MaryS

Transatlantic zoo 

Our last sunset

Final dinner pictures

Got my nails done today, went with a nautical theme in one of my favourite shades of blue. 
Also got the last of my cruise cash - some more euros and some dollars for tipping on the ship. Picked up a couple of last minute items - some make up wipes and another bottle of sunscreen.
Unfortunately, I've just had an email from our tour provider in Naples. Due to not meeting the minimum of 5 people, our tour has been cancelled. So I've text Jamie, and am frantically searching the web for options. I wanted a small group tour as, having a disability, smaller groups are easier as they can tailor things to the group. I am so sad - the tour covered Pompeii, which I have visited before but Jamie hasn't as he's never been to Italy, Sorrento and Positano, neither of which I've been to but was so looking forward to seeing. 
Ah well, I guess it's better to know now than this time next week, but still, kinda stinks. 

Good morning!
Oh, and @WAAAYTOOO will love this!  😃
We will be keeping our eyes 👀 open for 3 very important "subjects"... both human and canine!
Capt. Henrik (aka "Capt. Hottie" per my wife 😳), Rover, and Chris (@CHRIS WONG)!
 

 
Capt. Henrik and Chris should be relatively easy to find during the course of the cruise, but Rover is the wildcard!  🤣
On our Facebook group established for this sailing, I suggested we create a real-time "Rover Alert" 🐕‍🦺 ... it's gaining traction with tons of likes and comments! 
I'm starting to feel the "pressure" to book Star OTS! We also have to meet Sailor! 🦮
We'll see how many of these "icons" 😆 we can see or meet on this sailing!  😎

Phew! All done! The most stressful part of committing to a live blog is naming it!  🤣
@Lovetocruise2002 sets the bar so high! I waffled between “ICON Sea Clearly Now” and “ICONic Anniversary Cruise”.  I hope I made the right choice!  😀
Once again, starting the blog a little early to get a head start. We set sail in 7 days! It’s so crazy how time flies… we booked this cruise almost 19 months ago back in late OCT 2022 when they first opened up the bookings for Icon!

 
My wife (Christine) and I (John) will be celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary 💒 🍾 a little early on this cruise. Our actual anniversary is June 4th… the not so clever “6404” in my screen name!  😆
It will be just the two of us this time since none of our cruising cohorts could make this sailing due to scheduling conflicts (both couples booked, but had to back out early on… they are soooo jealous! 😉). Our last “solo” couple cruise was back in OCT 2021 on Oasis shortly after the return to cruising.
There will be a number of new experiences during this vacation both on land and on the cruise. Of course, Icon is completely new to us! So excited and ready to go!
This itinerary has eluded us to date. We had booked this itinerary on Harmony prior to the shutdown. Harmony turned into Symphony (moved us as Harmony’s planned dry dock was moved up at that time), but when Covid hit, that sailing was of course cancelled. This will be our first visit to Costa Maya and Roatan!
 
