CravingaCruise

Glad you found them. We had ordered them on Amazon. Incidentally, we met someone at breakfast who talked about the motion and said at dinner last night she couldn't even open her eyes. The server brought her a green apple cut up and after a few bites, it was definitely helping. By the end of the apple, she felt normal again.

Day 6 Extension of last night...The ship left Nassau last night and we took a route that seemed rather odd. By the time we had gotten to karaoke, the ship was moving at 18.0 knots and we were feeling the movement. Getting back to our room last night we felt a bit like we were in a pinball machine. More on this later... We got up and made it to the restaurant at 8am and Yen met us there with our morning coffee order. We confirmed that we would NOT be joining the Star Class Flowrider group at 9am since we couldn’t get our stuff together this morning. We decided that we’re sleeping in tomorrow. Yesterday, Jacob (CK Manager) asked Tim (since he loves spicy foods) if he had ever eaten an Indian breakfast, to which he replied he had not. Jacob arranged for him to have Bhaji Puri, which he absolutely loved and requested again for the next day. Hement (the chef who made my quiche) had challenged us to request off-menu items. Kenzie and I accepted the challenge and requested savory crepes for today's breakfast. He made them exactly as we had requested and they were absolutely delicious! A couple at a neighboring table asked if we were ordering off-menu and we shared some of the things the team was doing for us. We always share the disclaimer that we don’t know if they do it for everyone or if it’s just star class treatment, but we tend to believe Jacob and his crew would do this for anyone. They are so accommodating! We came back to the room to briefly gather our things before heading to bumper cars, but with the movement of the ship, Kenzie was feeling a bit seasick and was getting a headache. We cancelled bumper cars and she put a patch behind her ear, which almost instantly cleared up her headache (I’ll add a picture to this post in case you want to know what she used). Our next item up on the schedule was the Extended North Star where they take you up a bit higher and over the side of the ship. We got up to check in for our ride and a couple showed up for their ride and apparently, they weren’t going to be able to get on. I didn’t catch all that happened, but I didn’t want someone to go without doing the North Star when I was able to do it multiple times. Since they are only allowing 4 per ride at a time and there were 3 of us, I gave up my spot and let the other 2 join Tim and Kenzie. I was perfectly fine with giving up my spot since I have a little fear of heights anyway. Going up and down is way different than extending over the side of the ship. All I could picture was the ball falling off and bobbing around in the ocean with sharks licking their chops. Yen got in there with the reservation guy and did her thing to make it happen. I hung back when they went up and Yen and I got a chance to visit. Afterwards, Yen walked us down to the Promenade where she left us at the La Patisserie for a Starbucks and more macaroons. She went and got the Starbucks for us and got Tim a water (which Tim said was over the top - we were right there and could have gotten them very easily). After we thought she had left Tim opened the water and spilled a bit since it was so full. He was going to get a napkin and Yen appeared with them for him. We asked if she had planted microphones on us – she smiled – and didn’t deny it! I swear she sees, hears, and knows everything! At breakfast that morning Jacob asked what our meal plans were for the remainder of the cruise, and he reminded us that we can get anything from the ship brought there. We decided to take him up on that offer and eat most things at CK from now on, except for the Chef’s Table tomorrow night. For lunch, Tim requested pizza, the cheddar ale soup (for which he still had not gone back), and the meat platter from Jamie’s. Jacob said he would arrange it all, and he did! We arrived at 1pm for lunch and Tim instantly got his sparkling water with lemon, Kenzie and I got our still water, and a moment later the previously arranged items were at our table. Now that’s incredible service! I seriously don’t know how I’ll ever go back to regular life! We were absolutely stuffed from lunch and all waddled back to our room to recover. We sat for a few minutes and then were reminded that Kenzie had another IFly appointment. Tim said he was going to sit that one out because he was miserable, so I put the flip flops back on and Kenzie and I headed to IFly. About the time we were getting there, Kenzie’s stomach started acting up, and when she was checking in, said it probably wasn’t a good idea. Yen did her thing with the reservations and now it’s on the schedule for tomorrow right after bumper cars. She’s doing the extended IFly tomorrow for two minutes instead of just one…and it’s before lunch.  We made our way back to the cabin and crashed for over two hours. I’d better not get to used to this nap thing or I might get in trouble when my boss starts seeing my afternoons blocked out for naps. Our pre-arranged dinner plans for 6pm got pushed to 7pm when we realized we were still full from lunch at 5pm. At 6pm, we cancelled dinner all together and decided to forage for food if we got hungry later. At that moment, we didn't think we'd ever be hungry again. Remember that I told you the captain was flying back home at 18.0 knots? A couple of nights ago, we heard an Alpha Alpha Alpha alert (which is code for a medical emergency). This afternoon, Mark (cruise director) asked for any volunteer male blood donors to head to guest services to donate blood for a passenger who is in need of a blood transfusion. Tim put his shoes on and went down to volunteer. His heart was full over how many men were standing in guest services to help a stranger. Tim found out that he wasn’t the right blood type for the transfusion, so he came back, and it was announced shortly after that they had enough volunteers. A little later, we heard an announcement from the captain telling us that they were heading back to New Jersey and planning to arrive tomorrow evening (a day early) to accommodate the passenger who needed medical attention. We would still disembark on Sunday, even though arriving early. While hanging in our cabin avoiding food, the captain announced that the passenger who needed medical attention was going to be airlifted by the Coast Guard and to avoid deck 14. We assumed the helicopter pad was at the front of the ship (like on Oasis), so we didn't think we would see much. However, a little while later, the helicopter was above of our balcony at the aft of the ship. It was so close, our windows were rattling. They came and went multiple times, we assume to airlift the patient, the family members, and their belongings. We took a video of the first trip as it was kind of exciting to have a CG helicopter right above our balcony. As exciting as it was, it was all for someone whose vacation was cut short due to a medical emergency. Our thoughts and prayers are with that family and we hope he is able to recover quickly! At about 8:15pm Tim asked what time Izumi was open until and asked about getting a couple of orders of Kara-age chicken to go. Tim asked if we could place an order for pick up and when I asked Yen, her response was “We can deliver to the suite though…”. Tim wanted to stretch his legs and Kenzie wanted to stop by the Bionic Bar for a couple of drinks, so they insisted on picking up dinner versus having it delivered. Of course, they walked right into Yen on their way…because she’s tracking us, you know. While down there, Tim ran by the Café Promenade and asked about the Coconut Ranger Cookies that I absolutely LOVE! They had run out earlier in the evening and the gentleman told Tim they would have more tomorrow. Tim thought he would try his luck, leaned in, and asked (very quietly), “would it help if I said I was Star Class?” Prakash’s eyes lit up like Christmas trees and he got all excited. He told him of course, and if he could just wait a few minutes, he would be right back. HE MADE A FRESH BATCH OF COOKIES JUST FOR ME !! Dang! I’m now sitting here writing this blog, eating my delicious cookies...that nobody else on the ship has right now. Yay me! Star Class is a dream...and I'm very spoiled !! Tomorrow is my last day and then I have to turn in my glass slippers. Here are the pics of the Day 7 Cruise Compass and the motion sickness patches...

