CanadaCathi

56 minutes ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Thank you for such a wonderful, detailed review!  I really appreciated your humor and your ability to manage that horrible, awful flight home experience.  Airline service has degraded until it is positively abominable unless you pay a fortune for First Class or fly a bajillion miles with the same airline.  They just don't care about their customers.

 

Your daughter was a trooper, too.  I envy you that Thailand trip, but that's the kind of trip that will have to wait for us until DS finishes university (he starts in the fall) and I retire (since my company doesn't allow me to take off that many days consecutively).

I think that's what bothered me the most- the lack of care. The fact that at no time did anyone say, 'We're sorry and we're doing the best we can'. When we stood in that first 1.5 hour line up, no one came out from the counter to let us know what was going on; they didn't bring in extra people to help. American or Air Canada would've been rolling around drink and snack trolleys, and that small gesture would've made the world of difference. Oh, and I later found out that the poor family at the front of the line was trying to get to JAPAN - I saw them later and asked them what the heck was going on and why they took so long LOL. If you thought Jelly and I had troubles, you should have heard what they had to settle for; I think they ended up with 5-6 different hops and an arrival of Wednesday or Thursday. They were going to miss most of their trip, and a bunch of pre-paid scheduled tours, and I don't even know what else. 

Yes, Jelly is amazing. It's always funny when we fly and people are like, 'Awww, is this your first flight?' and she thinks for a minute and says, 'No, it's something like my 20th or 21st, I lost track'.  She's been flying since she was four months old, she's a great traveler. Part of what was so nerve-wracking as a mom was trying to hide my anxiety (and anger, and sadness, and stress, and...) to keep up a brave face for her, because she kept looking at me to see my reactions. And it could've been worse; at least we had smart phones and tablets and WiFi, so we weren't totally bored out of our minds. And we've been stuck on layovers before, so she knows that routine. But I'm lucky she's very go-with-the-flow. Because I AM NOT. I corner like the damn Titanic.

I'm super-excited about Thailand - Thai food is one of my favorite things to cook (Tom Kha Gai, Drunken Noodles, Larb, anything with sticky rice...). The tour I'm currently looking at includes a number of markets and cooking classes, that would be so epic! Thank you for the feedback!

26 minutes ago, ValerieJo said:

I also have to agree with your regarding Symphony as a whole. We liked it, but didn't love it.   We did Harmony the same exact week 2 years earlier and absolutely loved it.  It was why we booked Symphony.  Can't really put my finger on it, but we liked Harmony much better.  Seemed much less crowded and just sort of flowed better.

 

Hope we cruise together again in the future.

Right? Jelly and I felt the same way. Like - we had a good time, everything was good - but nothing stood out for us as 'wow, we HAVE to do this ship again'. Which is ok!

And yes, I'd likewise love to see you on another sailing :-).

Day 8 – Miami, FL

Aaaaaaand we were back. The Windjammer was open for breakfast at 5:30a, but when we’re ready to leave the party, we’re outta there. My final folio balance was $380, roughly $2000 less than the last time I cruised, so – yay! The alarm went off at 6a, and we headed to deck 5 for the scheduled 6:45a Self-Assist Departure as instructed the night prior. Be warned! We were wandering around a little bit looking to see where we should go, and a crew member tried to get us to wait in the theater, and said that was where we were supposed to be. Nooooooooooo. There were already people lining up at the exit doors. So we went and got in line. Don’t be frustrated when they let off all the people who paid a LOT more for their cabins than you did first. There are a lot of them, and they deserve that perk. It really only takes like 10 minutes extra.

Customs was a breeze, we found the spot where we were to meet our wonderful, awesome shuttle, and the guy was there in like 10 minutes (again, a new record!). Super Shuttle – just do it. We got to the FLL airport in plenty of time, and as we pulled up…  that is when it all fell apart.

I got a text on my phone that our outbound flight to our layover location, Newark, was going to be delayed, so we were going to miss our connection home to Toronto. Yes, I know I should’ve booked a direct flight. Yes, I know about flying Southwest, or flying out of Buffalo, or a billion other things I could’ve done. But I booked the most reasonable least expensive option for the time of year, weather, our availability, previous experiences, blah blah blah. So don’t give me advice NOW, it won’t help. Also, the airline was United.

Soooo since it wasn’t my first rodeo and we were early to the airport, I went ahead and got in the Customer Service line right away, since I knew at some point I’d have to do that anyhow, why not get it over with. 1.5 hours later I was still in line – and the single attendant was still helping the same person who’d been at the front of the line the whole time, only 5 people ahead of me. So that wasn’t good. I even called into the Customer Service phone line partway through my wait, and was on hold for 42 minutes; they told me to just go ahead and get on the outbound plane, and deal with the Toronto flight when I arrived in Newark.

TERRIBLE ADVICE.

Instead of being delayed in beautiful sunny Fort Lauderdale, we were told when we arrived in Newark (on a Saturday morning), that the soonest they could get us on a plane home was Tuesday. T U E S D A Y. I was like, you’re an AIRLINE – this is ALL YOU DO. Apparently the combination of St. Patrick’s Day, various Spring Breaks, and the 737s being grounded just totally crippled United, or at least the Newark leg. Our original flight had been cancelled; we were told to come back to the airport the following morning and try flying standby, that in the meantime we could be rebooked for a flight into Detroit on Monday, and from there to Toronto. We were told we were ‘practically guaranteed’ to get on the 7:30a flight. We were given a couple of meal vouchers (redeemable at the airport only), and a hotel voucher. We were told we couldn’t have our luggage, that it would be transferred. Off we went.

We spent a terrible night at a local Newark airport hotel, where Brenda was celebrating a major birthday or anniversary or something in the ballroom below our hotel room, and all I heard all night was the thump thump thump of the bass. We got a terrible meal at the terrible hotel restaurant, and I spent a sleepless night to get up at 5a, get on the shuttle, and head back to Newark. We waited in the hour long security line. We went to the gate; everyone boarded; we were called up! There was ONE SEAT. Jelly looked at me sadly and said, "It's ok, mom, you can go without me".

