Meanwhile, back at the hotel, I was starving and dehydrated.  I wanted to go to Bonefish Grill for some Tito’s and lemonade and Bang Bang Shrimp.  

I checked the bag tracking app and, success!  My bag had arrived on the 4:30 flight.  I figured it would take them an hour or two to sort it out and once I had my bag I could head out for some well deserved adult beverages.  They said I had to be there to sign for the bag.  

5:30, 6:30, 7:30…… I had eaten my leftover Chinese food for breakfast at 5am.  I started poking around in the AA app, looking for a number to call.  There was none.  

I opened my laptop to start this review and it was dead, completely black.  The charger was in the suitcase.  

8:30, I had ordered 5 bottles of wine from Aldi, delivered by Grubhub.  It’s not Two Buck Chuck, but it’s close.  I started drinking it out of a coffee cup. 

Side note, I had terrible swelling on my last cruise.  My legs, thick as tree trunks usually, were much worse, to the point of being painful to the touch.  I read all the threads here on CC about how to avoid swelling and decided to do ALL the things.  Chengpk75 always says, on every thread, it is NOT salt in the water.  I have the utmost respect for Cheng and believe everything he says. Despite all that, or as we say in Boston, irregardless, I decided to only drink bottled (canned) water, and, as much of it as I can.  I also got a prescription for Lasix, bought compression stockings (fancy ones with zippers!), got cherry capsules with celery seed, I’m planning on putting my legs up in the air three times a day (insert your own joke or anything else you’d like to insert).  I’m avoiding soup, ice, as much as possible, and eating as much fruit and vegetables as possible.   Even with the scooter, I’m trying to walk as much as I can every day. Of couse, the problem with doing all the things is, if it works, I won’t know what worked.  I’ll have to continue all the things on every cruise.  

It was after 3pm when I arrived at the hotel.

I was at the Springhill Suites near the airport.  

I always knew I’d be on TV one day.

The room was very nice and the people were very friendly.  

They even provided this giant rolling tray for me. 

Knowing I was arriving two hours before check in, I had requested early check in.  I had also requested a room near the elevator, so, I wouldn’t have to walk so far.  

As I said, I arrived in Orlando.  My luggage?  Not so much.  I went to the lost luggage office, filled out a claim and they told me it was still in Charlotte.  No problem, I thought.  It’ll be on the next flight, I thought.  It’ll make a funny story for my review, I thought.  

They told me once it was found, they would deliver it to my hotel.  The paperwork they gave me stated they would contact me as soon as it was found.  

Although I am sailing solo, I actually know someone on the cruise, an alumnus from my Oasis 2019 cruise, Ryma from Canada.  She is in the cabin across the hall.  Next week, another couple from that cruise are joing us, Brad and Kathryn from Tennessee.  Dale, MrFunInTheSun, was supposed to tag along, as well, but,he is unable to make it.  Luckily for y’all, my time spent in quarantine was not wasted and I believe I have mastered the art of Photoshop.  Here is a picture of Dale and I from the first day we met, in the Rising Tide Bar.

He claims he was helping me into my chair, I claim he was just trying to grab my butt.  You be the judge.  I was successfully able to Photoshop his face onto a random person’s body and I think the results are quite good, if I do say so myself.  

I always like a lot of food porn in my reviews, so, here is my dinner from my last night on terra firma.  Chinese food.  In Virginia.  They don’t know what chicken fingers are, so, I have to order sweet and sour chicken, with no sauce.  Plus, beef fried rice.  It’s pretty good.

I had to get up at zero dark thirty for my flight.  It was 30 degrees.  In Virginia.  With me in my t-shirt, capris and flip flops.  You know it’s early when the moon is still out.  

I zoomed in once before I froze to death, then called it a day.  

My flight from Lynchburg to Charlotte to Orlando was uneventful.  I arrived in Orlando at 1pm.

