LIVE FROM Liberty of the Seas Repo

[EmpressofPurple]

And on with the Blog and Review!

 

Day #2 - Monday, November 2, 2015

 

Up at 6:15 (before alarm set for 6:40)… put on workout gear I had left out the night before… headed forward and up the stairs to deck 11… where the gym was PACKED! And it was RAINING!! Yep, virtually all of the treadmills and ellipticals were occupied, and several people already had mats out for the 7:00 AM stretch class. I laid out a mat and put my water bottle and phone on it, then went to an open treadmill and did about 10 minutes of brisk walking/slow running to warm up, then jumped into the full stretch class with Matt. This was followed by a challenging abs class (which he basically warned us might impact our back/neck if our abs were weak, and yep, that was the case).

 

I then walked across the (rainy) pool deck to the front of the ship, where I had breakfast in the Windjammer overlooking the aft wake. I enjoyed a lightly toasted bagel, cream cheese, smoked salmon, tomato, onion and capers, plus a glass of orange juice. (I was horrified to witness a gentleman at the next table ask for a cranberry juice and have the server leave, to have the bar server return and say yes, cranberry juice is available… for an extra charge. And then charge his seapass and bring a tall bar glass of cranberry juice. Wow. Since when is this not a free option at breakfast?)

 

After breakfast I walked down to deck 10 and was thrilled that my seapass card admitted me to the Concierge Lounge for the first time… and possibly for one of the last as this venue is being removed on so many Royal ships, to be replaced by a “suite lounge” for suite guests and pinnacles only. Sigh. I introduced myself to Carlos and thanked him for helping me to connect with the sports supervisor and group coordinator before the cruise via email, since I’m going to try to set up a mini golf tournament for our Cruise Critic group… a bigger organizational challenge than I thought it would be! I also got myself a cappuccino and an apple puff (following my cruise principle of having a dessert at every meal), plus a cup of cold cuts to enjoy later (there were no small plates or I would have used that!).

 

Back to the stateroom, snacks in the fridge, shower and dress and down to the Sudoku Challenge in the Schooner Bar at 9:15 (stopping on the way down in the Library to pick up my daily trivia and Sudoku, but they weren’t out yet)… and I was too late to play Sudoku in the Schooner, too. Sigh. Anyway, I held a good spot for the 10:00AM Progressive Trivia… though my teammates didn’t arrive until almost exactly 10:00, and we included a new partner in our group – with great results! We got 18 out of 21 (two more than any other group) – and the three items we missed were numerical and in each one we were off by 1! Our new member was Tom, from Australia, who has an amazing travel and cruise history, and we sat talking about his various journeys for a while after the game was over.

 

I stopped at the Promenade Café to get a couple of mini sandwiches (ham and brie on a mini croissant with a sliver of pear, yum!) plus two white chocolate covered cheesecake lollipops (I ended up having to give away one of those because there were COCONUT RANGERS in the Meet & Mingle, and even I couldn’t manage three desserts). We waited on a long line to get into the Sphinx for the M&M event – we had well over 300 people signed up online, though as always there was only a relatively small group that was actually active on the board. Dru did the introductions and Gio ran the event. We had some excitement at one point when it was thought that I had won a prize (a bottle of wine, of course) – but it turns out someone else had written their cabin number on a blank sheet so poorly it looked like mine. Turned out to be someone from our group dining table, so at least someone we knew won something!

 

After that we proceeded to the Casino for the slot pull. Jeremy being new to this had each person put the money in the machine first, and then come back and spin (rather than put the money in and spin at once) which definitely extended the event… which would have been fine, good company and good fun, but two hours in a smoky casino can really lead to a headache. We had a couple of good hits, but overall we dropped from $15 buy-in to $11 cash-out (except for the top winners who got an extra $10 and some casino prizes). Then I accompanied Ken to the Windjammer before it closed, where he had a late lunch and I had a hobbit second lunch of steamed fish, tasty caponata, a potato wedge and some strawberry-kiwi flavored water. We enjoyed the same aft view I had at breakfast – but now it was a beautiful sunny afternoon!

 

We walked out onto the pool deck, where a deck chair called to me and I lay down, looking out at the ocean and relaxing for about an hour. Then I headed downstairs to check out afternoon general knowledge trivia (played with our Canadian friends), stopped by the Diamond Lounge for a tonic water – and left quickly when I noticed that everyone was dressed in their formal finery while I was still in my pool deck duds! I didn’t want to spoil the lovely atmosphere. :) Trivia was hard, and I left early to enjoy the sunset on the Promenade deck, which was amazing. I hope I can figure out how to upload photos so I can share them with you! There’s nothing like sitting and watching the sun set over the ocean, just beautiful and peaceful. I tried to wi-fi call to my daughter, but reception was having problems.

 

To address this, I went to Guest Services, where I told them how my internet access kept saying I had another device connected when I didn’t. They corrected the situation, at least temporarily, and I was able to log on with my phone. I also had damage to my rolling bag, and filled out a damage claim report so they could try to repair it onboard, and if not I had a claim I could file for reimbursement with my travel insurance company. Then I went back to my stateroom to shower and dress for formal dinner myself. We had weathered the usual kerfuffle on our CC roll call about dressing for dinner, with many opinions thrown around about how dressy one needs to be for admission to the MDR and whether it’s better to stay casual and eat in the Windjammer or specialty restaurants on formal night. In any event, we all looked nice and enjoyed our dinner together once again. I wore purple pants, a grey sequined top and a purple, gold and grey duster with gold jewelry… and silver flipflops! (Sorry, anti-flip-flop people, I love dressing up but will not subject my feet, back, etc. to the torture devices known as ladies’ dress shoes/sandals. I do have a couple of nice Tom’s-type flat fabric shoes as well, with sparkly designs on them, that I wear for most dinners, but they didn’t go with this outfit.)

 

Anyway, I stayed in the room for quite a while writing up these notes, so I missed the captain’s welcome aboard reception, pictures with the captain and even his speech, though I did people-watch out of my promenade cabin window on the formal night cruisers as they posed for photos below. I snacked on a pear which I had on a fruit plate I had put together in my cabin (I love the look of a fresh fruit bowl, not to mention having a handy snack!) plus some pistachios I had brought onboard with me.

 

Then I headed down for dinner and we switched up the tables, so I got to enjoy talking with Ken, Gary (Le Voyageur) and Penny at the new table, plus meeting our neighboring waitstaff. Dinner was delicious, the saffron menu. Penny ordered the only dish with saffron, which was fish accompanied by a single piece of cauliflower tinted with this priceless spice. I enjoyed shrimp cocktail, filet of beef so tender I could have cut it with the back of my knife, a pumpkin seed roll, and coffee—alas, no dessert appealed to me after that great meal! (Sadly, I never received the appetizer salad which I had ordered, the Roman vongole salad which I love. Ah, well… guess I’ll have to take another cruise!) Also, I had ordered a cheese plate the night before to be served before the meal, and it arrived at our former table… fortunately our great servers had provided two of them, so we snagged one for the new table, and I took the leftovers back to my room for a midnight snack.