We stayed all day and tried for 4 different standby flights, watching our name get lower and lower on the list, before finally giving up; Jelly burst into tears and I just couldn’t take it any more. I got back in another Customer Service line, this time for just over an hour, and requested meal vouchers/hotel vouchers for Sunday night. The rep refused. A manager had to be called. I was not a happy camper. The $20 we finally got for the two of us didn’t cover that day’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast for Monday, especially not at the airport. I told them I didn’t care if we had to go further, we needed a hotel that didn’t have bars on the windows. We ended up downtown at a shockingly nice place with an extremely overpriced restaurant, but at least there was a super sketchy store within walking distance where we could buy (presumably) clean underpants. I’m going to remind you here that my hoody was stained with everything that had been spilled on it on the trip down. We were disgusting. How disgusting? On the walk back from the hotel, with NO WINTER COATS, a group of African-American children who were giving out sandwiches to local homeless people OFFERED ME ONE. I was so tired and stressed I started to reach out my hand before I realized what it was. Then I almost cried. Ok, I cried.

That was Sunday. A slightly better sleep, still no luggage, awake again at 5a to go back to Newark. Monday morning was even better; the shuttle from the station to the airport wasn’t working, and we had to take a city bus. It was the only time I was grateful that we didn’t have our suitcases, because I watched another family with a baby go through that drama.  Another security line up, and we made it to Detroit, and finally late that Monday night, to Toronto, where I had paid extra so my car wasn’t towed from the hotel where we’d left it. Then it was two hours to get home, where Jelly had missed a day of school and I’d missed an unplanned day of work, when I’d promised all my customers I’d be back. OMG and believe it or not - our luggage came right off the plane, just as nicely as you please. AS IF!!!

After a month of fighting with United, they sent me a $75 travel voucher. I fought some more and got it bumped to $250, for each of us, but that’s as far as they’d go. They refused to reimburse me for any of the additional expenses I had meticulously tracked and saved receipts for. My gorgeous relaxing vacation was totally undone by this terrible experience – it took me four days to recover once back home (mostly due to the lack of sleep – keep in mind work that week was a nightmare from being off for so long, so there was no taking more time off). Jelly and I ate a lot of takeout and cereal that week. I didn't talk to anyone outside of work other than Jelly.

At least I’d done enough business/personal travel that I knew the things to do, which someone pointed out – a friend of mine said she didn’t know that you should ask for vouchers, or where to go for customer service at an airport. And Jelly was old enough that, although it was hard on her, she understood (dear sweet lord thankfully I didn’t have an infant with me). You’ll be happy to hear that I let her blow $15 of voucher money on candy and donuts. And don’t worry, this doesn’t mean I won’t cruise again – I just won’t ever fly United again.

In summary;

Lessons Learned

I really didn’t need the Refreshment Package. The novelty of the fresh-squeezed orange juice has worn off, and I didn’t like feeling pressured to go to the WJ just for that. I never remember what specialty coffees are included, and since it’s next to impossible to get lactose-free milk anyhow (except at Starbucks), well, I’d rather just buy a Starbucks every morning.

We don’t feel like we missed out by not ice skating, or laser tagging, or Escaping. Those are all things we can do at home. We regretted not doing any of the water slides or the Abyss a teensy bit, because that was one of the reasons we chose Symphony, but we’re big wussy babies anyhow, and I heard of at least three people who were hurt badly on the Abyss, so SCREW THAT NOISE. The more stuff a ship adds, the more you’re tempted to feel like you have to try everything, but you don’t have to. I didn’t fall off a surfboard, and I’m ok with that. But this was my 3^rd freaking Royal cruise, and I’ve still never eaten in the freaking Solarium! That’s ok, I ate with my kid, so that was better. We liked the Symphony, but didn’t LOVE the Symphony above all else; we both agreed we’d be fine with going back to Oasis or Freedom or whatever. Neither of us got sick, or hurt, or lost, and we didn’t murder each other after spending a full week in the same room together, so that was all good. And hey, a cruise is a cruise.

Next year we are taking a break to go to the Cozumeleno for a week (did I already say this?), and then the following year I turn 50 so I am going to do 10 days in Thailand by myself, so we won’t be cruising again for a while. Unless, you know, lottery.

Thanks to everyone who hung in with me, and may your seas be calm and your butter real!

(If you are just joining now, please scroll back for Day 7, because I'm now going to post Day 8, and I don't want you to be totally lost)

Ok, so pretend that I'm less of a bimbo and didn't TOTALLY forget about...

Day 6 - At Sea

Sunrise – 7:49a

Temp – Sunny and 80 degrees

Money Spent - $20 at the $10/ea t-shirt sale in the Promenade (Royal REPRESENT!); $7 for two oyster shots, $10 for kids cover charge; no drinks poolside, too windy!

We had promised each other to sleep in and take it easy. Jelly had fallen asleep miserable and slathered in aloe, and we were both exhausted from several days of leaping out of bed for port excursions. We woke up around 8a and lazed around a bit. I had bug bites on my knees but they didn’t look like bed bug bites – maybe sand fleas from the day before? I checked my online folio again (compulsively, as I am) and all was good.

We went out to the pool and it was overcast and CRAZY windy; we grabbed breakfast from the Park Café and took it back to the room briefly to eat. After that we went back to the pool, where they had the belly flop contest (but not at the pool we were sitting at), and there were a few drops of rain. The pool was COLD. I went back to the room and read; Jelly went to the kid’s club. After three days in a row in port, you know what? We were just fine!

We met up at the Windjammer for lunch, where they had just ridiculous mountains of cake and shrimp, so Jelly was in heaven. They had a sundae bar, and a giant sandwich, and an expanded salad bar, and I ate cheese fries. Because vacation. But seriously, the fries on this ship were really good – another mom and I started talking about it.

But seriously...

It was still windy after lunch and we watched one of the Ice Age movies in the room. We noticed this trip the TV options weren’t as great, but I didn’t care because that wasn’t the point of spending all that money.  However, Jelly usually likes to catch at least a little Cartoon Network-type stuff that she can’t get at home though, so she was disappointed. Usually there are more Dreamworks movies showing, but I guess with that being phased out, not so much? I read some more, I had a lovely nap, Jelly won some sort of medal at the kid’s club sports camp and wouldn’t stop talking about it. For dinner we had reservations at Hooked seafood, and we were both really looking forward to it.

