CrimsonCruiser Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 4 hours ago, KristiZ said: I'm loving your photography! And hey! You caught either the start or end of as lifeboat test. So cool to see that in person since best case scenario we'll never need to see them in action for real! FireFishII and KristiZ 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 1 hour ago, CrimsonCruiser said: You caught either the start or end of as lifeboat test I totally didn’t notice! CrimsonCruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesszy94 Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 It's amazing how much lifeboats have improved since the days of Titanic... Titanic had 20 lifeboats that could only carry ~1200 passengers.... Wonder has what? also 18 lifeboats but can carry ~7000 passengers? I mean obviously Wonder is like 5 times the size that Titanic was and therefore her lifeboats are much bigger.... but I always like to say, if Titanic didn't sink back in 1912.... who knows what the cruise industry would be like today. KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran55 Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 On 3/8/2023 at 2:51 PM, KristiZ said: I reeeeallly wasn’t going to blog this cruise. Port days every day make it hard to keep up, plus a lot of folks don’t seem interested in the smaller ships. Also, the week before the cruise I was in Rome for work, so my “getting to port” routing went Rome, Boston, DC, literally 12 hours on the ground just to scoop up new clothes (and MisterZ), Newark, Barbados. Sheesh! The things we do for vacation! But I kept thinking stuff like: 1) this is a really unique cabin, so I should give it a review 2) this is one of the first few weeks of the new MDR menus, so I should give them a review 3) lots of less-visited ports on this itinerary, so I should give them a review So it turns out I’m blogging. At least a little. Ha! Itinerary: depart Barbados Scarborough, Tobago Port of Spain, Trinidad St. George’s, Grenada Kingstown, St. Vincent Roseau, Dominica Castries, St. Lucia return to Barbados This won’t be super live, especially because we’re already on Day 3, but I’ll see what I can do! Please-tell us about the ports listed above-what you recommend or not recommend. Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFishII Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 12 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said: I'm loving your photography! And hey! You caught either the start or end of as lifeboat test. So cool to see that in person since best case scenario we'll never need to see them in action for real! I saw the same thing. I did witness the crew practicing one of their drill when we were in port. It was nice to see. KristiZ and CrimsonCruiser 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 Day 8 Shore Excursion - Bridgetown, Barbados We chose “Mount Gay, Bathsheba, & St. John’s Church with Airport Drop-Off”. Departed at 8:00am, arrived at the airport at 1:10pm, mild activity. This was a nice overview of the island. We stopped first at the Mount Gay distillery, where we had a tour and samples. Then a scenic drive to the Bathsheba area and a continuation to St. John’s Church. It all proceeded smoothly and our bags were waiting when we arrived at the airport. It was a no-stress way to end the trip! DDaley, FionaMG, JohnK6404 and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 I loved our day in Barbados (going back a few years now - Serenade, December 2017). We went to St. John's Church and Bathsheba too. We also stopped at a place called Highland that had fabulous views. Your pics have reminded me how much I would like to go back! KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 Final thoughts on the new MDR menus: Over the years we have regularly eaten in the MDR so I feel like I have a broad range of experience for comparison. To me, the changes are a net plus. While some items are not available as often as before, there is plenty of variety each night. The best change is the inclusion of an Indian dish every single night. Royal has excelled at Indian food and it’s nice to see them lean into that, rather than only having items in the Windjammer or on a “secret” menu. I also appreciated the scaled-down portion sizes; for people who want more food it’s still very easy to get more so don’t worry! As for increased speed of service, this was hit or miss. Time ranged from 73 to 94 minutes for us. I do believe as the menu gets settled in everywhere this will stabilize to the 75 minutes Royal is trying for. As always, some choices were better than others, and people will have their own preferences. But in all a good change, I think! Xaa, MaryS, FireFishII and 6 others 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaa Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 I'll second on the Indian dishes. We got 3 or 4 on our recent cruise and they were all really good. A very nice addition indeed! Thanks for the blog @KristiZ! KristiZ and Neesa 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asquared17 Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 loving your photos and extensive MDR reviews. we are lazy beach bums when we cruise, and typically do not venture too far when in port, especially if there is a beach nearby (or we can stay aboard and soak up the sun). this was a very good crash course in why i need to expand my horizons and seek out some culture!!! the sights were beautiful and even the wildlife was great. thank you for taking us along!! KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yesiamthere6 Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing! KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFishII Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 I love your blog and the pictures. Well done! KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesa Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 I really enjoyed your blog. I was impressed at all the excursions, I loved that you really visited all the stops. Thanks so much for the pictures as well, reading about your adventure made me crave that itinerary. I really wish Royal would do a "special sailing " for about 14 days? Out of Florida, I think that could be a money maker. Instead of my monies being spent on airlines flying to Barbados, my monies would be spent on the longer southern itinerary, yes I like that idea. Thanks again for sharing. foxrunner, KristiZ and asquared17 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 47 minutes ago, Neesa said: I really enjoyed your blog. I was impressed at all the excursions, I loved that you really visited all the stops. Thanks so much for the pictures as well, reading about your adventure made me crave that itinerary. I really wish Royal would do a "special sailing " for about 14 days? Out of Florida, I think that could be a money maker. Instead of my monies being spent on airlines flying to Barbados, my monies would be spent on the longer southern itinerary, yes I like that idea. Thanks again for sharing. They're not as long as 14 days but there are some very good 9, 10, 11 and 12 night itineraries out of Florida that visit a lot of these ports. Grandeur out of Miami winter 2023 to spring 2024 and out of Fort Lauderdale winter 2024 to spring 2025 Explorer out Miami winter 2024 to spring 2025 Neesa and KristiZ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neesa Posted March 15, 2023 Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 Just wonderful! Great looking out @FionaMG KristiZ and FionaMG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristiZ Posted March 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2023 8 hours ago, Fran55 said: Please-tell us about the ports listed above-what you recommend or not recommend. Thanks!!! My favorite was Grenada, both the island and the excursion. Second would be Dominica, even though the excursion wasn’t great. If I go back I would do the whale watching excursion — turns out Dominica has a resident whale population so you can see them year round! All of them were nice, not a bad port in the bunch! Neesa, foxrunner, FireFishII and 2 others 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorCruiser Posted March 26, 2023 Report Share Posted March 26, 2023 @KristiZ thank you so much for this review , my wife and I are doing a similar itinerary in December on jewel out of San Juan which visits a number of the same ports and this was quite helpful for excursions. KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Alt Posted April 1, 2023 Report Share Posted April 1, 2023 i really enjoyed Rhapsody myself. KristiZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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