Navigator and the Adventure of Chuck the Duck

[KuffMUp]

So this is going to be a different review. We have a good friend that is a die hard University of Oregon Ducks fan. We will root for Oregon State University Beavers and Ducks so long as they aren't playing each other. We planned on stealing...oops, re-appropriating, her garden gnome dragging it along on our travels. We began to think that it was going to be too heavy even in a backpack. DH pulled into the Beaver Store in Keizer, Oregon and we found a gem of a find. It was a plush duck wearing a t-shirt that said, "I wish I was a Beaver." Perfect!!

 

 

So, we are off to Portland to stay the night as the plane leaves at 0545! :eek: We stayed at Embassy Suites and as always, we found the hotel in great shape and love the evening manager's reception. Too bad we had to leave way too early to enjoy breakfast! Oops, his drink is empty!

 

 

Off to sleep for the night. We all get to bed since o'dark thirty is coming soon. He is like the Disney commercial. "I'm too excited to sleep!"

 

 

We get to the airport. We luckily got the TSA Pre-Check. We have thought about the program except we have to take a day off for the "interview". I wonder what the interview does for them? Is someone really going to admit they want to hijack a plane? Seems the government has enough resources to know every detail of your life. They must be trying to dredge up support for their program. We both got Pre-Check. Breezed through with no removing shoes! Apparently though they don't check who you are travelling with. One of my employees family got Pre-Check while he didn't. They breezed right through while he waited in line. While on the way to the gate we found a girlfriend for Chuck. Hello Kitty!! Too bad for him we didn't buy her.

 

 

We get on the plane on time. Well, like it wouldn't be on time since it is the first run of the day. It is still darker than Grant's tomb when we board, in the rain. We have been paying extra for United's Economy Plus. It gives extra room for around $89 per ticket. We don't pay for it on short flights but when you are on a plane for 4 to 5 hours, it can be considerably more comfortable. Too bad they can't give an extra inch or two between the seats. Chuck decided to get out the safety card to take a look.

 

[KuffMUp]

Off to George Bush airport in Houston. We have been there before. We wandered around looking for something to eat. We end up at a BBQ joint. After sitting, we realize that we have eaten here before. It is not yet noon. Last time we were here we couldn't order any adult beverage until food was in front of us or until it was noon. Dang, I thought I was in Utah, but that adventure is entirely a different story. We are seated and order a drink. Apparently, you can't drink before noon only on Sunday. We got a few adult beverages and I got the brisket platter and DH got the brisket sandwich. OMG. I should have gotten the sandwich. Way too much to eat but it was really good. At least they didn't card Chuck since he had no ID!

 

We get into Miami around 5 p.m. Staying at Embassy Suites at the airport. Have been here before as well. They are supposed to have an airport shuttle. No one around knew about the shuttle. I tried calling the local number 3 times and each time I got reservations at a main number. All they could tell me is that an airport shuttle shows on the amenities and I need to call the local number. I explained that I have tried the local number three times and each time I got the same person at the main reservation number. I am finally exasperated. We decide to take a taxi. Get in line for a taxi. They ask where we are going. "Oh, you need the blue taxi." Say what?? So as everyone is loading into regular taxis we are standing there waiting for a blue one? One finally shows up. DH laughs and points out the paint job. Not quite rattle can but less quality than Maaco. It is $17 to get to the hotel. Fine. I just want to relax.

 

Embassy Suites Airport is a Spanish style hotel. I have read reviews that say it smells musty and needs updating really bad. Perhaps they have never stayed there before. We stayed several years ago and the carpeting and rooms have been updated. I never noticed a musty smell. But perhaps some travelers have never gone to open air hotels in the tropics. The humidity leaves that scent. It is no where as bad as I have smelled at almost every Mexican hotel I have stayed at. But the rooms are clean and there is the manager's reception and at least we will get breakfast. Interesting that at Portland, we get real glasses. In Miami, plastic cups! DH was drinking a martini and they put it in a real glass. Perhaps we aren't very refined, but I don't care what type of glass/plastic my drink comes in so long as it is refreshing. After the first, DH said they could pour it in plastic if they wanted.

