Live: Back to Back Big Ones: Oasis and Ascent, Jan 14-21 & Jan 21-28

[She Sails Away]

I really appreciate the advice. I'm getting nervous and upset over this thing. in hindsight, swimming was the worst possible thing to do today. My little tiny cut has turned into a big problem.
 

OK this is what I did this evening. I had a few antibiotics with me left over from an illness a few weeks ago. I brought them just in case. So I took an antibiotic tonight, washed my hand many many times this evening and applied Neosporin frequently. In my mind there's no question this cut is infected, it's really hideous. But at the same time it's not one of those super tender throbbing infected cuts that you just can't put out of your mind for five seconds. I have high hopes that if I see them tomorrow they will treat it. It's pretty raised and puffy. But not the alarming I might get staph infection of thing. Yet. Any case I'm on pins and needles till 1030 tomorrow to see what they do for me. My main concern is that they will do very little and this will get worse, but hopefully that won't be the case. Surely they see infections all the time. But underreaction from them would be my big concern right now.

[She Sails Away]

I was wrong about no t shirts in the shops. For $30, they have t shirts!

[She Sails Away]

The show tonight was called Bridges. It was terrific. Really wonderful. The theater has this amazing stretched out movie screen behind it and they projected all kinds of famous bridges on the background while the singers sang and danced.

 

It was a collection of pop songs with dance numbers which is exactly what I just said I don't like. But I like this. That cast was phenomenal, they all sounded like they belonged on Broadway. They had a ton of energy and the songs were familiar songs so they were catchy. Plus they threw in quite a bit of acrobatics which was really fun.

 

I would say at the very least 50% of the crowd on this particular sailing are over 70. Lots and lots of older people. So sometimes they would finish a dazzling high energy amazing number and then stop for applause and the applause would be smattering and light. Hate that for them. I think the cruise demographic might change during the summer but it's definitely a much older crowd, like a Holland America crowd, right now.

 

some of the numbers were aimed for a younger crowd. There was one number where the men were grabbing their crotch repeatedly. I saw a lot of shocked faces in the audience.

The guy at the end the aisle a few seats down for me looked to be at least 92. He was filming the whole show on his phone and he was actually doing a darn good job with a steady hand.

 

And I should mention that before the show they announced that we were encouraged to take video and photos and put it on social media.

 

I went to the 730 show and every seat in the theater was taken. I sat in the front row and there were a handful of empty seats by me. As to be expected, a large group came in four minutes before Showtime and went straight to the front row and then stood there having a long conversation, trying to figure out how they could all sit together. (They couldn't.) That led to another conversation about how they were going to divide. And even though the show was only 45 minutes there were many many people who could not possibly sit through the whole thing, they had to get up and leave and then come back. 

 

I went back, toying with the idea of going to the 930 show and seeing it again, but I went back at the last minute and it was sold out audience.

 

i'm back in my room for an early evening and I'm so thankful the room is not rocking very much. Tomorrow is sea day, and I will be waiting around for my doctors appointment and I hope I come away satisfied.

[ScottD]

Thanks for bringing us along... Oasis is my favorite ship and really interested in trying Celebrity so this is an awesome blog. I hope your cut is ok when you get it checked out!! 

[She Sails Away]

 

Room service menu! Night ambience and a few things around the ship

[She Sails Away]

We are at sea today. I got up early and did some filming and photos on the lower decks. By 9 o'clock, all of the breakfast seekers were out. So many older folks, I believe I've mentioned that a few times but it's just a bit of a wake up call for me as I've never sailed a non-family line that had this many elderly folks on it. You need to be careful where you walk because there are scooters and walkers and people shuffling along the best they can with canes and you just generally have to be careful. I guess that goes for life in general, don't go crashing into people, but just in general on the ship it feels like you really need to watch where you're going. And to also be patient. A lot of folks here that are hard of hearing who try to give a coffee order or a pastry order for example, and it just takes a little longer than maybe you might think it would. 
 

The film crew is out taking up half of the main pool and there's a lot of folks sitting around in swimsuits looking unhappy about it. I have no doubt that Celebrity is going to get a slew of angry surveys and emails demanding some sort of compensation for the film crew being here and taking out prime spots on the ship for 1 to 3 hours at a time.

 

I skipped breakfast and I'm planning on making it to the main dining room finally. I'm going to have lunch there today. I was able to get photos of two of the main dining rooms this morning because they were empty. Tuscany and Normandie. Very classy.

