Blue Collar Diamond* return to Mariner - 5 day 9/19-9/24 Labadee and Coco Cay!

[BillOh]

In May of this year, I completed my first cruise since the shut down – an 8 day cruise on Enchantment. That cruise went pretty well, so while on board we decided to book our annual fall cruise as well.   My last cruise before the shut down was on Mariner in 2019, so we decided to book a 5 day on Mariner out of Port Canaveral that visited Coco Cay and Labadee.

 

In my review of Enchantment, I noted my cruise planning skills were Rusty and that caused difficulties just getting on the ship, but they were overcome and we did have a great time.  This time, in what should be a routine cruise, life got in the way and made things extra difficult and for a period of time I thought we might cancel this one. As soon as I booked this cruise, I got word my sister in Orlando was not doing well, so we added a couple of days at the front end to visit her and her family before boarding for the cruise.  We planned on staying two days in the Titusville area and visiting my sister in the evening. In 2021 we visited Playa  Linda Beach and loved it, so we planned on spending the days there and visiting family in the evening.  On all previous cruises out of Port Canaveral we have enjoyed dinner the night before at Fishlips and watching the cruise ships sail the day before ours. I planned that as well for our roll call.

 

 

Meanwhile I started looking at excursions for the 2 Royal private areas. I was last in Labadee in 2015 on Freedom and we booked an over the water cabana at Nellie’s beach for $150! I remember back then that you couldn’t book those ahead of time so we rushed on board and booked it then. Had a great time!  While in Coco Cay on Enchantment in May, we had a great day at the Coco Cay Beach club.  During the shut down I had booked it a couple of times for $49 and $54.  I ended up paying $68 for it and thought it was worth it.   When I booked this cruise, the Beach Club was $169 each. I didn’t think it was worth it.   That $150 cabana was now $1500, way out of my budget for 1 afternoon, unless it came with hookers and weed!  Just kidding!  But we elected to do our first no-excursions cruise and stick with beach days!  Later that would be the perfect thing!

[BillOh]

Of course, cruising this time of year means watching for hurricanes and this season started off slow.  Two weeks before our cruise the storms started lining up off the coast of Gambia and moving west as they tend to do. About a week before our cruise it looked like Tropical Storm Fiona might be sitting on  top of Labadee on the day of our arrival. While I’m an obsessive cruise planner, this storm dropped off my radar, pun intended.  Friday  Sept 9^th I was working my day and evening jobs trying to get ahead so I could take the cruise time off when I got the phone call nobody wants. 

 

I APOLOGIZE, THERE IS ABOUT TO BE A LOT OF NON -CRUISE RELATED STUFF POSTED IN THE NEXT COUPLE POSTS.  IT'S THERAPUETIC FOR ME AND MIGHT BENEFIT SOMEONE ELSE, SO BEAR WITH ME TILL WE GET ON THE SHIP!

 

 I mentioned that when I booked this cruise in May I knew my sister wasn’t feeling well and we extended our planned time in Florida.  In August she went into in-home hospice and we were told 6-12 months life expectancy for her.  We were told she had taken a turn for the worse and was just taken to the local ER where she had a DNR on file.

We had planned on working Monday through Wednesday and then driving down to Florida 3 days before the cruise, but suddenly we had to leave now!   In about an hour’s time we packed for a week in Orlando and for our cruise. We loaded up the car at 7pm and headed from Ohio to Orlando stopping only at 2am in Charolette for a few hours rest.  We arrived in Orland about 1pm the Saturday that was 9 days ahead of our cruise.  I was able to see my sister, but it was clear these were here final days. Sooner than we thought unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately given her level of discomfort.  She did pass Sunday evening Sept 11^th.  

[BillOh]

 It was Monday the 12th,  I learned she was planning on being buried back in our hometown of Erie, PA, but I had no idea how long it would take to get a body back to Pennsylvania.  It was Monday morning, exactly 1 week before our cruise that we found out she would have services that Friday 9/16 and be buried on 9/17.   This was my last remaining immediate family member so I was of course devastated, but I don’t want to burden all of you with more details there that aren’t cruise planning related.

