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CravingaCruise

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No delays this morning and no we had  a great flight on one of Alaska’s new planes. The first class seats were super comfortable with nice foot rests and our breakfast was great!  

Landed in LA and had to take a shuttle to the ride share lot. Got an Uber XL and just like that we were on our way to the terminal. The timing was perfect with us arriving just before our check in window!!  🎉😍

We had put our RCL luggage tags on while we were at the airport and kept our carryons up front with us just in case the porters grabbed the bags as they came out of the van.  The porters were respectful and let us make sure everything was in order then took them away with the promise that we’d see them soon, then into line we went. We waited maybe 10 mins and then made our way through security and into the terminal to check in for the cruise. A few mins later we were heading to the gangway and then we were on the ship!  Super easy check in!

We went straight to our muster station because we don’t want to be those people!  😳

We headed up to the pool deck on 11 and hung out for a bit listening to the tropical music that did not match the cold temperature!  🥶  We sat there for about 10 mins until the Windjammer opened then went and found a nice spot by the window and grabbed lunch.  Lunch was fine and we sat for a bit until we felt badly that the tables were filling up  and thenmade our way to the promenade.  

After sailing on the jumbo ships for several years the Promenade felt uber small!! We found a comfy spot in the Cafe Promenade while we waited for our room to open up.  I handled a few emails so my inbox wasn’t so overwhelming tomorrow and we people watched for a bit.  That alone could be an entirely new blog! 😳

At 1pm we headed to our room and it was ready but luggage was nowhere in sight.  We sat down on the bed to rest our backs and we just like that we were both asleep.  Our room is super warm and we think it might be from the virtual balcony - which is kind of cool. But not cool enough to make me feel like a Thanksgiving turkey.  We’ll see how it pans out. 🥵

When we woke up our luggage was in the hallway and the unpacking commenced!  We were almost done when our cabin attendant came by to introduce himself.  Which was perfect timing because we needed hangers.  We have Robert for all three cruises and so far we love him!  

We went to dinner in the main dining room and experienced the new menu.  We were excited for it because the first night has fried chicken and hubby LOVES fried chicken.  Unfortunately it didn’t pass the hubby test.  My dinner was a bit of a flop too.  I ordered prime rib and I was not very happy with it.  Not only did both of our plates come out cold, but my prime rib came out nearly rare, which I would have been okay with had it not been cold. They only offer it medium rare or medium well which I thought was odd.  It didn’t bother me because I order medium rare anyway. 
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After not eating much of our dinner we went straight to the Windjammer and had a salad which was just what we needed. 

After the last three cruises in suites, I really missed filet night in Coastal Kitchen!!!!! 😢😩

We were so tired that after dinner we went back to our rooms with the intent of changing into our suits to sit in the hot tub but never left. It was a big day. We’ll sleep well tonight…even without the special star class bed! 😴😴

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8 hours ago, Va4fam said:

Glad you made it safely to the ship.  What time did you board.....what is your initial impression of the embarkation process in LA?

Reading a lot of trip reports about overcrowding, is your sailing full?  Have you had any issues so far?

Our boarding time was 10:30-11:30am

The embarkation was a breeze!  Super smooth!

It is definitely crowded!  We’re heading up the the hot tub now. Windjammer is crazy!  more on that later.

Hoping to find a spot to soak for a while! 🤞🤞

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Days 2 & 3 – Since I forgot to post yesterday.  😊

I had to work yesterday because of some big deliverables, and I put in a full day starting at 5am.  Hubby got up with me and went down to the Café Promenade to get us some much-needed coffee as soon as he was coherent.  We brought with us our travel mugs because we knew this would be a thing.  It proved to be a fantastic choice.

I had a short break between meetings at 7am and we ran to the Windjammer for a quick bite to eat.  As spoiled as we’ve been with the suites, the Windjammer is still a family favorite for the breakfast choices and the ability to get in and get food quickly.  As it turned out, we made it in just before the rush.  We each got the things we wanted, and we were in and out in 30 minutes.  

Robert, our cabin attendant is awesome!  I left a note on the outside of our door to let him know I was in meetings all morning and when I had a break for him to come clean our room.  As soon as my meetings broke, I opened up the door and he was heading our direction!  I went out to the hall with my computer because I got a random Teams call from a colleague, so I just stayed out there out of the way.  Someone official looking came by and questioned why I was out in the hallway – I told her I asked him to come in and wanted to get out of his way – I didn’t want him to get in trouble!

I have a magnetic white board and I’ve been leaving him notes all week – he’s great at communication and as we need things, he’s been very accommodating.  We're excited we have him for three cruises!

After sleeping in our (very tiny) inside cabin the first night with the beds pushed together, we quickly realized that I was going to end up in the hospital if we kept the beds together because of how the room is configured.  We asked Robert if we could have the beds pulled apart, and it made a world of difference!!!  The space it opened between the beds is perfect and we’re quite happy with the configuration now.  In fact, we received emails for Royal Up options for the next two cruises and seriously thought about it, then decided against it.  The deciding factor was that the bathroom wouldn’t be any bigger, and we’re completely unpacked and organized now…and we have Robert for all three cruises!  We’re staying put.

