CupKayke

October 31 - Halifax, Novia Scotia  (Canada)

Today we cruised in to Halifax in the rain.  My husband didn't even want to get out of bed let alone get off the ship. The ship was quiet and later we learned two of our new friends didn't bother getting off the ship either.  There are probably some excellent activities or places to see in Halifax however, we just weren't up to getting around in another rainy day and we didn't know about anything happening or going-on in Halifax today.  I persisted and we got off and walked around in the shops which are connected to the terminal/port.   There are some great little places to shop.   We walked around the shops for maybe an hour.  We started walking out of the terminal.  To the right we could see some shops, a craft store, a bar or two, some cafes that offer outdoor eating (not today) and etc.   We stopped walking about 10 minutes in and decided we were done with the rain.  We were back on the ship in no time at all.  

Note:  I wanted to visit the Titanic museum or the cemetery and a kind older gentleman in line for the hop-on, hop-off said there is no such thing as a Titanic museum in Halifax.  He said there is a small museum about a 15-minute walk away that has one small exhibit with some Titanic information.  He basically said it wasn't worth our time.  There were large printed notices on all the tour boxes that said "Due to a sinkhole, the Titanic cemetery is currently not accessible."    So, that option was out.

We goofed around in the terminal/port shops...

We found several fun gifts/souvenirs..

There is a memorial there to the 900 Jewish lives on the oceanliner St. Louis.   The ship left Germany and the Jewish people attempted to land in the United States, Cuba, and Canada and were turned away by all three countries.  The boat was forced to return to Germany where many of them did not survive.  We visited Auschwitz two years ago and now I have so much more respect for anything related to this terrible time in history.

It was rainy and gloomy and he was Mister Grumpy

This day will be continued in more posts to come...

6 hours ago, tomservo said:

 

That's disappointing, I was looking forward to trying the pizza, they've been advertising that they've improved it on some ships.

 

Did you get a chance to eat at cafe promenade or 270? If so how were they?

270 is great.  If it were closer to our room, we would have ate there more often.  It would be busy before or after Bingo or movies but at other times, it would be empty.  Great little place that is under-utilized it seems.

Café Promenade is a joke.  I didn't like ANY of their odd sandwich or sandwich-type offerings.  Their cookies are hard.  I was unimpressed.  My husband was looking for food around 3-4am one night and there was one option - a small croissant sandwich thing.  He didn't like it. 

I will write more about the Windjammer Marketplace (great) and LaPatisserie (so-so) as I finish this review. 

My review is not finished.  I still have 3 days of the cruise left to review and I'm going to write a list of pros and cons of Royal Caribbean.  

I will have my review finished sometime this weekend.

The seas were calm.

I had a slice of pizza at Sorrento’s.  Sorrento’s pizza could really use an upgrade.  Carnival’s pizza is much better and has way more options.  Royal should at least have out a margherita pizza at all times and I never saw that option. 

Do you see the line of people below?  This is the 2pm line for people to make the big show today in the Royal Theatre -– We Will Rock You.   We had reservations and I didn’t even bother because with a line like that, how would they ever know who did or did not have reservations?  This line started at the Royal Theatre and wound all the way back to Brass & Bock pub.

This area is the very front of Two70… all the way across there are these big, comfy chairs where you can sit and watch the water all day. 

Today we saw dolphins playing around the side of the boat and in the waters behind the boat before we played Bingo.  A man I met from North Carolina was using a professional camera and a tripod taking pictures all over the ship.  When I saw him, he would show me his beauties from the day.  He was able to catch a photo of a whale with the dolphins. 

We played Bingo in Two70 at around 2:30pm, I think?  Apparently, there was Bingo another day but I didn’t see it in the Cruise Compass.  It was sorta like pulling teeth but we finally got bar service in Two70.  I had a strawberry daquiri with mango mixed smoothie (basically a strawberry daquiri & mango mixed with no rum).   

I’m not the only person that talked about the Cruise Compass needing reworked.  It is a jumbled mess and they list activities like this:   “We Will Rock You – theatrical show” or  “1000 draw game – Casino” instead of like it should be…  “Casino – xxx enterCasinogame name hereX“ and  “Gameshow – Xxenter name of gameshow here” and “Musical – Xxenter name of musical here” because really, we don’t necessarily care what the name of the musical or the gameshow or the casino game is today, we just know what we are interested in seeing – some of us like Bingo, others like the casino, others want to see a gameshow, etc.   When we showed-up for the movie to Spiderman the other night, they had just ended a gameshow!  We couldn’t believe we had missed a gameshow.

We didn’t win at Bingo.  Lowest entry fee is $29.  I think it goes up in $10 increments to $69.  We did the $39 entry and won $5 on our Click-it.

We took naps this afternoon. 

We had dinner in the dining room around 7:30pm tonight.  Tonight was lobster night so there was a short wait to be seated (a first on this cruise if you eat past 7pm).  We were anytime dining but they walked us to our “normal” seat and there was someone else eating there so we were placed elsewhere.  No biggie to me but they all seemed perplexed by the situation. I thought the idea of My Time Dining was to eat whenever you want and meet new people every night but I suppose it’s just the former.

The menu…

He had the prime rib and two lobster tails.  I had the New York strip. 

I realize this cruise is probably not like the typical Royal cruise because they were always slammed by 5:30pm for dinner so when we arrive at 7:30pm, the rush was *normally* over but the dining room always seemed like they had just been beaten to a pulp so they were barely able to get through our "late" service.  For this crowd and this type of cruise.. if you show-up at 8pm, you are walking straight to a table with no wait.  However… you will wait FOREVER for your food.  It always seemed like they must have had to hurry-up and make new food for the late shift because the first shift ordered so much.  Many times we heard waiters exclaim of how busy it had just been.   Food service was extra slow tonight because of it being lobster night.   I did hear Angelo (the dining room manager) say there was a wait for lobsters.  We left at 8:55pm promptly and took our desserts with us and we had to push to make that happen.  I thought the World Series started at 9pm so I wanted out of that dining room before 9pm.  We watched the Nationals win the World Series tonight.  I am not a Nationals fan but I definitely did not want the Astros winning so the outcome was as I had hoped.  The game and ceremonies were long so I did not go to sleep until after 1:30am. 

