hayley_bopp

I managed that cool camera technique by taking a screenshot on my phone, of a frozen scope. LOL  I posted it on the rcperiscopers FB page.  

My son was exhausted from his early flight and coming from the East coast the 3 hour difference caught up to him so he went to bed.  I saw the makings of a sunset through the overcast and found the deck 4 outer decks the only place to catch it.

It was very cool and we had a strong wind so they closed the upper decks and helipad access.  I grabbed this photo of the pool deck as I sought places to capture the sunset.

Since I have the drink package my route between photo locations somehow included a bar along the path.  Here is the Promenade as I made my way back down to deck 4.

I am trying a new camera this cruise and decided to push the limits a bit to see what I could away with.  This is a 1/3 second shutter speed trying to create some motion blur in the waves while hoping for a clear and steady picture of the ship.  I think it turned out pretty good.

Same trick looking aft.

As the sun continued to set there were some lovely pastel colors presented in the mountains surrounding us on both sides of this passage between Canada to our North and America to our South.  Combined with varying levels of cloud coverage it was very pretty.  This was shortly after 9pm.

Back inside I happened across "The Tavern" in the Boleros area on other ships.  This is kind of a sports bar at times but also used for things like Karaoke.

To the pub for a beer and some pub music.

I ventured back outside and again did some experimenting with my camera.  By this point the moon was out and combined with gaps in the cloud coverage it created some dramatic scenes.

I ran into the @cookingyo s at the Schooner Bar and sat with them for a while.  It was getting late and time for bed so I hopped in an elevator and made my way back to my cabin.  Saturday already.

Day one complete.

We docked on time, and within thirty minutes were making the long trek on the pier tthrough the controlled shopping area to the street. It is set up very similar to Cozumel with a pool in the center area surrounded by restaurants, bars and shops.    You exit by the taxi and bus area and walk a couple blocks to the security gate to the street. A block later, we found the rep from Maya Chan who greeted us and had us sign a release and offered us a chance to cancel our reservation.    There had been a storm recently that brought up seaweed, and their staff were working on it. We declined the offer to cancel, because I didn’t want to book another excursion at the last minute or hang out at the port or on the ship. Within ten minutes our taxi van arrived, and we shared transportation to Maya Chan with a couple other families.    Maya Chan is not too far from the port and the town of Mahahual, but transportation in this part of Mexico is much different than others. Once you go south from Mahahual, the paved roads end and dirt roads begin.    The roads are rustic and rutted and a whole lot of fun if you’re into that kind of thing. It parallels the beach, and there are lots of interesting things to look at until...   *the smell*   *flashback to the Indian sulphur salt at 150 CentralPark*   *this smells like that tastes...only ten times worse!*   *gag reflex*   *is thiswhat they meant by seaweed?*   As you pass the huts and various other things along the way, you notice the beach...there was a LOTof seaweed along the beaches!   *is thiswhat Maya Chan smells like? Is thiswhat they gave a chance to escape through the refund?*   We arrived at the small resort about 25 minutes later and were warmly greeted by Jane, one of the owners who is an expat for San Diego. She gave us a brief orientation and handed us off to one of the staff who took us ten feet to our palapa which was just right of the seating area for the bar/restaurant which had about 7-8 tables, a cooking area and a bar with a restroom in the back corner. Fantastic.    *that smell? ...only a minuscule fraction of what it was, and we were used to it by then, so all is good!**   From the bar, you could see they weren’t kidding about their staff clearing the beach of seaweed. They had huge piles of it with pathways to the water created. Three men were doing it with pitchforks and were re-defining the Spanish word, trabajo. I made sure and thanked them profusely for the hard work they were doing, and for their sake (and ours) wished Maya Chan had a back hoe or Bobcat until the first time I waded into the water.    *there was more seaweed in the immediate ten feet from the beach than I could ever imagine*   It’s not too think to walk through (insert gag reflex as it wraps around your legs up to your knees), and when you get to the other side, the water was pretty nice, but it wasn’t the clear blue-green of the Caribbean. It was clear, but the color of the bottom and surrounding seaweed made it brown. Water shoes are a good idea too, because it is a little rocky on the bottom. Thankfully, Maya Chan supplies those.    After using the floating chairs for a while with my daughter, it was time for lunch.    They prepared fresh flour and corn tortillas for tacos with several protein options including skirt steak, chicken, pork and sea bass with garlic butter. They had grilled and fresh cut onions, chives, tomatoes as well as pico de gallo, guacamole, frijoles and chips as well. It was plentifully served buffet style and you could go back as much as you cared to.    The drinks were all really good. I had a rum punch upon entering, a margarita and a couple of beers. All of it is complimentary.    Our palapa was palatial with five chairs, a couple of tables, a beach bed and a direct path to the water with beach toys on either side. They included water chairs, kayaks, stand up kayaks and snorkeling gear was available.    After lunch, I felt the food coma coming, so I crashed on the huge beach bed. I woke up briefly at some point to find my daughter crashed on it as well.    I had probably the best beach nap ever that early afternoon, and could have done another hour (I think I did two hours) if I didn’t mind leaving just in time to make all on board. We chose to leave at 2:30 to make sure we had plenty of time to get back instead.    Maya Chan offers transportation as part of your package to/from the resort. I can’t emphasize how much I appreciated this because they have preferred taxi drivers who run the air conditioning and are trustworthy, as those can be issues with the taxi drivers there. I will do a comparison post to Nachi Cocom in a wrap up entry.    We returned to the ship with plenty of time to spare and went to the Solarium for sail away.    We had a late My Time Dining reservation that allowed us to get to the Amber Theater with plenty of time to use our ore-booked reservation for great seats at Blue Planet. They experienced some technical difficulties with the show which were quickly resolved, but it did not take away from the mesmerizing visuals and professional performances that show offers. It was an incredible show despite the glitch. After the show, we chose to skip the Quest and retire for the night.                   

