3. 2. 1……Does a Mariner Wonder the Allure of Cruising 1/15/24-2/2/24

[Ampurp85]

So I hate to say it but the meal we got in PR was the best of this cruise so far.

Anyway we got off, walked up in down and brought some trinkets. There was a lot of people begging including a hungry vegan. Several people thought we were Guatemalan or Puerto Rican. All the restaurants advertise a happy hour. We found one with a menu we liked and noticed it had no prices listed, just drinks.

First we should have known something was up. We passed by there before our walk. 35min later the same two couples were sitting there with menus on the table. One left and the other got their order taken 2min before ours. A couple waited over an hour to get their food. It was our server. As the other server tables of food was coming out.

We each got the special which was rice, beans,salad and a choice of protein for $8.

[asquared17]

it’s the matching family smiles for me!!!!!!

[Ampurp85]

There's more but I got a little busy.

[CanHardlyWait]

Love the photos. Your smile made my day!

[jbrinkm]

You look SO adorable in that pic.

[Ampurp85]

So we asked our server what was the happy hour special. She said mojitos and Pina coloda were 2/$9. We said are you sure, she came back and said they were 2/$6. We asked her twice, we assumed they were 2/$12. Either way we were okay with that. It took over 35 min for our food, which was way before the couple who was there before us and they ordered salads. At this point the couple who had already waited an hour threatened to leave without paying because they had an excursion. There was no tip for the server. The bartender started taking orders. She also brought our food and we asked for the check. But first we asked about the drinks. The bartender looked confused, she said the mojito was $10 and the Pina coloda was $13.

Now we had asked for the check when we got our food, we were done eating and still didn't have it. The server claimed to have lost it and refused to honor the drink prices. She also couldn't proved an itemized bill but showed me a total on an electronic POS. Our total was $42. I felt bad handing her $46, but she was so happy. I was very disappointed in the service. The food was outstanding. The server didn't know the menu and was slow doing everything. Turns out she had been telling the cooks and bartender what to make and not ringing it in, which is trifling.

Anyway we were upset because we would have ordered more food and no drinks, as they were very basic. We got off at 11, walked for a litte over an hour and got back on the ship around 2:15. Which tells you we spent well over an hour dealing with that restaurant. We went to the WJ for dessert and second meal for my brother. There wasn't anything sweet I wanted. They had chocolate chip cookies the first day and so far not again.

Tonight is Izumi and the adult comedy show. Which I've heard the comedians are hot garbage. 

 

[Ampurp85]

I realize the word of the day on Wonder is salt. Everything I've had has been salty. Izumi was also a disappointment .

First my favorite drink across the fleet was garbage. My Japanese strawberry had almost no strawberry and tasted of cheap vodka. Even my brother asked if I ordered something new. I got my go-to of chicken kaarage and it was the only good thing. I tried the shrimp udon instead of the chicken and it was 3 shrimp. Then I asked for beef teriyaki only mushrooms and it was just wet beef......salty wet beef. I ate most of the dryer rice under the beef and my brother ate the salty udon. He said all of his rolls were great.

We played in the casino after Izumi until 10 and then we got my brother's nightly Playmakers order for his snack. We had a reservation for the 11:30 adult comedy show but I was tired....actually I feel like I might be getting sick......despite being one of the few people who wash their hands.

I'm excited for Mason Jar brunch.

[Cactus527]

4 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Tonight is Izumi

Having seen your post about the food as well, I wonder if you've ever tried the ramen bowls?

It seems weird that everything is salty. Not to make you paranoid or anything, but I know my sense of taste went off a few days both times before it disappeared completely due to covid.  If your brother is tasting salty too, maybe the ship is just sucking at food at the moment. That's so disappointing. Fingers crossed you're not coming down with something!!!!

[Sweety]

Woohoo! Mason jar.

[CanHardlyWait]

3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I realize the word of the day on Wonder is salt. Everything I've had has been salty. Izumi was also a disappointment .

First my favorite drink across the fleet was garbage. My Japanese strawberry had almost no strawberry and tasted of cheap vodka. Even my brother asked if I ordered something new. I got my go-to of chicken kaarage and it was the only good thing. I tried the shrimp udon instead of the chicken and it was 3 shrimp. Then I asked for beef teriyaki only mushrooms and it was just wet beef......salty wet beef. I ate most of the dryer rice under the beef and my brother ate the salty udon. He said all of his rolls were great.

We played in the casino after Izumi until 10 and then we got my brother's nightly Playmakers order for his snack. We had a reservation for the 11:30 adult comedy show but I was tired....actually I feel like I might be getting sick......despite being one of the few people who wash their hands.

I'm excited for Mason Jar brunch.

OK, you have to ask your brother what lable / designer / store etc his shirts are from. I'm seeing a certain style and taking guesses at the lable. He's always styling. LOL.

