jbrinkm

Look what was at WJ tonight! I have avoided crumbles since I had the rancid one. BUT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE BLOSSOM Ok! This will be fun. And then maybe you can hide one for @PPPJJ-GCVAB!

I saw the Stowaway Piano player! I heard singing (Sweet Caroline) and couldn't figure out why that was happening in the WJ but then I saw the bottom of the piano in the elevator. I ran around to try to see better but he didn't stop on 15, went directly to 14. My son and I did the Zipline. He finished first and went to get ice cream, so I decided to take the slide back down to get to the room.

I got these adorable ducks but never printed tags so I'm about to handwrite something and use little clear hairbands to attach them. My husband had to do some work today so he parked himself in the upper deck of Dazzles where he was in air conditioning but could still see out of a window (he likes to have a full table when he's working.) He mentioned at lunch that he was having trouble finding a spot and my daughter took it as a personal challenge to find him somewhere.

My parents left their Freestyle cups on the MDR table at lunch and guest services replaced them for free! I thought that was a really nice gesture. We tried to track them down but with no luck. We came across a small vessel this morning that didn't respond to hails. So we slowed, stopped, turned around came back to it, and sent an emergency craft over. Turns out it was just a loose boat that had floated to here with no one aboard. I've smelled a bad sewer smell twice, briefly. The weather is lovely. Hot, yes, but in the shade, with a bit of breeze, just amazing to sit out on my balcony and type this and watch + listen to the water. This is the furthest south I've ever been and I'm glad it is March rather than April.

We've been missing the Boardwalk Donuts so I got room service breakfast yesterday before our excursion and ordered a chocolate donut @OCSC Mike! This was the best donut I've ever had on a cruise ship. It was fresh, soft and still a little warm but with that harder chocolate on top. Delish!! Although I wouldn't have used the room service if I had gotten Jamaican time correct. Oh, @Ampurp85 , I think you like these too?

White night & formal night table pictures. I have a funny smile in the white night pic because the lady at the next table took it and didn't really tell us when, so I got smile fatigue. And my son's eyes are closed for the same reason.

Part of the reason I reported it was because I had our stateroom door open to air it out - we had some wet stuff hanging to dry and gave the room a bit musty smell. Allure has many more built in wall hooks. We're using the ones I brought more heavily than the last two years. We even have our drying line hooked up: We drip dry our wet stuff in the shower and then move it over here to finish drying.

They still haven't told us! But they've been spending their money! They booked the luggage service since their flight is not until 7pm, and the Everglades tour, and my mom bought a really nice, long sleeved spirit wear Symphony of the Seas shirt.

I was enjoying my balcony and for the second time this sailing started smelling cigarette from next door and scurried inside. I reported it this time.

So my gnocchi was bad in the MDR for lunch also. I got fruit for appetizer from the dessert menu and that was fine. But the gnocchi was tough & overcooked, plus very, very salty. I slept in today so no breakfast, this was my first meal. The apple dessert tasted ok, just was very disappointing that it wasn't the actual blossom.

I had the hardest time finding stateroom requests in the app, so I'll share in case I'm not the only one: Click here and then:

Bezos, aren't they cute?!? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7Q7SF33/ref=cm_sw_r_apanp_gvTR7Hlmh3Jcx

I wondered if it was because you can now see the dress themes ahead of time in the app so people know what to pack.

Day 4!

Ahhhh, just as I was complimenting the MDR, they serve.me THIS as the "apple blossom" for lunch today:

I just caught up on @WAYNO's blog and we've also had good dinners this year. IMO, the MDR meals have improved from a year ago! I even enjoyed my tofu "tacos" tonight. No one in my family has had a bad meal yet.

I forgot to say the first night - no one was under our bed when we shoved our suitcases under there!

Thank you! The other thing is - my husband and I rarely drink so it has only been a handful of times that he's even been in a situation to ask about it. Like maybe 4? Once was in Germany where it is legal, once in Wisconsin where my sister lives and is also legal with parents there, once today (legal?), and then maybe one or two other times? And he's just about to turn 15 and he's the size of an adult. So I know others might feel differently but we are ok with it under those circumstances. Especially because we model extreme moderation.

