A bittersweet Symphony for Mr. & Mrs. Regular - September 22-29, 2024

[asquared17]

31 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

I think we made a deal that I would take her to the community pool that day in exchange for her not telling Spouse. So far, so good... 

this seems rather precarious….

[Mrs. Regular]

On 9/14/2024 at 5:39 PM, SweetPea said:

The fear is real!!

It took a good 5 minutes for the adrenaline to leave my body.

[Mrs. Regular]

9 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

LOL it's a fear, right? DQ found my blog report from my Freedom trip. She was highly offended that I referred to her as DQ (Drama Queen), but liked looking at the photos. I think we made a deal that I would take her to the community pool that day in exchange for her not telling Spouse. So far, so good... 

Also, with your reservations: I just got off Allure on Friday. Reserved seating was only about 1/3-1/2 full at each of the venues I was at until they opened it up to people in the stand-by lines. Then it was full. So, if you want to go see a show that you don't have a reservation for, you probably won't have any issues doing so. This was the case for the aqua show, ice skating, comedy club, and theater shows I saw.

I just finished your report! Thanks for helping me understand how Oasis class functions, I am excited but feeling slightly overwhelmed. I am sure we will have a great time.

[Mrs. Regular]

This is where I was all weekend - upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondaks.

The weather was absolutely spectacular, it was essentially still summer up there but the leaves were really changing. We swam, boated, hiked, and I started priming my liver for the Deluxe Beverage Package nonsense I will put it through next week. While l loved this weekend away with my best gal pals, my pre-trip anxiety is reaching near peak levels (this is normal for me, don't be alarmed). Here are most of the reasons why, in no particular order:

1. Our dog. Our sweet, sweet, dumb as a box of hammers labrador retriever named Lilo - has been having some tummy issues. Mr. Reg was home with her all weekend while I was away. He gave her some plain chicken and rice for a couple meals that stopped the flow but now she's too stopped up. I hope she finds her equilibrium again today or tomorrow. I don't want to leave our house sitter with a literal mess or something worse. Our travel insurance doesn't include coverage for "trip disruption or cancelation due to dumb dog who ate something she shouldn't have"

2. The weather. I know, it can't be controlled but dammit I try every time we go on vacation. It's looking rainy on the days I was really hoping it would be super sunny and hot. But, it's still early so you never know. It's the Caribbean - it does what it wants and we will make the best of it. But is my insatiable need for everything to go perfectly making me feel like if it rains it's my fault? Yep. But thank goodness we don't have to fly anywhere!

3. Work. Time away from work always makes me feel guilty. Even though this is our slow season in the cycle for me, we are in the middle of hiring another team member so I'm also managing a full time search and leaving in the middle of it. I haven't decided if I'll be bringing my laptop or not. I will likely need it to do some school/dissertation related work anyway, so I guess I just answered my own question. 

4. FOMO. The weekend we get back is Family Weekend at my step-son's college and we're going to miss the bulk of it. His college is on our way home so we will see him on Sunday but all the good events will be over by then. It's his freshman year and his mom lives in Tennessee so we're the only family nearby. I feel so badly we will not really be there for it. He's doing the typical teenage guy thing and saying it's no big deal but he's also been kind of bored the first few weeks of the semester and I know he'd like us there even if only to provide him something to do. Ah, life. 

In other news, my new dress for formal night came and I LOOK AMAZING. So there's that, lol. I asked Mr. Regular what his clothes situation is like and of course he has no clue. I gave him an assignment to find at least 3 dressy outfits - 2 formal nights and one for chef's table on night 4. He is on the struggle bus so I am sure a mid-week Kohl's run is on the schedule Wednesday or Thursday. To quote @Ampurp85, I am on my self-care this week. I have a wax and pedicure on Thursday and hope to get nails done at home tonight. My hair stylist canceled a trim last month so I will have to tame my own wild hair in the humidity and not looking forward to it. Usually I blow dry it but then it just returns to factory settings anyway by the end of dinner so we'll see what I can actually manage. I thought about buying a bundle of 3 blow-outs at the ship salon but I hate how much the prices are marked up for services onboard. 

