Explorer B3B 5-28 April 2024

[Sweety]

We are going to Dominican Republic in June. We have a private tour planned. I will write about it. My great nephews would love this excursion. I will try to see if we can do this.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Tonite dinner was Izumi.  There is no hibachi on EX so it’s always sushi only….which is fine with me.  I’m not a fan of the hibachi menu (or the “show”) anyway.  This was night #2 of our 3 night dining package.  Chops on night #9, the last night.

Insider tip:  if you see chopsticks nearby, this is probably NOT guacamole.

We went to the casino after dinner (who’s surprised) and it was a mixed bag.  Dan and I played some Dancing Drums (b/c the pigs were all occupied) and we lost a little bit.  Dan went and played some video poker and won while  I played some UTH and lost.  Ugh.  Back in the room now.

Tomorrow is St Kitts (again) and we have no plans to get off.  Today was another visit to Grenada and we just got off for a little while and browsed the terminal shops.  I bought Dan a couple of new Caribbean shirts which he DESPERATELY needed.  He’s been wearing the same sad ones we bought in Aruba probably 12 years ago !  Most of them are missing buttons and I’m a terrible wife who has never fixed them for him.  It’s easier just to buy some new shirts !  He now has 2 new ones…

[JustMeJoe]

24 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Chops on night #9, the last night.

Going to be crashing that party (if they let me)-Haha 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Thursday, day 7.  Due to call at St Kitts today but not arriving until 11 AM.  Nothing planned for today.

We have been blessed with beautiful weather and calm seas for this entire trip.  So fortunate !

Off to breakfast at Giovanni’s.  It’s one of my very favorite Pinn perks.  

[SweetPea]

It would seem i need to start up the novena again!

 

And i agree: much easier to buy new than mend!

[GregD]

You two look like you are having so much fun! Looking at your upcoming cruises, how long will you be on Independence in August? We will be on her starting the 24th.

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, GregD said:

You two look like you are having so much fun! Looking at your upcoming cruises, how long will you be on Independence in August? We will be on her starting the 24th.

Thanks, Greg. We really are having a blast.

Unfortunately we will just be on that 1, 4 nighter (8-15).  We usually try and snag a couple of add-ons (just like we’re doing now on EX) but so far it hasn’t happened with these IN cruises (June and Aug) but there’s still time !
 

It would be great to finally meet you guys.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Today is the last day of our journey.  Sea day.  Nothing much going on.

Dan and I both qualified for comp cruises so we spent some of our morning getting our [other] open booking from NC.  We both ended up making Prime on this set of cruises so that is one headache out of the way.

I hate the last day.  All I can think about is the dread of packing....which really only takes maybe 15 minutes but it's the idea that we are leaving....very depressing.  LOTS of people boarded this cruise last week and will continue on the "crossing" as they refer to it.  It would have been nice to stay on for the crossing but as we have made a pledge not to fly for a while, we couldn't justify it.  We'll just have to settle for Freedom and Wonder in the next week or so.

Tomorrow will be an incredibly busy day as we go home to laundry and repacking for the FR cruise the next day (4-29).  I have a ton of "home" stuff to take care of in this short visit but luckily (or unluckily, I guess) this next one is only a 4-nighter so we will be back home much sooner than we were on this B3B.  Of course, when we get back home from the FR cruise we only have 2 days to get ready for our 7 night Wonder cruise (5-5).  THEN we have a bit of a break.

Still trying to get the specialty dining changes all sorted out.  I made a ton of changes again yesterday.  I discovered through higher math (HA !) that it is actually a better deal (on a per-meal, per person basis) to get the UDP on our 4 night Utopia cruise than it is to do the lunch plus 2XBOGO.  That's a rare situation...but there's also the big bonus of getting to dine at all of the "new" (not really new) restaurants on Utopia so we threw that weighting factor in and decided to the UDP which we haven't done in a very long time.  Truly, it is too much food for us but it's only 4 nights so we will just suck it up and deal with too much food.  A good problem to have, I guess (summoning my inner @OCSC Mike).  There's also the uncertainty of whether or not the UT will be excluding low-level Pinns from the CK/SL and I don't want to wait until we find out that little gem to make my plans....so we will simply plan on NOT eating at the CK at all (unless they let us go there for breakfast which is unlikely, based on recent experiences).