 

So, we are in Miami and Oregon State and University of Oregon are playing at 2 pm Pacific time. Perfect. We will get to check in on the game. Thanks to newspapers and Facebook, we keep tabs on the game. At the airport they were tied. Getting to the hotel, U of O is ahead. Chuck began to celebrate a little too soon.

 

 

As the game wore on, the Ducks pulled away. We were beginning to wonder if we should have found a small t-shirt that said "I'm glad I'm not a Beaver." Luckily, in the end, OSU pulled it together. And Chuck hung his head. The next morning, we found him with a friend.

 

 

So we booked the cruise package which shuttled us to the pier. It was supposed to leave at 1030. We looked out from our hotel window and saw the vans already there so we headed down. They checked us all off. Asked us which ship. Navigator. They looked puzzled. Are you sure it's Navigator? Yes. I have had this trip booked for a while. We get into the van. They come back requesting our travel documents. They go to kibitz and bring the documents down. They ask which terminal as it isn't on the travel docs. Everyone loads up. We drop everyone else off. The driver has no idea where to take us. We were the only RCCL ship in port and I told him I saw it next to NCL. This is where the fun begins. There is a single lane trying to get everyone to the Getaway and Navigator. It is crawling at best. We finally make it the the terminal. We drop off our bags and try to find someone who can direct us where to go. We find someone who tells us that when the bus with "Miami" in the front window gets back, we can go back to town to the mall. :confused: She points to the orange barriers and says we can go wait with those people, motioning to them, and stand in the sun. We make a quick decision to stand and wait. Wow, I'm glad we did.

 

So most people that decided not to go back to Miami start getting in a line. It starts backing up. If you follow cruise critic, then you know this is the "tent" debacle. There were no separate facilities to take passengers through customs so everyone disembarking is going through the tent. Pax were still getting off at 1130. Some folks come along and get towards the front of the line. People behind us said the line forms at the front and they can't cut. The folks said the staff told them there was no line. They got corrected by everyone that had been standing there for some time. Finally around 1200 they are ready for us. As we are moving forward, an older couple come from the back and cut in front of us. "Excuse me," they said, "we are suite passengers." I said we were too so don't cut in front. I'm not about to get in a pissing match. Evidently, we look like white trash because two employees stop us from going into the suite check in. This has only occurred one other time and that was when we went on the Carnival Pride.

 

They are using a wireless connection and the Wifi is sloooow. The employees are clearly exacerbated at it. Had to run the credit card 5 times before it would take it and getting pictures was next to impossible. After what seemed like an eternity, we board. We go and grab some lunch. At 1, we go to see, if by some miracle, the rooms are done. No go. That didn't stop people from going through the doors to check. We head to the pool deck for a drink. All aboard is 3:30. Hmm, that's not going to happen.

 

 

[KuffMUp]

We finally get to our room. Clean, lots of storage. Kid's don't try this at home. This is how people fall off cruise ships!

 

 

We got the BOGO and went to check on reservations. The systems on board are down. So they get out paper to write down which restaurant and what time. We chose Giovannis first and Chops second. They wanted us to take the 5:30 time slot. That was going to be in the middle of the muster drill. We chose a later time and asked what happened if our bags didn't make it? We were told what we had on was fine. OK. Our bags did make it. At dinner I order the gnocchi and DH gets the seafood ravioli. Mine was OK, his was to die for. Would I go again at full price? Probably not.

 

I was slightly disappointed though. I thought I remembered seeing Pink Himalayan sea salt in grinders on the tables. :confused: I read here on CC that the pepper grinders were a thing of the past but never anything about the salt? If I would have known, I would have brought my grinder.

 

After dinner, we head down to the Schooner Bar. It seems that some of the best bartenders we come across work there. They all seem to have a trick up their sleeve to make your visit more memorable. Jeffery made a heart out of the top of the straw paper. He even made me a napkin rose one night. He rocks!!

 

 

After a long few days, it is time for bed! We are 3 hours ahead and have been getting up at 3 a.m. our time for a few days!

