PrincessArlena'sDad

Sorry! I thought I had said this in the beginning. I think I was just too excited to start. It’s my wife and I, three kids (22, 14, 11), my parents and father in law. A nice group of 8!

There’s something else I skipped over. The price I pay for doing a live report that is a day behind. Between the chairlift and the pier is, of course, the duty free shop. There is nothing that interested us in there, but it makes a good AC spot to get out our sail and sign cards and IDs. I open my bag, and take out the sail and sign cards to distribute. I also carry everyone else’s ID’s, so I get them out to distribute. I then go to get my ID out, which I keep.in my phone case. And then it occurs to me. Before leaving, I took my phone out of my pocket to get the card we’re using to lock the safe - which I also keep in my phone. And left it on the desk. With my ID still inside. And the card for the safe. Talk about a rookie mistake. We still had an hour before all aboard time, so there wouldn’t be an issue for my wife to go on the ship, retrieve my ID, and come get me. Except, of course, my wife not letting me live this down. And, the pain I’d feel for making my wife make an extra round trip to and from the ship. For those who read my Horizon review, yes, I had a flashback of standing outside airport security while my wife passed me my book through the security guard. It was going to happen again! Though I had resigned myself to my fate, my wife, who’s intuition was taking a vacation this vacation (remember how many points she got last cruise?), took charge. She gathered all of the IDs back, and told everyone else to go in front of her with the sails and sign cards. As I approached the guard with my sail and sign card, my wife pushed ahead of the kids and me (almost knocking over poor grandpa in the process) and handed the guard the stack of IDs (we carry IDs for the kids, just in case). The guard glanced at the stack, handed them back, and sent us all on the way. I know, how could I forget to include this part?

Before moving on from Mahogany Bay, there’s one more thing I wanted to add. It doesn’t just get deep quickly. The entrance into the water is also extremely steep, not just once you enter. It was an effort for me to get out of the water each time. Many people needed to call the lifeguard to help them out of the water. It’s actually a 60 degree angle from a foot above the water and down into the water.

I get that. I just love open water swimming, and I rarely get to do that. Also, my wife burns so easily, it’s hard to do a Long Beach day without full shade. She’ll burn with just an umbrella. If you walk to the beach, it’s free. The non-private section was not that crowded, either. I would not pay a dime extra just to use the private section of the beach. Though, maybe if we were on Mardi Gras, that would be different. Also, we don’t get the Cheers package, so the round of drinks was much cheaper than on the ship!

We had the most amazing weather yesterday. It wasn’t that hot, and not humid at all. In fact, we hardly used the AC at all. It wasn’t hot enough to need it. The water is amazing. There are no waves, very salty, and warm. You don’t need water shoes, either. It’s not the soft sand like HMC, but it is still comfortable to walk on bare foot, with no rocks. When you walk into the water, it gets deep EXTREMELY fast. It only took three or four STEPS to be over our heads. Anyone with little kids needs to be aware of this. Or anyone who can’t swim. I wish there were warning signs, because it is not something you would expect. There is a lifeguard there, but I’m not sure he was able to adequately watch everyone at once. They do have, on site, two ambulances ready to go, as well as EMT equipment, including for spinal injuries. If you swim out about 60 feet it gets shallow again, but it is no longer a sandy bottom. At this point there is nothing down there but sea grass. While swimming, my hands would brush against the grass, or even the very bottom, at points. It does not get deep again before reaching the ropes that mark off how deep you can swim. I swam 10 laps, which took about 35 minutes. I wish I could say how long of a swim it was. I can swim 6 laps in a 25 yard pool in about 3 minutes, but that is with kicking off each lap. We didn’t order any food, but we did order a round of drinks. The food didn’t really appeal to us, and we weren’t that hungry. The time there went really fast. Isn’t that how it always is in paradise? We packed up, headed to the chairlift for the ride back, and walked back to the ship. We absolutely would go back to Mahogany Bay, and, if the price was what it was when we booked it back in September ($370 I think?), we would definitely book a cabana again. However, I’m not sure we would get it for the current price, which I think is $500. Oh, and there is one problem with amazing weather, clear skies, not hot, not humid, and the best floating mats ever. We showed up at the MDR for dinner as a family of lobsters. Just for the record, we applied SPF 70 sunscreen every 90 minutes. The sun was extremely strong.