Since we will be doing self-assist departing, we will meet the SL Concierge (haven't seen her at all on this leg since we were banned from the SL) at the Schooner bar 7-ish tomorrow morning.  Hopefully the disembark will go smoothly and we will be on the road bright and early.  Being a Sunday disembark will be a huge advantage.  Unfortunately, we will be making the RT BACK to PoM in less than 24 hours and that will be on a Monday morning so we have that fun to look forward to.

It's been an awesome 23 days.  I could learn to live like this.....

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I hate the last day.  All I can think about is the dread of packing....which really only takes maybe 15 minutes but it's the idea that we are leaving....very depressing.

Should I get out my tiny violin? Some of us only get to cruise 1-4 times/year . I'd welcome your depression.

14 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

A good problem to have, I guess (summoning my inner @OCSC Mike).

You can do it!

14 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It's been an awesome 23 days.  I could learn to live like this....

That's more like it. None of this depression talk, lol.

[The Fox]

WAAAYTOOO,

I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading your blog. You provide very insightful information. I envy you your Pinnacle status (I am Diamond) and the fact that you live in Florida and can cruise often. Keep enjoying all you can.

The Fox

[WAAAYTOOO]

53 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

That's more like it. None of this depression talk, lol.

Yes, mommy.

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Tomorrow will be an incredibly busy day as we go home to laundry and repacking for the FR cruise the next day (4-29).  I have a ton of "home" stuff to take care of in this short visit but luckily (or unluckily, I guess) this next one is only a 4-nighter so we will be back home much sooner than we were on this B3B.  Of course, when we get back home from the FR cruise we only have 2 days to get ready for our 7 night Wonder cruise (5-5).  THEN we have a bit of a break.

 

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It's been an awesome 23 days.  I could learn to live like this.....

Umm...aren't you already living like this? LOL

I want to grow up to be like @WAAAYTOOO 

[Sweety]

I love your style!

[LandstromCruise]

6 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

I want to grow up to be like @WAAAYTOOO 

Metooooo!!! 

[WAAAYTOOO]

9 hours ago, The Fox said:

WAAAYTOOO,

I just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading your blog. You provide very insightful information. I envy you your Pinnacle status (I am Diamond) and the fact that you live in Florida and can cruise often. Keep enjoying all you can.

The Fox

Thank you so much !  What a sweet thing to say.  As the ATeam used to say, “It’s nice when a plan comes together”.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I hope all you suite snobs are taking notice of the fact that I am no longer among your ranks.  

Be careful what you wish for.  It’s a huge change of “cruise-style” when you decide to trade quality for quantity.  Maybe you guys won’t have to make that shift but we certainly did.  I’m not sorry and I’m very comfortable with my new cruise-style but it WAS a big change !

[OCSC Mike]

17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I hope all you suite snobs are taking notice of the fact that I am no longer among your ranks.  

Time to get that tiny violin out again…

[WAAAYTOOO]

Relaxing in the room after our wonderful dinner with @JustMeJoe and his wonderful wife.  We most definitely have made wonderful new friends with them.  What a great couple !

While enjoying our quiet and restful post- gluttony coma, I suddenly got a VERY strong whiff of skunk weed through the ventilation system !  At first I wasn’t sure where it was coming from but since we have NO balcony, there was only one possible source.  It went away quickly so I guess nothing to worry about.  For a while there, we were smelling it far too frequently on other ships but lately haven’t smelled it.  Was surprised when it happened tonite.  Hmph.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Here’s a little bit of intel that I didn’t have 30 minutes ago…

If you forget to cash out a casino voucher (guess how I know this…) they can redeem it for you at Guest Services !   I almost left my voucher in the stateroom, certain that it was trash…but I told myself, “you have to at least TRY and get this money…”.   So I did…and nobody was more surprised than me that they could and did.  It wasn’t big money ($31.95) but it was worth the try.  I gave him a nice tip…

He did tell me though, that once you leave the ship there’s no way to redeem a voucher so even if you forget to cash it out at the casino, you must do it before you leave the ship.