 

The focal point chandelier at the bottom of the atrium in the middle of the ship is kind of cool. It strobes throughout the day in different patterns.

[She Sails Away]

PS: regarding the infinite veranda. You have the option of closing these glass doors if you want and sealing off the little veranda area. I have found that doing so really helps keep the room much more cool. I definitely close these off in the evening and sleep with them shut and I feel it makes a big difference in the temperature in here.

[She Sails Away]

One of the specialty dining venues here is called RAW on 5. (Deck 5). This is a pretty good sampling of their menu.

[She Sails Away]

Ok, a report on my medical visit.

 

FYI, $160 to walk in the door, plus any extras like medicine or whatever. (I do have travel insurance, though.)

 

They gave me antibiotics to take and the hope is that the antibiotics will just make the whole thing melt away into nothing. If that does not happen I'm supposed to come back in a few days and they will do something to it to speed up the process. They did not want to do any procedures on it today because it's "too early," and messing with it would somehow only create more problems.

 

So that's that, and I feel better (at least psychologically) and I have taken my medicine for the day.

 

But there's more to tell.

 

First of all, they took my blood pressure and talked to me for a minute and then told me to go back to the waiting area while they got the room ready. So I returned to the waiting area and  now there's an elderly man there with his wife and he is struggling to breathe and he occasionally coughs and man is it a nasty cough. His wife goes to receptionist and says he needs to be seen right away, he's having trouble breathing. She goes on to explain this is the third day in the row they've come, he's been given oxygen every day and a nebulizer every day and they think he needs oxygen again today.

 

I was thinking to myself why are you even still on the ship. (would you not have gotten off yesterday and tried to get home to a hospital? Just a thought.) And they went ahead and hustled him into the back. (I passed his room later and saw him lying on a stretcher covered with the blanket and hooked up to an oxygen tank.)
 

After he disappeared, one of the doctors came out and talked to the receptionist about arranging private medical transport off the ship tomorrow for someone who needs to go to the hospital. And it was NOT the man that I was just describing it was somebody completely different.
 

I mean we are on day *three.* What in the world.

 

Scary!

[She Sails Away]

Someone in our Facebook group just posted that they went to next cruise and added the cruise for next week so they could just stay on the ship. The only rooms left were Oceanview interior. This was a downgrade for him because I think he's in the highest suite you can have but he took it anyway and he's excited about it. So it sounds like @MaryS sailing is nearly sold out!

 

I skipped breakfast this morning and for lunch, had snacks and iced coffee at the coffee shop on deck five. I had planned to go to the main dining room for lunch but the menu was not in the least appealing to me.
 

I did an hour long escape room type thing with a group of nine strangers. It was way too many people. Kind of fun but way too many people and we couldn't work together as a team very well and we didn't make it.

 

We're doing a Facebook group slot pull at two and I have a massage this afternoon. It is very gray and drizzly outside all day today.

 

Captain Dimitri made an appearance at the stage show last night before the show began. He had a whole little comedic bit he did. He made an announcement today regarding the weather. He said that he is continually asked why don't we have a weather report every four hours. He said the weather report is get out of your room and go up top and check for yourself.

[Ampurp85]

We had another alpha....call this morning. Lots of people get on the ship sick.

[She Sails Away]

3 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

We had another alpha....call this morning. Lots of people get on the ship sick.

It's really reminding me why I like land vacations, too. Love my cruises but the last four have been something else.

 

When we cruised Symphony in the Mediterranean last spring we left port on embarkation day four  hours late because two separate people needed to be evacuated onto an ambulance. I'm not sure why this took hours to do but it did. And that was before we had left port on embarkation day. 

 

[asquared17]

navigating international healthcare has GOT to be a challenge. 

and that’s not even counting the arrangements that have to be made when you leave a ship after being on the pax list. i feel like twangster mentioned it once how serious the list is (or something along those lines) for security purposes and you have to be cleared by customs and (in the states) border patrol. they have to make an accounting for every soul on board. 

[She Sails Away]

Something interesting about this ship, reservations are not required for a show. You just come and it's first come first served. Of course people begin lining up way before the show starts so you may find yourself standing at the end of a long line, waiting for doors to open, but the theater is really really large and can accommodate a lot of people at once. And they show the shows two times each night that they have a show. I kind of like the no-reservation thing. It's one less anxious detail to take care of before your cruise or the minute you board. 

