Sweety

11 minutes ago, WAYNO said:

We have also left wine and soda pop for the cabin attendants, and yes they have been appreciative.  Problem is, we had zero interaction with our cabin person on this cruise, in spite of him doing a great job.  We didn't  even know his name until he left his card at the end.

We leave pop and bottle water.

On 3/23/2024 at 6:31 PM, jbrinkm said:

Ok, we are on the ship. It has been a day! In addition to the horrible weather mentioned in @OCSC Mike and @GatorCruiser's blog, there was a VIP & Secret Service shut down of the port from 11am-noon. Traffic came to a grinding halt. For. An. Hour.

My parents made it in just before and said nothing was moving and all baggage attendants were just sitting around with nothing to do. We were stuck in our Uber. The poor Uber driver had to just sit with us for that whole time. We tipped him well! 

I'll do a series of short posts as I'm able to try to recap our day. 

I don't plan on posting our MDR dinner options - I figure the menu has been the same for a year and people have probably seen all of the options by now. We did have lunch at Jamie's so I've got those (y'all are going to be so sick of my new toy - the collage!)

Appys

Mains

Desserts (we all shared):

We went to Jamie's for lunch. The food was very good.

On 3/29/2024 at 9:12 PM, jbrinkm said:

This red velvet cake was delicious! The MDR chef is French so I'm wondering if that makes any difference with the pastries? I've had so many bad versions of "red velvet" on Royal that my expectations were low, but I was thrilled with what I got.

Woohoo for red velvet cake 

Safe travels home. Happy Easter!!!!

I am the planner for my family. We have 10 cabins so far for Christmas 2025. Ages 8-87 years young.

I went with Go Port.

We will be on Independence in June.

5 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Never been and not sure I'll ever get to try Jamie's but you know I'd love to see/hear anything about it. Enjoy!

Mariner was my 2nd ever ship/cruise. Went on her for my 5th anniversary when we were younger and not cruising much yet. Very fond memories and wish we had made it back on her post-amp from PC. We'll never forget that cruise b/c they played this random song all over the place (before every show, in random venues, etc.) called "Love Today" by Mika. It was so catchy that my wife downloaded it in 2007 and it has been our ringtone for each other for almost 17 years and counting.

P.S. Is Mark Walker (AKA "Bing Bong") your CD? He's from our area and his kids went to my wife's elementary school when they were younger. We actually sailed with him once while they were onboard visiting and had a quick chat.

Sorry for all the extra stuff after you just wanted to tell me about Jamie's, lol, but you know how I ramble.

Jamie's was awesome. I forgot to take pictures. James love the truffles and chicken sandwich. He ate everything even half of my chicken sandwich. This blog is awesome.

@OCSC Mike, we are going to Jamie's for lunch.

32 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

+2 for not showing Red Stripe any love. (Batman hates it also.) Yuck!

Keep giving your son bad beer @jbrinkm!  He'll never get the taste!

 

Don't talk about my homeland beer. It's better with spicy food.

11 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

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

Blue mountain coffee is the best. Sometimes I mix it will coffee from Mexico.

Have a safe and peaceful travel day. I am so pumped for Mason Jar. I think I am going to do brunch and dinner. I have to compare and contrast. Students are doing an essay on criminal justice.

7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

WJ shrimp & ribs for lunch. Really not bad by WJ standards.

 

Now sitting in a very windy & empty ELF for perhaps my last tacos of the cruise.

I want some ribs.

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Really storming now. I can’t even hear the music above the sound of the rain & thunder. Lots of lightning too. Don’t think I’ve actually sailed through a thunderstorm before.

I have been in 4 hurricanes in Jamaica. I love the rain. 

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Stopped in WJ since wife doesn’t eat ELF and got distracted by paella & a cookie I’ve never seen before in the kids section.

Paella looks good.

@OCSC MikeI need my Mason Jar. 

Love your blog!

On 3/19/2024 at 12:27 PM, Sweety said:

 

We will be on the ship. Getting my airfare March 21, 2024.

On 3/19/2024 at 12:27 PM, Sweety said:

 

We will be on the ship. Getting my airfare March 21, 2024.

Southwest airfare is up for December.

Just now, Sweety said:

My 95 year old uncle at the time went on it. It is very relaxing.

Dunn's River Falls might be for your teens. It is a a famous waterfall.

8 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

Awesome! Is the rafting senior friendly? I see a lot of trips offered for Martha Brae river. My parents don't have any serious mobility concerns but they are in their late 70s... We might get them some sort of tour and then go do something adventurous with the teens. 

My 95 year old uncle at the time went on it. It is very relaxing.

When we go to Jamaica, we have family come to visit.  I like taking a rafting trip on one of the many rivers. It is so relaxing. I had a couple of cousins that were river captains.  I always get the jerk seasonings and blue mountain coffee to bring home.

On 3/16/2024 at 10:12 PM, AshleyDillo said:

Me tooooo..my first Christmas at sea!

On 3/16/2024 at 10:12 PM, AshleyDillo said:

Me tooooo..my first Christmas at sea!

We will be on the ship. Getting my airfare March 21, 2024.

Have a wonderful and beautiful memory cruise. I have said many times before, this blog is expensive. Now I have Symphony on my list for 2026.

15 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Serious lack of eating today. Heat is one thing that kills my appetite & I was too hot to stuff myself at CocoCay. I didn’t even have a funnel cake. That’s unheard of for me.

We got back on the ship, showered, cooled off (the a/c is insanely strong in our cabin), & destroyed a small crowd at cartoon theme song trivia (it was nearly all 80s/90s stuff). We gave away one of the highlighters we won to a young boy & went back to the cabin to relax. I planned to hit up ELF but dozed off instead. I needed it but now I’ll be making up for lack of food with CL snacks, MDR Italian night, WJ & Sorrentos… I’d rather have ELF tbh but we’ll see what I find.

Nothing really planned after dinner. Still have plenty of vouchers to use.

During our 8 day cruise in December 2023, Between my parents and us we had 18 vouchers per day. we got our cabin steward water and pop of his choice. He was very grateful. Every two day he had a case plus.

29 minutes ago, Neesa said:

I'm happy to hear about Hide a Way. We HAD 20.00 entrance before the Utopia move. I'm not paying 70.00!! I will try to claw back my sail pricing but not holding my breath. Thank you so much for the photos, it does look amazing.

Can you purchase your dining options now on Utopia?