 

We were already in Orlando for our 9/19 cruise and with the plans set, I knew we would make the cruise, but not without a lot of effort. We repacked our car on Tueday 9/13 and drove back to Columbus arriving just before midnight.  We had all day Wednesday to repack our bags, pack new ones, pick up our camper and we headed to Erie, Pa via car/camper on Thursday.  I knew after driving 2600 miles that week that I wasn’t up to driving another round trip to Florida after returning from the burial so I booked flights from Columbus to Orlando for the cruise.  Our flights would get us to the port just in time for the roll call event at Fishlips.

 

Well, that was the plan anyway!  The funeral/burial went on schedule as did our drive back to Ohio. We got home Saturday at 6pm and started packing for our 8am flight Sunday.   I mentioned that I was out of practice with my cruise planning after 2 years of not cruising, but throw in these circumstances and I was close to a mental meltdown.  We arrived at the Columbus Airport with time to spare on Sunday the 18^th and found out when I booked the flight, I only booked one for me, I didn’t get a ticket for my wife. Visions of a 41-year marriage about to end I got lucky and the Southwest agent was able to book my wife on the same flights as me! It came at a price though, My ticket was around $265 dollars,  My wife’s last minute flight was nearly $700.  A very costly mistake!  More air worries later!

 

So, we did make it to Orlando on time, but our bags weren’t brought to the Carousel for 80 minutes!  I had also done an expensive Uber to the Radisson, - It was expensive, but it went well, plenty of room and nice safe ride to the hotel where our room was ready!  I quickly hit my favorite hotel pool at the Radisson.  Since my last cruise I have been diagnosed with fused vertebrae in my neck, so my first relief in about a week came in the form of standing in this waterfall for 30 minutes!

 

 

 

 

A friend we made on a previous cruise picked us up at the hotel and we had a great time with our pre- cruise dinner watching Harmony and MSC Davina sail away.   Now I would relax and know I would be on another cruise soon.

[BillOh]

After a very fun time at Fishlips and another dunk in the Radisson’s pool we were ready to cruise.  We had no problems with the Radisson and their hotel shuttle. It always works well for us and it did this time. We had a 10:30 check in at the port and they had us there on time.  Oh, this was my first visit to Terminal 5. 

Above is my traditional pic of my first time seeing the ship.

 

 

All of my previous sailings (6) from PC were from Terminal 1.   This went smooth and we were boarding well before 11!  First thing I did was go to NEXT CRUISE and booked Wonder for our usual May cruise!  (April 30^th, 2023) Eastern Caribbean!  Looking forward to going back to Orient beach St Martin for the first time since 2018!

 

That went well and for booking on the first day we got a bottle of champagne and a gift bag!

 

[JessyCruises]

Bill, I am so sorry about the loss of your sister.

[BillOh]

Mariner was already “amp’d” for our 2019 cruise, so we knew what to expect, but I was curious to see how she looked after seeing Enchantment showed some signs of neglect during the shut down.  I’m pleased to say she looked really good. Everything looked as it should for a ship of this age.  After booking our Wonder cruise we made our way up to the Windjammer. We were on early enough it still wasn’t crowded.  I was so happy to be in a Windjammer and to be in this Windjammer in particular. I love the WJs on the Voyager and Freedom class ships.  Everything tasted wonderful!   It was good, but it may have helped that we brought on our/my own Taste Enhancers. (Total Herbal Compound)  I may make a few references /inuendo to that in next few posts as I see relevance and at the risk of excessive critique and moderator wrath.

 

I double checked and make sure the shuttle dropped us off at the right ship!

 

Mariner was docked with her starboard side facing the terminal so I quickly found our room. (My normal pre-cruise obsession) 

 

Of course everyone loves that last walk up the gangway to see the ship at the other end! 

 

Of course on this class of ship, you have the promenade that we love.

 

This is a really cool part of Mariner's amping that I wish I could enjoy, but still glad its there! (Spinal issues and arthritis makes water slides not a good idea for me)

[BillOh]

After a great lunch, we wandered around the ship re-familiarizing ourselves with the ship.  As is our usual mode for a ship we have been on before we packed our swim suits and enjoyed the warm weather by the pool till our rooms were ready.  We did that this time.  