 

After dinner, Ken and I headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge to listen to Wojtek play some more guitar. I was going to head down to the Motown show in the Platinum Theatre, but we were having such a good time I just stayed until Wojtek finished his set. (Amusingly, at some point I noticed there were a very high number of men in the lounge… and when I checked the compass, sure enough this was the locale for the self-led LGBT get together that evening! This is the only group listed in the compass for some reason; Bill W, Red Hat, etc. are all on the community board on the Promenade.)

 

The music ended at 11:15 and instead of heading to the Catacombs as I had promised I would do on this cruise, since Royal is phasing out this great two-story dance club on all of the Voyager and Freedom class ships, I went to bed instead. I met up with Debra in the hallway… apparently her first night in her balcony cabin two decks away was miserable, due to horrific whistling from wind coming through the balcony door!! They moved her into a similar cabin on my deck – which apparently may have belonged to a woman we saw on boarding day, being put onto a stretcher by guest services, who left the cruise before it started – and this passenger was D+, so Debra is now getting all of her treats, etc.! Nice.

 

I laid out my workout gear for the morning, prepared my vitamins, did some Sudoku, and went to sleep listening to the lovely guitar music of Voytek on my computer. Fortunately Ken reminded me to set my clocks forward – we lost that lovely hour we had gained on boarding day! – so I didn’t oversleep in the morning…

[ARCruisinNana]

Today I heard 34 Pinnacles are onboard.

 

As for how they're handling overflow with so many high tier C&A members onboard, as I said they're not giving out crystal blocks at the high tier welcome back party, they're just being delivered to the room...

 

... Happy Hour for Diamonds is in the Sphinx...

 

... Diamond Plus and Pinnacles in the Viking Crown Lounge...

 

... Suites only in the Concierge Lounge...

 

(I've only visited the Sphinx a few times so I can't tell you about crowding in the various locations... most seem to be utilizing the three drinks on the card system. FYI, your photo now shows at the bar when you order your free drink using your card, so don't ask someone else to get it for you -- they can't.)

 

Thanks for updating us!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[EmpressofPurple]

Continuing with the blog and review:

 

Day #3 – Tuesday, Nov. 3 - At Sea

 

… but boy it was tough getting up at what felt like 5:30 am (now 6:30 am) to get to stretch class by 7:00. I’m impressed; I was there 5 minutes late and class was in full swing, led by Marco today, and once again completely packed! I stayed on for another challenging fab abs class, then tied on my sneakers, left my water bottle and phone (camera) behind the sports managers’ desk, and headed up to the track on deck 12. There were lots of runners and walkers enjoying the best running track in the world (in my opinion): cool ocean breezes, breathtaking views of blue to the horizon, plenty of room and great company. 4.5 laps is a mile on Liberty, so I did 4 – since I planned to walk back to the Windjammer after for breakfast, that would make up my mile!

 

I took photos on my walk, since even by 8:30 there were NO towels on the chairs! That’s right, folks, no chair hogs!! It’s a miracle!!! Breakfast today was a made-to-order omelette with spinach, mushrooms and cheese, plus some of that great homemade (or shipmade) corned beef hash – this one looked like it had bits of green pepper in it, too. I joke about my principle of having dessert at every meal on the ship, but I also like to have vegetables at every meal, so I added a couple pieces of cucumber and tomato to my plate as well. Glass of orange juice, and a great seat once again overlooking the wake at the far back of the Windjammer, where I chatted with two older folks who had been on many cruises over the years and we shared some sailing tales from our earlier days in the Caribbean, and I asked questions about other destinations they had done which I haven’t yet such as Alaska and the Panama Canal. So much knowledge out there to glean from others!

 

After breakfast, I walked down to deck 10, greeted Carlos in the Concierge Lounge and got my cappuccino (plus my “breakfast dessert” of a cinnamon roll) and headed back to my stateroom to shower and change for the day. My wonderful cabin steward Emancia was there to open my stateroom door since my hands were full of coffee, my phone, etc. “Dressing for the day” basically meant putting on my black and white striped swimsuit and a pair of black capris, since I planned to head straight on from Trivia to the Cabin Crawl to the pool deck! I threw on a nice pareo and I was ready to face the day.

 

I was in the Schooner bar by 9:30, hoping to snag our same great table by the window… but no, these progressive trivia folks are serious, every seat was taken by that time!! I grabbed a spot on the opposite wall and dragged over four armchairs for my (once again late) teammates. Eventually they did all show up, and we had another great round, tying for first place with two others teams (which means we are in the lead, since we had 2 points more than everyone else on day one). Whoo-hoo!!! Questions are getting harder, but we’re still holding our own – and everyone is contributing. Super!

 

After trivia, I invited our “outside” partners (Tom, from Australia, and his wife Diane who joined us today) to come along for the cabin crawl, so we all headed to the aft elevators to go up to the Viking Crown lounge. They had never seen this great space before and we enjoyed sitting and chatting for half an hour until the event. We had a good crowd, and DFWJenny helped to organize the crawl in a great way: each of the people showing cabins were in the first group, and as we arrived at our cabin we waited there to greet the subsequent groups, and joined the last group, so we all got to see every cabin! We started in the “aquarium” (i.e., deck 2) where the cabin occupants provided noisemakers and wine to all the visitors… proceeded up to see some aft balconies, the famous “Cow Sweet” with its wonderful décor (and view)…

 

I had jolly rancher candies, plus my D+ “welcome aboard” mini cookies and almonds in small bowls for my guests, plus decorative magnets of cats in funny costumes plus a Royal Caribbean word-puzzle magnet and frame on the metal walls, and folks liked looking at the view of the promenade, asking if it is noisy. (It is not. In fact, I wish there were a speaker in the room so we could hear what was going on on the Promenade! It would be great to hear the music and speeches as well as see them. Also, while the cow cabin is adorable and the suite privileges are nice, I have more storage space in my regular promenade since my shelves are not filled with cow statues!!)

 

Then we got into the special corner afts with the extra-large balconies (even though they’re just regular D1 cabins, not junior suites)… and finally a great junior suite with a full bathtub, and the double-width grand suite with minibar area and large balcony!! Many cabins had streamers, more wine, and finally light up pins for everyone!! What great fun and a wonderful way to see what the different staterooms are like. (We even passed the “Allegro Suite” on our walk and looked in the open door, though obviously we didn’t go in: giant flat screen tv, huge wraparound balcony… wow. It was fascinating that the hallways on the suite decks are also twice as wide as the hallways on the lower decks.)

