justhappy

Famished since we hadn’t eaten in 4 hours which I here is frowned upon by cruise ship staff - I hear they judge your enjoyment of the cruise by how much weight you’ve gained at the end 😛 We hurried back to the Haven for lunch, before I went to the Latitudes reception at 12:30.Cobb saladchicken Milanese Carrot cake

Continuing the tour via 1-95, the long service corridor that most crew travel through ending up in the galley where they were cleaning up from breakfast service and starting lunch prep. It was quite busy so we were hurried through the area.We ended up by leaving Savor after coming through the service entrance. So it was a very good tour and makes you appreciate all the behind the scenes work that goes on every day. The tour lasted an hour and a half which gave me enough time to attend the CC Meet and Greet at 11am in Cagneys. There was a very large turnout with all the officers in attendance and a nice spread of snacks and beverages provided. Since the CC member who had arranged the meet and greet had to cancel his cruise at the last minute due to a family emergency, another lady stepped up and handled the meeting. A CC member stood up and did a great job of explained the benefits of the CC boards and forums since a good deal of the attendees were from the book of faces. I was sitting about half way back in Cagneys and there were as many people behind me as there were in front.

Shortly after breakfast we headed down to deck 6 at 9am to join the Latitudes Behind the Scenes tour. I had done one on the Encore back in 2019 but my husband had not had the chance since becoming platinum to do one yet. We started off viewing the dressing room off of the Illusionarium then to the adjacent room where costumes are stored and seamstresses repair and clean the outfits. We weren’t allowed to take photos here. We also visited the women’s dressing room off the main stage. I’ll have to say it’s quite the maze of hallways running through that area. We were told how the fast costume changes happen and how the live camera feed helps performers time there entrances and comedians can gauge the audience mood before they come on stage. We were then led to the laundry area of the ship which is always impressive in the scale and scope of the operations.

Breaks at yesterday morning in the Haven courtyard was enjoyable if a bit breezy since the Getaway courtyard has no retractable roof. However it was not as breezy as outside the courtyard! Sorry for the halfeaten food pics. I keep forgetting to snap the photo first 🤨

So glad you’re adding to my trip report, it makes it even better. I agree with your assessment on the crowds

I’m averaging 12,000 steps a day!

I just asked Francis the Haven bartender and he said the Veuve Cliquot and the Pommery Rose and they are both available at the Haven bar.

If only! Busy day today as we just got finished with the behind the scenes tour and now I’m off to the Meet and Greet. then at 12:30 there is the latitudes reception! I’ll get on those lounger’s sometime today😬 I don’t know if the internet is glitching today but the photos aren’t showing for me.

We fell asleep quickly after watching Puss N Boots The Last Wish. Woke up to a beautiful sunrise view from the bed. After a quick shower with a view I sat out on the balcony to get some sunrise shots. view from the bed…

After a wait in the Haven lounge, we were seated at a window table for dinner at about 7:10pm. A lovely sunset view and great food and service. Three of us chose the crab cakes and the one non seafood person got the filet. Sorry I forgot to get a photo before beginning to eat! I had just enough room left for a serving of lemon sorbet. So light and refreshing it was a perfect way to end the meal. Ending the evening early watching a movie from the comfort of bedTomorrow we are signed up for the behind the scenes tour for Latitudes members and then on to the Meet & Greet in Cagneys. Good night with day 1 one in the books!

Alex is so awesome. I told him he reminded me of my favorite concierge Adrian Bica and he gets that comment a lot😁. I think it’s his great smile and easy going demeanor and charm.

This stateroom has more storage than we could ever use! Random information for this cruise. The fresh flower arrangement has now been replaced by a succulent arrangement. Our cruise director for this cruise is Alvin. The captain is Luigi De Angelis. Around 3pm we came back to our room and saw that our luggage was sitting in the forward hallway so we rolled it back to our room. The room attendants are trying their best to get the luggage out to everyone but the amount of passengers asking them to drop it all to get them random items was ridiculous. They all have the patience of a saint! So far we have not met our Butler, but no big deal as I’m sure we will at some point. Unfortunately the rocket launch has been postponed until tomorrow. Thanks all for following along and if you are on the cruise with us pleas add your experiences and photos too!

Some photos of our Haven aft balcony penthouse on deck 13.

The weather was nice so we decided to dine outside in the courtyard. We all had what was probably the last healthy meal of the cruise😂 Ceasar Salad with salmon and our friends had Cobb salads. We did split the dessert of Banana Banofee.

T- minus today is the day! we hit the road right on schedule and had a smooth drive down 1-4 to 528 and before you know it we got a good look at our ship. At this point (10am) there was very little traffic arriving but departing guests were still departing the ship and waiting for pick up. We headed to the Haven check in area and I’ll have to say it was the fastest I’ve been checked in to a cruise. We breezed through security and escorted to the Haven waiting area. There is a nice waiting area there with snacks and beverages. I meet the lovely and sweet AmyGutman while waiting. So nice to meet other Cruise Critic members! We started boarding at 11:30am and the were in the Haven eating lunch right away.

Thank you, so far so good! Yes you need to Stat at Saratoga Springs and then give your comparison of how Disney represents 😉

Thank you this is awesome!

After a great dinner we walked back to spend our last night at our time share. Heres a look at the 2 bedroom unit we are in… And as always tomorrow begins the best part, embarkation day.

Nothing beats a Guinness! Fish and chips with Irish soda bread and the best bread pudding on earth!

The storms ended just in time to walk over to Disney Springs for dinner at one of my husbands favorite restaurants, Ragland Road. The luck of the Irish smiled upon us as we were seated right next to the stage. Just a photos of the entertainment and food…. IMG_3990.mov Look at this footwork!

T minus 1 day! Today we visited Seaworld, the forecast was looking dubious and called for rain later in the morning but blue skies prevailed and we had a nice day with a welcome breeze. We had good timing on seeing the orca show as well as the dolphin and sea lion presentations. We enjoyed a lite lunch of bar snacks and local brews. We made it back to Saratoga Springs before a large thunderstorm blew through the area.

We are staying on property, at Saratoga Springs resort. We love being able to walk over to Disney Springs to dine each night. Last night was Cityworks and tonight is RGland Road Irish pub.

T minus 2 days! Travel day is here! First we dropped off the spoiled fur factory we call Daisy for boarding, don’t worry they spoil her rotten too. Then we headed out on the long drive to Orlando, specifically Walt Disney World where we are spending 2 nights in our time share. Don’t let those sad puppy dog eyes fool you, she’s a monster. A long drive past 450 miles of pine trees and one Buc-ees later, we finally arrived in time to dump our luggage and now we’re headed back out to pick up our friends at the Orlando airport. And yes, we received 4 more emails today to remind us to watch the safety video 🤨

Did you have to leave the tour early to make to the CC meet&greet? I plan on doing both next week and wondering if it’s easy to leave the tour early if need be.

Yes, it was horrendous the entitlement those two had. Mr A was wonderful, we were in the Haven not long after this and made sure the GM knew how wonderful we thought he was.