MaryS

My mother shenanigans 🤣
As previously stated, she has doesn't listen syndrome.
The staff from specialty dining keeps coming around with their spiel. She doesn't listen so she always say "yes I want all you can eat....." and starts ordering. They ask her for room number and preferred time, she then gets confused. She claims she fails to notice the different uniforms 🙄.
She then only focuses on certain words and we have to stand there and explain what they said, not what she heard.
Despite them saying her name and looking directly at her, she doesn't acknowledge them when they are trying to get her order. This is despite the fact that she has been narrating her order since we sat down. Then the minute she gets asked, she brand new.
Since she got drunk, she is requesting mocktails.  But can't remember her drink, even if she hsd it in her hand. It goes " Alicia what's that drink I had? A virgin cucumber? You know the strawberry daiquiri?" So she knows but does straight tomfoolery 😂🤣🤣😂🤣🙄.
When the room got changed she decided instead of just asking the steward to separate the bed, she would sleep on the bay window couch. BTW she is 5'5.

Day 3 Nassau
We are getting off to shop at noon. I haven't gotten off on Nassau since my first cruise on carnival probably over a decade ago. My uncle just crossed 10 years sober and he requested a coffee mug from every port we visit.
Surprisingly enough my brother and mother have never eaten breakfast in the MDR.  So we made plans to try it. We were in line at 8:50, slept in 😂, and sat by 9. Our server was short, like maybe she was overwhelmed.  But when she came she said "the assistant will get drinks and bring out the assortment of pastries, give me hot food order." Both my mother and I ordered the quick breakfast, she requested all hers be cook hard. She black, so everything must be well done 🙄. I only wanted my sausage well done because otherwise they too grey for me.
I also said I wanted hash browns and the waiter shut me down saying the quick breakfast came with hash browns, despite it not being listed. We didn't get pastries,  nor juice and my food came out burnt. The single hash brown was about as big as a strawberry. Also that toast was both burnt and soft. No crisp whatsoever. I was disappointed because I needed my chocolate croissant.......so we went to the WJ.
The WJ was crowded. It was the first time I felt the number of cruises on this ship. But I got my juice, donuts and chocolate milk. The hash browns were almost twice the size othe MDR ones
There will be a coast guard inspection on turnaround day, so those embarking were asked to come an hour later. I took a photo of the B2B letter.

Day 2 PDCC  continues  So I learned something new about myself which I am all for🥰. 
But first the bathroom completely stopped working in my brother's room. No toilet or water coming out of the shower. So he went to guest services and they told him the only option was to move. Thankfully since we are staying on, we packed well. It took us one trip and 15min to move them to their new room.
This made my brother extra hungry, despite him having 4 tuna sammies from cafe promenade and a family size taco dinner from ELF between 2pm and 5pm. So at 7:35 we went to the WJ and he ate.
We have late traditional dining that starts at 8:30. I have always scheduled specialty and MTD for 8/8:15 and never felt it was late. But man this late traditional dining is rough. We don't even start getting food to 9pm and it's 9:30 when we get our entrees. That's late. I start to get sleepy. With MTD we are usually out by 9 maybe 9:15 if they do the dancing. So I learned I don't actually like to eat that late.
After getting out of dinner at 10:15. We had some drinks at Schooners. The piano player was actually both funny and good. We then played at the casino until 11:30. I learned they now put the value of the diamond drinks you purchased on your receipt.
Also I keep finding food and drinks in the bathroom. This one lady brought the full plate of WJ food with her but left the drink in the bathroom 🤢🤮.
My luck was better on the dancing drums. My brother's luck was amazing. He turned $25 in freeplay into $86.76 by playing on 16 cent a spin.
We went back to out rooms and conked out.
 

Day 3: Roatan, Honduras (CONT.)
OK, back for a bit before bedtime… Costa Maya was cancelled because the wind and waves were too strong to dock. 🥺
This was one port we were looking forward to since we’ve never been and we had booked a tour with Native Choice to see the Chacchoben ruins and Bacalar Lagoon. It will have to wait until next time. Native Choice was prompt e-mailing us to confirm our refund is in process (less than 3 hours after the visit was cancelled)!
Let’s continue with early AM Promenade pics… Deck 5…







This station is the only table they set up to sell shirts, booze, etc… keeps the Promenade clear of clutter!

