 

  A little side detail.  I initially booked a D1 balcony (probably not the current term)   Once I got all my cruise points for the 8 day on Enchantment credited I found I was 10 points short of Diamond Plus and this was a 5 day cruise I started looking at a Junior Suite that would get us to Diamond Plus.   Now I have just alluded to what the * in this thread’s subject line means. Last May the additional cost of the JS was more than I wanted to spend.  When I checked again in July the JS price was still high, but the Suite Guarantee was actually cheaper so I went for it. 

 

When I booked the Suite Guarantee I knew the least I would get is a Junior Suite with the possibility of something bigger.   But at the price, I knew I would be happy with the JS.   We booked this just as the cruise docs went out and for my room assignment is showed GTY.  A few CC members told me the “trick” of checking the bar code on those docs and it can show the actual room number.  For 2 weeks it showed GTY, but suddenly one day it showed 9238 so I checked it out, It was a Junior Suite on deck 9 starboard about 8 cabins back from the bridge wing.

 

Now getting back to having our swimsuits on and waiting for the rooms to open up, when I booked the Suite Guarantee the CSR told me that would come with access to the Suite lounge and a special section around the pool. I knew this wasn’t true if we ended up getting a Junior Suite, but I kept that in mind. 

 

Mrs BcollarD(+) and I checked out the pool deck and it was already crowded and the special suite area was totally empty.  I decided to feign ignorance and we got two seats up there and enjoyed the weather and hit the pool a couple of times. I would have probably played the grief card if challenged but nobody challenged us and we ended up using these seats on day 1 and both sea days!.    I guess I’ve become a blatant rule breaker after 20 cruises.   Nobody challenged us all week and we were glad to still be able to use the pool during the Belly Flop and Sexiest Man contests, both of which had people jammed shoulder to shoulder  across the pool deck.  We have avoided covid for 2+ years and weren’t cruising in fear and  we were happy to be with people, but glad we didn’t stand around in those tight quarters.

 

Before long the rooms opened up, but we waited till 2:30 to visit our Junior Suite. Our last JS was on Adventure in 2018, so it was a familiar place.  There was only one thing different about this suite and I actually stumbled on to it.   Our balcony must have been right on some kind of seam and we had this in the middle.

 

 

In the scheme of things its pretty minor, but my spinal issues mean I don't lift my feet very high so this was a trip hazard that I learned to pay attention to.  If course it in no way stopped us from enjoying our balcony. 

 

After enjoying our Grand Suite balcony  and two loungers, this was a minor let down, but FYI, something I hadn't noticed before, this JS had two single person chairs that actually folded down and if you put them end to end they made one nice lounger as the poor photo below doesn't really show.

 

As you can see our balcony was ahead of the hump on the starboard side -  The guy below was wearing the same thing I was! 

 

 

Looking the other way, we were about 8 cabins behind the starboard Bridge wing.  

 

At this point we were on a ship after 10 days of mega-stress and uncertainty. I think my brain really shut down so this review may have less photos than the average Blue Collar Diamond review.  I hope  you forgive me knowing I/we ended up getting the rest we needed!   Below is the only picture I took of the room's interior. 

 

 

[Mrs.Dukes]

So sorry to read of your sister’s passing. Glad you were able to still go on your trip afterwards. 

[fla33023]

My deepest condolences on the loss of your sister. Glad you didn't have to also deal with a divorce after that "one ticket" issue!

Edited September 26, 2022 by fla33023

[A&L_Ont]

8 hours ago, BillOh said:

I was able to see my sister, but it was clear these were here final days. Sooner than we thought unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately given her level of discomfort.  She did pass Sunday evening Sept 11^th.  

Bill, I was happy to see you review as we board Mariner on Monday with the same route as you, weather permitting.  
 

I am very sorry to read about the loss of your sister.  I hope that your getaway helped to give you a break from the mental exhaustion from the weeks previous. Thankfully you were able to get a seat on the plane for your wife because you would have faced more of it upon your return. I will not say if I just double checked to see if I booked seats for my wife or not. 
 

I look forward to the rest of your review and whatever adventure lies ahead for us following along. 