I put together our schedule for the week since the activities calendar is pretty much set in the app. All Mr. Reg wanted to do was cartoon trivia. Glad I spent all that time planning and combing the app every day for the last 6 months. As long as we both get to do what we'd like to do, I'm happy. And on this ship especially, if we are bored it's our own fault!

[Cactus527]

4 hours ago, Mrs. Regular said:

Our travel insurance doesn't include coverage for "trip disruption or cancelation due to dumb dog who ate something she shouldn't have"

I am laughing so hard because this is EXACTLY something my Potato Dog would do. LOLOLOLOL.

4 hours ago, Mrs. Regular said:

It's looking rainy on the days I was really hoping it would be super sunny and hot.

My experience last week was that it would rain off and on, but there was definitely sun and heat every day. You'll be great!

4 hours ago, Mrs. Regular said:

we are in the middle of hiring another team member so I'm also managing a full time search and leaving in the middle of it.

Have you ever heard of a dart board? Put up everyone's resume and just throw a dart. Voila! Welcome on board, new employee!

 

[Mrs. Regular]

20 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

I am laughing so hard because this is EXACTLY something my Potato Dog would do. LOLOLOLOL.

Luckily it seems like she is heading back to normal after last night's walk. Hoping she's on the other side of it. 

[Mrs. Regular]

Cruise planner closes tonight! It is getting super real! I have one more shopping stop at Target for a prescription and toiletries. Then cleaning the house and packing! We aren't going to visit with our friends on Saturday after all so we are going to leave home mid-morning and get down to the hotel by Newark in the afternoon. We will go into Manhattan for dinner but still unsure if we will go to the Comedy Cellar or a musical. 

 Luggage tags printed

 Passports taken out of the safe

 Packing list made

 Laundry done

 MTD, Entertainment, and excursions booked

 Trivia, activities, and random events onboard "liked" in the app

_ Packing

_ Cleaning

_ Self-Care primping

 

[SweetPea]

So close now!

[Mrs. Regular]

 House cleaning

 Self-care

 Packed

 work email out of office messages set!

Call me Chappell Roan because we are HOTT HOT TO GO.

[Cactus527]

SO EXCITED FOR YOU! SO CLOSE!!!!!

[SweetPea]

Let me be the first to say ...

 

IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!! 

 

BON VOYAGE!

[Mrs. Regular]

It's CRUISE DAY! 

We left home and visited some family in NJ, had dinner with them, and got to our hotel by 9 p.m.

When I did the health questions, we got bumped up to Express Checkin but I'm not sure what kind of advantage that gives us at Port Liberty so we'll see. 

This morning we've taken our time getting ready and did the safety briefings. About to head to the port! The plan is to embark, go to Guest Services (it's our muster station, convenient!), get a beverage at a bar, and get up to the Windjammie for lunch. Tonight we have dinner at 6:45 and then seeing 1977 (the ice show) and maybe staying up for balloons. I'll post more as the days go on! Thanks for reading, everyone. We are looking forward to a great cruise!

[Ampurp85]

Happy cruise day!

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, Mrs. Regular said:

We left home and visited some family in NJ

 

ITS CRUISE DAY!!!!!

ps: curious to see how express boarding goes for bayonne

[Mrs. Regular]

Boarding was SMOOTH. We arrived about 10:40 a.m., dropped the bags with the porters and then parked. Parking at Bayonne is a little different from COVID times, we had been able to park in the garage in 2022 but garage is now handicap only. We parked outside in a secure lot, a very short walk from the terminal. Because we got Express Checkin we essentially got routed through the suites/pinnacle line and boarded in less than 15 minutes. We were onboard about 30 minutes before our checkin time. Our muster station is guest services so we got that out of the way and then relaxed in the Rising Tide bar to activate our deluxe beverage packages. After 2 drinks we went up to the Windjammie for lunch. Can confirm, they have cold lobster tails, mussels, clams, and crab claws. It's a huge footprint for a buffet but most of the space is taken up by food and beverage with very little available seating around the perimeter. We did get a small table for two and ate quickly. After that we walked forward to the Solarium bar for a G&T and waited for rooms to be ready. We stopped into Central Park (amazing, we can't wait to be there at night) and are now relaxing a bit in the room. We have my favorite configuration: bed by balcony and the headboard situated forward. This means I can lay in bed and watch the ocean go by. We are loving the modern feeling of the cabin (very reminiscent of the Anthem) and Mr. Reg has already remarked how much more spacious it feels than our Brilliance cabin. We are also port side, meaning a stunning view of lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn.

