MaryS

Day 1: Miami, FL (Embarkation Day) - CONT.
After dinner we killed some time and made our way over to see Anton and Grace at the Dueling Pianos Bar. This was their first show (8:00 PM) on the evening of embarkation and the bar was maybe half full. They were very good, took song requests, and encouraged audience participation.






I like the drink menu! Looks like an old LP…

Christine was still a little off (she thinks it was something she ate during breakfast possibly) and played it safe with Diet Coke and water. I tried a drink call “Metalliquor”… vanilla vodka, raspberry liquor and pineapple juice topped with cranberry juice. Very sweet of course!

After the show, we walked around the pool decks for a bit and then Christine went back to the cabin to call it a night. We skipped the headliner show in the Royal Theater (Adam Kario). I think he was a juggler/comedian.
I walked around a bit and found the ship model… always love the detail! The first one I remember seeing was on Wonder.




My ship model from the gift shop will have to do! 😄

I grabbed a slice (or two) of pizza at Sorrentos… because you have to at that time of night!
Finally, I headed to the Overlook to relax for a bit (and try to update this live blog, LOL!)… the 10:30 PM performance of AquaTheater show was still running. Just a couple of quick shots from the Overlook at night… they lowered the light level during the performance even in the Overlook…




After some time relaxing in one of those elevated seating areas, I finally headed back to the cabin to call it a night!
Finally, Day 1 is complete!
Getting ready for the 1st formal evening, so I have to get ready!
I’ll be back when I have a chance to start today! 😀

Going to the port:

There are three main options to go to the port:

1. Car/shuttle services , private car will be somewhere between 140 GBP and up but will pick you from the hotel until the cruise port.

2. Take the national express bus from Victoria Station,  cost around 10 GBP PP and limits the luggage size and number of pieces you can take with you (1 suitcase included but you can pay for more) reservation required and it takes 2 hours to arrive the Southampton national express terminal which is 20 minutes walk from the cruise port.

3. Take the train from Waterloo,  it takes around 1.5 hours to get to the Southampton station. The cost is really depends , the key here is to try and purchase the advance ticket which cost around 10 GBP PP . If you wait it can come up all the way to 80 GBP.


We have booked the train when it came available but then , news started about strikes in the different train companies so just to be on the safe side we booked also the National express with option to cancel. Lucky for is the strike ended a day before the cruise so the train it was.
First we had to get to the train,  to do so we decided to take the bus which it's station was just adjust to our hotel. The bus brought is to a tube station which I knew were the elevator for this line were and two stations after we were in the waterlo station. We went on the train to find out two important things. First , no were to put your luggage if it's more than a small suitcase,second half of the train continue to Southampton and half pf it splits and go to some other place. Very important to know which cars are the right ones. Since I guessed about the luggage issues and since the 1st class cost only few more dollars, that's what we booked and it was quite empty so we could stuck the suitcase in between seats. Take it into consideration when you plan your way to the port. We arrived Southampton around 10:40 am and started to do the quite easy way to the port. It took us 15 minutes to get into the port. There were no lines at all so from arriving to the port until we got to the ship took us around 10 minutes,  very organized.
 

We had a walk around Palma this morning, a thoroughly lovely couple of hours exploring. 



Now back on board, had some snacks from Sorrento’s and Cafe Promenade, now chilling at the bionic bar with a couple of drinks.

Unsure of the plan for the afternoon, we have formal night and Aqua80 tonight. 

Picking up from the last post. We watched the sailaway from deck 16, the party was in full swing and the atmosphere was awesome.
 
After that we met our stateroom attendant, Eka, who is wonderful and helped us with a couple of things, like getting our formalwear pressed as it had not survived the journey un-creased! 
We called into the Schooner Bar for a pre-dinner drink - I went for the Peanut Butter Tropic. Very good drink, will definitely have that again!

Then it was time for dinner in the MDR. We had already scoped out our table, we have a table for 2 on deck 4, by the railing looking down to deck 3. Really happy with the location, and we’re being taken care of by a wonderful lady. I cannot recall how to spell her name, or that of the lady assisting her who is also lovely, so I’ll try and get that tonight.

Food was good! I had the crab cake and escargot to start, Jamie got the spinach and artichoke dip and the shrimp cocktail. Then I for the chicken saag and Jamie got the fish fillet. All well seasoned, and well cooked. My saag could’ve been a tiny bit warmer, but feeding this many people I knew food temperature would not always be 100% all the time. 
We both had the key lime pie for dessert, nice and citrusy - yum! We got some wine too, and have asked to have a wine list on the table each night. 

