Island hopping on Waitress of the Seas.......what an odd name for a cruise ship...Feb 19-26

[SweetPea]

38 minutes ago, GregD said:

Sooooo, should I just say hey, SweetPea says hi, or should I use another name?

Haha, he called us the lovebirds, (real names Mike & Jodie) but I'm guessing he calls all his couple guests that.

If you REALLY feel like following up and i don't blame you if you don't, this *may* jog his memory

 

 

[GregD]

Derick and the pastry team came through perfectly on the birthday cakes. While at lunch he decorated the room with some signs and set out the cakes. The kids were really happy, and the cake was good too.

 

[GregD]

Following our birthday cake reveal and the cabin crawl, we got ourselves ready for formal night. Occasionally we actually look good. We gave it our best effort. The ladies looked beautiful, Johnny was quite dapper in his suit. I was….well….present.

Dinner was Chops. Apps were shrimp cocktail, crab cake, Caesar Salad, the goat cheese salad and the black pepper bacon. Johnny was happy that they were able to get him some cut veggies from CK. 

for our mains, Lydia learned from her sirloin mistake and got the filet, as well as the rest of us. I added the lobster to mine. We got an assortment of sides, and tucked in for our feast. Soon we were stuffed….this isn’t good, it’s only day 2 and the coma is starting to show itself. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Labadee so it will be easier to not overeat at lunch.

 

[asquared17]

your family is beautiful!! i love the family photos!!

[GregD]

We skipped dessert from chops, because we were super full, plus we had birthday cake back in the stateroom. Following dinner, we returned to our room to get out of our fancy clothes. People watching around the ship was interesting. There were many gowns that I give the women props for being so confident, but also worried for them because these same gowns were one wrong step away from being a wardrobe malfunction. I chucked to myself at the group of 18-20y/o guys who were standing at the railing of deck 6 looking down on all the people getting their photos done who were undoubtedly hoping for that wardrobe malfunction. 

The headliner show was Austin Drange who was a finalist on x-factor many years ago. The theater was not surprisingly quite empty. While it’s clear he is talented, he was just okay in my eyes. His set list left much to be desired. I think he was expecting much older crowd. During his set there were multiple groups that left

Thankfully all was not lost because…later that night we got to see Aqua80 from our balcony. There were other crew/cast members in the audience, so they were extra splashy and not subtle about it at all. At the end a few of them even plopped in to their laps eliciting squeals from their friends, and it was funny to see crew members all dressed up get their outfits completely soaked.

 

 

[AlmondFarmer]

1 hour ago, GregD said:

I chucked to myself at the group of 18-20y/o guys who were standing at the railing of deck 6 looking down on all the people getting their photos done who were undoubtedly hoping for that wardrobe malfunction. 

They repositioned from waiting for swim suit malfunctions on the Flowrider?

[GregD]

25 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

They repositioned from waiting for swim suit malfunctions on the Flowrider?

Yup, it was evening time, so I think the flowrider was closed at that point.

[GregD]

@SweetPea I showed those pictures to Derick. He mentioned he still has some of the cards, and how that was your first star class cruise and that you are now hooked. 

[Ampurp85]

Everyone looks beautiful, don't sell yourself short. I love the hippo cake.

Also, I remember being on Navigator last year and there were tons of wardrobe malfunctions. Which made me wonder if people didn't try on their clothes before the cruise. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

Mall dress for the win! Lol

[SweetPea]

2 hours ago, GregD said:

@SweetPea I showed those pictures to Derick. He mentioned he still has some of the cards, and how that was your first star class cruise and that you are now hooked. 

That was kind of you! Thanks!

 

And your formal night pics are great ❤

[GregD]

Tuesday morning we woke up to the ship maneuvering in to dock at Labadee. I’m always amazed at how maneuverable these ships are. Our Starbucks order arrived early in the morning and we were off to CK for breakfast. There must have been some disorganization going on in the galley because it all came out separately. My smoked salmon was first to arrive. The Boss and Johnny who had ordered the granola were served a few minutes later. Johnny remarked that it looked like a berry explosion on a plate. 10 minutes later and breakfast for Lyida and Julie still hadn’t arrived. Lydia had ordered scrambled eggs and bacon, and Julie ordered the frittata. We asked where their food was and a couple minutes later it arrived. I don’t know if people were trying to be too helpful, and causing chaos because I would see one server take an order but be delivered be others and the game of “who got this” is as played. It wasn’t a huge deal, but odd.

