hoping to be reunited on harmony... (4.29.23-5.6.23 ~ harmony of the seas)

[asquared17]

so @Ampurp85 will find this of interest because her brother is a tuna fish fan like me. 

when i deconstructed the sandwiches, i noticed this green layer of something beneath. it has the consistency of like a thin layer of avocado but is almost spicy in taste? unsure. but i’m so happy to be eating and HUNGRY that i don’t even care. now i’ll be able to get my traditional red stripe from schooner bar. 

 

okay embarkation story time…

so we got here pretty quickly once the bags came through at the airport. J and i quickly shuffled things around in our bags, affixed our luggage tags, and called the uber. last time we were in miami, i made the mistake of NOT getting an uber X. when i tell you… the clown car shenanigans of cramming all our various luggage in this little hatchback car… i did not think it would fit. the driver at the time said it would be fine, that the car was like harry potter, but i think my knees were up near my chin with carryons all around me.

our uber x was great, he got us to the port in NO time! i always stay up til midnight 45 days before to select the 10:30am boarding slot but knew we weren’t going to make that since our plane didn’t land until almost 10. we got here by maybe 11:10 and were immediately whisked into the port. 

J’s set sail issues aside, we made pour way through and it was smooth sailing until the one worker yanked us and pulled us into the not so fast x ray line. we were trying to figure out why we got put in the naughty lane; i think it’s because my carryons are so large

so we’re patiently waiting and there’s a group of vintages in front of us who are clearly having a grand old time. one had these chic red glasses on, i told J she gave me big time elementary school librarian vibes (in a good way). another had an all pink outfit on and matching pink luggage. i hope i still have fun and look good like them when i become an official vintage. 

then a commotion begins and a man in a sleeveless tank starts shouting loudly at the people the next level up, telling them to come down. the security folks are all exchanging quick looks and shifting us all around. one of the security ladies tells us that a woman claims she had her bag taken and it all had her set sail pass and phone inside. 

while i certainly feel for her, me and the two younger sons traveling with their dad next to us both agreed it sounded like a movie plot. i was envisioning someone stowing away on the ship. 

not sure what happened there - and i hope she was reunited with her belongings at some point - but the result of this shenanigans was that the two x-ray lanes that were feeding into ONE walk thru scanner became ONE x-ray lane. so everyone was carrying their stuff over, slotting it in between everyone else’s bags, cutting the line… to me it felt like a merge onto the turnpike during rush hour traffic. (if you know, you know.)

finally we make it through, claim our belongings and take the escalators up to the true embarkation. once they look J up from my reservation number, we’re waved on through and the one gentleman kindly tells us that the fastest way onto the ship is to go down the hallway a little. this popped us on at the forward entrance on deck 5, closer to the on air club and theater. 

we checked in for our muster stations — ours is at the bionic bar —  (they had to look J up, which took a bit, but the crew member was so friendly and we were so grateful) and then turned towards the forward elevators so we could go to park cafe. i was craving an orange, which they had! and of course, my beloved tuna sandwiches. 

service was iffy and my phone went into SOS mode when i realized that we could activate the internet from here and not wait until we got in our cabin, which we promptly both did.

we are contemplating naps while we wait in dazzles.

from where we sit, you can see the crew still cleaning on the balconies out on the boardwalk cabins. this is the longest day for them, i always feel so bad and hope it goes smoothly. 

the harmony layout is slightly different than symphony, which is to be expected — but it’s like having staggered double vision at certain points. it felt comfortingly like we’d come home since we’d just gotten off symphony two and a half months ago. then i went to look for starbucks in the middle of the promenade and it was a bunch of ipad kiosks - i forgot the random internet cafe was there.

between finally putting my red lipstick on, and this sandwich, i am truly feeling better. i mean, i’m staggeringly exhausted from the fire drill and lack of sleep. but heaps improved. 

i am so glad we are onboard and everything has so far worked out. looking forward to relaxing. i definitely have some comments to catch up on thank you all for joining thus far. it was a lonnnng journey, but eight pages later, we’ve made it aboard!!! 