 

After the cabin crawl, Ken and I headed to the main dining room for lunch. We met up with Texas Pete and DFW Jenny (our hosts in the grand suite) in the line to enter and decided to eat together. We had great fun, being seated with another party of 4 at a table not for 8 but 12, so we were at opposite ends of this huge table. I told Ken about the time on the Explorer when I sailed with my daughter and her boyfriend – who had never cruised before – and when we went to lunch, he and I ordered every single item on the MDR lunch menu, and it was ALL GOOD! Ken averred that every meal he had on Royal so far was TEN times as good as anything he had on NCL, and he had the dining package there and ate only in their specialty restaurants!! (Well, with the exception of his MDR breakfast on Liberty the day before, when he and his dining companion sent back their eggs benedict twice because they were essentially hard boiled eggs with sauce, and then got an egg so undercooked he didn’t dare eat it and went to the buffet instead!) I made my own tutti salad with spinach, red onion, roasted red pepper, eggplant, mini mozzarella and prosciutto, plus I ordered the gnocchi with a gorgonzola cream sauce (yum). We had a good time dining with Pete and Jenny, talking about our lives, work, cruising, etc.

 

I then went to my cabin to grab my “beach bag” (sunscreen, kindle, etc. – I had packed it in the morning while awaiting the various cabin crawl groups) – then headed up to the Solarium where I snagged two nice loungers by the pool (I’m telling you, no chair hogs!) got two towels, and by the time I was ready to get into the pool Ken had arrived. He sat and read while I swam some laps in the tiny pool. Weird design note: there’s a “swim up bar to nowhere” – and to get from one side to the other of this tiny pool you have to clamber over this meaningless bar which makes the swim space even smaller. Sigh.

 

I got out and dried off on the wooden decking by the pool, then went and sat in the lounger, and Ken and I talked and talked about cruise pricing, time share strategies, and more. Such fun to share interests in the mundane details of maximizing value from these various ways of enjoying travel and vacations! Most people’s eyes just glaze over when I start going into price breakdowns, best ways to make use of time share amenities, the delights of cruising, etc., etc. – Ken was even more gung-ho and detail-oriented than I am, which is saying a lot!!!

 

Having hoped to read and rest and nap, we ended up spending all of our time talking with energy and attention… and then followed this up with a visit to the Loyalty Ambassador (who no longer handles any future cruise duties, but I handed in my request list for “behind the scenes” tours and reminded her about my crystal block) and then on to the new “NextCruise” office on the Promenade, where Ken asked about his already-booked cruises and learned that they are at better prices than he could get by booking onboard, so he left them alone. We stopped at the Café Promenade for some sustenance to hold us until late dinner, and had some of their great tiny sandwiches: A muffaleta, on a small oval roll with a piece of salami and mortadella, and a cheese sandwich on a mini-croissant, plus some nice lemony sugar-free cookies.

 

We separated to shower and dress for dinner, agreeing to meet in the Schooner bar before heading down to see the comedian. I had warned Ken that his small joke session in the welcome aboard show was not promising, but that sometimes the comedians are better in their own show. Alas, this was not the case this time, and after gritting our teeth through 15 painful minutes, we decided to leave… and we discovered that Vojtek was playing in Boleros from 7:15 until 8:00pm, just in time for late dining! Perfect. We got seats at the bar and enjoyed his amazing artistry – along with an appreciative and silent standing-room only crowd that filled the floor all the way to the stairs. I’m glad to see that this wonderful performer is getting the appropriate recognition from so many passengers. The applause at the end of each song was warm and loud, accompanied by appreciative shouts of “bravo!”

 

(I should note that when I returned to my room, I learned that the Biobay tour in San Juan had been canceled, and the money already refunded to my account. I would ask for it to be put back on my credit card, but I would probably spend that much onboard anyway, between gratuities, internet package, etc. so I will probably leave it in place. I also will not buy a different tour, just walk around the old city with my new friends.)

 

We once again sat at the new table, and Penny and I were the only women along with Ken, Gary, Kent and Brad. Dinner conversation was lively and varied; I love hearing about Gary’s travels and experience teaching zydeco dancing on cruise ships, as well as his history with the space program during his 21 years with the US Air Force. He is also an accomplished cook and we discussed many different types of cooking styles, cooking methods, cooking implements, etc. For dinner tonight, I had a cheese roll (soft and delicious), the smoked trout appetizer (a really delicious small piece of smoked fish on a small ball of potato salad), Andalusian Consomme (flavorful broth with various additions), pasta with sea scallops… of which I only ate the scallops and a few bites of pasta because I also ordered the Indian dish of the night, a bhuna (spelled “bhoona” on the menu) which was so good that everyone else at the table ended up ordering it too!

 

After dinner we headed down to the Catacombs to say farewell to this special dance club space, soon to be removed from all of the Voyager and Freedom class ships that have it (the Crypt, the Dungeon, whatever its various names on the individual ships). It was 80s and 90s music night, and I thought we’d have a good crowd for this music since simultaneously there was a 50s-60s music event in Studio B, and an 18-21 year old gathering in the Sphinx… but it was essentially just our group, plus a few couples, and another solo, Karen, who I had met earlier in the cruise and promised to connect with our group, so I’m glad she was there! We danced and danced despite the truly execrable music (were the 80s and 90s really that bad?) – virtually the only danceable tunes were the 80s-remix version of big 70s dance hits. Sigh. At 11pm when they moved to current songs like “Uptown Funk It Up” we had a much better time!!

 

We stumbled out of the upstairs exit into the Schooner bar at about 11:30 and sang along with the (actually pretty decent) piano bar entertainer, Kim Kinrade. He played and sang and encouraged good audience participation. Other members of our dining table group were there, too. I toddled off to bed around 12:30, to work on my notes for this daily log, take my vitamins and an advil, and rub liniment on my aching bones! Even with all my workouts, dancing always hits places that nothing else does. I lay out my clothes so I can pull them on without thinking in the morning fog that’s sure to be there in five hours when I wake up in order to get to my 7:00am stretch class. Yay, vacation!

 

(Many people laugh at my gym devotion onboard cruise ships, but honestly: where else do I have access to world-class gym equipment, an unmatched ocean view, and professional personal trainers who arrive to stretch me out and push me to complete challenging ab exercises… all within walking distance of my bedroom, on a daily basis, at no additional charge!? In the company of other like-minded souls? It’s a delight.

 

I actually developed this affinity for working out by studying my dear friend and now travel agent Carol – you all know her as dirtgirl, and if you have cruised with her you know she closes down the dance club at night and opens the gym every morning. When I first met Carol ten years ago I was not a regular exerciser, though I wanted to be… but I didn’t want to do something every day that I hated! I felt I would rather eat nonstop and weigh 500 pounds and die than do something I detested and eat food that tasted bad, or too little food, and be miserable and die anyway (yeah, that part’s inevitable I’m afraid). So what was the solution? I had to change my mind so that I actually became one of those people who enjoyed exercise… looked forward to it… missed it if I couldn’t do it one day… and I began to interview Carol and anyone else I knew who fell into that category, and started trying to imitate them…

 

And surely enough, little by little, that has become my reality. I am on the leadership team of the Galloway NYC marathon and half-marathon training group, having completed one full marathon myself (Philly in 2013) and planning another (NYC in 2016) plus running three half-marathons per year since I started running seriously in 2011. My adult children have become runners as well, with my daughter running several of the half marathons along with me (although she finishes much faster!) and my son completing his first half this year. I love helping others to start down the path towards a wellness lifestyle, and supporting the 120+ members of our running club as their webmaster, pace group leader (for the proud slowest pace group!) and leadership team member. Come on in, the water’s fine!!!)