Last night (night 2) we gave the dining room another try.  It turns out that this is the first cruise that this ship is trying out the new menu.  I’d say they’re still getting used to it.  Maybe it will be better next cruise.  We'll see.  Dinner wasn’t terrible last night, but they’re having trouble getting the food out hot right now, and that’s an issue for us.  At least we didn’t leave dinner last night hungry like we did the night before.  Hubby and I both had the salmon last night, and it was fine.  The crust seems to have a little too much of the panko breadcrumbs mixed with the herbs.  Both of us found ourselves avoiding some of the crust because it seemed kind of powdery.  The lemon sauce it is served with is good, and the salmon was cooked perfectly, but the amount of veggies with the salmon was kind of sad. By sad, I mean we got 3 snow pea pods as a garnish on our plate.  I don't really think that qualifies as a veggie.

We were parked off the coast of Catalina today and we were planning to go ashore just to walk around a bit.  However, in learning all about the island at dinner the other night (neighboring table), we decided we would only go if the line wasn’t crazy long to get off the ship – by the time that happened, we were heading to the hot tub.  No worries – this cruise isn’t about visiting places as much as it is a much-needed detox from life.  I think we’re accomplishing that!

In fact, we’ve spent a lot of time in the Solarium hot tub and have enjoyed it very much!  Today, I looked over and saw hubby snoozing.  That screams relaxation!  🤣

This morning we discovered Zen Coloring and spent an hour in (near) silence.  It was awesome!  The employee leading that event was on our cruise in November 2021 as the Elton John impersonator.  He was great to watch as Elton John!  The sailing we were on with him was his last with Royal at that time.  They didn't renew his contract as Elton John at the time so Princess apparently picked him up.  He's now on one of their ships and is only on break for a few months.  Royal is in desperate need of employees and asked if he would come on board to help while he was on break. That was definitely Royal's loss because we thought he was a great show as Elton!

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Early afternoon we wandered up to the mini golf course and found some great Adirondack chairs in the shade with a light breeze…and no music playing anywhere!  That’s a big deal for us.  I’m quite an introvert and could sit in silence all day long without a peep of noise, so finding a quiet place on the ship is huge for me.  Most places have some sort of music, and often there is music from multiple venues competing for your attention (loudly) – which is sound overload for me.  I loved the area up on the mini golf deck.

Another quiet place we found today was the Library on deck 7.  We brought some card games with us since we were going to be on for so long and we sat and played a game for an hour.  It was great!

On our way to dinner, the elevator we got into had the roaming piano guy in it!  We snapped a quick photo before we got off.  He’s very entertaining!

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Tonight was Chinese food night in the Windjammer, so that’s where we ended up for dinner per hubby’s request.  He went for the Asian options and I hit the salad bar again with great success.  He said it was good – not great. 

Our biggest news is that we stopped by Playmakers this afternoon and spoke with the manager (Julien) about Super Bowl Sunday.  They are charging $50 per seat for the game, and it comes with a huge meal per person.  We were the first to make reservations and got the pick of the place.  We picked a two-top right in front of one of the big screens.  We’re so excited!!!  That was a huge score and so worth it!  We also checked out the price of a pitcher of beer – only $18.  Considering that two cocktails in the Viking Crown Lounge last night cost us nearly $30, that pitcher of beer is a huge deal!  I may have to convert!

We stopped by the loyalty ambassador’s desk today and confirmed our transition to Diamond on Friday!  I’m looking forward to the coffee machine!  The coffee in the Windjammer this morning was like mud!  We brought flavored creamer with us (the little individual servings).  I usually use one or maybe 1 ½ per mug – today I used 4 and a sugar packet to eliminate the bitterness.  I’m such a coffee snob!  Hubby was in the military and will drink anything resembling coffee, even if his coffee of choice is Pete’s.  Not me – I want my Pete’s!!

Tomorrow is Ensenada and we’re planning to stay onboard.  I have to do a little work in the morning, but I’ll be done by 8 or 9, so we’ll have the entire day to play.

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8 hours ago, CravingaCruise said:

This morning we discovered Zen Coloring and spent an hour in (near) silence.  It was awesome!  The employee leading that event was on our cruise in November 2021 as the Elton John impersonator.  He was great to watch as Elton John!  The sailing we were on with him was his last with Royal at that time.  They didn't renew his contract as Elton John at the time so Princess apparently picked him up.  He's now on one of their ships and is only on break for a few months.  Royal is in desperate need of employees and asked if he would come on board to help while he was on break. That was definitely Royal's loss because we thought he was a great show as Elton!

I once cruised on Princess and at that time they had an Elton John impersonator.  I thought that guy was great!  The last night, the impersonator got together with a female comedian from Maine.  I never laugh so hard!  The comedian was slightly overweight.  And when she went to lean on the piano to sing, the piano started to sink.  The impersonator immediately stood up in a panic and waved his hands to get her off the piano. I laughed.  Thanks for bringing back that memory.

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Day 4 - Ensenada

We stayed on the ship again today, but so did a lot of others.  It really felt like a day at sea with fewer things to do.  

I took a couple of calls in the morning for work, and then we ventured out for breakfast up in the Windjammer.  We've found that breakfast at WJ is great for us because of the variety. We wandered around after that and did a lot of people watching and chilling.  We grabbed lunch around Noon and then got into our suits for an afternoon in the water.