Today was a good cruising day.  

Sea Day, continued...

After the cupcake decorating class, I began my quest to view every floor on the ship from forward to aft.  I walked floors 2, 3, 4, & 5 completely today.  Floor 2 was simply by mistake because it was available on the elevator so that is where I started.  It’s where the medical center is located. 

There were salsa dance lessons going-on…

Funky art outside of the casino…

Stairwell art…

Today was the $10 sale… it was mass chaos at first but calmed down later.  This area did stay steady all day and the items did change throughout the day but mainly it was purses, bags, scarfs, watches, jewelry, etc.  It was buy 4 get 1 free.  The last night they had their Royal Caribbean warm jackets normally listed at $70 for $9.  I bought my mom one.  She loves it.

Trivia...

There are little hidden areas on deck 5 between the lifeboats that have loungers, peace and quiet.  It was a nice day to be hidden there today.  Today, the port side was windy and no sun (at least at the time I was taking pictures) but the aft side was not sunny and more wind.  This boat has a lot of loungers and places to get away or simply sit and read, nap, be alone, gather with friends or family, etc. 

Wednesday, Oct 30 – Sea Day

Today was a sea day as we were cruising from Saint John, New Brunswick to our next port tomorrow which will be Halifax, Novia Scott.  It was in the mid to high 50s and sunny today.   We slept-in.  I had a Cupcake Decorating Class in the La Patisserie on the 4^th floor at 11:30am today.  I had signed-up for this precruise for $30.  It was fun.  I arrived around 11am and there were already some people there.  They have you wash your hands and put on your chef hat and grab a seat.  The instructor spoke.  She was happy and energetic.  Her manager spoke (he was full of energy too and nice). Everyone assisting with the cupcake class had great attitudes.  The vibe was fun-fun-fun!  

The manager talking to us...

You start with some basic utensils and for this specific creation, they filled two bags of icing – the “mustard” and the “mayonnaise” for each person plus each person received two vanilla cupcakes and one chocolate cupcake.

There were two tables – possibly 10 to 12 at a table?  My tablemates were funny and we really enjoyed ourselves chatting and encouraging one another.  There were some kids building cupcake creations with their parents (moms and dads) and they enjoyed it too. 

Half way through is when they reveal you are making a cheeseburger and fries!

My final creation… a cheeseburger on a sesame bun!

I enjoyed this class and would have done it a second time with a different creation if that option had been available.  Highly recommend this bit of fun for all ages and genders!  🙂

Saint John, New Brunswick continued...

The 3-hour Photography Tour started on time at 2:30pm.  (Line-up was 2:15pm).  We visited five places and we had 20 minutes or less at each place. 

We drove to the reversing river first and hit it at the perfect time of day to see the change.  I didn’t think too much of this phenomenon.  I would say it’s one of those things better to hear or read about then to see.   Saint John had a windstorm recently so most of their foliage had disappeared.  Our guide told us we were about two weeks late to see their autumn colors.

Next we drove about 25 minutes out to a park where they have a waterfall.  It was warm and sunny and I almost fell asleep on the bus out to the waterfall.  There were three separate viewing platforms.

The park is beautiful.

See these berries?  Birds eat these and it makes them drunk.

Next we drove to the covered bridge.  This was an “extra” stop because it was the last tour of the year and they said they had not been here all year.  We were able to walk inside the bridge.  It might not look like it but it was a sturdy bridge.

Next we drove to a lobster boat wharf.  It was simply some boats in the water, nothing major happening.  I loved hearing our guide’s stories about the lobster licenses and the limitations and etc.  My favorite part of this tour was the information that was given to us on our drive to the lobster wharf – all about lobstering in Canada.

It was almost dark by the time we made it to the beach.  We were told if you find a rock with a ring of quartz going all the way around it, you should make a wish.  Our guide told us a nice personal story about a wish that was made in her family which eventually came true. 

We returned to the port a little after 5:30pm, actually, probably closer to 6pm.  There were a couple of professional or wanna-be-professional photographers on this trip.  Lots of people just used iPhones.  Some people had simple cameras like myself.  It was informative and the guide was nice.  She had some good stories. 

We watched a terrific Game 6 of the World Series in our stateroom tonight.  We didn't do much else that I can recall.

We were in Saint John until 11pm (at least) and the all aboard time was 10:30pm.  It is interesting to note that the Cruise Compass said this for today:  "Due to local Canadian regulations a limited number of bars will be open while in port today.  Once we set sail all bars will begin normal hours of operation."  My husband said he saw the Sky Bar and the Bionic Bar were closed.  He can't remember what else was closed.  

A Princess boat left before us and she played the sweetest tune on her horn for us as she was leaving.

Today was an okay day.  I finally hit over 10,000 steps on my watch today. 

We walked outside the City Market and there is a park dedicated to World War I veterans.  The trees were lovely here.

We walked down the hill.  That was fantastic.  There were three ships in port today and the crowds to take the city bus or just to get to the City Market area were huge..

Directly across from the gate to get back into the port area is a small lobster restaurant called Steamers.  Just thinking about it now makes me want seafood.  We saw some of the plates and the fish and chips looked amazing.  Lots of people lined-up to eat lobsters here, too.  We asked to sit at the bar (no wait) and we both had one drink so this was my one alcoholic drink the entire trip… a strawberry daquiri. 

Steamers was packed with charm.  They advertise bacon-wrapped scallops and the next day, that’s all my husband could talk about wanting to eat. 

