MaryS

Nassau was a blast today!! We went over to Atlantis ( we got a room there through the casino so it’s a lot cheaper than buying the ship passes) 
We played at the waterpark then did some shopping and came back. Ended up having lunch at Giovanni’s. We were supposed to have dinner at Izumi but there was a scheduling mix up so we ended up back at Giovanni’s.... no big deal!
Lexi is making a towel animal zoo, I will post a photo at the end of the cruise.  We are attending the love and marriage game show now then off to bed to get some rest. I hit 10,000 steps before noon.... so I am good and tired.
 
Goodnight all!

Cococay was so much fun. We just got back onboard for the day. We took lexi to the waterpark and got a cabana there, she loved it we stayed a little over 3 hours. The wave pool was her favorite but I really enjoyed the dueling demons slide and the sling shot. 
 
Then when we got back Luciano had a surprise waiting on us! He is so great. Now we are going to hang out at the  pools and wait for a nice dinner at 150 Central Park.

Day Two - The Butterfly Conservatory
One place that I had checked out ahead of time, and knew that I wanted to see, was the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. I spent a little time in the marketplace around Mallory Square before heading up Whitehead Street towards the conservatory. The conservatory itself is on Duval Street, but I wanted to walk up a little more scenic way first.

Lots of gorgeous homes, museums, and plant life to be had.

I saw a couple of beautiful Banyan Trees. They make such lovely branch structures.

Before I got to Key West, I had no idea how many chickens there were roaming freely, so I was quite surprised.

Though not as business heavy as Duval Street, Whitehead Street also had many shops and restaurants.
After a leisurely walk, I made it to the conservatory. My ticket cost $12.90 after tax, though I believe you can get a dollar or two off if you purchase online ahead of time. The ticket allows you entrance to the conservatory as many times as you'd like all day. I went in first to just experience it and enjoy it, and the a second time after a quick break in the air conditioning of the gift shop to take photos. The butterflies need a higher temperature, humid environment to thrive. I think the temperature was about the same as the outdoors, but it was noticeably more humid.
When you enter the doors after purchasing a ticket, there is a informational area with small exhibits, videos, benches, and even some power outlets, if you're looking for a place to get a quick charge. Through there, there are two more sets of doors, taking care to only open one set at a time, as a precaution to not let any of the butterflies out. The conservatory itself was beautiful, and had such a serene atmosphere. It was wonderful to watch so many butterflies zipping around. Everyone there had the biggest smiles on their faces, myself included. It was like being in a Studio Ghibli movie. My camera doesn't have a great action setting, so I wasn't able to fully get the experience of having all the butterflies flying around (and for some people, into) your head, but I did get some nice photos of the sedentary ones. 



The conservatory also has many birds in addition to butterflies.

Crashing my shot to get some fruit.

Day Two - Morning in Key West
I woke up around 7:00am the next morning. My ear plugs worked wonderfully, but I was woken up partly by what I am assuming were vibrations from the ship coming into port. A little scary at first before I made sense of it. I hopped into some athletic wear to go try out the gym, located above the Viking Crown Lounge. It was quite busy, but I suppose a lot of people had the same idea of getting in a workout before the day in port. I picked out an elliptical, but didn't stay terribly long. I realized that I'm so used to streaming music, I only had about five songs actually loaded onto my phone. That, and the squeaking of my machine, made me want to wrap things up quick and get along with my day. We docked in Mallory Square, along with a Carnival ship. I did not hear the announcement, but we got the all clear to disembark around 8:00am.

Start of the day in Mallory Square
I went to Windjammer for the first time to grab some breakfast, taking great care to wash my hands. I was happy to find that they had whole kiwi, which is a favorite of mine but I rarely think to buy on my own. I found a nice barstool type area on the left side of the ship, near the entrance and what is the Kids Area for food at dinner time.

I enjoyed the waffles and fresh kiwi and much as the view.

A much sunnier morning than the previous day.
Once I finished up breakfast, I made my way back towards the rock wall. I was excited to try it out, as the last time I did rock climbing was back as a child at summer camp. When it opened at 9:00am, there was just myself and another family there. I got all set up with footwear and my harness, and the staff were very encouraging and helpful with tips on how to best scale it. I went on the easy side and, oh my gosh, I did not think it would be that difficult! All those little kids I saw flying up the wall the day before made it look so easy! The staff helped me get almost to the top before I had to call it quits and come back down. My arms were very tired, I think I was relying on them too much, rather than my legs. Even though I knew I was strapped in to the harness and very safe, when I got to the part where the wall starts tilting back near the top, it was an exhilarating sensation, a little scary. I thanked the staff, and happy that I gave it my best, went back down to my stateroom to grab a shower before heading out.
Around 10:00am, I made my way to deck two to disembark and start my day. I did not have a rigid plan of where I was going to go, but had a couple places in mind that I wanted to visit. In hindsight, I should have planned things out just a little better, as I did a lot of back-tracking to areas I'd already been. But, one of the benefits of solo traveling is that you know what pace is doable for yourself. What might have been too much walking in circles for some of my friends/family, was fine with me. A basic map of Key West had been provided with our Cruise Compasses the night before, so after taking a few minutes to orient myself, I started off on my journey for the day!

The Empress in Mallory Square
 

Great review so far.  I'm sailing Empress for the first time to Bermuda solo in May.  Can't wait!

Great review so far.  I'm sailing Empress for the first time to Bermuda solo in May.  Can't wait!