[EmpressofPurple]

Trying to catch up on my posts while the internet seems to be working fast!!

 

Day 4 – Wed. Nov.4 - At Sea (until 4pm) – then San Juan (till 11pm)

 

Ahhhh, another (half a) sea day! I was thrilled to wake up this morning ahead of my alarm clock – vs. yesterday when we had to put it forward an hour and indeed I needed the alarm to get up – and discover that I was not in as much pain as I was fearing after nearly two hours of nonstop dancing last night. As I said, no matter how much you work out, club dancing always engages different muscles and joints than you usually use… and as a resident of Manhattan, there is virtually not a single dance club that would let me in, so when I dance on cruises it's not something that I do every day. How much do I love cruising where there are no velvet ropes, glowering bouncers and rows and rows of cute twenty-something club kids giving me the fisheye?

 

Anyway, I pulled on my workout gear and headed up to the gym… always planning to take the elevator, and always ending up taking the stairs, after all it’s only three flights up to the gym… Class was once again full, yay cruisers! I took a short mat and took my place by the entrance and enjoyed another stretch class led by Matt (same routine as the first day). At the end of the class I happened to look out the windows – where I spotted a beautiful rainbow!! I took a photo, which I hope to be able to post soon. Abs followed stretch, again with many fewer people for this challenging class.

 

Today I decided to give my poor legs and feet a break, and worked only upper body weight machines in the gorgeous gym… no running on the track or treadmill, no elliptical, and no lower body machines. I did every variety of shoulder press, chest press, high row, low row, lat pulldown, bicep curl, tricep pushdown (that was a cool machine!), and on and on each a slight variation on the last.

 

After this nice workout, I headed over to the Windjammer for breakfast. Today: Oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar and hot milk… 2 pieces each of cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon and pineapple. I asked if they had stewed prunes or figs and was told NO!!!!! Only prune juice. Sigh. I also took a hardboiled egg and a glass of orange juice, and enjoyed my favorite aft view of the wake. Then I walked down a flight to the Concierge Lounge, greeted Carlos, made myself a cup of cappuccino and took my “breakfast dessert” of a raspberry Danish.

 

I returned to the stateroom, showered and started working on bringing this report up to date! So much to write about, so many fun activities, so many delicious meals and snacks, so many wonderful people I have been spending time with. It’s only day 4 of 12 and I already feel like this is one of my best cruises ever.

 

By about 11:30 I put on my swimsuit and a sundress and headed up to deck 11, apologizing to my room steward for taking so long to vacate my cabin. Walking across the pool deck I saw my friend Kim (MommyKim) who I had cruised with many years before. We had run into each other earlier in the cruise and I was shocked to see her in sneakers rather than her signature gorgeous custom-made cowboy boots – she has a museum-quality collection of over 300 pairs and loves to bring them on cruises. I was horrified to hear she had fallen downstairs, broken her ankle and could no longer wear them!! I mentioned that I saw her on the balcony in the Catacombs watching us dance the night before and asking how she was doing. She’s fine, she just can’t wear those boots! (Considering her doctors had told her she wouldn’t walk without a cane, and she’s not using one, I’m happy she is recovering so well.)

 

I headed on the Solarium and paced around a bit – alas, by noon there are plenty of seats “reserved” with towels, which I now don’t want to move since people will be fined if they don’t return them! Anyway, after a while (watching several people leave their towels and one item, walking off fully dressed clearly on their way to lunch, with no chairs available to me) finally a couple packed up all their stuff and left. Hallelujah! Not a cushy chair, but still, a chair in the sun. I went off to get two towels at the towel station, leaving my bag on the seat while I went into the cantilevered hot tub. This is something I had wanted to do ever since the Liberty class was built, and one of the reasons I’m thrilled to be onboard her (though I did have the experience of the double-wide cantilevered hot tubs on Oasis, too).

 

As I entered the pool, a woman said to me with a smile, “Have I been in your cabin?” and indeed, Lauren and Bob were on the cabin crawl the day before and had come to visit my space. We talked about cabins – they were disappointed to have been given a porthole cabin with a tiny porthole, rather than the larger picture-window type portholes we saw on the tour. Apparently they had had the option to upgrade during a post-final-payment price drop to a balcony guarantee but didn’t take it out of fear they would be put way at the front or back of the ship and experience motion sickness and not want to cruise anymore… now they were somewhat regretting that decision.

 

We talked about everything from traveling to family to living in New York, somehow getting around to C&A levels and tiers and the number of points needed for Diamond Plus and Pinnacle (700) when Bob asked, “Did you hear them announce at the party last night that there was someone onboard with 1400 nights?” and the only other woman in the hot tub piped up, “That was us!” We all started laughing, especially when Bob said, “Oh, they were the nicest people!” We started asking her about her travels and enjoyed another great cruise conversation.

 

Waterlogged, and having enjoyed the amazing views from this Oceanside hot tub (vs. the poolside hot tubs where you can see sky and swimmers but no ocean), after spraying myself with sun lotion I returned to my chaise by the pool and read for a while… and just as the chair next to mine opened up, Ken appeared. We chatted for a while, he was looking for Debra and the others to see about going off the ship in Puerto Rico at 4pm. We made plans to meet in half an hour for lunch, and he came back right on time, I put on my sundress and we headed into the Windjammer.

 

As we entered, we smelled delicious Indian food, and sure enough the first display was “Indian Corner” with Beef Mutter (ground beef and peas), Fish curry, chicken with fresh curry leaves, and peanut butter masala with tofu. I had a little bit of each one, over perfect basmati rice. On the side I had fresh bean sprouts, sliced tomato, “Indian Cole Slaw” with fresh cilantro, a lite potato salad, and cooling raita. So good! On East 6th Street in Manhattan there are about a dozen tiny Indian restaurants that have been there since I was in high school and I used to go there for dinner. Two people could eat there in those days for a total of $10 and walk out stuffed… the same is true for a total of $20, and the food is amazing. The Indian food I have been having onboard can match anything I have had there; the only things I miss are the puffed bread (poori) and some of my favorite condiments, lime pickle (hot!) and mango chutney (sweet and savory at the same time). Yay, Indian food on ships!

 

Ken and I talked about international travels going back to our high school and college days, and struck up a conversation with the table next to ours, who had been speaking Hebrew with another couple that had departed; this couple was from New Jersey, the other couple from Israel. We left to have a cappuccino from the Concierge Lounge and peruse the menus for Portofinos and Chops, both of which Ken wants to try. I’m always reluctant to miss a meal in the main dining room… maybe we could have two dinners? : )

 

Then it’s off to the room to dress for our walk ashore and write up these notes once again. Can’t believe I’m actually caught up to the present!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice walk in old San Juan. Ken and I headed up the hill, past the Plaza park, and turned left past a coffee bar/bar named “Mavi” – the name of an island drink recommended by Gary earlier on our roll call. We stopped to look in a Haitian art gallery (mostly tourist items), then a local artisans collective, where I purchased some 100% Puerto Rican coffee beans and Ken looked at belts. On to Lord Jim, a leather store where he purchased one, and then a lovely art gallery which showed a variety of work, including a large selection of photographs by the shop owner.

