hayley_bopp

Great blog! I was reading this while at work, and then this conversation with the wife happened regarding our three upcoming cruises.

One last thing before I go to bed...the things you wonder was you try to maximize #teamDX....
Food coma was so real with Star Class that we gave up our UDP for this sailing and went with CK and complimentary venues. Tonight I feel so full it is beyond food coma!!  How can that be possible??  Hubby thinks that it is because we pretty much have been eating cruise food all month.  
Will this deter me from eating tomorrow? Nope! Haha. 8 month dry dock coming up. Lots of time to detox ?

Flight was hands down, the best Royal Caribbean original production. We have now seen 5 of them and where The Gift is on one end of the spectrum, Flight is at the other.
The special effects and set designs are amazing!  Royal has really outdone themselves with this one.  Really impressive all around. We still found this cast a bit weak vocally, but the rest more than made up for it. 


I had high hopes for this show as I taught Grade 6 for a number of years and the History of Flight is in the Grade 6 curriculum.  I have always enjoyed teaching that unit.  
I thought they did a wonderful job giving a nod to all the important figures who contributed to Flight. My favourite scene was probably the “In Memorial” scene and the one following with the Wright Bothers.
Love the underlying theme in this production as well as this is the one thing, if only thing, I try to teach my students all year, Dare to Dream, Dare to Fly. ?

Ugh...this showed up after dinner. No luggage valet in Miami as of yet.

Well if you are gaining weight from the pics, imagine my expanding waistline!  I need a major detox!

I may have to stop looking at your blog. I didn't know it was possible, but it appears I'm gaining weight just from your pictures!?

Today has been a simply relaxing day. We got off the ship for a bit so that Hubby could check out the buffet at Barefoot beach. He really enjoys it whenever we have access there. 



Labadee is so pretty, and natural. I really hope that they leave it instead of turning it into a theme park atmosphere like Coco Cay.  Here are a few pics from our time out and about today. 



Not a fan of the heat and buffet myself, I came back to the ship to enjoy this again.

Regarding Fast Track Boarding, the white flag was out today, no signage, and again, there was no difference which gangway people used. Oh well...lost cause.
The rest of our afternoon was spent laying out on the balcony with drinks. There was a nice breeze, our balcony faced Labadee, I did some reading and Hubby napped.  Perfect. ?
 

Howdy Y’all. I joined this board less than a month ago and in 10 days I will be on Liberty of The Seas. I’ve been reading all the live-blogs and I decided today that I am going to live blog my cruise---or at least try.
So a little background on this cruise, it started out in late as a Father Son (me) cruise. At the time we were trying to decide between another western Caribbean (this would be my 4th of those) or to Cuba. After much deliberation we decided that we cared more about the ship than the destinations, so we booked the Western Caribbean (and boy did we get lucky with that decision…no more Cuba now)  in an interior stateroom. Early July rolls around and we start watching some videos of our room, my Dad who has only cruised junior suites or higher was a little alarmed with the size and upgraded us to a Junior Suite. Then we get to mid July- my Mom asks to join the cruise. So we start to price it out and decide that we need to get an additional cabin. Well when looking at the cost for who to solo cruise vs. adding a 4th person was so small that we decided to add my girlfriend. So we add her and my Mom to a Balcony. Great everything is set in stone 1 month prior to the cruise. WRONG. We had one more big change. July 10th my father decides he wants a Grand Suite with my Mom. He calls to upgrade and they don’t have availability, so we get on the wait list. On the 15th we get a grand suite 1 bedroom. That brings us to today.
Where we stand now.
When: August 11, 2019 + 1 day before
Where: Cozumel, Falmouth, George Town, a day at the Houston Space Center the day before
Rooms:
Junior Suite-with me (Kyle) and my girlfriend (Natalie)-we are still keeping our fingers crossed for a cancellation to upgrade to a grand suite or for the same to happen with our RoyalUp bid Grand Suite (1 bedroom)-with my Mom (Brenda) and Dad (Ross) Extras:
The Key Deluxe Drink Package Unlimited Dining Package All Access Tour Galley Brunch Excursions:
Atlantis Submarine Tour-Cozumel
Trolley Roger-Grand Cayman
About Us
Me (Kyle) - I’m  21, and a Diamond status for the first time this cruise The Girlfriend (Natalie)- 22, first time cruiser, never been out of the country, got lucky with C&A and they matched her to Diamond Mom (Brenda) – Suite Lover, Diamond Dad (Ross)-  Suite Lover, Diamond I am really excited for this vacation and can’t wait to share it with y’all. I’m very interested to see for myself how the Key works out for us and compare it to the suite perks and Diamond perks. Most of y’all have much more experience with cruising and live blogging but, if y’all have anything you would like me to look at/investigate/ ask I would be happy to! 
Thanks for reading.