We showed-up for our new tour - the photography tour - at 2:15pm.  The lady in charge of the bus tour wanted to take my handwritten receipt and I wouldn’t let her have it.  She finally talked to another lady and they still said no, I couldn’t have it.  I requested to get at least half of it so I could show RC the 20% off we got – you know – “just in case.”  Do I tell you now that it took me making a trip to Guest Services, basically being called a liar, making a trip to the Shore Excursions desk and again being dealt with as someone making stuff up in order to get the discount?  I supposed everyone who cruises RC could care less about $40? I don't know but I care about $4 and that's one reason we have a good life.  Regardless, guest services asked me who the lady was that gave me the discount.  I told them she had red hair.  They were on the phone with Shore Excursions and told them and they instantly replied to me “We don’t have a rep that has red hair” to which I again explained Aquilla has a rep that has red hair. Guest Services sent me upstairs to Shore Excursions.   You know how she finally handled it in the Shore Excursions area?  "If you want a discount, we’ll give you a discount.”  After she gave me the discount which she thought I was just wanting because I’m a cheapskate… I politely explained to her that Aquilla Tours blamed the entire mix-up on them and what they said.  I think she may have finally believed me at that point.  It was like “Hey, I’m trying to tell you what happened here so it doesn’t happen to another customer and you don’t believe me.” You know what’s crazy?  Reading this review you would think I’m loud or rude or BiPolar or hard to deal with and I swear on a million dollars I am not any of those.  I have a loud laugh.  I am laid-back, mainly patient, and one of the most upbeat people I know.  I was floored at how some of these situations were handled by RC.  

Tuesday, Oct 29 – Saint John, New Brunswick Canada

Today was an odd day for us.  I feel like all I’m doing is complaining but we liked our cruise a lot… just a few odd things happened in a row.  So…  we were determined to do an excursion in Saint John today.  Why?  I have no idea why.  Probably because we should have done one the day before. 

We were standing in line to leave the boat at 11am.  And, just like almost every cruise I’ve ever been on, some individuals who were not US nationals decided to not complete their paperwork so they couldn’t release the boat.  They paged them overhead and had employees walking around asking “Are you Lee Won or Ja Wu?” as we all stood in line on deck 5 waiting to leave the ship.  The line started by the Bionic Bar entrance/exit area and wrapped all the way through Two70 apparently.   We were there at 11am and we were located just before the wine bar (Vinos?).   Eventually, they found the two cruisers who had not completed their paperwork by 6pm two days prior when it was due and the ship was released and we could debark.   Here is my complaint:  why don’t you go hunt these people down the night before??  Why hold-up the entire ship?  Also, RC only paged for them overhead 3X in the 30 minutes we were standing there and it was the third announcement when they finally said their room number.  Say their names and their room names continually until you find these people or else go find them the night before and get your act together.  WHY do ships wait until the last minute anyway??

As we were waiting in line we watched the sweetest lady painting children’s faces.  Later, we would see her painting faces for children and adults on Halloween.   She was great!

So, long story short, if you want off early in Canada the first day….  Don’t count on it.  We were off the ship at 11:37am.  We took the escalator down and walked straight to the Aquilla Trolley and Tour stand.  We were second in line.  We booked a 12:15pm Trolley Tour which lasted 1 hour 15 minutes and was $53.99 each.  We thought we would be paying them directly, but they said “No.  Your shipboard account will be charged.  This is a ship excursion.”   Okay. They gave us a handwritten order/receipt paper.

We walked around in the tent next door and shopped a bit.  Here is view of our ship and the tent.

They were selling fudge in this tent and the best smelling nuts ever.  We bought some nuts (they were great) and my husband wanted to buy some fudge.  It was terrible.

Hubby found a new hat.  A hat of some type is always his trip souvenir. 

At 12:15pm, we walked over to the trolley tour area and out comes this lady who says something like…  “Everyone with tickets that look like this (she holds-up colored Royal Caribbean tickets) follow this lady out the door to the bus and everyone with tickets that look like this (she holds up our handwritten tickets) stay here.”  So, everyone leaves but 9 of us and she proceeds to tell us that Royal Caribbean messed-up.  She said they were still selling tours this morning onboard and they had oversold the trolley so it was sold out and we could not go on this excursion.  So, we asked if there were any other tours available today.  Everything for this morning had already been booked between 11:30am and 12:15pm by the hundreds of people who got off the ship after us.  We did see a long line at their booking desk so that makes sense.  The only tour still available was a $98.99 3-hour photography tour leaving at 2:15pm and it takes you to see the reversing river, out to a waterfall about 25 minutes out of town, to a covered bridge, to a lobstering wharf, to the beach, and back to the port.  They offered us a 20% discount if we wanted to sign-up for it.  Give me a sucker label because that is what we did.  Our new meeting time was now 2:15pm. 

We now had almost two hours so we decided to walk to City market.  We walked down the street about 3-4 blocks and then up a steep hill.  We later learned from our photography tour that this is the steepest street in all of Canada.   I was surprised to hear that considering the streets in Quebec.

There were lots of people sitting and waiting and not walking up the hill or taking a break.  It is a bit of a huff and puff I suppose?  I’m not in good shape and I did fine.

The City Market is sorta interesting.  We weren’t really interested in shopping in Canada this trip because we are flying to Canada in a couple of weeks to enjoy the Quebec Christmas Markets.  We walked through the City Market and it was packed. 

The City Market sells everything from glass hummingbirds (a very popular item) to food to pumpkin spice coffee to t-shirts and art. 

Bar Harbor, continued…

Unfortunately, I had pre-booked (online/pre-trip) a Swedish massage for my husband for 2pm today.  We had to leave Bar Harbor early so he wouldn’t miss his massage.  ☹  We were in line at the dock to catch a tender boat back to the ship before 1pm.  We figured we might have a 20 minute wait.  Nope.  From the time we finally started getting concerned about the wait and started watching our watches, we waited at least one hour and four minutes for a tender boat to show-up and load us all. You can easily get 75 people on one of these tender boats so I’m not sure where the tender was or what happened, but no explanation was ever given from RC.  The tender to the ship was quick btw, not even 10 minutes and loading and unloading is immediate. 