Inside stateroom. Perfectly sufficient. Balconies and Suites are nice, but can't justify the price difference.
Having done OA, AL and HM, I didn't really feel detached from the sea. There are still some viewing opportunities and the ship has so much to offer that you don't feel detached from anything.

Apart from possibly a few grandchildren you'll likely be half of the normal river cruiser age ? At least on the Rhine, Moselle or Danube cruises - not sure about the French ones. Personally, I've never done a river cruise but we regularly stumble across them when we do short trips by motorhome in the summer.

My husband will have his 50th bday on the ship and we expect to be on the young side.  It is interesting to see that all the advertising is pushing younger.  We are beyond excited...doing the Paris and the heart of Normandy so seeing Vernon (giverny), Rouen and Normandy.  We ended up being able to meet friends in paris so now I wish we were doing a different itinerary.  However for us Viking and this round trip cruise was a good basic way to get our feet wet so to speak with River cruising.  I expect it to be very very different than ocean cruising but I will post a very off topic thread here ( sorry Joe to hijack here!). Jane

It is finally embarkation day.  We started off at Biscuit Bitch a block over from the Moore Inn. I'm a simple gal so I got a Buttered Up Biscuit with maple peanut butter. It was pretty filling. We took an Uber to the cruise port. I had a code for a free first ride but didn't see anywhere to add the code. The ride was $10 plus tip. We chose to walk from the drop off point to the ship. It wasn't far.  We checked out the Windjammer for lunch.  We then went to the lava flow meet up where the bartender clearly did not anticipate making so many of the frozen Kraken drinks. He suspected correctly that a Caribbean cruiser was to blame. After muster we went to the spa raffle. Unfortunately a lot of people showed up and we did not win any prizes. The sail away party was a good time where we got to meet more group cruisers. It was fun today to see all the familiar shirts around the ship. It makes it feel like you have many friends. We got a little taste of the entertainment at the comedian's show. On the way out of the theater we stopped to listen to the piano player and stayed to see if our skills at music trivia were up to par. I should have jumped on a team. I knew the "hard one". It has been a other exhausting day. Thank goodness for a sea day tomorrow. 

Thanks for doing a live blog.  I will be doing the 12 day med/greek isles on vision next year which is a VERY long way off.  I will live vicariously through you.  We are going to Europe for the first time this summer (first viking river cruise in france) andrea the med next year, but looking at oasis or harmony for 2020, so i will enjoy your ship comment a's well!  Jane

I'm planning on doing a live(ish) blog so you can check it out vicariously through me!

Cruising today! Had some time to kill at the Egan Center so wanted to provide information about trace l from Anchorage to Seward.
We purchased train tickets for the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward through Royal Caribbean for $125/pp. We we were told to report to the Egan Center in downtown Alaska by 11:30 AM and that they open at 8:00 AM.
 