Now on to Deck 6…






















 





Morning offerings at the Pearl Cafe…





Yes, the Pearl Cafe, like Cafe Promenade on Wonder (and other ships) sells a limited Starbucks menu included in the drink packages and Royal coffee cards…







That’s it for now! It’s past 1:00 AM ship time and I’m wiped out again! 😴 
Have a good night!

Had a great day in Sitka! The bike and hike was a great time, we recommend this but only if you have zero mobility challenges and can manage a 21 speed road bike with long but gentle uphill climbs and a two mile hike on uneven gravel trails. You do not need a lot of biking experience but you should be comfortable with cycling outside next to sporadic traffic. It was a fantastic way to learn about Sitka history and the ecology of the island.
Our bus dropped us off downtown and we walked to the totem park, then shopped for our traditional magnet souvenir at a charming artisan boutique. We caught one of the last shuttles back to the pier. We were too late for our dinner time so we took a chance on the Windjammie and were pleasantly surprised by the quality. Lunch has not been the best there but dinner was much better. Depending on how long we are in Juneau today we may or may not make it back to the MDR. I might make the effort because it’s the Italy menu, which is one of my favorites.

 
my mom went on her own tour she booked at the port that was essentially a three hour highlights tour. It stopped at the raptor center, fortress of the bear, totem park, and drove around the island. She loved it and thought it was worth the money, about $100. My in-laws stayed on the ship to rest and they plan to go to the glacier today in Juneau. Last nights entertainment was a very fun performer who had been on AGT and after I found the perfect espresso martini before bed. Super smooth waters and no rain but overcast skies this morning as we sail into Juneau.

So development. .....
The room my brother and mother were in, is apparently uninhabitable. So they were moved to a promenade interior on deck 8. So I am now in the catty corner bowels by myself 😒.
I got my first towel animal. I also got the consecutive cruisers letter. There will be a lunch.
I am currently sitting in the WJ listening to a tiny human screaming, while my brother eats his pre dinner.

PDCC was a fun mess, the seagulls are back being trifling. Stealing tiny humans food and fighting.  It's so entertaining.
So since indy was also there I got us a table in the shade at chill grill. My brother and mother went to snack shack.  She was supposed to bring me a shack chicken, minus mayo only, and mozzarella sticks. She comes back with just a plain piece of chicken.........no bun, lettuce, pickle.....etc. She order and said "plain just the chicken." My brother said she ordered so confidently, he didn't say anything. Thankfully the chill grill had all the accessories I needed. The worst part is she opened hers and said " I thought they came on a bun?" Then she just started eating the chicken.
A bonus was the steak is back for ELF and PDCC when it comes to tacos. Funnel cake was good but the softserve was sour, like it had curdled. It was a good thing I only put a little on my funnel cake.
We ate and walked the island for a little 
then got back on the ship.
So far no casino shenanigans.
However they tried me. If you want to use the D+ internet and prime discounts, you will need to buy it separately.  I was using the discount for the whole thing and then getting the 2 days discounted. But they won't do that.
Anyhow. I went to the Crown Lounge. My mother came up to the deck attached to it, it's no longer blocked off. Instead you just use your card to access the lounge.
So my grandmother is the queen of fringe. She said she would fringe some leggings for my casino outfit. She is convinced they provide better comfort because the shingles make a breeze. So here's a picture of them and my Croc sandals.
 
 

Do they not have the "don't flush your undies" sign over the toilet?! C'mon!!

Must have been a really bad Code Brown... 💩 😱

……………..HOW DO YOU FLUSH YOUR UNDERWEAR
gOOD B Y E. 

Day 3: Roatan, Honduras
I got up early this morning (MON, 5/13) so I could explore the ship more thoroughly and take pics without crowds.
I started in the forward part of the ship on Deck 15 and worked my way down… inside areas for now!
Here comes the first picture dump!
Just another shot of the awesome destination elevators…

Lobby outside of the AquaDome and entrance. You can see the AquaTheater directly ahead…




A couple of shots of the Royal Bling Store just to the right side as you enter…


A quick shot of the AquaTheater on my way to the AquaDome Market (on the right after the Royal Bling Store)…

Entering the AquaDome Market…

Menus from all of the stations…









Exited the market from the door I entered and continued counter-clockwise toward the Rye & Bean Bar and the Overlook which is just in front of the AquaTheater…










Exited the Overlook and now walking past Hooked…


I left the AquaDome area and moved on… An exterior shot of Coastal Kitchen…

Some shots of Vitality Spa and Cafe..




