JamieLogical

6/2 With the late night I had before, I decided to set my room service delivery time to 8:00am instead of 7:00. That sort of set me up to be about an hour behind the whole day. I had to do the buffet for breakfast, since I missed the 9:00 closing time of the MDR. I was reminded of why I HATE the buffet for breakfast on cruises. It actually hasn't been to bad through the cruise restart, but with this ship near capacity combined with the fact that staff are still serving everything in the buffet, it is just too much. I ended up with three times the bacon a human can eat and I was too tired to argue with the poor girl who served it to me and then I had to wait as long for a fresh omelet as I would have down in the MDR. Not to mention it's basically a cage match just to navigate around with all of the people. It was a port day (Cozumel), so that didn't help. I just ate as quickly as I could once I managed to wrangle a reasonable amount of food, and escaped to the tranquility of the Lawn Club. I did at least grab my Grand Mimosa from Komang, who was working like a madman in the OceanView bar. Up at the Lawn Club, all the seats were soaked from the pouring rain, but that didn't deter me. I grabbed some of the pool towels that were there and just laid them all out on my wet cushion. Since I was running so late, I didn't even have to wait long for the Sunset Bar to open. There were more people up there than the past few days and I got to talking with a couple who was sailing Celebrity for the first time and then an older gentleman who was cruising alone. They were both great chats. I introduced the couple to ginger mojitos and they were thrilled. Jaya, the morning bartender up there said they became a huge hit and now everyone wants them. Since it was a port day, I had lunch in the buffet again. I was still running just about an hour late when I went down for my nap. And I woke up and hour late for my coffee at Cafe al Bacio. One of the advantages of being behind schedule was that there was live music in the Ensemble Lounge that started at 5:15. Since I usually go to the WCB at 5:00, I had been missing it the other nights. I was able to make up some time by having dinner in the buffet, instead of the MDR. I spent a lot of time at WCB and got to know Isiah better. He has definitely grown on me and I feel bad for my negative first impressions. The casino didn't open until pretty late, since we didn't leave Cozumel until about 7:30. While I was paying my daily tithes, I heard an "excuse me" and looked up and there was Komang with a Mr. Worldwide in his hand. Remember, he has to go steal ingredients from the Martini Bar to make these for me in the Casino, so that was a very pleasant and welcome surprise! He told me that he had been called over to Quasar to cover, because it was crowded in there for the pub trivia, so I went to hang out with him there. I played the trivia and only got 6 out of the 15 questions right. The group of four next to me also only got 6 right though, so I didn't feel too bad about it. After staying in Quasar a bit to chat with Komang after the trivia rush died down, I headed back to WCB just to say goodnight, but everyone talked me into staying for one more drink. Z made me something she called the "Jamie Special", which was delicious. With me running an hour late all evening and the time change jumping us an hour forward overnight, I decided to push my room service breakfast to 7:30 and just try to get a move on this morning to still make it to the MDR before they close. Day's Drinks: Grand Mimosa, Ginger Mojito x3, Americano w/ Bailey's, French 77 x2, Strawberry Fields, Birthday Cake Mojito, Celebrity No. 10, Mr. Worldwide, Vodka Sour, Jamie Special

Barring something catastrophic, grand children are not a possibility for us. And, every time I am tempted by a new pet, my husband reminds me how long that type of animal can live. 😋 We do have two cats who are somewhere in the 3-5 year-old range with only 12 years to go until I am 55. When people tell me stories of their cats living until 21 or 22, I worry a bit. But I love our cats. If we retire a couple of years later than planned because they are living long lives, worse things have happened.

The Captain just announced we will be traveling at full speed through the night to stay ahead of the storm and he expects us to be back to Port Everglades on time.

They haven't announced anything. I hope we aren't late getting back. I have a 10:30am flight!

