TrixieBel

Sorry for the gap in posting. What can I say - yesterday was busy and relaxing!

So yesterday was the day that RJ had been looking forward to for over 6mths. The day we were visiting Nassau, Atlantis, and swimming with dolphins... [emoji227] And, she woke feeling bad...

I will explain that RJ as well as being born with Down Syndrome, has over the past couple of years developed not only celiac disease, but also a couple of other health issues, and has been diagnosed with a panic disorder. Until about 8 weeks ago, it was very bad and she had panic attacks whenever she had to leave our apartment. Over the past weeks we have had the assistance of some mental health professionals that have helped get RJ to the point where she could come on this holiday with minimised panic attacks - but they are still there.

It was HOT yesterday, and she was on the trend for panic attacks but RJ was determined to swim with those dolphins, and she did just that. And, we even managed to get down the rapids river and the jungle slide!

Here's us in the water with the dolphins:

And the remains of the drinks we had to have to cool down:

Nassau was hot and busy and we really didn't see anything of it except the wharf and Atlantis. Sorry Nassau...

Dinner last night was in the larger main restaurant for our one and only night in there. It was good but too loud and crowded for RJ. I'm glad we didn't book there more than once. Magenta is much quieter and more manageable for us.

I'll be back with today, tomorrow!

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What does the valet do for you?

He's the one that sets up the chairs in the pool area, serves food for breakfast on that area, and puts out all the snacks and drinks on the buffet. So if you use that area you will see a lot of him/her...

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Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. May I ask how much the cabana was?

 

Thanks and enjoy Nassau

Hey andychris, I booked it ages ago as I know they sell out fast. It was over $300... For that you get priority tendering, $50 credit to be used for ordering food. 6 bottles of water in the fridge. Towels and extras towels are in there. When you arrive there are corn chips and three types of salsa, and there are floating mats there for you. The cabana is shady and has a dining table and recliners. And there's a private outdoor shower at the back so you can rinse off.

For our fair skinned family who have skin cancers in both our family histories it was well worth it.

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Here that fourth photo that didn't show up above...

And our elephant courtesy of Terrence.

Also, there's a Haven courtyard valet. In all my reading I had missed that info. He's doing a great job and we will add him to our gratuities list, along with Bernadette the special diet assistant who comes to see us at EVERY mealtime!

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Big beach day today! We tendered into the Great Stirrup Cay and spent our day relaxing, swimming and eating/drinking. Hubby did the jet ski tour and had a great time.

It's HOT and humid. So we all appreciated the cabana I had booked (with its outdoor shower). It was interesting that today there were only the small cabanas being used, as the large ones are already all closed off for the renovation.

You couldn't get any further around the island than the last small cabana today and there are already earth movers and workmen in that area.

RJ got to snorkel for the first time (with our help) and saw fish.

The gluten free options continue to be excellent. RJ enjoyed eggs benedict for breakfast and loved her shrimp cocktail at dinner.

Jenn didn't find the escargot en croutes terrible [emoji222], and Tony and Rach both enjoyed the creme caramel for dessert [emoji508]. Yes. It was gluten free. We ate in Magenta for the second night in a row.

Tonight's towel animal is an elephant [emoji208]

Tomorrow we are off ship early in Nassau. We've booked the Atlantis deep water dolphin swim. It's the thing RJ has been looking forward to our whole trip!

Oh, and for those interested in the drinks - there were indeed a few today. A beer and cocktail (margarita) on GSC, and a nice glass of Californian Chardonnay at dinner. Tried to persuade hubby a trip to the Mojito bar is possible before we turn in, but he's not so keen.

And, it's very very smokey outside anyway. The ship's stack smoke has been blowing forward and people had reported smoke. When we stepped into the Haven courtyard to check what was happening there was a ship's officer there checking out the situation and we were assured all is OK.

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Last night's towel animal was a koala for our Aussie family!

And for those who are interested in what's available for gluten free options RJ yesterday had: blueberry muffins and bacon for breakfast; this sandwich and chips/crisps for lunch, along with chocolate mousse and vanilla ice cream; and for dinner she had the lump crab cake, steak frites, and a banana split with ice cream and cream.

We met another lovely CC member yesterday while playing Win,Draw or Lose [emoji1]

And, RJ and I hung around the slide and the pool while hubby went on the Kennedy Space Centre tour. He said the first hour was interesting and then after that people felt like they were stuck out there with nothing to do. So, maybe one less hour out there might be better, since people were trying to figure out how to escape...

Today is Great Stirrup Cay [emoji41][emoji267][emoji484]

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TrixieBel.. is Vuk the Hotel Director? And is Monica your concierge?