Day 6 Cruise Compass...

The atmosphere is definitely fun. I was very intrigued by the concept and thought it would be my favorite just based on that. The chocolate thing is so worth it ! We had been told at the beginning of the cruise that they expected WWRY and Spectra to return this cruise. They were on our schedule for the last couple of nights until mid-cruise. They made an announcement the morning of CocoCay to let us know that they would not be able to open them back up. We are sad that we missed those, but there was so much to do that we will most definitely sail Anthem again and see them in the future. Thank you on the Cruise Compass. Day 6 coming up...

Day 5 (a day late) We got up and made our way to Coastal Kitchen for breakfast at 7:45, and Yen appeared with our coffee order as previously arranged. I had previously arranged to have the extra leftover quiche, but instead of a leftover, they made me a fresh one...well, several, actually. The chef wouldn't allow it to be reheated for me, so he made a new batch and had them delivered to the table. Jacob and Sid have become some of our favorite people onboard the ship, and whenever we go elsewhere without them, we miss them. Tim and Kenzie planned to go into Nassau in search of a key chain for her collection. Yen met us in the cabin shortly before 10am so she could escort them off the ship, and I was going to go with them but hung behind and worked on uploading all the photos for the blog. I was originally going to take my computer to a nice corner on the ship somewhere, but I love this suite so much, that I just stayed put. Tim and Kenzie wandered about for a bit and found a keychain for Kenzie, a souvenir for Raj, and a souvenir for Jeremy. Kenzie said they were walking around and walked by some street dancers who were jamming to some music. She realized a couple of minutes later that Tim was no longer with her, and she wandered back to find Tim dancing with the locals. After they came back, we hung out for a bit and then it was off to lunch at Coastal Kitchen. The other day when we had gone to the Windjammer, Tim was impressed with their salad bar area and was craving a salad. He wandered to the Windjammer while Kenzie and I went to Coastal Kitchen. Jacob asked if we had left Tim in Nassau, and we told him he wanted to build a salad in the Windjammer. Jacob said he would make anything he wanted and ran off to find Tim at the Windjammer. He's so funny! He came back a moment later and confirmed what Tim was wearing (with a mask on and a sea of people, he wanted to ensure he was kidnapping the right person), then he ran off and came back a minute later with Tim in tow. Tim said it didn't take much to convince him to come back. After all the pampering we've experienced this trip, the people jammer just didn't cut it. After lunch, we walked the three miles (okay, not really, but feels like it) to the back of the ship to visit the suite lounge. It is a beautiful space and it's kind of sad because it was totally empty. There were canapés, fruits, tapas, etc., and nobody was there to enjoy them. I'm guessing it doesn't get a lot of traffic because it's so far out of the way and there's no bar in there. If they put a bar in there, I'm sure it would have more visitors. We left shortly after and wandered down to the Esplanade, stopped and got more macaroons (because they're definitely a favorite), and then came back to the room for a nap because walking around the ship is exhausting! We got to do the North Star again tonight right at 5:30 when we were about to depart Nassau. It was so cool seeing Nassau from so high up! It seemed like we could see forever. Yen, of course met us at the North Star to ensure we got on as it gets pretty intense at the end of the reservation window. Tonight was no exception. We walked up a few minutes prior to our reservation time and there were about sixish people standing there expecting to get on. Tim has a face mask with the Philly Eagles on it, and one of the men waiting was wearing a Giants mask. That started the tension off. Yen was up with the person confirming the reservations and the reservation guy pointed at us to show we were next. The woman with the Giants mask guy sprung out of her chair and insisted they were next. The reservation person shared that we had a reservation for 5:30pm. We were whisked away a moment later, and Yen said they had to 'handle' it with the others who were waiting. Our ride ended up being the last of the night. Sorry...not sorry. It was so nice having Yen there to make sure we didn't get bumped like what had happened the first two attempts. Dinner was at Wonderland tonight. We were originally thinking of doing it two nights in a row so we could experience the entire menu, but decided to just bite the bullet and do it all at once. Yen escorted us to dinner again and she confirmed the rest of the night while there. Our server was a bit abrasive at the beginning of the night. Not sure what was happening, but he argued with us over wanting to experience the entire menu, then basically told us they only had two options for red wine to choose from (neither were to our liking). Kenzie had ordered one of their specialty drinks and it took over 20 minutes for it to show up, and the straw she asked for took an additional 10 minutes, after a reminder from Tim. Tim had asked for lemon and lime for his water, and it never showed up (Tim didn't bother reminding on that one), and our giant menus in frames sat on our tables in front of us for at least 20 minutes after we had ordered. Incidentally, the menus are extremely hard to read after watering them down to reveal the wording, and only one of the three menus were current. Tim and I had old menus. After the wine experience, I think someone figured out we weren't super happy (I'm still convinced that Yen has a tracker and possibly a microphone on us somewhere), because our server came back a while later and his attitude had completely changed. We're convinced that either the manager (who seemed to pay very close attention to the restaurant) saw the looks on our faces as we were discussing not leaving any additional tip for our server, or Yen had placed a call about that time and checked in on things. The rest of the meal went fine, but the bitter taste in our mouths from the beginning stuck with us. About the food at Wonderland...it was very interesting. We're glad we did it and experienced it, but even for us foodies, it wasn't our thing. We really appreciate the creativity that went into the dishes. It is truly imaginative! The one item that really turned us off was the Buffalo Chicken Eggs. This dish is 'smoked' in a way that was extremely unappealing. It smelled and tasted like cigarettes and we couldn't get the taste out of our mouths fast enough. Our friends who also ate there got the smoked specialty drink, and it was smoked in the same way - their impression was the same as ours over the eggs. Final review of Wonderland is that it was meh. If you have to pay for it, save your money. The only thing we truly liked was The World dessert...which we found out is being served at the end of the Chef's Table meal (that's on our last night). The new friends we made at CocoCay joined us tonight at the Music Hall for the Friendly Feud. Yen had 'discretely' reserved seats for us - which means we had front row seats in the middle of a packed two-story venue and all eyes were on us as we all took our seats. We tried to ignore the dirty looks...our friends embraced it. All of us thought the game would be played differently than how it actually played out, but it was super fun anyway. We were expecting to have multiple groups playing against each other, but it was more like the traditional game from TV. Here's the description - you tell me: "Team up with your friends onboard the ship and compete as a unit to answer a series of questions, with the most popular answers garnering the most points." It was still fun, and our group stuck together to go to Karaoke to end the night. The Karaoke was great, and we decided to do it again tomorrow because Kenzie wants to sing and didn't get in line to sign up early enough. We got back late and I had a few drinks, hence the reason this is a day late. Here is the Day 6 Cruise Compass for you...