We attempted to enjoy the main pool and sit in the chaise lounges in the shallow water for a while.  I had successfully fallen asleep and a mini-human jumped over the middle section into the water next to me, which splashed me in the face and promptly woke me up.  We hung out for a while longer and when more mini-humans joined forces, we vacated and went to the Solarium pool.  We ended up in the water for over three hours, and were very wrinkled when we finally got out.

We attempted the dining room again, and this time I ordered the Chops Grille Filet Mingon for $19.99.  I ordered it medium-rare, and was a touch on the rare side, but it was excellent overall.  It came with a choice of peppercorn or butter sauce, and I chose the butter.  It was just melted butter, and I didn't use it.  I ordered a baked potato with it, and they brought out mashed potatoes instead.  I didn’t bother saying anything because I finally had good food and the mashed potatoes were fine.

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After dinner, we wandered around to various venues looking for a place to hang out, and ended the night in the Schooner Bar with the piano music and vocals that were okay. 

Came back to the 2nd and final towel animal of the cruise.  Apparently, they don’t do them every night anymore.  I miss them!

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On 1/30/2023 at 11:55 PM, CravingaCruise said:

After the last three cruises in suites, I really missed filet night in Coastal Kitchen!!!!! 😢😩

This is sort of how I felt as well on Freedom last July.

BTW, late to the party on this blog but enjoying following along. I have yet to sail Navigator....

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Sounds like you are having a great cruise.   

Do you recall the name of the Elton John performer?   He kinda looks like the one we had on Empress in February 2020.

Did more people stay on the ship in Ensenada or get off?   

Are you going to try the water coaster?

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3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

BTW, late to the party on this blog but enjoying following along. I have yet to sail Navigator....

Thanks for the follow!  We're enjoying this cruise, but it's not the same as the Oasis or Quantum class ships for sure!  Wish we had some of the bigger ships on this side of the world.  They have some going up to Alaska, but we love the sunshine.  

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1 hour ago, Va4fam said:

Sounds like you are having a great cruise.   

Do you recall the name of the Elton John performer?   He kinda looks like the one we had on Empress in February 2020.

Did more people stay on the ship in Ensenada or get off?   

Are you going to try the water coaster?

Andy Elton is the impersonator.  He's awesome!  Royal really missed out on keeping him.

It didn't really feel like many got off in Ensenada - the ship was pretty full all day.

We will definitely be trying the coaster!  We walked back there the other day to see where it was and how to get there - it's quite a maze back there.  We're waiting for it to be just a tad warmer!

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Turnaround Day

I had a couple of calls and a few things I needed to get done before calling it for work.  Hubby got coffee and breakfast in the WJ before it filled up with the entire ship trying to fit in breakfast before they had to get off.  He brought back coffee and a variety of good eats for me to enjoy before we had to go meet the other back-to-backers in the Star Lounge at 9am.

We hung out together until everyone had checked in and then waited for a couple of wheelchairs to arrive for those who needed assistance, then as a group we all walked off the ship, down the super long building to the immigration, got our lovely faces scanned and cleared, sat down for about 10 minutes waiting until we were able to get back on the ship, then all got back on the ship.  It was the simplest thing. 🥰

Once back on, we hung out at the R Bar for a while in very comfy chairs visiting with a couple we had met during the immigration process.  When it was time for lunch, the four of us went into the dining room for the turnaround lunch.  I was ready to eat my fingers off when we got in there, and it took them forever just to bring bread.  The other side of the dining room was for the Key, and they had all the servers.  We had 2 – it was super sad.  All the food came out cold and very late.  My hubby’s appetizer came out just before his meal after the other three of us had long eaten our appetizers and they had taken our plates away. We’re probably going to avoid that next time and just go get pizza or Windjammer. 🍕

After lunch we wandered around for a bit until the Diamond Lounge opened up and made our way to our “newly available to us” exclusive hideaway.  It was quiet in there and we stayed and played a game for a while we people-watched.  It was great.  We hung out until the Diamond happy hour began and nibbled and drank for a bit until it was time for the dining room.  Neither of us wanted to go put long pants on, so we went over to Playmakers and had a basket of wings and beer – in our comfy shorts.  I wouldn't say I've converted, but I drank it.  I mulled orange wedges and added that to my drink each time.  At the end our server commented that my beer looked like a fruit salad.  🤣

After wings we went over to the liquor store where they were holding a sipping event.  We hung out and got in line a few times to maximize our free sips, and enjoyed the different offerings.  Hoping they do that all week long!  😋

We wandered over to the Star Lounge and found some super comfy chairs and listened to some pretty good jazz while using our Diamond drink tickets (we each get 4 drinks a day as diamond members).  What a great thing!!

When the jazz took a turn into music that wasn’t as interesting to us we went up to the karaoke up in the Viking Crown lounge and heard a couple of amazing singers perform for the rest of us who all decided not to even try following them.  When it turned into just the teens singing because nobody else was signing up, we left.

We found ourselves at the Schooner Bar because we heard someone doing Elton John.  As it turns out, Andy Elton – the impersonator from Anthem that I had seen at the Zen Coloring – was asked at the last minute to fill in for the pianist who was supposed to be performing.  It was standing room only when we got there, and we stood on the outskirts of the crowd to listen to him – he’s that good.  That was a total treat and a fantastic end to our very long day.