 

And can you find out if they will be there October?

The concierge is Elvina and the Hotel Director is Sonja...

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We've had a swim in the Haven courtyard. Played our first ever game of bingo in Spinnaker lounge (looosers [emoji107]🏼), and are now in

Cagney's for lunch.

I had my first Long Island Iced Tea in Sinnakers (oops spelling!) and my second has just arrived. Tony is off on the Kennedy Space Centre tour soon, while RJ and I are going to hang on the ship and have plans to go down the slide. Should be fun after 2 LIT....

Here's the view on the way to Cagney's.

And, here's some more of this (what we Australian's think) very strange artwork in Cagney's...

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Ahhh. I think they are in the cabin right next to us :-) When I see them I will say "hi"!

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It's 9.25am and here's how busy it is in the Haven courtyard... That's just RJ in the spa/jacuzzi.

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boopsahoy - will they know who "boopsahoy" is? Any hints on what they look like or the ages of the children? It seems everyone in here has children with them...

And actually, it really hasn't been that busy in here. I'm thinking many are having their breakfast delivered, and the people staying in the Owners Suites and the 3bdrm are sticking to those rather than coming to the courtyard.

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May I ask the cost of upgrading from the 250 min promo to unlimited internet?

 

 

 

Thank you!

Hi imnance - the cost was the difference between the 250min package ($125?) and the unlimited package ($209?). We went to the manned Internet desk in the art gallery on boarding day to organise it.

We can only have one device using it at a time, and RJ has it most of the time with hubby and I checking in every now and then.

It can be sloooow and drop out when we are around the ship, but in our cabin and at this early hour it's comparable to our speed at home.

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RJ and I did family karaoke. Well, it was actually RJ doing the singing... She got a great round of applause which was lovely - since she really can't sing and her speech is pretty unclear. It was so nice of all the families there to applaud her loudly.

After the Karaoke, we went off to the 9pm show, where hubby and RJ promptly both fell asleep to the sounds of the stage show Swing. I thought the show was very well staged, and the cast were all talented singers, musicians and dancers. The singing talent was a vast improvement on family karaoke of course!

Our towel animal from Terrence was waiting for us.

We all snuggled down for a second night of being rocked to sleep by the motion of the ship, but not before I tallied up the alcohol for the day: "just" five alcoholic drinks today. Two before lunch, one mid-afternoon, champagne at the captain's cocktail party in the Haven courtyard, and the signature cocktail in Cagney's. That's five more than I would usually have in a day [emoji12]

RJ's gluten free offerings have been good today. French toast and bacon for breakfast; BLT and chips/crisps for lunch; jumbo shrimp cocktail, potato soup, queen prime rib, brussels sprouts, and flourless chocolate cake for dinner. Oh, and there was sliced fruit and gluten free turkey sandwiches delivered by Lea to our cabin in the afternoon. She's not fading away [emoji57]

It's nearly 5am and as per usual for this middle-aged woman, I am awake. This does seem like a good time for internet speed.

Today we dock in Port Canaveral at 1pm. Hubby is heading off on the Kennedy Space Centre tour and RJ and I are going to stay on ship. We may visit the spa, or maybe we'll find a table somewhere near a bar and snacks...

The ship is BUSY. We chatted with a couple from Virginia at the captain's party who are travelling with their granddaughter. They are not staying in Haven and they let us know the ship is at capacity for this sailing, and they are struggling to enjoy the ship's spaces with their granddaughter.

We have been grateful that we have the relative tranquility of Haven to come back to, although there is some water damaged carpet down the opposite hallway. Right outside cabin 14510. The staff have a blower on it all day, but it has mildewed and so the blower is just spreading the smell (and mildew molecules) down that entire hallway.

We would be having problems if we were down that hallway because hubby gets asthma. I imagine people staying on that side are not happy. And, I'm pretty sure (actually, totally sure) just blowing air on a patch of mildew is not going to solve anything. That piece of carpet needs to be cut out!

Anyway, "talk" to you all later!

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I'm so sorry your lobster was not good conandrob240. Mine was a nice texture and beautifully cooked. And my steak was perfectly cooked and very tender...

I'll be missing the Gem at this time next week too. Trying not to think about that.

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For anyone wondering about the lobster situation on the Gem... I can confirm Cagney's does a beautiful lobster tail. And, their signature cocktail is pretty good too!

But, the artwork is pretty strange...

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On the POA last year we really enjoyed spending time in the bar at the aft. On GEM this is kind of an overflow area for the main buffet and there are many many tables squashed together. But you can still get a drink here as evidenced by my 1/2 finished Bushwacker above [emoji41][emoji106][emoji484]

Update: 3.14pm and the wifi is working ok!