Another sculpture…

Empire Supper Club…






The Crown Lounge… a no-go this cruise! 


Royal Theater and tonight’s show…


A bunch of shots of the Music… Phoenix is on this sailing…









 
I’ll be back later… we have to start getting ready for Chef’s Table!

Day 3 Bergen 
Morning started  slow as we were planned to be docked only on 12:30 PM. Breakfast was at the WJ , mot too crowded so it was fine. We went to take a coffee in the CL, the new machine that replaced the broken one is not as good so we took a coffee from the Starbucks again. Once again we went to play some pool.

Returning to the room we notice the water is not working , I called house keeping they told me it's all the back of the ship that dose not have water due to some emergency shutdown and it will take at least 3 hours to be  fixed , not a good news for the morning. Good that the room is not the only place with a bathroom on the ship. Of course after 15 minutes the water returns,  that time I was happy with the false information.
We started our way near the shore and strated to see amazing view from the balcony. 


The weather today was perfect around 70 f without any clouds.  This is a rare weather for this time of the year , but I will not complain. Once the gangway was opened we started our way into the city. We had tickets to the funicular which takes you up to the hill to a stunning 360 view of the city and the ports. It took us around 20 minutes to reach the station.  The line was very long but once I checked I saw there are actually two lines , one for people with tickets which was much shorter and one for buying tickets. We stand on the right line when people started to ask us about the second line . Apparently,  many people with tickets were standing in the wrong line without checking... Maybe people  thought "hey , it's a longer line it must be for something better". The train takes about 5 minutes , indid amazing view



And here she is 


We went to walk around , meet some locals 

You can do some short trips around the mountains but we decided to go down and tour the city. Bergen is a lovely city , at that time of a year they had tulips everywhere.



For lunch we went to the fish market, we shared a salmon sandwich which I thought was amazing (although not cheap) . Anyone see something strange in the menue ?

We continue to walk around the city until we decided to go back to the ship. 





Arriving to the ship we went to have some drinks in the sun . After that we decided to try and go up on the north star. As we thought , many people reserved it but only few arrived so there was no issues to join and go up. 


Dinner today was at the main dining room, it was Italian night so we both took the lasagna which, as always was very good.

Today show was the gift, after reading all the reviews about it we skipped it , thanks 🙂 .  The Casino was again packed and all the few machines I like thete were taken , so I saved some money.  Tomorrow early port day.

I will do that for you tomorrow - we have come back to the room straight after dinner as we’re both feeling the last 4 late nights. 
 
Not much to update on today. This afternoon was spent in the Schooner Bar and then wandering the top deck for a bit. We watched some folks on the FlowRider, some had obviously had a lot of practice, others were beginners and we saw some pretty tough wipeouts. Tonight we had a pre dinner drink at the Globe and Atlas. Dinner was good, UK night. Not my favourite menu but everything we had was tasty, at a good temperature and the service was great as ever. 
 
Tomorrow is La Spezia, and we’re renting a car and going to Pisa.

Some of the afternoon before trivia was spent in the Solarium, which was very relaxing - we got talking to a couple form North Carolina who had experienced crazy flight delays and were lucky they were coming to Barcelona a few days beforehand of they could’ve missed the ship!

After trivia we came back and got ready for our first formal night. 

Dinner was good again - Taste of France menu. 
I had the French onion soup, which I was nervous about but wanted to try and loved it. Jamie got plate envy and ended up ordering one so I decided to get some escargot again too! Jamie had previously ordered the iceberg wedge and had enjoyed this too. 
Then Jamie got the beef tenderloin which looked, and apparently tasted, fantastic and I went with the chicken cordon bleu which was really good too! I went into the cruise with zero expectations for food, and although I know it’s not the best, it’s better than I expected so far! 
For dessert I had the crème brûlée and Jamie went for the apple crumble. I enjoyed mine, the texture has previously been one I’ve not cared for but this time I liked it. Gotta love changing tastes. Jamie said the crumble was good too. 
 