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Final Thoughts for Cruise #1

Inside Cabin:

  • In order to make this room work, we had to have the beds apart.  Otherwise you literally have to climb over the end of the bed to get to one side.
  • The bathroom isn’t as large in the inside cabin as in any other room.  The shower is the same – way too small!
  • The storage in the room is ample with the help of a hanging closet organizer, a hanging shoe organizer, and multiple foldable drawer organizers (from IKEA), that hold all of our little things.

Virtual Balcony:

  • It is a true live visual off the bow of the ship but the video is not super clear so it’s kind of hazy.  Hubby says it’s 720p at best.
  • When we wanted to see if it was sunny out, it was hard to tell – it was light out but couldn’t quite tell if it was sunny.  When we went outside, it was very sunny. 

Hair Dryer:

  • When using the hair dryer that comes with the room, I quickly wished I had brought my own from home.  It is fine for drying my hair – it might take longer than normal, but it’s fine.  However, in order to make it work, you have to hold down a button the entire time.  I have carpal tunnel in both wrists and have already had surgery on them once.  It was quite uncomfortable for me to hold the button down while using the hair dryer.  I know…first world problems.

Ship Overall:

  • On turnaround day, there was an overwhelming sewage smell in our hallway.  I don’t recall smelling that on Anthem, Allure, or Oasis.  I don’t know if this is from the size or age of the ship in comparison, but it makes me not want to get on a smaller/older ship again.  I kept spraying our orange air freshener in the hallway to try to help - it didn't really help.  🤢
  • The ship isn’t in bad shape, but it is definitely showing her age.  The shell décor in the bathroom gives away that it was built in 2002. At least they don’t have geese décor anywhere! 
  • It is nice not having to walk an eternity from one end of the ship to the other.  I find it refreshing that walking from one elevator bank to another doesn’t take us 10 minutes.
  • The suite sun deck isn’t clearly marked and/or restricted.  It’s not super clear where it begins/ends, so I imagine it’s invaded by others regularly. 
  • The sun deck on deck 13 is awesome!  It’s truly set up for hardcore sun-worshipers.
  • The Schooner Bar is right outside of the casino and if you’re sensitive to smoke, you may not want to hang out there much as the smoke doesn’t stay in the casino.
  • The mini-humans love the main pools and it becomes a splash-zone very quickly.  The pool in the Solarium was great for relaxing, but really needed to be bigger. 
  • Oh!  The Solarium pool is painted dark blue and the blue rubs off on anything touching it!  When were in there the first time, a gal we were visiting with looked like a giant smurf!  It comes off easily, but if you’re wearing white or a light-colored suit, beware!  

Food:

  • We’re just starting our second cruise and we’re looking at doing the dining package for our final cruise just because the limited menu in the dining room is not really doing it for us.  We’ll see – this could change.

Would I sail Navigator again?  Jury is still out on this for me.  The sewage smell is really a turnoff for me and that is stuck in my head at the moment (I'm writing this on day 2 of our second cruise and the smell was just finally cleared from our hallway early this afternoon).  Right now, this is the only Royal ship on the west coast heading into warmer weather except for those from Vancouver to Hawaii once a year on their way to Australia.  Royal really needs bigger ships - or newer small ships on this side of the world.  Until that happens, I might opt for flying to Florida, Texas, or NJ for a larger class of ships that are newer.

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2 hours ago, CravingaCruise said:

We're enjoying this cruise, but it's not the same as the Oasis or Quantum class ships for sure! 

I hear you loud and clear!

I like the non-OA/QN class ships for the shorter sailings. That seems to suit us. Any longer than 5-6 nights I start to get restless and miss the OA/QN ships.

I wonder if the sewage smell on turnaround day is due to them flushing out the drains. A loft attendant once told us that on turnaround day they flush all the drains in the bathrooms. On embarkation day on Allure a while ago, our bathroom had a sewage smell and that was the explanation that we got. I am sure there is a technical way to explain this but I have no idea lol

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2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I did a B2B on Navigator this past September, never smelled any sewage but Schooner being right by the casino was a big problem. People would literally stand right there to smoke. I liked the DL though, I would go and read when everything was too congested, the DL concierge was so friendly.

Yes, it would be better if the casino had doors there so there is a better/more clear distinction between spaces.  

Romina is our DL concierge, and she is training someone (I didn't catch his name) on this cruise.  She is very nice, and was super helpful for us newbies!

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I wonder if the sewage smell on turnaround day is due to them flushing out the drains.

That would make a lot of sense.  You'd think there would be some way to minimize the smell a bit better.  It was nauseating!  What an awful job!! 

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Cruise #2 Day 2

I’m quickly losing track of my days!  Thank God for the elevator day panels!