 

From there we continued to wend our way through the narrow cobblestoned streets, admiring the colorfully painted exteriors and wondering what was behind the large wooden doors. We appreciated the delicious cooking aromas emanating from a number of the restaurants, but were saving our appetites for onboard dinner at 8pm, so we resisted the call of Mofongo and more. We stopped at the open-air market where Ken purchased some cigars as gifts for his brother – and for Gary, who enjoys his daily visit to the Connoisseur Club onboard. Then onto CVS where we bought various travel necessities, including several bottles of Fiji and Evian water for Ken, at prices far below that onboard, of course.

 

I left Ken to carry the water back onto the ship alone as I trekked back up the hill to Mavi, thinking I would try some fresh Mavi… imagine my surprise when they asked if I wanted it to go and brought out a small plastic bottle from the fridge. I said yes, planning to bring it back to share with the table at dinner. Then back down the hill, with a quick stop at a favorite gift shop (Eklectica) which was closing for the night, so I didn’t stay to buy anything… a few photos of the Plaza park at night, the street cafes, even a selfie in front of the ship… then back onboard and up to the room to change for dinner.

 

Tonight was the white party, and I had packed white pants, a white top, white sweater, even white shoes and pearls to complete the outfit (not to mention white underthings so you don’t have pink or purple or turquoise showing through!). I put it all on, and added my white shawl tied around my waist as a sarong, since white pants are not necessarily the most flattering look for me:eek: I headed down to dinner and joined Gary and Brad. We had fewer at the table since many were probably enjoying dinner at one of the wonderful restaurants in San Juan. Gary was very touched by Ken’s gift of the cigar, and we all tried the Mavi… we think it might have been a little old since it tasted a bit fermented, and Gary said it was supposed to be fresh. Oh well, apparently it’s available in different recipes throughout the islands so I’ll try it again somewhere to compare.

 

Dinner was the Cilantro menu, and I had a green salad with frisee and watermelon; breaded fried shrimp (not my favorite), an onion roll, and osso buco with polenta and green beans, which was terrific. I ended with the apple cobbler (meh) and coffee. We were among the last out of the dining room, chatting away as always, and I went up to the room to wait until 10:30 to go to the white party and possibly on to Woytek in the Viking Crown Lounge. I actually fell asleep, fully dressed, and jerked myself awake at 10:45 to head up and check out the festivities at this late sailaway.

 

Well, there are cutbacks everywhere, and I had joked earlier that having the white party on deck and serving barbecue ribs and chicken wings and chocolate ice cream was sort of torture – I was thrilled (and amazed) that I came through dinner with no spots on my white shirt. So what are the cutbacks? There is now NO food served at the white party, just booze for sale in light-up cups! Sigh. I took some nice photos of the pool band, Riddim Wave, in front of the movie screen saying “White Night Party.”

 

Then I headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge, where the amazing Woytek was entertaining a rather sparse crowd. I enjoyed watching our late night sailaway from San Juan while listening to his wonderful music, overhearing him discuss with another guest how he had developed his interpretation of certain songs by listening to various classical musicians, naming Itzhak Perelman and Daniel Barenboim among others. No wonder his work is so impressive, he has a true classical background and deep appreciation of music. Always a pleasure to hear him play.

 

But I was tired, and there was much to do before I slept: I had to pack all of my dirty clothes (EEK) into the tiny laundry bag… nope, they didn’t fit, so I washed out a pair of long pants, two tank tops, and two light jackets in the sink and hung them to dry on the shower drying line and other hooks around the room. Then I packed my beach bag for the day trip to St. John and prepared my vitamins for the following day, laid out my workout gear for the morning (you don’t think I’m going to miss stretch and abs just because I have an all-day tour, do you?) and finally got to bed around 1:00 am.

[EmpressofPurple]

Whoo-hoo! I'm caught up to the present in my posting!! Here's hoping I can remain current for the rest of the cruise.

 

Day #5 – Thurs., Nov. 5 - St. Thomas / St. John

 

So glad when I woke up to realize that I still have a full week on this wonderful cruise! Wow, I’m really having a good time. I pulled on my workout gear and wore flip-flops up to the gym, didn’t bring sneakers today because there will be no time for any additional workout beyond the classes, have to head back to the cabin and change to meet my friends for breakfast before we head out on the tour. Another great stretch class with Matt… and just TWO of us stayed for abs, so he led us through a great new routine with equipment like the medicine ball (no, not Russian twists, thank God, just crunching up with the ball) and the large stability ball (no, not balancing planks, thank God, just passing the ball back and forth from hands to feet and extending out, repeat, etc.).

 

After class I stopped at the Concierge Lounge for a Cappuccino, then returned to the room, sprayed myself with 50 sunscreen, put on m swimsuit (in that order), picked up my ready-to-go bag and headed out. I then came back and took an extra bottle of water to refill my thermos bottle full of ice throughout the day (great idea, I did indeed use it) and a pair of shorts and a t-shirt (which I did not).

 

Then down to breakfast in the MDR with Debra, Diana and Amy at 8:30. It was chocolate breakfast, and Diana ordered the milkshake… which was not a milkshake at all, just chocolate milk which soon separated into granules like Quik; they all had a chocolate croissant, and everybody tried the chocolate banana bread, which was moist and delicious. I also ordered a grapefruit half, some kadota figs (at least they’re available in the dining room, although they didn’t have prunes either!!) and the eggs benedict. I also provided my seapass card and asked for a cappuccino, which was provided – along with a bill. I explained that it should be free for diamond plus, and gave the waiter a $1 cash tip when he made the erroneous bill disappear. Our breakfasts took a long time to arrive, but when they did the thick French toast for Debra was French toasty all the way through (hard to do, I know this from experience trying to do this myself) and my eggs benedict were perfect. Perfect! Soft but not runny, still warm, I was happy. Yum.

 

Then we headed off to disembark right at 9:30, meeting up with two other groups heading to St. John, one doing an ongoing boat tour, one doing a land bus tour. Since we were “on your own” we would just get off at the end and look for a local taxi. The boat ride was great, we were all in the very front in the open part of the boat, enjoying the salt spray and the cheerful crew; I got a photo with the captain. When we arrived we got the first taxi, for a fixed fare of $6pp each way to Trunk Bay in large open surrey-style taxis, plus a $4pp entry fee at the beach – and that’s basically all we had to spend all day.

 

Trunk Bay is as beautiful as its photographs, a narrow strip of slightly inclined beach with lots of cover at the rear from trees. We laid down our towels and I immediately took my snorkel gear and walked down towards the snorkel trail. You could walk out into the water and follow an actual underwater trail between three anchored marine balloons, with informative plaques on the sea floor about the fish, coral, etc. I swam back in, appreciating my good-quality snorkel with the automatic ball-bobber to keep the water out when I went under and the easy-to-clear mouthpiece, plus the mask and fins so I could move along easily. I got back to the beach to discover I had been out for nearly an hour – it felt like five minutes!