 

 

In the morning we decided to do the MDR for breakfast. I still can't understand why we do that. I always order Eggs Benedict and every time my egg yolks are hard as a rock. After 2 mornings of that, we decided to do the Windjammer for a little more variety. We head to the pool and start at the main pool. I found it a bit loud for my taste. The band was directly in front of the pool bar and you had to shout to get a drink. The band was good, just a bit too much in front of them. Not too loud further away. We didn't see many chair hogs. That surprised me. They were alive and well in the suite section and in the Solarium. The first several days, I never saw anyone using the suite section even though there were personal items on the loungers. I certainly wouldn't use them as they are directly in the sun with no relief and a bit of a ways from the pool. Plus in blasting distance of the band.

 

[KuffMUp]

Dinner at Chops was very good. Would I pay the $35 cover again. Don't think so. On the 2nd leg of our B2B, they were pushing a 3 night $75 deal. If I could have gotten the BOGO I would have taken it. Many staff were approaching to try to sell the 3 night package. No one was willing (or perhaps able) to sells us a BOGO. They were not only coming around to the bars but were prominent at the Windjammer. I wasn't sure I would have gone to Izumi after the Butterfish topic here a few weeks ago. Seems 89% of sushi bars use Butterfish (unwittingly) instead of Tuna. We did find Butterfish on the menu in the Windjammer!

 

 

Day 3 is Labadee. Been there twice now. Never gotten off. Why? It looks like a long, long ways from the pier to the peninsula just to tap your toes in the sand. I didn't find out until later that they had shuttles on the pier. Oh, well. It was a relaxing day on board to read. By the way, our first cruise, it took us three days to get to the first port. OMG I was sooooo bored. Now, I could go on a cruise to nowhere and be happy!!! :D

 

Day 4 was San Juan. I really wanted to take the Segway tour. When we were there on Brilliance, we tried to go on it but it was raining so hard that we couldn't go. They are somewhat water resistant but not waterproof and all of the controls are on the pad you stand on. So again, didn't get off. We spent time in San Juan on our Brilliance cruise so didn't have anything really burning to go see.

 

Day 5 was St. Maarten. Been there before as well. We went on Bernard's tour the first time and it was very, very good. But didn't need an entire island tour again. We grabbed a cab and went to Maho Beach.

 

 

It was crazy busy on the beach. We had Oasis, Anthem, Navigator, Silhouette, and I believe the Equinox in port. Not sure about the last Celebrity ship. With those in town we pushed around 19,000 plus or minus people in port! They have added a second fence closer to the guard rail to keep people off the fence. The arriving planes schedule was down so we didn't know what or when anything was coming in. It was near impossible to get a drink at the bar. Many, many women were taking them up on the "topless women drink for free at the bar." Apparently one of the Celebrity ships was an adult only charter which probably added a few topless ladies. Sorry, no pics of them. But Chuck was with us all the way! Waiting on a heavy:

 

 

[John&LaLa]

Have I missed which voyage this is?

 

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[KuffMUp]

Nov 27 and Dec 4 B2B. Sorry.

[KuffMUp]

Washy, washy before getting on board! There was an older man in a scooter that came into the Windjammer. He passed the Purell stations and the crew member at the door got out their own Purell and said, "Washy, washy." The old man crinkled up his face and motored on past her. I even encountered a woman in the bathroom talking on the telephone. She didn't flush nor wash her hands perhaps apparently because she didn't want the person on the other end she was in the bathroom! Ewww:eek:

 

 

Ah, another sea day!!! :D We had now taken position in the Solarium which was nice and quiet to read and cool in the pool when needed. As I said earlier, the chair hogs were alive and well in there. There were 2 loungers next to us with a towel and one personal item each. No one ever showed up while we were there. And that was most of the day! Chuck took the sea day to check out things on board (I don't think he is 18 or over??):

 

 

DH tells me he put $20 in??? Oh, ok, I don't care. We are on vacation!! There is a dive shop on board!

 

[KuffMUp]

 

 

 

Because we had such great bartenders in the Schooner Bar, we stayed there a lot. We had never been in any kind or trivia or scavenger hunt. Well, we got sucked in. You can have up to 6 people per team. We met some nice people who allowed us to join. It was TV theme songs. Unfortunately, we don't watch "normal" TV. The only one I got was the theme to Sopranos. But that was enough for a tie. We lost on a sudden death. Our prize? RCCL highlighters and a bag in a bag! Chuck participated so I have him our prize. Here he is with his towel animal. BTW, we got towel animals every night of our cruise.