Disclaimer: Please remember this is one person’s opinion (well, technically two I guess, she does know her way around some seafood). Other people have totally different experiences; there are different cooks, the staff have better/worse days, there are all kinds of variables. I read a TON of reviews from people who raved about Hooked. This will be more of a rant than a rave.

To start with, the location of the restaurant is weird; it’s open to the Solarium restaurant below, and there happened to be some rather loud partygoers there at the time we were there, which significantly distracted from the ambiance. The décor is lovely, very coastal-casual and spacious/open.

Biscuits were set down in front of us, Red Lobster-style – and they were cold and hard and dry and tasteless. WHAT.

We started with the calamari, which was good, and the shrimp, which was blah, both in taste and presentation. My oyster shots were delicious.

I’d read that there would be options for things like crab legs for an additional charge – there were no such options. As you have seen previously, Jelly is a crab-all-the-time kind of kid, so she was immediately destroyed. However, she got to try her first lobster, so that was cool, and she liked it. BUT WHY, WHY no real butter?! When you are paying an upcharge for a specialty restaurant, be it Chops or Jamie’s or whatever, there are certain things you expect. Real drawn butter was one of mine. I don’t want to hear it, butter was on sale for $2.77/lb this week and for sure cheaper in the US, and it freezes beautifully, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES. You should know that I get so hysterical about butter prices that my mother was tired of listening to it last Fall, and I got a pound of butter in my stocking at Christmas. ANYHOW. The muddy discolored distasteful sludge we were served was worse than what you get at the Chinese AYCE crab buffet. The lobster was fine, a little on the small side but the meat was good. For sides we had the corn on the cob (rubbery and flavorless), some crab/cheese goo (wasn’t heated all the way through), lobster mac & cheese (tasted like pasta water), and coleslaw (surprise - excessively mayo-y). For dessert we tried the whoopie pie (flat cookie-like things with plain canned whipped cream filling), and the Boston cream pie (cake moist, custard not great, ganache like pudding skin). The waitress lost my sea pass card and had to spend a few minutes retracing her steps, but she was very nice (Loraine). I still tipped her well because I’m not a savage. My meal was covered by OBC, so at least I didn’t feel put out about that. 

After dinner - big shocker - we did nothing. We chilled in the room and went to bed early. PARTY ALL THE TIME, that's me and Jelly.

On 4/19/2019 at 2:30 PM, danp2482 said:

Thanks for the review! Enjoyed reading! Did I miss a day here? You went from day 5 to day 7?

HOLY CRAP, people! I missed a day! I was so excited to get to the Bahamas, I missed Day 6. My apologies, it's coming right up.

Day 7 – Nassau, Bahamas

Temp – 73-75 but felt warmer (sunny)

Excursion – Snorkeling with the Blue Hole group

Money Spent - $110/$20 on excursion, $100 on lunch, $34 poolside drinks/tips, souvenir

Last day! The great sadness!

We arrived in port at 7a, de-embarkation was 7:30a. We grabbed bagels from Park Café for breakfast and were off the ship and through port by 8:20a. Note, the towel guys were always out on the pier at every port to hand out towels both in the morning, and to receive towels upon returning. The last night they were due back by 8p, but on our sailing they billed a LOT of us regardless, so check your folio statement! I got my credit back no problem after calling.

We met our guide at Senior Frogs at 9:05a and were split into two groups/boats, and headed out. We did two small reefs, one with a wreck, nice but nothing fancy. Saw a needlenose at one which looked cool. We spent 45 minutes at one location, and only 15 at the other, then had a super boring tour of Atlantis by boat on the way back. I hate how much time is sucked up by boats in Nassau, but I hate the beach there even more, so it was an ok compromise. Bottled water and gear was provided (Jelly and I had our own, I’ve seen more straps fall off things than I ever want to talk about). The guides stayed on the boat. Jelly was super brave and did her very first boat snorkel, which she refused to do last year. This meant that when we got home I went straight to my local dive club and got her signed up for the junior diver class, yesssss!

I've been on three of these ships! (well, technically a different Carnival ship)

We were done and back by 11:30a, and I was desperate for local chow but didn’t want to go too far, so the guide suggested Kulaka Kari right on the main strip. Holy crap, it was expensive! I got conch fritters and tacos which made me happy, and Jelly had some awesome wings that she loved. My father would’ve had 23,523 heart attacks at the thought of spending money on a meal when there was ‘free’ food on the ship, omg, I’m sure some of you agree. So we were back on the ship at 1p, I went to the pool for a few hours and a few pina coladas with dark rum floats, and Jelly hung in the room and went to the kid’s club. Note, I had to sign her in since we were still in port; it was the only time I had to do so.

All aboard was at 3:30p, and we left at 4:20p. I heard buzz on a group page that there was a couple that was left behind, and their young children were on the ship in the kid’s club, but I cannot confirm. That would be so awful! This is why you should always be back early, people, no matter what!

Jelly did not want to go to the MDR for dinner, so we went to the Windjammer. There was a totally disgusting looking Caribbean brown stew that was AMAZING, so if you see it and think, ‘no way!’, remember – I said to try it. Don’t be ascared. Jelly had nothing but fruit, shrimp, and chocolate (again). The sun was low on our side of the ship and it was a trillion degrees and blinding, it was the only time we had issues. Did I already say we had no problems getting a table? But yeah, we’re only two people. There was another beautiful dessert bar, but you already know how I feel about their desserts. And be warned – they are sneaking something called ‘Ice Cream Base’ into stuff (like an innocent-seeming Pineapple Spinach smoothie – I was glad I asked!).

Next it was time to pack. We had elected to do Express Carry Off since we had to catch an early shuttle to FLL. It was nice not to have to put out our luggage the night before and almost forget shoes. Packing to go home took a LOT less time than packing to leave for the trip. Jelly basically threw everything she had in one ball in her suitcase and ran off for her last night at the kid’s club. She was there 7p-9:30p, and would’ve stayed longer, but hey, early and long day tomorrow, and mean mom made her be back at a reasonable time. While I was hanging out in the room watching the itinerary channel (my favorite), I suddenly realized we hadn’t bought our one souvenir – a ship ornament. So I heavy sighed, put pants back on, and headed to the Royal Gift Shop. Where… there WAS NO SHIP ORNAMENT. Instead, they had drilled a hole in the aft end of what was a perfectly designed ship ornament, and made it into a super-heavy and obnoxious key chain. *****, Royal?! So I bought the stupid key chain, and I’m going to hang the damn thing on my Christmas tree with my other ships.

