niksmom630

We went ashore around 1 pm, no specific plans, just a bit of shopping and beverages of course. We have a resort for a day booked in curaçao tomorrow, so we decided against a second beach day in a Aruba. The port shopping map says it’s a “short” walk into downtown. Pretty certain not everyone would agree. 🥵 Not a lick of shade the entire way. Saw lots of umbrellas

Close and at a decent speed. I looked at the timing of those photos and all three shots occurred in a minute and a half!

9:15 am…. I am the only person at the Beach Pool besides the lifeguard

Carnival ship coming in hot and awfully close 😲

Day 4….Aruba

@A&L_Ont Andrew! You know royal would never be that obvious! They like to hide their raisins…. Like in the cole slaw….or perhaps in that sticky light brown marmalade stuff that showed up on my cheese plate 🤢

Haha, @Sea Dog….. you are so right about the jello….. makes me think of hospitals and oral surgery….. not thoughts I like to bring on vacation with me! 😜

my daughter ordered both! The lobster was in a creamy Parmesan garlicky kind on sauce. Very rich but the serving size was perfect. Also you can order the beef tenderloin for one, and multiple appetizers.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen functioning fountains underneath the Rising Tide. Very pretty 💕 going to try dinner in the MDR…. Comedy show not until 10:45….. hope we make it 😴💤

- The app shows that the Wipe Out cafe is serving “snacks” it most certainly has been serving breakfast the last two days. Haven’t seen the afternoon offerings yet… stopped in the solarium bistro this morning, and they we’re also serving breakfast, but the app says “brunch” - my C & A cheese plate got an update but what the H is that?????? - the towel creations still bring me joy 😁

Elevator sightings….the dreaded “blue screen”….. and upside down to boot…. Thankfully it didn’t affect the mechanicals 😜 I don’t know about all of you, but who DOESN'T crave a garnished jello on vacation?????? 🙄 said no one ever…. pretty certain there was something decent on that empty plate in the second row at some point…..my quest for something sweet resulted in a frozen yogurt soft serve cone. RCI could really up their game a tad in the dessert category.

Day 3….Thoughts and observations - my quest for a paper compass at guest services provided some answers Curious if this URL below works without buying a Wi-Fi package…. It’s still a tad painful to read on your phone…. https://minio.rccl.com/compass/cruisecompass.pdf In any event, as others have suggested - it looks like paper copies will continue to be available from your cabin steward

I thought about it….but a single person showed up at around 12:30 and sat in one of the 6 chairs. 🤨 I must confess that I put towels on two of our 4 chairs for the girls who were finishing up a cycling class at the gym. Then we all sat for a bit before grabbing a quick breakfast at wipe out cafe. I sort of feel like it’s okay to grab a few extra chairs if you make it there first and have people coming a few minutes behind you. When I walked into the solarium it was a sea of blue towels but very few bodies. on one of my symphony trips, the day beds were so popular people were sleeping in them at 5 am. With the duvets from their beds. Greed has returned with full capacity…. 😎

said jerk has still not returned. 3 hours later. We had a good rain shower and his backpack got quite a dousing. karma 😆

😆 you’ll just need a really good photographic memory!

the lobster was amazing. Probably one of the best meals I’ve had on a ship. if you are on symphony in a few weeks and make it to 150CP, ask for Ben from Tunisia as your waiter. He’s awesome and will make your dining experience that much better. Our waiter was really the only low light of the evening. He was efficient enough, just not very personable. and yes, the martini was worthy of all the hype!

You will also need to be up early to get a chair in the solarium. 8:45 am- only one section open, top level , to the right of the bar area …. Had maybe ten chairs open…… then a guy walked up and proceeded to set out his belongings across the 6 remaining chairs in this area….

If you are up early enough to see the sunrise, you can have the promenade all to yourself 😉

Morning sunrise started off great until the sky’s started looking angry and we got a shower… heading in the direction of sunshine now

And finally dessert…. fried cheesecake and peanut butter tarte Strolling thru CP

And the infamous martini prepared table side…. nice venue….can’t forget about this warm pull apart garlic bun to start …

Dinner at 150 was outstanding. We tried it for the first time on symphony in March, and frankly I’m sorry I waited this long! beef short rib appetizer scallops appetizer pumpkin soup, kind of a surprise, it didn’t taste very pumpkin-y as I was expecting. lobster Thermidore and beef tenderloin entrees

thanks @dani negreanu! I think we’re going to drag the girls out and maybe add a pub crawl along the way! 😵‍💫🤪

do you think all ships will start moving to the app? I’ve only been on Oasis class the last few years so we’ve sort of learned to embrace the app, buggy and unreliable that it can be tho!