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March 15th Navigator of the Seas to the ABC's - 9 Night


Thetechie

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Hello all! First off, after @twangster's epic blog on this same itinerary just last week, I'm not sure how I can live up, but I'm sure we will have some different experiences  and I'm happy to share ours!

Lets get started....

This will be our first ever cruise, always wanted to do it, and finally making it happen! We are celebrating our 10-year anniversary and will be sailing with my Cousin and his wife, also celebrating their 10-year. This will also be our first trip without the kids (5,3, and 1) so we are a little nervous, but still super looking forward to it!

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. We are coming from Seattle, WA, so its a bit of a flight with a layover, so we wanted to make sure we give ourselves plenty of time before the cruise. We will be staying in Miami Beach at The Confidant hotel for the two nights prior to the cruise.

We have a balcony stateroom on Deck 9, mid ship. We considered just doing an interior room, but decided to splurge a little bit and I think its going to be great!

We did purchase The Key for this sailing, as well as a BOGO dining and the Deluxe Beverage Package, shaping up to be a good time!

We have several things planned and booked at our ports, you'll have to check back to see what happens!

I'll try to post pictures and update as much as time and VOOM allows me to. If you have any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them!

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10 hours ago, Thetechie said:

We have a balcony stateroom on Deck 9, mid ship. We considered just doing an interior room, but decided to splurge a little bit and I think its going to be great!

For a Caribbean sailing like this, you absolutely made the right call. You are going to be amazed by the color of the ocean once you get out into the deep water; it's not a color you see anywhere else.

Have a fantastic trip! It sounds like you've done a great job of planning and prepping, so now just sit back and enjoy it all! ?

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2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

For a Caribbean sailing like this, you absolutely made the right call. You are going to be amazed by the color of the ocean once you get out into the deep water; it's not a color you see anywhere else.

Have a fantastic trip! It sounds like you've done a great job of planning and prepping, so now just sit back and enjoy it all! ?

That what we thought too, and we have several sea days, so I can see just sitting out there staring at the ocean. 

 

And thanks for following to everyone else! Knowing that people will be following along makes me more excited to share. 

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18 minutes ago, Matt said:

@monctonguy I guess you have no choice but to read the blog at home too!

Ha..I guess so!...Just strange that's its always and only his blogs that are...must be some setting in the photos as there is a lot I cant access at work when it comes to pics/videos/websites etc...

 

Thank god this site isn't blocked though!!!!:3_grin:

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2 hours ago, Thetechie said:

 

And thanks for following to everyone else! Knowing that people will be following along makes me more excited to share. 

Following along too!  We will be on the 9 night on March 29th!  After Twangster's awesome blog and now yours I can hardly wait!  I might even be inspired to pack early!! 

Have a wonderful cruise on the "new" Navigator!

Michelle

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3 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Ha..I guess so!...Just strange that's its always and only his blogs that are...must be some setting in the photos as there is a lot I cant access at work when it comes to pics/videos/websites etc...

 

Thank god this site isn't blocked though!!!!:3_grin:

So many things at our work are blocked, too, so I'm thrilled that I can see Twangster's pics on his blogs.  I think I spent about 4-5 hours last night minimum just reading his previous (old) blogs on  various cruises (there's only  so much Free Cell you can play in a night, and oddly I get very bored with Netflix for some reason - guess it's not "cruisy" enough for me). 

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Yay I'm looking forward to following along and seeing more of that gorgeous ship! I will be sailing on her in 6 weeks time on a 7 Day Western Caribbean... my first RCI cruise and my first visit to the Caribbean. I hope you enjoy your first cruise and Happy Anniversary ?

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Yesterday was a long day, and didn’t have time to sit down after we finally got to the hotel, so here goes..

Because of the recent grounding of the 737-MAX planes, we were a little delayed leaving Seattle, luckily we had a couple hour layover in Dallas, so we weren’t worried about missing that connecting flight. 2920A00B-94FF-4A97-A8BE-A3012F5607C8.thumb.jpeg.bff9c512ef003df278b60b1da8cee221.jpeg

I am not a small guy (6’3”) and always hate flying because of the cramped spaces.. But! I totally scored on BOTH legs of this flight and got this awesome exit row seat!C39BF79E-1CA6-457A-A78B-3EDD4EDED4D8.thumb.jpeg.3a12c46257cfb79a0396057b373f75ff.jpeg

