G8R Cruiser

Fantastic review!! We were on the same sailing! I can't believe we didn't cross paths! We had a great time also, and your review may inspire me to do one as well. I think we took about 700 pictures.

 

You are SOO right about Key West - it was unbelievably hot, wasn't it? Being a huge Jimmy Buffett fan, I remembered Jimmy's words: "I went down to Captain Tony's to get out of the heat." and that is what I eventually did. I grabbed a barstool at Capt. Tony's and even got to meet Capt. Tony himself!

 

I too found the sushi bar and everyday right at 5pm, I was in line for my daily fix! The spicy tuna was my favorite.

 

Anyway, great review. Sorry we didn't get to meet you. Also, thanks for the advice about staying at the Rodeway Inn in Mount Pleasant. We stayed there for $85 and it was quite adequate for our needs. Great location!

LOL... We were there at Captain Tony's the same time as you.

You didn't meet the original Captain Tony unless he was a ghost as Captain Tony died November 1st, 2008. He was a great guy.

Those are so beautiful! They were all over Freeport and Nassau, too. I just had to ask the locals about them. They're called Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia). I want to live in a forest of them! :D

 

This is an awesome review thread!

 

I was on the same cruise, and also met Buck and clan. The triplets are SOOOO CUTE!!!

 

Hung out with Andy "Funky Monkey" quite a bit as well, mostly in the piano bar. He's a hoot! :D

 

I think I met y'all, too? I meet so many people on the ships that I get confused sometimes. :o

My favorite Pam!!! I guess you made it home safe and sound.

I've gone through some Rick and Pam withdrawl since leaving the boat...

I created a Facebook Fan Page for Rick - join Facebook and search Rick "the Piano Man" - I posted a bunch of pictures and videos...

Ok, gonna try to sneak in one more day

 

Day 2 @ Sea: This morning we got up around 10am which felt fabulous. We had all intentions of making it to the MDR for breakfast but since we overslept it was lido deck buffett instead. I am sad to say that there are no pictures of this nom fest because I was so terribly hungry that I forgot to take a breakfast picture. This would be the case for most of the week. The Andrew would ask “did ya take a picture?” and me saying “crap” then Andrew rearranging the food so it wouldn’t look like it had been munched on. Anyway, I had an omlet from the omlet station where the pizza is served in the back of Windows on the Sea. The bacon police were not present at the buffet line but I only took a few pieces for us to share. All the breakfast food was really really good!

 

There are some really amazing bartenders at our favorite bar on the smoking side of Lido. Look for Ramona, Dalibor, Koli and Jose’. This is Ramona and Dalibor who we nicknamed Heavy D.

 

 

Here is Heavy D and Koli.

 

Andrew had his first double bloody mary of the cruise and I had the drink of the day the Yellowbird.

 

 

Let me tell you the lido deck was PACKED with people. I saw a few chair hogs but for the most part people were actually sitting in their chairs and baking in the sun.

 

 

One woman actually moved her chair in the middle of a pathway but she moved it after getting bumped around a bit. Lots of kids on this cruise. I heard a rumor circulating that there were 1100 kids. Lots of graduating high school seniors but all seemed pretty well-behaved. I wanted to trip a few that were running but that is just the dark side of my personality popping through.

 

We had several drinks that day but one of my favorites The Frozen Funky Monkey that was the winner for the Master of Mixology contest won by….da da dada…Andy from Cruise Critic! Congrats Andy! I had about 3 of those along with:

 

Kiss on the Lips

 

Miami Vice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ha Ha Ha - thanks for mentioning me and my now famous / infamous Frozen Funky Monkey...

You are so funny.

OnBoard, Muster & Sailaway: At this point is probably around 12:15 or so. Guest Services is right in the atrium so we immediately went over and put $200.00 each on our S&S account. Then up to lido…where the magic happens.

 

We walked onto lido with big smiles on our faces. And of course the first order of business is the drink of the day which today was Funship Special.

 

 

We ran into Cruise Critic member Andy who took our picture for us. I noted that the Jacuzzi said Adult’s Only but lookie here…

 

 

tiniest adult ever. We made our way over to the smoking side of the ship and took in our surroundings. At some point we got tired of hauling our stuff around and snuck down to our room to drop off our carry on and turn our bed. Yes, the doors were shut to the hallway, but they weren’t locked. I know, I know the doors are shut for a reason but our room was ready anyway. I checked our closet for bathrobes and yay…

 

 

there they were! Dropped our things and headed back to lido. Today was Italian day in the buffet area so naturally I had to have a little bite of something. The baked fish and stuffed tomato were delicious. Had some olives too which I think were the best olives I have tasted…ever.

My family and I are in your first picture of the Lido Deck...

Loving your review - you did a great job. You must have been taking notes.