We lost an hour of sleep last night!  Traveling down the west coast of Mexico heading for Cabo we change time zones, so the ship time changes time after night 1, even though we aren't yet in that time zone.  Our phones were completely unreliable today and the confusion over what was actually correct totally threw us for a loop!  We went to bed close to midnight (we normally get up at 4:30am for my work because I keep east coast hours to support my business), so we were soooooo tired when we finally crashed last night.  We woke up at around 7:30am, but it was really 8:30am, and we couldn’t get our stuff together to save our lives!  Hubby made it to the Diamond Lounge to get us coffee just before they shut down the morning snacks, and he brought back a couple of yummy croissants with the coffee to hold us off until we figured out where to go/what to do.  By the time we got out of our room and up to the Windjammer, they had closed breakfast. 😫

We were ready to get into the pool, so we stopped by the El Loco Fresh and had a quick bite on the way to the Solarium.  The pool deck was a madhouse!!!  We could definitely tell that this seven night cruise had a different crowd and more of them than the last four night cruise.  We hung in the pool for a bit, tried the hot tub for a bit, went back to the pool, and then went up a couple of decks to the sun deck to dry off.  The deck 13 sundeck is awesome!  Tons of lounge chairs and all sun!  😎

We had reservations for the escape room this afternoon and spent an hour with 8 other strangers attempting to brain meld in 50 minutes to escape.  We made it with 4:04 minutes to spare!  Yay us!  My undergrad degree is in psychology, and I find it fascinating how strangers can come together for a common cause…or not in some cases.  I love brain games, and escape rooms are the ultimate!  It was very fun, and we highly recommend it if you like escape rooms!  🏆

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Tonight was dress your best and we went with red for our theme this evening.  Unfortunately, we didn’t do any photos before dinner because I had booked the escape room in the middle of the afternoon, not really leaving much time for photos before dinner.  While at dinner, I decided my red needed a touch of French Onion Soup.  We’ll have to do pics on the next dressy night.

We weren’t feeling it for drinking tonight, but we didn’t want to lose our four (each) free diamond drinks from today.  We don’t really do soda, and the water on the ship is just fine, so after some deductive reasoning, we decided to get our drinks and save them for tomorrow.  We went to the Star Lounge and asked the bartender for our four drinks each neat in tall glasses.  He said he gets that kind of request all the time.  Apparently, he has a Pinnacle guest who requests his 6 drinks each night in one glass – it just makes it easier. 

It really seems like Pinnacles should get more than just 6 drinks a day.  I know they get more perks than just that, but still.  Just saying.

Got back to our room tonight to another addition to our towel family.  They always make me smile! 🥰  I kept the head of my elephant from the first night of towel animals, and he keeps making the cut for the photos.  🤣

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Tomorrow is Cabo and we don’t get there until around 12:30-1pm, then we have to tender, which is not our favorite thing.  We’re going to play it by ear tomorrow on whether we’re getting off.  We may worship the sun a bit more.  We’ll see.  None of the available shore excursions seemed interesting enough for us and we would much rather spend a week in Cabo at a nice resort versus being rushed around so we don’t miss the tender boat. 

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51 minutes ago, CravingaCruise said:

we decided to get our drinks and save them for tomorrow.  We went to the Star Lounge and asked the bartender for our four drinks each neat in tall glasses.  He said he gets that kind of request all the time.  Apparently, he has a Pinnacle guest who requests his 6 drinks each night in one glass – it just makes it easier. 

this is SO smart and i wish i had thought of this earlier!! thank you for the tip 😎 wonder if they would let me have coronas without removing the lid/cap 🧐

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Thanks @CravingaCruisefor the Andy update.   He was definitely on our Empress sailing and entertained us in the Schooner Bar each night back then.  Hope he will still be performing when we board this Friday.

Getting your drinks in advance is a brilliant idea.  What type of drinks did you order that will save until the next day?   I can't even get a paper straw to last long enough to finish a frozen cocktail.

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54 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

Getting your drinks in advance is a brilliant idea.  What type of drinks did you order that will save until the next day?   I can't even get a paper straw to last long enough to finish a frozen cocktail.

Hubby likes Crown Royal and I like rum. I got Malibu Rum for my drinks last night and can add them to any drink I order tonight because I usually order rum-based cocktails. I’ll post tomorrow how it worked out for us. 

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Cruise #2 Days 3 & 4

Well - Nothing spoils a sunny vacation better than a sunburn, and I pride myself on doing things very well...I got a terrible sunburn on Sunday while in Cabo hanging at the pool visiting with a nice couple.  I've spent the better part of the last two days hiding from the beautiful sunshine to recover, and hubby stuck with me to keep me company.  So sweet! 🥰  Being forced to be out of the sun led us to meeting some fabulous new friends in the Diamond Lounge, so I can't say it was spoiled entirely. 

Sunday's dinner wasn't that great, so we avoided dinner Monday (day 3) in the dining room, and ventured up to the Windjammer.  That wasn't the experience we wanted, so we tried the dining room again tonight (day 4).  I think Windjammer might have been better than tonight's dining room dinner.  I wasn't in the mood for the Italian themed options, so I ordered the New York Strip (medium rare) and it arrived to my table very blue (extremely rare) but showing grill marks on the outside as though they put it on the grill for about 20 seconds on each side.  My vegetables and baked potato were both hot (which was new from Sunday's dinner), so I began eating those while I waited for the server to come back and check.  When I told him the temperature was incorrect, he immediately whisked away my entire plate (including the potato and veggies I was happily enjoying) and promptly brought another, that was also extremely rare.  He came back and checked and again wanted to whisk away my plate, but I had made the mistake of prepping my potato and veggies again before trying the steak, so I requested to keep it.  Besides, I had just used the last of the butter in the vicinity (our neighboring table offered their butter since the server didn't bring any).  Unfortunately, I didn't get to eat much of the prepped veggies and potato because he arrived moments later with another plate of food.  I checked the steak while he was there this time (since it was the third attempt) and it as correct this time.  However, he took away my old plate and I was again left with a potato with no butter.  I ate my steak and didn't bother with the rest of the plate because dry baked potatoes aren't appealing to me and I had already indulged in enough broccoli and carrots on the last two plates.  We're pretty much over the dining room now.  Tomorrow is supposed to be lobster night, and I'm not sure it will be worth it.  We'll see.  🦞