* Time for some trip details…
Cruise Details:  
Icon of the Seas, 7-night, Western Caribbean & Perfect Day itinerary Out of Miami, FL 5/11/24-5/18/24 Itinerary:
Day 1 (5/11):    Miami, FL Day 2 (5/12):    * At Sea * Day 3 (5/13):    Roatan, Honduras Day 4 (5/14):    Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico Day 5 (5/15):    Cozumel, Mexico Day 6 (5/16):    * At Sea * Day 7 (5/17):    PDCC, Bahamas Day 8 (5/18):    Miami, FL Cabin Details & General Plans/Stuff:
Ocean View Balcony Stateroom (Deck 12, Midship, Starboard side) Selected Traditional Dining (5:00 PM) Purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package Purchased VOOM Surf+Stream Package Purchased 10-Photo Package Purchased a-la-carte specialty dining lunches (Chops Grille, Hooked, and Izumi Hibachi) Purchased Chef’s Table... wanted to try Empire Supper Club, but the $472 charge for the 2 of us was a little too steep this time around! Purchased the Day Pass to Hideaway Beach (CocoCay) Purchased “Semi-Sub Glass Bottom Boat and Monkey & Sloth Park” excursion in Roatan (Christine insisted) Purchased “Chacchoben Extreme Tour” through Native Choice in Costa Maya Purchased admission to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel Purchased Crown’s Edge for both of us (Note: Christine is terrified of heights, but insisted on joining me when I booked it! 😳) Booked all major entertainment via Cruise Planner (The Wizard of Oz, Starburst: Elemental Beauty, Aqua Action!, Headliner: Adam Kario, The Effectors: The Origin Story, Adult Comedy LIVE! (x2) What did we skip this time?
The Key… we do not feel it’s worth it right now with all of the changes and price increases. We’ve purchased it 4 times since 2019 – very familiar with the changes to the program over the last 5 years. It’s also been holding at $49.99/day pp for our sailing! Unlimited Dining Package… tried it for the first time last OCT/NOV on Wonder. We enjoyed it, but we don’t feel it’s necessarily worth purchasing every cruise (our decision will likely be based on cost and itinerary). Will try it again down the road. Currently selling for $420.99 pp! We traditionally purchase the 3 Night Dining Package, but also skipped it this time and elected to go with specialty lunches and Chef's Table for a change. Miscellaneous Stuff:
Flight on Southwest Airlines out of Islip/MacArthur Airport (ISP) on Long Island (NY) very early 🥱 on FRI (5/10) morning to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL). Taking a shuttle (SAS Transport Service) from FLL directly to our hotel. Staying overnight at the InterContinental Miami (booked a Bay View room). Plan on exploring Bayside Marketplace and some other local areas as time permits. Our current plan is to use Uber or Lyft from the hotel to the port on SAT morning. We booked the earliest boarding period available (11:30-12:00) for our sailing (completed check-in right after midnight). We likely will arrive a little earlier just in case! We love to start our vacation and exploration of the ship ASAP!  🚢🍹🧉🍷  * Oh yeah! We'll finally be Diamond after this sailing!  🥳 🎉 🍾
 
I think that’s it for the synopsis... now we just need to pack this weekend! 
*** As always, please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to post pictures of something you are interested in... I'll do my best to keep up throughout the sailing!
 
My current iPhone lockscreen… always a pic of the next ship we’ve booked!
Having at least one in the hopper, even if it's a year away, helps soften the pain of disembarking the ship! 

 
Have a good night everyone!

Ok, recap of the last night.
We had dinner at Izumi sushi.  It was really good this trip!
Seaweed salad.

Various rolls and some nigiri 🍣 


 
After dinner they had to bring in a wheel barrow to haul us out of there.
We may not have to eat for a week.
Once recovered, I managed to play 3 card for a bit and came away a whole $25 richer.  I'll take it.  Came away up quite a bit over all. 😉
This morning we were off by 7:30 and at the airport by 8.  We board in just about 2 hours.
Final Thoughts:
It’s going to be hard to go back to Oasis.  We liked it that much.  The ease of movement, the new layouts and venues. The hideaway, swim and tonic. Just incredible!
My only complaint was playmakers.  It’s bigger than oasis, but we didn’t spend any time there because it is constantly loaded with teenagers playing air hockey and various other things.  (It’s right next to the teen club). Also, the ice show crowds.just make it not a good vibe.  They seem to be aware of the issues but may not be something they can fix until second generation of icon class.
Really that was our only gripe.
Other than night one we didn’t spend much time in coastal kitchen or the grove. For no other reason than just so much to do and explore on that ship.
We have Utopia up next in A1 ATS.  After that, we are going to Try Celebrity and have an Edge Villa booked on The Excel when it comes out in 2026.
Cheers all and thanks for putting up with our shenanigans!

Our last night dinner will be at Chops. When we arrive to Barcelona we will be leaving the ship at 7am heading directly to the airport for flight  back to USA. We should arrive in Atl around 3:30pm. Our final flight should arrive at about 9 pm. So I’ll try to catch up on Monday.

Dinner last night in Coastal kitchen

Our excursion today was very interesting. I highly recommend if ever in this area.