The rest of the night was fun - a stop at Vintages, then the adult majority rules game show (very fun!) and the balloon drop, before we donated some money to the casino and finally getting to bed around 1.30… 😂
Jamie has just been for a cigarette and brought us coffee from Park Cafe, I sat on the balcony earlier and watched us dock in Palma. 
No real plans for today, just going to take the shuttle into town and explore.

A bonus surprise, kettle with instant coffee, tea, and all the fixings in regular staterooms. What a treat!

 
we are in aft balcony on deck 8. The ship is showing her age but the crew couldn’t be lovelier and friendlier!

Greetings from Canada Place! Embarkation was a long winding road but we all made it on. My MIL got a wheelchair and the lovely port staff fast tracked her and my FIL through security, customs, check in and they are comfortably hanging out in their stateroom while we are enjoying Windjammie lunch from the back dining area watching the sea planes go by. It’s the most beautiful day in Vancouver!

Our aft balcony room is ready and waiting for us! See ya for sail away!

Hey All!
Back from a wonderful Day 8 in Rhodes, Greece!
We once again started our day in Coastal Kitchen for breakfast:

Then, we headed off the ship in Rhodes for some independent exploration of the old town:




We bought some oil paintings as well (I think I mentioned in a previous post that I just bought my second house last year so I thought these would be pretty on my still bare walls and would help me remember this trip):


Then we once again got gelato (gelato and coastal kitchen, our 2 constants):


Then we headed back to the ship a bit early, this cruise has been tiring for both of my parents.
Today's Towel Animal:

View of Rhodes from the ship:

Then I wandered around the fairly empty ship to take pictures, I will go through those and post them after the cruise (when I do the cabin reviews as well), but here is a sneak peak of those in the form of today's towel station towel animal:

Then we had an earlier dinner in Teppanyaki:


(Our Chef, Kevin)




(Olaf made with eggs 🤣)


(That bottom sauce is yum yum sauce, the best 😋)







(Beautiful view as we sailed away 🤩)

Teppanyaki was absolutely delicious but it was definitely a lot of food. It was a nice change up from the typical restaurants and the show aspect of the meal is a lot of fun. We did have a family with 4 kids at our table but honestly the second the show started, they were so entertained so they quieted down. We did kinda expect kids since we did eat a lot earlier tonight due to our early tour tomorrow. Anyways, I would obviously come back to Teppanyaki/Hibachi on other ships since I have done it multiple times now and I definitely recommend it to others.
Speaking of tomorrow, we are in Santorini! This is probably the highlight of this itinerary and I think the cruise line knows it as we have the longest port stay there. We are doing "Pyrgos Village with Mezes and Wine" obviously booked through shore excursions on the ship tomorrow. Given the tender situation, we have heard an excursion is the best deal here and also it means we don't have to do the cable car both ways. We are in Santorini tomorrow with 2 other ships, the Marella Explorer (former Celebrity Galaxy that we have actually been on!) and the Regent Seven Seas Voyager, so the wait for the cable car down shouldn't be terrible but I am sure I will find out and share.
Thanks and TTYL!
- Ashley
 
 

We are home.  Earliest disembark ever and earliest we have ever gotten home.  Off the ship at 6:30, pulled into the driveway at 8:00.  Unpacked and laundry under way.
We enjoyed watching Effectors II again even though we had already seen it.  Not sure I would see it a third time, but it was fun.  I had forgotten about all the tech - the lighting and drone are incredible.
So the 5 week saga is finally over.  I'm super glad to be home.  I guess there is a wildfire blazing somewhere near us.  We came home to a hazy, stinky place.  Hopefully it will burn out quickly.  We have a FEMA "mulch pile" (I don't really know what it is, TBH) not too far from us and it mysteriously catches fire from time-to-time.  I don't know if that's the source of the fire of it it's an actual fire.  Hopefully it will just go away, soon.
Thanks for continuing to read this rather lengthy missive.  I know blogs are boring without pictures.  I still have some pix of the Suites Sun Deck to share if I can ever get them in the same place at the same time.  The photo debacle is totally my fault as I refuse to pay for the Cloud.  I'm sure this is their way of getting back at me.  That's ok.  