 

[KuffMUp]

More on board pics:

 

 

[KuffMUp]

So our first week was great. I can't think of anything that dampened our spirits. Yes, the embarkation was a nightmare. But, I'm sure that RCCL would have preferred not to be there at the tent. I found the food good in the MDR with the exception of breakfast. Our lunches on sea days were good. They changed the menus at lunch which I didn't expect. The salad bar was a big hit when we did it. I had to ask them for less ingredients because they do make a huge salad. I also wanted to try some of the other entries so I had them cut way back. The entries were good. I found no fault at dinner. Each one was good. Sorry for no play by play on what we ate and any food porn. Not wishing to sound like a cheerleader but we were truly satisfied with our experience. I will get to the next leg of B2B tomorrow. At the end, I will offer any negative criticism I have. BTW.

[KuffMUp]

I forgot to mention that the night with the TV theme song trivia, someone asked what we should name our team. Taking a cue from here, I suggested Butterfish Squirts. They all looked at me in somewhat the same manner as my dog. Head cocked off to the side, ears up, saying, "wah?" I asked them if they ever got on Cruise Critic. No. I said never mind it was too long to explain.

 

Thus, the first week breezed by. This was our first B2B. We had one scheduled in November 2009 out of San Juan but unfortunately I had a bit of an accident. Blood pressure dropped and I somehow found the corner of the counter with my right eye. I've had six surgeries on it. They wanted to do surgery one week before we left. They wanted to take out the silicone oil and replace it with a gas bubble which dissipates on its own. However, pressure goes up in your eye with elevation. That makes it difficult to make it to San Juan. I was afraid if we took a raft, some ship would come across us and think we were Cuban refugees and send us there. Knowing now what happened, I should have told them to pound sand and I was going on our trip. Luckily, we had insurance so it was all refunded. But I digress.

 

We get info in our room the night before that says to meet at 0930 in the Star Lounge. We had packed our bags with stuff from the drawers and left the clothes in the closet on hangers. When our new room was ready, they had taken our bags and stuff in the closet and moved it to the new room. Perfect. So we head to the Star Lounge. There were 86 of us staying over to the next cruise. From what I read here, it sounded simple. Get off the ship. Go through customs and get back on the ship. Not exactly. I should have brought a book.

 

So we are in a real terminal this time. At 0930, they come around and explain that it is going to be a little late. Maybe 1000. 1000 rolls around. 2 crew members begin counting how many people are there. After the count they get together and talk. Next, they come around to each table and ask our room number and assure that everyone in our room is present. Off to the side, the crew is talking. Someone next to us mentions that if they just call out our names like they did in school, we could just say, "here." I offer that they should look in their box and see which Sea Pass cards they still have and that would solve the mystery of who is missing. Chuck waiting patiently:

 

 

At least the chairs were comfortable. Around 11:30, they decide to get us in line. As each leaves the lounge to head off the ship, they ask, "Are you Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton?" Ah, no. Seems they forgot to show up or perhaps got off and didn't get checked out. Off to customs we go. Then we stop. Looking into the terminal I am sure some people are wondering why we are getting off so late. Through customs and back on board by about 12:05. Off to the MDR for lunch. It was a nice lunch of steak Diane, mashed potatoes, and veggie. Someone complained there was too much sinew in the steak. Mine had a small ribbon of it toward the very outside edge. If you cut that away, the steak was extremely tender. I guess you can't please everyone. After lunch it is off to the pool. After finding ourselves in the Solarium for the last half of the last cruise, that is where we head.

 

We cross paths with some Diamond pax. They said that most of the people getting on board were new cruisers or at least new to Royal. There was a huge line in the "new" passenger line. After all, you can be Gold after your first cruise and they do have a special line for them. The difference between the first and second week was eye opening. A bazillion kids! Not that I don't like kids. I just don't like kids with no manners. There were kids on the first leg but they were well mannered. That is what we typically see on a Royal cruise. No so this time. There were kids screaming and running through the Solarium. Someone, I assume a child, took their gum out and planted it squarely on the nose of one of the horses in the Solarium. Parents were bringing their children into the Solarium pool.