After breakfast, Derick met us outside CK using his magic genie card locking out an elevator for only us. We were whisked off the ship and headed to barefoot beach. When there was a significant price drop I grabbed a beachfront cabana. Derick told us that he was going through our folio and saw we booked one and said he put us in his favorite one. We were tucked back on the left side of the beach right by the stairs to the hilltop cabanas. He said he liked this spot because it’s always shaded and is a nice place to cool off after soaking up the sun. The cabana attendants also hung out on the wall next to ours so any time we needed anything, they were right there.

We all took advantage of the floating beach mats and went for a dip. The water was cool, but we quickly got used to it and all had a good time. All aboard was at 3:30 so after about an hour of swimming, Julie and I headed off to the Dragon’s Tail Coaster. I have to say, the coaster is a lot of fun. You can get going pretty fast, and you can get great views of the ship too. Julie, who’s watched Final Destination a few too many times, used just a hint of the brakes to ward off Deaths design. Whereas I taunted him and gave it all the beans the whole time. With our heart rates sufficiently elevated, we headed back to the cabana to get some lunch.

While nowhere near the caliber of the Coco Beach Club lunch, it was perfectly tasty,  but without causing the I MUST TRY EVERYTHING feeling, much to the relief of our over stuffed bellies. 
 

Following lunch, Julie and I dragged Lydia and Johnny on the coaster as well. They each got a turn with us as the driver. Johnny was fearless and wanted to go as fast as possible, Lydia, not so much, so she much preferred her ride with Julie.

Julie and I also took the kids over to the Arawak Aqua Park. Julie and I quickly discovered, we are too damn old to be climbing all over those things, while the kids thought it was great. The Boss got to enjoy her time floating in the water and relaxing. She even said she fell asleep while out there. 
 

Soon enough it was time to head back to the ship. While walking back, we got the obligatory picture on the giant chair, and a few others, much to the displeasure of the moody teenager. We had a really great day!

[GregD]

Once back on the ship we relaxed a bit, then got ready for dinner. Tonight we were back in Giovanni’s. We were all happy about the busy day spent burning calories and the lighter lunch, we didn’t walk into dinner already stuffed. 

i know everyone will be shocked, but I ordered the caprese again. The Boss got the minestrone, and we also shared some calamari. 

For entrees, I ordered the Osso Bucco, Julie got breakfast pasta (carbonara) The boss and Lydia got the bolognese, and Johnny just wanted to spaghetti with butter and cheese. All of our meals were delicious. Julie said her carbonara was not as good as last year, but was still good. 

We finished off our meals with tiramisu, cannolis, the chocolate-hazelnut cake and some ice cream.

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, GregD said:

Johnny just wanted to spaghetti with butter and cheese.

johnny is speaking my language. give me ALL the pasta and ALL the cheese.

we would get along quite well he has excellent taste!!

[GregD]

After dinner, we attempted to walk off some calories, I’m not sure how successful we were since we did so with cocktails in hand. A double espresso with baileys was a good after dinner drink. While walking, we ran into the stowaway piano player.

We had reservations for the ice show. Derick mentioned something to Johnny about a swan that I missed…this is what he meant

We felt bad because across the ice was another family who were chosen to do the same thing. Unfortunately, they had three little girls and the youngest got left behind.

The cast of the ice show did a great job. All of the jumps and lifts were well done. The cast member playing the king was good and had fun interacting with the audience. It was all very entertaining.

[GregD]

what did we do after the ice show? I’ll give you two guesses, but you will probably only need one For this night we invited our neighbors from across the hall who have the very end boardwalk balcony room. They were in the Facebook group and came to the slot pull. They also aren’t two far from us in Massachusetts and they have two kids of their own who instantly became good friends with ours. We had a great time exchanging stories, and laughing and have already planned more times to meet up.

After the show, The Boss and the kids went off to bed. Julie and I needed a couple of slices of Midnight Pizza first, and then it was also time for us to get reacquainted with the back of our eye lids

 

[GregD]

Wednesday, there was no big rush to wake up because we weren’t due to arrive in Puerto Rico until 2pm. The moody teenager didn’t emerge from her lair until 11! The rest of us somewhat normal individuals emerged at more normal times: our first activity of the day was call “A Royal Mystery Puzzle Break” was a who done it game with clues given as rewards for solving puzzles. Some weren’t too difficult, but there was one that I never would have figured out. It was still fun though. 
 