 

[jbrinkm]

17 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

so @Ampurp85 will find this of interest because her brother is a tuna fish fan like me. 

when i deconstructed the sandwiches, i noticed this green layer of something beneath. it has the consistency of like a thin layer of avocado but is almost spicy in taste? 

Wasabi maybe?

[SweetPea]

34 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

to me it felt like a merge onto the turnpike during rush hour traffic. (if you know, you know.)

This New Jerseyean knows too well

At least the drama seems to be over for now and you can finally relaxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Pooch]

So glad you are on board.  The week that will fly by for you will take FOREVER for me.  

[Neesa]

So happy you are officially onboard! Have the best time. I'm looking forward to your trip reports and photos. Enjoy every moment, Neesa!

?? Any tribute bands onboard? If so who? Thanks a bunch

[Curt From Canada]

Lots of "4D Pictures" please (Dancing, Drinking, Dining and Delight [things that really impressed you]).  Our next cruise is 49 days away and we desperately need some "living vicariously through others".  

 

Curt from Canada

[Ampurp85]

I'm glad you onboard,  if it's Wasabi my brother would be in heaven. Oooh embarkation shenanigans .

[asquared17]

afternoon recap!!

we were cleared into our cabins at 1:30. when we got to our room, our cabin attendant, shelly, was still vacuuming. we nabbed our suitcases in the hall on the way to our room so it was a little bit of an awkward shuffle trying to make it all work but we’re in and shelly is great.

i had initially wanted to lay down and try to nap but when my things are here, i must immediately unpack and set things to rights. we set up the diffuser, put all our stuff away, hung up all our clothes and made it our home for the next week. 

i rallied around 3:15 to go to the schooner bar and get a red stripe with my diamond voucher. J wanted one too, so that was 2/4 vouchers gone and not wasted. let me tell you the schooner bar was HOPPING. one poor guy working the bar, and it took us a bit to get served. i felt bad when he didn’t print me a receipt because i haven’t gotten change yet and i know guest services is always chaotic on day one. i will have to go back and tip him another time.

from there, we attempted to walk around at the boardwalk, but the heat and humidity in miami is a bit oppressive; they kept having spurts and fits of sun showers, so it felt like an armpit outside

it was at this point that i was really hitting the wall and realized that i was not in any shape to brave the masses for sailaway in a more public arena. 

we also hadn’t decided what we were doing for dinner — i’d made mytime reservations for every night of the week but could only score a 7:15 dining time for day 1. then J reminded me that there was information on the seapass card — we had an assigned table and a 5:15 dining time. so apparently we have both.

the thought of eating with other people as i was fading fast didn’t entirely appeal, but i really didn’t want a buffet style dinner so we agreed to try it after looking ahead at the menu. J decided to get ready and freshen up before dinner - i had showered and changed into my second outfit for the day (does a travel uniform really count as an outfit) before we went to schooner, so i decided to lay flat for a bit and turn on the tv to watch the ship news.

side note: not sure if this is a harmony thing or a non-junior suite thing, but there was no way for us to lower the volume/stop the announcements coming over the PA. it’s SO LOUD. i looked for the switch, but it’s not by the door or the desk or anything. rip my hearing.

so this marked the first official sailaway in maybe ever that we watched from the privacy of our cabin off the bridge camera channel.

shelly came back to confirm whether we wanted AM or PM service, and that they were doing once a day service, and we asked for extra towels and robes, since they are by request only. after that we left and hiked down many flights of stairs to get to the MDR.

we queued up on deck four outside the (smokey) casino at 4:55ish and it seemed like no time at all before they let us in. because we didn’t know we had early seating already assigned, we didn’t go to check out our table or anything, so it was a total surprise to be sat at a round of 6 when we got there. J and i thought we were actually going to have the place to ourselves for a hot second, because the remaining four folks didn’t come for a bit. 

our traditional seating table mates are very nice and we liked them hopefully they liked us too, even though we were all delirious from the travel. 

