Vangrizz

Pre-cruise purchases:
As you can probably tell, we are #teamDX all the way, and were able to snag it during the $18 intern day. We realize that we are lucky that RC honored that price and plan on tipping the bar tenders way more than we normally would as well. 
On black Friday we also grabbed a voom surf and stream package, and a photo package. 
We booked the Mystery Dinner Theater for night 1. We are looking forward to that because this will actually be our first foray into specialty dining. I'm sure there will be some shocked faces here. We may be suite snobs, but we have been more than satisfied with the meals in the MDR and have not felt the need to pay extra for our meals. We shall see what happens after this though. 

Other shots from around the ship.
I think that's all, folks. If you have any questions about the ship, I'm happy to help. 
 

Our progress...
 3,754 nm cruise distance.


Breakfast in the Windjammer at 6am.  The view down to the self assist line at 6:16am.


I finished packing, collected my bags and made my way down to leave.  By 6:46am I was outside and on my way to the train station.


Walking to the train station one last view of Ovation.



The train.



At the airport by 7:24am only to find out Delta check in doesn't open until three hours before the flight.  Another hour to wait.


Eventually made it into the American Express lounge.  Last chance for an Aussie beer.


Single digit dance!!! The weather sucks today. We don't typically get this kind of cold so late in February. The wind chill has dipped under -20F.
I'm on my 4-day weekend, and I only have two more nights of work before we go. Sunday and Monday. Oh, and I requested Monday off because it's guaranteed to be the LONGEST 10-hour shift OF MY LIFE. I should know soon if it's been approved. TICK, TICK, TICK

July 12, 2020 Serenade of the Seas to Alaska
July 16, 2021 Anthem of the Seas to Norway (Group Cruise)

Your husband seems to take his vacation time very seriously....it's awesome!

Day 12 - Sydney
I went up to get some pictures of our arrival into Sydney.  
One is the loneliest number... someone put their luggage out too late.

A wet morning for our arrival into Sydney.

Ok trying to keep up to date here!  So much going on with port stops!
Today was Aruba and we did the Aruba Trikes!  We got this Idea from this forum!  That was fun and nothing like anything we’ve done before (never driven in a foreign country)!
 

After the trikes we did a little shopping and walking around
but after being in the sun and riding around for several hours we were exhausted and just headed back to the ship.  Of course we went to the “mouth jammer”!  I haven’t posted food pictures but thought I’d post my nachos!  This ship has them for every meal!!!

We just hung out the rest of the day and enjoyed the weather and views from the ship!  Tonight it is going to be -16 with a -35 or more windchill at home so this feels extra awesome! ?
Just a couple shots from the ship of the island.  Top one was from our seat in the windjammer and the bottom from one of the upper decks.

 

We went to the dining room tonight, as usual.  Just wanted to comment that it was more than half empty since all aboard was not until 830 (our dinner is 530) so it was very peaceful and quiet.  We actually got to talk with our staff since they weren’t running around trying to keep up.  That was nice!
Tomorrow will be Curacao!  We have a laid back tour of the cave and then mambo beach to chill!  It our earliest all aboard of the cruise (430) so we will be back early!
So far between Bonaire and Aruba our favorite is Bonaire so we will see what Curacao brings tomorrow!

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! 

Your husband seems to take his vacation time very seriously....it's awesome!

What great day 4!
Woke early, bellinis, mimosas, pot of coffee and Delaneys standing Starbucks order delivered right on time.
We braved the Windjammer after all the liquids, I believe to Allan’s dismay.  Miss D can now say she’s been there, done that.  I think the deciding factor of not doing that again for her, was there were no mini croissants?
Allan met us at the elevator with his magic card and whisked off the ship at warp speed.  We then bumbled around the market place, smoking the numbers off our credit card then hopped right back on the ship.  We placed an order for Johnny Rockets and drinks with no ice with Allan and everything was delivered in about 20 minutes and we ate it on the balcony. Napped and now we are on our way out to Izumi for dinner.  
And Delaney actually squealed when she saw what was waiting for her.  See pic for details?
 