We landed in Ft Lauderdale about 11:45pm and got off the plane and grabbed our bags. Being the celebration of our anniversary, I decided to splurge for the ride down to Miami Beach40EEEA3B-1408-4A7C-B7D2-521AC9C6F76C.thumb.jpeg.1984cdc1d52ea662e0ba24b0c0b5d727.jpegB2A44FED-D2A4-4DBC-8C92-A8E2B985C2BE.thumb.jpeg.4bdd9a04ca8a394ca2f28a77be88777a.jpeg

We booked a room at The Confidant, on the beach. It’s a nice room with direct beach access and loungers to use 

B4886A4C-7A0A-4D19-B256-5A58D9E5E647.thumb.jpeg.5b2f6b3a4263d74eaf9db14a1d5e1ad3.jpeg27E13FF0-A52F-4E8D-9A88-709E959CE63C.thumb.jpeg.fed0090882c8f7c1d19c7af5587b738e.jpeg8782694A-8A0A-45FA-8DF9-D4CAE06778CF.thumb.jpeg.bbabbc5b499c9a8825076b32432819fa.jpeg13EF7A46-AE73-49F4-BC99-BEF959F907E5.thumb.jpeg.069893dbabc129629b424dbac01ed47e.jpeg1A9F3D86-5E9E-4C26-8EA2-BDC2AB4B4144.thumb.jpeg.7751b3cbc6cc369a19c4adeb5806231d.jpegC01FE753-913D-4FB4-A742-E7240005333A.thumb.jpeg.96d096e34320495b4aae317f9cc1f270.jpeg

 

We are spending today checking out Miami Beach. Just a little different from what we are used to! Tomorrow is cruise day!!

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Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 

We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. F178E31A-67FD-4F95-825F-52A4774FE8F4.thumb.jpeg.056ac8c14f443c8b610384399501306a.jpeg

We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 

We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!3EBC14C8-1271-4EDE-BCB0-DE76D95D154D.thumb.jpeg.8a4a40fb8b02a97c20cd8b2aaa579791.jpeg

We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. A542A71A-283E-4CC0-AF47-5F89339B95AD.thumb.jpeg.5a7874c6a95a3e4611795f41b0d37ea3.jpeg

We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.62D66833-C400-4002-9736-F1FBC0F5D575.thumb.jpeg.ad035eaa5c54f88c3f07c687c1bd0c7f.jpeg4E268D88-5900-4D4E-9A73-C993454BDE79.thumb.jpeg.73e4b963db3739630cfc2b1aaae67741.jpeg9A4EB590-798E-4E7F-8A41-AB7435E15ABE.thumb.jpeg.4d83f9dec1d159ab30b0bde1f29ed57c.jpeg

After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. A85E11E8-C6CD-4221-A98E-208D59D6B3FE.thumb.jpeg.ef2b01795552219177e4619e39ae7c44.jpeg

Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 

 

While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!EAF8CEC5-E815-46D5-B3F2-7820834F89F9.thumb.jpeg.e94cf4b5f43b9e079466eef2d6ce1b74.jpeg1E7069A5-9F7C-4C3C-8E3E-503012D95F86.thumb.jpeg.a9f2bde87dbcbb4c850bb604e0c970b4.jpeg79D1A4E6-1DB0-4912-82B0-3E249C48EF60.thumb.jpeg.85b16ff9f41f1aefc9cb27f8bdd99b83.jpeg

Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 

We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!

Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!3DF3546A-D5F8-4F54-9123-62E4F30AD988.thumb.jpeg.45e417c5de967775e6c883fc44836f83.jpeg358DDFF1-41B2-452A-A9A6-E8177FE2FFF4.thumb.jpeg.dbc68d37ad2d8635eb181f5ed9101a7c.jpeg

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First shower on a cruise ship... check!

It actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting, but a little background.. Our vacations (at least up to this point) have been primarily in our travel trailer, so the room/bathroom here is a fair amount bigger than our travel trailer, which I am used to, so we feel like we have plenty of room!