Oh wow! That's horrible! I think they may have that fixed now. Our suite is just a bit warmer upstairs than it is downstairs, which isn't anything out of the ordinary considering that it's a loft. I just have moments of extreme warmth (Mother Nature's revenge), which makes me uncomfortable in any setting, but especially when I'm sleeping, getting dressed, or relaxing with a good book.

Mid-Cruise Random Thoughts As I was uploading all of the room photos, I thought about random tips and thoughts that I would pass along... Outlets in cabin: Downstairs: 2 US outlets, 1 Euro outlet 2 USB outlets Upstairs: 3 US outlets, 1 Euro outlet, 2 USB outlets Bathrooms: Each bathroom has a low voltage outlet for a razor, but not set up for anything larger There are no outlets available for use next to the sofa downstairs. However, Raj was happy to provide an extension cord that ran across the room for any electronics. Suite Level Bath Amenities: Malin & Goetz Shampoo: Peppermint Conditioner: Cilantro Body Wash: Rum Hand Soap: Rum Bar Soap Body Lotion: Vitamin B5 Body Moisturizer Toilet Paper: It sucks! Thin-thin-thin-thin-thin...and pretty rough I know it is designed to breakdown in their septic system, and I looked online to see if I could bring my Charmin from home (spoiler alert - we can't), and I definitely miss it !! Aft Balcony: We have the most beautiful view from the aft of the ship, but the smokestack drops black soot on the deck and furniture. Raj suggested using the blue pool towels to sit out on the furniture. However, we were wearing white the first day and didn't get that memo quickly enough. The great thing is that Star Class gets complimentary laundry service and they took the marks right out of our clothes. Magnetic Walls: The walls in this suite are not magnetic! There are only a few locations in the suite that are magnetic, and you need super power magnets to hold anything other than a piece of paper. Temperature downstairs and upstairs: The lowest temperature setting is 68.0 degrees, and when you change it, you move it .1 degree at a time. Don't click too fast or it won't change. Beating it won't help. If the person(s) downstairs like it warmer and those upstairs want it cooler, that could pose a problem because heat rises and cold air falls. There is a definite difference in temperature between the two floors. Since my body doesn't know how to cool off anymore, I was melting. Raj brought in a box fan for upstairs which fixed the issue. He's our hero! TV Upstairs: At first, I thought it was really cool to have a television in the ceiling that would come down at the push of a button. After Raj and Agnel turned down our suite the first night, to include pulling down the television, we watched for a little bit when we went to bed. Kenzie was sound asleep downstairs, and when we hit the button to raise it back up, it clicked very loudly when it began moving and then clicked very loudly again when it seated into the ceiling. It was quite alarming. I realized right away that one couldn't watch television after the other had fallen asleep because it would risk alarming the other with that noise. Doorbell: This suite has a doorbell, which is awesome since it's so large and a light knock would definitely be missed. However, if you're sitting at the dining table, take note that the doorbell is in the corner on the ceiling, and is quite loud. Whenever I'm at the table and the doorbell rings, it scares the pants off of me !! Mind you that none of the above are complaints on any level. We just wanted to pass along some helpful things to note when staying in this cabin in the future. It is such a fabulous space that I'm certain you will fall in love with immediately !!

