A ROYAL November: LIVE from Mariner/Liberty/Indy/Mariner OTS

[jam19872016]

Boarding started at 11. Waiting to get into the Windjammer now. It's deja vu. I guess when royal says Windjammer opens at 1130 they mean it. I'm used to carnival that opens things up by 11 on embarkation day so the b2b can eat first.

[jam19872016]

Lunch has been acquired.

 

 

[jam19872016]

After lunch I took care of muster. It was a mess and if there is an actual emergency we are in a big trouble because these folks aren't able to run muster, I hate to see how they handle an emergency.

 

After that I got my bogo dinners scheduled. 

 

Unofficially I did not get booked into Izumi for dinner because that is not allowed. So if you see me posting dinner there don't tell anyone one.

 

Since it is not supposed to be allowed I will probably quit asking because I am not comfortable asking for rules to be broken. It's the same reason I use it the first two nights even though I've heard exceptions are sometimes granted.

 

In the library now waiting on rooms to open up.

[jam19872016]

Rooms are ready. I should be unpacking but instead I'm laying here in the dark contemplating a nap.

[jam19872016]

Had a nice nap and unpacking was easy. I only unpacked for three days and left the rest packed.

 

Enjoyed sailaway from the helipad. It was quite chilly and reminded me of my Alaskan cruise in September. The scenery wasn't as nice though lol.

 

[jam19872016]

Next up is dinner at Izumi. My lunch is long gone and I'm ready to put away some food 😋

[jam19872016]

I forgot to talk about the almost crisis from this morning. 

 

So the parking lot I use in ft.lauderdale is valet. When I got back to my car the first thing I noticed was the driver was 7 ft tall and I had to readjust my seat.

 

Then I go to crank my car and the battery is dead. I look down, and my car has been left in reverse.

 

Seriously who doesn't automatically put a car in park out of habit? Now my battery is dead after sitting in reverse for four days.

 

The manager comes over and gives me a jump and apologizes and tells me how hard it is to find help these days.

 

I sympathize but honestly I don't accept that excuse from any business. If you do you should expect service levels to never return. I've not written them off for good, but do plan to try another company the next time I sail from ft.lauderdale 

[Cherries Jubilee]

10 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I forgot to talk about the almost crisis from this morning. 

 

So the parking lot I use in ft.lauderdale is valet. When I got back to my car the first thing I noticed was the driver was 7 ft tall and I had to readjust my seat.

 

Then I go to crank my car and the battery is dead. I look down, and my car has been left in reverse.

 

Seriously who doesn't automatically put a car in park out of habit? Now my battery is dead after sitting in reverse for four days.

 

The manager comes over and gives me a jump and apologizes and tells me how hard it is to find help these days.

 

I sympathize but honestly I don't accept that excuse from any business. If you do you should expect service levels to never return. I've not written them off for good, but do plan to try another company the next time I sail from ft.lauderdale 

 

That is terrible! I’m glad it worked out. I know it had to be hard to shrug that off and pick your mood back up. They were lucky you are still in a vacation frame of mind! 

[jam19872016]

21 minutes ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

 

That is terrible! I’m glad it worked out. I know it had to be hard to shrug that off and pick your mood back up. They were lucky you are still in a vacation frame of mind! 

I had a moment of panic! I have only attempted a s2s from ports so far away once before and there was a series of events that led to me nearly missing the ship and I swore never again.

 

After the small delay at the port I was thinking o no here we again. Thankfully there were no more issues after this.

[jam19872016]

Izumi was wonderful tonight. Best specialty om this class of ship imo.

 

I started off with a she's a geisha cocktail.

 

 

Shrimp firecracker spring roll.

 

 

Beef teriyaki bowl.

 

 

Truffle lobster tempura roll.

 

 

Crispy sesame balls.

 

[jam19872016]

Got a little evening time work to do then gotta get my exercise in. Gym will be closed so will head to the walking track.

[jam19872016]

At the Schooner but I'm in-between sets. I'll give him a few minutes then I think I'll try my luck I'm the casino.

[jam19872016]

I caught an amazing sunset onbthebeay to dinner tonight. My pictures don't even begin to do it justice.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Good morning. 