i forgot to take food pics!! i’m sorry i’ve failed you all. i had the caesar, spinach artichoke dip and shrimp cocktail — J had the caesar and the fried chicken. she loved cheesecake, so she got that for dessert, and i ordered the key lime. as a personal preference, i like my key lime to make my mouth pucker and this was very sweet and creamy; so not tart and citrusy to me. 

but otherwise dinner was exactly what it needed to be; relatively quick, a sit down meal, and before the 7:15 MTD resi i got for tonite that we would have never survived.

as it is, it’s just after seven now and we are back in the cabin. i’m recapping from our great double balcony  

i am hoping for a quiet night from here on out. i may attempt to read when i get in bed soon, but i am probably not long for this world

other highlights:

- they had the CHEESE ROLLS in the dining room!! my FAVORITE. i could eat them by the bucket.

- after we bid our tablemates goodbye and left dinner, we agreed to do a light walk and scope out optimal seats tomorrow. we have two sea days in a row — which is fine by me, but i suspect will make for a crowded pool deck. we will stay vigilant

- found the cutest black bird with an orange feather/stripe in the solarium!! the double vision trickery continues; i kept looking for the pools that were on symphony here on harmony until i remembered there are no solarium pools here. you also can’t cut through on deck 14 near the back of the solarium either. not bad, just different. 

im including what few pics i have for tonite; my shorts are fitting a little differently when i bought them a few weeks ago but the travel anxiety had me in a chokehold so i suppose that’s to be expected. happy to report i was able to eat my full dinner and i am feeling so much better now (other than completely wiped out and in need of sleep )

i am including a pic of the bag i brought with me because the front has a pocket — didn’t even know it was a pocket when i bought it — and it fits my seapass card PERFECTLY. that is true cruise happiness. 

i didn’t want to wear shorts this early on without my tan but it’s so hot here that i wasn’t going to throw one of my dinner dresses on just yet. don’t hold the paleness against me!!

a soothing sailaway (minus the party we can hear from deck 15 )

a friend!!!! so cute. he’s coming with us to st maarten, i suppose

[asquared17]

6 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

Wasabi maybe?

it just seemed peppery. i think if it was that much wasabi, my sinuses would be aggressively clear right now

5 hours ago, Pooch said:

So glad you are on board.  The week that will fly by for you will take FOREVER for me.  

i keep trying to scope out places to leave a duck for you!!

5 hours ago, Neesa said:

?? Any tribute bands onboard? If so who? Thanks a bunch

i will see if i can find out tomorrow!! 

4 hours ago, Curt From Canada said:

Lots of "4D Pictures" please (Dancing, Drinking, Dining and Delight [things that really impressed you]).  Our next cruise is 49 days away and we desperately need some "living vicariously through others".  

 

Curt from Canada

curt, you cracked me up on the earlier post about the luggage weight and the weather what cruise will you be on in 49 days?? how exciting!!

[asquared17]

i forgot to mention!!!!!!!

i was able to get two (2) big glass 1 liter bottles of premium water at jamie’s for my remaining two diamond vouchers!! 

i think i am going to see about returning my water package because it’s the tru water and when we walked in there were about 9 bottles of smaller evian (maybe my diamond welcome amenity??) that i planned on drinking instead. 

the water saga definitely deserved its own post.

[Neesa]

Sounds amazing so far....even Cabash is interested. He was asking what are you reading so intently? I told him earlier and he has been asking "any updates yet?" So funny, but he ONLY cruises for me, huh!!

Okay, I seriously LOVE those shorts! Can you take a photo of your balcony, please? 

Again, thanks for bringing us along. Maybe get @Poochcabin number and pass by on the last day, have the cabin steward hide the duck inside!! 

I just purchased my ducks for June;  I have 57 days to go and sailing with you guys makes the time waiting so much more enjoyable. Have fun!

Tru water, ewww agreed! Return it, yikes!!