[OCSC Mike]

10 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I suddenly got a VERY strong whiff of skunk weed

If you were still in a suite it would have been much better weed, I’m sure. Slumming it in Sea Class is rough sometimes.

[JustMeJoe]

15 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We most definitely have made wonderful new friends with them.

Trust JustMe, the pleasure was ALL ours!  We're already looking forward to AD to Curacao with our new friends.  Stay safe, have fun, and we'll see you soon!  P.S.  Mary says to tell Dan to watch out for flying pigs .

[WAAAYTOOO]

47 minutes ago, JustMeJoe said:

Trust JustMe, the pleasure was ALL ours!  We're already looking forward to AD to Curacao with our new friends.  Stay safe, have fun, and we'll see you soon!  P.S.  Mary says to tell Dan to watch out for flying pigs .

Dan laughed...

We're looking forward to our trip together, too !

[WAAAYTOOO]

We are home now, but not without a bit of drama.

We got to the parking garage (remember...we parked offsite on this one due to the length of our B3B).

Dead battery.  UGH

Dan and I had already been talking about getting a new battery.  I guess we waited too long.

So, we tried to do a jump with the parking garage's jumper doo-hickie (apparently dead batteries are a frequent enough occurrence that they have a jumper doo-hickie on hand)....but the battery was too far gone.  D.E.D.

Had to call AAA.  Now, I have been a member of AAA for 31 years.  I probably haven't used any of their services for at least 10 years, maybe more. Today I thanked the heavens that I had kept my account current.

Less than 10 minutes after my call a REALLY nice (and truly helpful) guy was there with all the answers.  He checked our battery (confirmed that it was, indeed, D.E.D) and then replaced our battery with a sparkly new one.  All was well.  We were on our way by 10AM which was only about a 1.5 hour delay.  I can't say enough good things about AAA on this occasion.  They truly saved the day.

Backing up for a review of Premier Parking (offsite for PoM).  We saved a $hitpot of money so I will say that it was worth it in THIS case but I don't think I would do it again unless we were going to be gone a really long time, again. 

While they did, indeed, have transfer vans running fairly regularly between the Terminal and the parking garage, it was very disorderly and each time a van appeared, it was a shoving match to push your way to the front of the line to try and get on.  They absolutely SQUOZE (yes, I know that is not a real word) into the van but thankfully it was a short trip so it was over soon.  Cheaper ?  Yes.  Worth the hassle.  Probably not.

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Less than 10 minutes after my call a REALLY nice (and truly helpful) guy was there with all the answers.  He checked our battery (confirmed that it was, indeed, D.E.D) and then replaced our battery with a sparkly new one.

I've had this done myself with similar results (more than once I think). Glad it was taken care of so quickly.

Coming from up north, I was amazed to learn how quickly batteries can die down here. One of the many fun little Florida-isms you pick up. Smart of the parking facility to have a jump box on hand even if it didn't help in your case.

[Cactus527]

On 4/28/2024 at 10:51 AM, OCSC Mike said:

I've had this done myself with similar results (more than once I think). Glad it was taken care of so quickly.

Coming from up north, I was amazed to learn how quickly batteries can die down here. One of the many fun little Florida-isms you pick up. Smart of the parking facility to have a jump box on hand even if it didn't help in your case.

In AZ, I've had to learn to replace my battery every other year. Is that a lot? It seems a lot to me...

@WAAAYTOOO, so glad AAA saved you! And so glad your cruises went well. Is it good to be home?

 

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

In AZ, I've had to learn to replace my battery every other year. Is that a lot? It seems a lot to me...

Yes, that's even worse than here. I feel like we might get 3-5 years. Not sure how much low mileage or being garage kept helps (if at all). I work from home and my wife's commute is pretty short.

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

In AZ, I've had to learn to replace my battery every other year. Is that a lot? It seems a lot to me...