Here is a small view of the tent you wait under and the people there…

We got off the tender boat and ran up to the 15^th floor where the spa was (I think this is the correct floor ?) and we get there…. Lo and behold… they had rebooked him to 2:30pm while we were off the ship.  You know what they did?  They left us a voicemail message on our phone -while we were off the ship - saying he was rebooked because they do not offer that particular massage at 2pm.  We booked the massage online pre-cruise so why exactly did this happen and why weren’t we informed the day before the massage??  The ladies in the spa were not friendly.  They told him to return in 20 minutes.  He did return and got his massage but he said the lady that read his paperwork and talked to him didn’t understand right from left and she worked on the opposite side of his neck/shoulder area that he had requested.  I have no idea if he said anything during the massage or not.  

Just so you know, if you are one of those people who don’t want to tender… you had beautiful views of Bar Harbor from the boat today…

I am going to say one thing in RC’s favor about the tender boats.  The captains and staff working the tender boats were efficient, nice, and helpful to everyone getting on and off.  Safety was their priority.  The boats were also big and they felt safe.  Another cruiseline had decided to go ahead and anchor in the choppy waters next to the dock and they were using their little orange lifeboats to go ashore!­ We watched the lifeboats rocking up and down and s-l-o-w-l-y making their way to and fro the dock.  There is no way you would have gotten me in one of those in that choppy water.  I was sure one of them would simply sink any second.  So, maybe RC usually uses their lifeboats in calm waters and they had to hurry-up and hire these other larger boats for the day?  I do not know.

Tonight we watched Spiderman: Far From Home in the Royal Theatre at 9pm.  They were selling popcorn (and maybe other stuff?) outside the theatre before the show.  We liked the movie and the popcorn. 

Bar Harbor, continued…

Royal Caribbean did something for Bar Harbor I wish they would have done for every port… they gave us a little easy-to-read map.   It almost looks like a character drawn map.  When we cruised overseas with them 10 years ago, they did this for every port.  On this cruise, Bar Harbor was the only port where we got this little map and some extra information.  It was great.

So, we got off our tender and knew (from the map) to walk to the left to the path that wound around in front of the Bar Harbor Inn and then on down past many beautiful mansions.  We were never “hidden” or felt insecure as there are small paths/streets along the way where you can leave the path earlier if you want to return to the small town quicker.  We walked and looked and took pictures and loved every second of wandering down this path.  We finally took a side street and walked back to the little town.  

This tiny town is packed with fun features…

We shopped.  It was basically the end of the season so everything was on sale.  I got a fantastic Bar Harbor hoodie for $29, a beautiful Maine mug for $9, several kitchy items here and there.  There is also a Walgreens in this little downtown area and we ran in there for just a second too. 

Here is a view from outside the Walgreens…

One of the shops we stopped at had genuine items and silly items and she only took cash.  She was a locally owned business and had a sign stating this prior to purchasing.  I asked her for the best place to get a cup of clam chowder and she recommended Tesla’s on the main strip.  You never know about the places on the “main strip” – ya know?  Well, her recommendation was top notch.  We walked-in and immediately the place smelled like fish (but in a good way).  We were given a table upstairs and I ordered a locally produced blueberry soda (it was fabulous) and my husband had a blueberry lemondrop martini (he says it was fantastic).  We also ordered crab-stuffed mushrooms and a cup of clam chowder.  Soooooo yummy!!!  This place was sooooo good.  Lots of people sitting around us were eating lobsters. 

Hubby also had Oysters Rockefeller today…

We walked around a bit after our wonderful meal.. which was worth every penny and we had fabulous service. 

The view from the top of the little hill down to the docks..

The town is idyllic.

Beautiful Bar Harbor – October 28

Bar Harbor was a surprise gem of this trip.  Pre-trip I had read “you can’t miss Acadia National Park” blah blah.  I was not interested in going to see a park.  Well, I don’t mind that we missed Acadia National Park necessarily, but I am SO glad we did not miss this port.  It was breathtaking views from the minute our ship anchored (this was a tender port).   One of the tender boats…

Where we were anchored... we were hidden from the shore, we were sort of around a cove.  I took this from the tender boat upon return. 

At the beginning of the day, it was beautiful but there was a very thick fog still fairly low. Later in the day, the fog lifted to the top of the mountains.  Which reminds me... the only Royal Caribbean excursion I was interested in this trip was the Cadillac Mountain excursion. I believe it’s a 45 min drive to the top, beautiful views of all of Bar Harbor and a nice place to get out and take photos, then a 45 min drive to the bottom.  I tried to talk my husband into this excursion a couple of times but he was resistant.  I should have just booked it.  We talked to two separate men who took this excursion and told us it was amazing.  They got to the top of Cadillac Mountain and it was too foggy to see everything so they went down a little further and got fantastic views.  

So just a little bit about the situation in Bar Harbor today on RC’s part.  They came over the announcement speakers and said the ocean was okay where we anchored but as you got into the harbor more, it was much more rough closer to the shore so they had to anchor farther away than normal.   Having said that, they said it was taking longer to get the tender boats back and forth so there would be a wait to get on a tender and get off the ship today.  They announced this but we still got off the boat fairly quickly because not even 30 min later they announced they had tender boats ready to load and for everyone to proceed to the gangway.   It was a quick ride.  Returning is an entirely different story but we'll save that for another post.  

The Bar Harbor Inn.  In front of this Inn is a beautiful path you can walk from the dock all the way in front of the Inn and continue on around and walk in front of some beautiful mega mansions.  The scenery and the path is what this cruise was all about.  There are benches and places to sit along the way.   Do be careful as even with the high wall, the waves were crashing and we both got sprayed or nearly got sprayed several times while walking this path.   One of the hotels we walked by had this steaming hot pool as we walked by…  I wanted to go jump in! It looked fantastic.  I seriously think we will go back to Bar Harbor next year and stay here on a land trip.

I will continue with the next post…  

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone  🙂

I'm going to try to see if I can finish this review his tonight???  