Another suite perk:

First time I’ve ever spotted a helicopter on the Labadee pier.  It was there before we arrived. 

I've been getting a number of questions about how I shot the Milky Way photos.
I shot this using a full frame Sony A7III with a Sony 12-24mm lens.   A crop sensor body that most people shoot wouldn't be able to get this wide.  The A7III also has really good low light performance, night and day from my last full frame body, a Nikon D750.
Also keep in mind I have a pretty good investment in gear.  Body and lens for this shot are ~ $3,700.  Not trying to brag but let's keep expectations real.  A <$1k kit can shoot the Milky Way and produce some nice results but maybe not achieve the same results.
Camera settings shown at the top, Lightroom adjustments below that.

Using Adobe Lightroom I added a lot of clarity and adjusted other light levels and white balance.  This is why I shoot in RAW.  There is a lot of data captured in a RAW file that can be manipulated using software such as Lightroom.  Shooting in JPEG would lose all this extra data and you would never be able to achieve these results.  This is how JPEG produces a lower file size, it throws away all the extra sensor data it doesn't need for a JPEG picture.  A RAW file is much bigger because it contains all the raw sensor data that was captured.
Original picture as it was captured on the left, final picture on the right after adjustments in Lightroom.

The one on the left is closer to what you see with the human eye.  Between the two brightest stars you can sort of see a cloud like area with the human eye that is the center or heart of the Milky Way.
Keep in mind I've been shooting the Milky Way for several years now so I've got some previous experience on land with a firm tripod.  On land you have more control and can take longer exposures, up to around 25 seconds for this focal length.  That allows you to lower ISO or make other adjustments for better results.  I wanted to keep the exposure shorter because of the ship's movement.
I use an app called PlanIt Pro.  It has an AR feature where you can hold up your phone, adjust the time or date and it will show you where the Milky Way will be at that moment in the future.
After we left Belize heading North to Cozumel I used this app to see when and where the Milky Way would be on Night 11.

This tells me the MWC (Milky Way Center) will be visible between 8:43pm and 3:07am.  At 12:16am the MWC will be as shown for the location we are at this moment in time.  On land that works well, on a moving ship you don't always know where your position will be in six hours or the heading of the ship hours later so there is some guess work and extrapolation involved, but at least you know what direction to find it. 
With a full moon the results would have suffered a lot.  I don't try to shoot the night sky on land most of the moon phase, it works best without moon light.  New moon was perfectly timed for me, that's just luck.   For Costa Maya it was July 31st. 
The MWC in the Northern Hemisphere is visible at night in summer months only, you can't shoot the Milky Way in the winter up here but you can down under.
There is also a lot of luck involved.  Based on the cloud cover after leaving Belize pictured above the Milky Way would not be visible.  I got pretty lucky two nights in a row with the ship heading South towards the Milky Way, on the right phase of the moon, without major cloud cover.  Costa Maya and Belize are close so the ship was only moving at ~8 knots.  
I don't always bring my A7 with me, that's why I have the RX100VI - for travel.  I threw the A7 in my backpack at the last minute.
I was in the right place at the right time with cloud cover that was in my favor on a slow moving ship with the right gear.  It's pretty rare to get all that working in your favor on a cruise, on a ship with a public area that is dark.  I may never get another opportunity like this. 

Dinner tonight back at CK.

We started with a Caesar Salad which I did not bother to take a picture of. 
Hubby got seared scallops as his appetizer.

We both decided to do a Surf & Turf tonight.
Butter Poached Lobster 

Peppercorn Steak (from the classics menu).