Here are the photos we took of our cabin. We opted for still photos (and panoramic photos) as we felt that worked better than a video. I added captions on many of the photos to assist. We didn't take photos inside drawers or in wardrobes because we had already unpacked. However, we're happy to take those once we pack up again and add them. These photos will also be uploaded to the Facebook thread "Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Cabins" for future reference. Let me know if you need any additional photos other than mentioned above. Enjoy!

Day 5 Cruise Compass...

Day 4 Cruise Compass and CocoCay Brochure...

Day 3 Cruise Compass (better photos since the last ones had glare)...

Awww! Thank you so much! I wish I could do that too! I'd happily do that if it would pay the bills. Yen said we have 2600(ish) passengers on board. I believe the capacity limit for Anthem is 4900(ish), so doing the math, we are at 53% capacity. It is nice not having a 100% full ship. You will LOVE this ship! The crew and the ship are fabulous. The temperature at CocoCay was 77 degrees yesterday, and slightly overcast. The sun popped out occasionally, which was a treat. Tim and Kenzie walked onto the beach and got in the water at the beginning of the day and they both said the ocean was warmer than the pool. The lifeguard told us that early in the morning the sharks and stingrays swim close to shore. I hung back and made sure the bed wouldn't float away. The water in the Beach Club pool was slightly cooler than we prefer, but we were all so busy chatting that nothing seemed to bother us.

Day 4 - Perfect Day at Coco Cay It really was a perfect day today, except for how early it started! Knowing we were going to be aiming to get off the ship as early as possible once we docked in Coco Cay, we got up early and went straight to Coastal Kitchen. We learned this morning that we need to give ourselves 5 extra minutes when leaving the cabin because Raj and Agnel are always out in our hallway ready to greet us and ask about our plans. We chat so often, they're becoming friends. We're about to ask Raj to join us one evening for a soda and conversation, just because there is always so much to talk about. Since we had a tighter time schedule, we arranged with Yen to have our Starbucks coffee delivered to Coastal Kitchen. When we stepped off the elevator this morning, Jacob (CK Manager) was at the check-in desk, and he immediately got on the phone. I didn't think much of it until we found out he was alerting Yen that we had arrived (for the coffee) and the chef to have him start the quiche he had promised the day before. They are sooooo awesome! Yen arrived with our coffee order and went over the morning schedule with us to get us off the ship. Jacob came by and let me know that the quiche was taking a bit and I told him no problem. He made the chef come by a little while later to let us know about how much longer it would take because Jacob was uncomfortable with how long it was taking. I know from experience that a freshly made quiche takes a bit, and we were a while from docking, so we sipped on our coffee, enjoyed the view, and didn't let the time bother us. When the quiche was ready, we instantly had three or four people surrounding us to deliver breakfast. It was really something. The quiche was AMAZING! It had to be the lightest quiche I've ever had - kind of bordering on a soufflé. I was quite happy with it! He made extras, so Tim and Kenzie each had one as well. There was an extra, so I asked them to save it for tomorrow. I'm certain it will heat up just fine. Can someone say SPOILED?? As we were wrapping up our spectacular breakfast, we were just arriving at Perfect Day. The captain said the waters were a bit rough, so he wasn't guaranteeing that we would be able to dock, but he was going to try. The other ship that was supposed to be on the island today was unable to dock because of the level of tide, the high winds, and the rough seas. I was sad for them because I know how much it is favored by so many. However, it was nice to not have as many folks on the island at the same time. Yen met us in our cabin at about 9:20am and we got to experience the magic genie card in the elevator. Someone else had gotten on at the same time as us and they were so confused. We didn't say anything but chuckled over it after they got off. We got off the elevator and there was a huge line forming at the gangway. Yen took us to the other side (two doors to get off), and left us at the front of the line while she checked things out. When they said go, we checked ourselves off the ship and yen met us at the end of the plank with a tram to take us to the Beach Club. The folks from the Royal Loft were just behind us and they were on the same tram heading to a Beach Club Cabana. So many others were trying to get on our tram and the genies had to keep explaining that it was a reserved tram. We got to the Beach Club, checked in at the entrance, and were able to get one of the beds by the pool to lounge in throughout the day. The bed was awesome, but it really was in the wrong location at the club. It was super common for people to stand in the shallow end of the pool right in front of our bed - some to watch for people arriving at the club, but many times for people to just stand and take in the view - not realizing that someone behind them was trying to enjoy the view too. That was such a tiny annoyance though, and I was very easily reminded of how blessed we are, which quickly brought a smile to my face again. We met two lovely couples while hanging at the pool, and we talked for hours. We all combined our reservation so we could continue the conversation at lunch, then sat there for the rest of the day at the lunch table until it was time for us to go back to the ship. Sergii, our server at the restaurant, was extremely attentive to our needs the entire time we were there. He kept our drinks going the entire time - maybe too well, and made sure there was no hunger happening at our table. We made sure to share our appreciation with him in the end. The bartender (I forgot his name, but will provide it later as everyone is asleep now and I can't ask them), had been taking care of our group while we were waiting for our table to be set up. We did a round (or two) of drinks, and then he lined up cups and we did shots of something he called white tea - which was very good. After we were at the table for about three hours, he came over and offered us another round of shots - we did the white tea again, and then told us before we left that we had to do the farewell shot - so we did! It was green, and I have no idea what was in it, but it too was very good. We all exchanged numbers and cabin numbers and have planned to get together in a couple of days. We shared a tram back to the ship and took a few group photos to remember our day together. We got back to our room, showered, and headed out to dinner at Izumi. Yen magically appeared to see how our day was on the island. We chatted about our evening plans for a bit, and then she was on her way and the Izumi manager fawned over us. He shared that Yen contacted him a couple of times throughout our dinner to ensure we were happy. She's so good to us! When we were finished, we headed back to our room and when we got to the elevator, Yen was there again! I'm pretty sure now that she has a tracker on us. Tonight was movie night in our room, and she had popcorn and milkshakes sent up as requested. The popcorn was just like I make it at home, and they even shredded fresh parmesan cheese over it. Yum !! It was most definitely a perfect day! Here are the day 3 Cruise Compasses as promised. Sorry - I just realized there are some glare spots. I'll redo those pics and upload again when I upload day 4 and 5 tomorrow.