It’s a beautiful day as we make our way to Labadee. We can see Cuba off in the distance E9E637C3-319C-4E15-BB92-F1E3F7C49F73.thumb.png.09888d2f8584cea2d2da1cbed8558326.png71E49B14-4C75-4DA8-8244-2C1D349ACCD8.thumb.jpeg.df1e27d00cbf950be27d78cc46f86c02.jpeg72CDE320-AF45-4A05-9BD0-CAA8FFF0C583.thumb.jpeg.451b50076f6f05b183374ce1aa57a710.jpeg

 

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Started off this morning with a couple of fruit plates and a bowl of oatmeal with the complimentary room service.ED3D04E8-2182-48FC-81D9-F4C286F4A309.thumb.jpeg.d5c9dcecc181db8be6800dcde1db2162.jpeg

After we got ready, we headed up to the windjammer to grab some fresh made omelettes, awesome view out the aft of the ship while eating!4B0BCE54-A358-46EC-8D96-CEE11B0155EC.thumb.jpeg.96eefce5445feaff6bb34080c8d6e9ce.jpeg

There was a dance/workout class happening on the Promenade that was entertaining 90C03867-2A9E-4BC4-9C45-A090F865651B.thumb.jpeg.7560259ea151b4f4ed6b33a2cc61133e.jpeg

Finally got the info for The Key program. Took three trips to Guest Services, and the people there didnt really know anything about it, couldn’t tell me any of the specific times for activities or anything. I’m not upset, I just wish I could help them with their documentation and processes!6558260D-38FE-43E1-9A49-79AFD711CD95.thumb.jpeg.d78cb6eaefeecc0832974f1b5761eb1a.jpeg90F08BB0-4DD8-474A-BDC1-FF719E13E453.thumb.jpeg.d9338ee30fc0852b41d8974e08bdaca4.jpeg

Getting ready to head to the MDR for lunch now. More later!

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Day 2,at sea, continues...

We hit up the MDR for lunch, and decided to do the salad bar/buffet. It was incredible! We will definitely be doing this again! It was so good in fact, that I forgot to take any pictures!

We then went and got changed, and headed out to the pool deck. It was pretty busy when we got there, but we found my cousins, sat down, and people watched while enjoying some drinks from the Lime and Coconut. 5A9EA998-53C6-4928-9416-5512BA355C9D.thumb.jpeg.ff623fd83db7aa4d5978489d79959555.jpeg

We enjoyed some time outside, and went down both water slides several times. I think I enjoy the mat racer most, but my wife and I did the tube together, and that was quite fun as well. The lines weren’t too bad at all, and they kept the turnover moving pretty well. 

Tonight we are eating at Hooked, but with a dining time of 8:30, we had some time to wander the ship. We grabbed some espresso from Cafe Promenade, and noticed it was now Seattles Best, must have been a change from Illy during the revamp94542C63-2C3E-4994-BC90-436399002B59.thumb.jpeg.bdf2025642ad034a6c6dbfb82d8724ac.jpeg

We found the stowaway piano player just outside the Windjammer!4545A1D4-0FDC-4B72-8001-7F525AD0FD31.thumb.jpeg.6d4415b4af8cddc5989ef75a6928e484.jpeg

Stopped by the Bamboo room and grabbed a drink. I got the Banana Colada, and it was awesome!FBB2314E-0D73-45AF-AE76-BD5CC9183987.thumb.jpeg.15a9ef99b9f84bd1dd0eb569138ae5b3.jpeg

Ventured outside and caught an amazing sunset. Sunsets at sea are like no other!45F220B4-BFDD-4FEB-8AF5-EF2F9896AFF7.thumb.jpeg.70dc6207cc4cf917a8b72e9d86511c4c.jpeg

We still had some time before dinner, so we went down to Cafe Promenade again, and I grabbed a vanilla smoothie, stopped by Playmakers and got a Rum Punch, and combined the two. Total win! I will be doing this again. BCC6B09D-85D5-47A9-91AD-E8C386B290B8.thumb.jpeg.fc7bc4d6b4f4447b14d8571f82b3cba8.jpeg

It was then time for dinner, so we made our way down to Hooked. Our waiter there was great and took care of us well. I opted for the Messy Fish Sandwich, and it did not disappoint! My wife got the Turf and Turf and enjoyed it very much as well84F55AC9-5AF3-411B-B3C7-63F38C48C236.thumb.jpeg.256f864f3c7bd0532d77088f259a1bd0.jpeg

We were wanting to make it to the show, so our waiter offered to give us dessert to go, which was awesome! I got the bread pudding, it was incredible. ECEA11B8-1D71-43D3-9548-484B9136D797.thumb.jpeg.298abee583f3fc839210996359cd84f0.jpeg

Now off to the show, “Showgirl!”, it was a lot of fun, and quite talented people up on stage!9C7DBBE0-38C7-4A40-8488-DB2AB38D3F40.thumb.jpeg.f9ed7ac60e0d849e173ae292c28337a9.jpeg

We got back to our room and had a nice fruit plate waiting for usC7D8B9E8-83B6-4296-B673-E02F9E444B2A.thumb.jpeg.b1fd24b98d9c09c124ab043fec88c560.jpeg

As well as another letter with information on our priority debarkation process for the coming portsF7EEEAE7-0AB2-4124-96B0-EF0352E40CA7.thumb.jpeg.5850683f3565a162904433630a9cabb0.jpeg

Tomorrow is Labadee!!

