LittleMissMagic

We actually ordered two UberXLs because we’ve run into the same issue before (vehicles with the back seat that take up the entire trunk like Honda Pilots are technically 7 passenger vehicles which qualify for XL). The first UberXL that arrived was a van, and we could fit all of our luggage in that vehicle so we just canceled the other XL (it was a $5 cancelation fee, but much less than $90 for the second XL). That Uber driver was kind of odd though, and he tried to get us to pay him in cash when he dropped us off at the airport. We explained that we were paying him and tipping him in the app….. I think he was trying to scam us. I wish I knew the workaround to specifying an XL with cargo space! They should come up with a category for suburbans/vans.

Debarkation Day was an early morning for us! We had to have our bags out in the hall by 6:45 AM. I had set an alarm to throw some last minute things in my checked bag and take it downstairs. We couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights on, so Rachel and I were stumbling around in the dark. We got our bags out just in time but didn’t realize until later that we needed to put bag tags on them! You’d think a seasoned cruiser like myself would know to do that, but I was new to the star class life, and Tao just said to put our bags outside of the door, not to tag them and put them outside the door. 😂 We went back to sleep after that and then woke up to an announcement that they were working on restoring power to the ship. There was a power outage…. So that’s why we couldn’t turn on the lights! No room service on debarkation day, so Tao told us to eat breakfast in Coastal Kitchen at 8AM. This was the only time we encountered any trouble with our 7th person. The host at Coastal Kitchen said there were only 6 people in our room, so only 6 could eat. I understand the rules, but I also think it was a weird time to enforce them given that it was the last day and we hadn’t eaten here all week, so we clearly weren’t going to continue to take advantage. I didn’t bother to argue and quickly volunteered myself to be the one to leave. I went down two decks to the Windjammer (which was of course chaos) and ate some bacon and toast. Then I went back upstairs and walked right into Coastal Kitchen (just walk with confidence) to let the girls know that I was able to eat and I’d wait in the room. On my way out, I ran into Tao who was in a panic. “I heard they wouldn’t let all 7 of you eat at Coastal Kitchen. That wasn’t supposed to happen!” I let him know that it was fine, and I had eaten downstairs. He offered to bring me food! What a sweetheart! I let him know that I was totally fine, it was all good. And it’s a good thing that I went back to the room because I was able to do a final sweep and found Rachel’s curling iron and Meredith’s swimsuit! Some final photos of our room - We were back in port with the Disney Wish. Tao was going to meet us in the room at 8:30 to escort us off the ship, but it ended up being 8:45 which was fine by us. Luckily, we were able to hand deliver our tip envelopes to Kunal and Munif on our way out. Like everything else that Tao assisted us with, debarkation was super easy! He escorted us all the way to luggage pick-up where our bags were thankfully waiting for us and already carted up (they didn’t have the new tags on them, but still had our boarding tags on them, so that probably helped). Our porter was awesome and was able to escort our one girl with a birth certificate to the front of the line. She then helped us secure transportation to MCO (we ended up getting an UberXL) and loaded up all of our bags. Star class treatment until the very end!

Tried to do a little shopping, but we had to race to the Rising Tides bar. We had been wanting to go, but hadn’t made it there yet. We got on! As we were about to go up, Tao appeared and was happy to see we got on. He also took out picture! We rode Rising Tides up, then down. Then we headed to the pub where they had live music, but everyone was really tired, so we called it a night.

We wanted to get a group photo with Tao! Then we enjoyed the hot tub. Then Tao returned to escort us to dinner at Samba Grill. I loved the food here, and also the location with it being kind of inside/outside was great. I love the photos with everyone’s faces and the meat 😂

Tao told us to call him if we had any trouble getting an elevator when we got back to the ship, but we returned so late that there wasn’t a crowd at all. There were snacks and drinks waiting for us in the room. And a sweet gift from Tao! Mugs and luggage tags. We waved goodbye to CocoCay. The Liberty of the Seas was already pushing off!

Time to head back to the ship! Meredith was annoyed that the other girls went the wrong way and missed the tram. Oh well, not a long walk from here! I was happy to walk to take photos.

Around 1PM, we decided to head to the Oasis Pool. They told us the tram would be there in 15 minutes, so we decided to walk. It was a very short walk. This was actually my first time at CocoCay since it became Perfect Day CocoCay. Rachel has been a few times, and said that the party was not nearly as crazy as it’s been in the past. I guess they used to have a DJ there, but the DJ was moved to the new Hideaway Beach Club. That said, it was still a party with lots of adults by the bar… just not as loud. The girls asked if we needed to set an alarm to leave, but I told them I was quite sure they would clear us out, and they did.