3 minutes ago, tomservo said:

 

Great review! I’ll be on in a few weeks. I have the refreshment package as well. What did you like best about it? Any drinks you would recommend? Also where did you get smoothies? Thanks!

Thank you!  I liked the refreshment package and would do it again.  I liked the cup where you could get your own drinks anytime you wanted them at four different locations - two red machines inside Sorrento's Pizza and one machine on each side of the Windjammer (silver machines).  I got Dr Pepper from this machine.  I tried the cream soda (it was terrible).  I did Coke one time just because they were completely out of Dr Pepper in the Windjammer.   They have a lot of options.... lemonade, Coke, Sprite, etc. 

Our cups:

The machines:

I liked the free bottled water at any time - getting off the ship (when they were selling it to others), at dinner, from any bar, etc.  They would even write down my room number when I was leaving the ship... but in the end,  I was never charged because all bottled water is included.  It was a good perk.  

I loved the mango smoothies.   You can get them at any bar.  I got one at the bar by the hamster wheel (I think it's the Sky Bar?) and the Pool bar and I got one (although begrudgingly at first) from the Two70 bar.  At the Two70 bar, the guy next to me ordered a Strawberry Daquiri with Mango and two shots of rum so I ordered a Strawberry Daquiri with Mango no rum.  We both loved our drinks even though the waitress/bar attendant was rude to us at first, she even came back later and gave me a second one.  You can apparently get "smoothies" anywhere - they are just the fruity drinks without alcohol.  They are delicious.  The mango smoothie is my favorite because it's not sweet at all.  It is frozen mango blended-up.  

Portland, Maine continued…

We shopped some more after our big meal and slowly meandered our way back to the ship.  It was absolutely pouring rain at this point and we were soaked from our shoes to our knees.  And now I will back-up a bit and complain (I told you I wasn’t going to gloss anything over).  This is what the port looks like…  you walk off the ship and you walk over a covered bridge down to the blue-grey building and then you walk down a long semi-covered walkway to the white tent-looking building… this area is the end of the port/terminal.  From here, you walk out the gates.   Can you see from this pic?

So, we did not need our IDs to get back on the ship in Boston.  We simply needed our SeaPass cards.  For Portland, we had our SeaPass cards in our pockets and as we were trudging to get back to the boat when at the white tent, the lone Alias or Alliance Security (whatever they are called) guy stops us and tells us he must see our IDs.  He was in the ONE area of this entire walking trip to get back to the ship that had NO COVERAGE so we were standing – along with many other people – in the pouring rain – and he demanded ID.  We had to walk back to the white terminal building, open our bags, get out our IDs and then go back to Mr Arshole standing at the entrance and show him ID that matched our SeaPass. He was flat-out rude about the entire situation.  When we got back on the ship, I stopped a ship security guide and told him.  He said “yeah” and I replied “We didn’t have to show ID in Boston” and he says “Well, it is up to him” and then I pointed-out that it was pouring rain where this guy was standing and he was holding-up people in the pouring rain.  The RC security guy could have cared less.  He said nothing in response.  For the record, I’m fully aware we have almost always had to have ID to get back on a ship but we didn’t have to show it in Boston and it’s not like these ports are in Turkey or Greece.  Geez Louise.

It continued to rain the rest of the day as we were leaving Portland and then I saw a lobster jump out of the water while I was on our balcony..

If you believe that, you are a sucker.. just like the lobster…

I can only imagine how beautiful Portland would have been had the rain stopped.

Btw, my husband wants me to point-out that the TVs in the rooms are fantastic.  We watched the entire World Series from our room and we were very thankful RC offered this to us.  It was on ESPN live which has good, non-biased announcers and it was great to be able to keep-up every night as I love baseball.

Tomorrow, we are in my favorite port… the surprise gem… Bar Harbor, Maine

I think I may quit writing tonight.  I have an appointment out of town tomorrow.  I am trying to get this finished by tomorrow night (in between laundry and paying bills and making dinner) because I am probably going back to 60-65 hour weeks next week and my 13+ hour days may start again on Thursday so I won’t have time to finish this if I don’t do it now.  I do hope my review is helpful and somewhat entertaining if nothing else.  

Oct 27 – Portland, Maine

Welcome to beautiful Maine!

The Maine coastline is perfect this time of year. It was also 41 degrees and the forecast was calling for rain all day and it was already sprinkling.

We were off the boat by 9:30am because we had a little fun planned today. I found a private company called Lucky Catch Cruises that offers you the chance to ride in a small lobstering boat out to the Casco Bay and help pull the lobster traps.  It’s only $30 per person and they only allow 14 people max on the boat (including the crew).  It’s mainly a small tourist attraction however, this family-run business does pull their traps every day and they sell their lobsters to the Portland Lobster Company, a local lobster restaurant on the wharf.  They also offer seal-watching tours, etc.  The reservation said rain or shine so off we went… in what was now rain… but we had brought ponchos and our umbrellas for this cruise which we quickly donned. We walked about a half mile in the rain and did not let the weather dampen our spirits. Finally, we found the area where Lucky Catch Cruises office was located and about that time I turned-on my cell phone only to have a voicemail saying due to a weather advisory, they were forced to cancel our excursion and we would be refunded.  Soon, all the boats in the bay were stopped and the cruises you can buy to take out and see this or that were all cancelled. The rain was getting a bit stronger and so was the wind on the water.  Oh Well.  Safety First.

We easily found the boat we would have taken.. you simply walk off the boat and walk to your left.  There is nothing to your right so everyone walks to the left.  Walk past the big brick parking garage and you are now looking at several lobster restaurants, shops, a Hilton, a bar, DeMillo’s on the water (look it up if you don’t know), Portland Lobster Company, Starbucks, etc.  There are some quaint shops that offer some adorable souvenirs and novelty items for decent prices.  We purchased some blueberry honey, some Moose Smooch lip balms (blueberry and coconut) made in Maine, saltwater taffy, lots of souvenirs & gifts, etc.