 



Valencia city of flowers excursion 

Maybe I jumped the gun on taking her off moderation. 😂

I normally use something like this for my liquids bag (and definitely fit a lot more in it than a zip top bag, you can also find cheaper ones on Amazon, I just got this one when I had container store rewards): 

https://www.containerstore.com/s/travel/makeup-toiletries/rezip-zippered-travel-quart-bag/12d?productId=11022247
From my experience in Heathrow this trip, this definitely would not fly as they were stopping people with reusable bags and making them transfer their items to the zip top bags Heathrow provides, although I know that rule will be going away soon there. Also, based on my research (no direct experience on this yet), a reusable bag would be fine in FCO, they have the new scanners and have stopped having you take out your liquids bag like Heathrow still has you do. So really our only problem child was Heathrow. Of course these are fine in the US thanks to TSA pre check, and I don't think they are that picky when you have to take them out either.
Our Vatican Tour today was booked through LivTours and the guide was absolutely wonderful! Anyways, the golf cart tour stopped numerous times, we got out to take pictures of the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, etc. We were in the Borghese Gardens when it was still raining so we didn't stop and get out but I think normally you would. The guide also parked at the 2 churches we went to and guided us through some things inside them (he was really into optical illusions in some of the art and stuff 😂). We all enjoyed our golf cart tour so I am sure you will have a blast!

 

Edited as Mrscalvink669 is technically challenged after a few drinks

Back on board, Marla has asked the helicopters And search and rescue dogs to stand down.
Had to stop at rye and bean for a pick me up 😜
Expresso Martini

Chai Old Fashioned

Woohoo! Made it to the weekend and we're in single digits for the trip! 
Feeling slightly overwhelmed - it feels like I have a lot left to do, but then I wonder if I'm making more work for myself than necessary. 
Do I need paper copies of anything? Or can I get by with having everything on my phone?
My current to-do list is:
- Get my cruise cash (my lovely mum has gifted me some too)
- Get my nails done (do I go cruise themed?? :D)
- Finish the seemingly never ending packing now all the Amazon orders are here. I have one Temu order but not holding out hope that'll arrive by Thursday. Currently debating whether I take make up or not. 
- I have a couple of work things I need to clear when I'm in on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
- Potentially print paperwork, if it is needed. 
We've arranged transport to the airport hotel, so I'm being picked up around 3.45-4pm on Thursday. I am already mentally in Barcelona - it's going to be SO nice to just breathe for a little bit after a couple of really chaotic months at work, and a really tough year last year. 
 

Hideaway Beach is where it’s at if you’re not traveling with kids! 

The hideaway vibe at Coco Cay is pretty lit!

IMG_7092.mov  



😎😎😎

Recap of last night:  we lounged most of the day until finally heading out around 4pm where we headed back to the hide away which was at full party mode 😜



We had aqua action at 6pm.  Ok, they just switched over to a new cast and it was short and underwhelming.  The couple Ariel dance was missing and the robot lights wasn’t in the show.  He did have a girl doing an incredible balancing act, which I hadn’t seen yet and they had skate boarders which were Meh.






 
Dinner was at hooked and I failed on pics.  It was ok, I had oyster shooters which were good as were the baked oysters.  For main I had surf and turf and while the lobster was good, the filet they had with it I doubt would even be categorized as “choice”. It was pretty bad and chewy for a filet.
After dinner, I made a donation the the casino and then headed to bed.
Today is Coco Cay.

We have a cabana which is nice.

and the current view😜

We’ll see what we get into here today 😉.

i used to travel with a light up travel mirror to combat this… but i decided to leave that out of the secondary duffle, in favor of other things 😂 

Just checking in with the girls.
The cabin mirror still does not suggest that I tweeze my eyebrows. I’m convinced that once I get home I will have to elicit the help of my lawn guy instead of my wax girl.
That’s it for now. 

I gotta say, my step Husky is the best dog I’ve ever owned and he seriously doesn’t take a lot of maintenance! He gets groomed 3 times a year and otherwise I brush him randomly (maybe like every 3 months?) when he looks a little fluffy. He is the calmest and sweetest boy. On walks everyone is barking and going absolutely apes%&* when they see us and we just trot right by smiling! 😂
Your Alaskan packing list sounds perfect! Happy to see binoculars made the cut, I spied on a treetop filled with 4 eagles with mine! If you can squeeze a mini one in, I’d recommend an umbrella too. 

Lunch in Coastal kitchen


lobster pie

swordfish

Alicante Spain 
we walked from the ship to citywalked around and returned to ship

I have the laundry sheets. Make sure you bring a stain stick or equivalent! They are not my fave but definitely are convenient for travel!
I thought about that cup holder, but opted for a bag that goes over the handles as well. My backpack has too many compartments and the older i get, the less i remember which compartment i put what ... 

i also love the cup holder thing… but alas, my bags are always in the way of the handle 😂