@WAAAYTOOO, so glad AAA saved you! And so glad your cruises went well. Is it good to be home?

 

Home ?  What’s that ?

We’re sailing out of Miami on Freedom at the moment.

We did get about 17 hours at home before we had to repack and come back down to Miami.  I did sleep like a rock in my own bed though…

[JustMeJoe]

27 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Home ?  What’s that ?

Where your heart is - not any particular place; Dorothy 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I’m not gonna start a new live blog for this FR shorty…I will just post a few nuggets here.

The good news - we are in the top 10 Pinns on this sailing !

The bad news - there are only 9 Pinns onboard

It’s raining big time today. I hear thunder out there !    We’re on our way [back] to Puerto Plata, DR.  It’s our only port of call on this sailing.  We are seeing more of this port than we are of Nassau, which I didn’t think humanly possible. We like PP so that’s fine with us.

Lunch yesterday at Giovanni’s Kitchen and I’m happy to say that it was a great lunch.  I have had few awesome meals at GK but this was really good.  I got the Chicken Parmesan even though I knew it would fill me up and I would not be hungry for Chops (which was an entirely accurate prediction).  Since I judge all meals relative to my non-ethic love for Chicken Parmesan, I can say, this was the BEST chicken parm yet !  It was super thin and extra crispy.  It’s the new “bestest” standard.  Dan had the seafood linguini and man, it was overflowing with clams and shrimp.  Both meals were really excellent.

Since we both really hate the “Welcome Aboard” menu, we went to Chops on our first BOGO voucher and it was very good.  If I hadn’t still been stuffed from lunch, I think I could have rated it as “excellent “.  I guess I should do that anyway.  I can’t blame them for the fact that I stuffed my face at lunch.  . We both got a filet and the steaks were very flavorful and tender.  I felt a little bad for our next door neighbor.  He ordered a T-bone and while I didn’t examine it closely, it looked “wrong”.  He said it was underdone and gristly.  IMO, when a customer is completely dissatisfied with his/her steak (which he clearly was), they should be offered something to replace it.  He was not given such an offer.  They were a young couple, probably inexperienced cruisers, and I think the poor service (in their case) left a sour taste in their mouths.  I know it would have, for me. They never uttered a word of complaint.

The second of our BOGO vouchers got kinda FUBAR but we got everything straightened out, eventually.  When I made our rezzies (when we first boarded, yesterday) I told the gent helping us that I wanted Giovanni’s on the last day (day 4, which is Caribbean night -my very LEAST favorite menu) but it turns out he made the rezzie for night #2 and I didn’t catch it until later in the afternoon.  When we went to Chops for dinner, I asked how we could go about fixing this and the Host (at Chops) said he would take care of it but that we must pay for the meal before the end of night #2.  I thanked him but said that we would go over to Gios and do it rather than bugging him with doing it….since we have to pay, anyway.  So we did just that.  After dinner we walked over to Gios and got our rezzie changed and pre-paid our night 4 BOGO.  So we got what we wanted in the end but with a little extra work that could been avoided (IMO).

We’re going to the ice show today at 1:00 even though we have seen this show MANY times.  There is a production show at 9:30 called Once Upon A Time, which I’m sure we’ve seen but I can’t recall it….so we will hop over there, most likely.  I look for the ice show to be VERY crowded today with the crap weather…but hopefully we will be ok since we should have a reserved section.  I say “should” b/c we seem to have randomly bad luck with reserved seating on some of the ships -particularly during afternoon performances.  Sometimes there just isn’t any enforcement of the reserved areas so basically there IS no reserved area.  

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I have had few awesome meals at GK but this was really good.  I got the Chicken Parmesan even though I knew it would fill me up and I would be hungry for Chops (which was an entirely accurate prediction).  Since I judge all meals relative to my non-ethic love for Chicken Parmesan, I can say, this was the BEST chicken parm yet !  It was super thin and extra crispy.  It’s the new “bestest” standard.

