Karahvacatimes

On 11/4/2021 at 11:37 AM, Jacqui said:

We were on last week's sailing and they had a special 18+ show on the last night in the royal theater that was soooo much better (in our opinion) than the adult show we saw in the attic.  Definitely go if they have that this week!

We did end up going to the final show on the last night.  You are right, it was also a fantastic show!

On 11/3/2021 at 9:54 AM, RWDW1204 said:

Love the blog and pics. 

Agree, taking a break and enjoying the wake view is awesome. 

The absolute best! Glad you are enjoying!  

On 11/3/2021 at 9:48 AM, Matt said:

Paul and Erin on the same ship = BIG trouble

Such a true statement

On 11/3/2021 at 9:11 AM, Sweety said:

Loving this Blog. I am a special education teacher.

I’m so glad you are enjoying it!  There is more to come.  Unfortunately I was having some technical issues onboard but will be completing the blog now that I’m home.

Good morning from our second day at sea.  This sailing has three sea days which I personally love on a seven night sailing.  I love taking a little time to go to the aft (back) of the ship to see and listen to the wake as we cruise along.  

I was able to do just that as I headed up to meet up with Christine, the group leader, and the rest of the group sailing with Autism on the Seas.  Another fantastic service they provide onboard is dedicated time at various activities onboard.  This means that at a certain time on a certain day, Royal sets aside time at a venue where just the Autism on the Seas group is at that venue or activity.  A lot of people with autism have a challenging time waiting in long lines or in crowds especially with a lot of external stimuli in the environment.  This also gives the child or adult with special needs that extra time to process any directions and sometimes overcome their own fears.  

We started on the rock wall this morning.  AOTS staff is there to assist the individuals to gear up and then the Royal sports crew assists them with the activity itself.  I have always been impressed with the sports crews here on Royal.  They are not only patient and helpful but they are great cheerleaders as well!  The family did great and it is always fun to see and be apart of.

We headed over to the Abyss after the rock wall.  The Abyss is a dry slide on the aft of the ship.  Two riders can go at the same time and race down 10 stories to the bottom.  This can be a bit daunting to some, especially those who have a fear of heights.  When you walk up the stairs you are greeted with an amazing view of both the wake out the back and unfortunately for some, the floor is glass so you can see down... There was a little hesitancy from a couple riders but everyone made it down with some encouragement and care.

What a FUN morning!!

I was definitely ready for some lunch once we had finished the morning activities. .  Having the Ultimate dining package is well worth it!  It includes all specialty dining and it includes lunch so off to Playmakers we went!  These pork sliders and onion rings are worth every bite, hungry or not!

This afternoon it was time to ICE SKATE!!  No, I didn't partake but watched the staff and families try for either the first time or in some cases first time in a LONG time. This took place in Studio B and again, was only for the Autism of the Seas group for an hour.  The staff gets right in there and I was able to capture some pretty cool pics of the families, staff, and individuals.  

Parents chatting while the kids are skating with the AOTS staff

Sunsets are always a must see at sea...tonight we were at dinner when it was setting so I had to settle for it setting behind one of the infinity hot tubs. Still made for a prety neat shot.

Dinner was at Hooked tonight.  Hooked, as it implies, is a seafood restaurant.  They have quite the variety to choose from.  It definitely gives off a Cape Cod or Maine vibe with the classic nautical feel.  As you can see by the photos, they do offer steak.  If you don't care for seafood but want to dine with your friends or family, they will accommodate you with a Turf & Turf option where you can get two filet mignons or a filet and chicken.  

Tonights activities included two of my all time favorites!!!  Adult comedy and the Silent Disco.  

Comedian Landry

Comedians Landry and Gary Caouette had us and the entire audience in stitches for the entire show!  Might see them again on this sailing.

If you are unfamiliar with the silent disco, its where everyone is given a set of headphones with two channels you can switch between.  They are playing different songs.  There is no music playing other than what is in your headset.  Everyone sings and dances to whatever they are hearing.  It is an absolute blast!

Tonight I will leave you with a piece of interactive art onboard.  The "Dryer-Wig" is located in the boardwalk neighborhood onboard.  You put the wig on and there is music playing inside.  We danced and sang along getting in a few laughs.  

We are excited for our first port day tomorrow in St. Maarten tomorrow.  Come back to see how we chose to spend our day on the island.

It was a pretty packed, beautiful day at sea.  It’s also Halloween!