[BillOh]

After checking out our room, we decided to have a quick drink in the Diamond lounge before our 4pm departure.   I was still waiting for my drink when the ships horn blew and we were moving. The captain came on the PA system and told us they were leaving 30 minutes earlier so they could take a more westerly approach to Labadee as Hurricane (may still have been tropical storm Fiona at the time) as it was moving away from Haiti towards Turk and Caicos.  By leaving early he could avoid more of the storm and still get to Labadee on time, which we did and with beautiful weather the whole way.

We finished day 1 with late seating dinner on deck 5 of the MDR.  We were at a table for six.  Another couple joined us each night. I was happy to see it was Roger and Peggy from our roll call group and the event at Fishlips. We enjoyed their company all week. I saw the Pork Chop on the menu and was really tempted. It was excellent on Mariner in 2019, but awful on Enchantment this year. I did see Fried Chicken on the menu and after all I am the Blue Collar Diamond!  I thought maybe they would fancy it up a bit, It was good, but reminded me of Mom’s experimentation with Shake and Bake in the 70s. 

 

 

The sea day was just what the doctor (my psychologist) ordered!  I needed to unwind and relax. We spent most of the day at the pool in our seats of privilege described in the previous post.   We decided not to get the drink package, but I did want to stay under the influence to some extent for most of this trip.   We each had our 4 Diamond drinks to work with. One of the ways we “coped” was to mix the champagne we were given with sprite in our freestyle cups, I won’t gummy up the story with the rest of how we made our free drinks last.  

We did arrive at Labadee after a really nice sea day with great weather.  We were there and headed off the ship by not long after 8am making for a very nice day.  We were docked with the starboard (my) side of the ship facing the pier. I love watching the pier workers get ready and help us in.   I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was to see several E-Bikes in use by pier workers.  I pretend to have a disdain for E-bikes being a “real cyclist” But they do have their place and this is one of them.  

We were at Nellie’s beach quickly and gave a worker $5 for first row chairs with an umbrella in the front row!  Great day with about a 50 yard walk for drink refills if we didn’t want to wait.  The weather was about 90 and sunny, but around noon the wind picked up a bit, but we still managed to have  a great day. 

 

Here is proof I did get an airline ticket for my wife and she did make the trip.

 

 

By the way I would say the cabanas at Nellies were about 50% full.

 

[BillOh]

We boarded the ship on Monday, Tuesday was a sea day, and Wednesday was a great day at Labadee.  I/we were able to get the relaxation we needed and that was top priority.  As I sit here in my basement a week later I realize another thing, one of many, that I had forgotten during the stressful week up to this cruise.  Normally I take a small notebook with me and write down things I want to remember for  a review of the cruise. 

 

As I think about it now, there isn't a whole lot to remember as we did very darn little.  We didn't go to a single show. We did go to the Top Tier event on day 2. The evening of the first sea day  was to be Love and Marriage, we never miss that, and we were considering trying out to be a contestant, but we just crashed. We were happy L&M wasn't an afternoon event like it was on our last 2 cruises, but we couldn't make it and were in bed by 10!   Yes, I am getting old!  How old, while the calendar says I'm 63, but going by the old adage, "You're only as old as you feel"  I'm 74!.

 

We did manage to eat in the MDR every night enjoying our table mates and our waiter team.  But I think the events of the week prior to the cruise were catching up with us.  We had no appetite.  The food was good, but we kept leaving part of our appetizer and entre on the plate so we had room for dessert.   My wife and I are both weight loss surgery patients who use to weigh close to 300 pounds but have had our weight under control for the last 15 years or so.   As usual the wait staff was concerned we didn't like the food and were practically begging us to try something else.   Frequently on cruises I've had to explain to the waiters that we physically can't eat the entire meals they serve unless we starve our selves for hours prior to dinner.  But we didn't have the energy to relate our story, so we said we ate too much appetizers in the Diamond Lounge, which was partially true.  We did enjoy the food, just couldn't eat it all!