We walked around this area and shopped until about 10:30am when we got in line for the Portland Lobster Company.  They open at 11am and had a line waiting for them before they open if that tells you anything.  I had read about them on Trip Advisor but there was a frequent RC cruiser (I believe she said this was her 32^nd cruise with RC) in line who told us she only comes to this lobster restaurant in Portland.  They were closing for the season the next day so we got lucky getting to eat here.

We ordered a market price 1 1/8 lobster meal (it was $19.99 today), a market price scallop meal ($19.99 today), a blueberry draft beer (it was fantastic), a cup of clam chowder (it was good but a bit milky/thin – but still soooooo good!), and a slice of blueberry pie (eat the blueberries not the crust).   I also bought my dad a Portland Lobster Company hat. 

You get a lobster that lights-up when your food is ready to eat and the tables around us were cheering when their lobsters lit-up.  Ha

Inside seating is limited to maybe ten people max?  They have an outdoor bar and a heated, outdoor rain tent which kept us completely dry and we were happy with that.  

We loved the food.  We stuffed ourselves and even dipped the fries into the clam chowder even though we couldn’t finish the scallops, the fries, or the chowder.  Neither of us even touched our coleslaw.  I heard someone exclaim even the corn was good.  The only thing I didn’t like is the scallops were fried in a batter! What in the world??  I scraped it off and then popped the scallop in my mouth.

My husband’s (joking) look after eating…

1 hour ago, SKrauss said:

Are shots included in the Deluxe Beverage Package? If so, can you order a shot and a beer? Does Royal cut you off like Carnival? 

My husband ordered double shots regularly.  Like, a double shot of Tito's vodka with a splash of lime or with a splash of 7up.

I don't ever know of a time when they physically gave him two drinks at a time... I can't imagine that but there would be no reason for him to order two drinks at a time.  He does not drink beer. 

My husband got more than his money's worth.... A LOT more.... he was never cutoff but then again, he was never a sloppy drunk.

7 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Sorry for your experience.   Since we were doing a b2b we had lunch that day in the dining room.  When we boarded for the Bermuda cruise we went to Cafe 270.  Had sailed Anthem in 2018 and Quantum in 2015 so did have an idea where to go.

If we sail on a larger ship again (I want to do Oasis of the Seas) then I will definitely do something different on day one.  We were in the dark for this cruise.  🤷‍♀️

My Cruise Compass from Day 1 says...

Windjammer

Café two70

Solarium

Coastal Kitchen

….were all open at 11am.   I assure you the lady in front of me said the Solarium was closed so I don't know??
 

Chops Grille is open at 11:30am on Day 1 per the Cruise Compass ($$)

Café Promenade is open 24/7 (I was never a fan of their offerings)

Brass & Bock is open at 10am ($)

Sorrentos opens at 11am

Johnny Rockets opens at 11am ($)

Seaplex Doghouse opens at 11am

Had I known what the Windjammer would be like and had read a review like mine previously, I would have picked one of the alternative options for our first day lunch -  probably Seaplex or Johnny Rockets.... especially since I just saw that my Cruise Compass from Day 1 shows Bumper Cars were available from 11:30am to 2:30pm that day and they are located in the Seaplex.  They were only available 3 days of our 9 day cruise.   

1 hour ago, njkruzer said:

We were also on this cruise as well as the one just before to Bermuda.   A beautiful ship. As for lunch boarding day try Cafe 270.  Kummelwack sandwich!  Solarium bistro should also have been open.  In Windjammer did you head all the way back?  Just before heading outside there is the Gluten free section with great crepes (don't need gluten free but crepes are fantastic).

We were directed to the Windjammer by the RC staff and this ship was new to us so we didn't know about Café 270.  We walked in the left side and all the way back around and did not find two empty seats until we hit the right side past the back beverage area!  It was packed.  We grabbed a table as two people were getting up which is the only way we could find a table.

The lady in line in front of us actually left her husband and walked all the way back to the Solarium to see if it was open and came back and said it was not.  During this time, we moved from behind the elevators to the middle of one of the elevators.  It was a giant mess on day one.

Before I post about Portland, I want to take a moment and recognize some really great RC staffers…

-       Sang, our room steward.  He is from Indonesia.   He was always pleasant.  We liked him so much.  He would sneak in our room at the oddest times and make the bed or clean, even when we figured he was done for the day.  I have never posted this on CC before because I don’t know if they are supposed to report it to the cruiselines or not but we have always quietly handed our room stewards $100 cash.  Sang was nowhere to be found on the last evening or the last morning.  We finally left our room and walked off the ship and I feel bad that we didn’t give him a little extra like we normally do our room stewards.

-       All the Windjammer dining room attendants.  Would you like orange juice at breakfast?  Can I get you something to drink? They brought around glasses of beverages and slices of cake sometimes.  They were plentiful and they were nice and it was great.  I felt like I was waited on when I was at the Windjammer and I’ve never felt that way at a buffet before.  If I asked for iced tea, even at breakfast, they found a way to make it for me.  Some people need coffee to feel alive and I require unsweet iced tea every morning.  I usually drink a full glass before 6:30am every morning.  On this cruise, I found if I asked nicely, they never said no.  I greatly appreciated this small gesture.   Also, the bartender in the Windjammer (a smiley black guy, I do not know his name) was always willing to hand me a bottled water anytime I asked.  (I had the beverage package)

-       Iketut in the dining room.  This young man worked tirelessly and was always trying to do his very best to make a good impression on everyone.  He dropped something one night and he was trying to hide it but you could tell he was upset with himself.  RC… if this employee is new, please be patient with him.  He will come around in quick time.  Alfredo, by the way, was the dining room manager in our area of the American Icon dining room and he was nice, he kept everyone on their toes, and he floated around the tables asking if we needed anything or if he could help in any way.

-       The washy-washy girl from the Philippines who stood outside the Windjammer every day.  Loved her.  She is sweet.  She has the perfect demeanor to tell people to wash their hands before they eat.  She also likes cooler weather like myself.  She was engaging with guests and I really think you couldn’t have a better person working in this area.