1 Day to go........
Whoooo 🥳 its almost cruise day!!!
I was ahead and somehow, I got behind. I had packed earlier in the week and then I realized that I packed like I was leaving in January, when it's much cooler. I had a lot of pants, why? it will be 90s. So, I ended up packing over but got busy, so I need to finish packing today........which is really cutting it close 🤣. 
It was sort of weird, CP didn't close at 48-72hrs like it normally would, it didn't close until after 12am on Sunday morning. I thought it was odd, I had been trying to go into the second reservation because my mother asked about a soda package. But I clicked on the first one by mistake and I could still make purchases on Sat. Maybe it closes at 24hrs on shorter sailings, and I never noticed.
I am all checked in for my flight. As I mentioned I am flying SWA, I got boarding position A33. I opted for anytime seats which are refundable and guarantee you an A position. You can still buy this flight online, so I don't know how sold out it will be. However, I am convinced that the airport will be busy because of graduations, Mother's Day and other tomfoolery. 
My mother is super excited to be Emerald. She is getting her welcome waters and hopes to get her pin, if they still do that. 
I was supposed to receive my block on Allure in Jan, but that short sailing was a bit of a mess when it came to C&A stuff.  I hope to get my block on Freedom. 

Day 1: Miami, FL (Embarkation Day) - CONT.
After unpacking, we went to explore the AquaTheater/AquaDome area on Deck 15. We checked out the Rye & Bean Bar… will need to try some of the unique drinks on their menu. We also checked out the AquaTheater/AquaDome area including the Overlook. Many more pics to follow later this week!

We stopped at the Overlook Bar and tried the Mint Berry Delight… pretty good… 

Yes, a lot of drinking today… next week walked around the Promenade and stopped at the 1400 Lobby Bar. Christine had a Mojito and I tried the Flowrider…



I’ve been getting a little into bourbon and rye whiskey and gave it a try. Not bad, but I’m not likely going to order that again.
After a little more exploration, we headed to dinner in the MDR (early 5:00 PM traditional dining). Our dining request e-mailed 3 weeks ago was honored! We got a table for 2 in front of the window! Don’t mind poor Christine… she was feeling a little off I think… 😔

Sail away was at 5:00 PM right as we sat down for dinner…




Tonight’s menu… “Welcome Aboard”… Elvis was our waiter and Brandon was the assistant waiter. Both were excellent!

For our appetizers, Christine ordered the Spinach and Artichoke Dip and I ordered the Crispy Crab Cake…

For our entrees, Christine ordered the Southern Fried Chicken and I tried the Aromatic Chicken Saag. I’ve never tried an Indian dish onboard, but it was very tasty!



For dessert, Christine had the Royal Cheesecake and I had the Boston Cream Pie… both very good.


 
OK, time to retire… it’s after 1:00 AM! Tomorrow is a sea day… I’ll try to wrap up today (or yesterday now)!
Good night to all! 😴

Day 1: Miami, FL (Embarkation Day) - CONT.
We also heard Super Mario is onboard! He has a table roped off by Cloud 17 in the smoking section. Many have stopped by and they say he is always gracious and happy to say hello! Will need to meet him during this sailing!
Now, excluding Capt. Henrik, we need to meet Rover, Super Mario, and Chris Wong! 🤣
While we finished up lunch around 1:00 PM, the announcement was made that our cabins were ready. We headed to our cabin to check it out and to start unpacking. Let me just say that some of the decks (our Deck 12) have cavernous elevator lobbies with these new destination elevators!


We booked a “traditional” Ocean View balcony… sorry for the wacky wide-angle distorted pics! 
View as you open the cabin door…

Bathroom is definitely smaller! Less square footage, but actually more storage. Christine likes the door and the bench in the shower. It also has a US outlet in the bathroom.




Now the rest of the cabin… a little smaller than Oasis class we believe. We were afraid we would not have enough storage space, but somehow everything found a home. Those wire baskets at the bottom of the wardrobe are a little strange! So many little shelves everywhere in the cabin. So many USB ports… I took my Anker USB hub, but did not need it! 👍










I believe Matt had pointed this out… there is a secret cabinet behind the mirror. More storage and the safe…


*** Ooooo, VERY IMPORTANT! Another hot topic on our FB cruise group page. DO NOT SET YOU THERMOSTAT TO SLEEP MODE EVER!
Our cabin attendant confirmed that when it goes into (or mode is manually selected) the “Sleep” mode (as in sleep 😴) the A/C slips into an eco mode and the room gets warmer. He told us to use any other mode and to keep the balcony door closed and properly secured (as usual) to keep the room cool at all times.