A good morning starts with a latte and what better place to pick one up but the Diamond lounge 

This morning I was able to meet with the Autism of the Seas staff at breakfast.  They have reserved seating in the Windjammer buffet.  The staff is there to assist during certain times for breakfast and lunch.  If families choose to dine at a different time, this space is always reserved for them throughout the day.

On most mornings of the cruise they have staff assisted pool time which usually lasts about an hour and a half.  The staff is there to be with your child or adult with special needs in the pool, hot tub, and the splash pad area on the ship.  Parents can join in on the fun or relax in a lounger with a morning mimosa during this time.  They only ask that an adult from your party is somewhere on the pool deck in case of an emergency.  The kids and staff enjoy this time so much and you can see it in their interactions!

Parents enjoying time with their neurotypical child while staff enjoys time with his brother.

We met up with some of the Symphony squad for a little Johnny Rockets for lunch.  The milkshakes are pretty good and we took the apple pie to go!

I enjoyed my first diamond drink of the day around 1:00....Lava flow with Kraken Rum.  You aren't a true INSIDER if you don't have at least one (a day) on your cruise

I haven't found out what the final numbers are on our sailing yet but our friend Paul did find out the Crown and Anchor passangers onboard.  

It certainly is not dead around the pool deck or the Promenade and does seem a bit busier that Oasis was a couple weeks ago.  We are back to waiting for elevators and in lines for certain things.  No complaints here, just observations.  There are capacity limits in the elevators and in the pools and hot tubs but those numbers are a little higher than what we experienced on Oasis.  

Here are your first few photos of some art around this beautiful ship!  My daughter will LOVE the lollipop when we take her onboard!

Not only was tonight formal night but also Halloween and we saw some pretty great costumes on kids and adults alike.  They had a lot of activities throughout the day that were Halloween themed.  We saw families doing a scavenger hunt throughout the ship where they received bags of candy at each stop.  
 

We ate at my personal favorite restaurant onboard any Oasis Class ship and that is 150 Central Park.  The beef tenderloin and fried cheesecake are absolutely fantastic. It was phenomenal as always and was nice to enjoy with friends.

Our night activities included enjoying a drink at the Trellis bar in Central Park, watching the Houston Astros win to head to game 6 back in Houston (GO ASTROS!!!), and meeting back up with the Wilsons at the Schooner bar for some late night piano bar fun and some Lemon Drops on the rocks.

And if anyone was wondering….my kids had a great Halloween trick or treating with Dusty and our babysitter back home

Tomorrow we have a pretty full day planned with Autism on the Seas for our second sea day!

It's EMBARKATION day!!

Our check in time wasn't until 2:30 (downside of booking 9 days before you set sail).  We were able to take our time which if you know me, is not easy!  

Its always exciting to wake up and see your ship welcoming you to CRUISE DAY!!

We stayed at the Hilton Miami Downtown.  It is about a 15min uber to the port with very nice views of both downtown and Dodge Island where the cruise terminals are.

The Symphony Squad headed out a couple hours before us as their check in time was noon.  (It pays to be Pinnacle, or with one LOL) 

My friend Kathy has never been to Miami so I took her down to Bayside Marketplace (about a 5 minute uber ride).  Its an open mall with shops and restaurants along the waterfront.  We ended up at the Bacon Bitch for some breakfast.  If you are looking for some Miami Vibes, head on over!  I wouldn't recommend for children as its loud and vulgarities are thrown around quite often during your visit.  

Finally we were off to the terminal.  We arrived around 2;15.  Royal was directing you to lines based on your check in time.  It was 25min from the time we stepped into our line to being onboard.  This process includes checking vaccination cards and negative test results at the entrance to the terminal, checking in with your set sail pass, ID, and vaccination card, and finally going through security.  Tip--if you are bringing water onboard, the porters are not accepting it with a luggage tag as checked luggage and you will need to carry it onboard with you.  

Symphony is such a beautiful ship, currently the largest cruise ship on the high sea and we will be showing some areas and artwork that are specific to her as she is one of four Oasis Class ships (about to be one in five when Wonder of the Seas is complete and sailing in March, 2022). 

Muster Drill is almost all electronic at this point where you watch the videos on your Royal app and then just check in to your station onboard.  They show you how to use your lifejacket at that point but in reality, they just want you to know where to go in case of an emergency.

We do have Ultimate dining on this sailing and our first dinner was with the Symphony Squad at Izumi Hibachi. 