[She Sails Away]

3 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

navigating international healthcare has GOT to be a challenge. 

and that’s not even counting the arrangements that have to be made when you leave a ship after being on the pax list. i feel like twangster mentioned it once how serious the list is (or something along those lines) for security purposes and you have to be cleared by customs and (in the states) border patrol. they have to make an accounting for every soul on board. 

Yes, I'm sure it's not as easy  it sounds, just to hop off the ship and go home.  But it also seems like these folks I mentioned are on the edge of an emergency crisis situation. How terribe. and How exhausting for those poor folks, if this is going to be their daily routine they are going to have such a very long rest of the cruise. I'm sure they can't wait to get back to Florida. 

[MaryS]

2 hours ago, She Sails Away said:

The only rooms left were Oceanview interior. This was a downgrade for him because I think he's in the highest suite you can have but he took it anyway and he's excited about it. So it sounds like @MaryS sailing is nearly sold out!

I think it is almost sold out.  There were at least 30 suites available (Sky, Aqua, and the bigger ones) and a few interior before the Move Ups were awarded. They awarded most of the Move Ups right before Christmas then nothing was available online.  

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, MaryS said:

There were at least 30 suites available (Sky, Aqua, and the bigger ones) and a few interior before the Move Ups were awarded. They awarded most of the Move Ups right before Christmas then nothing was available online.  

i wish royal would have operated this way (or maybe they did and we just didn’t warrant any RUB )

it just feels like they hold the suites open forever and then suddenly everything is sold out a week before sailing.

but maybe that means other folks won.

[She Sails Away]

Limited choices on dinner tonight. Didn't like anything on the menu for the main dining rooms, and for some reason, the buffet was half the size as usual. Baked potatoes and pasta and bread and some grilled meats.
 

Played a game in "the club" which is kind of their spotlight lounge. Really fun, too hard to describe here but lots of fun and lots of group participation.

 

N'Kenge did a one woman show today and she was fantastic. Lots of Broadway tunes.

 

The massage was nice. Overall the spa feels somewhat deserted so far this cruise. I noticed they added a spa special into the app for tomorrow. That wasn't there this morning. 
 

There's a solo performer this evening, Andrew Derbyshire. Getting ready for the show to start. Remember I mentioned the lack of reservations, as in reservations are not required. I'm not seeing rows of front row prime seats reserved for concierge or suite people either, I wonder if they are supposed to claw their way to a seat like everybody else? That can't be the case, that feels offbrand for this ship.  Interesting.

[She Sails Away]

It was day three and for the first time, I started to feel a little self-conscious walking around in my shorts and sweatshirt all evening, while everybody else was dressed to the nines. Obviously, I skipped the main dining room and just did a Buffet dinner, which is why I felt completely comfortable staying in my normal clothes. But I think people in casual clothes at dinner time is maybe about 20%, with the other 80% opting to dress up every night. 
 

I looked around in the shops tonight and got a high pressure pitch to buy a $300 wristwatch I really don’t want.

 

The shop was having sales on those port of call T-shirts, the same ones they carry on Oasis and were selling last week. On Oasis last week, the shirts were two for $40.  Here, the same shirts are two for 50.

 

For me, this ship has a country club feel. It feels upscale. It feels like the clientele expect it to be upscale and there are high expectations just in general and those expectations are being met.

 

I feel a little bit like Oasis was good old Disneyworld, and the Ascent is a trip to Martha’s Vineyard in your best khakis and summer resort wear. Very different vibes, very different energy and focus on the ship.
 

Also, there seem to be so much larger groups traveling together here. There are plenty of couples and small families, but there are so many big groups doing everything all together. Like hanging out at the bar together and doing the dance floor together and showing up at trivia all in a big group. 
 

Dinner is such a huge event here. As I said, people get dressed up, if you try to schedule any appointment, they ask you right away what time is your dinner reservation, the masses really disappear at dinner time and re-emerge in mass all at the same time to go to the theater or whatever.
 

The ship does not have quite the same amount of spread out, ‘everybody doing something different’ feeling that Oasis has. 

 

This ship is just beautiful. And it is definitely designed to be a warm weather ship. The pool deck is very inviting. Yes they only have one pool, but so far it’s been plenty big enough for the few people willing to get in. The pool chairs surrounding the pool are filled every day, but not many people actually swimming. There are many many lounge spots in the ship, and they are beautiful, plenty of specialty dining, but if this was a cold weather cruise, or it rained all week, that pool deck being taken out of commission would put a cramp on spreading out and really maximizing the enjoyment of the ship. Not only is the pool deck something worth spending time on, but the rooftop garden and Sunset bar area are very valuable real estate areas here, and not be able to spend time in them would be a real shame. They are really really wonderful. Ideal cruise deck spots that aren’t pool-related.
 