Last sleep!

On 4/12/2019 at 9:28 PM, HeyJut said:

Enjoying your review.

(Ate at Bojangles tonight).

<weeps>

37 minutes ago, lindalo5032 said:

Where do you get the banana pancakes?   Windjammer? 

Yep! They did different varieties of pancakes different days - plain one day, chocolate chip another etc. I perked them up a little bit with a fresh banana I grabbed off the breakfast bar and sliced over top, they were DELICIOUS. And a nice change when you're eating basically the same stuff every day.

On 4/9/2019 at 6:33 PM, lazydayz said:

Great review.  But still waiting for the bittersweet! 

It's coming...

20 hours ago, breezy_carol said:

I am enjoying your review and all of the pictures but this has to be my favorite.

Sooooo sweet, right? Moments like that make all the money and planning and stress and travel and...  worthwhile.

But seriously, as IF girlfriend held a sloth at 10 years old?! I was lucky if I caught a frog in the creek when I was 10, that's about as much exotic wildlife as I got to see. Sheesh.

Day 5 – Cozumel

Temp – 81 degrees and windy, overcast

Excursion – El Cozumeleno Resort Beach Break

Money Spent - $40 taxis, $15 tips, $12 in-room movie rental, $80 excursion ($55 adult, $25 child)

We were a little late with de-embarkation this morning; it was closer to 7:50a than 7:30a. We took our time; Jelly had some leftover dessert for breakfast, and I grabbed Park Café (I was still a little woozy and not up to WJ). I had never been to PC for breakfast, and was surprised to find they had oatmeal, bagels, and almond croissants. No fresh juice, alas.

We left the ship around 8:30a to discover that the taxi queue was MUCH better than the last time we were in port; there was no wait at all. Hmmm, maybe because we got off the ship a little later? The last time we had to walk up the street a few blocks to a nearby hotel and catch a cab from those waiting there.

This was our third time visiting El Cozumeleno Resort, and I was unhappy to find a number of changes in store for us. First of all, the guy working the front desk gave me a really hard time about being there early (9a ship time, 8a local time), and made us wait an hour in the lobby before he would check us in and give us our armbands. I have never had an issue with this before. I had booked through Island Marketing, which I’ve used before and really like; it’s actually a little cheaper than booking directly through the resort, and much easier. Note that the hotel would only give me pesos for change, and the taxi driver wanted US dollar bills and hassled me a bit. Grr!

So, we sat and waited an hour, and by the time we got outside all the chairs had been taken. Luckily a nice guy from Pickering saw my Canada t-shirt and gave us one of theirs. Shade, yes!

The beach area had changed quite a bit in two years; the shore coral was almost entirely gone, either from weather or tourists. This meant there were nowhere near as many fish to see, or as many varieties. There were still some interesting critters hanging out around the lava rock (there was a little crab, and lots of spiny urchins).

The drinks weren’t as good this trip either; they’re using some sort of drink mix with a really artificial-tasting sweetener. Even Jelly noticed it in her kiddie cocktails. Our second breakfast was pretty good, but we got there at the tail end. First lunch was blah. Second lunch was good. Our server, Gabriela, was great. We were back in port around 3p, and I didn’t feel like fighting the crowds for tequila or vanilla, so we were back on the ship by 3:30p. All aboard was 5:30p.

We went back to the room and I promptly fell asleep. We went to the MDR at 6:30p instead of our 6p MTD reservation time and it was the only time we had to wait for a table, about 15 minutes. I started with the beet and orange salad, which had sounded good but was lacking dressing (a nice light poppy seed would’ve been perfect). We shared the coconut shrimp, which was delicious. Jelly had chicken fingers and I had the turkey dinner entrée and didn’t like it. There were two desserts that I could eat that sounded good – the banana bread pudding and pavlova. DELICIOUS. I remembered liking their little baby pavlovas on previous ships.

We had a reservation for ‘Flight’ but missed it; it was PJ night at the kid’s club, and Jelly was planning to go, but we both decided to stay in the room and rent ‘Crimes of Grindewald’ since we hadn’t seen it yet, and it was Jelly’s turn to be sunburned and sore. I heard later that ‘Hiro’ had to be rescheduled due to wind that night.

2 hours ago, sandebeach said:

Glad you liked Maya Chan! It is a great place, but agree with you, quite a walk through and then out the port to get to the pick up spot. 

One review I read suggested getting a taxi once out of port, and I scoffed at the time - but then later was like, woah, that is TEMPTING. It's really probably only a few city blocks, but it feels like 235 miles, I swear.

Just now, zooma said:

 

Enjoying your review -- thank you! Interesting idea re the towels, but curious what you do about washing them during the cruise. You did not send those to laundry, right?

Thanks! Oh, god no! I think other people wash their towels a LOT more than I wash my towels. You'd be horrified if I admitted how infrequently I wash the bath towels in my house. Our beach towels actually stay pretty clean; knock on wood I've never spilled a drink or ketchup or anything else I like to usually spill while traveling; at the most they need a good shake if we take them off-ship, to get rid of any lingering sand. They'd take up wayyyyyy too much space in that little laundry bag. To dry them I either illegally clip them to the patio chairs outside (securely clipped!!), or I hang them somewhere in the cabin or bathroom. 

Ugh, I took too long to edit in all the pics and comments and stuff, so just pretend I didn't just lose all that. 