This is problematic, lol. I call my wife picky for a reason but she loves chicken parm and only dislikes it if it's soggy. She often asks for it to be made extra crispy with the sauce on the side. But she also loves filet mignon. Her go to at GT has always been filet with a side of risotto. She's not going to skip the filet when we try GK and I figured she would get something like fettucine alfredo as a pasta side but now I'm thinking maybe she has to get chicken parm as her "side" based on your review. Normally I'd help her out but I usually get a filet as well and I love carbonara (although Dan's seafood is tempting too)... that doesn't leave much room, especially since I want to try a pizza too, even if that means taking it to go.

34 days til we board and have GK for dinner on night one and I'm already figuring out what to order. I may have a problem.

[WAAAYTOOO]

7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

This is problematic, lol. 

Good problem to have, if you’re gonna have a problem !

I completely agree with her…soggy CP is gross.  

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Good problem to have, if you’re gonna have a problem !

Agreed... obviously a 1st world problem and it would be far less of a problem if we were fortunate enough to cruise as often as others.

Thanks for the ongoing food reviews btw.

[Ampurp85]

I have to echo that; Giovanni's on Freedom had the best chicken parm/ fettuccini I have ever had. Also, thanks for letting me know about the BOGO. I was planning to use it on my sailings but wanted the 2nd and third nights, so as long as I pay for it, I should be fine?

[SweetPea]

Ha! I've been so busy, i didn't realize you were home briefly and then back out. I hope you have an another amazing cruise!

P.S. +2 with you and Dan. We're also not flying any time soon which is also limiting our itineraries. Love your perspective on cruising in retirement. We have been thinking of calling it quits and Batman is 'suite or bust' so thinks we're going to cruise every other year. Um, not sure where that is coming from, but we're definitely not on the same page!

[Cactus527]

I love Freedom-class ships. Lucky you're on one again! What type of room do you have this time? (or did I miss it above)

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I have to echo that; Giovanni's on Freedom had the best chicken parm/ fettuccini I have ever had. Also, thanks for letting me know about the BOGO. I was planning to use it on my sailings but wanted the 2nd and third nights, so as long as I pay for it, I should be fine?

Who knows what they will say.  I think it depends on who you ask !  My experience has been that I get the best results when I go directly to the restaurant I want (as opposed to the kiosks) and make my plans there.  The kiosks seem to be more rigid in their interpretation of how BOGO works. I find this to be true especially if they tell you the BOGO is only for nights 1 or 2 the first time you ask.  The restaurant managers seem to be more willing to work it out with you.  Good luck !

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, Cactus527 said:

I love Freedom-class ships. Lucky you're on one again! What type of room do you have this time? (or did I miss it above)

Me too. I love the Freedom class.

We are in a port side OV balcony on this sailing.  9630.  Close to the elevators and at the forward end of the “hump”.  Great location and very comfortable.

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Batman is 'suite or bust'

This was me !  Dan has never cared about being in a suite.  He would always have been happy in an inside room, but not me.

Reality has a way of changing your perspective !  I have slowly come around to realizing that “regular” rooms aren’t so bad, after all.  . It was either adjust my expectations or find another hobby.

In fairness, turning Pinnacle has also a lot to do with my “relaxed” accommodations mindset.  There are many Pinn perks that make non-suite rooms much easier to accept.  I guess that’s why Pinns have that reputation of staying in inside rooms, even though it’s not actually true, for sure.  I will never be an “inside” person.  I need SOME minimal amount of space, which standard inside rooms just don’t have, but I have found there are certainly alternatives to suites that work for both of us.

[WAAAYTOOO]

We went to see Freedom Ice and truly enjoyed it.  When they came to the finale and they began “In Your Eyes”, I thought immediately of @Ampurp85.  Not a particularly stellar version of the song, but it is what it is, and I know it is one of @Ampurp85’s favorites.

On to the MDR tonite for Italian night (I think).  Chicken parm again ???  Hmmmm….

[OCSC Mike]

15 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Chicken parm again ???

After reading this post I just mentioned to my wife that we're also having Italian night in the MDR after GK the night before... she has no issues whatsoever with B2B chicken parm, lol.