MaryS

The port from the sky.

I also got to pet this guy.  He was super well behaved in his owner's lap for the entire flight.  He did have an emotional support animal harness on and I was glad he was there to help with my post cruise blues emotions.

Oddly enough despite the delays we arrived early.
Then it was a 2.5 drive home from there.  Then it was all over..just like that.

I have never actually flown on the day after Thanksgiving before.  It's definitely not for the faint of heart for those who dislike crowded places.  Plus there was all the winter weather causing issues for many people flying back.  So it was an absolute mess.  TSA Precheck definitely saved the day here.
Boarded on time.  Then sat at the gate because they were having a circuit board issue.  Always reassuring to hear before taking a flight.  Then finally 40 minutes late we pushed back and were informed we were 10th in line for takeoff but some of the planes ahead of were being affected by the weather so we had to wait for them to decide where they were going to end up going.  
Runway blues...

...coastal views.

Dinner tonite at 150 Central Park. Joyce took a pic for us 

Today was another non-stop barrage of loud live band music.  Now....that did not stop Dan and I from taking a heavenly long nap but it never stopped all afternoon.  In fact, the music is still going strong but it’s piped music and not a live band.  Maybe they’re just on break.
Who says only Twangbot can take a great sunset shot !  Happy Dan got this one out our window.

Thanks all to everyone that followed along and for all the nice comments and encouragement along the way to keep me going.  Made it worthwhile to do this.
I will wrap this all up once I am back in my own safe crowd-free bubble at home, I promise ?

Next is a suite recon. Sabrina, it is my unprofessional opinion that the only thing that has been refreshed in this suite is the mattress and MAYBE the carpeting. I know for sure the drapes are not new. There’s a possibility the couch/sleeper bed might be new. 
 

Dressing table (and bathtub reflection) in MBR

Closets next to dressing table 
 

Same closets, open

Closets/ drawers on the other side of the dressing table 

Opened

One more set of closets

Inside

Star Class laundry bag.  Sorry it’s upside down !   This is one of the great under-advertised joys of SC.  You can send your laundry out every day !  I already have 2 bags full from Brilliance even though I sent our out once on Brilliance 

Ginormous bathtub

His and hers sinks

Each sink area has its own outlets for electric razors.  Wish they gave power outlets the same priority !

 Beautiful walk-in shower 




Door to the potty

Potty and bidet !  Yippee !!




Coming down from the bathroom into the bedroom

 


You can see that the privacy shades are up.  They come up from the bottom and this is as far up as they go.   When we got to the suite it was as hot as h, e, double hockey sticks in here.  I think they like to “present” the suite with all the drapes open but that heats up the room like a broiler.  First thing I did was close every drape and shade and turn the AC down to “quick freeze”.  


Outlet situation on both sides of the bed.  Still wholly inadequate. 

 
That’s it for the bedroom/bathroom areas.  It’s almost muster drill time so I will  come back later with the Living room area

So we’re finally here !  Yeah !
Embarkation was awesome. Only epic fail was in getting the taxi driver to drop us at the right place. We are 1 for 5 on this issue. Not sure why we have such a hard time getting to the SC banner (so far only successful at Port Liberty) but we schlepped our bags down to the purple banner and made contact with the SC kiosk. Of course, we had to fight off numerous porters trying to take our bags but we trekked forward until we reached our destination.  
 

Then we had to fight off the SC greeter who also insisted that we surrender our bags but our will was great and our mission clear-our bags are staying WITH US !
So once we cleared the greeting area our next challenge was Security.  Dan wasn’t particularly pleased when he realized he was going to have to pick up all of the bags and place them on the security conveyor himself (the price you pay for keeping your bags WITH YOU.).
I thought I had captured the bags going through the scanner but I guess I didn’t.  They did, however, all make it through successfully and our next stop was up the elevator to the Suites waiting area.

 

 

 

 

 
That luggage cart would become very important in about 5 minutes.

 

The moment we walked into the Suites waiting area, they announced that boarding was beginning.  We had to wait for Joyce, but it was no more than 5 minutes and I spotted her.  We met and she summoned a ship’s porter to help us with our bags.  So for those who wondered how it works (to keep your bags with you rather than having the porters bring them), here it is in action  

 

 
They loaded up the luggage cart and on we went, straight through boarding to our suite (Grand Panoramic Suite 1758).  There are no stairs on this suite so I had the porter just drop the bags inside but if we had been in a Loft suite, I would have asked him to take them upstairs.
I really, really like Joyce.  She is funny and has an infectious smile.  Look what she did for us before we even got to our room !  It is on our Suite door.
❤️❤️

Dan claims he never wants to leave the suite.  It is, in fact, the nicest room we’ve ever had.