Then we went to see Aqua80. 
Wow!! The best show I’ve ever seen on a ship, and possibly one of the best shows I’ve seen period. Insane that they did all this stuff while on a moving ship!! As an aside, we got there at 10.40 for the 11pm show and were directed to some good seats out of the splash zone after explaining my vision issues. I could see clearly so was really happy - the show filled up in the last 10 minutes before but our side was still pretty quiet. 

Today is a sea day, it’s a little cool so far (10.20am as I write this) so it’ll be interesting to see how the ship handles the crowds if people are drawn inside. Today we have Izumi for lunch and then white night tonight. 

PDCC
I don't think my red outfit is working. I got my butt handed to me in the casino. I think I'm going to chalk it up to the crappy machines. So bear with me on my casino rant.......
There are no fun machines, I love it when the people/animals/dragons/crazy beings randomly come out and offer you things. There are hardly any games like that. I can play a bunch of spins and not even win twenty cents. Then there are a bunch not working, so I feel like everyone is fighting for machines,  even on a PDCC morning. Rant over.....
But I'm currently sitting in chill grill. Waiting on my brother and mother to come back from snack shack. Indy is here with us and this humidity is popping.
I just want to say I have seen 5 dogs on this cruise. They are all support/service. One sad Yorkie was shivering while a tiny human screamed to play with it. Two are with older couples who stay in the casino.
My mother got her emerald pin and she is fancy. 
They had to send a plumber. My brother said he said someone had flushed underwear and that's why the toilet didn't work.
 

One thing I've definitely gotten out of  this blog so far, besides the fact that  travelling with your mom should be recorded and sold to Bravo for a reality show, is that I am really gonna miss Playmakers on Liberty in a few months! Damn those fries looked good!!  
 

your mom…….. 
if we cruised together, i might actually kidnap you and not let you return so that you could actually relax and get a break 😂😂😂😂
i am glad you slept last night AT LONG LAST. a chicken sandwich is a worthy reason to walk off the ship while at PDCC since you are not a sun seeker. perhaps a funnel cake as well? 
happy to hear about the great crew and internet 😎
also…. stay away from the soup. (aka the pool). the tales from the watery deep frighten me 😂

Day 2 PDCC.
I slept a nice 8hrs and woke up refreshed. I plan to get off at noon for a chicken sandwich. But I will head to the Crown Lounge for OJ and bread. Then the casino. I am trying out my red, casino only outfit today.
I haven't ventured out around the ship yet, but I have plenty of days to do that.
My brother's toilet didn't work yesterday. They were supposed to send someone to fix it during dinner. I will find out if they did.
Stray observations
They were desperate to sell specialty dining. We got accosted 5 times while in Playmakers, twice in the WJ and once in the MDR. The lowest was 40% off.
The internet is great. I made a couple of calls and my brother was able to revise a project and send it out.
Crew have been friendly and fantastic, everyone is eager to help.
Cabin steward said he will just come clean when he can, never asked about whether we wanted evening or morning service.
This sailing has 40% children. Lots of large family groups and reunions. But no tales of poop in the pools, despite them looking like soup.

So none of my plans really worked out. I was basically up for 48hrs straight and my mind didn't function on a proper level.
So shenanigans 🤪.......
My mother started early. Our Lyft driver showed up in a different car than describe.....much smaller. But we had to go, she fell asleep and proceeded to talk in her sleep. He thought she was having a full conversation with her, it was hilarious 😂.
This continued to be a thing. Her talking very loudly to herself and people thinking they are having a conversation.
My brother said she was brand new during her tsa screening. She was narrating everything she did and the tsa worker asked if she was autistic and needed special assistance.
She has a habit of asking obvious questions.....like "why are all these people standing here trying to get a ride," or my favorite  "what's that?" To anything we get, despite telling her we were getting it.
She got to the room and was brand new that the beds can be split. I found out when she shares a room with her bff, they never split the bed. But she legit thought she was staying in a special room.
Since we have casino drinks we let her drink on our vouchers,  she had 4 daiquiris and was drunk. She fell off a casino stool and got lost in the bathroom before dinner. She didn't want to eat but I forced her to and she felt better. I know what you are thinking but she doesn't drink, so that little alcohol took her to the edge. She kept waving to random children and giggling. It was a lot funnier because my brother and I were exhausted and a little lightheaded.

Love your brother relationship with food and smile. I am loving the food pictures.