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Day 3, Labadee!

Started this morning off at the Windjammer just after 7am with a nice little breakfast while watching us back into the dock at LabadeeA63E8637-9B50-4DA7-BC76-0FBBF3A8F9FC.thumb.jpeg.349d71dcb06f7a78fc580dd7e0c4ab18.jpegDCE14775-3D79-4508-BDC9-B669CF48439F.thumb.jpeg.9b94bc78cfdb496965f5f79abb6b96f0.jpegA5E2CB5F-B90E-4728-9156-5118BF5E96AE.thumb.jpeg.a7e3fc5a384e0adb56ac6bc706287298.jpeg

We went down to StudioB at 7:50 for our Key debarment, and were escorted off the ship about 8:158F2F4E47-1855-4A9F-952B-3EEC6BC3AAC3.thumb.jpeg.64c7973d9582a11b70f8e5c0788ebdfe.jpeg

Hopped on a golf cart that took us to our Over the Water CabanaA6FB744C-7536-4BF4-B1B0-08496CA9DAC5.thumb.jpeg.4aa659089acb8c09541437a841c297cb.jpeg

We are in the one on the left. This is amazing!3C219D43-0A77-4EBB-9B9D-FF0DB7A3DE7E.thumb.jpeg.e612aeeb03a162ee904a54b50840320b.jpeg

The water here is incredible. Remember, we live on the west coast, and haven’t ever been down here before. We have been to Hawaii several times, but it just doesn’t compare. Did some snorkeling under the cabanas, some neat stuff8AE536A6-5376-4319-916E-301D499156BE.thumb.jpeg.e1cf735dd7ce3fcbd6812b5bd77bfca7.jpeg

Spent the day relaxing. Amazing...480AB0DB-F34C-4149-8BDA-7390C5F06D3C.thumb.jpeg.6db52ea9952f8f0ac6430c34f9d109fd.jpeg806FC0F7-E04E-49F6-9FC6-8452AAE832D9.thumb.jpeg.c77472b4243b33fc5c44503b9c6d452f.jpeg

Our attendant, Jantee, was awesome, and kept the Labadoozies and Pina Colada’s flowing! Definitely made use of our drink package today!F5149BF7-0291-4F43-A4DB-7B6EA57510B1.thumb.jpeg.bc7929131713344682423318089d49ef.jpeg

Sailaway from our balcony

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Dinner was in the MDR tonight2CD22116-9A65-4516-B711-35C9C37731CD.thumb.jpeg.88523571f57c44404e368c923fc02f6a.jpeg94FD6A88-3A73-4092-B00A-57F02190C76E.thumb.jpeg.91f79a9c8e354b5a539ee3b2b1c0d088.jpegE8F6F416-136A-4AEF-BB86-CCCBE1D6BD9F.thumb.jpeg.2e7b879e6e89177ee8de937ecc38bc12.jpeg

Tonight’s headliner was a Journey tribute band, they were...interesting

AB6E3495-66D9-4D4D-BE52-8295EBC14BEC.thumb.jpeg.9b7852571814ef293639db098480bf08.jpeg

Thats all for now. See you later!

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300B6BCF-695E-4EB3-9923-3405C42680B1.jpeg

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4 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Now you've got me wondering if it was the same tribute band that @WAAAYTOOO saw on Anthem and blogged about. Was the lead singer having difficulty keeping his pants up? ?

Well I don’t know about that, but he went backstage and changed his outfit I think 5 times, seemed like he forgot his shirt once. The musicians were awesome, but the vocals were a little lacking, and the lead guy was in a class of his own

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14 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Now you've got me wondering if it was the same tribute band that @WAAAYTOOO saw on Anthem and blogged about. Was the lead singer having difficulty keeping his pants up? ?

YES !  That is the same group.  Hopefully he was able to keep his britches on better than 2 weeks ago !

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On 3/15/2019 at 11:46 PM, Thetechie said:

Cruise day is here!! I actually slept quite well last night, and got up about 7am to start getting ready. 