We found a fun game show last night to take my mind off of this terrible sunburn.  In the Star Lounge, they had Rock the Room and it was quite interactive.  There were about 5 or 6 people who frequented the floor and it got pretty competitive at the end.  It was good old fashioned entertainment and fun.  We stayed in when the place cleared out and listened to Frequency (band) for a bit, and attempted dancing a couple of songs.  We're rusty, but had fun anyway.  When the band took a break, we headed up to bed.  

The time change is interesting on this cruise.  We've had to change our time twice heading down to Puerto Vallarta, and now we'll change it twice again on the way back.  This time, I get to gain an hour of sleep each night, which is very nice for me working in the morning on east coast hours.  I've set my phone/watch to east coast hours so I don't have to worry about changing my time each night and worrying about alarms.  

Tonight, the ship is moving more than it has over the last week and a half because we're heading back to LA.  For me, the movement of the ship is kind of lulling, so I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight!  😴

 

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15 hours ago, CravingaCruise said:

Cruise #2 Days 3 & 4

Well - Nothing spoils a sunny vacation better than a sunburn, and I pride myself on doing things very well...I got a terrible sunburn on Sunday while in Cabo hanging at the pool visiting with a nice couple.  I've spent the better part of the last two days hiding from the beautiful sunshine to recover, and hubby stuck with me to keep me company.  So sweet! 🥰  Being forced to be out of the sun led us to meeting some fabulous new friends in the Diamond Lounge, so I can't say it was spoiled entirely. 

I totally agree that a sunburn is the worst when you are on vacation.  It is also impossible to sleep when the sunburn is on your shoulders. I hope you are feeling better.

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Cruise #2 Days 5, 6, & 7 - Wow that went fast!

Puerto Vallarta Day 5 - Wait, I already did PV!  I think I got my days all mixed up.  That's been happening a lot lately.  The days in the elevator aren't helping me either.  I need the day of the week, the day number of the cruise, and the date of the month.  The fact that we've sailed in three time zones, we live on the west coast, and I work east coast hours, has been too much for a cruise brain to deal with!  Thankfully, I'll be off most of next week (cruise #3).  🥳

We had two sea days wrapping up the end of this trip and we spent them roaming about the ship looking for fun things to do, people watch (there is a lot to see on a ship), and we frequented the diamond lounge because we met some fun people this trip with whom we loved hanging out.  I don't know if it's the fact that we're now part of something semi-exclusive, or if we just found our kind of people (I'm sure it's all in my head), but the DL has been so much fun!

Our first sea day (day 6 - Wednesday) was dress your best night, so we got dressed up a little and found some nice photo backgrounds to pose in front of for our free diamond pics.  We went to dinner just a little early and let our servers know we wanted to get in and out quickly because we wanted to go to the 7pm show, Ballroom Fever.  I'm a former competition ballroom dancer, and love to watch dancing!  Dinner was okay - nothing had to be sent back - and they got us in and out in 45 minutes without dessert!  That's gotta be some kind of record!  Of course we ordered the lobster tail and it was sufficient when we added an extra plate of veggies and a baked potato to it.

We ran back up to our rooms and got changed, stopped by the DL to see our new friends and grab another drink, then on to the show.  The show was not terrible, but wasn't the level of dancing we were hoping to see.  There were several parts where there was singing to the music that would have been great dancing (like a waltz) but nobody was dancing.  Knowing a bit about theater, I wonder if there was a costume snafu back stage for that song and they just all remained off stage.  Who knows.  The main dancers were definitely the stars of the show, and it was easy to tell the backup dancers were not trained in ballroom.  But overall it was okay.  

Our second sea day (day 7 - Thursday) was very relaxing.  I still did some work in the morning, so no sleeping in, but when work was done, we put on the suits and back into the pool/hot tub.  Since we were getting closer to California, it wasn't nearly as warm, and we spent most of the time in the hot tub.  When we got out, we found a couple of loungers in the shade overlooking the ocean, and we both fell asleep.  Naps at our age are a beautiful thing!  😴

When we woke up, it was time to get ready for dinner once again, so we did the DL for a pre-dinner drink, dinner in the dining room, and a post-dinner drink and visit with our new friends in the DL.  We wandered down to see our pics from the night before and their system was on the fritz, so we added a reminder to our schedule to look in the morning when the rest of the ship was trying to get off. 📸