Oh my gosh you guys ! Thank you so much ! That totally made my day !

Day 3 We had a busy day of activities today, so we got up and showered before our coffee and fruit arrived (exactly at 7:30am). WhatsApp and the wifi were acting up for most of the day, so Yen made sure we had her extension for us to call her directly. For the most part, she knew what we had planned, and would appear throughout the day to ensure things were running smoothly. Our day began at Coastal Kitchen, where Yen had arranged for Sid to be our server for the remainder of the cruise. He's so funny! Whenever Tim picked up the pepper to grind it onto his food, he would stop him and tell him that was what he was for. I had asked if they had quiche, and Jacob (CK Manager) got on the phone and called someone. He said they didn't have it, but would have it for me the next day. Wowzers! That's service! From CK, we wandered down to Two70 to check out the menu since we were thinking about that for lunch. We checked out the venue - beautiful space at the aft of the ship. Bingo was coming up, so we found a spot and decided to just wait it out. As soon as the cards went on sale, I hopped in line and got us set up. Five minutes later, the line was all the way down the hall past Vintages. Since we had a while before it began, Kenzie stayed behind and Tim and I went to find something to drink. I wandered down to La Patisserie and got a couple of Starbucks drinks, and a box of a dozen macaroons (something Kenzie absolutely loves). The gal even went into the back and pulled out some additional flavors for us besides what was in the case. I'm pretty sure she is the kind of person who would have done that for anyone, but considering how everyone seems to react when they see our Star Class sea pass card, it could have been the reason. I'm not gonna lie - I really like it !! As we nibbled on the macaroons, we oohed and awed over them quite a bit and compared them to the shop inside the Eiffel Tower where we had the absolute best macaroons ever a few years back. A gal from a nearby table came over and asked us what they were and where she could find them. We offered her one and she declined at first. Then she asked how much they were and we told them they were free to us since we were in a suite. We asked again and she accepted the offer with a huge smile. Tim noticed that there were four of them at the table, and took them the remainder of our box. They were so excited over them ! It was so fun paying that forward ! Such a little thing, but it made them so happy! We didn't win at Bingo, but had fun. The Elton John performer called the numbers and he shared some funny stories. As soon as Bingo was over, Yen appeared at our table and we walked through the rest of the day. We made a couple of alterations to future plans, but then she gave us good news that she was able to get Kenzie into the Coco Beach Club. I don't remember if I had mentioned before that we had added her back onto the reservation after it was sold out. Yen put her on a "priority waitlist" and kept checking for us. Had we not been able to get her in, we would have just cancelled our reservation so we could spend the day together. Now we can all go together! That was awesome news! Since it was lunchtime and we wanted to grab food before our activities, we went back to the Brass & Bock Pub because Tim wanted the Cheddar Ale soup. We got a new server who was rather awkward and he just didn't seem to understand that we needed a minute to figure out what we wanted. We had told him our drink requests and the soup right away, but then said we needed more time. It took him a while to come back with the drinks (which were just water with lemon), and then took him another 20 minutes to come back and ask if we wanted anything else. We told him no, and about 15 more minutes went by and still no soup...and I still didn't have my sea pass card back - which was really bothering me. A manager popped over and asked how things were, so Tim shared. He clearly went to the back and spoke with the server because he came back out with my sea pass card and apologized. Another 15ish minutes went by and still no soup. Tim went back and told the manager to cancel everything. We then went to the Windjammer to grab something quick before Kenzie had to be at the Rock Climbing wall at 2pm. Incidentally, when we sat down with food, a server came over and asked if we wanted any drinks. We ordered waters (Tim gets sparkling, which is an extra fee for those without a drink package), so I gave him our Star Class cards and in a minute we had multiple people clamoring over us. It's really crazy. We got to the rock climbing wall and Yen magically appeared again. She got Kenzie up to the front of the crowd there, and Kenzie got into the harness and special shoes (she had brought socks with her). Kenzie did her thing and then it was on to the IFly. Yen got her all set up for that and we chatted for a bit while Kenzie was watching the video. She asked how lunch was, so I shared some of the details, and she was so apologetic...more on that later. Yen had arranged for Kenzie to go first in her group because we wanted to go to the scavenger hunt at 3:00pm. We made it to the Music Hall in time and I made a quick stop in the little girls' room. By the time I got to the Music Hall, Tim and Kenzie were running around like crazy people. The hunt was to capture photos of items beginning with each letter and bonus points for multiple items starting with the same letter. We had a time limit, and it went fast! We went as far as the casino trying to find something beginning with Q, and we worked up a sweat in the process! We got back with 1 minute to spare and I was panting! The gal counted our items and we had 82! We were declared the winners and our prize were RC zipper pulls and bragging rights. After that, we were exhausted and made it back to our room for some R&R - which means that Tim took a nap and Kenzie and I watched Maid in Manhattan while in a comatose state. It was needed! After a day of nothing and then being away from our cabin for over half the day and running around like lunatics, we were hurting. Yen was able to get us onto the North Star today - third time is a charm! The sun had already gone down and we saw the city lights for miles. It was so cool! Then it was Chops for dinner. After hearing that Jamie's wasn't all that fabulous and then hearing about our Pub experience, I think Yen was on heightened alert for us to have good food experiences. She escorted us into Chops and to our table (that I believe she picked out) and I'm pretty sure had a chat with the server previously (because he addressed us by name when he came over). Yen also brought us a bottle of our favorite wine on board (which was from Jamie's) and we nursed that throughout dinner. That was a nice treat. The food was fabulous! Everything was really outstanding. We did the same thing we always do which is to get several appetizers to share at the table, and then our main courses. At the end of the meal, someone dropped off a dessert that wasn't ordered (the warm chocolate cake), and since it was at the table, Tim knew they would have to throw it out, so he saved it from going to waste. He said it was absolutely outstanding - and that is a lot coming from him. He never eats dessert !! I'm pretty sure that Yen was keeping tabs on us, because as soon as we walked out of Chops, she was there to see how it went. She really is fabulous! We weren't super upset over the experiences or anything, but they were less than desirable, and since she knows we're total foodies, I think she wants to make sure we're satisfied. When we got back to our room tonight, another bottle of our wine was waiting for us. Sorry - I wrote a book again! There's just so much to share! We're really having the time of our lives! Star Class is truly amazing and with the special touches, we sometimes feel like the only people on the ship. Tomorrow is Perfect Day at Coco Cay at the Beach Club! We're excited!! I can't seem to upload the day 3 Cruise Compasses right now because of the internet. I'll get those up tomorrow.