Day One - Ship Tour
After my lunch at Chops, I began to walk through the Shooner Bar, intending to go right to my stateroom, but found that a ship tour was starting, so decided to do that instead. Our tour was led by Bonita, who did a great job and was very funny too. Since the Empress is not too big of a ship, the tour didn't take very long, maybe about a half hour. We went through a lot of the places I had already seen on my own, but Bonita gave us interesting facts as well. She let us know that the Empress may be the smallest ship in the fleet, but "it's got the biggest heart," which I think echoes what @twangster has said in his many reviews. I also found out that the Empress's godmother is Gloria Estefan. I didn't know that ships even had godparents, I'm curious to know what the job entails. ?
Day One - The Stateroom
At 1:00pm, the staterooms were announced to be ready, though I didn't make it to mine until after 2:45pm. After I the ship tour, I made my way to my stateroom, 4535. I spent a good long while roaming around trying to find my cabin. The numbering system and various hallways confused me, but I did finally find my way to the right place. It was not nearly as difficult to find after the first time, but throughout the rest of the trip I did frequently go to the wrong side of the ship when getting off the elevators/coming from the stairs. My stateroom was a regular interior cabin, which was plenty spacious for me, especially since I was traveling solo. When I entered, I noticed the TV was set to the cruise info channel, which still had Christmas music playing in the background. I unpacked my bag and then took some time to look through the Royal App to see what activities were going on around the ship. 

Interior stateroom 4535

The cozy bathroom
Day One - Sail Away & Sunset
Having had a brief rest, I went up to the Viking Crown Lounge, where they were holding a raffle for $500 (Two $100 prizes, Two $150 prizes) in credits to the Vitality Spa. It was very simple, just filling out a card and dropping it into their raffle container. Wasn't lucky enough to win this time. With the raffle finished, I went back towards the pool area for the sail away party. Finally the clouds had started to give way!


Lots of dancing to be had at the Sail Away party. And feel good dog videos on the big screen.
After a little bit of dancing and taking in the views on the sun deck, I found a recliner to relax and listen to the live Caribbean music provided by the Mass Effect band. They've got a great sound and presence, I enjoyed them the whole trip. As the sun set, more of the clouds dispersed to allow for some beautiful sunset views and photos.

Day One - Embarkation
Once on board, I started to explore the ship. I stuck closely to the the Centrum area at first, just going up a floor at a time. I really enjoyed all of the little sitting areas throughout the ship. It was difficult to find places that didn't have a nice ocean view. I especially liked the Library area on deck 9, which has a decent sized collection of books for you to read at your leisure. I found an interesting book that I managed to read over the course of the trip, before returning it to its home.

View of the Centrum from deck 6

One of many sitting areas around the ship
I made my way up to deck 10 to get some ocean views from the top of the ship. It was still pretty cloudy, but I enjoyed the view nonetheless. I walked back past the pool and towel station, finding a ping pong area, some secluded recliners, and the rock wall at the very back.

Recliners toward the back of the ship on deck 10

View of the parking garage construction next to Terminal J
After taking some photos, I continued to explore the ship until my lunch reservation at 1:30pm at Chops.
Day One - Lunch at Chops
I made my way to Chops around 1:25pm. When I got to the entrance, the host stand outside was empty. I saw that the times listed on the wall for lunch ended at 1:30pm, so I double-checked on the Royal App to make sure I had my reservation correct. As I was doing so, the host came out and told me I was right on time, and took me to a table. It was very quiet in the restaurant, with only two other couples there when I was seated. Since we were still in port, the view was that of the cruise terminal, but I imagine that it's a gorgeous experience out at sea.


I ordered the Charred Beef Carpaccio, the Filet Mignon, and the Grilled Asparagus. All were delicious, but I especially liked the beef carpaccio. Afterwards, the waiter brought out a dessert/coffee menu, from which I got a warm chocolate cake that came with strawberries and ice cream.
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Heading out of Miami now! After some clouds this morning, it’s turned into a very pretty evening!
 


We had a reservation at Chops for lunch today that was delicious. Probably our best Chops visit yet. (No food photos, sorry.) We checked out Riptide which was very fun and going to try the aqua coaster probably tomorrow. It was closed for some sort of maintenance but is now up and running. After a boring muster drill, we are now hanging out in the Suite lounge before dinner. Dad continues to be amazed at the suite life. I’m officially a snob but I think I’m turning him too. ?

 
Overall, our fellow passengers seem to skew 40+ generally. Some kids but relatively few. I was curious myself because it abuts MLK day. ?
Off to Jamie’s for dinner tonight for Steve’s birthday! ?