6/1 It was another dreary day in the Caribbean. I opted for the MDR for breakfast, since I figured the buffet would be a madhouse. It was a port day with the port stop being Grand Cayman. All through the morning they were calling tender ticket numbers. Reminded me of disembarkation day, which was sad. In the MDR, I actually got a table by myself next to the window, so I had a view of the tender coming and going. One of the couples from my sharing table the previous morning was eventually seated behind me. I decided to go with a "lighter" breakfast of just cheese and bacon, but it was pretty disappointing. The "cheese tray" was a few sad grapes, a couple of slices of swiss cheese, and I chunk of brie. I have been very disappointed generally with the lack of cheese on the ship. I usually like to have a few slices of cheese with my meals in the buffet, but they haven't even had cheese out most days and the ones when they have, it's only been swiss. After breakfast, I headed up to OceanView for my Grand Mimosa again. I decided to brave the Lawn Club, despite the rain. At one point it was really coming down and I had to pull my chair almost back to the wall to keep it from getting soaked. I pretty much had the place to myself all morning. There weren't even many brave putters. For lunch in the buffet, I had Indian Nachos again. This time the spice level of the chicken dish I had them put on top was a little much for my caucasian spice tolerance. But don't worry, I did not starve. I did have a beef pattie in honor of my husband who loves them and will be sorry he missed out. I took a serious nap in the afternoon. I slept hard! It was a little challenging for me to drag myself out of bed and get dressed for my afternoon coffee. But once I was up and about, I had renewed energy for a night of drinking. After my pre-dinner drinks at Ensemble and WCB, I decided to try to catch May & Dan on their way into dinner so I could be sure we sat together. I waited longer than I expected to. Meanwhile the other couple I had sat at for dinner the night before was looking for Julie, the woman from California, so they could snatch her up and take her to one of the specialty restaurants. May & Dan did finally show up and we were seated at a table for 8 (only had 7) with two couples. It was a brother and sister traveling together with their respective spouses. We chatted for a VERY long time and didn't leave dinner until almost 8:30. I had the Duck Rillettes and the Braised Short Ribs. I felt a little bad, because I had recommended the short ribs and while the meat was as tender as it always is, they definitely lacked a little flavor. After dinner I spent some time at the casino, paying my tithes. The Sun God giveth and the Sun God taketh away. This time, he was in a taking mood. I then headed over to the casino bar and hung out with Komang for a bit. The woman I had sat next to during my pedicure was there with her husband and we chatted for a long time about football. Then I went back to the WCB and stayed there later than I should have. By the time I got to bed, it was almost midnight, so I made my room service breakfast order for 8:00, instead of 7:00. I figured I would just do buffet breakfast and not try to make it to the MDR before 9:00. This morning, the thick clouds and bad weather seem to be blocking the satellite signal, so I have no internet. I am just typing up these notes in WordPad so I can post them later, once the internet is available again. I apologize for getting them posted so late. Day's Drinks: Grand Mimosa, Mimosa, Ginger Mojito x2, Screwdriver, Rum Mule, Strawberry Fields, Elderflower Blush, Vodka Sour, French 75, Birthday Cake Mojito, Celebrity No. 10

I actually got to chat with Isiah last night and he made me a drink. It seems silly to only have one of them on at 5:00, since the bar is always completely slammed with people waiting for it to open, but I will take your word for it. He seems like a decent enough guy.

Just wanted to let you all know the internet was down on the ship this morning because of the heavy cloud cover. It's back up now and I did type up all of my notes for yesterday this morning. So when I get back to my room after lunch, I will post them.

The Captain just announced the weather is improving and we might even have sun in Cozumel tomorrow!

I have only seen the small acts throughout the ship. Haven't done the theater yet. I heard last night's guest entertainment in the theater was fantastic. I think they were called the Vagabonds? My favorite small acts so far has been BR4.

Yeah, that was the idea with the cruising 2-3 weeks out of the month. We would have a "home base" to do doctors appointments, laundry, check mail, etc. We plan to retire at 55, so hopefully won't be in too bad of shape at that point. Things might slow down as we age, though.