So, the night before I left, I was packing my travel laptop and wireless mouse.  I went to pull the USB thing for the mouse out of my regular laptop and it broke into two pieces.  The plastic came off in my hand and the metal stayed in the computer.  No matter how I maneuvered it, I couldn’t get it out.  I Googled to find out what to do and learned it is called a dongle.  Not the first time I pulled a dongle too hard and injured it, amirite, ladies?  

So, rather than fuu...mess around with it all night, I headed off to Best Buy to buy a new one.  Crisis averted, problem solved.  Obviously, nothing else could possibly go wrong, right?  Right??

Hey, y’all!  Where have you been for the last two years?  Time has not been kind to your girl.  Besides not being able to cruise, I am now on Disability and like everyone else, I have been locked in my house since 2019.  

Well, that’s not quite true.  I did manage to sneak out in September for a cruise on MSC Divina.  You can find my “critically reviewed” trip report in the MSC forum, if you dare.  

But, if you’ve been eagerly awaiting my return to Royal, you’re in luck.  What originally started as a March 2020 Harmony cruise and a November 2020 Empress cruise have now morphed into a B2B on Harmony, including Thanksgiving.  

For those of you lucky enough to have never met me, I’m Maureen, a wisecracking, sarcastic Bostonian transplanted into genteel Lynchburg, Virginia.  Yeah, that’s going well.   🙃 After struggling mightily during my Divina cruise, I am renting a scooter for this B2B.  That should be interesting.  

But, this bridge I bought in Brooklyn is okay, though, right?  RIGHT?

I'd call Royal fast! 

“When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.  When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When my womb quickens again, and I bear a living child. Then you will return, my sun-and-stars, and not before." -Daenerys Targaryen”

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

This beach club belongs to the hotel across the road. Keep in mind it is much smaller than many people expect and, as described on their website, only has a small man-made sandy area.

 

I am not sure which area the above poster thinks they may put more people unless she is referring to the area with palapas. Whenever we have been there that has remained an area solely for hotel guests

Yeah, I honestly wish they didn't have Beach in their name.  Just call it a Day Club or something.  Yes, the area with the palapas.  There was no one over there at all.  

3 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

www.cortrans-shuttle.com

On this website, there is a list of hotels that they pick up at.  I've used them several times, they're great.  

Steve was going out on the submarine, which was right next door.

The coconut shrimp ended up being the star of the show.  It was so sweet if you ate it plain or the sauce made it taste like Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill.

Somehow, miraculously, it doesn’t appear I took any pictures of my drinks, unless I took them on my phone or they’re still taking 288 hours to download.  

But, I remember Dirty Monkeys, Pina Coladas, Miami Vices.  And, that’s just what I remember!

Tom Brady’s new team.

This is how close we are to International pier.

I guess if they’re crowded, they put people along the side.  You can see some people swimming in the ocean.  The maximum they will take is 50 people, adults only.  I’d say we had about 20.

The view from the bathroom.

Finally, around 4, we packed it in and they called us a taxi.

The other three went shopping near the pier and the taxi driver dropped me off at a “secret entrance”  so I wouldn’t have to walk 10 miles to get back to the ship.

Home sweet home.

Their menu- hot snacks.  No charge for us.

Cold snacks.

Drinks.

We hadn’t been there long when we ordered some chicken wings. They were very tasty.  Pay no attention to that other chicken leg, that’s my new friend, Tim.

Tim and Janet had found me on the beach at Ocean Cay and basically took charge in making sure I was not left behind to live out my life on OC.  They helped get me out of my lounger, which was no small feat and flagged down a tram for me.  They carried my backpack when I was struggling and could not have been lovelier.

They didn’t have any plans for Cozumel, so, I told them about Del Mar and soon a plan was hatched.  They ended up loving it as much as I did.

I was there at the end of September and going back in two weeks.  This is copied and pasted from my MSC Divina review, some may not make sense out of context.  I have limited mobility, looking for something where I don't have to walk in the sand or pay a lot of money.  

Thursday was Cozumel day.