[ScottD]

1 hour ago, CanHardlyWait said:

He's always styling

Styling AND Smiling. Dude always looks like he's having a great time, which I love! 

[asquared17]

the mochi redeemed this meal for me slightly.

[OCSC Mike]

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I'm excited for Mason Jar brunch.

I'm very not picky and obv eat a lot without many major complaints (like your brother)... so I'm at least happy that you guys enjoyed the one place I've raved about and are going back.

I'm excited for it too... and I won't be eating there until March 19th! So I'm excited for more of your pics, including dinner.

Have some moonshine for me!

[Ampurp85]

So funny enough my brother has a rule. He will spend money on liquor, food, and cheese. I do mean money. But he is cheap when it comes to every thing else. All of his clothes, about 85% came from thrift hauls. Occasionally I buy him a piece from old navy, tjmaxx, or Marshall. But it's mostly thrift. There is one 10min from our house and he goes every other day for a haul. The max he has ever spent was $9......in total. Because he is a men's small and need 32-44 length pants, he finds tons of name brands. He has gotten shirts from H&M for fifty cents .

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, Ampurp85 said:

and cheese

Which is its own category, totally separate from food.

Sorry, that jumped out at me. Obviously I love the overall frugality.

[Ampurp85]

Day 6

It's a sea day. Despite us going to Mason Jar brunch, my brother is eating breakfast. He said it will just be oatmeal and then ge is going to the gym.

We have the ice show and Wonderland tonight. I hope my second favorite drink is not ruined, the Cheshire cosmo.

So even my brother says the food is salty.....he loves salt. He says it is if they don't know how to season so they just add more salt. I definitely think I'm coming down with something despite my best efforts.....it could be allergies as well.

 

[Ampurp85]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

Which is its own category, totally separate from food.

Sorry, that jumped out at me. Obviously I love the overall frugality.

Yes cheese is a special category for my brother. In Italy our tiny fridge was full of cheese only.

[Neesa]

I'm wishing you healing thoughts, I hope you feel better soon.

[She Sails Away]

You guys look so happy! Sounds like you're having a blast despite the occasional poor service and salty food. Love these photos!

[Ampurp85]

Brunch was so great food-wise. Service wasn't as A+. I had to send both of my items back because they weren't prepared correctly. We have established I don't do condiments, especially anything mayonnaise based.

I got the shrimp po'boy sans sauce and it was delicious. I also got the red velvet pancakes. It comes with the same sour cream cheese frosting as the cinnamon roll,  I asked for none of it. They brought them out covered and then again with the sauce in the side. We didn't get water refills until the place cleared. I got the fried oreos and my brother the gone bananas for dessert. The chocolate bourbon sauce is very alcohol forward.

My brother has been taking advantage of his prime I earned in the casino. So he let's them make random drinks....aka that frozen mango mojitos

[Sweety]

Red Velvet pancakes without the cream frosting and po'boy sandwich. I hope they have oysters. I need the omelet as well. Ready for the dinner Menu. We are definitely doing Hooked as well.

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, Sweety said:

I need the omelet as well.

Nooooo! WJ has omelets, MDR has omelets, order MJ-specific items!

OK, obv order whatever you want, lol, that’s just how my overly logical brain works.

The po’ boy will be a new item for me to try… I’m just not sure how I’m supposed to eat a sandwich after chicken n waffles, peanut butter stuffed french toast (my 2 favs from June), and the 5 other items I’ll want.

[jbrinkm]

16 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

actually I feel like I might be getting sick......despite being one of the few people who wash their hands.

Handwashing is great for stuff like norovirus but unfortunately won't help prevent anything that is airborne. Hope you feel better quickly!!! Sending healing thoughts your way. 

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

So funny enough my brother has a rule. He will spend money on liquor, food, and cheese. I do mean money. But he is cheap when it comes to every thing else. All of his clothes, about 85% came from thrift hauls. Occasionally I buy him a piece from old navy, tjmaxx, or Marshall. But it's mostly thrift. There is one 10min from our house and he goes every other day for a haul. The max he has ever spent was $9......in total. Because he is a men's small and need 32-44 length pants, he finds tons of name brands. He has gotten shirts from H&M for fifty cents .

My husband loves thrifting. We have a fairly local Goodwill that gets so much high end, brand name stuff, a lot of it still new with tags. We absolutely do not NEED to purchase our clothing inexpensively, but we appreciate keeping stuff out of landfill, and it is like a fun "hunt" for him. They have $1 items on Sundays which is when he tries to go. He bought himself a bunch of cruise stuff, then a bunch of stuff for my son, a few things for my daughter, and since my parents are going to cruise with us in March for the first time, he bought a whole additional wardrobe for my dad to wear on the ship. 

[Ampurp85]

@jbrinkm we donate but that same thing holds true for my brother. Most of what he gets has tags and is name brands.