We walked around a bit afterwards, and then grabbed lunch at El Loco Fresh…mmmmm tacos. Our plan with Derick was to get off the ship ASAP because we wanted to make it to Barrachina, which is a restaurant the is reportedly the birthplace of the Piña colada. Disembarking was a little delayed because there were two people that needed to be evacuated by ambulance first. Derick used his magic genie card and had an elevator for us at deck 15 and brought us to the gangway. We did get a couple of looks from other people waiting but we quickly put it behind us as we headed off to explore. Derick mentioned to get there quickly because they do get busy and will close down if so. It was only a 10 minute walk and we were there.

The restaurant is in the middle of Old Town and tucked back behind some shops. The restaurant opens up into a courtyard, and they have a separate ordering area if you just wanted drink to go, like us.

I have to say, they were outstanding. They tasted super fresh, and had a healthy pour of Don Q rum in them. With our libations in hand we continued our wandering. Despite her extended slumber….the moody teenager was….still moody…as you can tell in the picture.

 

[GregD]

With our frozen concoctions in hand we headed further into old town. We found the pigeon organizer, some cats and beautiful architecture.

 

this guy has an…interesting shape for his nose…

 

We followed the walls of the original city and climbed the big hill to the fort.

 

We explored the fort for some time, shockingly, the teenager was still moody.

 

We then meandered our way back to the ship. On the way, I found a cigar shop and picked up some cigars for the guys on my shift. These are made in the oldest cigar factory in Puerto Rico. We also found some ice cream. We went all the way to Puerto Rico to get Japanese ice cream. 

[Ampurp85]

I don't know why that cat laying in the sun gave me all the giggles. Also moody teenager looks like all the fun has drained from her body.........even with fat cats lying about in the sun for enjoyment. 

[Ampurp85]

Also when we went to the ice show on Oasis last month, they chose a child(ren) from each side. This little girl came way down from up top and tried to get in because her parents told her. She promptly started crying because they had already loaded the two little girls on our side. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

That pic of the moody teenager...priceless! We have our fair share of those too through the years lol

[GregD]

Dinner Wednesday evening brought us to Izumi Hibachi. Our chef, Greggy was very entertaining and we all had lots of laughs. We were too hungry to let the camera eat first, but we all left with full bellies and with great anticipation of the night to come, I bet you can guess.

We had some new friends in our room after dinner, Johnny quickly created a conference room.

Aqua80 again tonight!! This time we were down in the Aquatheater. The kids and Julie chose to sit down in the splash zone and prepared themselves accordingly. Sadly though, due to technical difficulties, they had to cancel, so we will try again tomorrow.

[GregD]

While waiting for the show, our neighbors spotted us and sat near us, so when it was canceled, the kids all got together and got ice cream from sugar beach and hit the arcade for a bit. Us adults had some more nice conversation. Soon enough it was bedtime, but not before some more midnight pizza.

[asquared17]

the towel animals with that little squish are SENDING ME

[GregD]

Thursday morning in St Thomas we woke up WAAYTOO early, but that is because we had an actual excursion booked. The weather was looking a little iffy and it was actually chilly out. We had room service deliver breakfast to save some time. I tried to eat mine on the balcony, but actually had to go inside because I got cold. 
 

Today we had booked the St John’s Champagne Catamaran sail and Snorkel. Derick escorted us off the ship right to our meeting location. We were brought to our transportation to the catamaran, which was an open sided “bus.” Our driver was a man named Big Mac who had a very heavy accent and was hard to understand. He was attempting to give us a guided tour, but there was a group of people with us who seemed  to have started the Champagne part earlier than the rest of us which made it even harder to understand him. The open sided bus, and narrow twisting streets were also a treat with the threat of being tossed out of the bus a real possibility. They drive on the left side of the road, yet the driver is seated on the curb side of the car too, so that messed with our perception. Julie remarked, did you really even go on an excursion if you don’t start it with a death defying bus ride?

Eventually we made it to the marina and we were met by our captain for the day. He and his crew reminded me of three surfer dudes who went on spring break and never left. We boarded the boat and headed off to the snorkeling area at St John’s national park. 
 

Once there, Julie, Lydia and I got suited up in our snorkel gear, while The Boss and Johnny headed off in the dinghy to go enjoy the beach. I have to apologize to all of you readers, because I was an idiot and left my underwater camera in the stateroom, so you will just have to trust me when I say that the snorkeling and the amount of wildlife we was was incredible. We were surrounded by a school of yellow tail snapper as we entered the water. Barry the barracuda was also hanging out looking for an unsuspecting meal. We saw beautiful coral reefs, colorful tropical fish, sea urchins, turtles, stingrays, jellyfish and on and on. 
 