Edited April 29, 2023 by Neesa
Added thought

[SweetPea]

I'm glad you got your water sitch worked out. But tell me .... was there a surprise waiting in the room for you, by any chance?

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

I'm glad you got your water sitch worked out. But tell me .... was there a surprise waiting in the room for you, by any chance?

THERE WAS NO NOTE AND I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MESSAGE YOU ON MOBILE!!!!! 

DID YOU SERIOUSLY GET US A BOTTLE OF VEUVE

[SweetPea]

16 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

THERE WAS NO NOTE AND I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MESSAGE YOU ON MOBILE!!!!! 

DID YOU SERIOUSLY GET US A BOTTLE OF VEUVE

Phew! Your TA already thinks I'm nuts so i wasnt about to ask her for help if you didn't get it, so i was psyching myself up to go all BSC on Royal to get it delivered. Figures they forgot the note! I'm just relieved it arrived S&S. You should at least enjoy one part of the Premier Package that never was! Enjoy it!!

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

Sounds amazing so far....even Cabash is interested. He was asking what are you reading so intently? I told him earlier and he has been asking "any updates yet?" So funny, but he ONLY cruises for me, huh!!

im cackling ahahahaha we’ve sucked him in at last

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

Okay, I seriously LOVE those shorts! Can you take a photo of your balcony, please? 

abercrombie!!! 

yes, oh my gosh!! i forgot to take a photo of the room and the balcony. i will try to grab this tomorrow. totally spaced.  

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

Maybe get @Poochcabin number and pass by on the last day, have the cabin steward hide the duck inside!! 

I just purchased my ducks for June;  I have 57 days to go and sailing with you guys makes the time waiting so much more enjoyable. Have fun!

Tru water, ewww agreed! Return it, yikes!!

this is a great idea! not me, potentially writing @Pooch a novel

i’m so happy to have you (and cabash ) along!!

and yes the water i was less than enthused. thought of you IMMEDIATELY. bonded by water trials

[asquared17]

17 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Phew! Your TA already thinks I'm nuts so i wasnt about to ask her for help if you didn't get it, so i was psyching myself up to go all BSC on Royal to get it delivered. Figures they forgot the note! I'm just relieved it arrived S&S. You should at least enjoy one part of the Premier Package that never was! Enjoy it!!

i’m dead

premiere pass shenanigans; the gift that keeps on giving… THANKS TO GENUINE FRIENDS.

my TA is a sweetheart and she always has about six million things going in at the same time so i’m glad it made it here!! what a treat!!!

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH i am now quite spoiled

[Curt From Canada]

@asquared17 Norway in JUN 2023 (top of the world) and then Antarctica in JAN 2024 (bottom of the world).  We have cancelled both cruises twice already so we are hoping third time is a charm (for both).

Our version of Delightfully Drink Dining and Dancing all over the world.

Curt from Canada

[Ampurp85]

Wait how do you have traditional and MTD?????????

So ewww you have Tru water? That is the nastiest kind. 

I hope you sleep well and aren't cruise friends the best!!???

[asquared17]

10 hours ago, Curt From Canada said:

Norway in JUN 2023 (top of the world) and then Antarctica in JAN 2024 (bottom of the world).

WOW that sounds amazing!! can’t wait to see pictures from this one. 

10 hours ago, Curt From Canada said:

Our version of Delightfully Drink Dining and Dancing all over the world.

i love this

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Wait how do you have traditional and MTD?????????

I DON’T KNOW????? it’s the weirdest thing ever. we have jamie’s tonite or else i would attempted to show up at 6:30 for our MTD to see how it goes. 

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

ewww you have Tru water? That is the nastiest kind. 

THE. WORST. i guess i have to talk to guest services about this when i go to make change. i’m just glad the specialty restaurants had the aqua panna. 

between @SweetPea and @WAAAYTOOO, i am 2 for 2 with cruise friends/family  showing up and brightening our day

[Pooch]

13 hours ago, Neesa said:

Sounds amazing so far....even Cabash is interested. He was asking what are you reading so intently? I told him earlier and he has been asking "any updates yet?" So funny, but he ONLY cruises for me, huh!!