It was a cold swim out to the floating bar, and we got there just in time because after our group, the bartenders started telling people they couldn’t get on. It’s a stupid problem with a simple solution, really. They just need to make a sign that says “At Capacity” or “Open” that they can flip. Because the bartenders are serving drinks, so they can’t really monitor the number of occupants and yell at everyone who tried to come up the ladder when it’s full.

We decided to start the morning at South Beach. Rachel wanted to go to the floating bar. I thought it would be a good idea to start farthest away, then head back toward the ship. Great idea starting the day early because it got very crowded later. Bar service seemed slow. Also the bartenders all had different procedure when it came two how many drinks you could get per card, and if they had to have the card and person there, or if they could just select them from the room. Maybe it’s because it was a weekend cruise, and it was early in the morning, but on past cruises I’ve often had Stove or Aaron bring back a drink for me, no problem. I can understand their caution, though. Safety first! Started out with a round of Miami Vices because we thought it would make for a pretty photo.

Day 3 - Perfect Day CocoCay We slept with our upstairs curtains open last night, and I’m glad because we woke up to this view - Our plan was to have room service delivered at 7, and Tao would escort us off the ship at 8. However, he had another family that also wanted to get off at 8, so I told him to go ahead and start with them because they’re probably a lot faster than our group of girls. We were in Port with Liberty of the Seas. I always feel bad for the smaller ship when the two ship situation happens. I’ve actually never been at a private island with another ship before, but I’m sure it was more of a shock for the guests of Liberty. Tao had us bring our towels from the room (which they had restocked then night before) because he didn’t want us wasting time with towel check out on the island, and also the girls were cold. We didn’t have to check out towels at all on the trip, and it was wonderful. Tao leading the way - He escorted us to the shuttle stop and told us how to get on the tram. He did ask if we wanted to walk the pier to the shuttle, but I thought it would be better to just have everyone get on the golf cart to keep the pace moving and everyone together.

After Ocean-Aria, we headed down to Studio B for “Crazy Quest” (it used to just be “The Quest”). Battle of the Sexes was just letting out as we were going in so we were swimming upstream, but got seats. We were on Team 1 which won (our captains were on it!). For those who play Crazy Quest in the future….if you’re the man who dresses as a woman in the end (I’m personally really tired of this schtick), can you please come up with an occupation other than exotic dancer or sex worker? Thank you, I’ll step off my soap box now. At the end of Quest, they called us all down for one final quest…. Which was really to get us down on the dance floor. Smart move, cruise director. They turned Studio B into the nightclub “Red Revolution” (or something like that) and set up a bar down on the floor. It was madness. After awhile, weren’t feeling the vibe. Unfortunately, Blaze was closed for the evening (because Studio B was the designated club). All other venues were closed/closing so we went to the Casino bar before calling it a night. A note on the living room beds - originally, I hesitated to book the 5th and 6th girls in the suite because I didn’t want them to have to sleep on a sofa. What I didn’t know is that this is the most comfortable sleeper sofa ever. They fold the back down and lay a memory foam pad over. Seriously, this is an upgrade over a standard cabin’s normal bed. And the rollaway also had an incredibly comfortable mattress.

I ordered the fried cheesecake for dessert and it was incredible. We thought we were all done when Luna brought Rachel a cake, along with his coworker (another server at 150 Central Park - unfortunately didn’t get her name). He wanted her to sing us a song because she has a great voice but they didn’t know what to sing because it’s not like there is a bachelorette song. Turns out she and Luna have won several crew singing competitions, and she has a voice like Aretha Franklin. We begged her to sing something, so she went with Proud Mary, and it’s true, she does have an amazing voice. Dinner really did take 2 hours. We met Tao outside of Sabor at 10:15, and he escorted us to our reserved seats at the Aqua Show, then had drinks delivered to our seats. He also brought us towels to use as blankets because it was a bit cold. Talk about service!! I was so glad that we had Tao to keep us on schedule because otherwise I really doubt we would’ve been able to see the show. The show was mind-blowing. It’s so much more condensed and focused than what I remembered in Harmony. Blown away! I mean, you can see it on our faces. Incredible show!!