Overall Reflections:
Favorite hangout spots:
- North star bar in nice weather
-270 Lounge
-Schooner bar with piano music (loved show with "We will rock you and The gift singers")
-Music hall when band was playing
 
Loved Cococay (This was the longest that I have stayed out at a private island.  Chairs/umbrellas were everywhere and nice.  We were lucky on Thanksgiving that Anthem was the only ship in port.  Loved the pool party with music in the afternoon at the swim up bar.  Loved the chicken sandwich and mozarella sticks from the snack shack, and the drinks & music at captain jack's
They moved the taste of royal to day 8.  We ended up cancelling this, but I would like to try in future when we don't have a drink package (it comes with a special wonderland drink).
Another interesesting thing on Anthem is that Wonderland did not have it's own bar, so to order the wonderland cocktails, you have to order them at the 270 bar,  Wonderland uses the schooner bar for their drinks.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well done and you've saved me from having to do one.  
However I am serious when I say... get off my ship!  We are all waiting to board!

33 hours until our flight to Miami is "scheduled" to depart.  I'm trying to get onto a daytime schedule, but last night I wasn't tired enough to fall asleep until 4:30 am (that's a lot of binge watching of "Shameless" on Netflix).
I spent the night packing (i.e. discovering that I gained weight over the summer and a change of plans for what clothes got dumped into the suitcase).  Still, I got it done without shedding a tear, so I'm calling it a win.  I also had to do it pretty quickly - as anyone with a cat knows, there's not much time between opening the suitcase and the cat inserting itself into said suitcase.

 
The next challenge is the weather.  The closer we get to our flight time, the worse the forecast becomes.  I guess that's why we fly a day ahead, right?  Keeping fingers crossed that we aren't delayed too long, and can spend a little time enjoying Miami.
 

@AshleyDillo Thank you for an awesome blog.  I have never laughed so much.  I had so much fun following along with you this week.  Makes me wish that I didn't have to wait until May to cruise.

Watching my college football team lose badly is made better with using my BOGO Diamond offer.
 

And let there be cake..
 

Elevator piano guy just happened.  He gets the funniest reactions.  Some folks are all about it and some people are not at all amused.
 

Great blog!  Wonderful sense of humor!  Awesome writing!  etc, etc...blah, blah, blah.
Now get my ship back to Miami so I can board her tomorrow.  

I had to ask about my Diamond pin at Guest Services.  I hit 80 points after my last cruise.
I am somebody now.

Good thing too.  I have been Diamond Lounging 6 whole days without this proper piece of attire.  I felt naked.

OMG, legit laughing so loudly at this search history that my dogs are side eyeing me!

Just kidding.

I told the host that I had a 9:15 dinner reservation but didn't realize that I was going to a show at 10:00. I said I didn't think I was going to be able to make it if sat down, so I asked if I could just get the food to go.
I guess the host misunderstood me because he made a big deal of leading me to a table and trying to seat me. He told me that he'd be able to get me quickly through the meal but obviously having had BBQ I wasn't really feeling a huge sit-down dinner. I reiterated that I'd rather just get a plate to go.  He still tried to sell me on sitting.
It's formal night; I am wearing shorts.  Chops has a formal dress code per the app.  I told him I just wasn't comfortable sitting in the dining room dressed inappropriately.
He told me that it didn't matter, which is true because an entire table of high schoolers were there wearing booty shorts and red sweatshirts.  But still...then he told me he could make a table outside. ??
Finally he got the idea and got a waiter to take my order.  My food was brought to me 5 minutes later, no lie.  They tried to push a dessert to go as well, but I wasn't having it.  They didn't even have me sign a slip and held the door for me as I left.
1am Ashley thanks 9pm Ashley in advance.
First spotting of Christmas decorations

PS: Shoutout to WOW bands for making opening doors so easy while carrying a plate and a steak knife.

Just a hop, skip, and a jump (in an elevator) down a floor...(what??!? My mom has hip and knee issues and I didn't want her to have to go alone) down to Deck 15 for more meat.

Well, don't mind if I do.

The menu is a wee more involved at dinner.