The eight of us easily fit in the cabana area. I guess if we all wanted to use the AC at once it would be crowded in there. But, if you are spread out with some people inside with the AC, the loungers, the hammock, day bed, and swimming, there’s more than enough room for 10 or 12. There is also a pathway from the cabana area that leads right to the restrooms that are behind the cabana area. The pathway is between the two accessible cabanas. The entire cabana area is very small. There are only eight I think, with the accessible ones in the middle. I know some people will wonder if it’s really necessary to buy the extra person surcharge if you have more than 4 for the cabana. First off, as I said earlier, if you want to take the chairlift anyway (which I highly recommend), then the extra person surcharge is essentially $15. The extra person surcharge does not give you any extra amenities. However, it does get you a wristband, and they could chase people out if they didn’t have one. Though, I don’t think anyone was actually looking. But, they could. In terms of “sneaking in,” while there is someone watching the main gate by the beach, there isn’t anyone watching at the entrance by the bathroom area. While the gentleman who distributed the wristbands knew about extra person tickets, he is not told in advance when they are purchased. He only has enough wristbands for 4 people per cabana, and had to radio in for extra wristbands as a result.

We left the ship around 9am and started walking for the chair lift. It’s a medium sized walk to get there. It was a little hot, but not too bad. The chair lift ride is wonderful. Nice and cool up there, there’s a great view of the ship to one side, and a view of the hillsides of Routan on the other. They also stop the lift completely for those that are unable to sit in the chair while it is moving. It stopped about a dozen times. Once we arrived we went to the booth that said “ship tickets.” Well, I should have gone right to the booth, but I passed it by because I interpreted that to mean “tickets for a ship.” Doh! From there we were directed to the cabana private beach entrance. While it is at the far side of the beach, it is a very short walk. The gentleman at the gate checked our ticket, and escorted us to our cabana. I’m not sure how he decides who gets what cabana (though there are two accessible cabanas). I guess if you get there early you can request a particular one, but, outside the two accessible cabanas, I didn’t see any advantages to one over another. We had guyabana, which is the 2nd to last cabana, before the single two story cabana at the end. No one was using this two story cabana, and I didn’t see it offered as an excursion either. Anyone know why they don’t rent it? The cabana has excellent air conditioning, a television, a safe, mini fridge, and the doors lock (they give you the key on a wristband to wear). For those of you who have rented a cabana at Half Moon Cay, and think the snacks might be something similar; it’s not. Four cans of soda (no opportunity to choose them in advance), two small bottles of water, and a bag of chips. Not a giant bag for the family to share. One small bag. For one person. I get that they want you to utilize the butler service and order from the restaurant, but I think they are better off not offering any snacks than advertising snacks and delivering that. Four bottles of water, and nothing else, would have been better. Speaking of the butler service, I should have taken a picture of the menu, but didn’t think of it. They had a variety of drinks (of course), ceviche, fried conch, jerk chicken, quesadilla, chips and salsa, and a few other things. It was a single page menu (double sided), which included the bar menu. Outside the cabana they had two lounge chairs with nice cushions. The floaty mats that were very high quality with nice built in pillows. We’ve gotten the floaty mats at HMC, and hardly used them. We used these floaty mats the entire time. Very comfortable to lay on and fun to play on. Each cabana has it’s own personal shower (outdoors), hammock (also extremely high quality), and two person day bed. The two person day bed is right on the water’s edge. The hammock is underneath a canopy that has a soft mist spraying you as you lay there, which is amazing!

I should have added: you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to read on about Mahogany Bay, I’m getting sleepy, and we need to wake up early for Belize. Good night!