It was one of our friends anniversary as well.  Such a great time with old and new cruise friends? 

Food was amazing and I realized part way through the meal that we had the same chef on my last sailing on Symphony back in 2019.  It is so fun to see crew you have sailed with in the past!

Sailaway was after dinner.  I personally love a night sailaway!  We stood on the port side bridge wing to enjoy the beauty of Miami at night. 
 

We wrapped up our night at the showing of Hairspray!  I was quite impressed with the production and actors of this play!

Tomorrow is a sea day on our way to St Marteen!  

The “Symphony squad” kept asking me to join them on this sailing as we had last years canceled on us.  I kept saying I couldn’t as my oldest sons favorite holiday is Halloween.  There is no way I could leave the kiddos over Halloween!

We had also just gotten off Oasis on Oct 17th which was an epic family trip!!

We sailed on a staff assisted cruise with Autism on the Seas as all three of our children are on the autism spectrum.   It was beyond fantastic in so many ways! 

A wonderful opportunity came my way after that cruise.  My husband was onboard with the opportunity, and there I was, 9 days out, booking Symphony!   

The fun part was being able to tell the Symphony Squad I would in fact be sailing with them!  I asked a good friend (who also sailed with us on Oasis) to join me as well.  

So this live blog will be about my second sailing on Symphony, reuniting with cruise friends, and Autism on the Seas as this is another staff assisted cruise for them.  I will be documenting their week onboard.  Here on the live blog there will be snippets of the program but feel free to contact me on here if you have any questions.  I’m more than happy to help! 

https://autismontheseas.com/

And if you don’t know who is part of the Symphony squad, you’ll find out soon enough…. 

Thank you so much for the info.  I reserved one for when I am there in May.  They did not give me the option to reserve a specific one though.  My confirmation says Chill Island Cabanas E.

How/when do you chose a specific one?  

Thanks! 

14 minutes ago, BrandonOwen said:

Awesome blog Karah!  SO much to do on an Oasis Class ship! 

Thanks so much @BrandonOwen  and thanks for following along!

2 hours ago, Matt said:

How did you find Eunice Williams? Just by chance?

Yes, just by chance.  Have you had him?   I thought his name sounded familiar.   I have his info if anyone would like it.    I will definitely use him again!  

Recap Day 4

Welcome, welcome to St. Thomas!  It has been quite a few years since I have visited St Thomas Virgin Islands!  Once again we decided to go out on our own and did not book a Royal excursion for this port.

We decided to start out our day by eating some breakfast on our balcony. We opted for El Loco fresh and if you like breakfast burritos, I would highly recommend trying this on symphony at least once.

We docked at Crown Bay which is further away from the downtown area. The Celebrity equinox was also in port with us. 

We decided to head to the Sky Ride (Gondola) to Paradise point.  We took an open air shuttle that was six dollars per person. There is still quite a bit of devastation from the hurricane. The cost for the shkyride is $21 per person (I apologize that I did not ask if there was a children’s or senior fare). 

Once up top you are able to see a beautiful view of downtown and Port Haven.  This is the view that you see on all Saint Thomas postcards.  Here’s one for the running!  

There were four ships docked in Port Haven today.  The MSC Seaside, the Carnival Sensation, the Carnival Horizon, and a Norwegian ship. The Norwegian ship was leaving as we arrived and the smaller Carnival ship was arriving about the same time.

Once at the top they have a few shops and a restaurant/bar.  We enjoyed a couple drinks and some nachos!  

After heading down we decided to walk to downtown Charlotte Amalie to do a little shopping and grab another drink before heading back to port.  

We may or may not have purchased something here...

We sailed away from Saint Thomas at 7 o’clock local time. This was the first time I have done a sailaway at night. It was absolutely stunning! 

Tonight we had Izumi Hibachi for dinner.  Our reservation was at 9 o’clock and we did not finish until about 10:30.  It was a fantastic meal and our chef was very entertaining!  You cannot choose hibachi with any specialty dining package so we purchased it for $49 per person once on board.  Any sushi rolls you choose are extra.   I believe we received some royal wow via the Key as they did not charge us for our sushi roll and took $10 off our check.  The waitress also gave us individual attention throughout the meal.  

Baked snow crab Dynamite roll

After all that walking today we decided to call it a night quite early and headed to bed right after dinner.  A cat has joined our towel animal family

 I will leave you today with another piece of artwork in the stairwell here on symphony.  