Dessert

Baked Alaska

And my two favourites...
Coconut Tapioca 

Chocolate Bar

Apologies for the lighting in these pictures. It was quite dark tonight and CK has this blue light overhead which messes up the lighting in these food pics. 
I will add to that tonight was the second formal night. Most people were more dressed up for this one rather than the first.  And then there was the guy in shorts and Crocs. And he even took his shoes off and put them up on a chair!!! ?? 
Tonight’s Poached Lobster was probably the best that I’ve had in any CK for this particular dish. Both in presentation and quality. 
No real plans tonight. Off to wander and maybe sit in the Schooner Bar for a bit. I wanted to head to Central Park but it is still raining so that is out. Love & Marriage is also happening tonight. That is always fun. 

After dark I thought I'd walk off some of my dinner.  There were a number of low clouds passing above us and it didn't look like a great night for the Milky Way again.  Our direction towards Belize puts the Milky Way at the front of the ship but after Belize we'll start heading back North so this would be the last chance to take advantage of the dark bow to capture it.
A passing storm in the distance caught my eye from deck 6 aft behind Boleros.

It didn't look good for star gazing but I thought I'd try anyways so back to deck 6 forward.  I settled in to let my eyes adjust and it seemed like it was opening up at times.  In between passing clouds I managed to get some more Milky Way shots.  Using lessons learned from the previous night I think they came out pretty good. 

Day 10, Cruise 2 Day 4 - Costa Maya
I stayed on the ship and took advantage of the much better Voom today compared to yesterday.

The Celebrity Equinox would join us again today.  She was with us in Key West and I caught her sailing into the sunset later that day.

There is definitely a lot of sargassum (seaweed) floating in the ocean this time.  Like many things in nature it varies day to day and it appeared there was more of it this time.

I stayed on the ship and got some work done.  Soon enough it was sail away time for both ships.   We arrived first and we departed first with the Equinox's helipad a popular spot for sail away.  The company ships did a "horn-off" each blowing their whistle following each others pattern.  Empress needs to step up it's whistle, Equinox put her to shame.


Dinner back in Chops for the second half of my BOGO.

I often forget to take pictures of the bread, I usually jump right in when it arrives.

The 16 oz bone-in ribeye tonight


Mushrooms and tater tots as sides.

Apple pie for dessert (with raisons).

Tonight's Headliner Show with Finis Henderson, former Motown artist, comedian, dancer, impressionist.

He did impressions of a number of different musicians and actors.

Fast Track Boarding...Fail #2!
One of the reasons I wanted to get off today was to check out Fast Track Boarding again. Today Royal got it correct in that the first gangway (coming back to the ship) was dedicated to Fast Track Boarding.  Here is the signage for it. 


This was about all Royal got correct. ?
For research purposes, I asked the crew member at the podium how it works. If guests who qualify for Fast Track Boarding would by pass the lines coming back, or if guests who don’t qualify would have to use the other gangway? The crew member at the podium had no clue. I pointed to the sign and he said, “Oh that, that is nothing. It doesn’t mean anything.”  Ok, classic Royal. Let’s roll out something and not give everyone the memo. 
Upon our return to the ship, the lines were quite long at the Fast Track Boarding gangway, obviously because this was now the first gangway.  We got in line and did not notice them re-directing anyone or giving anyone priority. After we got to the podium, we asked another crew member about the process. He too said, “Oh no, you just get into line with everyone else.”  So Fast Track was slow track today.

Hubby and I decided to get off the ship around 10:30 am just to walk around for a bit. It was hot so we really didn’t stay too long.
We walked along Calle Fortaleza and many of the shops there are still boarded up.  The umbrellas are taken down still and graffiti was evident everywhere, even on the walls of buildings. 




After a while, the wind picked up and there were some dark clouds in the distance.  I told Hubby that we needed to get back fast because I did not want a repeat of yesterday. 

Thank goodness, we literally opened the door to our cabin to find this...

Looks like we got back just in time ?

Day 5:  San Juan
”You are the music in the Symphony of life.”
Good morning from San Juan. 

Unfortunately our view keeps getting obstructed.  At least it’s not a total clunker like yesterday. ?
Things you wonder on a Wednesday morning...why are these things always rusty? ?
Zero plans for the day today.  We may or may not get off the ship. Hubby is not even awake yet. You can probably guess where I am as I write this. 