 

Then we relaxed on the beach – not too much sun, a fair amount of cloud cover and breezes kept it relatively cool, though whenever we were in full sun it was blazingly hot. I ran back into the water to take pictures of a small stingray near the shore, as well as some large jellyfish. After nearly falling asleep I decided to head back out before it was too late to get in a second trip around the trail. This time I brought my cell phone to use as a camera in its completely waterproof lifeproof case. Alas, it has no handle so I had to hold it in my hands the whole time, but since you just kick with your fins when snorkeling there are no hand motions required so that was fine.

 

I got lots of shots of fan coral, brain coral, finger coral… giant red fish, multicolored parrot fish, tiny dories, schools of white fish and much more… ending by chasing a giant stingray back towards shore – and ending in a field of jellyfish! I was very lucky not to get stung, as Amy ended up with angry red welts on her chest, neck, back and arms when she was in the same area. We sat in the water for a while, there were a few brief passing rain showers, then we packed up and started walking back towards the taxi area, stopping on the way to use the foot shower and put our clothes on. I had a towel wrapped around my shoulders as protection from the sun.

 

This time our taxi had sideways bench seats rather than going across. We had 8 in the cab (4 on each side) with the first ones there having waited 15 minutes already for the cab to fill up. Two people came up at the end, and we were told to squeeze in and make room for them. Since Debra and I were at the far back – and didn’t want to move to the inside due to motion sickness concerns – we squeezed towards the back, and the two young people kindly moved past us, although the cabbies were quite rude, repeating multiple times that we had to make room for them (they were perfectly happy to wait for the next cab) saying, “Oh, if you won’t make room you can pay for their space” (when it was clear that the taxi was on the way out and would have gone with 8 if these two hadn’t arrived at the last minute). Well, no harm done, everyone fit comfortably and the ride was pleasant, but I didn’t tip the driver on the way back as I had on the way out.

 

We walked up and down the tiny shopping area by the port, but there was only one souvenir shop with what I felt was very overpriced merchandise ($26 for a tank top and $6 for a magnet? No). We headed towards the blue-and-white striped tents where we were told we could wait until the return ferry was ready for boarding at 3:00pm, then noticed the St. John National Park Visitor Center by the pier, and headed over there. Kismet! I found very unique locally mixed spice blends (purchasing “Quintana Roo” which has hemp seed, kosher salt, brown sugar, roasted garlice, toasted onion, epazote, Mexican oregano, bay leaf, spearmint, lemon zest, chipotle, jalapeno, habanero, guajillo peppers, pasilla oazaca, pasilla negra de Arbol chili, ancho chili, Vietnamese cinnamon, annatto, coriander and cumin). Wow! And all the spice blends from this “Kitchen Creole” are as creative and interesting! I also got a magnet for $3, a local photographer’s picture of Trunk Bay for $5 (vs. $20 for his matted prints of the same size at the other store) – and a bottle of made in St. John natural bug spray with natural soy oil and essential oils of lavender, cedar wood, lemon grass, rosemary, eucalyptus, tea tree & citronella.

 

We went back to the tents, we passed a couple of ice cream shops, and Diana wanted to get a milkshake and kindly offered to get me one, too. Coffee milkshake for me please! Who could say no? Shortly we were boarding the ferry, where we got our four seats right up front again (me with my towel around my shoulders as a shield from too much sun). We enjoyed a few rainshowers – and a few rainbows – on our way back to port, as well as an entertaining sales pitch from the crew for their t-shirts and hats… they also offered rum punch to everyone, and made up a virgin version for me and Diana: Orange juice, mango juice and cream of coconut, hold the rum. Yum!

 

When we arrived back at port we were promised a trolley so we wouldn’t have to walk back to the ship, but it only held about half of the passengers, so we headed back on foot. Dropped off our towels, quick pit stop at the bathroom on the boarding deck, then up to Sorrentos… where we met Ken, down for a snack after trying to order a cheese plate from room service and being told it would take ONE HOUR to be delivered! Sorrentos had a number of interesting sandwiches, including roast beef (meh) and a great “six-foot hero” which they cut to order. They also had a great fresh salad with green and red peppers, tomatoes and black olives in a light vinaigrette, and a small fresh fruit cup. We sat with Kent and Ken and enjoyed our snack, agreeing to meet up in the starboard side hot tubs shortly.

 

After emptying my beach bags, I headed up to the pool deck, got a fresh towel and met Kent in the hot tub, joined after a while by Ken, though the other ladies never made it there. We chatted with other hot tub denizens, and enjoyed the gorgeous sailaway scenery as the ship pulled away from St. Thomas and into the sunset. We even stayed in the hot tub while it rained, mostly protected by a glass ceiling but still pelted with needle-like droplets in the open areas.

 

By 6:15 we headed to our cabins, promising to come support Kent win the Name that Abba Tune trivia contest, since he was a huge Abba fan… and sure enough, when I came down to the Schooner Bar, he was well on his way. The CD staff was very impressed with Kent's knowledge of Abba songs, and three other ladies sitting around the piano bar where Kent was playing solo suddenly became his new best friends and claimed three of his six new Royal Caribbean logo hats as his "teammates" – Ken and I were happy to receive the last two, thanks Kent!

 

We headed down to dinner at about 8:05 to discover everyone already seated at the smaller table! Diana came to join us shortly so we had a foursome at the larger table. Tonight was the Sage menu, seemingly a bit lighter than the previous nights: I had the medley of melon and grapefruit (served with a fresh sprig of mint, very nice touch) and the escargot (tender and delicious and that butter sauce is to die for… I had a second roll tonight to sop it up). Main course was the sole meuniere, and once again we ordered the vegetarian and chicken Indian dishes to share. For dessert I had a “pecan and butterscotch tart” (hmmm, pecan pie by any other name, only so-so) and COFFEE ICE CREAM!

 

After dinner I wanted to go hear Woytek in the pub, but Ken was tired, Kent was going to the Viking Crown Lounge to hear a different guitarist, and the others were heading to Cruise Director Dru’s Totally Useless Trivia. I joined the trivia group, and indeed, it was a pretty silly trivia game. (And we didn’t win. Pooh.) Afterwards I invited the others to join me at the pub, but Woytek was on break and everyone was tired, so we split up and went to our rooms. I did take photos of the pub bar drinks menu, which I will post when I have photo access.

 

And now we are indeed caught up to the present, in both writing and posting! I'm off to get a few hours of sleep before my ubiquitous morning workout and a day on St. Martin/Sint Maarten. Good night!:D

[Yorkvillain]

Great stuff Denise. Thanks.

[EmpressofPurple]

Great stuff Denise. Thanks.

 

Cool cool neighbor, glad to have you aboard! I always enjoy your live reviews.:)

[Yorkvillain]

WOW, I just got done with day 3 and now you have days 4 and 5 posted. I'm never going to get to bed!