Well, actually we’ll fly on down, but you get the idea.
Warnings/Disclaimers:  This blog is the sole opinions and thoughts of just the old guy who is writing it.  It doesn't reflect the thoughts, opinions, clarity, good sense or tact possessed by those sailing with me.  And to be clear, I don’t have the sense of humor, literary skills, or good judgement of most of you who post these live blogs.  But I'm going to do it anyway.  I guess I can be labeled as a “lurker” on this site.  I read it daily but have made only a few comments.  So today I take the plunge and become one of you by just jumping in the deep end with a live blog! 
Two weeks from today I will be in the air traveling from Palm Springs, California to Miami to begin our next Star Class adventure.  In 2017 we sailed on the Oasis in a crown loft suite and thought we had found the ultimate way to cruise.  But no, there was more to discover!  In 2018 we booked another crown loft, this time on the Allure.  A month or so later while checking for a price reduction I stumbled across something called the.Royal loft Suite!  After watching a quick YouTube video of that suite I quickly booked it.  YOLO as someone on this blog always says.  We sailed in July with Dave Mac as our Genie and there was no turning back.  In May of 2019 we cruised in the RLS on the Harmony with the amazing, wonderful Ariceli who I think has spoiled us for life!  As I said, there’s no turning back now so two weeks from tomorrow we will be in the RLS on the “new” Oasis and will have Allan as our Genie.  
If this blog goes as planned you will see and hear much about each of us and what we will be doing during the week. So let me introduce our merry band of sailors:
Stacy, my bride and partner.  I many times refer to her as Pollyanna, which is defined as “an excessively cheerful or optimistic person.”  Defines her to a T.  She sees the good in everything and everyone.  Poor thing. My Pollyanna uses those traits everyday as she toils as an RN, or BSN to be accurate, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Desert Hospital in Palm Springs.  She is our cruise planner, specializing in the culinary aspects of the Star Class experience.  As she takes her break from those 12 hour shifts at the hospital she will be seen around the ship with a permanent smile on her face and a blended Love Connection drink in her hand.  I expect she will pop in on this blog and provide you with some of her excessive cheerfulness!
Shari who I refer to as Polyanna2.  Yeah, no kidding.  Another one.  Stacy’s identical twin sister.  The Oasis is a big ship but I’m not sure there’s room enough for this goodness!  She and her family have cruised with us the last three trips but this time she will leave them behind at jobs and school while she gets a well deserved week of relaxation. Shari is the 24/7 caregiver for her mother-in-law who suffers from dementia. That’s a task where that Pollyanna thing coms in pretty handy.  I expect the twins to be side by side everyday and although they act and talk alike you can tell them apart by their hands.  Shari’s will be holding a Bud Light!
Daughter Taylor, almost 21. Young T, as I call her, is a preschool teacher with with a gaggle of I think 3 year olds.  Can you imagine?  A classroom full of germ carrying, tantrum throwing, runny nosed 3 year olds and Taylor is too young to drink!  T is the calm, chill one in the group.  She gets that from me.  You will find her sleeping late, spending lazy days in the sun and with one of two things in her hand.  Her Starbucks or a virgin Pina Colada.  I told our Genie that I think T holds the Harmony record for most virgin Pina Coladas consumed in one week!  We might also find her in the casino which she discovered last year. 
Daughter Kaitlyn, 30 something.  The party girl of the bunch. She is also a nurse like her mom. But she is in the other Intensive Care Unit – the one for adults.  Same hospital as her mom.  On December 19th Katie received her Doctorate of Nurse Practioner degree which we will be celebrating on the cruise.  So now she has more letters behind her name:  Dr. Taylor, RN, BSN, DNP, EIEIO. I asked the Genie for time in the engine room for this one because she can talk and drink like a seasoned sailor!  You’ll recognize her by her flaming red hair the the gin and tonic in her hand.  Or a Margarita. Or a vodka and soda.  Or…well you get the idea. 
Rounding our our group is yours truly, Jim. The quiet one of the group.  I will usually be found on that massive balcony at our suite, on the quiet suite sun deck or in the suite lounge.  With a Jack Daniels and sprite in one hand and a camera in the other. My plan is to try and share as much here in words and photos as I can.  I have enjoyed and learned so much from reading others blogs here so I hope to return that favor.  I’m sure much of the blog will deal with Star Class aspects as I try to justify why we spend a bazillion dollars every year to do this!  I will be doing Genie recon for those sailing after us and will certainly try to answer questions anyone has once we board.  We plan on eating everywhere except the Chef’s Table this year. We’ll even work in the MDR for a breakfast or lunch and a couple of trips to the Jammer.  I think we will do all of the shows. Even Cats.  Yep, I’m gonna do it.  I’ll spend the afternoon in the suite lounge slamming the Jack and sprites and then go experience the feline extravaganza!  We have no plans for Cozumel or Falmouth. Just maybe a little shopping and back on the ship.  We are looking forward to Labadee which we all love.  A relaxing day on the suite beach.  
In the lead up to our sail day I plan to share more about our travel plans, our night in Miami, our previous experiences with RC and how we survive the Miami airport as we disembark on Super Bowl Sunday.  I might have to involve Jack in breakfast plans that morning!  I know its somewhat early to post but I’m hoping we can all share and get to know each other by our sail date. It’s not too early by Matt or Sabrina’s standards but it is early!
So come along for the ride with this crazy bunch as we embark on our 3rd Star Class adventure. It’s a long way from my first sailing on the Song of Norway.

We arrived at Terminal A at 9:45 AM and went straight to the Suite Lounge. We waiting most for the elevator and now have been sitting in the suite lounge waiting. Bags dropped to relaxing was about 7 minutes. 


They have coffee, tea, lemonade, and sodas available to drink. Moved into a little alcove around the corner from the last time we were here.


Looks like some folks just started boarding (maybe back to back folks?) so we should be on shortly. Everyone is very excited over here on a breezy, cloudy morning in Miami. ?

Well, I certainly can’t complain about the hotel situation. We go on the plane and Dad was very excited still. Kept tapping my brother on the shoulder and looking and smiling at us.

The cake wasn’t quite on the plane... but it was at the Hyatt Regency. I shot an email to Hyatt telling them about Steve’s birthday and they went above and beyond. We showed up and instead of getting our two small rooms, we got this...

And not only this but a cake and some craft beers too! Steve was over the moon and we had SO much fun watching the football game and enjoying our beers.

It was so great! Thanks again to the team at Hyatt Regency for going above and beyond. It was such a great start to our vacation! This morning we’re getting ready and heading to the ship a little early this morning so we can get onto the suites. ? Today is Steve’s actual birthday too! So far so good!

To the Cruise Terminal
My flight landed in Miami around 8:50am. I hung around the airport for a bit to grab something quick to eat, and try to figure out which terminal the Empress would be. I didn’t see anything on my cruise docs, nor on Royal’s site when I logged in. If anyone knows specifically how to find this out, please let me know! I’d appreciate it for next time. I searched through these forums to see if anyone said where the Empress typically was. The couple posts I found mentioned Terminal G, so I decided to input that for my Lyft and go from there. 