Okay, I seriously LOVE those shorts! Can you take a photo of your balcony, please? 

Again, thanks for bringing us along. Maybe get @Poochcabin number and pass by on the last day, have the cabin steward hide the duck inside!! 

I just purchased my ducks for June;  I have 57 days to go and sailing with you guys makes the time waiting so much more enjoyable. Have fun!

Tru water, ewww agreed! Return it, yikes!!

8642!!!!  And I gotta say I think I’d look just like that in those shorts……

if you add my old lady “pooch” hanging over the top!

[asquared17]

well it’s 8:40 and we are set up near the pool. it is supposed to be hot today, so we abandoned our normal seats on deck 16 due to the insane wind and we’re parked right in front of the water slide exit. 

this will either be genius - to keep us cool - or the worst idea we’ve ever had - because it’s nonstop soaking. 

i slept like a rock for about 9 hours — sorely needed. still could go for a bit more but maybe i’ll grab some time in the sun today. the pillow situation is always hard on my neck?? not sure if anyone else has this struggle. i bring my own little travel pillow but with the ship pillows SO large, i just slide right off

our neighbors were up at 7 chattering loudly on the balcony so there wasn’t much hope for sleeping past that. typically i would be up already to workout so hopefully tomorrow i can get that started. there was some ambient noise from either central park or the pool deck but we passed out around 9 and i didn’t wake up until 5:30, when i told myself to go back to sleep. 

we passed sherry in the hall, she told us her morning shift starts at 8am, and yesterday it seemed like she was trying to squeeze us in for AM service, so we wanted to be out ASAP for her. i asked her if there were any feather pillows left for me she said there weren’t that many aboard in general but she would try to get one for me. here’s hoping!! 

so far the internet has seemed more stable than when we were on symphony; this seems bizarre, given that symph is newer and people were reporting that it was pretty abysmal aboard harmony a few weeks ago. either way, hoping it stays that way.

we will probably take turns diverting for breakfast now that we’ve gotten set up at the seats. with two sea days in a row, we weren’t sure what to expect, and given that the top deck is going to be windy as heck, i think this was the right move to make. 

now the only thing left to do is sip my cold brew peacefully and curse the fact that i committed the rookie mistake of not transferring new books to my kindle. rip. 

[asquared17]

oh! i didn’t want to share cabin pics until the room is refreshed but i did get balcony pics to share. don’t mind the quality of the pano shot

 

[Neesa]

Ah, the feather pillow. I always ask for one.

We do the same for breakfast. On our last sailing we set up at the Solarium and Cabash & I took turns getting some food and returning. I don't know what is wrong with me, leaving towels and my odds and ends on my chair when I'm not there makes me feel a myriad of emotions and none are good.

I love a good sea day! So my family knows if we set up one of us is staying there.

It's super windy here as well North of Tampa good call on being on deck. Have they opened the ships library again? If so a quick Clorox wipe and a book bath should be in your future! So sorry about the loud neighbors, hopefully their excitement becomes contained by tomorrow....but you'll be at the gym anyway, I always wondered who went to the gym on a cruise besides my kiddo.

Have an amazing day, be mindful of the warm sun rays. They lull you into sunburn!!

That balcony is amazing....SCORE!! Now I see why you didn't RUB

Edited April 30, 2023 by Neesa
Added thought

[Xaa]

Love the extended CP balcony. Very nice!  Thanks for bringing us along @asquared17!

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, asquared17 said:

our neighbors were up at 7 chattering loudly on the balcony so there wasn’t much hope for sleeping past that.

I hope that's the worst of your Deck 11 curse!

And your balcony looks huge!

[Ampurp85]

Is the extended balcony basically two? For some reason I imagined more furniture.  But I'm glad you got a good chilling spot, some rest, and hopefully better neighbors. It is cold and rainy in Chicago so enjoy all the sun. Jamie's on Harmony is my favorite one, I am thinking about all the delicious treats you will be enjoying tonight.