We don't expect luggage for another few hours and sail away is at 4ish. I anticipate we'll head to the Boardwalk next to explore that neighborhood and then up to the sundeck or back to Solarium as we leave the harbor. 

 

[Ampurp85]

Room looks nice and spacious. Glad it was a smooth embarkation.

[Cactus527]

I love how beautiful your room is!!!!! Looking forward to hearing more about your first day.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Have the best time !

[Mrs. Regular]

Hello from a day at sea! We had a nice time last night. Watched sail away under the bridge from the wings of the Solarium. Went to the Boardwalk, Central Park, and drank on the way down to deck 5, met our stateroom attendant (Alfred!) and then played some trivia in the Schoonie until it was time to queue up for dinner. I thought it was a bit much that the app would make us wait for the 10:30 show if we had MTD reserved for 6:45 so I canceled the dining reservation a while ago and reserved the 8:30 1977. We lined up in the "no reservations" line at 6:35 and were seated at 6:45. We had Imam and Queen as our servers and we will be requesting their section the rest of the cruise! We loved them, so upbeat, really cared that we had a good experience, and very attentive even though they had a lot of tables to take care of. We were out of there in plenty of time to skip through the casino and over to Studio B to get great seats for the show. Dinner was very good, I don't love the Welcome menu but Mr. Reg's prime rib was cooked perfectly and he reports it was delicious. My usual embarkation dinner is crab cake, spaghetti, key lime pie and it didn't disappoint. 

1977 was awesome. Figure skating is one of my very favorite things. This cast is so talented and the show was fantastic. There are some cringey parts that border on cultural appropriation, which I find to be the case with most Bietak productions (the company Royal contracts to create their ice shows). Other than some questionable costume and gesturing in the India section, it was a great show. Even saw a few triple jumps and a throw axel, and a double death spiral which is just so rare to see outside theatre on ice. 

After the show we went to the promenade to Boleros for another drink, got our beverage package coke machine cups at the pub, picked up a couple slices at Sorrento's and headed back to the room for the night. Seas were a bit rocky last night and we could really feel the movement. The ship wasn't listing by any means but it was rocking and rolling a bit.

This morning we took our time getting ready, ordered some room service coffee, took a hot girl walk on the running/walking track, got a light breakfast at with Windjammie, met someone from home, and now back at the room getting ready for our lunch at Hooked! After lunch I'll be back with some pics. Weather conditions today are elite, seas have smoothed out and there's barely any motion felt even though we are traveling at close to 22 knots.

[Ampurp85]

What's a hot girl walk? Also why don't I know about it

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

What's a hot girl walk? Also why don't I know about it

+1

[Mrs. Regular]

LOL! A hot girl walk is just taking a walk in the hot weather and getting sweaty. Like most 80's kids, I catch onto Gen Z terminology 2 years too late 

Oh boy I am getting behind here. Cruise life! Everything is still 100000% awesome. Today we are docking in Port Canaveral. Last night we saw Hairspray, it's not my favorite show ever but this cast and the production design is amazing, certainly the most technically advanced theatre we have ever seen on a cruise ship.

Seas are super smooth despite the tropical storm in the Gulf. My friends in Tampa area have hurricane days though the middle of this week - if you're reading from there, I hope all stay safe and well. Mr. Reg and I are going to Cartoon Trivia in a few minutes and then the Top Tier event. It's our first cruise as something other than Gold so I'm excited to go! 

I think I will have some more time tonight to make more substantial updates and post more photos. Like I said, we are super happy with our cruise experience so far! 

[Mrs. Regular]

[InmyElement]

Love your Blog and pictures..following. I wanted to know what the Hot Girl Walk was also, maybe something I missed..

Have a great time on the rest of your trip. Let us know how the weather is..We hopefully get on Symphony on Sunday.