It was called Dead Certain. It was one of the ones I got free through Amazon First Reads for having an Amazon Prime subscription. I stockpile the free books throughout the year and read them on cruises. I almost never read at home, but I love reading on cruises.

My dream cruise is a world cruise. Viking was doing one as COVID happened that was over 200 days and stopped at 90-something ports, if I remember correctly. Something like that would be amazing. My husband and I have a tentative plan to put all of our stuff in storage when retire, do a world cruise, then get a cheap one-bedroom or studio condo in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and cruise 2-3 weeks out of every month. Sailing solo... I guess the only thing I like over cruising with my husband is being more social. When I am cruising with my husband we are more "self-contained". In order to not be lonely on a solo cruise, I definitely strike up more conversations with strangers and do sharing tables at dinner. So I put myself out there more and meet some amazing people. My husband I do that when we sail together too, but not to such a great extent.

Maybe, though I did ask Z if Isaiah coming late meant she got to leave early and she said no.

I have definitely seen some teens onboard and more small children than I have ever seen on Celebrity. One of the couples I've befriended has small children who and loving the kids club. I see activities listed all the time for the teen club as well.

Here's my favorite video about it: https://youtu.be/S-zRhjjLOPE

I use a technique called bundle packing (search on YouTube, it will change your life) which minimizes wrinkles and I use Downy Wrinkle Release spray to get our the few wrinkles/creases I do get. The wrinkle release spray seems to work especially well on linen.

St. Germain, lemon juice, and Prosecco.

The weather is cloudy and rainy again today. I had decided I wasn't going to go ashore anyway, so I am not too sad about it. The only thing I am a little worried about is that others will choose to stay onboard as well and everything will be as crowded as it was yesterday. Nothing official about skipping Cozumel yet. I had already canceled my shore excursion on the first day in anticipation of the bad weather though.