Day 4 – Costa Maya

Sunrise – 8a

Arrival into port – 7a

Temp – 81 but WINDY

Excursion – Maya Chan Beach

Money Spent - $29 (tips), $25 laundry

We arrived REALLY early into Costa Maya. So early that it was still early when we headed to the Windjammer for banana pancakes. I woke up 2 minutes prior to my 7a alarm, either due to the ship stopping or the lighthouse flashing. I can’t remember the all ashore time but I believe it was around 7:40a/6:40a, a few minutes later than expected. I was a little confused by the wording of Maya Chan’s confirmation email and what time to meet, so just went ahead and head to the location when we disembarked, which ended up being an hour too early. But HOLY CRAP, that’s a bit of a walk. People had warned me in other reviews, and they were right. I needed that hour just to stop sweating, because it was already muggy. The directions provided were great, but that port is even worse than Cozumel if that’s possible. And there’s nothing useful – I couldn’t even find the duty free. The guide who met us told us it was windy and that there was seaweed, and we signed something that said we didn’t care, and we piled in the van.

We road to the resort with @ValerieJo and another couple (hi Val!). The van didn’t have A/C, but the windows were down and it was a breezy day, so it wasn’t terrible. Yes, it was a very bumpy ride, but interesting. We were warmly greeted by David and given the tour, then shown our spots for the day. Rum Punch, chips and guac/pico followed; all were delicious. I had a LOT of Rum Punch. The seaweed for real was not as bad as it was on the coastline when we left Miami; there were a bunch of guys raking and carting it away the whole time. Jellybean and I did walk a little ways down the beach to explore, and caught a whiff of the odor that some other visitors had mentioned – I would NOT have wanted to be sitting near that. We were almost directly in front of the bar area, and it was a perfect spot for us. We did not have hammocks but we had two comfy chairs and a beach bed, which Jelly took a little nap on. There was a guy helping people with kayaks and beach chairs, and he was awesome; he anchored some floaty chairs out in the water, and that was where I stayed pretty much the entire time. It was hands down the best moment of the entire trip – warm sun, cold drink, cool water, happy kid, delicious food. The water wasn’t super deep and was very murky, but refreshing. The drink service was terrific.  Lunch was AMAZING. Jelly and I both absolutely adore Mexican food, the authentic stuff (extra diced onions and cilantro for me), and I had two extremely generous helpings of everything. I also had several margaritas to wash everything down, and they were great as well; not the crappy-tasting cheap stuff you find other places, you know what I’m talking about. I got a little buzzed during lunch and ended up talking my head off to a very nice couple there while Jelly had her siesta.  She was very happy to encounter the beach doggos, and wasn’t bothered by the seaweed/water in the slightest. The resort provides a TON of stuff for guests; water shoes, toys, massages… I got a half hour massage for $25, the area wasn’t very private but it was incredibly relaxing. Note for nursing/pumping mothers; there are chairs in the ladies room near the pool, and there’s an electrical outlet in there. As is standard in similar places, you aren’t allowed to flush toilet paper, so if you’re freaked out by throwing it in the garbage can – get over it before going.

When it was time to go they provided prompt service back to port – someone walked around asking what time you wanted to leave, and then notified us when it was time. We left around 1:30p local/2:30p ship time with a van full of very nice ladies. All aboard was 5:30p, and we didn’t spend any more time than we had to navigating the maze back through that stupid port.

Back in the room it was my favorite day – LAUNDRY DAY! It was the standard $25 to fill a bag, and we crammed in quite a bit of stuff. I decided that my disgustingly dirty fleece (the one that had been spilled all over on the incoming trip) would take up too much space, and that I would be fine to wear it for a few hours on the way home. FORESHADOWING – This was a bad decision. We got the laundry back the next day, which was way faster than expected (on one cruise we didn’t get it back until the day before arriving in port, and I was freaking out!). We were short one pair of Jellybean’s underpants, but I really didn’t care enough to bother about it, I’ve never had issues before.

I checked our folio balances on the room TV and all the gratuities had been added, but they were all over the place; like, 5 on one day and 1 on another. The math all added up though, so I was ok. This was the day that I admittedly got really sunburned, from all my time (mostly drunk) out in the water. After dinner I felt awful; I took an anti-nausea pill and a Xanax and crashed around 8:30p. We missed Hiro, wahhhh! They were showing Green Book in the Royal Theater, which I also would’ve liked to have seen. When I woke up, we were already in Cozumel!

Day 3 – Roatan, Honduras

Arrival – 9:30a ship time, 7:30a local time

Temp – 82 degrees

Excursion – Island Marketing Tour

Money Spent - $37 on tips; $18 on coffee beans; $24 on lunch; $28 on chocolate factory souvenirs/treats (definitely did not plan for enough cash); also $7 on board at the Bionic Bar

Breakfast – Windjammer

I had set my alarm for 8a, but it’s a good thing I never need it because my cell phone adjusted to the local time around 7a, and suddenly it was 5a. Watch out for this! I had a quick shower, yelled at the kid for losing her goggles at the pool last night, and had a much healthier breakfast than previous days at 8:30a ship time.

The sunrise was gorgeous, and the announcement for de-embarkation was half an hour early, at 9a.

We took our time, since our tour wasn’t scheduled to meet until 8:20a local time. We meandered into port, and poked around some of the vendors.

We didn’t see anything of interest, until – the little fish that eat your dead foot skin! (I’m sure there’s a better name for this, but let’s face it, that’s what it is). I’d heard about it from other people, and had been DYING to try it. I’m super crazy ticklish when I get a pedicure, and just couldn’t even deal with what it would feel like to have fish nibbling at you. I’m sure there are all kinds of reasons why this was a terrible thing to do (maybe it gave me some weird foot-fish disease, maybe it’s awful for the fish), but oh hell yes, I did it. It was $15 for 10 minutes, and it definitely seems like it was a lot longer, and I would’ve paid double. It was amazing. It felt like gentle little bubbles popping against my skin, I absolutely loved it. It set the tone for the day.

The port is a little confusing – we had to exit ALL THE WAY (to the actual street, outside the gates), to find the Island Marketing rep. Once we figured out the maze of vendors and taxis and people milling about, the rep was super easy to find (directly across the street with a sign). This was 8:05; we waited a bit for more people (oh dear lord so hot), and then at 8:30 Larry walked us a couple of blocks to where the van was parked, and put us in the car with the A/C on. I didn’t care if we were going to be taken somewhere and murdered, sweet breath of the angels! We were told there were 9 more people coming for the tour. We waited 45 more minutes, which wasn’t as bad as you think because Larry told us a ton of cool stuff about the island, and we were on vacation so why get all worked up? Karma rewarded us for our patience; another guide arrived, Carla, who told us due to blah blah blah she was going to take us on a private tour! She asked us what we were interested in seeing, and gave us some options; we decided on the chocolate factory, the two parks, and the beach.