Dinner in the dining room on night 7 was terrible.  We both ordered the pecan crusted salmon, which was amazing flavor, but both of our salmon came out completely raw.  I cut into mine and it was bright pink and gel-like.  Not good.  We both sent ours back and hubby said not to bother bringing another for him.  I wanted mine and asked that it be replaced.  At least I hadn't bothered to try prepping and eating the rest of what was on my plate like I had the night of the steak debacle.  It took them three tries to bring me a salmon that wasn't raw.  It's clear that the kitchen (yellow scarves) are too new and need more training on how to serve food at the correct temperature.  We chatted with our server about this for a bit.  We know it wasn't his fault, so it wasn't like we were upset or anything.  They get very upset when things don't come out right.  We're pretty chill about it and don't get angry or upset.  I almost feel badly for sending things back on the ship because I've heard stories of how much they are berated when things aren't correct.  However, raw food that should be cooked is where I draw the line.  Had to send it back.  When I got salmon cooked the right temperature, it was very good!

Sorry I forgot to take pics!  I'm terrible about that.  Our daughter was the one who always took the pics on our last cruises.  Since it's just hubby and I, I can't remember to save my life!  I'll do better on the next cruise!  Which starts tomorrow (technically today, since that's when I'm posting this).  🙂 

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On 2/7/2023 at 10:38 PM, CravingaCruise said:

We're pretty much over the dining room now. 

Kathy, this blog is making me nervous for 9 nights on Liberty this coming August lol

Hubby and kids always call me a CK snob and I told them it's MDR all the way on Liberty. But yikes! I would have tough time if my meals came out like yours.

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42 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Kathy, this blog is making me nervous for 9 nights on Liberty this coming August lol

Hubby and kids always call me a CK snob and I told them it's MDR all the way on Liberty. But yikes! I would have tough time if my meals came out like yours.

Good luck with that! Hopefully all the kinks are worked out by then.

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On 2/11/2023 at 8:20 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Kathy, this blog is making me nervous for 9 nights on Liberty this coming August lol

You’ll probably be fine by August. We were chatting with our server and he said that the yellow scarf chefs are all very new and they are also short staffed.  Anything that we and the neighboring tables have gotten that were on the previous menu have come out fine…except steaks, of course. I think they just need more time with it.  

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Cruise #2 Turnaround Day / Cruise #3 Day 1 & 2

Turnaround was simple just like last time except for a snafu with our check in. The gal checking us in at the Star Lounge was having trouble with the internet so I got checked in but it hung up when it got to hubby. We didn’t find out until we were getting back on the ship though. Everyone else got the pleasant “ba dink” but when it got to hubby it went “ba dunk” instead. 😳 We walked back down the platform and met up with another staff member with a tablet, checked hubby in and we’re back on our way. 
 
Since we already had our room keys we went back to the room and hung out in there for a bit before heading down to the Promenade to people watch. Day 1 is prime people watching!!

Since we’re introverts, we eventually retreated to the Diamond Lounge for some much needed quiet. From what we’ve been told it is a small DL compared to others but it’s cozy and it has some great conversation areas set up. It’s a very pleasant space.

Fir dinner, we avoided the dining room and ate at WJ instead. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was fabulous!  They had a stir fry station set up which was great!  I highly recommend it. 

Since it was Friday night we really wanted to stay up like normal adults but since we were up at 4:30am, we ended up in bed by 10pm.  But not before we got our 4 free drinks! 😂

Day 2 - Sea Day

We slept in today (so we could stay up tonight)!  Which means we were up by 6:30am.  We looked at the day in our app and put a bunch of things on our schedule that we ignored all day! 😂😂

We eventually made it out of the room and down to Cafe Promenade for coffee and filled up on that until mid morning (our typical Saturday routine).  We decided to go on a hunt for some green ribbon to put in my hair for the Super Bowl.  We asked around and found none so we tried our luck with our DL concierge.  She said she would see what she could find.  🤞

I’m finally recovered from my sunburn so we lathered on the sunscreen and headed to the Solarium for the afternoon!  It’s definitely one of our favorite places!  

Tonight at the Schooner Bar where we were participating in the trivia, she showed up with green ribbon!!!  She is absolutely awesome!!  As soon as I get her card I will share her name.  I know how to pronounce it but I know I’ll butcher the spelling!  For those of you who have sailed in Star Class and your genie appears out of nowhere wherever you are on the ship (which makes you wonder if they put trackers on you) this was quite genie-like!  

We decided to give up our table in the dining room for my time dining each night. We’re eating a bit lighter this cruise anyway, and we’ve found the salad bar in the Windjammer to hit the spot most of the time. Tonight we didn’t want to dress up which fit nicely with the WJ and we found grilled chicken breast which happens to be our go-to for most meals. Happy campers!

For those who encouraged a nice dinner on Valentine’s Day, the Diamond Lounge Concierge was able to score us a dinner reservation on Valentine’s Day at Chops so we’re super happy about that!  We also ventured out a bit to have lunch at Izumi Sushi today (which is always fabulous), and we have lunch reservations later this week at Hooked!  
 

This week is shaping up quite nicely so far!  Tomorrow is the big game!  Go Eagles!!!

