justhappy

Holy Moly no wonder you were stressed being so far away from Smudge! I’m glad she’s still with you ❤️ And your husband for being so wonderful to understand. ❤️❤️ I’m trying not to worry too much as she’s being boarded at the amazing vet we’ve had since she was a puppy and they love her there. She’s in good hands. I don’t know wines, but I know what I like and Shades of Blue is it. NCL used to carry another Riesling that I liked a few years ago that had blue in the name too but I was unable to find it in any stores.

Our La Cucina dinner was good, nothing special but the service was very good. Continuing to have a small appetite I opted for the calamari fritti as an appetizer and the spaghetti carbonara as my entree. DH had with the mixed greens salad with pears walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, and for his entree the fettuccine Alfredo con funghi. The portion sizes were generous and we both could only finish half of them. Our server seemed surprised we didn’t want anything else, and talked us into looking at the dessert menu. We ending up sharing a tiramisu and glad we did. It was delicious, one of the better ones I’ve had. we both had more glasses of the Shades of Blue Riesling. I wish I could get it or something similar on land. It’s just the right balance for me. Again tonight none of the entertainment options were appealing so we walked around the casino until we found our favorite slot machines. Wolf Run Eclipse started out great and then those wolves turned on me. I ended up giving the casino back $100 of my winnings and DH broke even, which in his mind is winning☘️ So far we are +$40. I started getting tired so we headed back to the stateroom and decided that tomorrow we’d use up the $450 OBC we had (thanks to my Amex card, shareholders credit and my TA) on the port day massage special. Tonight the clocks go back so a bit of extra sleep which I need. Since January 18th I hadn’t had a full nights sleep with having to get up throughout the night to administer medication to our 14 year old dog. For the first 8 days it was every 2 hours, then every 4 hours and just before we left for the cruise every 6 hours. Having to cancel our January cruise last minute, made the anticipation of this cruise get me through it.

Please @sid_9169 let me know what you think of the movie! It’s cornball but a drink or two makes it funnier. I admire all your trip reports so I’m honored that you’re following mine, as boring as it is.

I forgot to mention that yesterday coming back onboard the ship from our Mega Store excursion we got to witness a passenger have a meltdown over having to pour out her water bottles. She was threatening the pour security guy and blaming him for all her problems. I really think she knew she was not allowed because she kept saying really? Really? YOU’RE making me do this. Some people are their own problem I’ve discovered over the years.

We spent a few glorious hours doing nothing but watching the wake and the amazing sunset until it was time to head to La Cucina for dinner.

There’s no sequel that I know of, but hopefully you don’t regret it when you watch Captain Ron.😁

Back on the ship we organized the goodies and made bags to hand out. After putting everything away we hung out on the balcony for a bit then decided since it was a port day and we had two days of Haven lunches to try the buffet. At 12pm it was not crowded at all. It was Mexican day and DH found some chicken fajitas and I found vegetable lo mein and Korean bbq beef to put on top. I also got a slice of mushroom pizza that was hot and delicious. After lunch we went back to the room , I started working on this amazingly boring trip report and DH went in search of arcade games to play. When he discovered you have to buy a pass he decided to take a pass on that, and stopped by O’Sheehans bar where he got the worst mojito he’s ever been served. He corrected that mistake by going to the Haven bar where they make a proper one! He also got a pineapple coconut mojito for me and brought them back to the stateroom where we have been ever since lunch, chillin and reading and napping. We are starting to move as slowly as sloths. At 4:37 they announced two passenger names and we know what that means. All aboard was 4:30pm. we sailed away at about 5pm. Hopefully the two made it back. Lots of traffic

With us in port were at least 4 other ships that I could see. Scarlet Lady was docked next to us. We were off the ship with no lines at all at 9 am. We’re pretty sure the pier has been resurfaced since our last visit. We made it through the gauntlet of eager and overzealous salespeople and by taking the nonworking escalator ( sorry for your convenience) RIP Mitch Hedberg. The Mega is a short walk once you convince all the taxi drivers you don’t need a ride to go half a block. We really enjoy picking up crew gifts of snacks and goodies for the people who work so hard for us to enjoy our vacation. I bring a suitcase full with me but we also ask what treats they like and make a run for them. 20 minutes later we were done and on our way back. Thank goodness security never asks why we need so many bags of chips and canned sardines🤣 Our decision to go early was a good one as the store was empty and the snack isle was well stocked. I can guarantee you it’s wiped clean right now. It was cooler and less humid this morning and by the walk back it was getting warmer. We passed lots of crew head to the Mega store as we left. DH pretending to be lugging all the goodies back😉 You guys I carried half of those!