 

Speaking of the Diamond Lounge, there was over 1250 Crown and Anchor members on board with 500 being Diamond or higher, so the DL was very packed the first day and spilled over into what use to be called the Viking Crown Lounge.  We quickly remembered not to show up when happy hour started and would wait till first seating people left. This cruise had at least 2 sizable groups on board, one of which was "The Pirates cruise"  We met many of these people back in 2019.  I don't remember how far back it goes, but many of them had cruised on Mariner when she was in Port Canaveral many years ago.  Apparently "Talk like a Pirate Day" occurs this week every year, so those people call them selves the Pirate cruise.   One couple we cruised with on Freedom back in 2015 were part of this group and we sailed with them again in 2019 on Mariner and met a lot of these people.  It was good to have about 12  friends we knew on this cruise.  

 

For those of you who have read my reviews before you know I am an obsessive cruise planner and have all the details worked out, but this was a unique cruise for us and we were getting some much needed rest and relaxation.   It was Wednesday night, after the day at Labadee that I realized I had made ANOTHER big planning mistake in the last few days before this cruise.  We were in the  Lounges socializing and getting our 4 Diamond drinks when someone mentioned that Thursday was a sea day and we would be at Coco Cay on Friday.   My wife and I looked at each other and realize that I had DONE IT AGAIN!     In the haste to book last minute flight I had forgot that this was a five day cruise and I had booked our flights back for Friday!. 

 

Off to bed and somehow I managed to get some sleep, but instead of getting up and walking on the track in the morning as is my usual sea day routine, I got my phone out and instead of using one free day of internet per our Diamond Perk, I purchased 2 days for 2 devices. I found my wife's Southwest Reservation number and using the Southwest app and their chat feature I was able to get first my flights changed and then my wife's as well.   We actually got better flights that would put us home earlier and I got a refund as Saturday flights were cheaper than Friday.  I still had to change my shuttle ride back to the airport, but I knew I could handle that. Back to relaxing and this was the last stressful moment of the cruise.

 

We did spend most of the day at the pool in the stadium style seats reserved for Suites. I guess we are now officially members of the Pirate group as we pirated these seats each day!  I don't remember much else other than the fact that we did eat at Playmakers for lunch. We had some really great wings at playmakers on Symphony, so I was anxious to try them again. It was a good experience except they delivered the wrong flavor of wings, but we just went with it.  My wife decided to order onion rings as well, not realizing it would be a stack of them about a foot high.  We couldn't eat them and ended up giving most of them to another couple in our roll call. They seemed happy.  Now for some more random pics from the very few I took this cruise. (least ever for me)

 

 

 

[BillOh]

The final day of our cruise was Coco Cay.  The wait staff and Marc the Cruise director had said that Symphony would be in port with us, but we would be there first so we planned on getting off the ship quick and grabbing some chairs at Chill Island beach.   They lied!  I was someone disappointed to wake up around 7, when I headed out to my balcony  to watch our arrival and I saw Symphony was already there.  I had a minor disappointment when we backed into the pier and we were on the opposite side of the ship away from Symphony. But I did catch a few pictures.

 

Speaking of my balcony, since we were vegetating this cruise I did spent a lot of good therapy time just being on our balcony.  Many people say they don't spend a lot of time in their room, so they don't get balconies, but we sure enjoyed ours this cruise.  I did notice on the first night a group hanging out on theirs smoking cigarettes and at least one cigar. They were down wind so it didn't both me, but I wondered if they knew they were risking a big fine if someone reported that the way I heard they use to. I've never been a smoker (tobacco) so I've never been concerned about it.

 

On the first sea day I did smell some weed being burned up wind from us on deck 9. They must have been done before I came out as I didn't see who it was that day. I didn't mind the smell, but I did think about it and I wouldn't risk bringing flower, or bud on a ship. I wait too long for a cruise to risk being thrown off.    I am not anti-marijuana like I was from my 50s back to my childhood.  In fact in 2019 I became one of Ohio's very first legal medical marijuana patients.   I've liked it so much I got a job in the industry! I work as a patient consultant in one of Ohio's dispensaries. Its actually my 2nd job that is helping me pay off bills so I can retire at 65.   I am no longer on any prescriptions for pain, seizures, blood pressure, or sleep!   But as mentioned I didn't bring any plant material on board. 

