CrusingWithMatt Posted April 29, 2019 Report Posted April 29, 2019 Hello Royal Caribbean Blog members! My wife Corin and and I will be embarking on our first cruise which happens to be a TA. Go big or go home I guess. I will be doing a daily blog with a few photos and updates starting on the 4th. Stay tuned! *Crossposted on cruisecritic.com under CruisingWithMatt SpeedNoodles, JLMoran, Mljstr and 7 others 8 2 Quote
coneyraven Posted April 29, 2019 Report Posted April 29, 2019 We just got off Brilliance last Thursday .... curious to hear your thoughts.....oh, and we had an AWESOME time!!! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
The Cruise Junkie Posted April 29, 2019 Report Posted April 29, 2019 Following! I Love That Ship CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
WannaCruise Posted April 29, 2019 Report Posted April 29, 2019 Following. We almost booked this ship (but went with another). However it's still one we would consider this n the future. Looking forward to following along. Enjoy your cruise! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
SpeedNoodles Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 I'm looking forward to following your blog. I can't WAIT to get onto Brilliance of the Seas for the Oct 2020 Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
Firefly Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 Have a great cruise! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
Sweety Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 A beautiful couple. I will be following. CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
Ktcruiser Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 Following! Looking forward to your blog! Quote
JLMoran Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 Following! Not sure I'd have had the bravery to do a TA as my very first cruise, but you're the guy in uniform so I guess bravery comes with the package. Have a great time and enjoy all the couples time you'll get! When you have a moment, what's the itinerary / ports of call? Quote
CrusingWithMatt Posted April 30, 2019 Author Report Posted April 30, 2019 15 minutes ago, JLMoran said: Following! Not sure I'd have had the bravery to do a TA as my very first cruise, but you're the guy in uniform so I guess bravery comes with the package. Have a great time and enjoy all the couples time you'll get! When you have a moment, what's the itinerary / ports of call? Bravery or stupidity... We will find out Here's the Itinerary. Traveler, WAAAYTOOO, Skigoofy and 6 others 7 2 Quote
JLMoran Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 Wow, ten sea days! And almost all in the first week! You're gonna know that ship like the back of your hand by the time it's all done. Sweety and CrusingWithMatt 2 Quote
SpeedNoodles Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 I'd LOVE that itinerary! So would hubby, if it didn't include the long flight home. Sweety and CrusingWithMatt 2 Quote
WAAAYTOOO Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 10 sea days would be heaven ! Enjoy it. Envious ! CrusingWithMatt, Skid, Mike P and 1 other 4 Quote
Pima1988 Posted April 30, 2019 Report Posted April 30, 2019 Bruges is AMAAAZING! It is known in Europe as the Venice of the North. It is a great walking city. Make sure you get some battenburg lace. I am not sure you can bring tulips back on board, but if you can buy some. The chocolates are great too. Quote
Skid Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 On 4/29/2019 at 3:09 PM, CrusingWithMatt said: Hello Royal Caribbean Blog members! My wife Corin and and I will be embarking on our first cruise which happens to be a TA. Go big or go home I guess. I will be doing a daily blog with a few photos and updates starting on the 4th. Stay tuned! *Crossposted on cruisecritic.com under CruisingWithMatt Following. What a great trip! Have a fabulous time. 6 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: 10 sea days would be heaven ! We have a 12 nighter on Adventure next year with 6 sea days....would that be about half heaven? CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
mom2mybugs Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 7 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: 10 sea days would be heaven ! Enjoy it. Envious ! I'm not sure I could drag my husband on with 10 sea days but I'm sure I would absolutely love it!!! Soooo relaxing! Jane Sweety 1 Quote
Sweety Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 6 hours ago, mom2mybugs said: I'm not sure I could drag my husband on with 10 sea days but I'm sure I would absolutely love it!!! Soooo relaxing! Jane I need this cruise when the school year ends. mom2mybugs 1 Quote
