DragonOfTheSeas

We have visited Curacao before. So, we did not book any excursions ahead of the visit. We felt we had done the things that were offered that we wanted to do. So, we were able to book a 2 hour taxi tour with 3 other couples [in a van]. Before I post any of those pictures I think it will help to see how the city is organized.

Thank you for posting that. I took a couple pictures, but they just were not very revealing. This is much better.

Here we are in Curaçao. It looked kind of gray when we first approached the shore. Very cloudy. There was no sunrise picture this morning. You can see that we’re sharing Curacao today with the Carnival horizon. But the clouds have all been burnt off by the sun and it is HOT. ☀️ we are at the mega pier. Which is outside of the Saint Anna Harbour, but not really too far from the city.

Our Facebook roll call had another slot pull today. I attended, but did not participate. 63 people had signed up but only about 25+ attended. It was a $25 buy in. They came out about even.

On reposition and transatlantic, or any longer cruises, the ship often has a lecture series. On a transatlantic we once had the producer of the original Top Gun movie. His lectures were full of video clips and insider information. He was great. I know most people do not go on cruises to hear lectures. 🙄 We have a lecture series on this cruise. This is the posting from the performers introducing themselves: Hi, Bill and Sue Wills of Presidents and Their First Ladies, dramatically speaking, giving you an update on our guest lectures for this cruise. Below you will see the schedule, but always double check on your app or cruise compass. Dressed in "presentation black" and using wigs and small props to help create the characters, we will in dramatic fashion take on their personalities and tell their life stories, mentioning their connection to our ports of call. These are 45 minute reader theater shows, which shows can be filled with triumph and tragedies, humor and pathos and decisions that affected the course of our nation. In the past 26 years we have given over 5,000 performances of the 35 Presidential couples we have researched and written. Yesterday's lecture conflicted with the pub crawl. . . . and you all know which I selected. 😂🍹😁 Here is the schedule of lectures Today's lecture on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt was vey good. DH and I are history buffs, so we know must of the information. But they had researched to find information with ties to Baltimore and the ABC islands. It was well done.

I did not go to the Broadway show. But there was no need to reserve shows on the app.

No, you enter the dining room using two doors. We are going to lunch there in a little while and I will get you pictures. Delta likes to put together a table of late dining partners that she has "met" on Cruise critic. [and often cruised with prior] On the Grandeur there is a table for 8 or 10 [can't remember] just inside the door that has a railing around it and a small ramp leading to it because it is raised a bit. We have joined Delta when our itineraries matched, and conversation is easier on this round table rather than a thin long one. JMHO

I have a couple of crew comments. The next cruise supervisor is James. He is an Asian gentleman that has been on the ships out of Baltimore over the years. I am sure veteran Baltimore cruisers will recognize him. The Cruise Director is Baliant Gabor Aron. He goes by Bal. He started with the company 12 years ago with the Oasis as one of the sport staff and worked his way up through the ranks and got to be sport supervisor before he was named CD. This is his first CD contract. He said he is the only person in Royal Caribbean to get to be CD from the Sports staff. He leads a morning walk on the track each day. The Loyalty Ambassador is Consolata. She is both a breath of fresh air and a bit over the top. LOL 😮😁 She is from Kenya and her English is not always the best. As she introduced the various passengers in the Top Tier event she slaughtered names and places. I am not saying this to criticize. Milwaukee and Gibraltar were the best or worst depending on your point of view. The audience laughed. But she is not offended. She embraces it and asks the audience to help her. When she announced the new pinnacles, she would do the sounds you hear at African soccer matches. [Lay Lay Lay Lay Lay Leeeee] It will get your attention. Just thinking about her makes me smile. However, she is good at her job. I needed her to post the three day cruise to our account. It would normally be a couple of weeks before the points post. However, I needed those 3 points to get a crystal block on this ship. She looked at the block list and said "I see you are not on here. But that is not your problem. I will fix this." I will let you know if I get it. She did tell me they no longer mail blocks. You either take it from the ship or you do not get it. She gave me her card and told me to call if I did not get it by tomorrow night.

I have not had any trouble. There used to be surf packages and stream packages. Now there is only one level--surf and stream. I have been able to upload pictures easily. Also, I have watched short videos. [i.e. news broadcast segments] I have not tried to watch a longer video. Maybe someone else on the ship reading this can add their experience. I may be using my DIRECTV account to try to watch the Kentucky Derby. It is on NBC and that is not on the TV. There has been no mention of it being shown anywhere on the ship. The hotel director [she is British] announced the coronation would be on the TV on the BBC and the planned to show it in the theatre.

We did walk through the arcade. I do not remember seeing one. But, I may end up on that deck again and I will let you know if I see one.

Delta— This is in regards to your question about the tables in the dining room. I’m too lazy to go back and find the actual post. Ha ha. 😁 The tables are set up a little differently from the Grandeur. As you come in the dining room there are two tables on the right hand side of the aisle. The first one is table 100 and it has six chairs, the second one is table 101 and it has seven chairs, and the third one is 102. It’s on the left-hand side of the aisle and it seats eight. (pictures are in order) But none of them are surrounded by a barrier like we’ve had on the Grandeur.