Day 1: Miami, FL (Embarkation Day) - CONT.
Our Uber driver arrived a little early to take us from the hotel to the port. We planned on arriving early to play it safe (knowing there was the possibility of not being allowed to enter the terminal early). We had the earliest boarding window of 11:30-12:00. Once again, we skipped the Key and we failed to get the Express boarding after completing the health questionnaire for whatever reason. 😔
We arrived early and were dropped off with the baggage porters outside the terminal at 10:35. They asked for our boarding time and told us to just walk straight into the terminal. We flew threw the terminal (no line) and walked into the promenade at 10:50 just 15 minutes after arrival! 😀 Maybe the early boarding time was the difference this time!
Ahhhh… first glimpse…





1400 Lobby Bar…

First glimpse of the Pearl…

A few promenade pics…



We completed our muster drill and picked up WOW bands. Figured we’d give the WOW bands a try this sailing!
To kill some time before our noon lunch, we went to the Trellis Bar to break in our DBP! Christine had *cough, cough* her first 2 glasses of wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and I had my traditional Lava Flow with the Kraken Float and then tried a Goobay Smash.




John (right) and Beto (left) were our bartenders. We chatted with John (from the Philippines) for a bit. He explained his current 6-month contract is winding down and ends next month. He has already signed up for his next contract which starts in August back on Icon. He was a little bummed that he will only have 2 months off between contracts. He mentioned he usually has 3 months. He told us he loves working on Icon. Chatted about the crew area improvements and he confirmed that the areas are much nicer than on other ships.
Conveniently, our embarkation day lunch reservation was in Chops Grille which is next to the Trellis Bar. We traditionally have either Chops Grille or the Key Chops lunch menu as our first meal onboard. One disappointing, yet understandable, change involving the Key was the move from having the lunch actually in Chops Grille (we had it there back in 2019) to the MDR.
That first Key lunch in Chops was of course amazing, but each of the next 3 Key lunches in the MDR were progressively worse. After the post-Covid restart, we noticed the waitstaff was not very experienced and the service really suffered. Also, the temperature of the food was never quite right. Very long story short, since we skipped the Key this time, we wanted to book Chops. What a huge difference!
Here’s the Chops Grille menu… not much has changed over the years:

A few pics of the restaurant and the view from the table…




The restaurant was so quiet! We were one of maybe four or five tables!
Love the rolls… especially the pretzel rolls!


We both ordered the Wild Mushroom Soup, the 8 oz. Angus Filet Mignon and shared Grilled Jumbo Asparagus, Mashed Potatoes, and Mac & Cheese. Everything was delicious and cooked perfectly! Our waitress was amazing!




For dessert, Christine ordered the Warm Chocolate Cake (surprise! surprise!) and I ordered the Key Lime Meringue Pie. Both very tasty!


Oh, and in case anyone was wondering… folks on my FB cruise group page confirmed that they continue to serve seafood (including lobster) in the Windjammer on embarkation day! We were way too full to check it out!
OK, going to split these post up so they don’t run n forever (like me! 🤣)…

Good morning from Vancouver! Long travel day yesterday so I decided to go to bed and post an update when the jet lag set in. Ultimately, we all made it, but we did not get off to a good start. Here's what happened:
The morning started off fine. Mr. Regular and I got up and packed the car. As we were about to get going to pick up my mom, my FIL called. This normally wouldn't be cause for concern except for the fact he and MIL were supposed to be on an airplane at the time. Sadly, he was calling because they missed their flight. Apparently they made it to bag drop just fine, but FIL grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to get through security at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. We love him, but the hubris of a private pilot flying commercial is tough to fight. Luckily they were rebooked but that meant instead of landing in Vancouver at noon local time they were now going to arrive at 9 p.m. local time. They decided to stay at the airport in the lounge until their next flight and they did land in Vancouver right on time last night.
Meanwhile, I was losing my mind in the car because I hate the drive to NYC. We regularly drive to NYC but usually not on such a high stakes deadline like the only direct flight across the continent. We left with 6 hours to spare but the drive to Newark was awful. It usually is but I think my anxiety was just so heightened. I am so glad we aren't flying to our next cruise, lol. We made it to Newark two hours before boarding. We parked at the exact opposite end of the airport so it took about 25 minutes to get to the terminal and luckily bag drop and security were very slow. We got to our gate area with 30 minutes to spare, which is not my preferred arrival time but it all worked out. 