I would say the number one activity the ship is designed for (aside from eating and gambling and drinking,) is lounging around, drink in hand. That might be indoors or outdoors, but it feels like this is most definitely a ship designed for just hanging out.

[She Sails Away]

The view from my infinite veranda this morning. (I opened the window!) We are docked right up next to Apex. There's a Norwegian ship on the other side of Apex, I'm not sure which one it is. Cozumel today!

 

The room rocked last night but it was gentle.

 

You can close the blinds on the infinite veranda if you want complete darkness and don't want to be woken up by the sunlight. That's a nice option to have. And also....privacy for port days.

 

There is a control panel on the wall next to the bathroom. You can just hit "close blind" if you want or you can close it with a button on the veranda itself. Also, the control panel has a morning, evening, and sleep button to control lighting. If you don't want to walk around adjusting the few lights in the room you can hit one of those and it will give you lights off, soft lighting, full lighting. 

 

You can set the air-conditioning as low as 65, but there is not a chance it's getting down to 65 in there. Pretty comfortable though, especially at night.

 

it was a gray drizzly rainy day all day yesterday but today looks to be beautiful.

 

Breakfast in MDR, finally. Of the four dining rooms, Cosmopolitan is the one open for all three meals per day. At dinner you can choose from any of the four, but breakfast and lunch are only in Cosmo. The menu is pretty basic MDR, variations on eggs and omelettes, pancakes and toast and waffles and pastries, cold cereal and hot cereal. The food was delicious and the service was terrific. They did not ask me if I minded sitting with other people, they just sat me at a table by myself. Which was fine.

[GregD]

Getting caught up here. How is the finger doing? You should see quite a bit of improvement after 24hrs on the antibiotic. Hopefully that is your only adventure back down in the sick bay. Hopefully the person you saw needing oxygen was someone who has COPD that forgot their nebulizers, and just needs occasional treatments, and isn't very sick. 

Going back to the number of very vintage vintages, that's probably why the food seems bland. They know their audience and they are all on low fat, low sodium, low sugar diets for their hypertension, congestive heart failure, and diabetes and other comorbidities. To them the food is great, but to us healthier people we are stuck with bland food

Maybe the large groups are from their senior housing communities booking blocks of rooms together too? Your mention of this made me thing of this scene from the movie The Croods.

 

I would feel bad for the entertainers too, who are putting on a great show, only to have the crowd not recognize the  music/performance. Though I suppose this goes back to knowing your demographic. 

 

[MaryS]

10 hours ago, She Sails Away said:

For me, this ship has a country club feel. It feels upscale. It feels like the clientele expect it to be upscale and there are high expectations just in general and those expectations are being met.

 

I feel a little bit like Oasis was good old Disneyworld, and the Ascent is a trip to Martha’s Vineyard in your best khakis and summer resort wear. Very different vibes, very different energy and focus on the ship

This is what I love about Celebrity.  I am there to relax and be pampered.  Every once in a while I need a vacation just to decompress.  I also love Royal and all the fun things to see and do.

[She Sails Away]

2 hours ago, GregD said:

Getting caught up here. How is the finger doing? You should see quite a bit of improvement after 24hrs on the antibiotic. Hopefully that is your only adventure back down in the sick bay. Hopefully the person you saw needing oxygen was someone who has COPD that forgot their nebulizers, and just needs occasional treatments, and isn't very sick. 

Going back to the number of very vintage vintages, that's probably why the food seems bland. They know their audience and they are all on low fat, low sodium, low sugar diets for their hypertension, congestive heart failure, and diabetes and other comorbidities. To them the food is great, but to us healthier people we are stuck with bland food

Maybe the large groups are from their senior housing communities booking blocks of rooms together too? Your mention of this made me thing of this scene from the movie The Croods.

 

I would feel bad for the entertainers too, who are putting on a great show, only to have the crowd not recognize the  music/performance. Though I suppose this goes back to knowing your demographic. 

 

I forgot about that scene from the Croods! That's hilarious.
 

Those are some very good points, and I think you have hit the nail on the head!
 

I do know one of the large groups here is 300 people on a group cruise for people who play bridge.