Tonight we dressed up for “Sparkle Night,” and we had dinner at 150 Central Park. We were seated at the table right in the center at the entrance. Our server was Luna, and he asked if we had any shows we were going to. We told him that we needed to be at the Aqua Show at 10:15 and he told us that he would try to speed up dinner….. it was 8 PM. A 2 hour dinner is fast? Their kitchen and bar must be very far away. Service was slow, but I don’t really blame Luna for this. He also had no help - he was delivering drinks and food for our table all by himself, no extra hands. Atmosphere in 150 Central Park was a little stuffy for us. It was super quiet, which wasn’t the best for our group of goofy girls. Food was great, though. I had the beet salad. And lamb which was amazing.

We went back to the room for sailaway. We had requested champagne and the hot tub for when we set sail. Proof that the hot tub gets really hot - The ring float is just a prop, we didn’t take it out of the room.

It was windy and a bit chilly. We were hoping for some live music, but we’re out of luck. They were setting up a DJ booth, but not sure when that was going to start.

The sun was starting to peek out, so we decided to venture out to the pool deck. We were docked next to Norwegian Jewel. From our room, we could tell that there was something different about that ship (the guests weren’t dressed for a Caribbean vacation). It was set up for some sort of charter group cruise with a stage (I looked it up - https://www.jayandsilentbobcruiseaskew.com/home/). There was a stage set up on the pool deck.

Such a perfect way to spend the afternoon! On the first night, Tao asked us what kind of snacks we’d like, and everyone blurted out something - chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, chips and salsa, shrimp cocktail…. well Tao delivered! 🤣 It was amazing. Meredith’s personal shrimp cocktail 🍤 We saved some chips and salsa to snack on later. 😂

After brunch, we took advantage of our hot tub! It takes about 40 minutes to set the hot tub up because it’s completely drained, cleaned, then refilled with hot water. It starts out super hot and then tapers off.

Well we know who to bring next time!

Day 2 - Nassau Our plan was to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy an in-suite brunch and hot tub. I’m so glad we hadn’t planned an excursion because our weather was a little dreary. Rachel gifted us all personalized tote bags which were super cute! I forgot to share the schedule Tao made for us. When he reached out, I had a pretty good idea of our itinerary - Caribbean Night at Sabor, In-suite brunch and hot tub in Nassau, “Sparkle Night” at 150 Central Park, and a casual dinner at Samba Grill. Tao added in the show scheduling. We decided not to see Mamma Mia (once he met us, he didn’t recommend it for our group…. Too long of a show for us lol). Brunch was incredible. Sooo much food 🤣

There was a 70s party in the Promenade that we watched from above. Then we went dancing in Dazzles which had an amazing band. Then ended up in Blaze, the club, for more dancing. When we got back to the room, we realized that we didn’t know how to work the lights. It was a struggle. I wish we would’ve thought to ask Tao earlier for detailed light/curtain operation instructions. I also think they should label those switches…. Seriously why aren’t they labeled??? Hahaha there’s also a switch that just cuts off everything by the door which we thought might could work, until we realized that meant the bathroom lights couldn’t turn on. 🤣 Also the projector screen was retracted which was honestly better for us because we didn’t watch TV, but I tried to see if I could pull it back down but could not find the right switch/button combo to push. One more little critique on the room (I feel guilty complaining about anything, it was so amazing) is that there wasn’t an outlet by our bed upstairs, so we couldn’t charge our phones overnight. There weren’t a lot of convenience outlets in the room in general, which I know is common for cruise room staterooms but I didn’t think would be a problem in the suite. I normally travel with an outlet extender but didn’t bother to pack because I wrongly assumed that there wouldn’t be an outlet shortage. I do wonder if this is something they’re going to fix in the upcoming refurb because the newer and refreshed ships have more outlets and usb charging ports.

Fell behind on the live updates because the Wi-Fi was spotty on the ship, but I’m flying home now and am back with updates (fingers crossed that the plane Wi-Fi can handle). Starting where I left off…. Dinner at Sabor! Amazing. Love the carne asada burrito. I took food photos on my DSLR and will add later. Of course we had to ride the Carousel. We attempted to play skee ball but could not get it to work. We met Tao ant the Adult Comedy show. He reserved our seats in the front which was super clutch, then had expresso martinis delivered. He had asked earlier if we would like the front row, and the girls all said yes (Rachel was scared). What I didn’t realize is that the comedy show is in the comedy club which is an intimate little venue. For some reason I thought the stage would be higher/farther away. Had I known, I think I would have avoided the front row because Rachel and our group was of course the target of both acts. We survived, though!

We had dinner at Sabor. Such an underrated restaurant. I’m bummed they’re getting rid of it.

It was a little chilly, so we headed back to the room to this adorable setup - Played a game of What Do You Meme Rachel Edition

We headed out to the pool deck for sail away. We stumbled upon the suite sun deck