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So, we are in the Haven courtyard this morning and have already seen one guy come out early and "save" two pool side recliners, then disappear. It's been 2hrs since he did that and still no sign of him back. My hubby just used one of those recliners for 45mins ;-)

Then a very elegantly dressed woman arrived, settled on a recliner, then was asked by the pool attendant if she was staying in the Haven. Answer was no, so she was walked out.

It's like a new sport watching the happenings around here [emoji41]

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We boarded Gem yesterday and are in a Haven 2bdrm with our adult daughter.

Hubby went out to see the courtyard and was pulled up by a young child in the jacuzzi who told him he shouldn't be there because it was THEIR private courtyard. He said their mother/carer was there sunbathing and didn't pull up the kids behaviour at all.

So I went out, and sure enough this kid fronts up to me and says "are YOU supposed to be here, this is a PRIVATE courtyard!". I just raised my card and said "yes it is, for EVERYONE who has the right card. Is the water good, cause I might get my swimmers on and come in!"

Haha, they went quiet after that...

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We had a busy afternoon meeting our butler, Lea and cabin steward, Terrence, both of whom are really lovely. Terrence brought us an extra chair for our lounge/balcony, and we came back from dinner to find he had left us these happy new friends.

At lunch in Cagney's, and dinner in Magenta we also were visited by Bernadette who will be taking RJ's gluten free orders for each meal during the week. So far RJ has been able to order: pasta with tomato sauce for lunch; tuna and salmon salad for starter, bacon wrapped jumbo shrimp (prawns we Aussies call them) for dinner entree (we call this the "main"), flourless choc cake for dessert; and, for breakfast in the morning RJ will be having gluten free French toast!!!!!!!

We were a bit shocked to realise the artworks around the walls in Cagney's depict people being shot, mugged and stabbed. Weird...

The sail away was enjoyed from our balcony, with great views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on our way out, and then we adventures out to explore the ship. Tony explored a Bacardi mojito and I explored an Ultimate Margarita, while RJ fell in love with the water and ice. Since she developed celiac disease she doesn't like soda anymore and just drinks water or apple juice. I'm yet to find out if we can get apple juice onboard yet.

Here's a photo of my drink. Oops, it's gone [emoji9]

Anyway, after a dip in the spa (jacuzzi) and the little haven pool, and a trip to the shop for lanyards, we were all in bed by 9.30. Sorry, you'll have to rely on other people's trip reports for the late night info!

And, as a quick review of the wifi - which you'll notice I have: we had the promo with 250 minutes and decided to upgrade to the unlimited. Visited the very friendly wifi guru at the wifi desk, who stepped us through the process of upgrading. He was very honest in stating that we wouldn't be getting the same speeds we get on land, and he was right all last evening. But here I am uploading this at 5.30am, and the speed is really good. Is that because I'm the only crazy person awake at this hour?

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Thanks cincicruisers, AussieExpats, and easyboy!

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And just for those who like aircraft (like Tony), here is the view from our balcony - Concorde!

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And into the cabin!

Tony is almost speechless. We had a balcony on the POA last year, but this 2bdrm is just so over the top!

If anyone was wondering... Here is the floor of the shower!

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So we are on board finally! Reasonably efficient boarding and we've already met two families from CC in the lounge (shoutout to B and his family and K and her family).

Time for lunch in Cagney's, and we've already had a meeting to talk about RJ's gluten free options - they are bringing her pasta [emoji1]. Oh, and Tony and I have already found a beer and a glass of Californian Chardonnay [emoji41]

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What a packed couple of days we've had. Top of the Rock, American Museum of Natural History, whole day trip to Washington D.C, Times Square at night, and... a trip to Macy's to buy a new suitcase for hubby, since his came off our flight from Milan with one less wheel.

We've had some amazing meals along the way, with a special shout out to Cafe Frida (Mexican) and Lilli & Loo (Chinese/Thai) who both had great gluten free options for RJ.

In terms of food for Tony and I, we had a steak meal last night at American Cut that involved great steak, great wine/beer, great service, and lovely surroundings.

So now it's nearly 7am and I need to drag my sore feet up out of bed and think about repacking the bags again. Making sure to keep our swimmers in our carryon bags so we can take a dip in a pool before our bags arrive at our cabin later today!

We have no meet and greet set up for this trip. The group on here just never got big enough... So if you are on our sailing and see us, be sure to say "hi" as we are friendly Aussie/Kiwis [emoji4]

Jenn

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Just taxiing into a gate at JFK. 30C at 7pm at night? Definitely warm...

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