LIVE - B2B 10/26 and 11/2 Halloween, Birthday, and President's Cruise

[island lady]

18 hours ago, aring75 said:

I am very happy we didn’t spend more. We have definitely enjoyed having the padded lounger, the great shade, and the ceiling fan. But, like you, we are one and done. If we do Coco Cay next week, we will find a couple of loungers under an umbrella. And hoping I can snorkel by then. 
 

We have seen huge schools of sergeant majors and French grunts in the lagoon area. They definitely seem to equate people with food. 😀

 

"One and done" here also.  Though like you, we enjoyed the shade and area to hang in the Cabana, but the service was pretty bad for what you pay...errr...no service at all actually.  😉 

 

Lots of large Grey Snapper come right up to you when you wade into the water also.  Fun to see the fish!  Enjoy the rest of your cruise.  Nice you don't have to depart at the end, gotta love those B2Bs!  🙂 

[island lady]

18 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

 

Perhaps your gators have been feasting on the critters!!!! We may need to import some gators from your swamp.

 

You mean like this crossing my back yard?  😉 

 

 

[aring75]

14 hours ago, suesnake2002 said:

I think they are charging that much to justify this:

 

13 hours ago, joand452 said:

We already told our three adult kids to save up, we're all going on a cruise to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2022; however, Dad is not paying.  Maybe they'll want to split one of these and treat us!

 

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

I have one booked for less than this for October 2020.  Watching for price drops, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday etc. 

 

I love the idea of these, but there’s no way I could justify the price. Maybe if we were traveling with other people and split the price? I would have to hear that they were basically Coco Cay nirvana though.

[aring75]

12 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

You mean like this crossing my back yard?  😉 

 

 

Ha. That’s funny. I got to work one morning and there was an alligator between my car and the door to the office. Not a big one, he was only about 4 ft long, but still. I don’t make enough money to climb over alligators for my job. 
 

 

[aring75]

Last night was our last dinner for the first week and we ate in the Solarium Bistro. This is considered a Specialty Dining Restaurant even though there is no additional charge (except for a few select items).

 

You serve yourself buffet style. Everything is pre-played and there is a section for cold & hot appetizers:

 

 

 

 

 

[aring75]

Then you choose from several different entree selections, like Greek meatballs, lemon-pepper chicken, carved skirt steak, salmon filets, mahi-mahi, and others. 
 

 

 

[aring75]

There’s an entire fresh fruit / dessert station. 
 

 

[aring75]

We always enjoy dining here. And dinner feels more quiet and relaxed than breakfast and lunch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[island lady]

Nice pictures of the totally upgraded looking Solarium Bistro!  John (of John and Lala) posted a picture from it as well.  I commented that it looks a lot like CK in fact.  Very inviting!  🙂  Thanks for sharing those, and indeed looked yummy!  

[countess5]

Great day today!

Heading over to hook up with a fantastic party boat i.e Ship!

 

Get your Gold on all!

 

Cheers! 

[Lady Hudson]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Different strokes. 
 

Let’s back on track to the Live review folks. I can’t wait to see what this week brings. 

Agree.  Can’t wait to see what this week brings.  Looking forward to following this thread and John’s as well.  Should be an interesting week.  Always appreciate those who take the time to post while on vacation.  Thank you.  Katherine

[aring75]

Turnaround wasn’t too bad. The very last stragglers didn’t get off the ship until almost 11 am though. Who are these people!!!??? Many of the people in the B2B line booed them as they were leaving. Nothing like being cruise-shamed on your way out the door. 
 

Back on board a white-gloved hand passes you a glass of “champagne” when you ring the bell for 50 years. 
 

 

Got to our room and we have a 50th Birthday magnet on our door. 
 

 

And this letter was waiting with all our cruise info. 
 

 

And now we enjoy this view for the second time as we wait for another amazing sail away. 😊

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by aring75

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

You mean like this crossing my back yard?  😉 

 

 

Wow,we get squirrels, hedgehogs,cats and birds in our back garden, Pauline would freak out if she saw that in our garden.

Good excuse for Bucky not to cut the grass.

[island lady]

8 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Wow,we get squirrels, hedgehogs,cats and birds in our back garden, Pauline would freak out if she saw that in our garden.

Good excuse for Bucky not to cut the grass.