From the ride share area looking back at the terminal.
I followed the signage to the ride share pickup spot easily. Once there, I ordered my Lyft, and waited about 10 minutes until the driver showed up. Traffic was fine, until getting to the tunnel leading to the cruise terminals. Since I was early, there were still people disembarking from their cruises that were adding to the traffic. My driver took me to Terminal G, but the porters informed me that while Empress is usually at that terminal, today it would be boarding at Terminal J. I asked my driver if he’d be okay taking me further than what I had requested on the app. He was fine with it, and I made sure to tip him extra than I had been planning on for the trouble. I made it to Terminal J around 10:45am, making the total trip time from when I requested the ride about 45 minutes.
 
Check-In and Boarding
Outside of Terminal J was very busy. I didn't see any specific signage directing people where to check-in, assuming I was just there too early for that. I handed my bag over to one of the porters and he pointed in me in the right direction. Keeping my backpack with me for the day, I queued up to go through security on the lower level, where they checked my passport and ticket. I then took an escalator up to a second level to go through a metal detector and bag screening.

Second floor of Terminal J, leading around to the metal detectors & bag screening (top left).
After the screening, I headed over to the Royal check-in table to get my Seapass. They confirmed the credit card I had on file as well for gratuities and other charges. One of the questions asked was about overall health, ie, if you had been exhibiting any symptoms of flu, nausea, etc, in the past two weeks. I hadn't, so that was that, but I'm wondering what happens if people say yes to this question? Do they bar them from boarding? Once I was checked in, I took a seat in the waiting area, getting ready for when they would start boarding. I started to look through the various info that I was given during check in, especially the map of the ship.

Seapass and the map of the ship given to me at check-in.
I didn't have to wait long for them to start boarding the ship, around 11:10am. Once all the higher status loyalty members made their way on, they called for everyone else to start boarding. I passed on the photo op outside of the boarding bridge, but it looked like a cute moment to celebrate the start of your vacation. By 11:20am, I was in the Centrum and ready to begin my cruise!

An instance where being on the shorter side is to my benefit.

Hello all! Hoping you enjoy this "live-blog" style recap of my first cruise. A little about myself and the trip:
I was completely new to cruising before this trip. I knew it was something I wanted to do, and I knew that I would have time off in-between Christmas and the first Friday of the new year, so I decided it try it out. I tried to get a friend to come along, but ended up deciding to do a solo trip instead. I've done solo traveling in the past, so I was not worried about this aspect. Around the end of July, I worked with a family friend who is also a travel agent to find different cruises that fit my time and budget (including any flights that might be needed). I had looked at itineraries from other cruise lines as well, but this one stood out to me the most. Once I put down my deposit, I started some research and found Royal Caribbean Blog, which proved to be invaluable!
Part of my goal with this trip was to see exactly how much I could do included with the cruise. I didn't book any excursions before my trip, or on-board. I didn't purchase any drink packages, preferring to pay by the drink as I realized I would most definitely not be able to keep pace to make the deluxe drink package worthwhile. I did receive $50 on-board credit through my travel agent when she booked for me. I used part of this for a lunch reservation at Chops Grill on embarkation day, which I booked online ahead of the cruise. I did not purchase any Voom packages ahead of time, or on-board. I thought it would be a nice way to start the year, with some technology disconnect.
Itinerary
12/30/19 - Miami
12/31/19 - Key West
01/01/20 - Sea Day
01/02/20 - Perfect Day at Coco Cay
01/03/20 - Miami
I am still fiddling around with some of the photos I took on this trip, so please feel free to ask any questions in between posts!

Thank you all!
 
So we met Luciano! He is super nice and helpful. He took us straight to our room. Lexi had to be the first on and she couldn’t wait to hang out with him. 
Big difference we noticed between the RLS on Harmony and Allure.... the carpet downstairs. However the room is so nice and clean. 
 
 
I will post photos of my in laws owners Pan in just a bit. 
 
lexi is already in the hot tub playing and we are waiting on lunch. 

It's funny but I got the plot from actually watching it..CATS however..still didn't get it after reading what it was about ?

Day 12 - The End
We got up early enough to ensure we could have one last breakfast at Gold dining and then headed off the ship about 8:45am. By this time they had called all the numbers already. Since the ship is so large, though, there will still quite a few people in the various stages of disembarkation. Interestingly, we did not have to do anything for Hong Kong Immigration — we already had our return paper in our passports when we picked them up yesterday. The port was holding people inside the building and releasing them in batches out to the curb/taxi/bus/shuttle area. Part of this was how big Spectrum is, and part was due to construction. All told, the process took us 30 minutes from gangway to sitting in our taxi.
About 40 minutes later we were again waiting in line, this time to prove we had legit business in the airport before they would let us in the front door. This added security is due to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. It didn’t take us long, less than 10 minutes. Then off to drop our bags and head to the lounge. 
We just finished our survey for the first cruise of the trip. Sigh! Always a little bittersweet! I will jot down a few random thoughts after we get home tonight. Thanks for following along!

Day 10 addendum
I forgot — because we were in a suite, we got a free standard trip in the Northstar. The concierge booked us for the Chan Mai day, after all aboard but before sail away. It was nice to see the port from above!