 Dreams Of cruising.......

St.Kitts tomorrow!

42 minutes ago, Garnet21 said:

Karah,  please "live blog" every cruise you go on!! I am really enjoying all the great  photos and detail. You and Dusty know how to cruise and have a wonderful  time.  I hope we are on the same ship sometime soon!    

Marianna 

Thank you so much Mariana!!

I apologize for the duplicate photos!  Tried to delete but they just keep popping up

Recap Day 3 ( did I mention this was going to be a “as live as I can make it” blog..??

Today is a Sea day, aka relaxation day!! I am not one to sleep in on a cruise or in life for that matter… So waking up today at almost 8 o’clock was completely foreign to me!  I think it had something to do with the fact that I was up until 3 AM channeling my inner @CruiseLifeRick dancing in the attic!  

So we eventually started our day by eating breakfast at an amazing alternative, Johnny Rockets. Breakfast is included in your cruise fare on oasis class ships! And it just might be our best breakfast thus far!

We relaxed during the morning just walking around the ship until it was time for our All Acsess tour.  We stopped by the Trellis bar in Central Park for a quick Lava Flow!  Yum!!

  This tour is 2 1/2 hours.  You go to the Galley, the engine room, the food lockers, down I95 which is basically the hallway that goes from forward all the way to aft on deck 2. You also get to go to the laundry room, the incinerator room, and the bridge!  Some of the areas you go to are underwater which is quite neat.  It is neat to see all these areas but really the crew makes this tour!  Our tour guide and the rest of the crew that showed us the different areas were fantastic, very personable and of course knowledgeable. The tour cost is $130 per person and I would highly recommend it!  It’s one of those tours you really only need to do once but is well worth it and for us it only made sense to do it on symphony, the largest cruise ship!  

They give you champagne after the galley part of the tour

In the engine room 

-40 degree food locker hubby walked into.  I walked in for 10 seconds and walked back out

Hubby helped in the laundry room.  He’s a keeper

This is George!  Everyone say Hi to George

Here is another piece of artwork that they placed in the Promenade. I believe all ships in the fleet have a vehicle of some sort on the promenade (if the ship has a promenade) and they decided to go in a different direction for the vehicle on Symphony.  It is a vehicle… But it’s more of a piece of art.  Pretty cool!

Also if you use the Royal app they have this neat x-ray feature for a piece of artwork here on symphony. This is on deck 12 right outside of the aft elevator bank.  

After the tour we headed up to El Loco Fresh for a nice, quick lunch.  The chicken burrito and chicken quesadilla hit the spot and the lime and scallion sour cream was fantastic!  We paired this with a Stella

Tonight we had specialty dining reservations at chops. Another wonderful meal and instead of a dessert, as I was quite full, I opted for a dessert coffee instead. It hit the spot for sure!

Once again we went and listened to Billy in the schooner bar for a while and then headed over to the pub to listen to some Guitar pop tunes before calling it a night. The gentleman in the pub was fantastic and the venue was packed!  

On to St. Thomas tomorrow!

14 hours ago, Laurac22 said:

Doing a fabulous job keeping us entertained! Thank you for sharing your vacation with us!

Thank you friend

18 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Loving this as I follow along...

 

The wings are good..I didn't go that hot though when I had them on Marnier...but I can smell them now and its making my mouth water.....

 

Noticed you flew into Naples....and your from NH...I usually fly out of Portland when I can...was there a good deal or flights into Naples out of somewhere in the North East?

Hi!  We actually flew into Ft Meyers and drove down to Naples.  We flew out of Portsmouth, NH on a discount airline (Allegiant). Frontier also flies from there.   We saved almost $500 flying with them and we’re still alive sooooo... it was worth it  hahaha!

19 hours ago, Big Dawg Ron said:

I LOVE BILLY!!!! Thanks so much for scoping him!!!!

You are most welcome my friend!

Recap Day 2

As on every first full day of a cruise, I woke up quite early and headed down to Paek Cafe for a large Caramel Latte!  I headed up to the pool deck to take a look around when I noticed we were headed into the port of Nassau!  No photos as I promptly put my mic on my phone and scope our arrival.  (You can catch the replay on PERISCOPE by following me, @kaeahvacatimes) 

We started our morning by eating breakfast at the solarium bistro which is a fantastic alternative to the Windjammer, if you are looking for one. You can also have breakfast at El Loco fresh, MDR, park café and Café promenade for smaller dishes and pastries, and Johnny Rockets offers breakfast at no additional charge on Oasis class ships.  