 

my finger doesn't look any better but it's not any worse and it definitely hurts less than it did yesterday. I'm taking that as a sign of improvement!

 

Regarding the man I mentioned who was having trouble breathing the other day. I think you are exactly right, I think he is a COPD patient. I say this because I just passed him exiting the ship to go explore port. He's in a wheelchair and his wife is with him and they appear to have a full-time caretaker with them pushing the wheelchair. No oxygen, he didn't look happy but his wife looked relaxed, certainly more relaxed than when I saw her the other day, and they looked like they were ready to go out and walk around. No oxygen tank or anything like that with them. So he must've had a flareup. I feel so sorry for him.

[She Sails Away]

All right, I made the rounds in Cozumel. Vendors are very friendly and approach you quite a bit but nobody is rude or hassling people or anything like that. Lots of friendly smiles and lots of warm welcomes. 

 

My husband likes to get a hat or a T-shirt from Ports I visit so I grabbed him a nice one. I did the ultimate tacky tourist thing and got myself a hat from Margaritaville and I'm thrilled with it. 

 

It was so fun to walk around and look at Apex and Ascent side-by-side. What magnificent ships. So large! So much glass. There are so many ships in Port today. Ascent, Apex, Norwegian, Carnival, and then two ships in the distance I can't make out.

 

I spent two hours on the top deck this morning, I walked the walking path quite a while which is really fun, this walking path snakes around in the sort of figure 8 and it has a couple of hills up and down built-in. (I can see a similar situation over on Apex.) I spent the rest of the time lounging at the sunset bar and let me tell you that is a great place to hang out. Really really nice. Sunset bar and Rooftop Garden are quickly becoming my favorite place in the ship. 

 

Rooftop garden was closed the entire two hours I was up there because the film crew was trying to film a couple playing pickle ball. I watched for a while. They kept doing shot after shot of the husband character swinging the pickle ball paddle at the camera. Then they would stop and talk a while and do it again. The husband character was in his 40s, wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The wife character looked to be about 25 and was wearing a tiny white tennis dress. They also had a drone they were flying all around. They were still at it when I left.

 

None of this bothers me in the least, it annoyed me when the thermal suite was closed for three hours the other night but overall, I think it's kind of interesting. But I have no doubt Celebrity is going to hear a slew of complaints, and people expecting compensation for prime areas being closed off to passengers during prime hours.

 

Back on the ship for iced coffee and recharging my phone battery.

 

One more thought on the older crowd here. Even though there are people well into their 80s on board, these folks know how to party. Nobody is wandering around here confused and dazed because it's their first cruise. This is a seasoned cruising crowd. And those that are able really get out on that dance floor late late at night and they go at it hard to those 70s disco tunes. The ones that can't dance fill the chairs circling the atrium on all three levels and really enjoy. 

[She Sails Away]

Someone in the Oasis cruise Facebook group posted that one of the airport shuttles from Miami to the airport on Sunday morning was involved in an accident. Royal is giving full refunds. They did not clarify if they were traveling to the Miami airport or the Fort Lauderdale airport.

 

We have been in port since 8 AM with several other ships. For some reason, little Voyager of the Seas just now slid into port with us at 4pm.

 

The film crew used the casino for a huge crowd scene this afternoon for quite a while. There would be crazy cheering and sudden silence and then 10 minutes later they would do it again.

 

Hanging out on the magic carpet watching Norwegian Epic sail away. It's like a hat-trick, little Carnival Valor was hiding behind it all day long and I didn't know.

 

[She Sails Away]

And we had an amazing sunset.

[She Sails Away]

These guys were hanging off a safety bar dangling down the front of Voyager, touching up the paint.

 

Monique Marvez tonight, a hilarious and talented stand-up comedian. So funny. Now it's live music time.

 

A note about the performances. Perhaps it's the age of the crowd, but people tend to come to the performances, settle in the front row, and then have long drawn out conversations about who is missing from the party and where they might be and who's having dinner and when are they going to dinner and what are they having for dinner tomorrow night and dinner dinner dinner. And they just keep talking and talking while someone's trying to perform. This is one of the more chatty crowds on a consistent basis I've ever seen. 

Tommorow I have a behind-the-scenes ship tour.

 

[She Sails Away]

Day 5, a big uptick in the amount of coughing everywhere. Had to leave the buffet early this morning because of the surrounding cough factor.
 

at 7:30 this morning the pool was hopping. This is surprising because this crowd was partying until late in the night. I went to bed at midnight and the place was still hopping.