-       The young man from Peru who works in the RC gift shop.  He is nice, polite, and does a great job.  He dealt with a difficult customer with a smile and acted like nothing happened.  He was engaging.  We briefly discussed Peru.  He was backed-up with people waiting to checkout and he just flew through each person one by one and never blinked an eye or stopped smiling.

In general, all over the ship, I would say 98% of the Royal Caribbean employees were nice and helpful and pleasant to be around.  The bartenders did not short us or grimace because we had beverage packages.  I had the regular beverage package and never got my “money’s worth” of soda or bottled water because I like unsweet iced tea but I enjoyed having a smoothie now and then or getting a Dr Pepper from the cool machines (Dr Pepper is only available in those machines through the beverage package – there is no other Dr Pepper available anywhere on the ship, FYI).  I got my package for $20/day.  My husband had the unlimited premium alcohol package (~$48/day I think?) and he got more than his money’s worth.  He never had a bartender tell him no when he requested Tito’s vodka nor did he get any clapback if he was getting a drink every half hour which I’m sure he did some nights.  The only time he ran into anything was day one when one of the bartenders told him he wouldn’t give him a double because I was there too and I didn’t have the alcohol package so I might want some of his alcohol?  That was super strange and never happened again.  I am not saying I don’t drink.  I didn’t drink a drop of alcohol on the ship and haven’t really drank regularly (like a couple of glasses of wine a week) in years… maybe some wine or champagne or a single drink here or there is all I ever drink these days so I am glad RC offers us to purchase two separate packages.  Frankly, I didn’t even want the beverage package at all but they did require that I have a basic beverage package if he was getting the premium alcohol package. 

Anyway, long story short, the service by RC was top notch and for me, that creates an overall excellent feel on the cruise and makes me a little more willing to spend the extra few dollars for an RC cruise in the future. This is the one area where RC is light years ahead of Carnival.  It was the same way 10 years ago. 

Boston Day continued..

We came back to the ship and set out on Deck 14 enjoying the warm sun while talking for about an hour.   I found a nice lounger in the covered pool area (where it is warmer) and watched the planes landing at Boston Logan Airport.  I may have dozed off a minute or two in that warm sun and comfy lounger. 

We decided to checkout Bumper Cars tonight.  Today was the first day we noticed them listed in the Cruise Compass and they were only available from 5:30pm to 7:30pm and you had to dig through all pages of your Cruise Compass to find out what time they would specifically be available.  It was listed in small print on the back page of 6 pages (the Cruise Compass badly needs reworked).  Bumper Cars are FANTASTIC!!  They should be available sooooooooo much more often than RC has them on the schedule!!!!  Are you paying attention RC?! PEOPLE LOVE THE BUMPER CARS!!!   We had about a 15 minute wait to ride this afternoon and then we got back in line (it was very short) and we only had about a 10 minute wait to ride so we rode twice and it was wonderful! 

My husband loved the Bumper Cars too…

We walked around the ship tonight as we were in Boston until late tonight (past 8pm).  Note:  this is what I wore to dinner.  I was fine.  On this cruise you did see more dressy attire by some patrons but jeans every night were fine.  So were sandals I noticed (which I did not do but I don't care what you wear as long as you are clean).  This cruise was odd also because you may be freezing or you may be sweaty, it depends on where on the ship you are or what you are doing.  The weather was between 40s to almost 70 one day so it was definitely an autumn cruise.  

Better pic of the lights of Boston…

We headed to the dining room around 7:15pm tonight and the line was shorter for anytime dining tonight.  Yes, we had a reservation because I had made reservations every night on the RC app once we got on the ship but reservations on this cruise for anything after 7pm were not needed.  The dinner was long but okay and the menu was surprisingly almost the same as prior.

Food was better tonight than prior and service was a teeny bit faster but still too slow.  You don’t need 45 minutes to digest a salad before your steak arrives.  Hubby loved the escargot.  We think RC needs to add some more variety to their dining room menus because HAL and CCL are killing them when it comes to main dining room menus.  Same mains, same appetizers, same desserts every night with maybe one change each was surprising to see. 

We sat out on the deck for a long while after dinner because it was so nice outside. 

Today was a good day.  Tomorrow… Portland, Maine.

Saturday, October 26 - Boston

The ship docked in Boston just after 5am this morning while it was still dark outside. Our TV said 52 degrees with 94% humidity. It was so foggy we could barely see the lights of Boston directly in front of us.  However, by the time we were ready to go exploring, which was around 9am, it was a clear and sunny autumn Saturday in Boston.  

Note:  we had NO pre-booked shore excursions for this cruise with RC.  My husband doesn’t like being “stuck” on a bus or somewhere for 3 or 4 or more hours and I figured we could find things to book at each port.  For the record, with this cruise, I was a bit wrong. 

We walked off and Boston is very welcoming.  The police – the actual Boston police – that were on duty helping with this ship’s debarkation (not the rude Alliance Security) were incredibly nice.   There is a desk setup outside the exit which says “Shuttle to Quincy Market”  for $12 one way or $20 roundtrip.  An Uber (for 2) showed $13 so we thought we’d Uber.  I couldn’t get a signal.  It was like there was something in the port area blocking all the signals.  So, we walked over to the shuttle desk and the non-RC shuttle rep says she isn’t for sure where the shuttle drops you off but it’s “about 5 minutes walk” from Quincy Market.  Ummm…. Okay??  We asked if she had a map and she directed us to go back into the terminal we had just left and ask for a map and that’s when we ran into the Boston Police officer who nicely told us there was someone from the shuttle sending everyone back into the terminal for Boston maps but once you leave that terminal, you are not allowed back in that way without going through a completely different security point.  He got us a map, apologized profusely, and sent us on our way.  I noticed he had to do the same thing to the young man behind us.   So, the shuttle people didn’t know what they were doing and I had no phone signal.  What a mess. 