Auto Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 There is nothing not to like about Brugge...beer, chocolate, fries, and waffles! I was just in Cobh (pronouced "cove" btw) a couple of weeks ago, very cute town on the water, with a decent musuem about Irish Emmigration, if that is your thing (or just have a few Guinness). Have a great time! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
The Cruise Junkie Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 I Am On The Rhapsody TA Right Now! Traveler, Skid and J_Keeble 2 1 Quote
Pima1988 Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 20 minutes ago, Auto said: There is nothing not to like about Brugge...beer, chocolate, fries, and waffles! Actually my husband would disagree with the "there is nothing not to like".....Belgium is known for what every woman loves.....DIAMONDS, granted it is not Antwerp, but you still can get some great diamonds. For me I have made sure that my husband never drinks Chimay beer ever again. Quote
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 8 hours ago, Skid said: We have a 12 nighter on Adventure next year with 6 sea days....would that be about half heaven? That’s ALMOST heaven....like West Virginia Quote
Auto Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 48 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said: That’s ALMOST heaven....like West Virginia Country rooooooads take me home.... WAAAYTOOO and mworkman 2 Quote
June_B Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 On 4/29/2019 at 2:09 PM, CrusingWithMatt said: Hello Royal Caribbean Blog members! My wife Corin and and I will be embarking on our first cruise which happens to be a TA. Go big or go home I guess. I will be doing a daily blog with a few photos and updates starting on the 4th. Stay tuned! *Crossposted on cruisecritic.com under CruisingWithMatt Can't wait for your posts + pictures! Only a few more days in the countdown! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
Mljstr Posted May 1, 2019 Report Posted May 1, 2019 That same ship and itinerary is on our short list for 2020. I will be following for sure. Quote
Andrew72681 Posted May 2, 2019 Report Posted May 2, 2019 12 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: That’s ALMOST heaven....like West Virginia Wet, wild, And wonderful. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote
CrusingWithMatt Posted May 3, 2019 Author Report Posted May 3, 2019 We spent yesterday at the Tampa Zoo. It was a great day for the wife (the every animal everywhere lover). Then spent the late afternoon relaxing outside our air bnb watching the lightning/thunder Strom; drink in hand. Today we will be touring the SS American Victory down in the Tampa Port. One more day! Ktcruiser, The Cruise Junkie, Traveler and 5 others 8 Quote
JLMoran Posted May 3, 2019 Report Posted May 3, 2019 Hey, forgot to say earlier after seeing your pic in uniform -- Thanks for your service! CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
CrusingWithMatt Posted May 3, 2019 Author Report Posted May 3, 2019 The victory ship was a self guided tour. I believe they do guided ones on the weekend. $10 adults $5 veterans. Very cool and it took us a little over an hour to see everything at a very relaxed pace. Tomorrow we board Brilliance! WAAAYTOOO, Lovetocruise2002, coneyraven and 6 others 9 Quote
DublinFC Posted May 3, 2019 Report Posted May 3, 2019 Gonna need loads of pics we sail on her April of '21 (too damn far away). Quote
SpeedNoodles Posted May 4, 2019 Report Posted May 4, 2019 13 hours ago, CrusingWithMatt said: We spent yesterday at the Tampa Zoo. It was a great day for the wife (the every animal everywhere lover). Fellow animal lover also from Minnesota here - worked for over 16 years as a zookeeper at the Minnesota Zoo. Tampa Zoo is on our radar for things to do when we take our cruise out of Tampa next! Sweety 1 Quote
arebee Posted May 4, 2019 Report Posted May 4, 2019 17 hours ago, CrusingWithMatt said: The victory ship was a self guided tour. I believe they do guided ones on the weekend. $10 adults $5 veterans. Very cool and it took us a little over an hour to see everything at a very relaxed pace. Tomorrow we board Brilliance! That brings back some memories. I served on a ship that was commissioned in 1944 and she served from WWII until the 90's. Nothing like haze gray and underway. monctonguy, The Cruise Junkie, JLMoran and 3 others 2 1 3 Quote