Yes! Although, the seasonal specialties (like Pumpkin Spice) isn't available, but it's a very nice perk!

He could be on deck 8? I can ask to see if anyone knows where he is. It seems the pandemic shuffled people around a bit and some have been slow to come back. It might have been only for that day. The pianist in the Schooner Bar tonight as we left Chops was way more interactive and even attempted country music for someone who requested it. We basically rolled out of Chops and landed in the seats right by the piano, so he and Tim bantered back and forth for a bit. It definitely makes for a more enjoyable experience! Right? Even when we cruised in balcony or Junior Suites in the past, we spent time in our room enough that we felt it was important to have an enjoyable cabin. We are introverts (even though Tim plays an extrovert when in public), so having a nice place to recharge is very enjoyable. Thanks! Yen is amazing ! We are learning that there is really no end to what she can make happen. I really don't know if we can ever go back to sailing without a Genie !

Day 2 Our coffee arrived exactly at 7:30am as previously requested. I'm pretty sure she was out in the hall waiting until the exact time. Unfortunately, the coffee was soooo strong, that I couldn't really drink it. Tim was fine with it (he was in the Army - they drink mud). Kenzie and I resorted to backup coffee and asked Yen for Starbucks, which was delivered shortly after. That is now going to be our new morning routine. We also decided to hang in our jammies and order breakfast in. It was great - a little less hot than desirable, but still great. Yen even came in with a tablecloth to make sure it was set up the way we wanted. While there, we gave her gift number one, which was a Bath & BodyWorks lotion. We cancelled most of our day just because we just wanted to hang out and do a lot of nothing. We decided to take part in Harry Potter trivia and had lunch from Johnny Rockets delivered to us in the Music Hall just before the game began. Tim loved that. Unfortunately, our level of HP knowledge isn't that great (we were hoping Kenzie would come through for us), and we only got 9 out of 20. One couple near us got all 20 correct. They are true HP fans. The only thing we didn't cancel today was the North Star, but it was unfortunately cancelled for us due to high winds. We opted for the Solarium hot tub/pool instead...fantastic choice! Ronaldo kept our drinks coming the entire time and it was awesome! Peaceful, relaxing, and such a beautiful setting. Tonight was formal (dress your best) night #1, and we opted for dressy casual. Our dinner was planned for Jamie's Italian, and it was a bit underwhelming. We got a couple of appetizers and split them again. The garlicky prawns were super spicy, and while Tim loved them, I had a hard time eating them. Kenzie ate 1/2 of one and stopped. The Fried squid was good, and the garlic bread was great. Tim and I had the braised short rib (mine was pretty good, but Tim's was tough and dry). Kenzie got a pasta dish with a bolognese sauce. It was lacking seasoning. We had plenty of room left for dessert so Kenzie tried the Tiramisu and I tried the lemon cheesecake. The Tiramisu wasn't great - not sure how they mess that up, but we didn't like it at all. The lemon cheesecake was superb !! Got back to our room and found towel animal number 2 waiting for us. We had let Yen know in advance how much I enjoy them and not to take any away. I love the zoo at the end of the week. They are definitely honoring that. Raj and Agnel are fabulous and our room was turned down and ready when we got back from dinner. We visited with him for a few minutes and then we settled in for the night (after cancelling our final item of the day). Day 2 was a huge success in our book - total rest and relaxation! We took pics of the room today after Raj and Agnel did their thing this morning. Hoping to have caught everything anyone could want to see. I'm adding captions to them and will upload soon. The amazing master bed is calling my name! Goodnight!

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Happy to provide the cruise compass! It's exactly what I would be looking for as well. The last cruise wasn't quite as helpful since it was a 6 night cruise. When we sat down in the Schooner Bar, we were super full and tired from the day. The pianist wasn't interactive at all (nobody really knew when he arrived, and when he was done, he just got up and left), but we all love piano music and it was nice. It was what we needed at that moment. I'm looking forward to the more interactive performers.