6/1 The time change threw me for a bit of a loop in the morning. I woke up before my room service warning call. Thankfully my 7:00 room service came ay 6:42, so I didn't have to wait too long. With it being a sea day, I thought I would get a late start and just try the buffet for Breakfast, but it was a mob scene up there and I gauged my wait time for cooked-to-order eggs to be a good 10-15 minutes, so I decided to just go down to the MDR, because it was still before 9:00. The MDR was no less mobbed. There was a light out the door. Can't say I've ever seen that at an MDR for breakfast on any cruise ship. They said they were out of tables for 1-2 people and they could only seat people willing to do a sharing table. I said I was willing, so I got to join that line, while others stood off to the side, waiting for tables to clear up. There was some serious confusion about where to seat our little rag tag group. Initially there were 7 of us and they tried to seat us at a table for 6. Then we moved over to an 8-top and the the two people in the back of our group had disappeared, so we were down to 5. So then we were escorted back to our initial table. But we did eventually get seated and had a pleasant breakfast with a nice chat. There was a couple from West Palm to my left and a couple from Austin to my right. One of the guys to my right was on his first cruise ever! So that was fun to get his take on how he liked it. After breakfast, I headed up to OceanView to get my mimosa to take up to the Lawn Club. Is it very bad that Komang already had a wine glass with Grand Marnier in it, chilling in the fridge, so it would be ready to go for my Grand Mimosa when I showed up? I decided it was good! It was a very dreary and rainy morning (actually full day), so I pulled my chair in under the overhang and then proceeded with my lazy morning as usual. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the non-smoking side of the Lawn Club by the Sunset Bar now has a putting green with several holes cut in it. Several people braved the rain and putted balls around. It was fun listening in on them as I read. I took it a little slower with my drinks in the morning. For lunch I took advantage of the fact the MDR is open on sea days. I had the Mozzarella Sticks and the Teriyaki Duck Breast. Also, because it was a sea day, the casino was open throughout the day, so I decided to pay my tithes early and get that out of the way, but the fates smiled upon me and I won almost $400! That seemed like an excellent time to call it quits, so I went up to my room to try to nap. However, my husband texted me with some amazing news! The reason I have been sailing solo frequently since the restart is that I get more vacation time than my husband does. I get 5 weeks plus the week between Christmas & New Year's off. My husband only got two weeks, plus some personal time and floating Holiday that he could stretch into three weeks. He was due to earn a third week in the next fiscal year, since he would have been at his job 5 years at that point. But he got a notice that they are doing away with vacation banks for his job rank altogether! They want everyone to just maintain a good work/life balance. So no more PTO banks at all. He can just take time off as needed and as his boss approves. The manager band at his company already had this policy in place and they just decided to extend that down a level to the rank where my husband is. This means no more trying to plan vacations around Holidays to save him a vacation day and such. And it means we can now travel a day or two earlier for cruises and not be so rushed. So, after my casino win and my husband's news, I wasn't very nappy. I just read my book some more and relaxed until it was time for my afternoon coffee. I headed down to Cafe al Bacio around 3:15 and there was literally not a single seat. Not even on the side across the Grand Foyer. I had to wait a bit for someone to get up and quickly snag their seat! I finished my book as I was drinking my coffee, which left me embarrassingly crying in public. So I went back to my room to change for dinner, since it was Evening Chic night. Then headed down to Ensemble Lounge to chat with Abdul and enjoy some French 77's. I ended up adopting the girl that works there and Abdul is her dad no (he also adopted her), so now Abdul is my husband? My baby daddy? I'm really not sure. At 5:00, I of course headed over to World Class Bar to see Z. I got to talking about our Bartesian to some of the other passengers there and I think now they owe me a commission, because one guy totally ordered one off of Amazon while we were sitting right there. I didn't dilly dally too long at WCB, because it was lobster night in the MDR! For me lobster night is a big deal, not because of the lobster, but because it's the night they have Blue Cheese Soufflé!!! There was a decent line at the door again. I said I would start a sharing table. I was soon joined by three of the people I had sat with on night 1, the older couple I told you about and the woman from California. She had made a couple of friends and they sat with us as well. It was an incredibly pleasant meal. The older couple.. the wife, May.... she it just such an awesome human to talk to. She gave me a hug when she saw me! I hope I get to eat with her again at least one more time on this cruise. After dinner, I was going to stop by WCB again, but it was mobbed, so I went and sat at Ensemble for a bit. It was also mobbed and I could tell my baby daddy and daughter had had a long night. They both looked tired. I then tried the Martini Bar, but again, no seats to be found. I finally got a seat at the WCB once the 9:00 show had started and a lot of people cleared out to head to the Theater. I got to actually chat with Z a bit more and she seems so happy. She has met the love of her life, who also works here on the Equinox in engineering and they have moved to Athens together (he's Greek) and she is trying to learn Greek. It was good to finally get to catch up with her a bit. I really wanted to stay up late enough to see Liar's Club, but I was so sleepy without my nap and with the time change, so I decided to call it an early night. Day's Drinks: Grand Mimosa, Ginger Mojito, Mojito, French 77 x2, Birthday Cake Mojito, Strawberry Fields, Raspberry Fizz w/ Vodka, Rum Mule, Celebrity No. 10

Last night I asked Z and she said ~2500! That's a lot more than the 1019 that we onboard in January!

Strawberry Fields is on the menu at the World Class Bar only. It uses egg white, which is only carried there.

D'Coolers are still onboard, but I haven't heard them play. So far I have listened to BR4 a couple of times and last night the classical duo.

Yes, it is Isaiah in the WCB with Z this week. Honestly, not a fan. I get to WCB right at 5:00 most evenings and poor Z is there all by herself and making 4-5 drinks at a time for the initial rush. Isaiah strolls in 20-ish minutes late. This has happened all three nights of the cruise so far. I keep asking Z where her partner in crime is and she gives an exasperated "I have no idea".