@Sweety I love red velvet with cream cheese frosting but the kind they have in Mason Jar waa sour and nasty

 

[Sweety]

Thank you for telling me that. Can't wait to hear your Mason Jar dinner.

[Ampurp85]

I forgot to post pictures of the desserts. The fried oreos tasted like bad cake. My brother said the go bananas could have been cut in half because it was too decadent

But we had a notice that someone was missing their luggage....I mean you just noticed that with 2 days left?????

We also received some "treats" from the galley since we made the comments about salt. I ate the rice krispie treat and left the rest for my brother. I went back to the room and helped my brother do his laundry bag. Then went to the casino. The Canadian who won $68k is masters. He earned 42k points on this cruise so far, he said his daily bankroll is $2500, that's almost $20k for a 7n and he is B2B. I talked to several people from Florida who just play enough to win a cruise. I say this to say I played but what I watched people burn through was intense. I never go higher than $5 a spin. I saw some close to $100 and they actually seem to not care.

I thought I might be catching a cold but it's allergies. I think because the lack of cleaning and smoke from.the casino is messing with my sinuses despite taking my supplements, sinus meds and vitamins.

We went to the WJ because my brother must go and the had the carvery station out. Plus grilled shrimp. I saw a man with 6 full plates of the grilled shrimp . Hopefully he ate them all, otherwise that is just sh$!!!y behavior

Central Park and most of forward areas were empty. The pool deck was popping,  the same for the casino. These bartenders are getting slammed. Even the table games are hopping

There are some shenanigans but I will post those Sunday when I get to the hotel. Its too much to type on my phone.

 

[asquared17]

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Yes cheese is a special category for my brother. In Italy our tiny fridge was full of cheese only.

again we are twins 

[Ampurp85]

Day 6 continues.....

I had all sorts of shows today, the people watching was **Chef's kiss***. But the show I will talk about is 365, the ice show. Which is now my favorite. The skating matched the songs so hard, I loved it. The skated to Peter Gabriel red rain and I had all the feels......don't get me started in the moon section. That skater girl could do Aqua show level acrobatics, I was mesmerized. Also the sharp-faced Russian man/boy who was in the ice show on Oasis and another ship before that was on here serving face. He is tall and thin and he can't dance for nothing but he cracks me up, trying to twerk during the summer number.

It was cold in the rink. I brought popcorn from my stash and hot chocolate from the Crown Lounge. We knew it would be cutting it close for our dinner reservation so we sat at the table all the way at the top,by the handicap seats. I was at the end. Some time after the show began, people started crowding right there and even took chairs from other places to block the walk way. These people talked the whole show. One lady asked if I would give up my seat so she and her son or her mother could sit. We left at 7:30, right when they started doing the names and bows so we could make our Wonderland reservation.

A couple from the show also were going to Wonderland and we chatted as we made our way. We were forward, so we walked the hallway reading the funny magnets and signs. We were sat only a table apart. The tables were close like the MDR and it was busy. There was a couple directly across from me, who wouldn't stop staring, I mean they watched us eat, it was awkward . The food and service was amazing. We actually got our food at a decent pace, maybe an hour and twenty minutes for the whole meal.

For reference I only ate the children's mac and cheese sticks, the beef short rib and half of the meringue tree dessert. My brother ate the rest and loved the birds nest, aka deviled eggs, which was his favorite. My cosmo was just as delicious as ever. The mad hatter was funny and energetic.  Baring the Mason Jar, this was my favorite specialty dining experience despite the food as a whole not being my cup of tea.

The only thing is the food isn't fulfilling, my brother had brought WJ food, he does this every night. He usually goes around 6 and prepares an after dinner meal. Today he finally got the tuna sammies @asquared17 suggested and had 4, despite just eating at Mason Jar and the WJ. He Saud they were too good and he will get 8 for after PDCC. He wanted Playmakers fries and onion rings but they were closed for a private function.

The first bag of laundry came back. We had sent my brother's today. I like this perk because I am sending back clean clothes. We are having an early night because my brother has PDCC snorkeling and wants to get off early.

 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Ok so every picture of your brother has him sitting at a table…does that mean no shorts.  I think we are still waiting for a wearing shorts picture!   

It’s been so fun following along!  Thanks for sharing 

[SweetPea]

2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

One lady asked if I would give up my seat so she and her son or her mother could sit.

I'm eagerly awaiting how you responded to this

[Sweety]

Your brother is awesome. He is full of life. I love how the two of your compliment each other.

[asquared17]

10 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Today he finally got the tuna sammies @asquared17 suggested and had 4, despite just eating at Mason Jar and the WJ. He Saud they were too good and he will get 8 for after PDCC

yessssssssss 

i am always glad when the tuna sammies are up to the challenge!!

also, hot take/unpopular opinion, but i love that PDCC is your last day. i know most prefer it earlier in the week, but our last sailing it was day two, and not as relaxing as it was to close out the trip. (for us, anyway)

either way, i hope you have great weather today!!