 

We were escorted off the ship by Joege and made it to our car around 11:00am. We dropped MIL off at Hobby airport, and she decided the fare change of $200 to move up her flight wasn't worth it. I called the hotel to see if we could check in early, and they said they could have the room ready in an hour. It was noon, and we were going through major cruise food withdrawals since we hadn't eaten in 5 hours. Off to Chuey's by the hotel! We're a predictable bunch - offer Mexican food and we'll take it every time! We checked in, unloaded the luggage, and told the kids we were taking a nap. 2 hours later, and here we are. This room is set up a little different than the other 2 br suites we have been in at this hotel. The previous rooms have felt backwards. Now the master suite is actually a master suite with the bathroom inside it. The second bathroom is accessible from the main living space, and they put the two doubles in the smaller bedroom. This leaves a lot of dead space in the master bedroom (they could put in little seating area), but it feels like it should in my opinion. 
Final thoughts on the cruise to come a little later when I'm staring at a washing machine. 

Last night ended with two rounds of trivia in the Schooner Bar accompanied by two grapefruit habanero daiquiris. The first was all grapefruit, so I ordered  the second one extra spicy, and it was perfect. We didn't want a long dinner, so we went up to the Windjammer for a quick bite and then went back to the room to pack. The kids were interested in heading to AO, but by the time we finished filling our suitcases they were ready for bed. We all called it a night. 
This morning we woke up to fog. We brought our carry on bags to Chops for breakfast  because the ship was still moving, and that's our departure lounge. As soon as we were seated the announcement was made that the port was closed and we were dropping anchor. We would be delayed for at least 2 hours and everyone could go back to their cabins if they wanted. However, the anchor was back up by the time we finished breakfast. The captain said we were coming into the berth at a reduced speed, and it would be about an hour and 45 minutes before we docked. MIL's flight isn't until 3:00pm. She was going to try to catch a 1:00pm flight instead, and now that we're moving again, she can still probably make that happen. We have no real plans for the rest of the day other than a little laundry at the hotel. But, for now we are comfortably spread out in our room, where we can finally see land, waiting for the announcement to go back to Chops. 

Pulling up to the terminal now. 