[Rags1]

I’m loving this!  Can’t wait for more. Enjoy every minute!

[asquared17]

53 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Is the extended balcony basically two?

yes!! there is no “cabin” next to us, it’s crew space/mess. we heard them a little bit stacking and clearing things yesterday around sailaway time. we are not typically in the cabin during the day, so i can’t speak to day to day noise but the night time experience is quiet.  

it’s so wild being back on deck 11 on this ship; we are literally two doors down from our old cabin. (and another ship entirely, but that’s another story )

currently the pool deck is PACKED. 

maybe even more so than usual because the upper deck of 16 is locked down. i’ve never seen it chained off before at the lower level

for some reason the supercell/toilet bowl slide is not in use, so we are not getting the refreshing splashes we’d hoped for

someone DID fling a lounger over the rock wall and cram it in there. currently they have abandoned to go do something else but i am not sure if they would be allowed to keep the chair there if the slide was open. i think it needs a certain amount of clearance.

there is a gate there that is closed and people keep walking by me to try and exit the pool from here, only to turn around once they discover it is a dead end. 

there is also a pop up bar right behind us, so the place is hopping. 

it doesn’t feel like the wind had died down too much but apparently they are still keeping deck 16 locked down. 

J just diverted to the jammer for lunch - i’m scared by how crowded it could be but anxious to find out if the chicken fingers are as delicious as they were last time. 

53 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Jamie's on Harmony is my favorite one,

when we stopped in to get the water last night, i was excited to go back this evening. truffle pasta is calling my name. i am hoping J loves it so much that we can go again. tonite is one of two formal nights, so depending on how tan i get, i will hopefully not disappoint you all with my fashion choice. but i will probably wear my red long dress that i typically wear for italian night  to keep true to my heritage

 

 

[asquared17]

24 minutes ago, Rags1 said:

I’m loving this!  Can’t wait for more. Enjoy every minute!

so glad to have you along!! i love all your live blogs, so it is a real treat to recognize some of the new folks following along

2 hours ago, Xaa said:

Love the extended CP balcony. Very nice!  Thanks for bringing us along @asquared17!

we were just saying how nice it is!! yesterday was too muggy to enjoy it in port, but i think it is especially pleasant in the evenings when you can hear and see the bustle of activity below. we love to people watch, so it’s perfect for us.

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

I hope that's the worst of your Deck 11 curse!

And your balcony looks huge!

me too!! although thanks to YOU, my champagne fairy godmother, we can probably drown out some of the noise with quality bubbles…

[asquared17]

for some reason, my phone keeps refreshing and posting everything separately; sorry for the multiple posts everyone!!

this will be a @Neesa special

3 hours ago, Neesa said:

Ah, the feather pillow. I always ask for one.

i definitely dropped the ball on this one this time around. we will see if sherry can pull through, but if not, i will try to get creative with my pillow placement instead. my family makes fun of me because i sleep on a giant wedge pillow at home but i swear it’s the best thing ever because my sinuses don’t want to murder me when i wake up anymore.

3 hours ago, Neesa said:

I don't know what is wrong with me, leaving towels and my odds and ends on my chair when I'm not there makes me feel a myriad of emotions and none are good.

agree. the chair hog banners are out in full force anyway and i don’t want to be running late and then have to worry they’ve taken my stuff for safe keeping

3 hours ago, Neesa said:

Have they opened the ships library again? If so a quick Clorox wipe and a book bath should be in your future!

yes!! i think they have combined it with the card room on deck 14, so will check it out today!! we missed a few things yesterday becuase we were so zonked. happily we have time to reacquaint ourselves

3 hours ago, Neesa said:

but you'll be at the gym anyway, I always wondered who went to the gym on a cruise besides my kiddo.

god willing, i’ll be walking on deck 5 if i can get up early enough before the oppressive heat/humidity. i like to do a few miles if possible so then i don’t need to worry about overindulging

3 hours ago, Neesa said:

Have an amazing day, be mindful of the warm sun rays. They lull you into sunburn!!