I think my parents would have enjoyed it more 10 years ago when they were both a little more agile. My husband, kids and I would have really loved it except we were a bit anxious about my dad and then my mom. Water shoes were fantastic to have - I'd recommend them to everybody doing this trip. I think your group would have a blast. The guides are phenomenal, singing Bob Marley, flipping into the water, laughing and being funny. You do hang out at the beach for quite a while at the end. It might be helpful to have a small snack in your bag. You leave your bag in the van at the beginning and the van is waiting at the beach. I wish I had known we would be there for a while because I would have gone in the water. The kids might want some floats or sand toys there. I think I saw two different companies offering the tubing - I'd definitely pick the River Rapids Jamaica one with the better reviews. There were also outdoor showers near the bar where you could rinse off. We got pretty sandy towards the end and I was happy to also have flip flops to change in to.

Oh! And we bought Blue Mountain coffee and some really good chocolate bars in the port area.

We got back to the ship around 3:30pm (all aboard was 5:30) so we decided to go down the Perfect Storm since we were already in bathing suits. Then rushed to get ready for dinner - it was white night - and then had reservations for Hairspray. I enjoyed it somewhat, especially the upbeat songs. Since we had rushed dinner, we stopped in the Windjammer after the performance and nibbled on a few things. I was really surprised at how many people dressed for white night. I don't think I've seen this level before. My best estimate is that at least 80% of the people out and about were wearing white.

Today was Falmouth where we had picked a river tubing trip from Viator. They sent me a message yesterday to meet at 10:30am Jamaica time and I screwed up the time zone. We got there an hour early because Jamaica is on Eastern time but no daylight savings HOWEVER, my husband, who is beloved by grandmother-aged women everywhere, sweet talked the lady into letting us go with the earlier tour. There wasn't much of a description and it ended up being a bit too strenuous for my parents (although they did make it!). There was a walk to a small falls, over a wobbly plank bridge, and down a path quite a ways. Then everyone got in the water and essentially got dunked under the falls. We didn't get a great explanation, other than just "to get used to the water." It was fun for me and the kids but difficult for my parents. We went down a bunch of wet rocks which was especially hard for my dad who has had two hip replacements. The guides were absolutely fabulous. Helping and joking in a way that did not make him feel bad. There were people of all ages and sizes on the tour and all of the guides were phenomenal with everyone. They kept calling my dad Papi which he got a kick out of. So after the waterfall dunking, we backtracked a little bit and got in our tubes. Oh, we had to carry our own tubes all the way down the long path with us too, including over the wobble bridge. Each group had one guide with them and we each held our neighbor's tube with one hand to make a circle. We floated all the way down this river, some parts very calm and some parts with small rapids. My mom started to feel unwell here and thinks it was because of the helmet pushing her neck in a weird way and it made her nauseous. There was one place to stop and get out and jump into the river from a platform. My son did a flip. Towards the end, we switched to a raft and paddled into the ocean/bay where we pulled up at a beach. Once we got in the raft, my mom was able to take off the helmet and started to feel better after that We walked all the way down the beach to a place with a bar and tables and a lifeguard. The beach & ocean here were absolutely beautiful. My son has been very interested in alcohol and asking if he can try stuff. We know officially we can't on the boat, but we kind of feel at home that if we let him have a sip of stuff here and there generally with family, European style, he might be less likely to do it in an unsafe way. So he was curious about the offerings at the bar, and I said - I wonder what the drinking age is in Jamaica. Then my husband said to the bartender, my son wants to know what the drinking age in Jamaica is and the bartender asks my son, how old are you. My son - "14". Bartender- "then 14!" So we got one Red Stripe beer for my husband and I to split and let him have a few small drinks of it. Later at dinner, he asked me, "why do people even drink beer? It's not like it tastes good." We had no wifi or cell coverage so only took 1 phone along and didn't use it to take pictures. My husband had a go pro but we don't have a computer to download to videos until we get home.

I was going to say not as bad as I expected BUT the Windjammer tonight at 8pm was as crowded as it would be during breakfast on a port day!!! I have NO idea why... and the main theater was packed to the gills during the show tonight except for a few seats that were behind poles (that upper-lower section). BTW, we're still picking at the chocolate cake here and there and it is just starting to get a little stale.

My parents went to the thing today and actually had to sign an NDA. So they haven't even told US what it was about.

I've been thinking more about HiRO and the two places I felt a little bored were when the drums went on for a long time, in the same rhythm, with not much other action. And once I realized that, I also thought that those spots were an interruption of the story - so I guess I do think there was a little story. Spoiler alert! It seemed like there were three groups, different colors of clothing (red, black and white), and they were fighting. Then some stuff happened, including disco dancing and a visit from a being above (the "walking" lady who might also have been a spotted cat?) who helped bring them together. Then at the end, everyone was wearing clothes that were red, black and white all together so they now were peaceful together?