It's Genie dinner hour and 3 out of 4 are up here trying it for the first time.  Names protected for anonymity and because I can't remember their names..plus wouldn't want to overexcite @Lovetocruise2002.

Anywhere there's Newcastle Brown Ale I'll be a happy girl.

We successfully completed the mission and launched our rocket!

...with time to spare.

Everyone gets a patch to commemorate the success.

This activity was definitely one of the more worthwhile things I've paid for on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

ISince we are docked at the downtown pier, we decided to go out into town for a while. Beside us is docked NCL Breakaway.


Out in the bay, offshore, is the NCL Escape.  She is tendering her peeps ashore with lifeboats.  Glad I’m not on Escape !
We walked down to the Plaza and decided to have a couple of beers and some chips and pico de gallo.  This was the first alcohol that either of us have had the entire cruise !  The cold Coronas tasted pretty good.  More about this, later.

At some point, Dan mentioned something about maybe getting a cheap massage.  Oh yeah....that sounded like a GREAT idea.  After finishing our beers and chips, we asked our waiter if there was anywhere close where we could get a massage. It seemed we were in luck !  No more than 20 paces down the side street was a spa.  The decision was made.  If the price was right, we were getting massages.  Trust me, this is no foo foo spa.  It’s a hole-in-the-wall place but the price seemed right.  $70 each for a 90 minute massage.  Done.  They put us in a “room” for 2.  I put “room” in quotations because it is really just 1 big room with curtains to separate the “private” areas.  Good enough for us.
I will just say up front that this was one of the best massages I have ever had.  Most masseuses hurt me.  I guess I’m just a wimp but the whole “deep tissue” thing is about as far from enjoyable as I can get.  But this lovely lady’s touch was perfect. You start out on your belly, of course, and I was really settling in...enjoying every stroke.  She did my back, neck and shoulders.  Heaven.  Then she moved to my legs....and trouble began to brew.
Here’s where the forewarning from the beer and chips photo comes back into play.  As if, by some awesome force of nature and gravity combined, the moment she started pushing “up” (towards my torso) on my legs, the beer bubbles began to be pushed up from my belly.  Had I been standing, I would simply let out a diminutive “burp” and all would have been fine....but I was laying on my stomach and those beer bubbles were trapped between my stomach and my throat.  I tried to maneuver in a way that would allow them to escape, but nopesville.  They just kept accumulating in a most unpleasant location, soon to be joined by some chips and salsa (thank you, hiatal hyneria).  It was both horrifying and hilarious at the same time.
I thought the legwork would never end.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, she whispered “turn over on your back, please”.  As soon as I moved, the loudest, most manly, horrific belch came roaring out.  It was so loud I’m sure they heard it across the street.  Dan said “are you ok ?”  I was so relieved.  I just muttered “yes, I’m fine”.
The moral of this story is NEVER drink a beer before having a massage !
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Day 3:
Yesterday brought us to Coco Cay.  I was just here in September but my wife has never been as we’ve always missed it when trying to tender.  It really is a wonderful place and they did an excellent job with the redesign.  We were cleared just after 8am and I headed straight to the Thrill Waterpark.  Entry was simply scanning your seapass to enter and exit.  They do a queue system for Daredevils Peak and I was thankfully in the very first group.  By about 930-945 they had given out all the slots for the entire day so if you want to ride it I would get there early.  I was probably 20th in line and waited about 15 minutes.  A ton of stairs but a real rush and good fun.
I hit the two drop slides next and managed to hit every slide in the park and some twice in just over 90 minutes.  Only one I missed was the group raft one as the line was way too long and I was solo anyways.  I enjoyed the park and managed to get entry for $32 awhile back.  Was selling for $65 a week or so ago which imo is more than its worth.  Afterwards I lounged in a chair on the beach until I met my wife for lunch at the snack shack around noon.  Spent and hour or two at the Oasis pool and bar then headed back to the ship around 130.
Walked onto both slides onboard multiple times then took a long nap.  Pre-dinner drinks again at the R Bar then dinner again was at Chops.  Food was cooked perfectly and we had the same waiter which was nice.  After dinner I spent a couple hours between the piano player in the Schooner Bar and on the promenade.  Watched the beginning of the Quest then headed to bed.  Today is a sea day for Thanksgiving and we have very little planned.  I was busy enough yesterday that I forgot to take many photos, sorry!  For anyone wanting the compasses I plan on scanning these and our Explorer ones to the website on return.  Have a great and happy Thanksgiving all!

Happy thanksgiving from Perfect Day!