Shadowmeboy's "Bliss"ful Eastern Caribbean Pictorial Cruise Review

[shadowmeboy]

4 hours ago, ClaireAndMike said:

Do you know how Maria liked the the honey salmon from Q?  I'm new-ish to eating fish (was vegetarian for many years but have recently eased up) and thought that'd be a specialty restaurant I might try.  Oh!  And also that smoked peach signature drink.  How was that??  I'm usually just a wine drinker, but thought that one might be good to try.  

 

If I remember right, Maria enjoyed it. Everyone had started to get full due to the wait but she said it was good. 

 

The drink was amazing, I ordered it first. Drank one while we were waiting for the apps to come. I had tried to have a Berry's Basil Julep after that  but couldn't get one, they ran out of something. Tried a sidecar, yuck. So I went back to the Smoked Peach Margarita. I had two, so it was good! Try it at least!

[shadowmeboy]

Day 3 - Sea Day #2

 

 

Day 3 daily

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke up, got dressed, and headed out to the Balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan not sure if she wants to be up yet or not!

 

 

Just letting the Sea set me free!

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

Breakfast at Savor was on tap!

 

 

Breakfast Menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

some savory treats!

 

 

I got Sliced Banana with Cottage Cheese

 

 

Susan got Peaches & Fresh Blueberries

[shadowmeboy]

 

I got Eggs Benedict with Bacon, Tomato, and Hash Browns

 

 

Had to try the Croque Madame

 

 

Multi-grain Belgian Waffle with Bacon

 

 

After breakfast, we headed up to the Spa to book Susan's Spa treatment.

 

 

 

 

Afterwards we headed out to the pool deck to see how crowded it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can see the chair hogs are in full effect.

Edited December 17, 2018 by shadowmeboy

[CincyJen]

SQUEEEEE!!!  Matthew and Susan!  I'm updating our review just as I'm reading your wonderful review!  So cool that we cruised with Cruise Critic Stars!  We loved meeting you both and are so thankful to you for setting up our really great Meet & Greet and SLOT PULL MANIA!  Ha!  It's going to be so fun to read along!

[shadowmeboy]

 

We headed back to the room and were going to meet up with Trace and Maria for planning for our upcoming sailings. We are cruising June 2019 (Canada/New England) and June 2020 (Alaska - Southbound with Denali) together as well. First I wanted to call Mark Maeling, Sr. Food and beverage Director, about our experience in Q the night before. We had chatted for a few minutes at the Meet & Greet, so I felt it necessary to pass the feedback on to him as well. I told him the Assistant Maitre'D Gary took care of us that night, so I wasn't asking for anything, but I wanted him in the loop. He said they would get it fixed and do taste testing's that afternoon to make sure it was right.

 

This is why you should go to a Meet & Greet. If something goes wrong, you have contacts of people who can actually do something to make it right. 

 

 

Trace and Maria beat us on to the Waterfront.

 

 

 

We chatted and had a jolly good time and talked about the upcoming cruises.

 

 

 

 

Sugarcane opened up at noon. Bong took care of us. Yes, that is my Raspberry Mojito! We also tried a couple of different Mojitos.

 

 

He kept the Mojitos coming!

 

At 12:45, we realized we had a Cabin Crawl coming up at 2 pm that we needed to get ready for. Trace and Maria headed back to their cabin and we ran and got some lunch! Mojitos on a half empty stomach is not a good idea! Just FYI!

 

 

Savor for Lunch!

 

[shadowmeboy]

19 minutes ago, CincyJen said:

SQUEEEEE!!!  Matthew and Susan!  I'm updating our review just as I'm reading your wonderful review!  So cool that we cruised with Cruise Critic Stars!  We loved meeting you both and are so thankful to you for setting up our really great Meet & Greet and SLOT PULL MANIA!  Ha!  It's going to be so fun to read along!

 

It was fun having you both along! Thanks again for showing your cabin last minute!

 

Everyone - Check out CincyJen's review if you haven't already. 

 

[Deb and Jack]

5 hours ago, leonidt7 said:

Hi Matthew, a lot of thanks for your review. It was my first cruise ever and it gave me so much joy and pleasure that I bought 2 next cruise coupons. I've back home to work and was very sorry that I didn't have enough memories from the cruise. Now your supplement to my pictures and memories made the difference. I just enjoyed the second pass of our journey. It's not less important than suggestions that I've got from this forum before the cruise. Special thanks to Debbie. Here are some of my pictures.

Leo.

Hi Leo glad you made it home safely and welcome to the cruising world.  Debbie 

[shadowmeboy]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popcorn Shrimp

 

 

Vietnamese Chicken Pho

 

 

Grilled Cajun Mahi-Mahi Sandwich

 

 

 

We headed back to the room and found the fruit and wine. 

 

We made sure the room was picked up and headed up to the Cabin Crawl.

[shadowmeboy]

Trace and Maria took pictures back in their room.

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly, the Haven Butler, helped get Trace's room already for the cabin crawl.

 

 

Snacks in the room!

 

 

 

[Son of a son of a ...]

Another fantastic review!  Many thanks!

[mkcurran]

On 12/15/2018 at 2:48 PM, shadowmeboy said:

 

 

 

going under the newly completed animal overpass. It is designed to safely allow animals to cross the Interstate.

 

 

 

 

Luckily over Snoqualmie Pass it was just wet.

Lucky!

I love that you take pictures on your drive out. Reminds me of just how beautiful it is up there. Although with all of that white stuff around I don't miss it at all this time of year. 