This morning the ship pulled into port just around sunrise, and although I would have enjoyed staying in bed longer, I knew getting off the ship early vs later would get us into the One excursion we have for this cruise, the Mega store run. Lots of crew make this excursion as well because they tell me shopping is so close by and the prices at the Mega store are good. They also like Cozumel because there are several restaurants offering food from their homeland. Mega is like Walmart but cleaner and selling scooters and such. We had breakfast in the Haven at 8 am and found it still quite empty. Those folks with real shore excursions were probably already lined up to get off the ship. I decided since my stomach was doing ok to go with the Tahitian French toast while DH carbed it up with the pancakes plus a side of bacon

We couldn’t decide what to do for the rest of the evening as by that time Rumors had started in Sid Normans and it would be standing room only if you could find a place to stand, and the Motown tribute in Headliners had just emptied the long line of folks waiting to get in and didn’t look to have much seating left. We took a stroll through the casino and we both found machines we like to play, I ended up $180 and DH ended down $40. By this time it was closing in on 10pm and we decided to forgo the 70’s party at Spice H2o We headed back to bed and at the end of day two my drink total was 5, thanks to a bushwhacker and the mystery drink I had in the Haven. The ship was rocking a good bit so it helped put us sleep fairly quickly for once. I had checked our dinner reservations for the following night and discovered I had foolishly booked Cagneys for 9:30pm on Tuesday night. The concierge was able to get us into La Cucina at 8pm so we switched. I would be falling asleep in my appetizer if I had kept that reservation! I have 5 specialty restaurants booked due to free at sea, latitudes rewards and my Amex card perk.

That’s what NCL calls them so that’s what I call them, well I call her Sheryl, not hey you Sheryl the butler.

Glad to hear it, he’s an amazing officer and nice man.

I gave up and came inside and now I can post a lot more and put you, dear reader, to sleep! I woke up in time for us to change clothes and head back up to the Haven for the Captains Reception. We shook the hands of various men in officer’s uniforms and today I still couldn’t tell you who was who. I do know that Errol Bailey wasn’t there, I’d know him from a mile away. We've probably cruised with him onboard 10 times. Turning down drinks and tiny little spoons of grey stuff, we headed in for an early dinner. Luisa, one of the Haven bartenders handed me a drink on the way in the restaurant and said try it you’ll like it. I had to it was so pretty. I don’t t know the name but I think she said it had brandy in it. Having spoiled my appetite with one oatmeal raisin cookie compliments of Sheryl the butler I had no appetite for dinner. I ordered the appetizer porcini risotto to have a little something and it was quite tasty and just enough DH decided on the surf and turf and he was very pleased with his dinner, the filet was tender and flavorful and the lobster was fresh and sweet. I tried a bite and I’m picky. We both finished off the meal with lemon sorbet and enjoyed the remnants of the sunset.

Internet is still painful slow back here on the aft balcony, but I’ll struggle through.

Sorry for the delay, internet was intermittent or just plain slow and this morning non existent for several hours, even the concierge couldn’t fix it for me. Yesterday after lunch and sundeck nappy time the sun began to creep up to our loungers in the shade so we headed back to our own “sundeck” luckily this was in the shade and a nice breeze was blowing so I shortly fell asleep with a book in my hand. When we came back to our cabin the butler had delivered the requested cookies. My view if my eyes had been open…

@Sand and Seas That sounds like an awesome experience watching the movie. The storm scene must of felt real!

I found my first cruising duck! Sitting on the Purell dispenser outside the Haven entrance. I ended up giving it to a crew member.

The dining is in the courtyard area around the pool, so technically outside, although there is no ocean view like the Escape, and there is a retractable glass roof so during inclement weather it is usable.

No, over the years my A1C crept up to type 2 range and when metformin didn’t help she put me on Mounjaro. With that and exercise I lost the weight and even better my A1C is in normal range. I am going off of it in two weeks after tapering my doses to 10 days apart for a month. Fingers crossed I can maintain that A1C. Mounjaro slows your digestion down and you get full faster and feel full longer. So you don’t eat as much, plus no food cravings .

Now we are on the Haven sundeck in what appears to be adult nap time.

lol! I had to go back and look at the photo! That was the candle holder on the table🤣 It does look like a tasty drink though, right!

We stopped by the Haven bar and DH got a Smokey old fashioned and I got a Pineapple Coconut Mojito. My drink tally for this cruise-3. My liver thanks me!

Lunch in the Haven restaurant was a meat eaters spectacular. DH had the Brie burger and I had the NY strip steak. i ordered it rare and we joked it was so thin they probably laid it on the grill and then picked it right back up. It was delicious though and though I didn’t finish it I was very satisfied. No dessert for us, although they did have pound cake and COOKIES in the Haven courtyard.

I have to note that internet speed has improved being in the Haven sundeck compared to our aft stateroom. After breakfast we retreated back to our own balcony and chilled and read our books and plotted our day. we decided napping and reading sounded just fine. i warned you this would be a laid back trip report. Walking across deck 16 to the Haven from the aft of the ship at lunch was an eye opening experience and cemented the sense that we had made a good decision to splurge on the Haven. In my 24 years of cruising I’ve never seen a ship so full. Well, day 2 but you get the point.

Breakfast was quick since the Haven restaurant was pretty empty when we got there at 8am. The smart party people were sleeping in or sleeping it off. By the time we left it was packed, as were the dining tables in the courtyard. I played it safe on my stomach with the egg white frittata. DH had the Avocado toast with bacon.