 

A few random comments:
1. The Christmas tree decoration does look like a mixed blessing. Overall I think I prefer it being there, because as I mentioned, the promenade was only full when there is a party (and there seemed to be a party like every night lol), but other than that there's plenty of space to go around. I do appreciate Royal Caribbean making it more festive for the season
2. Some people have asked me this: on the MDR, you are allowed to order as many appetizers / entrees / desserts as you want, up to your stomach capacity and your shame level I guess? I see a lot of people order doubles, so we know we're not the only ones. And the food that I mentioned above (and for the rest of the reviews) are not all my food. These are what me and DW ordered and we share most plates. 
Starting on day 2, once the in laws knew you can order doubles, they each ordered double appetizer every night, one of them is usually the shrimp cocktail. They were very good! I myself ordered double entrees every night, one of them was always the NY Strip Steak (it's that great!). I may or may not order double appetizers, but always double entrees. I only took pictures and notes of the "new" dishes that night though. Maybe in future sailing I'll take better notes of who ordered what.
3. I forgot to mention this: almost every night, DW went to WJ around 6-7 to stake out the food that night, and took some of the best ones. A few times I accompanied her and helped bring the food. We would nibble a little bit in our room, and then finish the plates later at night, and put out the plates right outside our room. This way we won't miss out on both WJ and MDR food. I still don't know the best way to get both. Should we try MTD reservation around 7 pm next time? The problem is that WJ closes at 9, and we won't be done with our MDR dinner until around 9:30 (especially because we order doubles lol). If you have any ideas please let me know. 
4. I really like the location of our staterooms (6224, 6228), because it's really close to the fore elevators and stairs. I tried to use the stairs whenever possible (to burn more calories). The Imperial Lounge and Lyric Theater is just 2 floors below, and Cafe Promenade is 1 floor below. I used Cafe Promenade every morning to get my latte, and in laws went there for snacks a lot. The balcony for deck 6 looked a bit worse than the upper decks (as you can see from the pictures ?) but I guess it's more secluded? 
Clarifications about ice show:
I'm also surprised to hear that we had to get tickets, as this is the first time I've heard it. Not sure if they're changing it or if it's difference between 6 and 8 nights. Basically on cruise compass of day 2, it says that the tickets would be distributed from 8 - 10 am at the Promenade. But we were in a hurry between Mass and breakfast, so we skipped it. I did see that there was a long line for that booth. They announced via the PA system that the tickets are free (and you could get as many as you want), but you do need one to get in. I'm guessing because they have 4 showings, this is their way to make sure the attendance is all spread out?
By the time I got back from breakfast, it was 10:15 so the booth was gone. I thought that they would have another distribution later on day 3. But when I got the Cruise Compass for day 3 (around 7pm on day 2) I didn't see any distribution time, so I called guest services and they said guest services had all the remaining tickets. They had a lot left, but only for Day 6 9pm showing, so I had to take them. As you can see later, this worked out better.
And if you do not have tickets, you can go into a standby line (right next to where the photo kiosks are). 5 minutes before start, they let you in. By that time, we couldn't find 4 seats together, or even 2 and 2. There were still more than 4 seats left, but they were all singles. You could also stand and watch from the back (near the bar area). If we didn't have tickets we would have done that, but since we had tickets for a later showing, we opted to go out, but not before watching the first 10 minutes ?
Day 4 : St Thomas
Day 4 is St. Thomas. This is the part where I was worried the most. On 12/20, when the weather in FL was rainy and windy, the ship captain decided to switch around the order of ports a little bit, while keeping the same ports. I think the port times were also changed but not too much. I had previously booked an excursion with Godfrey Tours on the 25th, so I had to call them to inform them of this change. He assured me not to panic because everyone on the ship will also be affected. He just needs to know the name of the ship and the new date, and he told me this kind of change happens all the time. Bonus points: St. Thomas is still US territory so the call was not an extra charge on my phone plan.

 
I started the day by going to the gym, and just lifting weights this time. Seeing that our excursion is at 9:30, we took our time in the morning. I woke up well after the sunrise, and we were already docked. We just had a quick breakfast from Cafe Promenade, while DW brought in breakfast from WJ to the room. 
 

Around 9 ish we left the boat. Unlike the embarkation, the gangway is now on deck 1. This was true for all the Caribbean ports, the gangways were always on deck 1, sometimes fore sometimes aft, depending on how the ship docked. When you disembark you have to scan your seapass card so that Royal Caribbean knows who's on the ship and who's not. After you disembark, on the pier, there was a towel station where you can check out towels. 
 

We docked at the Crown Bay Pier (on the Western side of the island) next to Celebrity Equinox, and while waiting for the tour bus to arrive, we looked at the shops a little bit. The excursion was called: See, Shop, Splash, where you can see the major attractions of the island, have some time to shop, and then they drop you off at the beach of your choice for about 1.5 - 2 hrs. There were several vendors for this type of excursion, but we booked from Godfrey Tours. It was 5/5, excellent tour. The driver was very friendly and explained everything well. The tour "bus" itself was more like an open-air passenger tram? So the passenger on the outermost side has to be careful not to let his leg sway out of the car.