Though the description for the cabana says you can only purchase tickets for two additional people (the rental comes with 4 people), the excursion desk had no trouble selling me four extra tickets. They charged $40/person. While this sounds like a lot, it does include use of the chair lift. Purchased separately, the chair lift costs $25/person. If you rent a cabana, and have extra people who would take the chair lift anyway, then it’s only $15 for cabana access. I should be a sales person. Now, how well does eight people fit in a cabin sold for four, with “room for six?” Read on to find out…

We decided to skip the port day breakfast because the MDR didn’t open until 7:30, and we wanted to get an early start. Lido didn’t open until 7:30, also (for the full breakfast; the continental opens earlier), but that is a lot faster. If time isn’t a factor, we would choose the MDR port day breakfast each and every time. First off, getting a table is just too difficult. It wouldn’t be too bad, I think, if people would leave after finishing their meal, instead of sitting around waiting for the gangways to open. They literally see people with plates looking for a table, and they just sit there with no food. Like there isn’t anywhere else on the ship they could wait. We were still eating when the gangways opened, and, sure enough, within 5 minutes, Lido was empty. They did have bacon, though what I liked the most was the sausage with onion. Oat meal with brown sugar, cranberries, and raisins, also worked nicely. We finished our plates, went to the cabins to use the bathrooms and collect our travel bags, and we were off!

And now, I am pleased to say, I am caught up to today, as after Getaway Island, all we did was grab a snack on Lido (I am getting addicted to those meatball sandwiches served at the deli - note: the midnight buffet ones are not the same), and head to bed to get an early start for Mahogany Bay!

Now comes the point where I have to confess that we are bad parents. Our 11 year old wanted to try to play Walk the Plank again (he had a blast on the Horizon), but we completely forgot about it. We got him there just before the game started, but it was too late for him to get on a team. He stayed for a bit, then decided to relax in the cabin for a bit. We freshened up for dinner, and went to the lobby to listen and dance to the same rock band that was playing the 80s music last time. This time, though, it was country. Not many bands can do both 80s pop and country well, but they did! I really enjoyed the tilapia. Allergy plates had no corn served with it (though did on the Horizon). After dinner we hung around until Getaway Island. We had seen this show twice already, both times on the Pride, in 2016 and 2018. I don’t know what they are currently doing on the Pride, but this version was massively truncated from what we saw. Almost all of the dialogue is gone, instead it goes from song directly to song. The result is that the subplots with the other couples are only hinted at in the choreography. This makes the show more of a musical review and less of a full production like it used to be. Most of the humor in the show is gone as well. It was still fun, and the cast did a great job. Does anyone know if the Pride is still doing this show, and, if so, is it this truncated version?

Guys Burger Pig Patty! Sadly for me, the pig patty was broken into crumbles. Tasted the same, though. I should say it would have tasted the same, except I decided to try the BBQ sauce instead of my usual ketchup. This was a good choice; I’ll have the BBQ sauce tomorrow (assuming I get one). Next up was Deal or no Deal. This is a huge downgrade from the Hasbro game show they used to do. I get why they made the change. Deal or no Deal gets them $25 a card. Maybe this game just ins’t Johny’s forte, but I have no interest in going again. And I liked the TV show. In case you’re curious, both contestants went all the way. One got $125, and the other $20. In remembrance of the banana cream pie, we then went up to the fitness center. This time I tried the elliptical. While peddling away half the Playlist cast came up to use the fitness center. Two used the treadmill, one an exercise bike, and the other an elliptical. I took note of which machines they picked. I’m guessing those are the best ones, as I’m sure they’ve tried them all.

