ceilidh1

The mall lost! Chilling at the pool!

I booked the room through DayUse and it was $75 for 9am to 4pm. Full use of pool, wifi, and an actual hotel room for napping, etc! Free shuttle to the airport goes every hour on the half hour.

Easy process to check in at the hotel. Seems decent enough. I plan on napping, maybe going to Dolphin Mall, or just hanging at the pool. Then I can get showered and grab the free airport shuttle at 3:30. Cambria hotel and suites Miami airport

Originally I planned on staying on the ship until around 10 but since I was up and ready I figured I would avoid the rush and get to my hotel day room and take advantage of it. I headed off around 8:45am and it was a breeze getting off, finding my bag, and going through facial recognition for customs. That’s when things started going south. I wanted a Lyft to take me to the hotel and, while there were signs telling you ride share pick up was lot E1, there was no actual sign that showed lot E1. One port employee sent us across the street to the parking lot. Another sent us back and told us we should wait at the stop sign at the end of the terminal. Thankfully I’m a fan girl and I spotted two of the Dual Reality dancers and Keith from Miss Behave waiting at this stop sign so I figured that must be the right spot. i fan girled and told them (again) how amazing they had been. They were so appreciative and so humble. They confirmed that this was the spot to wait but also said that many Uber and Lyft drivers don’t actually know it so they often miss it and then have to circle back. The other issue with that spot was that port of Miami wifi doesn’t reach there. So I had to keep ducking back and forth to get signal and track my driver. Sure enough, she had no idea where to pick me up and drove right past. Ugh. She circled back and finally found the spot but then said her trunk was full so had no room for my suitcase!?! Huh? Wouldn’t you assume someone coming off a ship and heading to the airport would have bags? I managed to cram it into the back seat but what if I hadn’t been travelling alone?

I popped up to the Galley to grab my last VV food. I went for small, fast, and simple. Let me tell you, I wish I had discovered this chocolate brioche before my last morning!

And just like that we were back to where it all began.

George at The Manor was our main man as that’s where we ended up most! There were also some good guys at On The Rocks but we never really stayed in one bar long enough to have faves. Plus, many of them rotated through the bars too. Same with waitstaff- I tried to eat everywhere so no huge standouts but all were great! The Happenings Cast were the bomb. They were everywhere and so much fun. I think of scarlet I only recall one or two of them that stood out but on this ship they seemed to really gel as a team!

I found the pricing for drinks about the same as on land or other lines. Some of the high end stuff was insane but I don’t drink that so not sure if that was normal. There was a $150 glass of scotch, for example. Beers between $6-$8, cocktail between $11-$18 and wines between $9-$15 average. It was tough to spend all the bar tab for sure!

Yes. 4:50-5:30 for Opa

And after 8 days of pretty much non stop drinking, several added fee events, and shopping with reckless abandon, this is what I owe!

I really didn’t want to leave - most days our little group has closed The Manor down. I knew that if I stayed it would just mean more drinks and that would not be great for tomorrow. So, at 1am I bid my people a goodnight and headed back to my room. I think of all my cruises this one will make me the saddest to leave. I met do many people (many I don’t even remember meeting, but they remember me), had so much fun, crew and cast outstanding!!!

Studio 72 followed after the Circus Disco and it was not the same show I saw on Scarlet. It actually wasn’t a show at all - just a DJ playing 70s-and early 80s music. I think the Circus Disco replaced the “show” portion. It was still fun with drinks coming from every angle…

So my evening went something like this..,approach a bar, get greeted by sometime met on the ship “oh, let me get you a drink. I have bar tab to use.” Rinse and repeat the entire night!!! After a drink or two at On The Rocks we headed to Circus Disco, which was a new-to-me show and advertised as a warm up for Studio 72. It had the cast of Dual Reality and, while there were a few mishaps like dropping the juggling things and missing the hula hops, it was still fabulous! The main guy and girl dancer in this group are simply outstanding!

I needed to spend $75 remaining in sailor loot so I hit the stores. It’s so hard (for me) to spend money on a ship. Just nothing I want to buy. Can’t do duty free as no room in my checked bag. Zero interest in perfume, jewelry, make up or watches. So that really only left the virgin store. Even when it’s not really my money, I have a tough taste me justifying $60 for a Virgin logo hoodie…I grabbed stuff that seemed ok for the price -magnet, keychain, tea towel, cloth bag, water bottle. Even then I had $30 left. I didn’t realize the tattoo place had clothes - great tshirts for $45 (yikes) and hoodies for $85 (double yikes). I ended up getting a shirt and went a little over my loot amount. Of course bar tab can no longer be used for anything other than bar so even though I now owed like $15, I also still had $36 bar tab.,,

So sad! I missed the butter chicken. Who knew that dinner in the Galley ends at 9pm. But I can get all day breakfast! What??? I settled for flat bread with salmon and a sausage roll. It was fine but it was no butter chicken! Again, where is the simple communication? Most people don’t even know about the dinner special and the times are most definitely not posted anywhere!

One thing I do fault virgin on is their lack of communication on basic (but important) information. Like knowing ahead of time about luggage storage. Tonight I figured I would put my suitcase outside rather than try to navigate stairs and elevators. Then I realized that the only information we had about that was that you could do it if disembarking after 8:30. No luggage tags or colours or anything. So I put it in the hallway. My neighbour was out there and was attaching a tag to his bag. He said he had gone to sailor services to ask what to do and they had given tags. I mean, why not mention that ahead of time?

Feels very low energy on the ship tonight. I guess a long beach party day, followed by the end of cruise blues. Mood is sombre. I’m at pop quiz trivia right now and there’s only like 4 teams. 🤣 I’m going to check out the stores in a few minutes and try to spend the $75 credit remaining. Other than that, nothing planned until Circus Disco and Studio 72 at 11pm and 11:30pm. Will I make it?

This is what’s waiting for me at home tomorrow

Wish I had known this ahead of time! I ended up booking a day room rather than deal with luggage

YOLO right? Lamb sausage and baklava.

I was worried I wouldn’t be able to use all my bar tab and credit. I think I had $800 in total. I did good! The bar tab should see me through tonight- I’m not having a crazy one this evening. And I will try to blow the $75 in the shops, though there’s not a whole lot of choice…

I said I got distracted by The Dock earlier. It’s no secret that this is my favourite place on the ship. It’s perfect. They have daybeds, aft views, and a Mezze Cart. I headed right here for a little snack. But two minutes after it came, the waiter brought me another menu that o haven’t seen before. Hence the distraction. Maybe I’m just never here at the right time. Anyway. Now I regret getting what I’ve already had before because I want this new stuff. But it’s also butter chicken night. The struggle is real.

I wish the pictures did this place justice but they really don’t. The different shades of blue in the water were amazing but my pictures just don’t capture it.

The pics I did manage to get