Smiling through the stress.
Our flight was smooth and uneventful, we landed in Vancouver and decided to rent a car instead of coordinating multiple ride shares and we wanted to return to the airport later to pick up the in-laws. After such a long and stressful day for them, we wanted to make it as easy as possible to get to the hotel. We went through customs, picked up our luggage, got the car, and checked into our hotel. We are at the Wall Centre Sheraton downtown. Highly recommend this place, it's very nice and the location is fantastic. We are LOVING the city of Vancouver and I wish we could have come out a day or two earlier to explore more. It's beautiful here. We ate a delicious dinner at Earl's Test Kitchen, then went back to collect the in-laws after they arrived. After a quick stop at wine store to get our carryon wines, we collapsed into bed. 
I expected jet lag to have me up at 3 a.m. local time but the events of the travel day helped me stay asleep until about 5:30. Now all we have to do is look forward to boarding the ship in a few hours!
Here are some views of the descent into Vancouver, with Tahoma (Mt. Rainier) in the distance. Next stop, Brilliance!

So far, Royal is impressing me. 
I have to thank this site for so many tips!
Our boarding time was 11am, we were stepping on board at that time - we never stopped moving in the terminal. 
 
We had done our muster at the hotel, so checked into our muster station on deck 4, then went straight to Izumi and booked a hibatchi lunch for day 3. 
Went to the solarium bar, so Jamie could use the smoking area, and had a drink, then Playmakers for a drink and some time playing connect 4 and Jamie teaching me blackjack so I can join in at the casino. 
We went to Park Cafe and had a lovely lunch, then went to our cabin. Super happy with the location and layout of the cabin. 
 
Then, we took advantage of packing our swimwear in our carry on. We’ve been in the whirlpool, done some slides, and are now laying in the sun enjoying more drinks. 
 
Every crew member we’ve spoken to has been so polite and happy. So far, so good!

Day 2 - Barcelona
It was a slow start yesterday, the 4.30am wake up on day 1 definitely took its toll and we didn’t get out of the room until 11.30 or thereabouts. 
The plan was a simple one - we had tickets to the Sagrada Familia, and other than that, no plans.
It was around a 30 minute walk from our hotel, and on the way we passed Casa Batllo - another beautiful building by Antoni Gaudi.

What followed after arrival was a fabulous couple of hours, taking a guided tour of the church, and climbing the Nativity Tower. 





I was slightly alarmed when I was told I couldn’t take my white cane up with me, but after being on the stairs down for less than a minute I saw why! They are very narrow and eventually became a spiral staircase. 

It was worth having to take the climb down a little slower though.
No food pics from yesterday as we went back to the same spots for lunch and dinner, although we tried new menu items. We did go to the W hotel for a drink in their bar, which was very nice, and we got to see how far our journey to the port will be. We also called in to the Banker’s Bar again - this sums us up, we will try new places but if we like a place, we will be repeat visitors. 
The night ended at around 12.30 after a nightcap on the hotel roof terrace again. 

Now it’s cruise day! We are just getting ready, and have a taxi booked at 10.15. Boarding time is 11.00.
Oasis, we are coming for you! 

We landed in London this Thursday evening, our hotel was in the tower hill area . We took the Elizabeth line to Liverpool Station were we had to decide of to walk for 12 minutes or jump on the tube for a single station. Since I knew the station we needed dose not have lift I thought it will be easier to walk , once again , as my spouse gladly emphasize,  I was wrong. I guess that's what happens when you think you know the area but going out from the wrong exit. Long story short,  we did our way back to the station,  took the tube and had to carry the luggage on the stairs of the destination station. The hotel was nice, clean and modern (Indigo tower hill) it was adjust to a bus station and 2 minutes from the tube station. 
I was visiting London many times for some business trips but it was my spouse first time here. Planned to go and see all the must stop and maybe if she likes it's to come back again for longer period. I must admit we were so lucky with the weather,  it was sunny,  yes one of those rare days in London 🙂
 

WIFI ?
 