[Ampurp85]

Day 7 PDCC

I was actually up early enough to watch on my virtual balcony as we pulled up to PDCC. It was pretty cool. Lots of people got off as early as they could.

So it pays to have a brother that's an engineer. He found out how to turn on the nightlight for the bathrooms. Now if I get up, I don't have to worry about it being too dark.

I noticed despite being able to hear everything from the room in the bathroom and vice versa, you don't hear a lot from the rooms next to you. Well unless they decide to fight in the hallway. There were children playing and someone was trying to sleep. Granted this was after midnight and they should've been in the room anyway. But the people were really mad and call them every curse word.

My brother went to breakfast at 7am, then to PDCC because he booked the snorkeling all day excursion. I went to the casino to play my earned freeplay which was about $44. It's weird how I can basically make prime on every cruise. As long as I make enough points to earn a cruise I am happy. The list they have makes it easier to plan.

I am casino out but I also don't want to go to PDCC,  so I don't know what I might get into.

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

So it pays to have a brother that's an engineer. He found out how to turn on the nightlight for the bathrooms.

I didn't know you could turn them off, lol. We like the nightlight too.

[Ampurp85]

38 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

I didn't know you could turn them off, lol. We like the nightlight too.

I didn't know they existed. I was too happy I just assumed Wonder was the first ship to have them but nope, he says they are required by law.

[Ampurp85]

I am somewhat jealous of @AshleyDillo,  @Lovetocruise2002 and all the people just boarding Icon. An untouched casino really calls to me.

Freedom is at PDCC with us. I will be on her in May for my birthday. But as a whole PDCC is pretty chill. The crispy shack chicken is holding close to Mason Jar.

I will walk around after I eat, then head to the room and pack. We have the Effectors 2 at 7pm tonight and Mason Jar for dinner. I will be trying the brisket and ribs.....shrimp and grits.

 

[Sweety]

Can't wait for the pictures of food.

[Neesa]

I'm excited to hear what you think of the Effectors 2. I enjoyed it so much, when we did the All Access Tour we were able to peek at their costumes. Cabash says he would give the Wonder another shot, as we were just unlucky enough to sail with an over crowded ship of newbies with zero cruise etiquette. I'm pretty much good though, for me one and done. I have been really enjoying your trip, thanks for all the amazing photos and smiles. 

 

[Ampurp85]

I have yet to find funny bathroom art, despite having been in a bathroom on every floor. Tmi but I stays hydrated with lots of water.

Tonight's menu is bon voyage, featuring the turkey dinner, which my brother wants but with our show at 7, that's not happening.

When I got off I saw my brother. He had gotten off at 8:30 to snorkel. Came back at 10:30 to dry off and change. His SeaPass wouldn't work to access the room and he had to get a new one. We walked around and then ate. When I came back, my card wouldn't work. So I got a new one while my brother went to the WJ and park Cafe for "snacks "

I'm gonna pack up, my brother will take most of the clothes back with him. The weather is perfect, just warm enough to get much needed sun but also a nice breeze.

Stray observations:

The ship is sailing a little over capacity. This is noticeable during shows, on the pool deck, and in none specialty dining venues (aka MTD/MDR, WJ,  and Sorrento's). I also heard complaints of anyone being able to access the suite deck, leaving no space for actual suite guest.

Of course there is a large group of Jewish cruisers, but also a large group from a real estate company and large groups of Italian families. With the exception of the real estate group, the rest is rude as hell. The family that asked for my seat, despite not having a reservation and showing up late, were Italian. They congregate in spaces and block things......worse they were stare you in your face as you try to pass and not move. It seems like they one don't care and two have a delayed response/reaction.

The crew is miserable. I have never, collectively,  seen so many unhappy crew members. They will sometimes smile when you interact nicely but for the most part they look like they are wishing for quick death. It's not noticeable to the newbies. But even my brother said they look unhappy.

Back to the rudeness. I saw at least two people get food, eat a bit as they were walk and say "ewww I don't want this,"  or "I'm done " and toss it where they were walking. Once in the casino and once in the plants of Central Park.

My brother is a magnet for gay men, gay women and vintage ladies of reduced melanin. Those vintage white women love him .

 

[OCSC Mike]

32 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

my brother went to the WJ and park Cafe

A Park Cafe sighting! I actually go there quite a bit for pre-breakfast and afternoon snacks but some of my go-to items involve pig/cow products. I only grabbed something once but I also liked the pre-packaged to-go case with wraps and whatnot to toss in the cooler (if it's cold enough). Sometimes I don't feel like going down to the Promenade for sandwiches. Of course, I also don't order 8, lol.