Haljo1935

With All Aboard at 1130pm (tonight) yes, unfortunately just a tad too late. There's always next time.

🫡 Laundry was waiting for me when I got back from GS, so all good there. No unplanned donations from me.😉 My message through Navigator to have a duplicate PG lunch charge removed resulted in another one being added at the discounted Mariner rate. Uh no thanks, I didn't eat twice, but thanks for trying. 🤔 Instead of sending another message I decided to just go in person & then close out my account while there. Now I'm on the Ensenada wine tasting shuttle - it will be a good evening!!

For those who asked, the Mariner reception was on Day 1 from 2-2:45. Poor timing, IMO. I was not able to go.

Current time is 445pm. Arrival in Ensenada is 7pm. All Aboard is 1130, scheduled to leave at midnight. Original itinerary when I booked had us here all day. But things change.

Remember I said I was mostly packed yesterday? Well, when I got back from spa, lunch, and the movie (ha ha), these were waiting for me, so we know we're really close to ending this cruise. But guess what wasn't here? My laundry from 2 days ago. Eek! So I am unable to finish packing. GS says they'll let Steward know at 530 when he's back on duty. Well, ok then. Likely my mistake, but I thought they would call Laundry and have someone check on it. Of all days to decide to actually leave the ship on a timed excursion. Double Eek! We should be back on board by 11 and luggage is not due out until midnight - plenty of time.🙄 I'm sure it will be fine, I've just never cut a schedule so tightly. Thanks for coming, we appreciate your business. Here's where you've been. Thanks for entrusting us with your memories. Now get off - and thanks for the clothing donation we'll make in your name.😪

More views from my balcony as we get closer to Ensenada, in no particular order. And one looking down instead of out, cuz why not? No inside cabin means I CAN look down (even if there's nothing particularly worth looking at)😉

So exciting - popcorn 🍿 is packaged and there looks to be plenty It's a beautiful sunny slightly breezy day - let's go for dip and watch a movie. How does "Coco" sound? You can't see the screen?👀 What if we zoom in - is that better?🙄 Still no? Ok, well let's take a short walk 👣over here and peak at the land instead!! We have mountains coming into view - Woo Hoo!! And some buildings, too. Zoom in again (which I know you're really good at cuz you just did it trying to see the movie 👀) and you'll see the white tops of various structures. Please tell me that haze is not smog.🤔

Nope, you didn't miss a thing. I think you and I were posting yesterday at the same time 😏 you may have deduced by now that I was moved from my original inside cabin. After my last post, I think I may (fingers tightly crossed 🤞) be able to give a final report and tie off the bow 🎀 Assuming no encounters during disembarkation tomorrow 🫣

That's incredibly sweet and thoughtful. I'm sure they appreciate them. Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

I believe he will be. From the Ask the Captain chat the other day, he sounded as if he thought he would be here a while.

Yes, they must have been crazy busy and put in a lot of extra time. I hope they know how much we appreciate it. I forgot to post this from the Navigator.

I will email you from my work email once I'm back (disembark tomorrow); although I'm rooting for you on this one.

Captain Arno Jutten

May I ask what type of work you do? I meant to ask when you told us about losing your job; I feel so bad I didn't ask and appreciate you updating us on your status. We are a large international company with both on-site and remote positions with openings for a wide range of skillsets and experience, so if this doesn't go in your favor, I'd be happy to see what postings we have.

We've been invaded - the Lido was overtaken by animals and critters galore. While some were just hanging out, others were lounging around Beverage Mgr introduced me to his boss, lol Well done HAL Housekeeping!!

Holy Wow - people love their 🎂 🥮! As I was heading to the spa for my mid-day dose of calm, I saw this unusually long line in the Lido. Turns out I'd forgotten about Cake me Away being today. T&CD Kristen was going through the line showing pictures of the cakes on her phone so people could see them. This is the best I could do for pictures - the crowd was thick and I couldn't get to other side. Zoom in to see how pretty they are. Yummy art for the tummy and the eyes!!