 
View to the palace

Starting a blog on the cruise day ? Can it be ? Or not starting a blog at all , this is the question (well among other). 
We really were not sure if we will male it to this cruise,  so many things happened from our last cruise and travels plans were canceled more then once (last time it was few hours before the flight) but here we are. 
To make things even more complicated I got a call two weeks ago asking me to travel to the other side of the world which will make me fly back a day before our flight to this cruise (at least it was my one condition when I agreed for this business flight). So 18 hours flight later , 3 laundry cycles and one more 5 hours flight here we are, on the train to Southampton to catch our  first ever ,Norwegian cruise .

So, we ended up eating a very light lunch at Izumi (sushi) and using Dans $25 Pinn voucher.  The bill should have been slightly more than $25 but again, there was a $-0- bill presented to us.
I guess the lesson learned here was….always ask whether the [Oasis class] ship is offering a $25 PP specialty dining voucher b/c you just never know !  ….and nobody (crew) is going to tell you !

Update on the $25 dining voucher.
As I noted above, we decided to use our $25 specialty dining vouchers at Johnny Rockets yesterday for lunch.  Even though the JR meal is only $14.95, we still decided to use them both as we most likely won’t have any further opportunity to use them, and would thus, lose them.
We did go to JR for lunch (which was good and fun) but to our surprise, they only used one of our $25 vouchers even though the 2 meals exceeded $25 in value !  I was very surprised when the server told us that he was only using 1 voucher to cover both meals. So now one of us (can’t recall whose voucher he actually redeemed 🥴🥴) still has a $25 voucher to use !  It’s the last day so likely it will be going unused.
BTW, this is a Pinn perk that is very hush-hush.  It isn’t written anywhere in the paperwork we received onboard (not that I saw, anyway) and none of the Concierges mentioned a word about it.  If Dan hadn’t asked the SL Concierge about it, we would never have known that Wonder was still issuing them. Not one of the Pinns that we befriended on this sailing knew that they each had a $25 specialty dining voucher !  I’ll bet most of them go completely unredeemed.

Hi All!
Back to recap day 7 in Limassol, Cyprus. We once again started our day with breakfast in Coastal Kitchen, I didn't snap any pictures this time, I am sure you get the idea at this point. Then, our tour started a little later so we headed to our cabins to get ready to go ashore and then headed to the theater for our tour. As I said yesterday, our tour was "Panoramic Limassol & Shopping Tour". When we got to the theater, they gave us our stickers and then told us to come back at 11 as we were too early, so we decided to get Starbucks and then headed back at 5 til 11. At that time, they told us "oh your number was called a while ago". That was the first sign that this was not going to be a good tour. We were not the only people on our tour that this happened to so we all headed off the ship to the buses where we were the last parties to our bus. 
Then we started out tour with the panoramic drive around Cyprus. It was fine but our guide was so monotoned, I think my mom fell asleep. He had difficulty with English and was pausing before each and every word. None of our tour guides this trip have spoken English as their first language (obviously given where we are) but this one was by far the worst, he was trying but it was not great. I didn't catch his name either although that might have been a good thing. As we headed out on the bus, I discovered they drive on the left side of the road here. We passed the ship so I snapped a photo there:

And then we had a few photo stops at various locations, honestly I could not tell you what any of them were but here they are:



Then was the highlight of the tour, they dropped us off in town for an hour for food and shopping. We got gelato again:

Then once back at the terminal, we waited in a very long line to get back on the ship as security here was controlled by the port. Here is a picture of the terminal with Limassol in the background, it kinda reminded me of the NCL terminal in Miami in shape, although obviously not size, I do think cruises can start and end here:

Then I got a very late lunch at el loco fresh:

At that time it was nearly time for dinner. We did our usual rest and then prep for dinner routine. Before dinner, we went to Giovanni's wine bar again and while there we saw the Stowaway piano player again:

And then it was time for dinner in Chops Grille:


(Sorry some bread was already missing in this photo 😂 )












And then we had our usual evening hang out in the pub:



Now to recap a bit on the tour... yesterday, the ship announced they would offer a shuttle to town in Limassol. We should have cancelled our excursion and did that instead. Yes, we did see more of Cyprus this way, but we didn't get much out of it. We should have just gone in town for lunch and shopping and the hour stop in town was really not long enough to sit down anywhere and eat. Of course, they waited until the last minute to announce and sell shuttle tickets so no one would cancel their excursions. Anyways, I guess you live and you learn.
Tomorrow, we are in Rhodes, Greece. Speaking of cancelling excursions, we cancelled our walking tour here. We found out the town is near the port and opted to cancel it to give my mom a break so she can hopefully be 100% for Santorini the next day which is going to be an early morning. We also have Teppanyaki for dinner tomorrow.
Thanks and TTYL!
- Ashley