We had some more waiting, another ½ hour of it, sitting halfway up the mountain due to construction. But the chocolate ‘factory’ was worth it for my chocolate-loving daughter. It was more of a little touristy storefront than a factory, but they had samples of sugar cane and ground beans, plus dark, milk and white chocolate, and cocoa butter lotion – fantastic. Jelly got a frozen chocolate-covered fresh pineapple popsicle, and a cup of frozen hot chocolate, and was delirious. I had an ice water banana pineapple smoothie, which was very refreshing, and bought some lotion and sugar cane.

It was a bit of a drive from there to the first park, where the iguanas were. So many! 400 of ‘em! They’re all free to come and go as they please, which I loved; they like to hang out there because the concrete warms up in the sun, and there’s lots of food for them. The black ones are carnivorous! And hilariously, the females don’t like to be touched but the males don’t care (just like humans, ha ha). We also saw/fed some tarpin, and Jelly held a baby iguana. There are bathrooms onsite; down to the water is NOT wheelchair accessible (there are stone steps), but you wouldn’t be missing out on much.

The next park was the sloths and monkeys, which I’d been waiting basically 2 years for. I had expected to fall in love with the snuggly sloths, but it was the mischievous monkeys who stole my heart.  The keeper said they probably thought I was a tree, because they kept climbing on me and playing with my hair (I’m 5’9”). Don’t get me wrong, the sloth I held was cool, but they don’t like to be petted and let’s face it – they don’t really do much. Again, I liked that they just kind of come and go, and hang out in the mangroves. We also visited some macaws. The guide was great, and took his time to make sure our group of six got the time and pictures we needed, and was very patient about answering our questions. Again, there were bathrooms available, and water for sale.

Wear a hat - the birds like having something to hold onto.

The next stop was the Las Palmas beach resort. I had a feeling it was going to be the sort of place where they charge $16 for a taco and was already counting my depleted cash reserves when, up ahead on the road, like a beautiful, beautiful mirage, I saw it – a BOJANGLE’S.

Now, before you start screaming ‘hypocrite’ and throwing shoes at me, understand that we CANNOT get Bojangle’s in Canada, so it is NOT something we can technically get at home – so it falls outside of the rule. Yes, it’s a chain restaurant, but it is a freaking delicious chain restaurant, and as someone who spent 20 years in NC and developed a severe addiction to hot fried chicken and seasoned fries washed down with ice cold sugary sweet tea, … I lost my train of thought, I’m hungry now. Anyhow. Since we were on a private tour, I bribed Carla with the promise of French Fries and we stopped and grabbed food. The beach was exactly what I expected; terrible. Like, the water was super gross and shallow and there were tons of weeds and trees in the middle of it and even Jelly was like, ‘Can we go?’ after only 5 minutes. So we ate our Bojangles (because we’re classy like that) and headed back to port.

Back at the ship it was 1p/3p. I was hot and headachy, so I went to the pool to cool off but it was crowded and tepid. I grabbed another Vitamin Water (strawberry citrus this time) and a lemon tart from the promenade, and went and hid in the room for some AA (Advil and A/C). I also took a shower to wash the dirty monkey out of my hair. I finally clued in that I was dehydrated and drank a bottled water I’d stashed in the fridge, and felt better. Hey, I wasn’t sunburnt! All aboard was at 6:30p and the MDR menu was grossssss (Tuna Nicoise, something with eggplant, Moroccan tuna, stroganoff, lasagna, more eggplant). I mostly just wanted a salad and cheese rolls, so we went to the WJ. 

Oh Windjammer - I just love you. Yes, I ate the heck out of this, screw the salad.

Afterwards I was tired and was going to call it quits, but I love LOVE seeing movies at the Aquatheater, and they were showing The Greatest Showman, which I’d heard just a ridiculous amount of good things about but hadn’t seen, so I did that while Jelly was at the kids club. Spoiler – I loved the movie. Man, is it ever amazing watching a movie outside on a ship.

I was annoyed because this movie really is actually totally great.

Hey, the Bionic Bar was working! It was a little anticlimactic. And I didn't like the drink I made.

21 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

Can you just get 2 of the World desserts? I don't like coconut or marzipan so would not like the other 2 options that are offered but would not want to share only 1 of the 🌎World.

I wasn't sure about the rules for ordering extra food there - I would assume so, if you asked in advance. Maybe someone else knows a 'for sure' answer on this one, I don't. I know there were other options that we didn't get to try, but I was ok with what we got so didn't ask. 

Yes, he was so nice! 

It was funny - we were in the Windjammer at some point later in the cruise, and I heard his voice and WHIPPED around - I would never have recognized him, but his voice - oh, yeah!

Yikes, the past week got away from me! I hope it was worth the wait, because up next is the Wonderland review! If you don't want spoilers, or to absolutely die of hunger, please skip this post.

Wonderland was everything everyone says it is, no lie. It was truly wondrous, start to finish. After reading so many online reviews and watching so many videos and looking at so many pictures I was worried I’d set myself up to be disappointed, but that wasn’t the case. I put myself in the capable hands of my waiter and tried quite a few new things, starting with the Smoke Rings cocktail (they were out of cotton candy, which was my first choice). I wasn’t sure about the Smoke Rings; made up of Rittenhouse Rye, sweet vermouth, maple syrup, and Agnostura bitters, I was worried it would be a little ‘harder’ than most of the girly drinks I normally enjoy. It was a delight. Served cold smoked, it retains that flavor throughout, and is wonderful against the maple and rye.

If you have not already seen images or videos of the menus, I’ll leave that as a surprise. They also have a children’s menu, which is almost as delightful.

The appetizer items brought to me were the Deconstructed Caprese, Citrus Seas Shhhh, Crispy Crab Cone, Liquid Lobster, Bird’s Nest, and Potted Shrimp; I was served the Short Rib for my entrée. Jelly had the mac & cheese fries appetizer, and the sliders skewers. Yes, the appetizer servings are small, but count how many there are there! Altogether, with dessert and sharing bites with Jelly, it was truly the perfect amount of food; I was pleasantly full, but not unhappily stuffed.