That balcony is amazing....SCORE!! Now I see why you didn’t RUB

yes!! it’s probably about time for me to reapply it doesn’t feel too bad but i don’t want to be THAT person on night two thankfully the wind has abated enough that my hat can stay on without worry of it blowing away. 

[asquared17]

a pic of our setup/location…

my beloved cold brew going strong in the travel mug and J’s towel blowing away in the wind…

bout to start taking a count of all the people who keep trying to exit behind us though. i’d say take a shot, but we’d all be wasted at this point

[Ampurp85]

Lol people get lost and discombobulated so easy on the pool decks.

Is Harmony at capacity? I think the weather is better/less hot because you are sailing away from Miami.

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Is Harmony at capacity? I

i will see if i can ask someone today if we eventually make it guest services i always am curious about the top tier event but we could never risk losing our pool time for that

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think the weather is better/less hot because you are sailing away from Miami.

agreed! although we are being diligent about drinking water; already powering through several bottles and i just went back to the cabin to grab more. 

todays deconstructed tuna sandwiches saw more of the mysterious green spread. there was not as much heat today; and i distinctly saw a chunk, that when bitten into, tasted like avocado. i will try to ask for details one of these days. 

when i got back to our cabin, there was a towel animal on the bed! it’s kind of funny to have one midday, but i was happy to see him, nevertheless

also the gnomes are here on harmony in central park!!!! i was so sad when i couldn’t find them on symphony. i took pics but the sun was shining directly on them so i’ll try to get some before dinner tonite. 

it’ll be red dress italian for jamie’s ; i took it and hung it outside to have the humidity and wind take out some of the wrinkles. it’ll come in the bathroom for the final efforts with a hot shower, but usually this helps quite a bit. also we had magnets to anchor it with and i feel much better about it not flying off into the sea, as we don’t have an ocean balcony this time. 

you can’t tell from this shot, but the pictures over the couch are crooked and can’t be moved…

not picture; J’s toiletries below (much smaller) and my items already in the shower

they finally opened this up for the worlds sexiest man contest (or bellyflop contest? unsure)

three sandwiches down to one; saving room for truffle pasta

[Lovetocruise2002]

20 hours ago, asquared17 said:

i forgot to mention!!!!!!!

i was able to get two (2) big glass 1 liter bottles of premium water at jamie’s for my remaining two diamond vouchers!! 

Wait? What? How does this work??

Did you know they would do this ahead of time or did you just discover this by chance? And I wonder if it's a ship dependent thing?......

[Lovetocruise2002]

@asquared17, I was curious, how has the wifi been so far on board?

[Pooch]

2 hours ago, asquared17 said:

i will see if i can ask someone today if we eventually make it guest services i always am curious about the top tier event but we could never risk losing our pool time for that

agreed! although we are being diligent about drinking water; already powering through several bottles and i just went back to the cabin to grab more. 

todays deconstructed tuna sandwiches saw more of the mysterious green spread. there was not as much heat today; and i distinctly saw a chunk, that when bitten into, tasted like avocado. i will try to ask for details one of these days. 

when i got back to our cabin, there was a towel animal on the bed! it’s kind of funny to have one midday, but i was happy to see him, nevertheless

also the gnomes are here on harmony in central park!!!! i was so sad when i couldn’t find them on symphony. i took pics but the sun was shining directly on them so i’ll try to get some before dinner tonite. 

it’ll be red dress italian for jamie’s ; i took it and hung it outside to have the humidity and wind take out some of the wrinkles. it’ll come in the bathroom for the final efforts with a hot shower, but usually this helps quite a bit. also we had magnets to anchor it with and i feel much better about it not flying off into the sea, as we don’t have an ocean balcony this time. 

you can’t tell from this shot, but the pictures over the couch are crooked and can’t be moved…

not picture; J’s toiletries below (much smaller) and my items already in the shower

they finally opened this up for the worlds sexiest man contest (or bellyflop contest? unsure)

three sandwiches down to one; saving room for truffle pasta

Can I ask how big that couch is?  DD will be sleeping on ours & im guessing, as we are in a 2 person room, it won’t pull out.  From your picture, it looks pretty wide back to front.