Learnt the hard way yesterday to write these blogs in my notes app! Lost a whole post with pics! So let’s try again:
Day 1: Manchester to Barcelona.
We were up at 4.30am after a lovely evening at our airport hotel. The flight was easy, although we had a very loud group on board, celebrating a stag do as we call it - a last hurrah trip before a man gets married. The equivalent for a woman is a hen do here in the UK. Not sure what it’s called in other places. Anyway, they were loud and made a good attempt at drinking the entire bar cart.

We landed and got our transfer - due to traffic it took over an hour to complete a trip our driver said would be around 30 minutes. 
We checked in and had a wander down Passage de Catalunya which is super close to the hotel, before grabbing some food and drinks at a restaurant just opposite the hotel.

We then spent a few hours enjoying drinks at the rooftop bar and pool at the hotel.

We then wandered to the Mandarin Oriental hotel and enjoyed cocktails at the Banker’s Bar there.

Dinner was at another restaurant down the street from the hotel, before returning for a nightcap on the roof terrace. 

I think you can tell from day 1, what Jamie and I are all about 😂
I’ll update with what we did today a little later. 
 
 
 

Good morning!
Day 1: Miami, FL (Embarkation Day) 😎 🚢
I got up early to see if I could catch Icon coming in, but missed her as she had already slipped by my defenses and docked at Terminal A! 🤣
Pretty sneaky for a 250K ton ship! They do come in with minimal lights…. I did catch a Carnival ship coming in around 6:00 AM or so.
We headed for breakfast at Olé which was included in our room charge. Very nice breakfast buffet with all the usual hot buffet offerings and an omelette station.
Our friends at home were asking about the pool, so I headed back down to the 5th floor pool area to take a few more pics of the area.





These cabanas are available for rental… $350-$450 per day based on capacity… the other side of the cabana opens up to the bay view and not accessible to the general public. If we were staying more than one day and were traveling with friends, we would definitely book one of these! There us a full bar to the left of the cabanas as well servicing the pool area.



OK, back to the room to finish packing!
We have a scheduled Uber pick up in a little over an hour from now to take us to the port. As many of you have mentioned, this hotel does not offer shuttle service to the port. They recommend just using a taxi or ride share.
In summary, we second @Lovetocruise2002’s recommendation of this hotel! 👍
So conveniently located near the port with bay views and walking distance to Bayside Market on the water where so many restaurants and bars are located. Christine said we’re spoiled now and will have to splurge and book this hotel the next time we’re in Miami!
Almost boarding time! 

Time for me to wrap the day up. I may get up early tomorrow to watch Icon come into port… exhausted now so we’ll see!
We did go down to Bayside Market… some random shots along the way…

Sky Views Miami wheel…

Christine wanted to go to Margaritaville for dinner. Literally the first restaurant we passed entering the market from the hotel side!
I know it’s not RC food 🤣, but she had the Teriyaki Chicken & Shrimp and I had the Jimmy’s Jammin’ Jamablaya. Have to practice the food porn pics, LOL!



We sat outside… the restaurant is at the base of the Sky Views wheel… pic from our table… we both enjoyed our meals.

We took a walk through the market for a bit… more big names and chains…

Wow! What a variety of restaurants! Argentinian, Cuban, Italian… tons of bars all along the shoreline.
We also stopped by a gelato place near Pier 5 (outdoor area with dancing)… delicious! 
Headed back to the hotel and took in the skyline before heading up to our room for the night.


I think that’s it!
Have a good night everyone!

Hey All!
Back from a nice day in Limassol where we are currently still docked. My dad finally wrote something about his Ephesus tour on Day 5 so here is that.
He put a ton of photos in it (like twice the amount I have been doing) and I don't know what can be cut so attaching it all as a PDF here, also the forums don't like copy pasting from word docs I have discovered from a formatting perspective. Anyways, see the attached document!
Thanks and TTYL!
- Ashley
EphesusTour.pdf
 

Just a few more pics around the hotel before we head down to explore Bayside for dinner in a bit!
It was a beautiful day and the temp hit 90! 🌞



The space shuttle Challenger Memorial…