[Yorkvillain]

Cool cool neighbor, glad to have you aboard! I always enjoy your live reviews.:)

 

Thanks! Sadly, I'm not in Yorkville anymore. I lived on 84th between 1st and 2nd.

 

I miss living on the Upper East. I hope and plan to move back one day soon though.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Yorkvillain

[widallas]

Wonderful review...I usually don't do much more than pictures, but you've got me hooked and looking forward to the next chapter of "Liberty Repo!" [emoji6]

[EmpressofPurple]

WOW, I just got done with day 3 and now you have days 4 and 5 posted. I'm never going to get to bed!

 

Heh heh heh:cool:

 

I'm off to bed myself now, I get to get up in six hours for stretch class! Yay cruise vacation!:D

[DKNYC]

WHAT, YOU HAD CHEESECAKE LOLLIPOPS ?

What's up with that. Sorry for yelling but we were looking for those the whole 10 days last cruise. Never saw them. 😦 We only got cranberry juice in our drinks with vodka however I was impressed with the real OJ at breakfast rather than the Tang-like stuff we had on Explorer. I knew you'd like the jogging track. Even I liked it, unbelievable I know. 😀

Tell Ken from my Facebook TA group I said hello.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[bluejeanlady]

Greetings CC friends!

 

I'm on the lovely Liberty of the Seas... in RC Online so I don't have my trip notes with me, just checking in to let folks know I'll be posting a live from of this one-off Skyscrapers to Rodeos cruise.

 

I have my laptop and an unlimited internet package so I'll try to upload some photos when bandwidth permits, otherwise they'll all be at the end. If you want to ask questions, feel free and I'll do my best to answer.

 

Highlights so far: GREAT Cruise Critic group, we met up at sailaway with terrific ID badges and icebreaker activities organized by Maria (RCI CD staff could learn a few tricks from her!) -- wonderful solos and friends dining corner organized by Diana, with two full tables of ten -- a great progressive trivia team (we're in the lead as of day 1) -- and more fun activities planned including a slot pull (organized by Jeremy) following the Meet & Mingle today, a cabin crawl (organized by Ken) tomorrow... and on a later sea day, hopefully, a mini-golf tournament organized by yours truly!

 

I'm happy to have met up with the various CC members I planned shore excursions with and am thrilled that we all get along so well... I enjoyed actually getting off the ship in Bayonne after dropping my carryons in the cabin when they opened to walk over and visit the Teardrop Memorial in person (thanks, Debra!)... and sitting after dinner to enjoy the sound of the ocean waves on the Promenade deck (thanks, Ken!) returning to be drawn into the Schooner Bar by an AMAZING guitar player who we'll be following for the rest of the cruise (thanks, Vojtek!)

 

Great start to what I trust will be a great cruise. I have more to report, including comparisons between Voyager and Freedom class ships, areas we're making sure to use a lot before they are lost in drydock, shore excursion plans, meal descriptions and more... but I want to post this before it gets lost on the unreliable internet connection!!

 

 

Our travel agent is on this cruise with her hubby celebrating their 30th wedding anny. They are loving it. Have fun!

[gambler]

So Loving your review, living the cruise thru you. Thank-you. Can't wait to sail on the Liberty next May.

[DKNYC]

Now that's cool! How many were in attendance at the M&M?

There were quite a bit of folks there. They changed to a larger venue from Olive or Twist to Sphinx. There were over 200 registered at least 100 or more showed up. I know several people who didn't get the invite with the changed time and venue though.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[jascruise]

Hi All

I was on the last round trip cruise from Cape Liberty and there was and enormous number of crown & Anchor members (like about 2500 or more). They moved the Diamond happy hours 4:30 to 8:00pm into the Catacombs.

 

 

On that cruise, According to what the Diamond Concierge, Anis, told us, there were 850 Diamonds.

 

That they put the event in the Catacombs was ridiculous. It was way too small, especially since the Sphinx might have been used.

 

Anis seemed quite put upon by the large number of Diamonds. It was almost like he was surprised at the number, although he would have know about this well in advance.

 

He seemed vexed that he would be taxed by this press of people, especially since he had to grind coffee beans in the Diamond Lounge every morning--that seemed to be his major concern.

 

(And if that was his concern, why did he not show up there until 8:00 AM, one asks?)

 

To be fair, it wasn't his decision, I'm sure, to put the nightly event in the Catacombs. But he didn't handle it well.

 

This guy was way over his head, and kept wandering around clutching his clipboard and beaming at guests.

[DKNYC]

Yes I agree that Catacombs was too small. Also it took almost a week for napkins to show up for the snacks plus a lot of times the snacks were missing on not labeled properly. However, on a positive note the drinks were good IMHO.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[cruiselvr04]

Ok cheesecake lollipops here I come! There were missing in August on the Navigator.

 

Enjoying your updates. See you in Galveston a week from today!

[39august]

How is the entertainment in the pub, please?

[molsonschooner]

Ok cheesecake lollipops here I come! There were missing in August on the Navigator.

 

Enjoying your updates. See you in Galveston a week from today!

 

I tried the lollipops a few weeks ago while on Indy. I think I am in the minority as I did not care that much for them.

[EmpressofPurple]

WHAT, YOU HAD CHEESECAKE LOLLIPOPS ?

What's up with that. Sorry for yelling but we were looking for those the whole 10 days last cruise. Never saw them. 😦 We only got cranberry juice in our drinks with vodka however I was impressed with the real OJ at breakfast rather than the Tang-like stuff we had on Explorer. I knew you'd like the jogging track. Even I liked it, unbelievable I know. 😀

Tell Ken from my Facebook TA group I said hello.

Denise

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

Sigh. Just the once, and just in white chocolate (no dark chocolate covered ones yet).

 

"Real" OJ... well... almost...

 

Glad you liked the jogging track too!

 

I will send Ken your regards. : )

[EmpressofPurple]

So Loving your review, living the cruise thru you. Thank-you. Can't wait to sail on the Liberty next May.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Gambler, glad to have you along for the ride!:)

[EmpressofPurple]

Day #6 - Friday, Nov. 6, - St. Martin/Sint Maarten

 

Up with the alarm and into gym clothes (my last set! Sure hope the laundry comes back soon…) and up to 7:00am stretch and 7:30 abs – hey, we had THREE people today! Marco led both classes, and another class member, Steve, introduced himself to me – he’s notable for his impressive Yoga headstand which he practices daily. (In addition to being in stretch and abs every day, we had seen each other on the outdoor track, where he lapped me easily as I did my mile the other day.) After class I walked across the pool deck and down to 10 where I got my cappuccino and a slice of delicious fruit bread.

 

Diana was in stretch today, and she stayed to run the treadmill while I went to the cabin to collect my beach gear and meet Debra and Amy for MDR breakfast. Today I ordered an omelet with salmon, cream cheese and herbs (delicious), plus prune juice and a half-grapefruit and a mini croissant. We all shared bites of everything, so I had some of Debra’s eggs benedict, she tried some of my omelette, etc. Diana arrived at 9:15 and we headed out onto the pier in St. Martin.