[shadowmeboy]

2pm came around and it was time for the Cabin Crawl!

 

 

Trace explaining what was going to happen.

 

 

 

The handout Trace made for the Cabin Crawl. CincyJen was willing to show her Spa Mini Suite last minute after we lost the cabin that had signed up. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

Our Cabin was first, Aft Balcony 10916. I held the door as everyone worked their way through it. Our awesome cabin steward gave me a door stop to use on the other stops along the way. I didn't think I needed to retake pictures of our room!

 

 

Midship Balcony 8144 was next - Thank you Becky - Happy0064

 

 

 

Spa Mini Suite 15210 was next - Thank you Jen - CincyJen 

 

 

 

 

Main difference between this and a normal balcony is the bathroom

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

 

The rest of us waiting in the hall, either before or after viewing the room.

 

 

Haven 2 bedroom 18118 was next - Thank you Sharon - Sharinalovestocruise

 

 

smaller bedroom

 

 

smaller bedroom bathroom

 

 

 

 

the seating area was set up in bed form

 

 

Larger bedroom

 

 

 

Larger Bedroom Bathroom

 

 

[ClaireAndMike]

I have a quick question about the internet packages.  I prepaid for the social media package, but how do I actually activate it once on board?  Do I get a code of some sort at some point?    

 

Also, what a fun roll call!  My sailing doesn't even have a meet and greet scheduled.  First cruise I've ever been on that hasn't.  

Edited December 17, 2018 by ClaireAndMike
Added stuff

[shadowmeboy]

 

Angled Balcony 11182 was next - Thank you Nancy - Sweatpants

 

 

 

 

 

Studio 11531 was next - Thank you Jackie - TropicalGurl

 

 

We staged in the Studio Lounge as the studio is not very big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

virtual picture window

 

 

Jackie taking us through the room!

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

6 minutes ago, ClaireAndMike said:

I have a quick question about the internet packages.  I prepaid for the social media package, but how do I actually activate it once on board?  Do I get a code of some sort at some point?    

 

Susan and I turn off our phones onboard, so I have no experience with this. Maybe Trace can help with this.

[shadowmeboy]

The final stateroom was Trace's stateroom

 

 

Haven H7 Forward Suite was next - Thank you Trace - Tgloersen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trace had brought some Presidential toilet paper with him on this cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you all who showcased your cabin and those of you who participated in walking through the cabins. It was a lot of fun! Thank you Trace for organizing!

[ClaireAndMike]

13 minutes ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

Susan and I turn off our phones onboard, so I have no experience with this. Maybe Trace can help with this.

 

Oh thanks!  I've read so many reviews and live reports lately that I'm confusing you with someone else.  Long story short, I have a 13 year old sick dog (my baby) at home that I need to be able to check in on daily (I almost didn't commit to the upcoming cruise because of that).  My husband is staying home with her - that's why I got the "social media" package because it says you can access messenger apps.   Here's hoping it works!    

[shadowmeboy]

 

After the Cabin Crawl, Trace, Maria, Susan and myself relaxed in Trace and Maria's room and played some LCR!

 

We played for a couple hours and I won some of Trace's money. We headed back to our room at about 5:45 pm to get ready for dinner. 

 

 

We arrived to the stateroom to find Chocolate Covered Strawberries courtesy of Gary the Assistant Maitre'd from the Q.

 

 

 

I went out on the Balcony.

 

 

 

 

[shadowmeboy]

10 minutes ago, ClaireAndMike said:

 

Oh thanks!  I've read so many reviews and live reports lately that I'm confusing you with someone else.  Long story short, I have a 13 year old sick dog (my baby) at home that I need to be able to check in on daily (I almost didn't commit to the upcoming cruise because of that).  My husband is staying home with her - that's why I got the "social media" package because it says you can access messenger apps.   Here's hoping it works!    

 

Talk to the internet café and they should be able to help you onboard.

[shadowmeboy]

1 hour ago, Son of a son of a ... said:

Another fantastic review!  Many thanks!

 

Your Welcome! Glad to have you along.

 

58 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

Lucky!

I love that you take pictures on your drive out. Reminds me of just how beautiful it is up there. Although with all of that white stuff around I don't miss it at all this time of year. 

 

It is beautiful, and yes we were lucky.

[CincyJen]

I'm so happy I finally got to see how that Scavenger Hunt you told us about at the Meet & Greet worked out!!  AWESOME!!

[CincyJen]

On 12/16/2018 at 1:12 AM, shadowmeboy said:

Susan and I walked our invitations/reminders for the Meet & Greet around to the staterooms that requested one. This is what it looked like.

 

 

Flying a Red Eye took a lot out of Susan and I and we crashed that first night. 

 

End of Day 1!

 

----

 

I will do some more tomorrow. Goodnight all.

 

You guys walked those invites around yourselves??  We were so excited to get them.  Thank You!!!  Wowie!

[CincyJen]

21 hours ago, shadowmeboy said:

 

 

Jovo said a few words and then handed it over to me.

 

 

We had Slot Pull sign ups, Cabin Crawl info, and continued mingling. Then a little before one we headed to the Casino to do the Slot Pull. 

 

 

 

40 people participated! $20 buy-in and $2 winners pot. We had a blast. Trace was easing into it the entire time! Steve had fun spinning here.

 

 

The top spinners!

 

The Cruise Critic Slot Pull was one of our favorite moments!  We got kinda wild.  Photos don't do it justice!! Thanks so much for "pulling" this together!