justhappy

Apparently when your travel agent notes on your reservation that you’re celebrating your birthday the word gets around! Every where we went today I was wished a Happy Birthday. Every time I entered the Haven restaurant I was sung Happy Birthday and brought more treats. From my stateroom attendant- From the restaurant servers- The server made a napkin rose for me 🌹 I can’t say enough about how kind all the staff of the Haven are. And not just to me and DH. We spent the better part of the day reading in the warmth and sunshine knowing that tomorrow it would be cool and possibly raining. Around 4pm we packed our suitcases so we wouldn’t have to worry about it later. Dinnee in the Haven restaurant then we headed to Howl at the Moon and enjoyed some very talented musicians before heading back to our stateroom. We spent a few minutes watching the harbor pilot board the ship for our slow trip upriver. Off to bed for an early wake up tomorrow.

To correct a few things I got wrong, DH didn’t play arcade games because you needed to purchase a package, he was just swiping his card wrong and saw the sign about arcade packages and assumed he needed to purchase one. So you can still play them without purchasing the package. Also the port fee credit was from missing Harvest Cay.

The first one was a poinsettia, champagne and cranberry juice, the other pic is a painkiller.

Holy crowds Batman!

For breakfast DH ran down to Starbucks for some coffees and we ate the birthday cake Sheryl had left for me last night, then it was off to the Haven sundeck since an overnight rain storm left our lounge cushions soaked. Nobody up this early… DH was spotted at the bar by the Haven restaurant staff who asked him when we were coming for breakfast. He said we had already had breakfast bug they insisted we come have just a little something. This is the little something they brought out while they sang happy birthday to me! Then the bartenders brought these and sang Happy Birthday! By the time breakfast was over I’m not sure how many times I’d had Happy Birthday sung. to me😬 We hung out in the lounge until it was time for the debarkation briefing by the concierge. We received our luggage tags and instructions on luggage assistance and also restaurant hours for the morning. After that it was back to the sundeck for more sun and reading and drinks!

Since I’m about debark tomorrow and end my trip report I hand over the ship to you and am hoping you have a great and stress free cruise. ❤️ Love your trip reports and can’t wait to read about your adventures!

Day 7 at sea We are sadly headed back to New Orleans, the captain says we will enter the mouth of the Mississippi River around 9:30 pm tonight. Chance of rain this afternoon, likely rain tomorrow. Love New Orleans, but sad to be heading back. its a funky place

We decided to save the cake and bubbly for breakfast. The butler had also brought a pitcher of OJ so we put that in the fridge. We planned to go to tonight’s comedy show in the theater but had some time to kill so we visited out favorite slots again. This time I stared into the eyes of the wolves and came out ahead. We headed for the theater and enjoyed both comedians. It was another full show. After another very funny show we meandered back to our stateroom and settled in for the night. I forgot to mention that on the afternoon of our canceled Roatan day we had $20 per person OBC in our accounts, I’m assuming refunds of port fees. i sure hope those of you who haven’t seen Captain Ron aren’t totally scratching your heads! My drink total for the cruise so far-15

Our reservation for dinner at Cagneys was at 6pm. We are both to the point that we’re not really hungry but feel compelled to eat something. We are using Latitudes rewards vouchers and they have made sure to tell us we are only allowed one appetizer, one entree and one side dish. And of course dessert. This was fine by us, we knew we’d never be able to finish what we did have. I had the ceasar salad, ribeye and grilled zucchini while DH opted for the Shrimp trio, ribeye and potatoes au gratin. We did not order dessert. The food was below par, the salad just ok and DH’s shrimp being bland and the cocktail sauce he said tasted like plain ketchup. The steaks although served at the temps we requested were not the best quality, mine had a lot of fat, even for a ribeye and was somewhat tough, as was DH’s. The sides were just average. I ended up eating about a fourth of my steak, just too much food compared to what I normally eat at home. As we left the restaurant the sun was setting making another beautiful sunset We went back to our stateroom to find our butler had left a special surprise for me.

Sorry, not sure why that posted twice. After the Breakaway turned to the north, our shady balcony turned in the blazing hot surface of the sun so we headed inside. We have both had skin cancers removed and although we don’t avoid the sun, we try to limit our exposure and lather up with sunscreen. There were lots of things to enjoy from our balcony besides Jameson for DH and reading for me.. Not sure what kind of fish these were but from as high as we were they must have been a good size We also had a lot of frigate birds putting on a show for us. We’re not sure if they were on the hunt for the fish below. We did notice one school of fish hiding under a large patch of seaweed. Not sure if you can see the fish hiding, but how pretty is that water!

At 12:45 we headed out for lunch, a few folks back from excursions or exploring in the pools and hot tubs but still very nice. I had grilled salmon hold the veggies and add fries. DH had a cesar salad with salmon. We split the seafood fritto misto. Marjorie brought us a sweet chili dipping sauce to go with the fries that was delicious, we used that on everything but the salmon. Back to our cabin for more reading on the balcony and to watch for pier runners. No pier runners but people who take 2:30pm as a suggestion and saunter back as slow as possible at 2:45. Lots of jeering for them though. Wonder of the Seas headed out before us and we were off shortly after.

At 12:45 we headed out for lunch, a few folks back from excursions or exploring in the pools and hot tubs but still very nice. I had grilled salmon hold the veggies and add fries. DH had a cesar salad with salmon. We split the seafood fritto misto. Marjorie brought us a sweet chili dipping sauce to go with the fries that was delicious, we used that on everything but the salmon. Back to our cabin for more reading on the balcony and to watch for pier runners. No pier runners but people who take 2:30pm as a suggestion and saunter back as slow as possible at 2:45. Lots of jeering for them though. Wonder of the Seas headed out before us and we were off shortly after.

