SteelCityCruiser10

Cabin: XL Sea Terrace 9354 A. Forward room. Good size with large bathroom counter and single sink. Bathroom and shower closets are separate. Rainfall Shower was excellent. 1 regular chair with a side table and a smaller soft stool/ottoman type seat in the room. Bed was very low to the ground compared to Royal beds and were firmer than Royal. Lots of technology- Do not disturb and make up room sign is electronic. Doorbell doesn’t work with the do not disturb on. All aspects of the room can be controlled through the ipad including lights, curtains, TV, cabin service requests, pre set mood lighting, many many options for movies and TV series. TV/Movie watching options way better than Royal and not even close. Storage was adequate. I’d compare to an Ocean View Balcony on Royal because there is no walk in closet like on many Royal Junior Suites and the space felt a bit smaller than a JS. The closet space had a curtain rather than hard doors which seemed cheap but made sense since there were no rattling door noises in the night. The hard white space next to the bed where it can be converted into a big couch instead of a bed seemed to be dead/wasted space to me. I ended up living out of my carry on bag on that space. There were 2 US outlets and USB. One by the bed by the balcony and another at the main desk countertop. We had no problems finding charging spots. We travel with multi - device charging station. Safe is bigger than Royal. Could fit a smaller size laptop. Balcony wasn’t huge but adequate with 2 chairs, small table and the sitting hammock. Loved the hammock - big win there. Note- it’s not a lay down hammock. There were no materials or flyers left in the room selling art, jewelry, spa services etc. The one thing we had was a postcard for My Next VV. Also no announcements along those lines. I was a bit worried about the water carafes instead of bottled water but it was fine and not trashing a bunch of plastic every day is a good thing. Bring your favorite insulated water bottle and request ice if you like your water cold. The water doesn’t stay cold long in those carafes.

Ship: Scarlet Lady - great condition. Good size, not too big and not too small. Modern decor and very techy. Doesn’t feel as open as a Royal Caribbean ship but it’s not necessarily a negative. Lots of different spaces to hang out with lots of nooks and crannies to sit and relax. I would have preferred to have the 3D ship models throughout the ship to help with navigation and the main venues listed inside the elevators. The signage was adequate and we eventually got more comfortable navigating. Mostly just my preference from cruising RC so much. Pools are tiny for the size of the ship and amount of people. We were told about 2400 on our sailing. You will have a hard time getting a lounger anywhere near either of the pools/hot tubs especially on a sea day unless you are up pretty early. Favorite spots: The Dock (inside and outside), casino, lounge area on 7 outside deck by grounds club for morning coffee, in the hammock 😃, Sun Club deck and Perch for sunrise pics and The Athletic Club.

Embarkation/Debarkation: Super easy and relaxed. Later embarkation times overall compared to RC and arrival times are strictly enforced. Liked being able to go directly to the cabin a lot. Galley was not overcrowded. I think probably due to this embarkation strategy. We easily found a table for 6 immediately around 2:30pm. Debarkation: Miami has facial recognition at customs and makes it very fast and easy leaving the ship. No line at all around 10am. 10:30 am latest time to leave the ship. It was really nice with a late flight to be able to sleep in - not being forced out of the cabin by 8am sharp as with Royal.

Here is a recap/final thoughts for this cruise with some comps to Royal Caribbean. Pre Cruise Stay: Courtyard Marriott Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Great location. Room was spacious and clean. Many options for food/drink within walking distance. There was some construction going on next door but it wasn’t bothersome or noisy during our stay. Outdoor pool with bar and big lounge area. Also easy access to the beach just across the street. Starbucks on premises by the pool. Would book this hotel again.

Not sure but I thought the same thing. I was expecting the smaller kind you usually see in a hotel room but the big kind for keeping drinks on ice came.

Touched down in Pittsburgh 🛬 Ready to get home and see the dogs 🐶 🐶 Thanks for following and contributing! I am gathering final thoughts and will post soon.

Ready to get this show on the road

Pups are happy and home now.

Did some visiting over in Naples. Now all checked in waiting for boarding. Flight on time. Hope to be at home before 10pm. 🤞🏻

Until next time.. 👋🏻

Trying to talk this crew into finding an 8 nighter if we can. May have to consider a B2B if the group wants another 4 nighter. I’m just full of great ideas 😉

Walked off around 9:45 leisurely. Very relaxed disembarkation. The ride share section was super crazy. Jammed with people waiting.

No water bottles on board. Carafes in the room. We brought refillable containers too.

Here’s the room ipad that you can do most everything from … It controls the room temp, curtains, lights TV. Has pre- set moods etc. We used it for more water and requested ice. Check out some of the YouTube videos.

I regret looking at this 🥶

sounds like a plan! 🍻

Looks like the final damage will be a grand total of $15. (Besides the $300 for the My Next VV) 😉

Basketball court too Workout stuff I mentioned … The Perch

The track and the Perch are kinda connected with the perch being 1 deck higher. Think of an Aft facing viking crown with a roof but open air. Not quite as big. It’s where we had the DBE cocktail hour for sunset. … which was really nice BTW.

I was going to suggest this too. A lower deck could easily be a make-shift track if your not running or speed walking or whatever

I’m with you there!

Went down for coffee around 8 past the gangway and there was absolutely zero madness going on. I’m still sitting on my balcony drinking coffee at 9 am. Not even possible on RC. 👌🏻

Also I didn’t talk about it much because I wasn’t working out on this cruise other than morning walks exploring and logging some steps before DW was ready to get up but fitness is very forward on the ship. By that I mean there are tons of workout classes, workout equipment on the pool deck, peloton -like bikes and big gym, boxing ring and heavy bags, ab & cardio classes and plenty more I’m not remembering. Much included and some cost extra. I know it was all there and available but don’t have any first hand knowledge experience in that dept.

Back to Miami

Possibly Razzle Dazzle breakfast in the morning. We’ve got a ride reserved for 10 am to Naples area for a visit. Then heading back to FLL to fly back to PA. Casino treated most of us nicely on the final night 😁 Got burgers and pizza for late late dinner and heading to bed. 5 Cheese was the special pizza of the day 👌🏻👌🏻 Got some Big Lebowski on the TV & Loving it! 😊 My fav. Weve got another cruise to plan 😃🍻