We walked to the end of the terminal/port area and crossed the street and I finally got a signal.  I ordered an Uber and this time the fee was $16.  We got a crappy driver that charged us an additional $1.46 due to the congestion in the area which I’m not sure how they can do that because frankly, at this point, there was no congestion.   I did not tip.  We got to Quincy Market quickly.  

Lesson #1 about Boston – have something pre-arranged to do for the day

Lesson #2 about Boston – if you aren’t going to do something pre-arranged then take the stupid shuttle because the lady was wrong about the 5-minute “unknown” walk to Quincy Market.  There were 3 ships in town today and they were dropping off hoards of passengers directly in front of the market all day long.  There is a special stop just for buses to load and unload. 

Lesson #3 about Boston – don’t eat breakfast.  Let me say that again.  Don’t eat breakfast.  Quincy Market is 90% aromas and food and we regretted eating breakfast because this meant we did not try the Boston Chowda or the lobsters people were eating or any of the yumminess going on around us inside the market.  We walked all through the Quincy Market on the inside and then through the shops on the outside.  Inside the market are so many eateries and great places I can’t even begin to list them.  There is also a Hard Rock Café, Sephora store, Dunkin’ Donuts, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Store, a Boston Christmas store, etc all next to the Quincy Market (outside).  We walked up to 28^th street.  We sat on the park and watched the other strollers.  It was such a beautiful day.   At one point, I’m not kidding you, you could have filmed a scene from You’ve Got Mail right here and it would have fit in (I realize it’s the wrong city).  There were yellow leaves slowly winding their way off the trees and onto the brick streets.  It was a sight to see.

We found the Cheers bar.  He had an IPA and I had a fall Sangria.  It was strong.  I probably should have went with the Carmel Apple Cider but I saw it too late.

There was a pet costume parade at noon.  Owners dressed-up to match or compliment their dogs.  There were over 60 dogs, 3 cats, and even a guinea pig.  It was so cute and so much fun.  We lined the outside of the restaurants and shops and watch them parade through.  This is a “corn dog” LOL

Our Uber ride back to the port was somehow quicker, we didn’t go through a tunnel, and we were not overcharged.   It was $9.81.  I tipped, as usual. 

When we were coming back through security to get on the ship, Alliance Security, the company apparently the port or RC hires to check you before you are allowed back on - two female employees were yelling - loudly - at some older passengers.  When they first did it, we all jump and we were startled because it was so loud and sharp... and then they just kept yelling.  It was terrible.  I did complain about this on my mid-ship questionnaire.  I felt terrible for the people they were yelling at directly at first but I felt mad as they just kept yelling and eventually they were yelling at all of us coming back on the boat.  They were screaming "FORM ANOTHER LINE! FORM ANOTHER LINE!" instead of nicely saying something like...  "Hey, we have another security scanner opener down here you can use."  One really tall girl kinda laughed a little when one of the older ladies got startled.  It was harassment. 

Sea Day continued…

We walked around some more…

We found the Deck 5 smoking area – starboard side, mid-ship (closer to the aft area).  It was much more windy and cool on the starboard side of the ship today.  Deck 5 smoking area is in an odd area it seems.  It is definitely hidden and I'm not sure there is a bar nearby?  It is all glassed-in but yet it felt much colder than Deck 14’s smoking area.  The furniture is much more comfortable here, however.

“We” took a nap in the late afternoon.   My husband snored while I sat-up in bed and emailed my parents.  We had the balcony door open.  It was 59 degrees, a slight wind, and sunset was upon us.  It was glorious.

We decided to see the 9pm movie poolside – Yesterday.  It was such a sweet and feel-good movie!!  We loved it!!  My husband walked over to the area where you get towels for the pool and they were offering warm blankets.  Oh it was lovely!!  I bundled-up and enjoyed every moment of the movie.  Hubby walked over to Johnny Rockets and got some hot cheese fries during the movie which made it even better.  They had popcorn at the movie last night but not tonight. 

All bundled-up… (notice the guy behind me wore shorts the entire time HA!)

 Eventually, the deck was full of those enjoying the movie

Today was a good day at sea

Oct 25 – Sea Day

I woke-up this morning and decided to try breakfast in the Windjammer.  The eggs were runny and looked like they were covered in Velveeta cheese (they were not).  As a further note, I tried the dining room one morning and ordered their scrambled eggs and it’s the same situation.   We tried the Solarium one morning and they had the dry, normal scrambled eggs but they had a green tint to them.  This egg situation is something RC really needs to work on improving.  A frequent RC cruiser discussed this with us and she said she was on a B2B cruise and last cruise, the eggs weren’t runny or weirdly orange like they were our cruise.  They never improved during our voyage.  ☹  Two thumbs down.   I started standing in line and requesting two eggs over medium so I got two fresh eggs cooked decently.

We had a reservation this morning to ride the “hamster ball in the sky” as my co-workers call it – which the ship calls something else. It was a bit odd.  The RC worker got in with us, shut the door behind him, and told us “don’t move and don’t look at me!”  LOL  There was one couple that was moving and walking all over the little hamster ball and I wanted to take them down! LOL  It was neat to see the top of the ship from up there but I’m positive this little “ride” was not worth the money invested in it nor does it live-up to the hype.  We did not ride it again.

This was the group prior to us..it goes straight up and then the ball twists slowly from side to side

We began exploring the ship today… walking floor to floor and checking everything out.   We stopped for a drink.  This is a mango smoothie.  It is delicious.  You can get a “coconut” mango smoothie which comes with coconut rum.

I signed-up for surfing (not streaming) each day.  I paid less than $10/day for it for the entire cruise by pre-purchasing online when they had a sale about 45 to 60 days out.  I was told I could use it on any device but only one device at a time.  I used my laptop each evening and emailed my parents pictures.  LOTS of pictures sometimes.  No problems 99% of the time.  The only night it did not work was the first night leaving New Jersey.  I was not able to get a signal or use the Internet until the 2^nd night at sea around 6pm.  Also, it seemed as though sometimes between 11pm and 1am, the signal did not work.  Overall, I was happy with the service but I wish it would have been available 24/7 from day one.