 

On this last sea day I did go out on my balcony and got a stronger smell this time and it was coming from the next cabin to ours (upwind)   I pulled up my chair to sit down and the noise of me dragging the chair startled them.  Much to my surprise a late 20's maybe 30 year old woman peeked around the divider and stared at me with a look of shock and fear.  I told her to relax, I wasn't going to be the one to rat them out and I wouldn't report what I had seen if she wouldn't 🙂

 

 

 

 

[BillOh]

On 9/26/2022 at 6:51 PM, A&L_Ont said:

Bill, I was happy to see you review as we board Mariner on Monday with the same route as you, weather permitting.  

I hope it went well!  Come back and let me know!  FYI, I grew up on Lake Erie and I could see Southern Ontario (Long Point) out my bedroom window.  I also had a CB radio and would talk to people in your London.  We also had Canadian Stations on our cable so I grew up watching Curling and a team from London. Later I helped found the Columbus Curling Club. 

[perfect match]

Bill, first of all Barry and I both want to extend our deepest sympathies for the loss of your sister. We’re glad you were able to see her before she passed. We’re also glad you were able to attend the services for her and still make it on board your cruise. It sounds like the rest and relaxation were exactly what you both needed.

 

I loved your pictures of Harmony sailing out of Port Canaveral mostly because he had just gotten off her that morning. We seem to cruise the week before you in September on a regular basis Maybe the stars will line up for us one of these days and we’ll end up on the same cruise again. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying following you and Gina on Mariner now.

[A&L_Ont]

3 hours ago, BillOh said:

I hope it went well!  Come back and let me know!  FYI, I grew up on Lake Erie and I could see Southern Ontario (Long Point) out my bedroom window.  I also had a CB radio and would talk to people in your London.  We also had Canadian Stations on our cable so I grew up watching Curling and a team from London. Later I helped found the Columbus Curling Club. 

I hope it will go well too. We fly on Sunday and board on Monday, weather permitting.  We have friends who live near long point, so I can envision where you were across the lake. I might do a live review but that has YTBD. 

[BillOh]

1 hour ago, perfect match said:

Bill, first of all Barry and I both want to extend our deepest sympathies for the loss of your sister. We’re glad you were able to see her before she passed. We’re also glad you were able to attend the services for her and still make it on board your cruise. It sounds like the rest and relaxation were exactly what you both needed.

 

I loved your pictures of Harmony sailing out of Port Canaveral mostly because he had just gotten off her that morning. We seem to cruise the week before you in September on a regular basis Maybe the stars will line up for us one of these days and we’ll end up on the same cruise again. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying following you and Gina on Mariner now.

Thanks, I am pleased you remember our Symphony cruise together.  I don't remember if I mentioned it yet, or have updated my signature, but we did book Wonder for our usual week in the spring -  April 30th.

[perfect match]

12 hours ago, BillOh said:

Thanks, I am pleased you remember our Symphony cruise together.  I don't remember if I mentioned it yet, or have updated my signature, but we did book Wonder for our usual week in the spring -  April 30th.

No way I’m forgetting that Symphony cruise! 😎🛳

 

We’ re two weeks off in April.  We sail on Odyssey on April 16. An even closer miss is that some of our closest friends are sailing out of Port Everglades the same day as us, but they’re on Celebrity Apex! We did find out that some of our neighbors will be on Odyssey with us, but unlike us, they’re staying onboard for the TA following our cruise.

 

If for any reason we have to change our cruise dates (highly unlikely but you never know) I’ll keep the April 30th sailing on Wonder in mind. Wonder is the next ship I’m thinking about booking anyway and it’s a much shorter drive for us to Port Canaveral than it is to Port Everglades

[perfect match]

13 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I hope it will go well too. We fly on Sunday and board on Monday, weather permitting.  We have friends who live near long point, so I can envision where you were across the lake. I might do a live review but that has YTBD. 

@A&L_Ont, yes please to the live review! 🛳
 

Ian is headed for Port Canaveral as I type this so I hope he doesn’t do too much damage. We’re getting outer bands right now with a lot of rain and wind, but nowhere near as bad as a lot of Florida has been. Currently the wind, rain and storm conditions in general are much worse on the east coast.

