Carnival) was in port as well, and that all of the beaches were very crowded and that finding a place to sit and get chairs etc would be very hard at this point. We headed there to check some out. He showed us one that wasn't as crowded, but there was no place to change, use the bathroom etc so that one was quickly crossed off the list. We went to another spot that had amenities, but would cost $10/pp. This place really didn't have any beach, so there was a quick veto from the kids. After a brief discussion among the group, we decided that our fun buckets were overflowing, so we would head back to an empty ship and enjoy that.
We were quickly whisked away by William and headed back to the port. Overall we had an amazing time there. We highly recommend Bodden Tours if you are ever in Roatan. 
Back at the port we grabbed a quick snack of some amazing tacos for $3,
Next to the taco stand was a place touting the benefits of fish therapy. Yup that's and actual thing. People pay money....

to let fish eat the dead skin off their feet....

This couple that let me take their picture said it felt kind of wHeird.....
These are the supposed benefits of this.

I'll pass.....

Following our visit to the park, we headed to our next stop which was horse back riding along the beach. This was something Heather has wanted to do for a long time. Bucket List Item ✔️
I don't have as many pictures from this because it isn't exactly easy to take pictures from the back of a moving horse.

50 days to go!   
I've enjoyed reading all the build up to past Star Class Cruise blogs and live info that I decided I would try and do one too...    It is almost 2 years ago I booked this trip, beyond excited!!
As in the title its a 50th Birthday (mine), we  booked a Grand Loft suite on the Ovation along with my husband JJ, daughter SJ and her friend.
On this trip we have approx 20 friends joining us in various rooms, one other couple in Star Class, a few in Suites.
We leave on Easter Saturday, 11th April from Sydney and staying at The Hilton the night before, we live in Sydney as most of our other friend do...  Our other Star Class friends are flying in from Scotland.  (24 hrs away)!
It is a 9 night Cruise with ports of call at Noumea,  Mystery Island Vanuatu and Brisbane.
We received our Genie questionnaire earlier this week and just about to fill in and send off....  More to follow!
 
 
 

Day 2 - Pre-Cruise (Sydney)
The first full day in Sydney, managed to explore a lot of the City Centre. Did some shopping at Myer & David Jones department stores and also lunch at the Gateway Sydney which is basically a more upmarket food court.
Explored around Circular Quay seeing the Harbour bridge and of course the Sydney Opera House.
Also got a good look at the ship in port today which was the (rather rusty looking?!) P&O Arcadia on it’s world cruise of 99 days!! A relaxed afternoon and evening followed. 
 

Dinner time. For fun we got all matchy matchy. Here are some pictures of the fam. 



This time I remembered to take some food pictures. 
 
Appetizers consisted of, escargot, Roasted Poblano Soup, and the Arugula and Radicchio Salad with Goat Cheese. 



For entree’s we had the braised beef short ribs, creamy wild mushroom risotto, and the lasagna. I’m still trying to figure out why Heather ordered the lasagna. I’m Italian, and MDR lasagna doesn’t stand a chance against my homemade lasagna. As expected, she didn’t like it. Oh well.



For dessert, there was some cheesecake, chocolate cake, and a warm apple fritter that Lydia had.



Following dinner, there were some more beverages and adult time while the kids went to adventure ocean. 
Later that evening was the 80’s music trivia face party which we held on the promenade and was a blast. The cruise director Cory was all decked out in 80’s wear complete with big hair and the promenade was rocking. I pity the people who have those rooms. It’s got to be loud in them when all these parties happen.

So back to yesterday. Following the trivia, we let the kids hit the pools before dinner. The kids really like the splash away bay and would stay there the entire day. 
 
Earlier, Lydia did the cupcake class. She said she had a lot of fun doing that. Here are some pictures of that. We originally did not sign up for this, but got cornered while at breakfast the other day. Lydia promptly exclaimed she wanted to do that as soon as the crew member asked about it. How can you say no after that. We did get it for 30% off at least.
 

There's a 50,000 coin 7-day Caribbean cruise up there now. Of course you'll have to leave on Monday. They've got a few others a little further out, but they are a little more expensive (125,000 - 250,000)