I need to make one more casino run and I will write about my mother's shenanigans.

Embarkation day continues.
The casino has a ton of new machines, none of my favorites are on her anymore. I couldn't find a machine to get a good groove on. My brother played eight cents a spin on dancing drums and won $40. He is rich and will play that for the rest of the 10 nights, also that was only part of his freeplay. 🤣😂😭😱. They did make an announcement about people smoking in the non-smoking section.
A side note, it doesn't feel full, the pool deck is always popping but I haven't waited for much. The casino bar needs more or better bartenders,  service was abysmal. They are super strict about traditional dining. 8:30-8:45 is the set time, not before or after.
I request we only be sat together and it was honored. A nice 4-top across from windows. The tables are close.
We had basic welcome aboard dinner. With the exception of the steak, my brother ate everything else. My mother and I split the steak. She tried the chicken and fish and wasn't happy. Food was hot, but somewhat salty.
 
 
 

Good morning from the Windjammie! Unfortunately in cold weather climates the seating area inside is too small for a nearly full ship if you get here any time after 7:30 a.m. You have to stalk and hover for an empty table or take your plate outside or to another area of the ship. 
 
Several of us are suffering from tummy discomfort due to jet lag and general adjustment to cruise food. Overall the food has been fine but we are only in the morning on day 3 and we are already getting tired of it. Luckily we have opportunity to eat in port the next three days. No one is going hungry or complaining. If you went to college in the US any time after 1995 you may be familiar with the buffet style dining halls that are often billed as “all you care to enjoy.” I usually refer to it as “more than you care to enjoy” and that’s where we’re at. Paired with some increased rocking and rolling I think we are all ready to get into port this afternoon!
We will arrive in Sitka around 12:30. My sister, Mr. Regular, and I have the bike and hike scheduled and our parents are going to hang around town.

Day2 - Sea day.
The first real day if the cruise was a sea day. The watch was moved forward but it is still one hour behind our watch and I anyway still in a jetlag. So we woke up early and went tot the CL just to find out the coffee machine was broken. That was very sad news as this machine was one of the best in the fleet and had good coffee. So we took something to eat and and used one of our vouchers to take coffee at the local "Starbucks" , don't worry even with that we still did not used all the vouchers,  we are bad , very bad. Next we went to play some pool in the music hall. Love the pool tables there , advantage to the Q class. I went to the shore excursion show has one of our excursion got canceled. I must say it was very fresh to hear them talking on how to get also independent excursions,  I guess they did not had many spots left available but still it was nice.
Quick round in the casino (oh , it should have been quicker 🙂 ) and we went to organized for our lunch. Few month ago I booked the Jamie's for lunch , the price was something like 12 $ so it was a crime not to book it. We did not came with much expectation as in the past it was hit and miss. Surprisingly it was very good.
We took almost most of the starters (you allow 2 for each) and my spouse got the spagiti with some sea food while I took the truffle pasta. Both were good.



For dessert I got Tiramisu and my spouse got the banana split which looked better. I cam claim bananas are pure evil and they are planning to take control of the world one day but somehow I am failing to convince people with this pure truth. Oh well 1:0 for the bananas today. 
 

After such meal a rest was required so we took a nap and later went to tour the ship , stopping in different locations to use our  drinking vouchers.

Quick visit to the loyalty ambassador to find out we missed the to tier , he was telling us "we should have seen it in the paper we had at the room" but we did not got any, so I can not give you the count report. More important we collected our glass block , finally.

Today was also the "dress your best"  night, we'll with what we packed at the last minute our best was not something to impress , but hey we are on vacation. We were still full from lunch so we eat some snacks in the WJ (it was funny as it was French night so they served some Croque Madam for dinner). We had reservations for the Spectra show in 270. We went 30 minutes before and took the front row chairs which was on the stage itself , funny experience,  I was worried I will be part of the show.  🙂 I do recommend to try it once. The show itself was nice but had the same exact numbers as the show on the Odyssey of the seas (the book) just different story frame. 



Around 10:30 PM the captain announced another med evacuation.  An helicopter arrived 10 minutes after, Hope whoever  needed it is OK.
 
After a night snack at Sorentos we called it for the day ,tomorrow our first port call.
 

For reference I will just post an end of evening shenanigans post involving my mother.