Deconstructed Caprese – This was my favorite thing. Surprising, inventive, tasty, adventurous – all the things I had expected Wonderland to be. NOT for everyone, as there were some interesting textures and flavors at play (Jelly was super freaked out by everything).

Citrus Seas Shhh – Simple, refreshing, tasty.

Crispy Crab Cone – I thought this was so-so.

Liquid Lobster – YES. YES YES YES. No pic, eaten too fast.

Bird’s Nest – Absolutely gorgeous presentation; Jelly loved the nest. I thought more could’ve been done with the eggs, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Potted Shrimp – Pls bring me 17 more.

Mac & Cheese Fries – Jelly gave these lots of thumbs up.

The waiter was concerned about my lactose intolerance and initially brought me a roasted bok choy instead of the mashed potatoes, but I was like – BRING THE POTATOES. This ended up being an accidentally amazing thing, because I got a massive side of them, and HOLY CRAP THEY WERE GOOD. I am very short rib picky, because it seems like a simple thing, but it’s really easy to do it poorly; and mine was just perfect. Melt-in-your-mouth with a gravy/sauce that was perfection. It really looked like art on the plate, surround by various beet purees/roasted tomatoes. Temperature of everything served was likewise perfect. Damn, I loved that entrée.  Jenny enjoyed hers but because of how it’s prepared the tomato/lettuce was reportedly ‘a little soggy’.  The bun, however, was ‘perfectly toasted’ and the burger meat ‘really, really good’.

I’d heard about the desserts for AGES, but since I’m more of a savory than a sweet I wasn’t too excited. The World and The Forbidden Apple were served together, at the same time, and I feel like this was a mistake; they are both very different, and not complimentary, flavors. Also, because there’s an ice cream portion, you feel rushed so that it’s not all melted. Anyhow, neither Jelly nor I were too crazy about the apple (coconut was a distraction, mousse should’ve been lighter), but man, that chocolate globe filled with heaven? I already said I don’t really care about dessert, right? Well, this made me a liar. Don’t ask me what they crammed in that thing, but it was apparently all things that I like. So it was a great finish to a terrific meal. Service was likewise excellent; we were there one hour from start to finish. A staff member roams the room dressed as the Mad Hatter, and he was less obnoxious than you might think.

I feel like maybe this night was Formal Night? I saw a lot of fancy people. And we found the piano steps! They’re around the corner from the Windjammer. Ooh, and we went for a night swim, that was lovely (and one of Jelly’s absolute favorite activities).

We were back in the room and in PJs at 9:30p. We checked the compass and noted the 2-hour difference between Roatan and the ship’s time. Because of this we decided we’d delay getting off the ship a little, since we were due to arrive at 9:30a and our excursion wasn’t until 8:30a. We also saw a comment that both sea pass cards and photo IDs were needed; last year I got us US passport cards specifically for cruising, which are super handy. Note on noise level – almost none! The room was very quiet, unless there were people outside being loud on the neighboring patio(s), which happened maybe 1-2 for a few minutes at the most; that sound carried right in. Otherwise we didn’t hear any hallway noise, and no noise from other rooms until the last night when I could hear people slamming doors and drawers as they angrily packed.

Next: Our first port, Roatan, and sloths, iguanas, and monkeys - Oh my!

30 minutes ago, gatour said:

For the Martini class do you get all 5 martini's or do choose a subset of all 5?

All five! They are slightly smaller glasses than your average martini glass, but the bartender was VERY generous with the alcohol. 

Day 2 – At Sea

Temperature – 78 degrees

Money Spent – Lunch at Johnny Rockets $29; Martini Class at Wonderland $35; Fancy drink at Wonderland $15, Tip $20 (used OBC for meal); Wow bands $10; poolside drinks $25

I woke up bright and early at 6:20a, but due to the Daylight Savings change it was actually 7:20a. Sunrise was at 7:39a. We headed to the Windjammer for breakfast at 8a. There was the usual fare, except I noticed something new from previous sailings – congee! I had a conversation with a wonderful Asian woman about how to make the best congee (carcass required), which was nice because I ran into her a few more times over the course of the week and she always gave me a big hug and called me a nice girl. Why can’t I be adopted by an Asian grandmother?! I promise I’d be very respectful. I do a wonderful tea service.

Like I said, the coffee wasn’t as good as the previous evenings, the fresh OJ was wonderful, the eggs were hilariously terrible (like plastic!), and by 9a it was CRAZY packed, so I was glad we got there early. Jenny was a fan of the bacon, and made a B (BLT without lettuce or tomato) pretty much every time we were there in the morning. Is it just me, or did the butter taste like margarine this trip? Probably just me. We were supposed to go to the 9:30a Meet & Mingle, but it was already hot and FREAKING GORGEOUS out, so we went to the ‘beach’ pool instead. There were already only a handful of chairs available.

NOTE: We like to travel with our own towels. Yes, they take up valuable suitcase space, but similar to door magnets, we can find our chairs instantly in a sea of blue, lesser quality towels. I also carry towel clips, which are unspeakably handy, not just for clipping towels, but attaching pool bags, hats etc. on windy days.

I had the Drink of the Day, a Margarita Azul. We had an invite for some Crown & Anchor thing at 10:30a, but we skipped that as well. After lunch the clear blue sunny skies clouded over a little and it got windy, so we were glad we’d taken advantage of the nice morning weather. We took a break at noon and headed to Johnny Rockets, another tradition on our first sea day. The C&A discounts are now programmed into your sea pass, which is super convenient (Jelly took advantage of the free specialty drink). The cover was $11 each, and included singing waiters for free. I was surprised it wasn’t more busy; just another example of how there are just so many things to do on the ship, you don’t feel like it’s crowded or that you’re waiting extra long ever.