 

The driver first dropped us off at the Amalie ("downtown" area) and let us shop for 2 hrs. I think there were many good shops, but we mostly shopped at the local shops ("tents") for their artisan product. The real (brick and mortar) shops mostly sold diamonds, watches, liquor, you know... the expensive stuff. 
Afterwards the driver picked us up and we started tour on the island, mostly just going to the mountain top and see views of the island from the top. We get to see both sides at different point. It's truly breathtaking, and also cool that you can see the other islands from the top. We slowly made our way to the top point where there is a large souvenir shop that also serves banana daiquiri. Behind that shop, there was an observation deck where you can also see more distant islands, and a place where Former President Clinton used to spend his vacation. We bought a large cup of virgin banana daiquiri, and you get to keep the cup as a souvenir.   In the picture below, we were facing South. So our ship was on the right side, and on the left side there were 3 more ships.        Afterwards he dropped us off at Magens Bay. This beach was rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world by National Geographic (according to him, but I think I've heard that too). There was a $5 entry fee per person, but the other beaches on the island are free. Out of 5 families on the bus, 2 families chose this beach, the other families went to some other beaches, so just went around and dropped us off and picking us up afterwards.   The beach itself was truly spectacular. I forgot to take a picture of the beach and the sand because I didn't want my phone to drop to the ocean, but imagine the iphone background picture, that's pretty much what the sand and the water looked like. There were minor waves but it's very gentle. FIL took this picture.   I also brought my waterproof camera with me so I did take some underwater picture. I did a bit of snorkeling at the far end (I brought my own mask). It's not a great snorkeling spot, but you could see SOME fish there.   


This is a view of Magens Bay from the top:

 
After the beach, the tour bus dropped us back at the pier. We had about 1 hr so we shopped a little bit more. Recall that the tote bags on the ship were $10, with good quality. The tote bags here were also $10 with less quality, or $20 with the same quality as the ones on the ship. Frankly I was surprised, because I tote-tally (ha!) thought shops on board would be so overpriced.
We got back to the ship around 4 pm. On the pier, before the gangway, Royal Caribbean set up dispensers with water, orange-infused water, and cucumber-infused water. I like the cucumber ones, but where were these on the ship?? I couldn't find it in WJ. As we get back on, there was another towel station set up right after the security checkpoint, but it was crowded, so we just decided to hang on the towels a bit longer and return them later on deck 11. We went back to the main pool and set up shop there, while in laws went to rest. I did a few more slides and flow rider. This time the flow rider was for boogie boarding, so I had better luck, although still painful. I can hold for maybe 10-15 seconds and then wipe out, but there's no way I can go to "sitting" position like some other people I've seen.
After I've had enough of water slides, we went back to the room. This time I got a towel monkey. At least I hope it's a monkey...

 
Then we went to a 7pm show. Because this was Christmas Eve, this was a special Christmas show performed by the singers and dancers (same as 2 nights ago), but different pieces. They're all Christmas songs, with broadway-esque moves. There was even a tap-dancing number as well. Overall 10/10, but the family in front of me had noisy children that stood up randomly during the show, and the parents just refused to calm them down. 
Random comment about seating: the center section of balcony is usually reserved for suite guests, diamond guests, and the Key members. There were signs indicating as such. But this is the ONLY show where that seating was enforced. I saw attendants waiting on that section and verifying everyone's seapass cards before you are let into the section. On the other nights / shows, we could sit in that section without any trouble. I guess they must have anticipated this show to be a full house (and judging from the seats on the balcony, I think it was).

 
After dinner, we went to the MDR for dinner. We found out that if you arrive a bit late (8:05), then the crowd is gone and you can go straight to your table. This is the night where I forgot to take picture of the MDR menu, so I just included the menu from the monitor in front of the MDR. Oh yes that's the thing: you can "scout" what the menu that night would be on the monitor in front of each MDR (decks 3-5), so that you can decide if you want to go for MDR or just skip to WJ. I imagined it might be a tad rude to leave after you're handed the menu by the waiter ?




For appetizers, we went with seafood cake which was dense just like the crab cake. For entrees we did fish of the day (tilapia with cilantro sauce, VERY DELICIOUS!). I truly appreciated how the ship serves fresh water fish even though we were on a boat in the middle of the ocean. And tilapia happened to be my favorite  fish ever. We also did more NY strip, mushroom risotto. And for dessert we went for panna cotta, chocolate cookie, and chocolate cake. I think the cake was okay, on par with what you get from WJ. Rich and moist, but it's a LOT. I really liked the panna cotta (again, the no sugar added dessert), because the freshness and acidity it brings to wash down all the fat I ate.


 




 
After dinner, there was no more "show" to go to so we just relaxed at one of the lounges (I think Boleros). I also looked around for more shopping on the Promenade. I wanted to buy more totes because now that I know the ones in the port were not as good quality, but sadly they were not for sale anymore. One thing that I noticed is that many crew members were wearing santa hat because this was Christmas eve. I thought that was really nice. When we came back to the room, there was also a Christmas greeting card with Hershey kisses from our stateroom attendant. Aww...



 
Around 10:15, there's a Christmas caroling going on at the Promenade. This was their "party" of the night. There were lyrics distributed on deck 5, but we just watched it from the balcony on deck 6 (because it's so close to our rooms). But you can see how the Promenade was full of people.

Finally, at 11 pm, we went to the Lyric Theater for a Christmas Eve mass. The choir members were children from one family, they were really cute!

The mass ended around 11:45, so not quite Christmas yet, but we were totally wiped after a full day, so we went to bed early.
 