[Mrs. Regular]

Whew! We have been BUSY! Yesterday we enjoyed the Top Tier event, we met Captain Angel, cruise director Elvis, and were treated to a performance from the aqua cast. I'm glad we went because the weather the next few nights will be touch and go for how windy it will be so I'm not sure if HIRO is going to be a go. We'll see what happens, the captain just made an announcement waves could be 5 feet which is not as big as on our way down. We had a great time on our Kennedy Space Center excursion. Third attempt was the charm for us! We had just enough time to hit the major highlights - the bus out to the Saturn rocket and launch pads, we drove past the incredibly massive and expansive Vehicle Assembly Building that can be seen from the port, and the crawler/transporters. Also saw the Atlantis, which was super emotional for us 80's kids as the space shuttle program was at its zenith when we were growing up and we remember the tragedies of Challenger and Columbia clearly. There's just something about experiencing the scale of these shuttles in person and the ingenuity of the American spirit that really gets us in the feels. We were back to the ship by 6 so we had time to get to Boleros for some pre-dinner cocktails and headed to the MDR. We couldn't get the same table with Iman and had a different server who was not as excellent. After dinner we did some 80's name that tune and then hung out in the pub until the 80's party started. It was a late night for us!

Today we were at Hideaway Beach on Coco Cay. I bought our passes for about $30 each a few months ago and glad I did. We had an awesome day bouncing from pool to ocean to our loungers. Kenton was our bartender at the pool and he was excellent, we loved chatting with him and he mixed some great drinks. Food was pretty good, we liked the ceviche and the BBQ chicken pizza, coconut shrimp, and mozz sticks. Tonight we have Chef's Table for dinner, which I'm very much looking forward to.

[Cactus527]

I love the big reveal at Cape Canaveral of the Atlantis - it hit me emotionally too, which was so surprising! Our girls loved the slides near there too, and I think I may have gone down it once too.

The cost of the passes for Hideaway Beach has gone up so much. I got it for $20 in March - my cruise this month was asking $40 at its lowest point. Now? $60-70. Ugh.

Hope you're not feeling too much of the effects of the hurricane!

[Mrs. Regular]

Good morning! A lot has happened since my last post, let's get to it!

First, hurricane/tropical storm Helene. Love and thoughts and good wishes to all those impacted. From the limited coverage on the cruise tv, it looks like there was significant impact on the west coast. The impact here has been minimal, though many onboard had their Nassau excursions canceled yesterday. The night before, if anyone had an excursion that involved a boat got notified their excursion would not happen, so this also included going to Blue Lagoon and Pearl Island. The wind was very strong and waves/white caps very visible all day so out of safety it made a lot of sense. I understand the disappointment that comes with a canceled event you were looking forward to. Given that, a lot more folks remained on the ship or wandered off into port to explore briefly and then came back. Waves last night and today have been about 10-15 feet and the movement after dinner made me fairly sea-queasy so I went to the cabin after dinner and Mr. Regular went to the comedy show. Can't say I was too broken up about missing that one.

Rewinding to our Chef's Table dinner. I'll be doing a more comprehensive Corks and Forks Report but this meal deserves its own shoutout. What a fabulous experience, we had a meal like no other and would do it again every cruise. Mr. Reg said "did we just start a new expensive tradition?" Dude, I love you but we started an expensive tradition the first moment we stepped onto the Rhapsody in 2017. Booking Chef's Table is a rounding error that this point. But, I'm glad I have his buy-in all the same. We dined with two other pairs, a mother-daughter celebrating the daughter's 22nd birthday and a married couple we became instant friends with and will be keeping in touch after the cruise. They are so fun and won the Love and Marriage show last night. Not surprised! We also loved getting to hear from the chef before each course, asking questions, and giving our thanks and praise for his amazing creations. We felt this was well worth it for us.

After Chef's Table we took a walk back to the Boardwalk and were so happy that Hiro was going on! Seas Wednesday were pretty calm and we were crawling toward Nassau anyway so the conditions were perfect. I am SO glad we got to see it, it was a performance like I've never seen anywhere else. My jaw was agape the whole show. Last night's shows were canceled due to the high winds and I'm not sure it's going to come back this sailing. The conditions today are also not looking good. I now want to get on every Oasis class ship just to watch the different aqua shows. Incredible.