[BillOh]

It's official now, here is the reason for the * in the thread title.

[BillOh]

Symphony did arrive before us, but I think they cleared both ships to get off the ship about the same time. I love walking through Royal Caribbean Canyon between two big ships. 

 

We grabbed a quick WJ breakfast and were on our way to a Perfect Day by about 8:30am.  We turned left at the Perfect day sign and crossed the bridge to the Chill Island area and found our spot for the day. 

We were the first to reach this beach.  Below is the 2nd life form to join us.

We did see one jelly fish early, but then no more.

 

It was another beautiful day. Sunny and hot, very light breeze but a perfect beach day. After checking out where the bar/drinks were my wife and been bothering me to start wearing a hat.  I did take her to the straw market area, which I avoid like the plaque on Labadee. I always thought these hats look like old man hats, but If the hat fits wear it!  I was a little surprised to see a fair amount of 420 related items for sale on Royal's private area since they frown on hit onboard.

 

The day really was a perfect day for what we needed. We walked about 100 yards to lunch which was the usual picnic lunch at Coco Cay topped off with an ice-cream cone. 

[BillOh]

As usual, I rush home and try to get a review up, but returning to work creates a lot of work and missing 2 weeks before this cruise made it worse.  I think I will close with a few extra pics and commentary.

 

Purchased pic.  The shirt I'm wearing has now been on 21 cruises.

 

It was fun watching them put away the personal watercraft at Labadee.

 

We participated in the roll call slot pull. I know this makes a lot of benefit for the organizer, but good for them. I am usually bad luck in a casino, but my $20 actually added $80 to the group. We ended up almost breaking even, but had fun for 2 hours!

 

Rest and relaxation achieved.

 

One of only 2 real cameras brought on board by passengers!

Out for evening walk(s)

 

Despite Fiona, we had great weather all cruise. We sailed through this Thursday night on the way to Coco Cay, but I slept through it.

 

Spent a lot of time here. 

 

Two views of our JS 9238

 

All good things must come to an end Watch for Blue Collar D+ on Wonder in May!

[BillOh]

On 9/28/2022 at 9:49 AM, perfect match said:

. We seem to cruise the week before you in September on a regular basis Maybe the stars will line up for us one of these days and we’ll end up on the same cruise again. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying following you and Gina on Mariner now.

Oh, by the way, I assume we will miss you next September as well. We are doing something a little different next year, but the same week.  This summer when we returned to the Ohio State Fair for the first time in 2 years we stopped at a booth that was "giving away" a free Carnival cruise.  It was for a travel club and we knew we would have to sit through a sales pitch to get it, but I have no problem telling people NO.   We saw the pitch, said no, and got  a certificate for a free 3 day cruise on Carnival. All we would have to pay is port taxes supposedly. That would have been probably a $150 cruise then, but we decided to book a 5 day cruise on Sept 16th on Carnival Freedom from Port Canaveral.  It will end up costing us about $500 for this by the time we are done. So after 22 Royal Cruises, we will try Carnival,  at least once in my life. Ironically after seeing all of those "Whale tail" Funnels we are going on the only Carnival Ship that doesn't have one. I heard they are replacing it right after our cruise.  

 

BTW, this will be our last cruise before Gina retires from her job of then 44 years. I will retire from working for Satan and H....ell  about 8 months after that!

[BillOh]

On 9/29/2022 at 12:34 AM, perfect match said:

No way I’m forgetting that Symphony cruise! 😎🛳

 

We’ re two weeks off in April.  We sail on Odyssey on April 16. An even closer miss is that some of our closest friends are sailing out of Port Everglades the same day as us, but they’re on Celebrity Apex! We did find out that some of our neighbors will be on Odyssey with us, but unlike us, they’re staying onboard for the TA following our cruise.

 

If for any reason we have to change our cruise dates (highly unlikely but you never know) I’ll keep the April 30th sailing on Wonder in mind. Wonder is the next ship I’m thinking about booking anyway and it’s a much shorter drive for us to Port Canaveral than it is to Port Everglades

Nancy, we did it again, we booked the same ship, but this time a different month.  (see signature)