I have an asked for an electronic PDF version. I’ll ask about that. But I do not think that the app is anywhere as good as the Cruise Compass on paper. You have to keep flipping back between categories. And that’s too much trouble.

I didn’t think we would have many children on this cruise, but there are a few on board. So I took these pictures of the children’s area on the first day when they were no children there. Because adults of course are not allowed in here when children are occupying the rooms. this is the baby in tots area. Parents have to come here with their children and I can play on these toys. Here is som information on Adventure Ocean. On the Liberty of the Seas there gobs of kids. We saw them at n the elevator excited to go back to a session. I have always heard that Royal Caribbean does a nice job with us. this is a 10 day cruise so here is an overview of the schedule for the 6-10 days. It kind of gives you an idea of what they do.

Today’s sunrise.

We are in a junior suite this cruise, so we get service both morning and evening. It’s pretty much just like before. But on our last cruise on the liberty, we were in a regular balcony. And we only got service once a day. He asked which we preferred and we said morning. That worked out pretty well for us. I think almost everyone else, said Morning, too. I judge that by how many rooms he was doing in the morning. He still came in the evening and put a Cruise Compass on our bed but nothing else.

Tonight was dress your best night. [old formal night]. I saw a little bit of everything. I did not see anyone is shorts. They announced several times that there would be a Captain's reception. These used to be on every cruise. However, they only have these on Transatlantic/Transpacific and reposition cruises now. We were at dinner, so, I did not get any pictures. After dinner we watched the "Finish the Lyric" game show for a while in the Centrum. We did not sty until the bitter end--but, I vote for the lady in the black dress. Here is an almost sunset picture. It is a beautiful night. Our cabin steward is good. He does a good job. However, he has so many cabins we barely see him. PS--the Cruise Compass is online now. You have to ask for a hard coy.

This afternoon we had a pub crawl. One of the passengers on our Facebook roll call organized it. Drinking is not required—it is just a good way to meet and greet other passengers. We visited the R bar, Casino Bar, Schooner Bar, Viking Crown Lounge and pool bar. I took a couple of pictures of the Casino bar. The expression, "belly up to the bar," fits this location. There are a few high-top table--but no bar stools.

Sea days are usually very quiet, but there was a lot going on today. We had the top tier event this morning in the theatre. This event is for cruisers in the Crown and Anchor loyalty program who are platinum and above. The Loyalty Ambassador introduced some of the crew. [the captain stopped by for some photos] She introduced the passengers who have reached Pinnacle status and she recognized the passengers with the most points on this voyage. There were some impressive totals. 3rd Highest has 2414 points Second Highest had 2645 points Top Cruiser had 3049 points DH and I reach another level on this cruise We should get a crystal block. The first block is given to you to recognize 140 points. [and every 70 points thereafter] You get a point for each night at sea in a regular cabin and 2 points for a suite. Solo cruisers get an additional point unless they are in special cabins priced for solo cruisers. There aren’t any of those cabins on this ship. The blocks are usually delivered to your cabin. There are too many veteran cruisers on this reposition cruise to give them out at the event. One word of caution if you get a block put it in your carry one back if you fly. First of all, they are very heavy. [solid crystal block] Also, they show up on the scanner as a large black blob. I found they pull your luggage to go through it. Therefore, I take it out and put it in a tray so the scanner can see what it is. DH does not go to this event anymore. Before Covid it was usually an evening program with dance music, drinks, and nibbles. The theatre program allows guests to spread out, but it is not nearly as festive. The CD introduced the band and they played a few numbers, but it is not the same.

Welcome to our first sea day. At dawn I noticed several cruise ships headed in the same direction as we are. Sunrise and sunset are my favorite times to take a picture. There were several ships headed in the same direction first thing this morning. There was a Carnival ship very nearby. We have sailed most of the day off the coast of Cuba. At the noon briefing the Captain said we were 13 nautical miles off the coast.

Sail Away party. First line dance of the cruise!

Well, I’m all lol my music around where is the centrum listen to the duo. They are very good.

Someone that was sitting next to me in the Viking crown lounge asked where the Royal Promenade was. I told her there wasn’t one. But the centrum was where many things happened on this ship. She did not seem happy. It’s so much smaller than the allure. The other ships always make up for it. I have an a great crew really push their passengers first and of course it’s still a beautiful ship. It just doesn’t have all the bows and whistles. There are more activities and events and less emphasis on venues.

There goes the Liberty of the sea. I understand it’s heading out to New York City. She must have had a 3pm sail away.

We were lucky to snag a junior suite at a good price well over a year ago. It will be my happy place for the next 10 days. One feature of a junior suite that I like over the balcony is that it has a tub rather than a tube shower.

It feels and looks just like the Lady G. We are both ready for a relaxing time. Here is the centrum. I know it looks familiar.