Next up: mini golf. We never got around to this on the Horizon cruise; it was just too hot or too windy (and the deck closed) every time we tried. But, yesterday, the weather was perfect. Not too windy, and not hot at all. It was plain and boring comfortable. I like plain and boring weather. The golf course is 9 holes, and very easy. Fun, though, and well maintained. It is also a bit hard to find if you don’t know where it is, or how to get there. You have to go to the aft, and keep looking for stairs that go up to the whale tail. The course goes around the tail. Well, half way around. After we finished the last hole, my father-in-law gave a great big, “Yay!” of excitement, stepped off the green, and in his excitement, forgot about the step up around the green before the step down. He tripped and fell like a ton of bricks, right into the whale tail. That whale tail saved him. Instead of falling hard to the ground, he crashed into the tail, and slid down it. Not even a scratch on him! I think the rest of us were more scared than he was. After recovering our wits which were scared right off the back of the ship, we walked super slowly down the stairs to Lido for lunch.

Speaking of service… our next stop, after banana cream pie, was the military appreciation. This is such a well done event. Johnny did a really good job talking about what service means to him, and the part the military plays in our country. About ten years ago my parents made the switch from Carnival to Princess. After the military appreciation event they started talking about cruising both Carnival and Princess again (and they’re Elite on Princess, Gold on Carnival).

Hmmm. My father in law, who is 82, was in the car also. I don’t know if the porter saw him, or not, or realized how old he was. Also, thanks for your service!

10 bags (some of them very heavy) and $20. I’ll also add that there were only a few spaces left in that area, and this was at 10:20 or so.

When I said I’’d come back later, I did mean later last night. But, I was just too tired to continue. 2nd Sea Day. We set the wake up call to get us up a bit earlier than the day before. We didn’t want to wait so long for brunch, and we also wanted to make the 11:00 military appreciation. We got up at 8:30 and checked in a little before 9. This hit the spot; wait time less than 10 minutes! We head on up to the restaurant. We get to the landing outside the MDR and there was hardly anyone there. The hostess came up to us and asked if we had checked in, and if our whole party was there. It was, so she seated us right away, before the app said our table was ready. Here’s a tip: if your wait time is less than 10 minutes, and your party is all together, go to the hostess stand. They may just seat you immediately. Brunch was even nicer than the day prior. I didn’t feel like carbing out, so I skipped the French toast and ordered the salmon Benedict. It was OK. I remember their Hollendaise sauce used to be really good (back in 2014-2015), but it isn’t the same as it once was. I knew this, but ordered it anyway. As I said, it was ok, and what I expected. Speaking of differences, the flaming tomato soup was very good, but also not like it once was. It used to be FLAMING. Now it’s flaming. As a reward for not carbing out, I ordered the banana cream pie. Now THAT was good.

Found it! I would never have seen it without reading this. I must say, though, that this elevator is the slowest elevator ever. It was faster taking the glass elevators up from 2 to 11, than that elevator from 11 to 12. Disclaimer: I only took it so that I could report on that elevator here. I wouldn’t have bothered with it, otherwise. See? This review has caused a significant alteration of my vacation!

I’m not 100% sure, but I did see people sitting at 2 and 4 table tops. Whether that was luck of the draw or if it can be requested, I don’t know. However, when we first walked in, they directed us to a table to share with another family. The other family saw us coming, and intentionally sat in the middle of the 12 top rectangular table, leaving 3 seats at one and and 3 on the other, and just looked at us. We asked the server to put us at another table, and he said there were enough seats. We pointed out that we would like to sit together, and the other family wasn’t going to cooperate. He then put us at another sharing table. While I did not ask for a private table (and didn’t care one way or another), you would think that after that incident, they might put us at a private table. But, who knows.