We decided to get here early because we thought we could get our train seats since they are 'first come, first serve". This was not accurate!
We arrived at the Egan Center around 8:30 and were one of the first one's there. Signs direct you to a large room where they take care of checking your luggage, check passports, Sail Pass and credit card. Since we were early we got through this pretty quick and was straightforward. We got train tickets #6 & 7, not sure if that's just so they know how many altogether OR if is used to prioritize seating...guess we'll see when we get to train depot.
  
I was able to temporarily check my heavy backpack while we went around the corner to Kaladi Brothers for a latte and oatmeal cranberry cookie. It's two blocks away on the corner of G and 6th Ave.
After my latte we went around the corner to check out a huge mural behind city hall. From Kaladi's walk across 6th on G and make a left right after City Hall. When you get to the parking lot look back over your right shoulder you'll see the mural which outlines the history of Alaska. Thanks go to Howard, our Uber driver from the hotel to the center, for telling us about the mural!
  
We were back at the center by 9:30 and typing this as we wait for our 11:15 shuttle to the train depot.
At the center they have stations to recharge devices, free wifi, water dispenser and tables and chairs where you can wait (and update your blog). The folks from RC and Alaska Railroad are here to answer questions and are really, really nice people!
Next update will be from the ship!!

You must be an evil bot, too.  They always stick up for each other !
??

And I can confirm that Twangster is not a robot. He is a nice human.

There is no such thing as too many @twangster live blog photos...

IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!!
Visions of going out last night to take some night photos around Seattle had briefly danced in my head but the sleep deficit from getting up for a 6am flight had other plans and to bed I went.
I've been assigned to bus#2 leaving the hotel at 10:00am for the transfer arranged with the group cruise.    I just checked my son's flight and they are projecting an hour early arrival.  He might actually beat me to the port!
With nearly 3 hours to kill I've already had a bite at the hotel breakfast and re-packed my bags.  Tick, tock, tick, tock.

We arrived at the port at Coxen Hole on time and disembarked to singing and dancing in the pier that was damaged by the MSC Armonia a few weeks go. I’m amazed that ship didn’t suffer huge damage like the Part of the dock where it struck did...lots and lots of rocks around there.   We worked our way through the small, controlled port area to the street where our excursion reps were waiting for us. We waited a few minutes until our driver, Mark arrived and took us to the SUV the company we booked with uses.    My oldest has had a life goal to hang out with sloths. So, you google “sloths.” Daniel Johnson Monkey and Sloth Hangout will come up. It’s in Roatan! So, I booked it using Messenger to their Facebook page.    There are several options that include island tours, snorkeling, shopping, sampling food and others. We chose the island tour and a stop at a popular local restaurant for some great food.    Durin the island tour that included some history and stories about the island, we stopped for some street Food that included the local delicacy of fresh cut mango with salt, lime and vinegar. Woah....it was awesome!   From there, we headed over to the monkey and sloth hangout, and waited a few minutes to be matched with a guide to take us to the animals.    They are all there near a really nice snorkeling spot on the other side of the entrance where there were a male and female sloth entertaining people amidst several large cages containing spider monkeys and a couple of a couple species of parrots including the island bird the macaw parrot.    The staff would pick up one of the sloths and place them on your shoulders. They immediately hug you and wrap their legs (with very long, sharp claws) around your waist. Be ready for a poking feeling...yes, they stop when they feel secure.    I can only describe holding a sloth as being like holding a very sweet little baby with soft fur and a calm disposition. Sloths eat the leaves of the crecopia, a tropical tree. It has low nutritional value which cause the sloth like low metabolism. As a result of eating the leaves, sloths will consume some insects as a secondary part of their diet.    Following our time at the Hangout, Mark took us to a shore side restaurant called Conch Fritters that tourists don’t frequent. I suppose it’s like going to a restaurant in the US called Hamburgers...   It’s a beautiful setting with several menu options including the local beer, SalvaVida. The food is fresh and range from conch fritters to chicken fingers. I chose the coconut shrimp and had a fantastic meal.    Soon, it was time to return to the ship where we boarded about 1:30 in the afternoon, local time which was 2 hours behind ship time. All on board was 4:30 pm, so we returned with time to spare. The excursion lasted about four and a half hours.    After naps and dinner, we donned our flapper wear or fedora and headed to Deck 4 with our secret passes to the Prohibition Party hosted by the assistant activity manager who did a great job role playing the “proprietor” of the “tea” establishment. We had fun drinking our “tea,” eating snacks, dancing and listening to jazz.    Overall, the day was one of the best I’ve had on a cruise.    More pics and attempts at drunken time lapse coolness at @dunkelbier_jay...