After lunch I made it just in time to the Wonderland Martini class (not just a tasting!). It was $30/person and worth every penny. The bartender did an awesome job, and we got a nice selection of cocktails. Speaking of drinks, afterwards I headed back to the pool (Jelly was at the kid’s club) and had a Labadoozie (I figured I'd ask, and I was rewarded!). I wasn’t going to miss out just because we weren’t going to Haiti! People were starting to get a little wild, drinking in the pool and getting in trouble for it (at one point I counted 32 heads; the limit is supposed to be 28). Hats started blowing over the railing to Central Park below. I stayed until 3:30p, and got a Loco Fresh snack (taco and rice/beans, pretty good). There is a drink station there so I refilled my cup with something non-alcoholic for once. Then back to the room for a cool refreshing shower, washed out some linens, thought I broke the sink, and checked over my notes/cash needed for the next day’s excursions. Then Jelly came back and we got ready for dinner – at WONDERLAND.

Oh, I forgot that between the last ship tour and the sail away I changed into my bathing suit, had my first Orange Vitamin Water (I know it’s terrible and I love it), Jellybean got more pizza, we went swimming, I had a Miami Vice (because hello, we were in Miami), and Jelly had ice cream. After all that we got dried off and had muster in the jazz lounge at 3:45p (SO HOT and so many people in there – we couldn’t see any aspect of the presentation at all, so I’m glad we didn’t end up having to be airlifted off the ship by helicopter (cough cough)). That was done by 4p and we walked the Boardwalk, saw the new Playmakers but never once went in it, and gazed up into the Abyss. We went back to the room, checked out the cruise compass, watched sail away on the TV (5p), and then got ready for dinner.

The first night I always go to the Main Dining Room, the MDR. I make online reservations for My Time Dining prior, usually around the 6p timeframe. I always do a couple specialty restaurants but have never done the package because I’m a control freak. Our servers were Lourdes and Dinesh. Omg, Dinesh was adorable, I wanted to put him in my pocket and bring him home. We were seated, I dove head-first into the bread basket – and NO CHEESE ROLLS. *****, Royal?!! That is pretty much my whole reason for cruising with you!! (not really, but you’re getting the picture of how fond I am of the cheese rolls). Lourdes promised she’d have some for us future nights, so I was pacified.

We started with the shrimp cocktail for Jelly, and the antipasti (which was LOVELY) for me. Jelly had her favorite entrée, a Caesar Salad with Chicken Fingers (Lourdes cut it up for her, I was DYING). I decided to try something I’d NEVER normally get, the ‘Seafood Mash’ (fried fish, shrimp, scallops, peas, and mashed potatoes) and liked it. The after-dinner coffee was much better this trip (and I swear was better than what was available in the Windjammer, but maybe I’m crazy), and Dinesh got lactose-free milk for me. Jelly finished with the Royal Chocolate Cake and I had the Warm Chocolate Hazelnut Cake and thought it was meh.

Jelly is making her, 'Hello, my pretties' face here.

Look! So good!

Sorry, I didn't remember to take a pic until I'd already started, so it looks kind of gross. I was surprised by how well Symphony did fried items.

Oh yeah!

Ok, so some side notes on the MDR;

Jelly hates it. She doesn’t like the formality of it. She HATES to be called ‘princess’. I like to be waited on, and I like that it’s quiet and pretty and serene, and when I’m tired that there are limited options to choose from, which is easier on my brain. What I don’t like is the constant, “Please give us a good rating”, and I find there’s a weird guilt trip when you don’t show up; like, we had Wonderland reservations the second night (which I told Lourdes and Dinesh after dinner the first night), but then the next time we were there, they were like, “Oh, we had the cheese rolls, and chocolate milk for the princess all ready, and you didn’t come!”. I don’t ever worry about what we wear or how we look; I get that there’s a huge rift between those who think the MDR should be upscale, and that formal night should be tuxes-and-ballgowns-mandatory, but personally I think that the people who want to be fancy should go be fancy and not worry about everyone else just trying to stay awake through a meal. Also, in all our times sailing with Royal, we’ve always had our own table for two without asking; however, we’re usually REALLY close to other tables of two, which is kind of nice, because I do actually like to sometimes talk to other adults. I don’t get too worked up about where we are, although we had a really pretty view the one night by a window that made me rethink this. The Windjammer is more of a free-for-all, and probably much tougher to navigate for families of more than two, but they’ve really improved in some areas; I saw more international options (Asian/Indian) this sailing, and the Indian food was GOOD.  They still fall down on desserts though; I freaking LOVE cake, and they just can’t do it, ever. No matter how pretty it looks, it’s dry or tastes funny or the icing isn’t good. And did I mention I’m lactose-intolerant? Omg so many dairy desserts. I didn’t see lactose-free options ANYWHERE this trip, which was frustrating; I hate to ask for it, and wait for someone to hike somewhere else, so I had no coffee at breakfast other than one morning (blech). Oh, and I did want to mention for the GF folks that I saw one tiny little section of gluten-free items, so they’re trying, but it wasn’t very exciting.

Anyhow, after dinner Jelly headed to the kid’s club at 7p, and I went and saw Hairspray at 8p. IT WAS TERRIFIC. I was tired and was all, ‘Oh, I’ll only stay a few minutes’, but I loved it. I tapped my foot along, I laughed out loud – the cast and props were just great. I saw ‘Cats’ on Oasis and hated it (to be fair, much different show), so this was a pleasant surprise. At 10p we both met back at the room (Jelly had sign in/sign out privileges, which every parent should take advantage of; c’mon, it’s a ship, they aren’t going anywhere). Our steward, Arturo (isn’t that the BEST name for someone working on a ship?! ARRRRTTTTTUUUURRROOOO!!! It’s an ‘Overboard’ reference) had made up the room and the couch, and left the next day’s Compass (which I still don’t have a copy of for you). We were asleep by 11p.

This was our landmark for 'OUR' end of the ship. We love crossing through Central Park.

6 minutes ago, South Shore 41 said:

I have a custom made door magnet for our room. Are they safe to leave on the outside of the door, or do people take them?

We've never had an issue with our magnets going missing, nor did we see any issues in our hallway with other much more elaborately decorated doors. That being said, I sure as heck wouldn't put anything out there worth more than a couple of bucks just in case. I have heard of other cruisers having issues.

11 minutes ago, South Shore 41 said:

BTW, what room were you in?  We are booked in an Oceanview Balcony Room.