Oh my gosh! We were just talking about how we're so off on time now. It's like the Covid year never happened and we've lost a year! Will do! We love her! Kenzie and I wanted to do a spa thing today and when we called, there was only one spot left. We asked Yen to see if she could get us on a wait list or something. She escorted us over and got us both in. There was a huge line and Yen snuck past everyone to get someone's attention. Yen popped around the corner and asked us to come with her and the ladies behind us in line followed. They were so confused when Yen told them it was just us. I felt so bad...well, only a little.

Day one continued... North Star: The afternoon of day one came with a surprise from Yen. She let us know that they were in fact running the North Star while in Port Liberty and she had scheduled us for the last run at 4:30pm just before departure. We had just gotten up there and she sent us a message that they closed the North Star at 4:15pm because they were departing early. No biggie, but we would have gotten some fabulous pics. Just a note that if you are sensitive to cigarette smoke, the smoking section is one deck below on the same side as the North Star sign-in area. With the wind, I was unable to wait there for the few moments we were there since I'm super sensitive to it. Dinner at CK: Dinner on night one (filet night at CK) was absolutely what we had hoped for. The filet was fantastic and we were fawned over throughout the entire meal. The best part for Tim was that the table next to us was keeping us updated on the Eagles game. LOL ! We each got the filet (of course), which tasted amazing, and Tim added the peppercorn sauce to his, which was outstanding. Loved the array of breads and spreads. We got four appetizers and shared them among us, and Kenzie and I split a creme brulee. Sid, our server, was delightful and very attentive. Jacob, the CK manager came around and checked in on us a couple of times. Sid mentioned he has been with Royal a very long time, and his service and attentiveness shows it. We have lunch scheduled at CK later in the week and we will request him again. I'll provide food pics in another post as Kenzie is the only one who ever remembers to take pics before we start eating. Schooner Bar: We wandered over to the Schooner Bar after dinner for a couple glasses of wine and piano music. We sat at a table close to the walkway through the area and had competing music from one of the venues below. We will sit further inside the lounge area next time to avoid that. The piano music was very nice and we stayed for the entire hour of it. Comedy Show: We went back to our room and kicked our feet up for just a bit before heading to the late welcome aboard comedy show at 10:15. Yen met us at the entrance at exactly 15 mins before the show and escorted us to our seats. A moment later, our drink order Yen took from us arrived. We talked with Yen for a brief moment about the next morning and then said goodnight. The comedy show was decent. There were quite a few belly laughs. It was just long enough, but not too long after not much sleep the night before (packing) and all the excitement of the first day. Mark is our cruise director - sorry, he didn't give his last name. I'll try to get that. I think someone was asking who it was on a FB post. Sorento's & Pub: We headed back to our room, but along the way, stopped to check out a few other things. Kenzie and I are pretty fast walkers, so we're always looking behind us to see if Tim is still with us. It's a good thing too because he wandered away and we looked back just as he walked into Sorento's. Incidentally, we had lost him earlier in the day when we were up by the North Star. Kenzie and I decided to get drinks at the pool bar (deck 14) while Tim was getting ice cream, and when we popped around the corner to see if he wanted anything, he was gone. We found him on deck 5 (he wanted to guess the weight of a sculpture across from Jamie's). I think I need to put a tracker on him. Anyway, Kenzie got a piece of pizza and we all took a bite to see if we liked it. It wasn't bad, and I'm sure we'll have more. From there, we wandered over to the pub because Tim wanted to try the fried pickles. If you're wondering, they were okay. They fry the entire pickle, which ended up being too much pickle and not enough breading. We also got the pretzel sticks, which came with mustard, and the lobster mac and cheese things (can't remember the name of them), which came with a cheese sauce for dipping. The cheese sauce was great with the pretzel sticks in case you're not a fan of mustard. Our server at the pub (sorry, can't remember his name). He was lovely, and as we made it back to the room, he called us. Apparently, when we were leaving, Kenzie dropped her bundle of $2.00 bills from her pocket. He picked them up for us and took them down to Guest Services. It was such a long walk back to guest services. The walk to the aft of the ship to get to our room is suuuuuuper long, but soooooo worth it !! THE MASTER BED: Wow! My back was super sore yesterday, but as soon as I laid down on the bed, I had absolutely zero pain !! The mattress is amazing - REALLY !! We had told Yen about our pillow preferences ahead of time, and Raj (our lead attendant) made sure we had exactly what we had asked for, including 2 body pillows for Kenzie. When they made up her bed last night, she had a cloud of pillows around her. It was perfect! Raj is outstanding! If you have the pleasure of him as your attendant, you will want for nothing. Noises at Night: I have the typical 'mom ears' and hear everything at night. The creaks of the ship, the rumble of the engine, the wind gusts, and the rattle of bottles on the countertop were new noises for me so it took me a bit to fall asleep. In fact, the rattle of the bottles made me a bit nervous because there was enough movement on the ship that it caused me to think we might lose some off the edge. I ended up getting up and checking just to put my mind at ease. I'm so glad I did! One of our glass bottles was dangerously close to the edge of the counter. I rearranged everything and put napkins between the glasses to ensure no more rattling. After that, I was able to sleep and didn't wake up again until my alarm. Movement on the Ship: There's a little bit of motion at the aft of the ship, but it's more of a sway because we're so high up. Our family has never been prone to motion sickness, so it doesn't bother us at all. I'm not sure what it would be like for those who are, and I'm not sure I'm a good judge of that. Sorry. I, personally, find it lulling and relaxing. I seriously could live like this!! I'll try not to write a book next time. I just had so much in my head. Here are pics of the Day 2 Cruise Compass. Pics of the room and food still pending. Time for more fun!

