Rogueperson

I’m sitting out here now. Its a little breezy at 11:20am. Its kind of humorous to see the lifeguard on duty in a jacket and bundling up.

Usually a preview showcase of future performance. This one had a short dance number with the production show featured dancers. They also have live orchestral music and recognize top cruisers. Our top cruiser had 2150 points I think. They also recognize a couple who made pinnacle on this cruise. They give free champagne and mimosas.

Here we are at the top tier event. Its probably the same between the cruise so missing it the first time wasn’t a big deal.

Good Morning from here. Googlemaps is a bit odd with your current destination. Sometimes it finds you and other times not. This is the first time its found me on this cruise. We missed the Top tier event in the last cruise but this time, we’re awake and ready for it. Well I am. The wife did not want to come to breakfast. She’s not a fan. So I’m here in the MDR alone. Its really slow today. I’ve been here 45 minutes already. At least i have coffee This cruise unfortunately is her first cruise where she is Gluten free. The cruise tries, but that’s a tough diet. Breakfast is the most limiting menu for her. Other than the top tier. We have no real plans to do anything. Invitation to Dance we plan to make because we missed both of the production shows last leg as well. Until later…

Unlike some other ships, the Solarium on Voyager class ships have an open ceiling. To me, that’s comfortable. But pool activities might not be feasible with the lower temperatures. What it does protect you from is the wind since it’s enclosed.

8 drinks on turnaround day!!! I’m drunk now. Here is day 2 cruise compass. and now i’m done for the night.

I can already tell that the demographics on this cruise is way different than last leg. I was told that there are 3000 people onboard. Thats almost 100% i think. 3114 is max double occupancy. I heard less than 20 kids. 1st dinner in the MDR. Menu i had my signature escargot. Forgot the pic. Will get tomorrow. Also got the Antipasti Mushroom soup I already posted but surprisingly, I found it the best in the MDR. Normally on this menu, I would get the prime rib but i am so over steak right now. The downside of the UDP. I’ve got the Jerk Pork Chop before was sorely disappointed. So i chose the “Southern” Fried Chicken. It was passable. And Key Lime pie. I missed the MDR. There’s something soothing about having the same set of wait staff. Also. Successfully used 7 free drinks so far today on the Diamond benefit. I may get one more, but i’m more than happy with the results.

Something we don’t see often. According to my friend, this is the HMS Queen Elizabeth parked in the bay.

@KATHYMAC68 One more thing you should be aware of. We were explicitly told that we did not have to check into muster station as staying in the same room, we would be automatically checked off. The app kept dinging me to do so. So to be safe we did. The muster guy said that was wrong and that we did have to check in. If anyone has done a b2b and has experience of what happens, let us know.

I can’t speak for other ships, or maybe even other cruises. But our b2b lunch was the same as the Key Lunch. Menu and location. They say its a Chops menu, but its not exactly. If i was presented with this menu without my last cruise experience with the UDP, Inwould have gotten the filet. But I’m done with steaks for a while. I got the burger. I was told that THIS burger is not the same as the burger at Chops. They told me that this one was frozen and could not do it rare, as opposed the the lunch burger at Chops I got on Saturday which I could. It also tasted nothing alike. The one at Chops is far superior. The Shrimp cocktail was the same as well as the mushroom soup. Just a different bowl though.

Thank you. This is great praise coming from you.

Actually technically, we did enter the terminal. We had to go down the gangplank aft and then just went back up the forward gangplank. At this port, the terminal is on the same level more or less as deck 4. In Baltimore, they may have you to all the way down. Its barely a minute walk, but it took five because they had to take everyone’s photos

I'm in the same room. You'll need to repack so they can move the luggage for you to your new room. The cool part of being in the same room, is you're allowed access to your room upon reboarding. Actually, i'm not sure if even moving rooms, you'll have access to the new room. We are given new cards upon reboarding, so you have room key cards, thought that's a REAL short turn around time because someone was more than likely in your new room on the previous leg. I'm relaxing in our room as I type this. I finally broke out the laptop. We didn't take out our laptops on our last leg at all surprisingly. Also, we have a special lunch in the Sapphire dining room (MDR) at 11:30 for b2b cruisers. That's cool. When we found out, we skipped breakfast and slept in a little, or in my case, I tried to, but failed. Now that i'm on the second leg, a big part of the anxiety is gone. I expected to test, so i was afraid we might test positive and be denied boarding. All last cruise, we wore masks just in case. We may still do so, because better safe than sorry. Since this is a new leg, I can mention it now. One of my friends onboard tested positive. We are sure she had a false positive, but it didn't matter. She was sick prior to the cruise, and in the abundance of caution, took a antigen and a PCR test which were negative. She went for an ear infection, and got tagged positive and was quarantined and isolated The issue was they would not confirm and retest her. In fact, they would not even entertain another test until day 5. Her family was tested negative. After pushing for a retest, she got the retest, and tested negative. Still in isolation. She had to get a meeting with the Staff Captain, chief medical officer and land corporate after a 2nd negative test and was allowed to return to her room, and continue quarantine, but not isolation. She continued to test negative, but was never let out of quarantine and today, they escorted her off the ship under special protocols. I will find out what kind of compensation they are giving them. I feel bad for them as she never tested positive again after the first test.