 

The adults were equally ill mannered. Folks diving into the pool. Playing leap frog. I'm not sure what happened, but the pool police were no where around in our first cruise. They were out in force the second one. They strictly enforced the 30 minute policy. In a way, good, but in a way, bad. I applaud them getting rid of stuff that has laid out all day. However, it was to the point that if you wanted to go grab some lunch, your spot would be taken away. So for breakfast and lunch, DH and I did rotations. We would grab something from the Windjammer and bring it back. I thought I was going to witness a fist fight over loungers. The pool police moved a couple's stuff after they were absent. They came back, got their stuff and proceeded to put it out on 2 more loungers. After 30 minutes, it was taken away again. An older gentleman sat down. After about 45 minutes to an hour later, the couple came back and demanded the older man to get out of "their" loungers. Other passengers got into the fray and a shouting match occurred. They finally left. Oh, and the Diamonds that told us about the lines said there was a fist fight in the line to board! :eek:

 

So we are back on. After a short time in the Solarium, we head back to the Schooner Bar. By now I have figured out that if I needed to find my husband on a huge ship, go by the Promenade, check the Solarium, then head to the Schooner Bar.

 

[KuffMUp]

Our stops on this trip are Nassau and Cozumel. Been to both. Not sure why they go to Nassau. I have heard that people who stay in the resorts love it. Not so sure about going there on a ship. We took a Segway tour here the first time we came. Perhaps next time we should book an island tour to see a little more. As we head into port, the Oasis is there along with 2 older Carnival ships. The Elation and Ecstasy.

 

 

Since we are staying on board, we get to watch the crew as they go through training. Last week we got to see them attempt to upright an inflatable raft in the pool. Looks really hard. This time, we get to see them take out the life boats to practice.

 

 

Rut Roh said Scooby.

 

 

RAMMING SPEED!!! Luckily they put it in reverse before colliding. For some reason I remembered the boat number from the muster drill. Maybe because we had to stand there so long waiting for others to join us. Our boat is #21. It is the one about to t-bone the other boat.

 

[KuffMUp]

Another day in the Solarium and another towel animal! Does my tail make my butt look big??

 

 

[KuffMUp]

So, we get to Cozumel. We are at the downtown port with Disney Wonder. I watched as 2 Celebrity ships and another Royal ship come in to the International Port. Not too bad. 4 Ships in port. We head off the ship to take a Segway tour. If you haven't figured out by now, we like Segway tours. It is a fun way to see things. We head off the ship with our bag. DH has been carrying an apple in the bag in case he gets hungry and wants a snack. For some reason I pull it out before heading ashore. We are greeted by a police officer with a dog. No big deal until the dog signals that something is in our bag! :eek: I have no drugs in there!!! The officer asks me if we have any food in the bag. No. Are you sure? Yes, I took an apple this morning. He points to go to the inspector. At that table there are hoards of food. Complete plastic grocery sacks of food! Apparently, folks want to save money and take stuff with them. I have never seen this happen before. But from looking at the table, I can only imagine how much food goes off the ships in port.

 

We find the tour operator, fill out a waiver and she takes us through the shopping at the terminal and on to a taxi. Off we go southward on the island finally making it to the small town of El Cedral. Here, side by side is a Catholic church located next to a Myan Temple. Not a big one, but one none the less. All told, the tour takes 4 hours. Much of that on the Segways. On our way to the church, we pass through a small herd of cattle They did give us the choice of going a different direction. But what fun would that be?? Half of our group is scared of the cattle and slowly make their way past. I have been around cattle for 32 years so it doesn't bother me. The guide is very informative and we had a great time except for one thing. It is about 90 degrees and 100% humidity. Just standing there you are drenched in sweat. As we get back to the terminal, many people are in the restaurants near the port. We see a Hooters and take a pic of Chuck and the owl. Birds of a feather......

 

 

[scottygirl]

Enjoying your review. That duck is so cute. Kinda like a Wolverine who wishes he was a Spartan! [emoji172][emoji172][emoji172]

 

 

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[scgirlatheart]

Following

 

 

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[KuffMUp]

We buy some t-shirts in a shop and a shot glass. We usually get a shot glass everywhere we go. I guess it is a modern day version of what my grandmother did. Spoons and plates from everywhere. We don't drink out of the glasses but I do need some sort of shelf to display them on. Headed back, I notice the cute characters on the back of the Wonder. Chuck with The Donald. No, not Trump! Donald Duck.