Now in single figures until the cruise!
Any questions? - Would be happy to answer anything.

After walking back to the hotel I had just under an hour to prepare for the first Royal Caribbean Blog Alaska Group Cruise event - a 5pm meet up that included pizza.

Here I met several familiar online names and avatars but was able to put real names and faces to them.  

With my 2pm Space Needle reservation I had time to explore some of greater "Seattle Center" area, including the monorail station.

Chihuly Garden and Glass
I booked this as a combo with the Space Needle online the day before.  It had me select a time for the Space Needle but Chihuly was available to walk in anytime.  During the purchasing process it appeared Chihuly by itself was sold out but it was available to book as a combo for $44 plus tax. 
The two are located right next to each other.

I had printed my ticket at home and it was a simple matter of following the signs and going straight to have it scanned without needing to stop at any ticket office.
I took a lot of photos and it's been hard to narrow it down.  It's getting late and I'm tired so I just going to dump the photos in this post and give it more thought another day.
Ticket scanned you are quickly presented with your first exhibit.

There are eight interior areas and then the outdoor gardens. 

This next section is the "Sea Room".

There is the main piece in the center with smaller pieces around the outside of the room, each with intricate details.


This leads to a whimsical corridor with a number of glass pieces overhead.  There were hundreds of pieces each with intricate detail.

The next room was incredible. 


What struck me was the detail in all aspects of every piece.





This leads to the boat room with two boats filled with more pieces.





Next up is the Chandelier Room.


Following this is the Macchia Forest.





Through the indoor sections it was time to move outdoors.









There is a "Glass House" that was closed on this day for a private event.

It's been hard to narrow down the 200 photos to these which is already more than I should have added.  It's just hard to capture and present it trying to do it justice without going overboard with photos.

We rode the Monorail to the pre-cruise meetup. It is $2.50 and it took us to the Space Needle/Chihuly Gardens and Glass/The Museum of Pop Culture. We will visit those next week using the City Pass. It was nice seeing everyone in person but we were super tired from our pre-cruise lack of sleep and day of traveling. It's time get some shut eye so we are rested to explore the Explorer. My first impression of Seattle is that it is a very artistic city. I like it here. 

Great. Will follow then. Was actually considering the July 28th Norwegian Fjords sailing, but 2 weeks on SY won out in the end.

And she's scoping too!  Follow her on Periscope ?

I can't wait either! Very excited. Would also love to see the refurbed Indy at some point as well.

I've been waiting for a while. Sometimes, I wondered if I would ever get there. Watching everything about the Symphony launching while I was stuck doing a lot of work that I hate and working through the difficulties of life in miserable Scottish weather. Finally, it is nearly here. 10 days until I board the Symphony of the Seas!!!!!!

I am Joe. I have enjoyed following Royal Caribbean Blog for a while now and have been posting on the forum for around a year now. This is my first time doing a LIVE blog, having been inspired by CruiseLifeRick when he did his CC LIVE thread on Symphony's inaugural in April. I am also going LIVE on CC, but ultimately would love to share my adventures with the RC Blog as well, especially as many of you are US based and may wish to hear about either the Med or Symphony herself when she arrives to Miami in November.

I come to you from Glasgow, Scotland, a city well known for it's friendliness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpnUurJvGWs (disclaimer: Don't watch if you have no sense of humor, take things too literally or hate any use of strong language). 

This will be my 13th & 14th cruise; my 6th & 7th Oasis Class cruise and 2nd B2B. This will also be my 5th & 6th cruise around the Med and my 4th & 5th from Barcelona. There will be one first - my first time on Symphony! Having sailed all 3 sister ships, I am very excited to see everything new that Symphony will have to offer. I am hoping to try both Playmakers (wings!) and El Loco Fresh which are new dining venues on SY. Please give any other suggestions of things to try. All welcome.

I'll be back with more soon!

I love reading the different perspectives of the same cruise.  Everyone has their unique experiences and it will be fun to follow along!