We decided to get a professional car service rather than an Uber/Lyft, as we wanted all four of us together, and had quite a bit of luggage between us all. We had some experience with Lyft and UberXL while in Miami, and it was kind of a crapshoot on weather we would have gotten a fun size SUV or not. Anyhow, we were super happy with our ride in an Escalade EXT, and had it packed full! Our driver was originally from Cuba, and was hilarious. F178E31A-67FD-4F95-825F-52A4774FE8F4.thumb.jpeg.056ac8c14f443c8b610384399501306a.jpeg

We arrived to the port about 10:10am, and were surprised to see tons of people still waiting for shuttles from getting off the ship, come to find out, they had a customs delay. 

We have The Key for this sailing, and there wasn’t much (if any) signage, and the crew was a little iffy on what they knew about it. We ended up getting in line with the Diamond and up, and there we waited... They finally started boarding about 12:15-12:30, and let me tell you what, people were not happy! Not going to let it spoil it for us though!3EBC14C8-1271-4EDE-BCB0-DE76D95D154D.thumb.jpeg.8a4a40fb8b02a97c20cd8b2aaa579791.jpeg

We got on board, and the theater was right there to drop off our carry on bags. Such a nice thing! They were doing a photo shoot while we dropped our bags. A542A71A-283E-4CC0-AF47-5F89339B95AD.thumb.jpeg.5a7874c6a95a3e4611795f41b0d37ea3.jpeg

We dropped our bags and headed straight to Chop’s for our lunch, which was wonderful! First drink on the ship was a lava flow.62D66833-C400-4002-9736-F1FBC0F5D575.thumb.jpeg.ad035eaa5c54f88c3f07c687c1bd0c7f.jpeg4E268D88-5900-4D4E-9A73-C993454BDE79.thumb.jpeg.73e4b963db3739630cfc2b1aaae67741.jpeg9A4EB590-798E-4E7F-8A41-AB7435E15ABE.thumb.jpeg.4d83f9dec1d159ab30b0bde1f29ed57c.jpeg

After lunch, we made our reservations for dining the next couple nights (we bought the BOGO dining package) and headed to our rooms. Our carry on bags were there, and our checked bags showed up shortly thereafter. A85E11E8-C6CD-4221-A98E-208D59D6B3FE.thumb.jpeg.ef2b01795552219177e4619e39ae7c44.jpeg

Looking around our room, I didn’t see any paper work for our internet codes or acces, and no paper for The Key. I went to guest services and they said they would send things up. So we went exploring for a bit. A couple hours later, we came back and still no paperwork, so I called down. The agent that answered the phone told me how to access the VOOM, and apparently they don’t use codes anymore. Would have been nice for the first person to tell me that, oh well. And here is is 11:30 and I still don’t have any paperwork about our Key program and times for things. 

 

While waiting for dinner, we were walking around, and noticed no one at the Rock Wall, so I decided to give it a shot, come to find out, we were there while it was Key-only time. Nice how that worked out! So I suited up and got to the top!EAF8CEC5-E815-46D5-B3F2-7820834F89F9.thumb.jpeg.e94cf4b5f43b9e079466eef2d6ce1b74.jpeg1E7069A5-9F7C-4C3C-8E3E-503012D95F86.thumb.jpeg.a9f2bde87dbcbb4c850bb604e0c970b4.jpeg79D1A4E6-1DB0-4912-82B0-3E249C48EF60.thumb.jpeg.85b16ff9f41f1aefc9cb27f8bdd99b83.jpeg

Dinner tonight was Jamie’s and was amazing!! We hit the comedy show after and are now in the room for the night. 

We made good use on our drink package and have got our “break even point” and then some for this day!

Amazing sunset from the ship, and a Royal Zombie in hand. This whole cruising thing is pretty nice!3DF3546A-D5F8-4F54-9123-62E4F30AD988.thumb.jpeg.45e417c5de967775e6c883fc44836f83.jpeg358DDFF1-41B2-452A-A9A6-E8177FE2FFF4.thumb.jpeg.dbc68d37ad2d8635eb181f5ed9101a7c.jpeg

Thats a lot of Kombucha for a week long cruise. Hoping to counterbalance all that drinking?

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Day 4, at sea.

Today was a pretty laid back day for us. Beautiful views from all over the ship 0C07D9C8-9EE8-4EC4-9D33-44C07EE3F5FE.thumb.jpeg.3ce7d2524ded6c0125aeeacf9069ebe3.jpeg

We started off with breakfast in the MDR2814C6E3-66AD-4E3A-828F-52772ADE632E.thumb.jpeg.e6a2b6fd6bfa9daf3d0edca7dc1c3c3f.jpegBD785122-CEEE-4C46-8E8C-A345290E3FCC.thumb.jpeg.643b13237ceba3fba8f2a68d3f410f72.jpeg

I had the French toast and an omelet, they were fine, but I don’t think the quality of food was any different than the windjammer, and I don’t particularly care for taking an hour and a half to eat breakfast, I think we will stick with the Windjammer. 