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Wait? What? How does this work??

Did you know they would do this ahead of time or did you just discover this by chance? And I wonder if it's a ship dependent thing?......

so i have often wondered if this were possible ever since i learned the water package wasn’t consistently evian since the restart BUT this was the first time i decided to try it out. 

i had no idea it would work, but on our way back to the room after dinner last night, we popped into Jamie’s and i asked the sweet gal bussing the tables if i could use my last two diamond vouchers for water. without any hesitation, she said of course, but asked me to come in because she wanted to show me the bottles. indeed they were the glass one liter bottles of aqua panna and i LIT UP in delight. she took my sea pass, ran the card and came back joking that i’d be drinking the one i asked her to open like it was a bottle of wine throughout the ship.

i will never buy a water package again; i know they have the big waters in CK but they certainly aren’t serving tap water in the specialty restaurants if you request otherwise. 

funnily enough, i got the idea for it when we were on symphony and went to hooked for dinner; we got the aqua panna then and of course i didn’t finish it, so i carried that sucker with me to the aqua show and pretended it was, indeed, a bottle of wine

…and we have the aqua show tonite as well… 

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

how has the wifi been so far on board?

internet has been great!! fast and no issues loading pictures. even J said she hasn’t had issues getting kicked off all the time like when we were on symphony. 

21 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Can I ask how big that couch is?  DD will be sleeping on ours & im guessing, as we are in a 2 person room, it won’t pull out.  From your picture, it looks pretty wide back to front.

yes!! j and i both said it looked bigger than the one we had in our balcony room on odyssey; i will measure it somehow and take pics for you when i get back to the cabin. i think it pulls out/unfolds too!

 

in other news, the wind has settled down a lot and the sun is HOT but feels oh so nice. i’m excited for truffle pasta tonite and the aqua show. 

we were talking about how much we really love our room; great location and it’s nooked at the end/break of the corridor so there’s really no neighbors around us on the one side at all. 

we are looking to book oasis in february and we have a hold on another extended CP balcony OR a ocean view balcony all the way in the back. i think we will go for the ocean view just because i miss looking out at the sea for sailaway etc, but this cabin has treated us quite well thus far

[Lovetocruise2002]

27 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

i had no idea it would work, but on our way back to the room after dinner last night, we popped into Jamie’s and i asked the sweet gal bussing the tables if i could use my last two diamond vouchers for water. without any hesitation, she said of course, but asked me to come in because she wanted to show me the bottles. indeed they were the glass one liter bottles of aqua panna and i LIT UP in delight. she took my sea pass, ran the card and came back joking that i’d be drinking the one i asked her to open like it was a bottle of wine throughout the ship.

For research purposes, I say that you try it again if you have leftover vouchers another night. lol

[asquared17]

16 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

For research purposes, I say that you try it again if you have leftover vouchers another night. lol

not only will i be doing this for research purposes but for ACTUAL purposes i just wish that she had given me a slip as i would have put a tip on it. oh well, we’ll try to venture to guest services and hopefully get change tonite before dinner

[asquared17]

@Pooch the couch is sizeable!!

i laid longways on it and there was room to spare. since i’m around 5’5 (in my mind, i am 6’2!!!), i would say it is a 6 foot couch. i also had room to move a bit. if DD is a restless sleeper, she could hypothetically roll off, but if she sleeps like me (i rarely move if i know that i’m in a smaller space than normal or sharing), i think she’d be fine. 

also the cushions remove?? so i think you could make it futon style somehow if you had to. 

i sat with my back all the way against the cushions and attempted to take a picture to show how deep it is. i’m flashing a peace sign in the shadow for you ✌

hopefully this awkward measurement helps!!