We originally thought we would stay on board during the day in Nassau but at the last minute change our minds after the magnificent @PRCgave us a recommendation of something different to do onshore!  So another first for us was going to be GrayCliff hotel which has beautiful grounds,  a cigar company, chocolate company, and restaurant all on site.  If you have been to Nassau plenty of times like we have and have done all there is you’d like to do, this is certainly worth looking into if it is something that interests you.  It is about a 10 minute walk from Port and the last bit is up a pretty steep hill.  

All aboard was 130 and we were probably back on the ship around 1 o’clock. 

We headed over to Playmakers to have a quick lunch and a pint!  My husband says their wings have very good flavor and you’ll have to take his word for it because I am not a spicy girl, at least not in that way

The pigskin and baller sliders

12 Major League wings (hottest they offer)

For dinner we had another first at Wonderland. We very much enjoyed the cuisine and the experience. Our main dishes were the halibut and the short rib.  Our waitress chose the appetizers to go along with our main dishes. We would do Wonderland again although I know it is not for everyone!  I think everyone should experience it once even if it’s just for the experience.  If you aren’t full when you leave, just do what @Wilson does and go grab a couple hotdogs at the doghouse!

Short rib

Halibut steamed in a mushroom marinade with pearl potatoes and more mushrooms!

After dinner we headed over to the aqua theater show. On symphony it is called HIRO.  Having the Key was “key” here (see what I did there?) as they have reserved seating for you and we sat with the diamond plus and pinnacle members right in the center of the Aqua Theater.  

This is an exhilarating and beautiful show that lasts about 50 minutes.

We ended our night listening to Billy Pando in the Schooner Bar and scoped a few songs for his favorite fan and fellow RCBLOG insider @Big Dawg Ron!

And we always love coming home to a new “pet”! 

Channeling my inner @Laurac22 and @twangster with a lemon drop martini!

Cheers!!

Recap Day 1

 We started our day off driving from Naples to Miami. The anticipation was killing me as we  made our way across the state and then to drop our rental car off at the airport. We took a Lyft which ended up being a shared ride to the Port. Side note- The couple we shared the ride with we’re heading out on the carnival sensation.   We saw the sensation in port today in Nassau ...holy old, not so nice looking, ship (boat )! 

 We arrived at terminal A around noon ...aaagghh.  I have never embarked a ship that late and I was getting very very antsy !

 Beautiful terminal! She even still smelled new!   Curb to onboard was about 15 minutes.  

 First impression of the ship walking on was that she is big, beautiful, and yes, a little bad ass!   The art on this ship is precisely placed and just amazing!  (I’ll post much more as the week goes on)

 My first stop was to set up our five night specialty dining and two lunches.  We received a lunch at Jimmy’s for booking a central park balcony state room.  Our other lunch was on embarkation day at chops because we have the key for this sailing   Side note- I will be doing a separate post in regards to why we have the key for this sailing and if in the end, it was worth it for us 

(feel free to ask for any photos of any of our meals as I will be taking pictures of food and menus)   Our meal at Chops was fantastic!

 We decided to walk around the boardwalk area where I did a Periscope.  To catch the replay please feel free to follow me at @karahvacatimes on Peeiscope  and to look at any other Royal Caribbean periscopes search under #RCPeriscopers  in the app!

We had an early dinner last night at Hooked.   I was very curious as to how this meal would be after hearing quite a few different reviews.   I would absolutely go there again and it was overall a wonderful experience with great  food!

 Hooked overlooks the solarium bistro and has panoramic views into the solarium.

We decided to head over to the solarium after dinner  to relax a bit after we had indulged in a few cocktails throughout the day and were pretty full from dinner! 

The Big Wonder

The “see through pool” 

 I just love these chairs with the huge cushions but of course being this comfortable makes you quite sleepy  so we decided to head in early tonight and start fresh in the morning!

 A couple views of Central Park from our double balcony before calling it a night.

 We shall see you tomorrow for day two Where we will be in Nassau Bahamas! where we will be in Nassau Bahamas 

@Wilson  I have not forgotten about your request for photos of the state room and balcony.

 I take requests folks so if you want to see anything just let me know! 

The beauty of a Miami sailaway Deck 5 aft

Recap of day one tomorrow morning!