 

LOL...we have a lawn service, but Bucky does a lot of trimming. It's mostly the fire ants in the back that bite...so far no Alligator run ins.  😮  Probably why we don't have a Raccoon problem indeed.  😉 

 

Pretty cool traveling along with both Airing 75 and John for this cruise...looks like they are in for a lot of fun!  🙂  

Edited November 2, 2019 by island lady

[grapau27]

4 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

LOL...we have a lawn service, but Bucky does a lot of trimming. It's mostly the fire ants in the back that bite...so far no Alligator run ins.  😮  Probably why we don't have a Raccoon problem indeed.  😉 

 

Pretty cool traveling along with both Airing 75 and John for this cruise...looks like they are in for a lot of fun!  🙂  

I agree,I am enjoying both their threads.

[cruisegirl1]

Regarding the solarium bistro for dinner, symphony is a little different from Oasis and Harmony. (I took allure so long ago they didn’t have solarium bistro for dinner but had the Brazilian steakhouse. I don’t know what they have now ). 
 

On the other oasis class ships, the entrée is served to you. While you get your appetizer,  salad and dessert, at least part of the meal is served. We did not like the way symphony did it.   On the other ships, the room was a little darker and has a more intimate feeling. On symphony, it felt like the wind jammer. We actually walked into the restaurant, but never sat down for our reservation when we saw the serving process. 

and the breakfast/lunch menu has become more like Windjammer food and less like Mediterranean.

 

m

Edited November 2, 2019 by cruisegirl1

[HBE4]

5 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

Lets see - rent a floating cabana for a day OR go on another 7 day cruise................difficult choices!!!!!!

 

The Floating cabana has a slide right into the water.....and you can sit on the edge and dangle your feet in the water.

 

Can't do either on a 7 day cruise. 😋  That's got to be worth $1,500 or so, right?

[aring75]

37 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Wow,we get squirrels, hedgehogs,cats and birds in our back garden, Pauline would freak out if she saw that in our garden.

Good excuse for Bucky not to cut the grass.

Hedgehogs. 😊 I’ve never actually seen one, but have a weird fascination. 
 

 

[aring75]

14 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Regarding the solarium bistro for dinner, symphony is a little different from Oasis and Harmony. (I took allure so long ago they didn’t have solarium bistro for dinner but had the Brazilian steakhouse. I don’t know what they have now ). 
 

On the other oasis class ships, the entrée is served to you. While you get your appetizer,  salad and dessert, at least part of the meal is served. We did not like the way symphony did it.   On the other ships, the room was a little darker and has a more intimate feeling. On symphony, it felt like the wind jammer. We actually walked into the restaurant, but never sat down for our reservation when we saw the serving process. 

and the breakfast/lunch menu has become more like Windjammer food and less like Mediterranean.

 

m

I agree it’s definitely different on Symphony and it has its pluses and minuses. At first, I felt the same way. I really like it on Anthem where you ordered an entree separate from the appetizers and dessert. However, it was nice to sample smaller portions of more than one item as well. Given the option, I prefer to order the main course, but this way was still nice for a change. 
 

You are absolutely right about breakfast and lunch. It’s basically Windjammer Lite. But I like that they take you to a table, so I still prefer it over the main buffet area. 👍
 

Thanks for pointing out the differences. I didn’t think to make note of it for anyone following along. 😊

[grapau27]

10 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Hedgehogs. 😊 I’ve never actually seen one, but have a weird fascination. 
 

 

We have a regular hedgehog who lives at the bottom of our garden.

When they are threatened they curl into a ball with their spikes sticking up.

Sadly we see lots of them dead on our roads as their spikes don't protect them from careless drivers.

 

[aring75]

They had a special lunch for B2B cruisers in the MDR on Deck 4. 

 

 

Caesar Salad - the croutons last week were crunchy, hard squares. These are softer and taste fresh-baked. 😳

 

 

Salmon entree was perfectly cooked. And Mark said his steak was the best he’s had in a week. 
 

 

 

Apple pie to finish things off. 
No raisins. 👍😊

 

[aring75]

Got back to the room and found that “special” RCI champagne had been delivered. 
 

 

Also got our cookies. These are no different, except we didn’t get coconut cookies last week. 
 

 

And we are accumulating a collection. 
 

[grapau27]

Sounds like you are going to have a nice culinary week on the Presidents cruise.

Edited November 2, 2019 by grapau27

[aring75]

CC Meet & Mingle not until Day 3. 
 

 

Same with Top Tier Party. 
 

[aring75]

We didn’t get these last cruise. Thought they were for JS and higher. Do you get them at D+, or is our stateroom attendant just being nice?