@BetsyS. @Hogladyrider this one's for you! I know you won't mind sharing, so anyone else interested in the hydro pool, come join us 😏 Being the only one in the pool, I took advantage of the rare opportunity to take pictures. The arrow points to the automatic doors leading into the ceramic lounge, shower and steamroom areas aka Thermal Suite. Pictures of the Thermal Suite are still coming😊 You can really see the pool since neither the sprayers nor the pool jets are on - there are buttons for them at the base of the staircase; the one on the right controls the sprayers, pool jets on the left. These pictures are in no particular order, but mostly sweep the room from left to right. Towels are available in both the hydro pool and ceramic lounge areas. Close-up of the doors to the Thermal Suite. The double doors lead to Lido pool area, but are locked. Closer view of the Lido doors Service door

Personally, I think they should put it back into service. It would be great to have Apps available at a bar.

Feedback regarding an inside cabin - I'll do 2 w/1 on my specific cabin and then another on inside cabins in general. My cabin was located on deck 4 forward starboard. I thought the size of the cabin was good; I never felt cramped. I did like that there was no hallway, so as @Mary229 said, very efficient, which I learned is not always code for "tiny." 😉 The door was in the center with the desk, bathroom & closets to the left and the bed & TV to the right; there was no sofa (no room for one). The TV was directly across from the bed so no funny angling to see it; however, that also meant you are always stuck on the bed if you want to watch it, which I really didn't do. There was ample storage w/2 closets and 3 drawers; additionally, the desk also had 3 drawers - the top one you know houses the mirror and the hair dryer but the other 2 were really deep - so if you needed more storage space, those were available. I didn't use them, but probably would with 2 people. I had the bed configured as a queen and don't know that the room would work too well with the bed split into twins (it was pretty tight on the far side of the bed between the wall, which would probably stay that way). For twin beds, I imagine you'd probably cut into the space between the bed and the angled "dry bar" but it would be ok for a week, I don't think I'd enjoy it for much longer than that. Solo, though, it would still be fine for cruises longer than a week. As for the location it was great. It wasn't overly noisy (barking neighbor dogs aside, which was a one-off experience). Later into the day when the bands started playing, sure I could feel and hear them, but they shut down so early that after dinner it was never an issue. I had late dining, though, so I was gone 730 to 930 most nights so I can't really comment as to how comfortable that would be If you were in the cabin and the music was going between those hours. But again you know, this isn't a party all night ship, so there was no issue with noise at bedtime. Before dinner, I was either in the library or spa (thermal pass addict right here), so again was not in the cabin to be impacted if it was loud, but never noticed any annoyances in the hall so assume cabin was also fine. I did occasionally hear some clattering from a service area that sounded like dishes but it was very infrequent and never bothered me. As for movement, I never felt much. The first couple days were pretty rough and I could feel us "moving" no matter where I was on the ship. But other than that, I didn't really notice much; it was like a gentle rocking or swaying. So maybe being in an inside cabin was a good thing. Being close to the forward elevator was great for going to the spa. Being 1 deck away from 3rd deck MDR was great. There were no funky food aromas or stray casino smoke. A/C worked well - kept around mid point (no numbers on the thermostat) which I've previously posted a picture of. Shower was fine after the door swingcwas adjusted so as to not require wearing waders, lol. If they leave the portable soap dispener, the next passenger should be good on soap by the sink.😉 I posted cabin pictures a couple days ago, so you can see where I lived the first part of the cruise. If there's anything about that particular cabin or location you want to know, just ask. I'll comment on inside cabins in general plus give my thoughts on an obstructed balcony (also 1st time in one of those) in an upcoming post.

Billboard Onboard bar menu

First menu I received today did not have daily specials listed. After seeing Tablemates' menus did have specials, I asked for another menu. So, it may be the other times my menu didn't have specials I simply received the wrong menu. I had the French Toast from the daily special section. Tablemate had one of the skillets.

With the spa being forward, you will have that horizontal hike, but not vertical being on 8. The hydro pool is through the sliding doors where the arrow is in this picture. The large steamroom, cold bucket shower & regular showers are where the dot is. There are additional regular showers & a horizontal shower behind the curved wall.

Bon Voyage @DWAliaschief

Thanks @dfish for the shout out - I hope the Dailies are helpful in planning your cruise. There have been a lot of themed activities to occupy passengers on sea days. I'm excited to hear about your next great adventure.

Thanks @0106 for the awesome pictures - that's a great stow away!!