After breakfast it was time for our All Access Tour15D76DC9-B9AA-4B3A-AFEF-89D089884A9A.thumb.jpeg.ea4d627f02612596de52b5b660c252f8.jpeg

It was a group of 18 people, and was quite informative. I took most of the pictures on my GoPro, and haven’t loaded them yet, but here are a fewE5AC2736-B605-43BC-B35F-D39194FB8B37.thumb.jpeg.73fc5022dc0c251bc05e539f44a1143e.jpegC3E90CEE-D653-4FA4-9069-C6D9BBB3697B.thumb.jpeg.007fb37c32d14a0e3e0d92eb4afd837a.jpeg

We had lunch in the MDR again today. We really enjoy the salad bar and Buffett, but I’m still not sold on the slow service. It takes 20 minutes to get a refill on a soda or water. Maybe I just drink too fast. 

After lunch we just cruised around the ship for awhile, and then went a took a nap, it was wonderful. 

Just after 5pm we went out to the sports deck (around this time, the pool deck and sports deck are all but deserted) and went down the slides about 6 or 7 times each, basically no lines. It was awesome!

We went back to the room and got changed, and watched the sunset. 18C4980B-ADFC-4B9F-BEA7-55774C550BF5.thumb.jpeg.96fa6a21d4b0ee236ebaa2850bee6065.jpeg

Then we ran up to the Windjammer and grabbed a plate of food and took it out to the Lime and Coconut to enjoy the movie on the pool deck, that was fun. 5DB608CE-9B39-401A-A041-41D631A02CD7.thumb.jpeg.13176be313bd66b0089da43115262b4e.jpeg

The pool deck at night is beautiful E3C19B6D-0425-4147-86D9-F31186EC079B.thumb.jpeg.71a7d9d8ec3c78767ec30ce363daa41a.jpeg

We decided to catch the Headliner show his name was James Stephens III, he was an impressionist and musician, it was fun and a totally packed house!943B1A43-6BF2-4181-8B51-1EF9473B55A9.thumb.jpeg.d9d208ea30b3eaa827e7654e52a187d5.jpeg

Tonight was the 70’s party, we stayed on the promenade for a little bit, but it was really warm, so we decided to call it an evening and went back to the room to cool off and relax on the balcony for a bit before bed. 

The wind kicked up quite a bit this evening and there was a fair amount of rocking, but it hasn’t bothered us yet, we haven’t had any issues with seasickness!

Next stop is Bonaire!

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Day 5 (I think?) Bonaire!

Such a beautiful day today. We docked about 8:30, and the captain gave us the all clear right at 9am40F9F564-A2AC-485D-A42E-D195A3FCAF68.thumb.jpeg.99cd99a88675af13c47fbef5d8c2f0b2.jpeg

We were the second ship in port today, the first was the old Monarch 605A063B-0B2A-4CA4-9594-864CE9FA79B8.thumb.jpeg.4c0bccc3f4d56b1aba4375ddd2f4f571.jpeg

We decided to rent a couple scooters for the day and just tour the island on our own. Turned out to be a fantastic idea! The guy we rented from was awesome, picked us up at the port and took us to two brand new (in November) Yamaha scooters. These are the bigger models that you actually have to have a motorcycle endorsement on your license to ride. My wife and I are both endorsed, and decided to get our own, instead of riding tandem. 48DA397A-3E2E-4ECD-9946-0791E7F40F8F.thumb.jpeg.be70f4bbc80cfb6cdedbc2cfa980b595.jpeg

We set off to see the sights!8CD96ED4-CA6E-430D-AB64-FF05C95E0EC6.thumb.jpeg.1654e28dbd697380d8c3111e12982184.jpeg24FD6CC1-B589-4249-811A-E24C043FEA1B.thumb.jpeg.a25cd918cb85f269a7cf32a03a362d10.jpeg

The beauty in these islands just amazes meD9BB2678-35A1-43F9-A535-602EB21883BE.thumb.jpeg.f808c4f0c25301e946a1554af1b3dd58.jpegCCC4F7EE-90D6-481F-95BF-C5A387BDC20B.thumb.jpeg.91ca938d6b343676bfda1d3cceb48dd6.jpeg

the shape of the corals that have washed onshore and now line the shore are just incredible 75BD3FDD-1DCE-4384-B5EE-AF0DCE51BAD7.thumb.jpeg.8ab894a7209dcd817862c0078ed9fd3f.jpeg6DAD5D54-89D7-414D-86D4-E9F8A7256C22.thumb.jpeg.a3947c9e0c13f95c65cef3e66232748a.jpeg