Hello, I hope it's okay to do a live-blog style recap (instead of it being live). I also took pictures of all the cruise compass pages and MDR menu. Please let me know how to best upload these, or whom I should contact to get them added to the cruise compass section.
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This is my first cruise, with DW and in laws, for 8 nights from FLL to Eastern Caribbean, on Adventure of the Seas, 12/21/2019 sailing. The ports visited: St Thomas, St Marteen, San Juan, and Labadee.
We originally considered booking on Allure, but finally we decided on Adventure. This fact will become important later. We did a GTY balcony room, and scored a spacious balcony on deck 6 fore.
We bought the refreshment drink package (non-alcoholic) and the surf voom package. No specialty dining option because we figured we’d have enough to eat. Our dining time was traditional seating at 8:30.
We booked our travel through MEI travel, and had Michelle as our contact person. She is extremely helpful and friendly, and really responsive with our questions.
Due to inclement weather, the day before our departure the captain sent a note that they’re rearranging our ports of visit, but generally still keeping the same ports and same time-ish for each port. I did book excursions with a 3rd party, so I called them and let them know of the change. He was very accommodating (partly due to the fact that the whole ship is on the same boat as us, literally), so he has to work around the change.
I wanted to do a live blog but I figured I’d rather write a review afterwards so that I can enjoy my vacation. That’s why I didn’t create a thread beforehand. I just jot down the basics of what we did each day.
Day 1
We drove for 1 hr from Palm Beach to FLL, and parked our car at Discount Parking. Definitely would not recommend this vendor. It seemed like they only had 1 shuttle dedicated to cruise passengers, so we had to wait a long time to get taken to the pier (and also at the end, we had to wait almost 1 hour at the pier to be picked up). I did see a lot of Park N Go shuttles, so next time we will try that one.

Due to inclement weather (again), the terminal was moved from pier 29 to pier 18. There was no communication about this from Royal Caribbean. I only found out from the facebook group. I don’t know how people would have found out otherwise. The check-in was quick. There is a short line for the security, then the ipad person took our pictures, and quick picture in front of a backdrop, but other than that off we go to the second floor, which connects to a gangway going to deck 4.



 
We arrived at the terminal around 12:30, and stepped to the ship around 12:45. Although it’s almost one (and therefore our room should be ready soon), since we didn’t really have carry on, we went straight to WJ for lunch. There was a special gingerbread town decoration at the entrance of WJ

Of course we started utilizing our drink package. We ordered pina colada and mango daiquiri. On the first day, they let you use your set sail pass instead of your seapass card to order drinks.
After lunch, we went to our rooms to find out it’s all ready. The seapass cards were waiting in front of the room. Inside the room, all the excursions that we have bough with Royal Caribbean (including explanations about drink package and internet package) are waiting on our bed. I thought the whole thing was extremely well-organized.
 
The room is very spacious for just the 2 of us. There is plenty of storage. The only negative thing is that the balcony still feels a bit closed in, and basically feels like a glorified port hole. I guess this is what you get for doing a GTY. But a balcony is still a balcony, so no complaint here. The closets and drawers offer plenty of storage space.
Within 10 minutes, the stateroom attendant knocked on our door, introduced himself, and informed us about the muster drill. Collin, he is very nice and attentive, and we were very pleased with his service throughout the cruise. There were several times when I came back to the room carrying plates of food from WJ, and he saw me, and he opened the door for me. This happened as early as day 1 btw, so he was definitely quick in memorizing our faces lol.
After the drill, we went exploring around the ship, with drinks in hand of course. The ship is fairly nice-sized, but not too big that I feel like it’s a floating city. I know this used to be considered “top of the line” when it was first launched, but now that there are much larger ships around, Adventure of the Seas is considered medium-large.





There were Christmas decorations around the ship, so it felt really festive. However, they’re also “blocking” some access areas especially on deck 4 and 5, at both ends of the ship (so near Centrum staircases). Not a big deal because most of the time it was never that crowded, except during special occasions where you feel like the added stairway would have alleviated the crowd jam a little bit. Also, there were ship photographers in front of the Christmas tree, preventing you to take your own pictures. You can have your pictures taken, but then you’d have to pay to get them.

During the sail away, we went to deck 12 aft to watch. It was windy and slightly raining.
After the sail away, I tried a the flow rider for a little bit. Bad idea. It was hard, and I think my neck got whiplashed when I fell? I only noticed the soreness the day after. I saw some other people having fun on it, so good for them. Also the flow rider area is VERY windy throughout the cruise, because it’s at the top deck, aft. When the ship was docked it was okay, but whenever ship was on sea, it gets very windy.
I also tried the slides. There are two slides: yellow and blue. The yellow one is supposed to be faster, but it also has a slight “bump” in it, meaning you cannot rest your head completely but you had to hold it up a little bit. This became a problem due to my sore neck, but was a lot of fun otherwise. I have been to a lot of water parks in Orlando, and I can say that these two slides were definitely top notch in terms of speed, thrill, and drops. Also because the ship was rocking, no two “sessions” were the same. It keeps you guessing and anticipating with every turn. I must have done each slide at least 10 times throughout the cruise.
I also talked to one of the lifeguards (Matthew) which was very friendly. He said that one passenger hurt his head on the yellow slide because he laid down his head completely during the bump, so he cautioned me not to do that. He also mentioned that he used to work on Allure, and this was his second week on Adventure. He also didn’t know how to do flowrider in the beginning, but they have crew-only hours to train them, and after several times, now he can at least stand comfortably on it. I guess it made me feel better for not getting the hang of flow rider right away?
Then we wasted some time at the solarium reading / enjoying the hot tub. There was a 5pm raffle for $500 voucher at the spa, although we didn’t win ☹
By this time, it’s already 6 pm ish, so we checked out WJ, which was American-themed. They had a welcome onboard cake, and beautiful dessert spread. I took 2 platefuls of food (one for savory things, one for sweet things) to our room, where the cruise compasses for day 1 and 2 were already waiting. I took pictures of them all so that we can plan out the night and the next day over dinner.


Before dinner, they had a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It was just a countdown to light the Christmas tree. I expected some singing at the bridge but there was none. This was where the promenade was full of people, standing by and getting around, and the added access (blocked by decorations) would have been helpful.

At dinner, our table was right by the entrance. Because we emailed Royal Caribbean ahead of time, 4 of us were seated together. Our waiters were Franco and Antonio, and they were both very attentive. They even remembered our preferences (my steak rare). On the first two nights, we ordered hot tea, so by the third night, when we sat down, there were already tea bags prepared, and he brought out mugs of hot water without being asked. It’s the little touches like these that make long lasting impression.