After tea time we started getting ready for elegant night. The good news is that are formal wear did not get terribly wrinkled being in a regular piece of luggage. We walked around a bit getting family photos. It took a bit of time to try to get all 8 of us in the group photos. We only had time to go to two backdrops. I don’t think the first one is going to come out well, but I have high hopes for the second backdrop. We need to start hunting down our photos and start weeding out the ones we don’t want. We pre-purchased five photos. I hope they have folders we can put the “maybes” in as we find them, until we decide which ones we want. Maybe later tonight we’ll look into this. Elegant night dinner was very nice. Our food came very quickly, and was very good. I had the filet mignon, cooked perfectly. My mom’s filet was still mooing, so they took it back. The second one was perfect, though. Again, though, there are food items they would not give those with allergies that were served on the Horizon (one I didn’t mention before was the jellies that come with the chilled soup). After dinner we relaxed for a little while before Motown. This was a lot of fun. The cast puts a ton of energy into the show, making it a great way to spend the evening. We considered going to the late night comedy, but decided to relax in the cabin for awhile instead. Before turning in for the night, I checked out the new midnight buffet. The meatball sub is a nice addition, though it is pre-assembled, and sitting in the warmer already in a bun with the melted cheese. The “deep dish pizza” looks like frozen pizza from the supermarket. Hot dogs are already in the buns, so they can just grab and go with them. They do have chiîle and fried onions, though, for the hot dogs. I didn’t see the soup, though it was there, as were the chips and salsa. Cole slaw and potato salad as well. I might have forgotten an item or two. Time for Getaway Island. I’ll come back later! Bye

My wife and I then used the fitness center. I used the treadmill. This was after I got tired of the exercise bike going clickeity click click with every peddle rotation. The treadmill, though, ran very nicely - but I still don’t understand why they put TV screens there to block the view of the sea. Tea time! Or, as listed in the Fun Times, Veterans Tea Time. Why it was Veterans Tea Time, as opposed to just Tea Time, I have no clue. It was just tea time. My wife, father in law, and I were seated at a table with another couple, more my father in law’s age, and we had a terrific conversation with them. Tea was fine. Finger sandwiches were OK (they used to be quite a bit better to be honest), but desserts were very good. My wife could only have the strawberries, because of allergies. She asked for strawberries without cream, explaining this. The server gave her ONE strawberry. We all just laughed (including the other couple). The server said, “sorry,” and gave her a second strawberry, and walked off. Yes, just a single additional strawberry. As we were finishing our snacks, someone else was seated at our table. This was really awkward. We already had a really nice thing going, and having someone else join so far into the meal (can you call two strawberries a meal?) just didn’t work well. It completely interrupted the flow of the conversation. Every sentence had to have include.a recap of what we had said before, or we just repeated things we talked about for the sake of the new person. It was just weird.

Yesterday was the first sea day. As I wrote yesterday, we went to the sea day brunch. I keep telling myself I should try the 12 hour French toast. But I never did. Until yesterday. Perhaps if I hadn’t been thinking of ordering it for so long (going back to the first day of the Horizon cruise) I would have been amazed. But, after thinking about it since July 9, I was a bit underwhelmed. It was good, and I enjoyed the banana topping. After brunch we explored the ship a bit more. I confirmed that you can not get to the exterior promenade from the aft of decks 3 and 4. They do have emergency exits to the exterior promenade, but I don’t understand why they can’t be regular doors. Maybe one of you know? I also can confirm that the aft pool and hot tubs are adults only. They (and the midship pool and hot tubs) are open until midnight. But, the serenity hot tubs are only open until 8pm. Maybe that’s why they made the aft pool and hot tubs adults only…. if they have the aft ones open late, they can close the serenity ones early? The serenity ones are nicer, I wish they were open later. My wife and I plan on using them tomorrow or the next day, depending on what else is going on. Another oddity is that the forward elevators only go up to deck 11. Serenity, and Camp Ocean, is on Deck 12. There is no way to get to these two locations without walking up a flight of stairs. What would they do if they had a kid in a wheel chair?

WoW, I’ve fallen a bit behind, haven’t I? Can I still call it a live review when I’m posting events from 48 hours prior? I’m going to answer, “Yes,” because I don’t know how to change the thread title. Also, I’ll try to be more consistent going forward. So… after the welcome show, the kids went to camp, while my wife and I finished straightening out the cabins. And then that was it! (I told you there wasn’t much more after the welcome show)

Our table just got called for Brunch, so the rest of Day 1 will have to come later. Spoiler alert: there isn’t much more. We were tired from the trip down, plus the hour time difference, I guess.