I was planning on doing the Cozumel Bar Hop, I’ve done that a few times and really enjoy it.  I knew I couldn’t climb the stairs to Coconuts and they said they would bring a drink and some ceviche down to the bus for me.  The more I thought about it, going up and down the stairs of the bus, walking across the sand, etc , I realized I couldn’t do it.  

I’ve done a few of the all inclusives, Nachi Cocum, etc and enjoyed them, but, they were expensive and required a lot of walking.  

And then I found Del Mar Latino Beach Club, $29 for all you can eat and drink and a nice infinity pool.   It’s not really on a beach, it’s basically a concrete slab with some sand, but, you can go in the ocean if you want, I planned to  stick to the pool.  

I booked it through their Facebook page and they couldn’t have been friendlier or easier to work with.  Several people from our roll call ended up going.  Four of us shared a taxi, it is walking distance for most people from the International Pier, but, we were at the downtown pier.

Here is the view from my lounger to the front.

To the right.

You can spot the MSC people with their orange towels.

To the left.  The bar, the kitchen and the bathrooms.

Everything was self contained, hardly any walking at all.

After all that delicious cream, I decided to start slow with water and pineapple juice.

On 11/9/2021 at 8:17 PM, davekathy said:

Never mention or implied any organized criminal group.  Now you sound paranoid or dazed and confused. 😵Smoking pot has that effect on some. 😂 Sounds like you now have the munchies. 🍿

Cruise Critic Post of the Year! 

On 11/10/2021 at 2:05 PM, ryano said:

 

LOL!   I was on that cruise.  She was in our roll call and her and hubby that brought on the contraband were thrown off before the ship even left Port Canaveral.  Freedom of the Seas April 2012.  Hard to believe its been almost 10 years.  

On 11/10/2021 at 5:20 PM, BND said:

It's been about 10 years so the details are fuzzy, but let's just say it involved a a couple and a bottomless can (like shaving cream or hair spray, but I can't remember exactly).

Wait!  Wait! Did it involve a diving knife and temporary tattoos?  

On 11/11/2021 at 6:21 AM, UKWLDCruise said:

Came across this on a life raft container on Empress a few years ago

 

Canines.... DOGS to the layperson.  -- Dumb and Dumber, 1994.

2 hours ago, Btank said:

Completely unrelated to the original post, but I remember going fishing with a friend who was in his Jesuit formation.  He reached into the cooler to get his single beer of the day, telling me "It's my only vice."  After the beer, he pulled out a cigar and lit it, telling me "It's my only vice." 🤣

 

     --bruce T.

I was expecting loaves and fishes...

9 hours ago, cynt said:

You got it Maureen! But you have to do a LIVE REVIEW!!!😜

Starting one Friday...

How many people?

1 minute ago, cindyscruise said:

Not sure I understood question 2 about the surcharged drinks.    I know they charge for the food but what is meant by the surcharged drinks?  Aren't the drinks just like at any other bar?  Can you use the drink package for this?  

He doesn't want to buy any drinks, not even a Coke. Yes, you can use your package.

26 minutes ago, cynt said:

6. Buy one cabin, double occupancy; get a second cabin FREE

 

If you get a free cabin, I'm coming with!  

• Nope, you have to drink alcohol all day long! 🤣  It includes smoothies and protein shakes....

One of my favorite cruise memories was spending time with a priest on Royal.  He was on several of my shore excursions, etc.  I still laugh remembering him at the passenger talent show singing and dancing to I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred.  🤣

13 hours ago, matj2000 said:

 

Who goes on a cruise to buy bar-food and snacks??

Who goes on a cruise forum to always be rude?  I love bar food, I wish Playmakers was on Harmony.

1 hour ago, Maitaivegas said:

I can not eat wings in public, some how the sauce gets every where lol

That means you're doing it right. 

5 minutes ago, BND said:

And that's why they don't give everyone a lot of veggies.  For every person that wants more there are several that won't eat them so why bother?  It's so easy to ask for what you want.  

I'm looking at the menus for Harmony.  I'm thinking of getting one entree and requesting the veg from another.  Or, just ordering a baked potato.