 

 

It was a mad house getting back on. 2 bad things. People in the back of the line are putting their stuff on the roller trays to go through the x-ray machine. Folks kept pushing their way forward to get their stuff on the rollers. So their stuff was in front of ours. People tend to stack up at the magnetometer. I don't expect a lay person to know this but the closer folks are together, it adds up the metals and will set it off. Perhaps they should have a sign saying "wait here" like we have at work. So to make your passing quick, stay at least 3 feet back and wait for the screener to call you through. Because of the stackup, almost everyone needed a pat down search. Also, remember to take stuff out of your pockets. People don't think about it but if you have cigarettes, it will go off. Most types of gum, change in your pocket. We make it through and the first thing we want to do is take a shower. Our shower temperatures were warm and scalding hot. I really, really wanted a cold shower! At least the hair dryer had a cold setting! That helped cool down my head. Done with that and off to the Schooner Bar. We get photos with the bartenders, Jeffrey, Radison, and Merlon.

 

[KuffMUp]

Having caught the Trivia buzz I try my hand at a few. I usually know music but we had to come up with the song and artist. They play such a small snippet that it really is hard. I graded another teams' page. 38 out of 40! That is impressive. After watching the first week, I wanted to try the Selfie Scavenger Hunt. You can have a team of 1 to 6, but everyone on the team has to be in the picture. Definitely need a Selfie Stick if you are going to get everyone in the photos. They give you 20 minutes. From the list from the first week I gamed it thinking I will head to the top of the ship for pictures of the rock wall and Flowrider. Then I can work my way down the stairs without having to wait on elevators. Dear God! I was 15 minutes late coming back so had no chance of winning. Plus out of breath. I have never taken a selfie. I need practice. By the way, they do change the list from week to week. While I was going from the top down, DH said that the other teams went for the items that gave the most points. I will have to remember that next time! Good thing it starts and ends in a bar! I needed not only an adult beverage, but WATER!!

 

 

So the time comes for all aboard. I go out to deck 4 (conveniently located next to the Schooner Bar). I want to see if there are any dock runners. No runners. A huge line of people as far as you can see. Everyone just meandering along. Back inside for AC. 30 minutes later, look again. People still walking along. Another person watching said that some RCCL guests were in the Disney line. Really? They must be new cruisers if they can't figure out which ship to get back on. If you came in a white ship, chances are they haven't painted it black while you were in port! :rolleyes:

[KuffMUp]

Disney makes it away before we do but the ship is smaller. I should have mentioned that during our tour, they said they can handle up to 9 ships in port! While we have been away, others have sailed in. What started as 2 Celebrity, 1 Disney, and 2 Royal turned into those plus an Oasis class, a Quantum class, a Carnival and another I didn't recognize. Perhaps MSC? Also, I misidentified the ship in Nassau. It was Allure, not Oasis. Here are a few pictures of the Centrum without the duck. Look at the dog on the left coming into the Windjammer. It is dressed different every day!

[KuffMUp]

 

And a few more with the duck:

 

 

 

[KuffMUp]

 

 

 

[KuffMUp]

 

 

Our last sea day and our adventure is nearly over. We sit by the pool and find some shade most of the day. The duck wanted in the hot tub but we told him he would just spin round and round and probably puke, which would be as bad as pooping in the pool.

 

[KuffMUp]

We decide to go to lunch in the MDR one last time. It took us until the cruise on Indy to realize that there was the salad bar. Thanks Cruise Critic for that info! We sit with a Japanese couple and their toddler. We found they had something every American needs. Training chopsticks! They have rings where you are supposed to put your fingers so you learn how to hold them!!