Yesterday was Nassau day, we had our Casita on the sun deck all day. I would say that if you aren't getting off the ship there are lots of free loungers available and the drink service that everyone gets so the only benefit of a Casita on a port day is the dedicated bar service call button, day bed situation, and some shade. If you like a day bed at Coco Cay, this is similar to that experience. We hopped into the beach pool when we got too warm (it was very sunny and HOT all day!) and put that call button to good use. We discovered the refreshing Frozen Mojito and had several of those before packing up around 5 and got ready in the room for dinner.

Last night during dinner I was checking the Facebook group for our sailing and several people posted that the staterooms had no hot water. I said that to Mr. Regular and he told me halfway through his shower the hot water cut off completely. I didn't know that and I must have gotten the last of the hot water for my shower so I had no idea that happened. Others adding to the posts reported a pipe had broken somewhere and maintenance was working on it. When I got back to the room the hot water was still out, and then a little later, maybe around midnight, the water was back but it ran red/brown/black before being clear again. This happens at home too when the water goes out or sediment gets into a pipe so I wasn't alarmed but others in the Facebook group have been freaking out. The hot water is still just lukewarm and the complaints on social media are out of control. It's a closed loop system, we are in the middle of the ocean, and they can't just call Roto Rooter. Hopefully it will be resolved soon, otherwise it may take until we reach Bayonne and other maintenance can come onboard. 

Today we are at sea. We don't have a ton of plans other than getting around to doing some of the activities we haven't done yet like the Abyss, Zipline, and skating. The weather is iffy, I just watched a band of rain pass over the ship from our balcony (that was cool!) and now it's clear outside but still windy. Mr. Regular just came back from his hot girl walk and shared that the waves look MUCH bigger from deck 5 than our room on 11... I'll report back what we get up to!

A sneak peak at Chef's Table, this is the famous The World dessert.

Just after the band of rain passed over us. Check out the peaks and valleys in that water. Our current position is just north (but way East) of Cape Canaveral, where the port is closed until mid-afternoon. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

9 minutes ago, Mrs. Regular said:

Dude, I love you but we started an expensive tradition the first moment we stepped onto the Rhapsody in 2017.

I cackled when I read this one.  GREAT line.

[Ampurp85]

The big waves always facinate me. However it does suck when all these little things add up, missed/canceled shows and excursions, no hot water, etc.

I keep wanting to try Chef's Table but as a person who doesn't eat seafood, like things a little less frou frou and dislike caramel,  my options would be very limited.

[Mrs. Regular]

Morning from disembarkation day  We had a relaxing last days at sea and are all packed up. Going up to grab some food and coffee before hitting the road. Once we are back settled at home and I can sort through photos I'll post a recap and final thoughts. The TL;DR version is we are now Oasis Class snobs. What an incredible class of ship!

 

[Mrs. Regular]

On 9/27/2024 at 10:06 AM, Ampurp85 said:

The big waves always facinate me. However it does suck when all these little things add up, missed/canceled shows and excursions, no hot water, etc.

I keep wanting to try Chef's Table but as a person who doesn't eat seafood, like things a little less frou frou and dislike caramel,  my options would be very limited.

Hmmmm, yeah the menu is 80% seafood so I'd use the money on another dinner that you will enjoy more. We aren't frou frou food people either and we found this to be a very accessible way to enjoy fine dining. I got the sense that everything is prepared to order and unless there are food allergies that need to be accommodated, there is little to no deviation from the menu. For instance, I asked if they have a vegetarian or Vegan version and they said "not really" which I took to mean "this is not the experience for that"

[InmyElement]

34 minutes ago, Mrs. Regular said:

Morning from disembarkation day  We had a relaxing last days at sea and are all packed up. Going up to grab some food and coffee before hitting the road. Once we are back settled at home and I can sort through photos I'll post a recap and final thoughts. The TL;DR version is we are now Oasis Class snobs. What an incredible class of ship!

 

Welcome back to rainy NJ. I was hoping you would bring some of that sunshine back with you.haha. Hopefully it stops for everyone disembarking and embarking. We'll head over around 10, we're only a couple of miles away..Safe Travels home. It was all rain coming from upstate NY.