Saw some incredible kite surfing down at the south end71FDD03C-B072-40FC-9CC2-8768713062E5.thumb.jpeg.0810c4468752cdd976c73adab219b653.jpeg

We rode the whole south end of the island, and stopped back in Kralendijk to grab some lunch, and then headed northBFFD7FA9-FCEA-4116-8DF5-3E2D86C9732A.thumb.jpeg.1a22bce5aa6ef3c4a99847fcba07a642.jpeg

We stopped at 1000 steps and went down and got in the water with our snorkels. Wow!E53625AC-A466-4759-B41A-E73D162CCE46.thumb.jpeg.99617304c81f5c93116838dc4d3ce504.jpeg28309020-C5FC-4A60-A826-F1AF5377FF1D.thumb.jpeg.d0dc239683cb741e38298f63861bf54d.jpeg

After the snorkeling, we were beat and decided to head back. After stopping for fuel (and putting in a whopping $2.48 between the two bikes) We got back to the rental shop about 3:30 and he took us back to the port where we walked around for a little bit and then headed back on the ship. 

We hadn’t had a chance to catch the Iskate show yet, so we headed down to studio B to take it in. I was a bit skeptical walking in, but then the show started and I was hooked!424660ED-8226-41BC-B95F-44F971156E58.thumb.jpeg.9e1fa5bc61b1058b488be56a88068025.jpegDCB8DCD5-EDFF-48C0-B4DA-212E41A290F1.thumb.jpeg.2b22192f208e444ea9fb82d97256973d.jpeg

Tonight’s dinner was the Windjammer, and then up to the room. We are beat and want to get some good sleep before we hit Curaçao tomorrow!

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Day 6, Curaçao. 

Today we visit the island of Curaçao, the weather is in and out overcast, but still plenty warm. We docked about 7:30am and the gangway was down about 8am. We are sharing the port with a Celebrity ship today7FB3E814-7400-4801-9690-8181189BD9DF.thumb.jpeg.e2cbe5352be4a99c5b727b5cbe1d44e1.jpeg

We had ordered room service for delivery between 7:30-8, but by 8:05 they hadn’t shown up and we were ready to get going, so we ran up to the Windjammer for a quick bite before heading out. 

We booked at ATV off road tour for today, and they met us out front of the port to take us to their shop. They had a van, and several 6-seat buggy’s to transfer everyone. There were a lot of people that were booked! We were directed to a buggy with Lorenzo as our guide, and he drove the 20-minute ride to the shop. 669CD5C3-A8E5-4AB6-9E3C-E2D732D7A7DE.thumb.jpeg.da366fb597a5f54c0f4829a1cb9aae98.jpeg

We got a good view of the ships from the bridgeF32B62D2-B177-4CC3-9121-144413A23F1D.thumb.jpeg.836cedab85598be0759fb7517f973930.jpeg

Once we got to the shop, everyone went to fill out paper work and pay the money after that was done, we grouped up into our different groups for the tours. Our group was originally supposed to have 8 people on it, but 4 backed out, so it was just us and another couple from the Celebrity ship, nice small personal tour!53143747-9F61-4F40-9740-3EA5B41868BC.thumb.jpeg.60629457e8ab38a7f47372b7e6d4aa41.jpeg0A46212E-3624-47AC-A2AB-466C52A89C5B.thumb.jpeg.bbe174df6c3a1a662a3c1610eeef5dc6.jpeg

Our guide was awesome, so happy and loves what he does! Took us to a spot where we climbed up and through some lava caves and came out up on top with and awesome view

DA7DED28-2A39-4117-BBA8-2F2F2FC0D098.thumb.jpeg.25419418bc920aebcfdd3b7d3332f333.jpeg

Then to the “cave of doom” were we found some beautiful pink rocks in this little caveEA9F6B88-D77A-4D03-8674-E2B90FD54284.thumb.jpeg.cd5356bf60e0223ef4fdddd923d17b4a.jpeg

He took us to the only sand beach on the north side of the island. It’s not a tourist spot, and we had the beach to ourselves for a bit till another couple came in. Did some swimming for a little bit before heading backFC2F0084-5261-4E4B-8AF4-1CEA4453626B.thumb.jpeg.def4c0fa360bf6a497383a4e0b9b5627.jpeg

When we were maybe a mile away from the shop, the drive belt blew on our machine, and left us dead. Luckily he had a tow rope (which he hadn’t had to use yet) and was able to tow us the rest of the way to the shop08D429F2-1065-44DE-B8DB-96DEA47BB994.thumb.jpeg.72adbd0602518a1a06a340ef2a10d797.jpeg

It was an awesome tour, and would do it again in a heart beat!