Very empty up on deck 16 on the way to breakfast, totally opposite of yesterdays wall to wall people. And a few breakfast pics in case you’re not already sick of my food photos! We are currently on our balcony reading in the shade and people watching the crowds on the pier. The Wonder of the Seas is next to us Not going off the ship and just hanging out has been just the relaxation that we needed.

After quick showers we hot footed it up to breakfast, by this part of the cruise we feel like Norm entering Cheers since “everybody knows our name” 😜 Between the two of us I think we’ve had about everything offered on the breakfast menu. Today I had the waffles, some smoked salmon and another almond croissant. DH had the Poached eggs and a plain English muffin.

Day 6 Costa Maya About 5 am we woke to the movement of what we supposed was the thrusters trying to move the ship into the dock. To lazy to check and find out if we would dock, it wasn’t until dawn broke that we knew we had, in fact, made it. Folks were already making their way up the pier when I went out to check. Still super windy and I’m sure many hats will have their first flying lessons. Even with being at dock the ship is rocking with the force of the winds and waves.

Yesterday at the Ocean Blue window we found another duck. By the time we were getting ready for dinner, the ship had really started rocking. Our walk down the hall to dinner was a swaying motion. Even in the elevator it was an unsettling feeling with the movement. Dinner was at La Cucina again, we asked the concierge to see if he could get us back into Ocean Blue but it was booked solid. He booked us into there on Saturday night but I’ll cancel that as we don’t like to have specialty dining on the last night. I know, I’m weird. Tonight’s choices were the mixed greens salad, and Spaghetti Carbonara for DH, and for me the caprese salad an pepperoni pizza. We shared the tiramisu for dessert. Sadly we left behind a lot of food. Just too full. After dinner we had more time to kill before tonight’s presentation of 80’s broadway hits so we stopped by the casino again and DH stayed away from his previous slot machine and had a bit of luck on a different one. I had a few small victories on All Aboard, then foolish me let the wolves maul me again. We headed to the show venue to discover that there was no seating left, but after a few minutes we realized that the show had no appeal to us. We ended up getting more steps in by wandering around until it was time for the adult comedy show in the theater, featuring A-Train. The theater was packed for the 9:30 show. It was a good show and amazingly for this old fart I was still awake! We made our way back to casino and I let the wolves shake me down for the rest of my nights bankroll. So by 11pm we were back in our stateroom and by 11:30pm it was lights out. Total drinks for me this cruise so far- 13

After breakfast we went by the library to check out the selection and then by the Cruisenext desk and picked up a cruisenext order form. We headed back to the room to chill on the balcony and watch us cruise to nowhere. 12:30pm and we were still full from breakfast and not too hungry but we felt like we needed to get a little bit of exercise so we went to do some laps around deck 8. Lots of folks sitting and chatting, playing games, drinking or staring at the back of their eyelids. We discovered that the Ocean Blue to go window was open for business since it was an impromptu sea day. We decided we had to give it a try since our lovely server from the Haven restaurant and Ocean Blue was working the window. DH had the lobster roll and I had a crab tostada. The lovely Marjorie who we met two years ago on the Encore. after eating we did a few more laps around deck 8 and then took five flights of stairs to continue our workout before deciding to finish on the elevators🤨 We stopped by the bar for a smoky old fashioned for DH and another Pineapple Coconut Mojito for me. We Checked out the Haven sundeck and since it was super windy we decided to head back to our balcony for the rest of the day. The pool on a unexpected sea day

Quite well I’d imagine! A little avocado spray and yum!

I have discovered that these little nuggets of joy are an acceptable substitute for the long lost hash brown patties, in an air fryer at 390 degrees for 10 minutes brings crunchy goodness, even though not as greasy and salty 👍

Since everyone seems resolved to make up for the lack of Harvest Cay plans by treating their livers to an alcohol rinse today, I imagine there will be lots of sunburned zombies about when the sun goes down tonight. My total drink count for the cruise so far- 11 Gone are the days when we could drink all day! You’d never know we have an Irish pub in our house by my drinking, although DH tries to pick up my slack.

Thank you but it’s actually on Sunday, I just used the voucher last night since I knew I didn’t care for any of the dessert items at Le Bistro 😉.

Day 5 Harvest Cay ?? We woke up around 7am to see us sailing away from Harvest Cay, assuming the island with the lighthouse way in the distance was indeed, Harvest Cay. Suspicions confirmed when the Captain announced that they had tried to dock but deemed the winds too dangerous. I was sitting on my balcony so I could hear the collective groaning and mumbling from other aft balconies. We made our way to breakfast and enjoyed more carbs than I’ve had in a long time. During breakfast there was a code ALPHA outside the buffet on deck 15 near the beverage station. Hoping whoever it was is ok🙏 The famous almond croissant Pancakes His eggs Benedict -the country potatoes still sad..

They have definitely reduced the menu choices vs 8 years ago. I rarely eat escargot except when it’s on a cruise ship so I’m not tired of them yet. The ones last night were good, but then I’m just as happy to have French bread dipped in the garlic butter. After all that’s what the escargot taste like, a garlic and butter delivery system!

Onboard right now, no big production shows except Burn the Floor, but plenty of smaller musical acts every night around the ship to be enjoyed. That said I do miss having a second big show like in the past. And yes the ship is worn in places, the dry dock next February will probably take care of that. Right now the ship has 4800 passsengers and the venues are crowded. Probably not enough crew for the passenger count. Service has been good for us, but we go everywhere with a good attitude and a smile and say please and thank you and tip for good service.

Sitting here in my aft balcony I see by the wake we are making slowwww circles. Right now going super slow! Hope we find one of your ducks🍀