CrusingWithMatt Posted May 5, 2019 Author Report Posted May 5, 2019 Embarkation day success! Tampa Port security was a breeze as was check in. We have never had so many friendly people around us before. We arrived at the port between 1015-1030 and we're through security within 5 minutes. Check in took no more than another 5 minutes. We had the pleasure of enjoying some company and conversation of Candice and Roy that we had met on the message boards. Once onboard we headed straight for the helipad and were the only ones out there exploring. The windjammer buffet was packed full with no available seating in or outside so we decided to go to the park café. We were able to get a salad and sandwich from there which was more than enough for us. We grabbed drinks at the pool bar which was not busy and by that time it was still only 1300. Our rooms were ready by 1330 and all of our prepaid paperwork was waiting for us (Excursions & arcade credit). The only confusion was with our BOGO dining package. We where initially told that a reservation would be made on our behalf for the first night but that was not the case. We called Chops after the must drill and were told that both Chops and Giovanni’s was booked full for the first two nights but we could pick a different day. We ended up stopping by Chops on the way to the windjammer just to double check and the were actually able to get us into Giovanni’s at 1730 that night. The food at Giovanni’s was phenomenal. Corin and I were in agreement that we apparently had never eaten good food before because our taste buds were stimulated in ways we had never had. I would list exactly what we ordered but I couldn’t pronounce it let alone remember what it was called. (I do have pictures of the menu for anyone interested) we split the pork belly appetizer and each ordered the filet mignon main dish. Both were FULL of flavor and melted in your mouth. By far the best restaurant experience we have ever had. We have Chops booked for day 5 and the chef’s table on day 6 so our standards are very very high for the next two. We wrapped up our evening watching the ship pass under the bridge out of Tampa from the helipad and then taking a dip in the pool while (it seemed like) everyone else was eating. So far we really feel like Royalty with Royal Caribbean. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. *Sorry for the lack of pictures form the first day. Was a little hectic. hayley_bopp, Skid, JLMoran and 10 others 13 Quote
hayley_bopp Posted May 5, 2019 Report Posted May 5, 2019 51 minutes ago, CrusingWithMatt said: *Sorry for the lack of pictures form the first day. Was a little hectic. Don't apologise - you're enjoying yourselves. ANY photos you share with us are a bonus! Looks like you're off to a great start! Have a fabulous cruise. CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
mom2mybugs Posted May 5, 2019 Report Posted May 5, 2019 Giovanni's was amazing! And you will love chops too!!! Enjoying following . Have a great cruise! Jane CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
JLMoran Posted May 6, 2019 Report Posted May 6, 2019 Chef’s table is going to spoil you for all other meals. If there’s a particular wine you find you really like, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds. (or thirds/fourths! ) They don’t always allow it, but seems to happen at least as often as not. CrusingWithMatt and mom2mybugs 1 1 Quote
mom2mybugs Posted May 6, 2019 Report Posted May 6, 2019 1 hour ago, JLMoran said: Chef’s table is going to spoil you for all other meals. If there’s a particular wine you find you really like, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds. (or thirds/fourths! ) They don’t always allow it, but seems to happen at least as often as not. I agree joe that both chefs tables I have been to were amazing!! Best meals I have had on the cruises! Jane CrusingWithMatt and JLMoran 2 Quote
Dogmom Posted May 6, 2019 Report Posted May 6, 2019 15 hours ago, JLMoran said: Chef’s table is going to spoil you for all other meals. If there’s a particular wine you find you really like, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds. (or thirds/fourths! ) They don’t always allow it, but seems to happen at least as often as not. I agree with Chefs table being great and sicking with a wine you like . My daughter stuck with one the entire dinner. They opened a second bottle for her and then sent a bottle to her cabin. CrusingWithMatt and JLMoran 2 Quote
CrusingWithMatt Posted May 7, 2019 Author Report Posted May 7, 2019 Day 2 update: I was woke by the sun rising through our balcony window and was lucky enough to be able to grab a decent picture. Quite honestly day 2 was a bit of a blur I swear we did a bunch of things but I can’t really remember them. We did some exploring and saw the show which was the instrumental men’s singing group Revoiced. We attended the Captains welcome aboard reception and it just so happened to be formal night in the minstrel dining room. Auto, mom2mybugs, Lovetocruise2002 and 5 others 8 Quote
CrusingWithMatt Posted May 7, 2019 Author Report Posted May 7, 2019 Cruise Compass Day 2 (sea day) JLMoran, The Cruise Junkie, hayley_bopp and 2 others 5 Quote
coneyraven Posted May 7, 2019 Report Posted May 7, 2019 Looking at that Cruise Compass .... It always amazes me just how much is going on during a sea day. I needed my "cheaters" to read the small print on the last cruise...... which just so happened to have been on Brilliance. CrusingWithMatt 1 Quote
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