Once back on the boat the captain raised the sails and we sailed back to the marina. At this point the drinks started flowing. The captain mentioned that the USCG frowns upon boozing up your guests and tossing them into the water. On the way back Johnny even got a chance to pilot the boat.

 Once back to the marina, we boarded our scary bus for the return to the ship.

We got to see some notable houses. The one with the red roof is Carol Butnett’s house and the white one on the left with the stairs in the Charlie’s Angels house. Celebrity Bayond was in port with us too, but there were no sightings of her famous Captain

Our previously mentioned group had consumed even more champagne and one guy was even more obnoxious. I may have thought to myself, how can I make him “accidentally” fall off the bus. Ironically, when we were back, one of them did actually fall off the bus, just not the one we hoped for.

[SweetPea]

I hate people who aren't pleasant drunks .... Signed, a pleasant drunk  

[GregD]

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

I hate people who aren't pleasant drunks .... Signed, a pleasant drunk  

I agree, they were not pleasant!

[GregD]

Dinosaurs!!!!!

[GregD]

Friday was a sea day filled with a variety of activities. We all slept in a little and had a pretty leisurely day. The Boss and Johnny went to play bingo, Lydia was in the pool with some friends she made. Julie and I did the Star Class Galley tour. This was happening at the same time they were doing the sip tour galley brunch, so we even got some mimosas. Our guide was the executive sous chef. He said he is in charge of all of the specialty dining, and the Windjammer etc. the actual galley tour was very brief, about 5 minutes in total. We really didn’t get to see much. We were in deck 4, entered where the dirty dishes are collected and washed. We moved past the beverage station and saw the “grill” area. He pointed out the bakery area, and then we were done. I remember when I did the galley brunch on Anthem many years ago, the tour was extensive. I’m not sure if there is still some pandemic restrictions going on, or if this is just what is done on Oasis. 

Julie and I then got some tacos for lunch, and we then met Derick for a bridge tour. Johnny and Heather joined us as well. Lydia was still swimming. Derick actually led the tour, but we did get to chat with the bridge officers and had a good time. I’ve done a few bridge tours now. This was the first time I saw a cover over the controls. Someone at some point must not have followed the don’t touch anything directions. 

[SweetPea]

Did you get another mimosa on the bridge tour? I like my mimosas without OJ. Hey, you have to cut the sugar somewhere!

You didn't eat at Izumi, right? I'm trying to understand the new rules there, especially in Star Class but i think you skipped this one? 

I've been enjoying your blog so if you could just stay on the ship for me, that'd be great. Thanks. 

[GregD]

On 2/25/2023 at 7:18 PM, SweetPea said:

Did you get another mimosa on the bridge tour? I like my mimosas without OJ. Hey, you have to cut the sugar somewhere!

Sadly I did not, but I made up for it later.

On 2/25/2023 at 7:18 PM, SweetPea said:

 

You didn't eat at Izumi, right? I'm trying to understand the new rules there, especially in Star Class but i think you skipped this one? 

 

We did eat at Izumi. There was a very quick mention of it, because we forgot to let the camera have the fist bite. The only specialty that we did skip was 150CP. 

On 2/25/2023 at 7:18 PM, SweetPea said:

 

I've been enjoying your blog so if you could just stay on the ship for me, that'd be great. Thanks. 

We tried really hard to do this, but we were unceremoniously kicked to the curb this morning. It looked something like this.

[SweetPea]

Boo! I'm sorry you're off the ship! 

Oh i see, you ate at the Hibachi, duh. We skip that so that my egg intolerance doesn't affect others but I'm thinking of trying the Sushi side but the pricing rules confuse me royally. 

Anyway, i totally loved your live blog. Thanks for posting and sharing your cruise. You are my kind of cruising people and i hope our paths cross some day. Welcome home. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

22 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

the Sushi side but the pricing rules confuse me royally. 

There are no real pricing rules for star class on the sushi side

[GregD]

I apologize for the delay folks, the last few days on the ship were a whirlwind of activity, and the internet was really bad this trip. Even the staff was saying that they were having a bad time with it. Upload speeds were so bad, that even the really low data picCollage wouldn't upload. As you can see from above, we were sadly escorted off the ship this morning, and now that we are back on tera firma and plugged back in, I can get everyone caught up on the past couple of days.

So, @SweetPea while I didn't get a second OJ free mimosa on the bridge tour, I did go for a scotch tasting event afterwards. It was for a tasting of 4 different Macallan Scotches from their Quest Collection. The 4 varieties were Quest, Lumina, Terra, and then Enigma. Each of these are produced slightly differently, resulting in different flavors and complexities. 