We headed back to the ship to shower and change (we were quite dirty from all the dust) then grabbed a lava flow from the Lime and Coconut and some El Loco Fresh for lunchADEE9B8D-D9CA-410F-B752-E59395E499C8.thumb.jpeg.a40d2121772c79518921291320abf003.jpeg

Then we ventured in to town for some exploring and shopping. All the colors here are incredible!B0460915-83AC-4A77-8681-4599E0E20302.thumb.jpeg.fa0316cedf8bc39bf7064b41b199bedf.jpeg

Went across the pontoon bridge415CAAB3-1A6E-4903-BAC7-3420D32E424C.thumb.jpeg.3a2bfddcd796620d625243972f04ccb5.jpeg

We decided to come back to the ship for dinner in the MDR. On the app, the menu stated there would be buttermilk fried chicken, but it was a completely different menu when we got there. (This isn’t the first thing that the app has been different than what actually happens. They still have some work to do) I decided on the Chicken Parmigiana and my wife had her staple, a steak61433DA6-F0BF-4DB5-A6BB-630426B8C1F9.thumb.jpeg.868177c0afc71a9a8e4907582a6edecb.jpeg

The service in the MDR was the best we have had thus far, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Our waiter was super attentive and on the ball 

We decided to hit the theater for the headliner act, a ventriloquist/comedian. He was ok, good enough that we didn’t leave, but don’t feel the need to see him again. During the show he was interrupted by an announcement for ‘alpha, alpha, alpha’, I feel bad for that person. 61AB15A6-53B2-42AD-BD13-5A050B103211.thumb.jpeg.abf306bd48681f8f82119c2c3cfe1abf.jpeg

 

After the show, we went to the helipad to check out the night time viewDADA5C90-DD7C-454B-BAAE-82FF016105AB.thumb.jpeg.be44159b7b82227a4624b15b16b5b38a.jpeg

Went and spent some time in the Schooner Bar listening to the great live music. It’s been the same guy every night, and he is super talented. 

Came back to the room to find it ready for bed, complete with a towel elephant 13480FCD-F6B1-4C0B-813F-BC9D77424696.thumb.jpeg.616088a3885b33fd2d2b51241e4d31f0.jpeg

Tomorrow is our last port day, at Aruba, then two sea days back to Miami 

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I'm on board this sailing as well so I hope its okay if I add a few extra pictures. Curcao looks lovely at night. Here's a shot of the pontoon bridge from an angle.UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_27da.thumb.jpg.6e8871292364f044db2a450c58f07723.jpg

And here's a shot of the pontoon bridge while on it.

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_mini_27e6.jpg.17f35fedc719c8e5df9126279393f8ce.jpg

We have a late departure of 10:30pm. Most of the shopping was closed when we walked around at 7 to 8pm but most restaurants were opened. Interestingly it appears all the shops on board started to open at 7pm.

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Also worth mentioning is that Adventure Ocean on this ship is unlike any other design I've ever seen. I've taken a handful of bad pictures and a hasty video that don't do a justice but its completely opened for ages 3 to 11. It has a lot of stations where the kids can float between at their will. Towards the front they've used tape to mark of an area where they play games like dodge ball. Along one wall they have nooks with library books around them. There's a rock wall for the kids opposite the library wall with dodge ball in the middle of this. Farther back they have stacked tubes that are padded for the kids to relax or climb around in. Next to that is a dome hockey table. Further back there's a "princess" station which has doll houses and princess stuff. There's a handful of TVs here playing kids shows. Next to this is the arts and crafts table/center with a sink for clean ups. Further back they have a large TV (maybe 75") with bean bags around it and Nintendo Switches sitting above it. They said they play movies there too. Then they have a board game table with a bookshelf of board games. Next to this they have 3 Playstation 4's hooked to 3 50" TVs. They have about 9 or 10 gamer chairs on the floor next to them. I front of that they have a large table with an assortment of wacky chairs that they said is just a free play area. Hopefully someone can get some good shots of this on a future sailing. Definitely my kids most favorite Adventure Ocean experience.

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