After a second round at Hiro, we headed back to our cabin where we found this waiting for us...

...if you can’t sail Star class, you might as well try to re-create it ?
This was the dessert that we took “to go” from Jamie’s earlier ?
Settling in now with dessert, tea, and some Lucifer.  Goodnight all!

The comedian tonight was Phil Tag and the show was hosted by Simeon. Both guys did a 20 min act and it was okay.  Simeon actually recycled a lot of his jokes from the last time we saw him and Phil was just ok. 
For the rest of the evening, we liked Hiro so much that we are back now for another round.  Love this perk with Sky class that you don’t need reservations ?

Diamond Lounge appetizers for @Susie

Wanted to note that it was the exact same as the suite lounge apps.

Dinner tonight at Jamie’s.
A few months ago, we received a complimentary specialty dining voucher from our TA.  The debate was between 150 CP, Hooked, and Jamie’s. Hubby and I took a close look at the Hooked menu along with pics from the Royal Caribbean dining FB page and decided against it. That left my vote for 150 and Hubby’s for Jamie’s. Well, you know who won that one. 

Service was great tonight compared to on HM a few months ago. It was fast and attentive. Food was the same good quality as any other Jamie’s. 
Ultimate Garlic Bread

Arancini

Grilled Vegetables from the plank

Penne Carbonara

Truffle Tagliatelle 

Dessert to go ?
 

Actually, I think it would be "ducks on board" in this particular situation. 

Back on the ship, we tried to re-create our Star class days even though we’re not this time.

We also received some treats from our suite concierges, Jackie and Jennie. These two ladies are awesome but I will talk about them later. 

Fast Track Boarding
Warning:  Apologies first because I don’t really think that I am high maintenance but I believe that there should be a logical way of doing things.  This is going to turn into a rant because I did not like how this process was done at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that I will be giving my thoughts to the concierge later. 
As many of you know, Symphony has two gangways to enter/exit. Forward and aft. And she is a very large ship.  As we approached the ship to get back on, there was first of all, no signage about Fast Track Boarding. We looked for white flags and it was very hard to spot. If we did not look as hard as we did, we would not have noticed that they were tucked away (not very visible) way at the forward entrance. 
Here is my problem with this. And yes, this is first world problems. Fast Track Boarding is, as they advertise, supposed to be for suite guests, those with strollers, assistance needs, etc. Why on Earth would you put this at the forward gangway?!  So that those who have young children and need assistance can walk even further down a super hot pier?!  And it’s a significant distance from aft to forward gangway, especially if you are in those categories. Does not make sense at all. Add into the equation that most of your suites which qualify for this are located in the aft section of the ship too. It’s just not logical.  They achieved the “Fast” promise of this because no one wanted to walk all the way past the aft gangway to the forward gangway!  
Ok, rant over.  Back to nice Canadian.

Back now after what turned out to be a busy day!  Where should I start?  
We got off the ship around 10 am this morning and about 5 minutes after we walked off it started pouring!  Even with the umbrellas that we had brought out with us, we were drenched!  We ducked into one of the stores near the dock area to wait out the rain and then headed over to downtown St. Maarten where That Yoda Guy was.  
Happy to report that he was there today, and that Hubby did not purchase anything this time. The rain had cooled things down a bit so we decided to walk around Front Street. As luck would have it, we stumbled into an Effy store (I love that brand) and I came across a piece that I had my eye on and I thought had sold out long ago.  One thing lead to another, and before I knew it, because Hubby is awesome, and because they were willing to bargain, I now have a early birthday present ? ?
After visiting Effy, we decided to head back to the ship because it was getting really hot by this point and we had not had lunch yet. We were stopped by someone renting private jet skis and Hubby decided we should try it out. It was pretty late by this point and we did not have the right clothes on, so we hurried back to the ship to change.  By the time we got back to the rental area, they did not have any jet skis available and asked if we could wait 30-40 mins. This is the part where the clear differences in our personalities took over. If it were Hubby, he would have stayed. For myself, because I have watched too many pier runner videos, and not wanting to be one myself, I said forget it. In the end, we headed back and did not wait.  Instead, we now know for next time to head straight there and get that out of the way first. Lesson learned.