[Mrs. Regular]

Home safe, now tackling laundry and getting caught up on work email. Talk about Sunday Scaries! It's going to be a busy week at work so I may be behind more than I'd like wrapping up the last half of the cruise week. Land sickness has set in and the Bills are looooosing spectacularly at the moment so I don't feel badly about going to bed. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

2 minutes ago, Mrs. Regular said:

Home safe, now tackling laundry and getting caught up on work email. Talk about Sunday Scaries! It's going to be a busy week at work so I may be behind more than I'd like wrapping up the last half of the cruise week. Land sickness has set in and the Bills are looooosing spectacularly at the moment so I don't feel badly about going to bed. 

Ughh I am watching the Bills too!  Not liking what I’m seeing!  
          best get their heads together…..

[SweetPea]

On 9/27/2024 at 9:07 AM, Mrs. Regular said:

Mr. Regular just came back from his hot girl walk

The Mr. took a hot girl walk? It doesn't have the same meaning. I mean, i can't be the only one who thought Mr. Regular went creeping? Sorry, too much pineapple talk a la @Ampurp85

[SweetPea]

P.S. Welcome home! I know you were a bit nervous sailing Symphony/Oasis Class, but it sounds like you had an overall good trip! Thanks for sharing!

[Mrs. Regular]

9 hours ago, SweetPea said:

The Mr. took a hot girl walk? It doesn't have the same meaning. I mean, i can't be the only one who thought Mr. Regular went creeping? Sorry, too much pineapple talk a la @Ampurp85

OMG. Luckily we saw no pineapples but on our first day we were wandering around the Boardwalk and a guy definitely suggested upside-down pineapple behavior to which we politely declined 

[Mrs. Regular]

Came home with an unwanted souvenir. It's not COVID, but it's got me down for the count. 

We absolutely loved this ship. Both of us were a little concerned/skeptical about the size and crowd management when cruising for seven days with 6,000 of our closest friends. I had imagined bodies squeezed in everywhere. We really didn't notice it at all other than when trivia was in smaller spaces like Boleros, The Attic, and On Air. Otherwise, the ship layout is so smart. The neighborhoods really do provide enough room to spread everyone out especially on sea days. We never had to fight for chairs on the sun or pool decks, even at 1 p.m. We could always find a seat in Central Park or Schooner Bar to listen to music. We lined up for MTD around 15 minutes before opening and had no issues getting seated in 10 minutes or less and only one time did we not get the table we requested. I went to the gym one time and it's huge, there was plenty of available machines and space for everyone. Pool and bar layout is also very smart - instead of one or two huge pools and a bar that spans the entire deck, the 3 mini pools and smaller bars on each side plus the bar on the sundeck allowed everyone to be served quickly and get a spot in the water. We really liked the beach pool a lot. Didn't venture into the Solarium much mostly because we were having so much fun elsewhere, but it is also HUGE and the seating comfy and available. Entertainment reservations were useful but I noticed not really needed, at least for the later shows. We had reservations for all of those but the venues were barely half full when the house opened for everyone 10 minutes before curtain. Like every ship, the Windjammer seating is a problem at peak times.

Spaces we really loved:

Rising Tide Bar

Vintages

Central Park

Schooner Bar

Boleros

Pub

Studio B

Sun Deck

[SweetPea]

What is this event? And are you the  one in the green dress, looking at the host? It's hard to tell in profile.

 

Also, that is a lot of Pins! We didn't have many in May/June, but noticed a ton when we sailed Oasis in September. That must be their month to sail (although oddly i priced every single Symphony cruise out of NJ this season before booking, and oddly the May 31-June 7 was priced better than September, at least for Star Class.) 

 

 

[Mrs. Regular]

4 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

What is this event? And are you the  one in the green dress, looking at the host? It's hard to tell in profile.

 

Also, that is a lot of Pins! We didn't have many in May/June, but noticed a ton when we sailed Oasis in September. That must be their month to sail (although oddly i priced every single Symphony cruise out of NJ this season before booking, and oddly the May 31-June 7 was priced better than September, at least for Star Class.) 

 

 

LOL good eye. That's me coming in a strong third place at If You Know It, Sing It! It was a fun game.

I wonder if the large showing of Pinnacles is due to it being a Casino cruise? Since that's often the quickest way to gain top tier status? We also talked with many Pins about how they booked this week assuming there would be fewer kids, but we we alllll wrong about that one. The kiddos weren't a huge problem all week but they made their presence known more than any of us adults assumed, I think.