We kinda got the bait and switch here a bit by the beverage manager, sorta. When I arrived at the pub, there was only a small group of us that were participating. We were told that there weren't enough people to hold the event, kind of a bummer, but okay. The group of us asked, are these scotches available to purchase by the glass, and they actually are, and it turns out, only the enigma is priced over the the max for the DX package. So the group of us decided to just do the tasting "on our own." One of the guys there is a scotch collector and well versed, so he starts rattling off information about the scotch etc. The bar manager even hands him his packet of cliff notes. So we finish the first glass, and a few more people filter had filtered in, so the bar manager decided to just go and do the presentation. We were all happy about that. The nice thing is we start over from scratch and get to drink the first one again. At the end of the presentation, the manager collects all the cards annnnnnd the cost is $30. Since we all had the DX package, if we had just done our own thing, it would have been $6. Oh well, I'm not really complaining since the $30 is what these things usually cost on the ship anyway. I had a good time and was feeling those 5 glasses of scotch by the end of things. If anyone ever feels the need to gift me a bottle of scotch, any of these two will do.

The Lagavulin is $200x10 and the Macallan is $150x10.

While I was drinking scotch, Johnny was indulging in his sweet tooth. I think we was pretty successful.

Lydia was still in a pool somewhere.....such good parents we are....

[GregD]

Gotta back track here a bit. Thursday night, The Boss and I ended up being able to have a date night. We were due to eat at chops again. Julie was still pretty full from some of the other meals, and the kids weren't really feeling Chops either. So they all chose to stay in that night. We let Derick know our change of plans and he quickly made the necessary arrangements. We got to see a little of his humor sneak out too. 

He arranged a nice table for us on the patio and sent this picture, with the caption of "you get your very own tree too."

I replied...oh look, we get a new phone too!

His response was...You really don't want that phone....Its a straight...Vacation Over

I would have to agree, he let us know how busy he has been. That night he was assisting one of his guest with a group photo of 40 people. He also let us know that his next sailing he has two weddings to help plan, one a party of 12, and another a party of 50! He said all the prep work has been taking him HOURS of extra work because of how bad the internet has been too. 

Our dinner was great. This time I ordered the rack of lamb which came out perfect. We also had our usual apps, shrimp cocktail, crab cake etc. I didn't take pictures of them. 

 

After this dinner GUESS WHAT ELSE WE GOT TO DO??!!??

You guessed it, Aqua80, we were back in the splash zone!! The Boss and I were back. few rows and remained dry, and had great views.

Julie and the kids.....did not stay dry. 

At the end of the show when all the fountains are spraying, one of the cast members was directing all of the water right into Julies lap. She said the water was nice and warm, so it really didn't bother her. The kids had a blast, and thought it was great.

 

[Ampurp85]

That guy in your photo, Aqua80s, gives it all. I think whenever he came out, I only focused on him. Like he was the show. 

Also, I don't get the 150CP dislike, I personally prefer it over Chops.

[SweetPea]

Derick has a great sense of humor! He was taking us on the North Star with his other SC guests. Passengers kept coming up to him confused as to where to board. He told one older woman, "it's just on the other side."

Alarmed, she asks in a high pitch voice, THE OTHER SIDE?!!"

Derick without missing a beat and with a straight face tells her, "ok. Right now, we're on THIS side. (Now moving his arms like an flight attendant directing you to the nearest exit). And then we have the OTHER side."

No doubt this is lost in translation, but we were all laughing at the confused passenger's expense. 

And hey, $24 is $24. I'd have been a bit annoyed too, but as Batman says, "When in Rome...."

[SweetPea]

Oh, one more Q. It sounds like your group preferred watching the Aqua show from the theater itself, not your balcony. Is that right?

[WAAAYTOOO]

Dan is a single malt Scotch drinker and discovered the MacCallum trio on SY.  He was delighted to find they had it on OA earlier today.

[GregD]

38 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Oh, one more Q. It sounds like your group preferred watching the Aqua show from the theater itself, not your balcony. Is that right?

We like it from all angles! Energy wise, up close is the best. Watching from the balcony gives a different perspective, and lest you see some of the hidden action under the water. It’s also really neat being almost at the same height as the tightrope walker.

36 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Dan is a single malt Scotch drinker and discovered the MacCallum trio on SY.  He was delighted to find they had it on OA earlier today.

I was bummed it took me this long to find these on Oasis. The terra would have been my go to this whole week. They have them in the pub and vintages.