 

Apologies for disappearing last night.

 

Things got a little carried away and my phone died.

 

Had a good night though and I u will recap in a bit but i need to get out of the room so steward can get in. 

[jam19872016]

Grabbed a quick bite to eat from the Windjammer.

 

 

Now I've got a coffee sitting in the library trying to wake up. Was a very late night last night.

[jam19872016]

I'm on this cruise, separately, with someone I met on another cruise. We met in the Schooner last night for drinks. The set was to last until 1am  but at 11:30 he took a break and didn't come back.

 

By 12 it was apparent he wasn't coming back ak we went to the pub. He was also packing up so I guess they don't go by what the app says.

 

Next we went to the club for some more drinks and closed the club down. Royals nightclub always close much earlier than I would expect. They follow the same formula. They start to play off the wall music nobody knows then shut it down because the floor is empty. Literally every time I make it up that late. We are talking like 1:30 nothing crazy late.

 

I thought that was the end of things but someone said hot tub. I thought surely they were closed but nope, there were hot tubs open.

 

Everyone else was gone by 3 so we had our own private hot tub until we packed it in at 4am. Very luxurious. I kept expecting someone to come by and shut it down but nobody ever did.

 

I had a good night and part of me wants to do it again the other part is not young enough to get up to those kind of shenanigans anymore and just wants a quiet night in 😅.

[jam19872016]

I may have gone back to the room and slept some more 😆.

 

I think I'm awake now so I'm going to stretch my legs a little and kill some time till dinner.

[jam19872016]

Heading to dinner at Giovanni's.

[jam19872016]

Giovanni's was good. This was actually my first time eating here because the menu never really appealed to me. I'm glad I went and tried it and will likely come back next time I on indy (NYE cruise).

 

I'll post some pictures later but I'm running to the gym since they will be closing soon. The walking track on this class of ship is not in an ideal location.

[fla33023]

7 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Grabbed a quick bite to eat from the Windjammer.

 

 

Now I've got a coffee sitting in the library trying to wake up. Was a very late night last night.

I get a kick on how you always have mashed potatoes with a hot dog! I'll have to try that combo one day. 

[jam19872016]

44 minutes ago, fla33023 said:

I get a kick on how you always have mashed potatoes with a hot dog! I'll have to try that combo one day. 

Lol it has a lot to do with how poor the buffet has been. Lots of variety but if I'm being honest it all looks like slop. Most of what I have tried that weren't safe choices like hot dogs and mashed potatoes, have tasted as bad as they looked.

 

This has been across all three ships although Mariner was OK especially after these last two.

 

Plus I have been craving hot dogs lately, badly. No idea what that's about.

[jam19872016]

Made a good call getting my exercise done while tje gym was open. We passed through through good rain shower and now the outside is wet and slippery.

 

Opened up my bottle of free champagne. Drank a glass then took a glass to go. Wish I was one of those who could walk around with the bottle and not give a damn what others think 🤪. 

 

At the star lounge now for finish that lyric.

[jam19872016]

The host of the show was hilarious. Much better show than the same on Liberty.

 

Tried to grab a bloody mary at the casino and they are out of mix. That's a first. I only have one voucher left i may burn it on one from playmakers unless they are out too.

 

Settled on a grey goose and cranberry. Parked at Schooner until the 80s party at 11.

[jam19872016]

Dinner tonight at Giovanni's was very good. I ate a ridiculous amount of food which is what happens when lunch is a hot dog and mashed potatoes 🤣. 

 

Tuna crudo.

 

 

Pork belly.

 

 

I thought no way this would match chops version bit this was just as good!

 

Filet mignon.

 

 

Better than chops but the bar was set low on that one. I still prefer the filet at the new Giovanni's concept. Quite possibly the best filet I've ever had.

 

Tagliatelle carbonara.

 

 

Even in Italy I didn't get authentic carbonara with the egg on top so this was a nice treat!

 

Vanilla Gelato.

 

 

So simple but very tasty.

 

Chocolate torte.

 

 

Still prefer the new Giovanni's concept and Jamie's over this but I did enjoy the dinner very much.

[jam19872016]

Cashed in my last voucher for a bloody mary from playmakers.

 

 

It is delicious.