I went for double entrees right away: NY Strip and Salmon, while DW went for prime rib. The NY Strip was great, but I feel like the cook is one “over.” I usually order medium-rare at most restaurants on land, but this time I had to order rare in order to get the same cook. Just FYI. For appetizers we did calamari and shrimp cocktail, and for dessert we did chocolate cake, creme brulee, and blueberry cobbler. The appetizers tasted good but the portion was kinda small. Well I guess you could always order double appetizers, and that's what we ended up doing for the rest of the cruise. The desserts were good but not amazing.







After dinner, we went to a comedy show. But shortly into it, we realized that it’s not our style (it was an adult show) so we just left and went back to our room and slept early. The nice thing about Lyric Theater is that, you can sit in the balcony on 4th floor (and it has a separate entrance that goes to deck 4 instead of deck 3). So that if you decide that the show is not your thing, you can leave without disturbing too many people. We ended up watching shows this way for most of the cruise. There is also a bar by the entrance on deck 4 (INSIDE the theater) so you can keep going back to order drinks, again without disturbing people.

The Effectors
The second unique show to Spectrum is The Effectors. It plays in the Royal Theater for two shows on one night each cruise. Although it’s also a bit light on plot, it has a fun comic book vibe. It’s easy to see the good guys from the bad guys and the special effects are FANTASTIC. It’s a must-see if you end up sailing on this ship. We missed it our first leg (again due to high seas), but used our magic gold SeaPass cards to score perfect seats on Day 10.
Hard to photograph due to the low light, here’s a tiny sample of what you’ll see:





 

Hoi An lunch
The lunch we had on our shore excursion deserved its own post. It was in a giant restaurant that also had a cooking school in it. The food was served family-style for 5 person groups. We also got a beer/soda/water included. Fantastic!
Local beer:

Spicy Clam Soup:

Crab Wontons:

Beef Salad:

Spicy Fried Chicken:

Fried Fish with Mango Salad:

Caramel Pork:

Stir-fried Green Beans:

 

Day 10 - Chan May, Vietnam
This was the first day we’ve had to set an alarm — waaa!

The ship docked before 7:30am, which was when we met for our shore excursion.

We were headed to Hoi An, a historic trading town with Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese influences. We knew in advance we had a long bus ride, so we were emotionally prepared for the hour and 45 minutes drive. Our tour guide was excellent and our bus driver competent. You could tell almost immediately that Vietnam has been in the tourism business for about a decade longer than the two new Philippines ports we were in last week.
Hoi An was an important temporary trading post for a hundred years or more until 1610 when the Japanese decided they should just set up permanent camp in the location. The Chinese soon joined them and the town of Hoi An what born. Currently the “old town” portion of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and there are restrictions on building or remodeling in the area. We saw several historic sites, had a fantastic lunch, and then had a bit of free time to roam the area. 
Japanese bridge circa 1600:

Scenes about town:






Incense spirals that will burn for a month:

The theme of the trip — weddings!

Free time found us in a cafe trying local tea and coffee and doing some people watching:

See the next post for food pics from lunch!
We were actually back on time to the ship so that we could enjoy a glass of wine at sail away - woohoo!

We saw The Effectors at 7:30pm. Whole separate post on that show! Stand by!
We failed to make a dinner reservation ahead of time for New Years’ Eve — the problem with normally being #TeamMDR ? This meant we had to wait until 8:30pm to eat in Gold dining. Ah well, it helped us stay up late! #caffeineisyourfriend
New Years’ menu:

New Years’ celebration options, choices for everyone:

 
 

Rest of Day 8 - Turn Around
After our terrific lunch, MisterZ retired to the cabin for a nap and I went to the spa for a scrub. It’s a really nice space:

The secret side door from the Gold area:

The relaxation room:

A treatment room:

Here’s one sail away picture from foggy, uncooperative Hong Kong:

For dinner we went to Gold dining for the first time. It was fantastic! MisterZ had Dover Sole and I had Spicy Beef Brisket. Our waiter said they have their own totally separate kitchen and absolutely everything is made to order, even the Caesar salad:



It seems the menu may not change every night, but there is a lot of variety. 
After dinner we went to see Silk Road, which deserves its own post!
 

The Silk Road
This is one of two unique shows on Spectrum. It’s done in Two70, twice per night, every 2-3 nights on the cruise. That means if you’re on a short cruise you have less than a 50% chance of seeing it ? (Two70 holds about 350 people per showing, the ship holds around 5000.) One perk we didn’t even realize WAS a perk is that the Diamond concierge will book you for one of the showings on your trip. Unfortunately you’re unlikely to be able to change it, as the bookings fill up immediately (there is no advance booking). There is a standby line for each show but your chances are still slim. The first week of our trip, we were booked the last night, last show. The day we had rough seas. So no show for us!
Fortunately the magic gold SeaPass we have now got us in without a reservation to whatever show we wanted. Whew!
@Traveler, you asked for a plot synopsis. Um... yeah ? Here’s what we got: “The future Mrs. Marco Polo from the East, and Marco Polo from the West, adventure down the Silk Road and see lots of sights and dangers before they finally meet.” I will say that after we saw it we read the bit Royal has in the app about it, which starts with “many ages ago, Zeus, the king of all the gods, sent two eagles...” What?? I’m sticking with my interpretation! Haha! 
Regardless, it’s a terrific show and everyone should see it if they get a chance at all! I would see it again in a heartbeat, because there is A LOT going on the whole time and I’m certain I missed some great stuff. 
Here are the best pics we could come up with: