Denversail

I couldn’t make it through the Miami vice. It wasn’t blended properly and had a lot of chunky ice. Too much work. So moved onto the lime & coconut for one of cruise favorites a Mojito. This was another disappoint as none of the ingredients appear or taste like they were ground up. I was strolling through the Solarium and noticed the Bistro just opened. It is about noon and it is nice and quiet in here. Small selection with Indian, pasta, salad, hamburgers, and a few other dishes. Decided I’d grab a snack.

I had zero service when I got on the ship so had to get my voom setup right away. Then went straight to the schooner bar for my first drink. Miami Vice

Getting on board was quick enough. Got in line for the terminal about 9:45. There was a lot of back and forth with some groups wondering if they going to let 11 o’clockers on. When I got towards the front were they forming the first group I saw them turning people away. Well I’m tired and hungry so I handed him my paper anyways. He asked if I was with the couple ahead of me that he’d just let in. I nodded towards the random people he seemed to think I was with and he let through. So I guess I cheated. Everything from there was super fast. Was onboard with muster done, reservations fixed, and eating by 10:45. I will say it took me a trip to park cafe, windjammer, and sorrentos to figure out the only food I was going to get before 11 was cafe promenade. I now have early dining all set with my assigned table. I was told to just go directly to my table tonight. snack was tomato mozzarella sandwich and roasted turkey wrap.

So I got in a taxi at 9 to head to the port. Traffic was light. It was pretty backed up getting into the port. My taxi driver who was a NASCAR driver is a past life seemed to avoid all that. The total drive time was 20 minutes. The cost was $47.95. After my knee jerk response of “excuse me” I remembered I’m on vacation. I pasted the smile back on my face and handed him $55.00 and wished him a good day. He dropped me right at bag drop off. I walked over gave the porter $10 and custody of my suitcase and backpack. I had carried the backpack on the flight but the only purpose it served was a change of clothes. Since I’ve already changed no need to lug it around. Terminal doors should open at 10. This place is a zoo.

Just been sitting at the airport in a zombie like state. The mugginess went away. It is nice and cool now sitting outside. I’m starving but to tired to get up and drag my heavy bag looking for food. My plan is to hop in a taxi and head to the port around 9.

Made it to Miami. Flight was uneventful. We landed about 5:20 AM. It took about 40 minutes for them to send the bags through. I’ve changed my clothes. I of course started dripping sweat the minute I stepped out in the humidity. Just sitting here not sure what to do with myself for the next few hours.

Pilots are boarding.

So here we are at the airport. I’m flying American Airlines out of DIA. They are in the west terminal. My flight is out of terminal C. Flight is showing on time. Airport is pretty empty. No line at security. It was amusing that the woman in front of me got beeped 7 times before they pulled her aside. No biggie for me as I have plenty of time. See you on the plane. Boarding is in about 20 minutes.

My mom and her husband geo-cache. They travel to a lot of the events. They have been into it for years. Such a great hobby especially for retired folks.

I board tomorrow and have an 11 am checking I think. I’ll have to pull out my paperwork cause I get the below message on the app. I land at like 6 am so I’ll be attempting to board with the first group. If I get turned away so be it.

I forgot to mention I also picked up some AirTags. Will have a little fun tracking my bag later on.

I did it! I think this is my first cruise ever that is longer than four days that I managed one bag. I’m so proud of myself. I also won the bet on the weight. My partner thought it was 48 lbs after carrying it down the stairs. I guessed 60 lbs. Actual weight came in at 55 lbs. Winner 🎉🎉🎉. This is my checked bag but no worries since I treated myself to first class I’m allowed 70 lbs. Wheels up in about 5.5 hours. Weather looks good and flight is on time so far. See you all at the airport. 😍

It has been a busy day. Nails are done and Target trip completed. Didn’t get a chance to grab any food until almost 3 o’clock. Thought I was going to pass out. All that is left to do is try and jam all this into one bag plus shoes. Not liking my chances.

Yes

We are on Oasis in 2 weeks and we’re able to secure a package for 4 devices around $400. The more devices the cheaper it is I think. You shouldn’t have to pay more than $120 a device for the week. Even for my solo trip this week I was able to combine it with my drink package and got around that price for my one device. Just keep watching the sales.

I’ve seen some post with people complaining about not getting drinks ordered through the app. I don’t think it was Royal though. NCL maybe?

Bingo. That would be why.

I personally don’t like the freedom class ships. I would do voyager class before freedom class. Oasis class is my favorite. I loved the symphony.

So I’m a pretty big sci-FI fan. Anything apocalypse I tend to enjoy. I downloaded this book for reading. I had thought I’d be able to download some episodes of The Walking Dead from Netflix since I’m only in season 9 but apparently you can’t download everything on Netflix. 🙁 I just realized this about an hour ago. I guess not a big deal since I can’t seem to find my headphone charger. I guess if I’m lucky I’ll be able to stream from my room if not oh well.

So about those essentials. I managed to get myself in a bit of a tissy over sand fleas and sea lice. This is a result of too much research. Some things we are better off being oblivious about. Once you know you can’t take it back. So after hearing reports of bites and never ending itching I’m not sure how I’ll get in the water. I’m hoping alcohol will help me overcome my new fear. So I added this to my essentials. I’ve also read that as far as the lice you are more likely to get bit with more clothing on. I like to stay covered from the sun so this isn’t great news for me. A lot of the recent reports I’ve seen have been in Roatan. This is of course where I have a snorkel and beach excursion. 😓

So not as much progress today as I had hoped. Suitcases are out but nothing in them yet. Most of the laundry is done. I lost my enthusiasm for paying bills after paying the IRS. Will finish laundry tonight and pay the rest of the bills tomorrow. So tomorrow is nails, Target for some toiletries, pay the rest of my bills, and packing. I won’t be leaving for the airport until around 9:30 pm so plenty of time. I did manage to get my essentials out and in one spot for easy packing tomorrow.

I’ve tried it and didn’t care for it. I thought it was overly sweet.

I think so for sailings through 4/30/23. After that I think it flips to normal travel insurance.

That is interesting. I missed the cancellation for a cruise about 15 years ago. So I forfeited my deposit and I never made final payment. The cruise is in my history with C&A points. A fluke I guess. 🤷‍♀️

I don’t think the city I’m in has anything to do with it. I enjoy gambling and have donated my share. I’ve never been above prime. I’ve received the offers consistently for years. Most of my offers are for ocean balconies. Occasionally they throw in a junior suite. I honestly have no clue what criteria they use to decide who gets them. All my offers are directly from the cruise line. I know some folks get free cabins using other casino sources but I’ve never done so myself.