 

We decided to not go back to the Solarium and head again to the Schooner Bar. They have a Christmas scavenger hunt. I team up with some other folks. I have 2 items back in my stateroom we could use. One was green shorts (had to find someone wearing red and green). I can't remember the other item but it was trivial. I volunteer to go back to our room. Now the Schooner Bar is is forward right by the show lounge. Our room, aft. I take the elevator up, sprint through the hallway, change shorts and grab our other item and sprint back down. OK, I'm 52. More of a jog. As I am jogging forward, there is a slight hump in the floor between the casino and heading into the Schooner bar. My tennis shoes scuff the floor. I take 4 giant steps trying not to fall down and slide into the table in front of Sabor. I make it back and within time. We were also supposed to get a Santa hat. The team mate procuring that item tells me she got dirty looks when she grabbed the hat. I can imagine because here is where it came from - Bob (that is what we named the one we got on our Alaska cruise):

 

 

We were missing one item so we didn't win. Our team was very resourceful. We needed someone with certain letters in their name. One team mate drug the poor lady back to the Schooner Bar. At the very end someone offered our final item but that was ruled out!

 

Say hello to my little friend:

 

 

Somehow, Chuck made it behind the bar!

 

[KuffMUp]

It's formal night and we decided to have dinner at the Windjammer. One thing I forgot to mention was the food differences between the first and second week. There was a large contingent of Indians on board. There were a lot of dishes such and curries and things I couldn't pronounce nor did I know what was in them. We did find an interesting dessert. I think it must have been leftovers from the all adult cruise the week before.

 

 

There was also considerable posts about finding the bananas by the ketchup and mayonnaise. At first, I thought maybe RCCL must have read the posts and put the bananas where they would be easier to find, such as next to the other fruit. Alas, on the second week we found them at two different ketchup and mayonnaise stations!

 

 

[KuffMUp]

So the sad day comes when we have to get off the ship. We do the early self debark. Very easy off. It was odd that on Monday (first sea day) by noon we had to decide how to debark and purchase transfers. I believe the cost for the transfer was $18 each. In having taken them before, I know they are large buses and you get to wait until it is full. They also don't sell it unless your flight is after 12:30. Ours is 12:29. We mull over the options. Eventually we decide on the self debarkation which occurs before 07:30. We get a cab to the airport. With tips it is $5 less than the transfer plus tip. And a lot faster. We had to wait at the airport to check our bags as we were too early. So we wait until 0900 to send off the baggage. We had breakfast in the Windjammer so we don't need anything right away. No TSA pre-check this flight. We are headed to Portland via Chicago. Wondered about the weather in Chicago but never thought about Portland. I should have been more worried about Portland. Waiting to get on board.

 

 

So I have to get one thing off my chest. We pack a large suitcase to go for 2 weeks. We pay $25 per bag. Everyone is bringing carry on. But, since so many people are bringing on carry ons, there is not enough space so they offer to check them for free! Ugh, I hate that!!! I say if there isn't room, check them at $25 or leave them behind. I will get down off my soapbox now. So, the good, the bad, and the ugly:

 

Good: We enjoyed our cruise. I'm not sure how you couldn't enjoy it. I guess I inherited my father's attitude. I don't get flustered about anything. It won't ruin my day. I thought the food was good. Exceptional? Umm, Chops very, very good. I thought it was worth the BOGO price. Maybe worth the $35 if you are celebrating something special. I found the MDR good. Much better than food from Windjammer. One thing to remember is that the MDR food is prepped before hand (partially cooked then finished when you order). Basically you are getting banquet type food. Not the best in the world. Want better food? Pay for a higher priced line.

 

The size of the JS was one of the largest we had been in. Over all, the ship was in great shape. I have never found an RCCL ship that was in bad shape. I had reservations about Majesty but it impressed us. We found that we like the smaller ships better. Probably my favorite class is Vision. But you can't always go on the ship you want based upon the places it goes.

 

I have to say I love the staff. We went on Brilliance in 2013. One of the relief bartenders looked familiar. He asked us what ships we cruised. I listed them. He said, "Brilliance, April 2013 before she went to Europe." He was right. I sort of recognized him but he had blond in his hair before. How for thousand of faces over three years he could remember us, I don't know. Perhaps I danced naked on the Centrum bar? I hope not. As an aside, on Indy we saw his partner from Brilliance. DH called to her. She not only remembered us but remembered what we drank!! I guess tipping really does go far! We tipped Jeffrey, Redison, and Marlon well for our two weeks. I hope to see them again!

 

On to the bad and ugly next post.