Let the party begin !! Our check-in this morning was absolutely seamless. We actually got out of the house a bit late this morning, but we updated Yen on our way and she was at the curb waiting for us when we arrived. As we made it through the sea of cars and yellow vests directing traffic, Tim made sure to let them all know we're Philly Eagles fans by first getting their attention, then yelling Go Eagles! We're in Giant territory, so he loves to poke the bear. At least they all got a kick out of it. Yen got our bags situated with the SC porter while Tim went and parked the car. She walked us through the security line and got us through check-in, and then we waited for a few mins while she took care of another guest. Then onto the ship we went. Since we had already done our safety briefing on our phones in the car, she took us to our muster station and we checked in there before heading up to our room. Our room is magnificent !! We'll do pics and videos later. When we arrived, our lunch was waiting for us and we immediately ate as we were all hungry. Yen came through on the crab I had requested, along with so much additional food that we couldn't possibly finish! She even had special treats for Kenzie from the UK! Our bags were in the hall about 1/2 way from the elevators to our room. I mentioned our bag as we passed by and Yen said "I'll take care of it"...and she did. Someone showed up shortly after and rang the doorbell, which scared us all our of our skin! He brought them in, made sure we had them all, and took them upstairs for us. Once we were stuffed from lunch, we unpacked all 10 bags...yes, I'm an over-packer. Yen got a kick out of how many shoes we had when she popped by to go over our schedule for the remainder of the day. They're all lined up downstairs along the back wall. Someone asked for the Cruise Compass for future reference. Hubby set up a reminder to take pics of them daily. We usually save them, so when we get back, we'll properly scan them so they don't have so many shadows over them. Sail away from our room was amazing! Going under the Verrazano Bridge from our room was such a treat! Watching the NY skyline disappear from our room is soooo awesome! Off to dinner - It's filet night at Coastal Kitchen! We've been waiting for this!! Star Class is addicting people!

Thank you !! Quick update - We all took the eMed home Covid tests that were proctored and we're all negative !! It was super simple, and none of us had to wait once we got online to connect with eMed. I also cancelled our backup rapid tests with CVS. The health questionnaire in the RC app opened up for us today as well. We'll do that shortly! Next up - packing and pedicures! WE CRUISE TOMORROW!!!

HAPPY VETERANS' DAY! If you have served or have supported someone who has served, a huge THANK YOU from us to you !! We officially have "cruise brains" !! I had today off for the holiday, but I have one more work day to go before I can completely devote my brain to the cruise. I'm sure I'll be worthless tomorrow. Our last week has included multiple conversations with Yen as we prepare for the cruise IN 3 DAYS!!! We have officially switched our conversations over to WhatsApp and have our embarkation day instructions. We were informed today that regardless of our check-in time, we are allowed to arrive as early as 11:00am, and can board as early as 11:30am. We confirmed we would be ready and waiting for her at 11:30am. Yay !!! Got my nails done today, and Kenzie and I get our toes done on Saturday! Kenzie quickly got caught up on the shopping to make sure she was ready for the cruise, and our concierge (where all of our packages are delivered) gets a visit from our family each evening to gather the daily deliveries. It's like Christmas! I think I'll miss that after the cruise. Tomorrow we get to clean the bank out of their stash of cash for our tips. I read a really good Facebook Star Class 101 post a while ago about tipping with $2.00 bills, so we decided to adopt that same philosophy. Hoping the bank has enough of them. LOL ! We just learned tonight that the We Will Rock You and Spectra shows have both been cancelled for the current sailing due to "staff shortages". Yen confirmed it for us. Those announcing it for others are speculating that it is Covid-related (I didn't ask if it was Covid - figured it probably isn't allowed to be shared). Covid would make sense considering the ship is at level yellow on the CDC website right now (which updated with the data from before the ship launched with US passengers). I hope all are okay and get well soon. I'll be very sad if we miss those two shows as they were the two shows we wanted to see most. However, if they are missed during our sailing, I'm sure we'll catch them on a future sailing since we live in NJ and I'm sure we'll be on her again. We all know that the shows last a while so not much risk in waiting. Yen shared today that room service won't be able to deliver meals into the room, but will instead leave them at the door due to the current health protocols. I asked if there would be any way they could deliver them with the tablecloth into the room if we all went upstairs. Hoping that one works out as that was something we were really looking forward to. I had heard from many others that this was the case, but it wasn't really followed. I'm thinking that since Anthem is newly in US waters, it may be more strictly enforced. Hoping not though. One more thing she shared is that the North Star will no longer operate on embarkation day out of NY/NJ. I knew it couldn't be launched prior to passing the Verrazzano Bridge, but thought we could do it afterwards. This one isn't super disappointing, but I was kind of hoping to see the NY skyline at night from the North Star. Oh well, we will have to enjoy it from our AMAZING cabin balcony instead - oh darn! Nothing is taking this girl down! WE'RE CRUISING IN 3 DAYS !!

When our story began, Tim and I were booking a long overdue vacation and it was just going to be us. Then Kenzie moved back home with us and Jeremy was going to be visiting, so we invited them to join us. His trip got cancelled at the last minute and Kenzie was super sad, so when we took Jeremy off of the reservation, she asked to be removed as well. Since Kenzie had already gotten that week off, and was just going to be hanging at home alone, we couldn't stand the thought of us having all the fun without her so we talked her into going. I already called Royal and updated Yen. So, I think I can honestly say that being spontaneous isn't an issue in our family. The word "pivot" came to mind, and now all I can think of is the scene from Friends when Ross is trying to get the sofa up the stairs...