Ding to ding time. Its official. We did not have to test. After waiting for 0 passenger count, we were escorted out the forward gangplank. Walked over and back onto the aft gangplank on 4. We are now checked in and boarded for the next leg. Really easy. I was anxious for nothing. The time is 5 minutes but we all had to get our photo taken again when we dinged. @KATHYMAC68 They really take care of everything. If you’re staying in the same room, you don’t even have to rescan your pass at your muster station, thats automatically done.

about 20. Not that many

Current Situation. We’re hanging in the Imperial lounge. I just heard last call to disembark. Wifi shut off at about 9am. Theres a nice setup. And my view. Customs was east. We walked in, showed out passports to two customs officials. Thats it. They just checked out vaccination cards. And giving a quick demonstration of the life jacket . On an odd note, as we were walking here. My wife drew my attention to a plate on the ground. She goes “who eats the centers out of cucumbers”

Oh hey, i JUST noticed this in my room. Yeah, i’m slow.

Here is Day 6 aka Day 1, Leg 2’s cruise compass.

I have read somewhere where it didn’t recently. It was isolated. But enough for me to question. But doubly so for me as I’m staying on.

Thanks. My mind has not woken up yet. The emphasis on this is that my diamond benefit worked on Debarkation day, not that it worked at a starbucks kiosk. Adventure does not have a branded kiosk. Also, as i posted earlier on it, Diamond benefits and drink packages do not work at Ben & Jerrys (like their milkshakes)

Good Morning from Bayonne. I’m up early because i’m a little anxious about turnaround day. Current situation. My diamond benefit worked for Starbucks!!! Thats why i didn’t make coffee. Wanted to see if it works and it does!

Last dinner of this leg is at Giovanni’s. I’ve posted the menu before so won’t do it again. For Appetizer. We have the Tonno Crudo. This dish had a surprise sweetness to it. It almost ruined the dish because its a surprise, but afterwards, I’m like yeah, this is good. Also, again better tuna than Izumi’s. Main dish is Royal Porchetta. Delicious. My wife had the Shrimp. Also pictured is the delicious risotto. And for dessert, Canolli. Here, i got a coffee drink. Royal something. I totally forget.

Yes. Considering many of the cooking staff is Indian. There’s also a alternate vegetarian menu that is very Indian and very good. I’ve seen it before, but haven’t consistent asked for it.

I’ve been on 13 Royal Caribbean cruises and 12 other cruise lines. One thing i generally miss is the Windjammer Buffet. I generally assume the Windjammer usually reflects whats in the MDR. Tonight, the wife went in because she needed a snack to tide her over to dinner. We almost went to Izumi’s for a roll, but they took forever just to seat us, so we bailed and ended in the Windjammer. As i was looking, i notice a lot of Indian food tonight. I hadn’t realized that they had theme nights and tonight was Indian. I found one of my favorite Indian dishes. Butter Chicken. I’m sad to report that this blows away the local restaurant that i go to. That means i need to find a new Indian Restaurant

Today’s a slow day. Here’s the current situation. I’m in the Diamond Lounge. Only one person here. Scratch that, two more people just came in. Wife is still out. I’ve confirmed that since we are technically on board already, and Canada has recently dropped their testing mandate, we are not required to be tested. I CANNOT MAKE GUARANTEES ABOUT PROTOCOL FOR CHECK IN FOR THOSE BOARDING TOMORROW. You should be safe and get a negative test as that is still the current protocol. I have enough experience now to talk about my feelings about the UDP (Ultimate Dining Package). After tonight, I will have had 2 snacks from Johnny Rockets, 3 lunches at Chops, 2 dinners at Gionanni’s and one at Izumi’s and Chops and Chef’s Table. This is my review. UDP says you have to schedule all your dining in the beginning. In that aspect, its less flexible. Chops today was really busy for lunch. Also, i believe it was the only specialty restaurant open as Izumi’s had the sushi making class and Giovanni’s was where Taste of Royal was held. I think if you tried to walk in without reservations, you would have been turned away, though the restaurant was not full, service was still slow because i think there was only a handful of staff to operate the restaurant. Is it worth it? Depends on how much you paid for it. I got it for 50 dollars less per person than the current pricing. 110/person plus tip. That comes out to 22/day/person. In that aspect, i scored a great deal. Last I checked it was sitting at about 165/person. Even at 165/person, i think it would still be a good value considering lunch and the snacks I got. Downside. The menus are limited, especially lunch. We pretty much got to try everything but its getting a little tedious now. I love chili cheese fries, but i can only eat it so many times. I’ve had more steak this week than the last six months. It also assumes that all the restaurants are good and you want to eat there, if you don’t like a restaurant for whatever reason, the others have to carry the slack and makes your choices even more limiting. So my verdict is that the UDP is good for 5 days or less. 5 days is pushing it though. Any more and I think I would get tired of it. It is not worth it if you want to jump back and forth between specialty and regular menus. If you are on a short cruise. Get it and you’ll enjoy yourself.