Philadelphia Eagles Sport GIF by Sealed With A GIF

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We have met so many couples who cruise for free because of playing in the casino!!  I’m seriously thinking about playing some slot machines!  🤑💰💵

If it weren’t for the smoke being so bad in there I would love to do this!  Any tips on how to be in the casino without smelling like an ashtray when we leave?  Even the non smoking section is too much for me!  😩

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1 hour ago, CravingaCruise said:

We have met so many couples who cruise for free because of playing in the casino!!  I’m seriously thinking about playing some slot machines!  🤑💰💵

If it weren’t for the smoke being so bad in there I would love to do this!  Any tips on how to be in the casino without smelling like an ashtray when we leave?  Even the non smoking section is too much for me!  😩

If I could find a way I would do it myself. I put up with the smoke to earn my free-ish cruises.

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19 minutes ago, Yesiamthere6 said:

I think it’s called no smoke…..something like that.  It comes in a small bottle and gets rid of the smoke smell.  Haven’t tried it in the casino, but have on my clothes, and it does help with the smell.  Just take that bottle and keep spraying while you are playing.  🙂   

I'm gonna try this. I will wear a mask to avoid sinus issues with smoke but the clothes are an issue.

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9 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Hi and following!

1) ITA ... Royal's hairdryers suck. Bad. My hands always cramp. 

2) We. Were. Robbed. Hmmmphhh. Ridic reffing. Looking forward to hearing how that went at Playmakers though!

Thanks for the follow! 

1) It's amazing that Royal found the worst hair dryers on the planet for their ships!!  They must have really put some work into that!

2) Ya, super bummed about the holding penalty at the end - definitely not cool!!!

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Cruise #3 Day 3 – THE BIG GAME!

We slept in as long as we could, and even tried to go back to sleep when we woke up, but we were totally awake by about 7am.  We took our time getting ready for the day and were sporting our team with my pretty green hair ribbons and our Eagles jerseys and lanyards.  When we finally ventured out of our room and up to the WJ for coffee and breakfast, it was like walking into a massive sports bar.  There were hundreds of home team jerseys on this cruise, and it was so fun to see all of them. 

Hubby tested my logo knowledge and I got most of them correct.  He knows them all though – he and sports go way back.  Once upon a time, when we were still young and semi-newlyweds, we were invited to the local morning show because he was such a sports fanatic!  He had a giant binder with sports stats for all of his fantasy teams and kept them up to date all the time.  He even flew to Rhode Island every year with a buddy to do a live draft with one of his leagues.  Crazy!  Whenever we went to the store, I’d instantly lose him to the magazine section to check out the latest stats.  That was back in the day before internet (even though we’re really not that old).  Hehe.  Anyway, the local show had us on and they wanted him to show off his sports knowledge and his binder.  Now everything is online and it’s so easy to keep up with stats.  I think he missed his calling to be a commentator.  He is always saying the exact things they say just moments before they do.  I’m so amazed.  🥰

Anyway – the smack talk was flowing from every table and it was so fun!  Everything was very respectful, and the vibe was awesome!  We wandered around the ship and hung out in different areas.  We’ve found that the Star Lounge and the Diamond Lounge are our two favorite go-to places for quiet escapes and comfy chairs.  We brought a bunch of games with us on this trip and pulled out Phase 10 for a game in the Star Lounge while we anxiously awaited Playmakers to open.  Imagine the lady at the store window saying "Open, Open, Open!"  That was us!

We each made the excuse to get water or go to the bathroom and wandered into the Promenade a few times just to see how the progress was coming along.  They had it all fenced/roped off for the reserved tables, and they opened up about 2:45pm for guests.  We finished up our game at about that time and we were the first to arrive; others quickly followed.  Our seats were amazing!  They covered the pool table and set up two tables for two right in front of it.  We had the table closest to the center of the big screen tv on the wall behind the pool table. 

IMG_0459.thumb.jpeg.10fd8aa1b18010590afa78ae678abd10.jpeg

The bar quickly filled up and we soon found that we were the minority in green.  Most of the bar was rooting for Kansas City, but we Eagles bonded quickly and were quite loud, so our noise outnumbered the KC fans.  It was a great first half and we were pumped for the second half.  Unfortunately, our Eagles must have gone to the spa at halftime because KC played an awesome second half and we failed to keep up.  The smack talk went right up until the very end when we knew it was hopeless.  We had a gal at a table next to us that was super sassy and was in love with Mahomes because her alma mater was Alabama.  We never caught her actual name but when we saw her at breakfast this morning, our name for her, “Miss Sassy” stuck and she loved it.  We gave her our confetti poppers at the end of the game as she was dancing around so excited!  😊

BTW – our favorite server at PM was our server for the night (I actually shared my green ribbons with her), and we showed her our saved-up drinks from the previous two nights (we had them in water bottles).  We ordered a diamond drink each, and then just kept pouring drinks for ourselves from our water bottles throughout the game.  She thought it was hilarious, and we tipped her well.  Not that we were doing anything wrong, but it just felt a little sneaky. 

The night ended with a sad loss, and two tired puppies ready for bed as soon as we got to our room. 

I thought for sure we would be doing the walk of shame today after all the smack talk on the ship yesterday, but we hardly had any comments today. 

Oh!  The best part of the entire night is that I won the final quarter office square based on the final score, so it wasn’t a total loss. 💰

Bottom line for Super Bowl on a ship – it’s a winner!  

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