 

The film crew has the magic carpet blocked off and it has been blocked off all morning. People that wanted to use it to see the sunrise are put out.

 

Gray windy day but the pool deck is completely full and people are using the walking trail by the dozens. It's a day at Sea.

 

[She Sails Away]

Day five continues. I have the temperature in my room set at 66 which is as low as it will go, but it's struggling to stay at 70.
 

So many people in the buffet this morning popping food into their mouths and licking their fingers and grabbing the ladles. I know this is normal behavior but somehow it shocks me every time.

 

All of the bar staff is terrific. I have visited every bar multiple times to get multiple bottles of water. It doesn't seem that people are tipping very much but maybe I'm just missing it.

 

Future cruise has stayed busy every day this whole week. People are buying up more celebrity cruises for sure. Today there was an hour long presentation on all of the cruises that they offer that go to Europe. Looks like a full house.

 

There was a small presentation in the theater this morning for select guests, I'm guessing elite guests only. It was the dance captain and a couple of dancers doing an informal chat about their careers, putting together a show, working on Celebrity, etc.

 

The activity staff are really fun. They do tons of games in their lounge called The Club throughout the day. They are terrific. Fun games as well. Lots of team games where each side of the club bands together to be a team. It's kind of nice, nobody gets left out.

 

Spa staff are on the prowl everywhere today trying to drum up some business. Many folks have claimed a lounge chair on deck somewhere and are settled in for the day, despite the heavy wind. Film crew still has the magic carpet on lockdown.
 

Came back to my room to escape the constant coughing for a little while. Going to rest up and hit the all access ship tour this afternoon. Should be really interesting. I've never done one before, has anyone here?

[WAAAYTOOO]

Boy, that film crew is really a nuisance.  Sorry you are having to deal with that.

[LandstromCruise]

1 hour ago, She Sails Away said:

Going to rest up and hit the all access ship tour this afternoon. Should be really interesting. I've never done one before, has anyone here?

I did the All Access tour on Symphony before and it was interesting.  Me being in the restaurant world getting to see the kitchen and coolers and just the shear amount of product they had on hand was quite amazing.  Also thought the laundry room was interesting.  

[Neesa]

We did the All Access on the Wonder. I gained even more respect for the crew. Super interesting, I enjoyed every aspect of it!

[jbrinkm]

14 hours ago, She Sails Away said:

And we had an amazing sunset.

 

Wow, that sunset is really beautiful. The picture I left on top looks like it came from a brochure. I'm sure the film crew loved it.

Also, in the bottom picture, the people look a lot younger than I was imagining!

[She Sails Away]

4 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

Wow, that sunset is really beautiful. The picture I left on top looks like it came from a brochure. I'm sure the film crew loved it.

Also, in the bottom picture, the people look a lot younger than I was imagining!

There are definitely some younger folks here, just not many of them!

[She Sails Away]

All right. My day took a turn. During the backstage tour, I developed very sharp pain in my ear and jaw and it radiated all the way down my neck. It was constant. This is never happened to me before. I mean I get ear infections or ear pain once in a blue moon but never this sudden and it's never radiated down to my jaw and neck.
 

I went to sleep for a little while but it didn't go away. I made it down to medical just before they closed. They have no idea what's wrong with me. No ear infection, nothing obvious. They didn't really know what to do with me. They gave me a steroid injection for the pain. And fortunately, I already feel a lot better but you know what? I'm ready to go home. There's nothing like not feeling well on a vacation to make you want to just go on back home.

 

The backstage tour was so interesting. We saw the galley, the bridge, the engine room, the laundry room, and the recycling center. I thought the recycling center was just amazing. There is so much involved. They can't just hang onto all of the crushed bottles and glass and cardboard and wait till they get back to land and dump it off. They do so much to try to minimize their waist and they do a lot to make gray water safe enough to dump back into the ocean. 

 

They originally said we would not be allowed to take photos but then when the tour started they said that we could. We all did.

 

Tonight is a magician. He calls himself Magic Bones. I have a see at the end of the aisle on row two. The people next to me have been playing Jenga with the seats for 20 minutes.

[MaryS]

Hope you feel better.

[She Sails Away]

55 minutes ago, MaryS said:

Hope you feel better.

Thank you!  

[JohnK6404]

Yes, feel better! 

[Neesa]

Thinking of you this morning and hope you feel much better!

[She Sails Away]

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

Thinking of you this morning and hope you feel much better!

I do! So much better. Pain is gone.