Day 3 pics

Harmony of the Seas – February 16 to February 23 – Semi Live Review
I have always enjoyed reading the cruise reviews for their information and entertainment value.  They also make the time between cruises a bit more bearable.  I have done three post cruise reviews, but this will be my first attempt at a live review.  In fact this is my first time with the internet on the ship, not sure how it will go but I will try my best to post in between enjoying the cruise.  I’ll also try and answer anyone’s questions that they may have.  I fancy myself as an amateur photographer so there will be lots of pics. 
We are a mid-60s couple, and I would describe ourselves as pretty easy to please and we are more inclined to roll with the flow.  On our past cruises dining has been in the MDR, café promenade/compass deli and the windjammer in that order.  The buffet would be my least favorite place to eat.  We don’t spend a great deal of time in our cabin and the only thing I expect from our room steward is to make the bed, replace the towels and fill the ice bucket in the evenings.   We enjoy listening to music and attending the various shows and lounging in the sun/hot tub during sea days.  On port days, we like to do a bit of sightseeing.
Background:  We booked this cruise three days into our very first cruise on Oasis of the Seas in April 2018.  I retired in November 2017 and after hearing about Royal Caribbean cruises from a co-worker I decided to finally take my DW on a cruise, something she had wanted to try for a long time.  To say that we fell in love with cruising is an understatement.  In addition to this cruise we have three others booked.
Harmony is our fourth cruise, with Oasis, Grandeur and Majesty being number 1, 2 and 3.  All have been great experiences.  We have an ocean view balcony, and first seating Traditional Dining.  We are not foodies and the MDR and other included venues have been fine with us in the past.  The only specialty dining we have experienced so far was Chops Brunch on Grandeur of the Seas and we were not that impressed with that one.  But because we wanted to experience Wonderland, I purchased the three night dining package for this cruise, when it went on sale for $99pp.  Our plans are to eat at Chops, Wonderland and 150 Central Park.  We were also lucky enough to get the great UBP glitch of 2019, so there will be no problem breaking even on this cruise.  I have the digital photo package so we will be jumping in front of a ship’s photographer as much as I can.  At the last minute, we purchased The Key as prices went down, so I will try to do a somewhat live review this time.
The Plan:  We started taking ballroom dance lessons this past September and hope to find opportunities to dance the night away.  The pre-cruise events starts off with a formal Sweetheart Dance on February 14 put on by our local dance studio.  With only a few hours of sleep we fly from DC to Orlando Saturday Morning.  So here is our itinerary for this cruise.
Pre-Cruise Day -2:  Final packing and attending the Sweetheart Formal Dance.
Pre-Cruise Day -1:  Flight to Orlando, spend the day checking out Disney Springs and/or Universal City Walk before checking into Country Inn & Suites by Radisson.
Cruise Day 1:  Kraken Lava Flow, specialty dinner reservations and then Chops lunch in the MDR. 
Cruise Day 2:  Coco Cay-this is our second time at Coco Cay, but the first time at Perfect Day.  Plans are for a relaxing beach day with time in the pool, beach and exploring the island taking photographs.
Cruise Day 3:  Sea Day-this is a do nothing but enjoy the ship day.
Cruise Day 4:  Puerto Costa Maya-this is our second time here.  On our first visit we took a Royal excursion to the Mayan ruins at Kohunlich and Dizbanche, this time the plans are to explore the port and visit the Aviary.
Cruise Day 5:  Roatan, Honduras- we will be doing the adults only Sol y Mar Beach Club.   
Cruise Day 6:  Cozumel, Mexico-this will be our third time here, previously we did the Mayan Ruins at San Gervasio and Chocolate Factory Tour and explored downtown San Miguel.  This time we have Trikes Cozumel reserved for a tour around the island, followed by some time downtown before heading back to the ship.
Cruise Day 7:  Final Sea Day-hoping to enjoy the ship and drink our sorrows away as this cruise comes to an end.
Cruise Day 8:  Will be dragged off the ship kicking and screaming, once the shock wears off we’ll be off to explore Cocoa Beach area.  DW does not like rushing off the ship to the airport so we will spend another night in Florida before heading home.
Post-Cruise Day:  It’s back to the cruel cold winter with a flight from MCO to IAD.
 

Day 11 - Sea Day
This morning I took in the sunrise from deck 15.











Our progress...

Sadly we've reached our last full sea day, but fortunately it is beautiful! The seas calmed overnight again. And we were ready to take on the day. DS requested breakfast in the Windjammer. It was breakfast in the Windjammer  - not bad, not great, but a good breakfast buffet. We managed to go when it wasn't too crowded. After we ate, the kids hit AO and we all went to the casino where we all made donations to Royal Caribbean. ? We had the Suite Cocktail party at 11:15am, so we used that as an excuse to stop opening our wallets. On Liberty the event was held on the first sea day, which I think I prefer. The officers would see you around the ship the rest of the week and talk to you. There's no real chance for that in this case. The good was on display and self serve as opposed to passed on Liberty. I liked this because I could go back for seconds of my favorites. ? DS wanted a snack when I picked up the kids, so we quietly walked through the Solarium to visit Park Cafe and grab him a slice of pizza. Now DH and MIL are napping and DD is getting her daily dose of RCTV. Ds and I are at the pool, soaking up the last bit of warm sunshine before it's back to 40 degree weather. It looks like a lot of people had the same idea this afternoon - it's pretty packed.

We have a standing order for mimosas and bellinis every morning at 6:30 and before dinner cocktails. Hubs likes the tropical old fashions and I like Reisling. Delaney likes Shirley temples. I have them bring them with no ice in them. But they keep us stocked with ice so we add it when we were ready.  Today returning from Labadee, we stopped at the Schooner bar for those items, they weren’t quite open yet but they made us jack and diet, captain and diet and Miss D’s Shirley.  Got back to the suite and our regular drinks were waiting, sans ice, with a bucket of ice next to them!  So incredibly spoiled!
Allan is absolutely a dream!  We already had gifts and he brought more!  They correspond to the things we said we liked ON THE SURVEY!  At the start of our cruise we gave him a bag of Michigan made and Michigan items.  Also quite a bit of candy.  Future Allan families note that he has a sweet tooth!