bcarney

Since you're stopping in Jamaica, look for Monymusk Special Reserve, Appleton Estate 21 or 30 year (or whatever your wallet allows; Appleton's Joy Anniversary Edition if you really want to step out). When we were in Ocho Rios a few years ago I stumbled across Mt Gay's 300 Anniversary Rum (from Barbados) for only $175, it was $300 when I looked at it in Bridgetown, Barbados, so you never know what you might find in the cruise port shopping areas. There's also a few other good distillers in Jamaica like Hampden and Worthy Park, but I don't have any personal recommendations since I've only had stuff they've created for export or blending. I'm not very knowledgeable about tequila. The Casa Noble I mentioned was a 5 year aged tequila. A store owner can probably recommend something similar. What's good: taste it. Do you like it? Then it's good. :)

You are a wise woman. The cruise experience pre-kids and post-kids are definitely two different experiences.

Belize has a company called Traveler's that makes 5 Barrel Rum that is pretty decent, and "Don Omario 15 Year Royal Edition" which is worth the effort to locate. You may need to go to the distillery on an excursion to purchase it as I didn't see it anywhere near the port. I have a bottle of the 15 Year in my collection, but I don't remember the cost. Cozumel would be a good place for tequila (even though it's no where near where they actually make the stuff); I'd get one in a fancy bottle as a momento, or a nice brand like Casa Noble. If you ever go to the Southern Caribbean from San Juan down to Barbados or Grenada, let me know... I have a whole list of places to go to and rums to purchase. :)

We did that one in 2004 at $249 a person. It's hard to justify it at $467, but man that was a memorable experience. Do it if you can.

Because for our family we'd have to buy 4 (approaching $500 IIRC), and the two for the kids are only good for 5 years.

I have to admit...I am quite tempted by that foreign lady as well. I love the ships decor, and having 2 kids of different genders the sofa that turns into a bunkbed is a great idea. It's only a matter of time until we sail MSC.

Which itinerary on Adventure - the ABC islands, or the one that goes down to Barbados? We sailed on Adventure for the 6th time over Thanksgiving....I just love that southern Caribbean run!

Well, it did make the TSA bureaucrats jobs safer...

There wasn't anything specifically marked as being for young adults; everything was all listed in one section. The golf sim is ancient history - it was removed during or prior to the last refurb in 2016 (the flow rider and big waterslides are there now), and IIRC it was non-functional during my Jan 2010 cruise.

They are - I was on her last week in 9376 and kids in connecting 9381. They had a flatscreen TVs. That said - my room was the same exact colors in the photo above, which is why I refer to the rooms as being "dated" and hope they are updated in January's refurb.

The map is out of date; Michigan has REAL ID compliant Drivers Licenses and Enhanced Drivers Licenses, assuming that's what you applied for at renewal time. http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-1627_81569---,00.html

Well duh, it's because Harmony is so much bigger than Indy.

This has almost happened to us - THREE TIMES - because RC's brain-dead check in people have no idea what a Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative-compliant ID is. In Michigan and several other border states, we have drivers licenses and underage IDs that are WHTI compliant - this allows us to travel to/from neighboring countries on land without a passport, and on closed loop cruises (departing and returning to the same port), without any additional ID like birth certificates since the background check was done at the time of application for the DL/ID. Because the IDs are WHTI compliant, we do not need the birth certificates to board...unless the untrained monkeys at the port insist you do, and you are denied boarding for over an hour while they get their act together, as has happened to us three times - once in Tampa, and twice in San Juan. My advice: despite officially not needing any additional documentation, bring it along anyway. You never know when you might need it.

These bad boys are the poppy seed things I was referring to. (photo courtesy the Royal Caribbean Blog)

Disembarkation in San Juan: For background, our flight wasn't until 2:20pm, so we were in no rush to get to the airport. We were assigned to group #15, but we lingered at our waiting area in the MDR until it was suggested we should leave. Getting off the ship and finding our luggage took less than 5 minutes, as most of the luggage in our group was taken already. After seeing huge lines getting through customs, we flagged down a porter since we've use them in the past and had faster service with them. He put the luggage on the cart and looked over to the porter line which was kind of long as well, and said follow me. He took us to the Pinnacle/Consecutive Sailing area, spoke to the RC guy there for a moment, and was let through. We got to the customs guy who quickly took our form, and without really looking at it stamped it, and we were off to the taxis. We were on our way to the airport in less than 10 minutes from leaving the dining room. The lesson here is GET A PORTER. It's worth the tip.

NO savory bites on Adventure, just the rolls. I miss those little poppy seed things.

Music: This was a southern Caribbean cruise, but all the music in public spaces was pop-slop from the last 24 months. I wish they'd play some local music, at least at times, to bring you into the local culture. Taylor Swift and Katy Perry 24/7 was like walking around a Target or Walmart. Boleros played Latin music, including one live tune that had everyone in the area singing along with. It was a song where part of the refrain was the music Auld Lang Syne, but it wasn't the entirety of the song. I wish I knew what it was because it meant to much to everyone there. It was a moving experience.

I'm the same, but I also use Windows machines. I also like that if necessary I can view my OneNotes via a web browser. (I also don't trust Apple's ability to run cloud services well, but that's another discussion).

Yes, there is a pair in the promenade, and another near the Windjammer. There may be more, those are just the two pairs that I noticed.

I use Microsoft's OneNote on all my devices so I have it with me at all times. :)

Martinique. Save your money and make it a beach day. Leave the ship, hang a right, and walk down to the ferries. Ask them for the one with the beaches, and take that for $7/pp round trip. Skip the first stop and get off at the second one, the beach looked a lot nicer there. We got off at the first stop. It was just OK, but the kids loved it.

If you are a rum drinker, go to Bolero’s, and they have a decent selection there, including Zafra 21 and Atlantico, among others. They also had Selvarey Cacao rum which was an interesting treat.

On the 'corporate cutbacks' end of things, the assistant waiters no longer come around with a tray of bread for you to select from. Dinner starts with bread already on the table, consisting of a couple of rolls and no savory bites.

If you prefer Caribbean food, keep an eye out for that night in the Windjammer. I found the jerk chicken and other dishes to be fantastic! I’ll be eating there that night from now on. Sadly, no photo.

Like Indian food? Ask your waiter for it in the MDR. They’ll provide a vegetarian and non-veg dish – or more likely both. If you are in the Windjammer for dinner, go all the way to the back of the line, and there will be several Indian options each night. The two nights we ate there, they had four dishes to choose from, including a veg curry, Dal, fish curry, pork curry, pappadam, raita, and a few chutneys. . All were great! Another night I had a butter chicken that may have been the best I’ve ever had.