 

Since I had selected today’s itinerary, I led the group through the small port shopping area to the taxi stand where we lined up with those going to Maho beach, since our beach (Karakter) is in that general area. We were put in a large van with a family of four and a couple all heading to Maho, and headed off through really snarled portside traffic, due to a large parade going on that day! Finally we got through, and headed up and over the mountain towards the airport. The driver dropped off the other passengers, warning them to follow the signs. My friends looked at the tiny narrow beach and crowded beach bar next to the airport, and were so glad we weren’t going here!

 

We headed on to Karakter beach, a place you would only know about through someone who had been there before – not on any of the port taxi lists, not a fancy resort, just a couple of small beachside hotels, and Karakter itself is a beach bar built into an old bus, with a wooden platform for tables and chairs, and then lovely cushioned beach chairs and umbrellas down by the water. There is no charge for the chairs and umbrellas, but you are expected to order something from the bar/restaurant.

 

Since it was barely 10:00am, we just grabbed a couple of open plastic chairs and put them right into the water to cool off. We were there for quite some time until one of the bar servers came over and asked us to bring them back up on the beach. She provided nice thick yellow cushions, and later brought over an umbrella for us. We sunned and swam and walked on the beach; I even used my snorkel gear though there was nothing to see. There’s a fairly steep drop off from the narrow beach into the water, but it’s easy enough to get up and down (unlike others I have been on throughout the Caribbean).

 

Also, there are very few vendors on this beach, and the ones who come through are like old friends: in fact, two of them are old friends, Pauline and Joanne, who provide foot rubs ($20) full-body massage on the beach ($30) – and even gave two of our party “mini foot rubs” for $10 each – using the heart of a fresh aloe leaf as the massage moisturizer!! Really a unique and special experience, not to mention incredibly affordable compared to the ship’s massage prices. I gave Pauline an extra $5… and Joanne kindly put some of the fresh aloe on my sunburned shoulders, too, almost like a free mini-neckrub.

 

The other ladies ordered mango and strawberry daiquiris for $7 each, while I had the “king of vitamins” (mango, orange, pineapple, all SO FRESH) for $6. We ordered the mixed tapas platter ($24) to share… but the kitchen was really backed up and the tables were all full – and we were concerned about getting back to the port area with enough time to shop before all aboard (especially if traffic was still bad), so we canceled the food order and asked them to call for a taxi. The taxi came promptly, a small sedan with just enough room for the four of us and our beach bags, and we were returned to the port for $8 each by 3:00pm. We weren’t sorry to leave the beach early since it had become progressively overcast, not the lovely hot sun and cool breezes we had enjoyed for most of the morning.

 

At the port shopping area, I went to the spices and hot sauce shop to pick up a gift set of four guavaberry hot sauces, two bottles of steak sauce, and a bottle of BBQ grilling sauce. In the nearby general store I also got a bottle of their new ghost pepper sauce for $16 (it was $18 at the stand) and at the liqueur shop I got a jar of guavaberry honey for $13. Yay, made in St. Martin guavaberry! Now I have to give my new friends who are staying on in Galveston some $$ to pack and ship it home for me, since I don’t want to pack it in my checked luggage and go over the weight limit.

 

I returned to the ship and headed to Sorrentos for a slice of pizza (with smoked salmon and asparagus!) – still terrible pizza, but at least an interesting topping – plus a slice of the six-foot hero and a tiny fruit cup. Perfect! Now I’m writing up these notes, then I’m heading up to the hot tub for sailaway again – that was great yesterday, I trust it will be equally nice today, rain or shine.

------------

Sailaway in the hot tub is the best. Introduced myself to a couple folks who had been there the day before, had a couple of conversations with various people, enjoyed the loud ship’s horn and the views of the MSC Divina as we pulled out of St. Martin. By 5:15 I headed down to the cabin to shower and dress for the pre-dinner 6:45pm “In the Air” show, which we had been warned would be standing room only (not quite, but I’m glad I got there early to grab a front row seat). The Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, plus a group of talented aerialists (and talented equipment controllers!) plus the featured dance couple AND the featured aerialist couple. The two featured couples were really exceptional. The show was kind of a weird pastiche, with strange costumes, but the singing and dancing were decent and the acrobatics were magnificent.

 

After the show I made my way through the crowds to Boleros to enjoy another pre-dinner show from Wojtek. He continues to play the “crowd pleasers” of stairway to heaven and hotel California – great songs, for sure, but I’d love to hear him play more classical guitar. He commented himself that everyone loves these songs, but that he is a classical guitarist. He has such a lovely personality, really almost humble, clearly happy to provide entertainment and engage the audience while practicing the demanding skills for his art. After the show I asked if he had another CD with more classical music on it (the CD I bought has a nice mix) but he doesn’t have any other CDs made yet. Here's hoping he does another before the end of this cruise!

 

From there, on to dinner, where with Debra and Curtis at the Vintages wine pairing dinner we could all squeeze into the one table with Naville and Han, leaving Yolanda and Vedik with a light load for tonight. Dinner was the basil menu; the appetizers all looked good, and I ordered several: cream of mushroom soup (dark and rich), fresh fruit medley (with mango, papaya, pineapple, kiwi and strawberry, all fruits – with the exception of pineapple – you never see onboard), smoked duck breast (red and delicious, served with tiny slivers of grapefruit on frisee), and a salad with frisee, pear, and goat cheese. All delicious! My main course was the beef two ways (short ribs and filet) which was great; many people ordered the chicken cordon bleu which was a great disappointment.

 

We shared stories about our day’s activities in St. Martin, hearing about Ken’s (solo) art gallery tour visiting three artists on the istland, Kent’s bargain trip with Bernard where for $40 they toured for 6.5 hours and visited Maho beach in time to see the big KLM arrive plus Orient beach and Marigot. Gary talked about wandering off the beaten path in Phillipsburg to shop in local supermarkets and eat in a local restaurant, and that he actually got to see the parade that tied up traffic downtown.

 

Nearly every dessert had alcohol in it, so I ordered chocolate ice cream with some chocolate sauce, and a cheese plate to come back to the room. Then I was hit with a wave of exhaustion and excused myself early from the table, even though conversation was continuing. Back to the room to wrap my left foot with an ace bandage; I have been having pain there for the last several weeks, but I think all of the daily stairs is really aggravating it, even more than the running, etc. I had thought I was suffering from plantar fasciitis, but now I’m concerned that it may be a stress fracture, the pain is simply not diminishing. Sigh. Runners' woes. This too shall pass.

 

Tonight’s calendar includes “Dancing with the Stripes” (like dancing with the stars, but the stars are the officers onboard) and the “Silent Party” (where dancers wear headsets with two different channels and truly dance to their own drummer). I’d like to attend these, but I’m pretty fatigued. I will probably have to miss them and actually take a quiet night in.

[DKNYC]

Bummer I hate pain on Vacay. Anyway glad you had a good day in St. Maarten. Dancing with the Stripes was funny and very crowded on my cruise. I stood in the TV screens back there. It was on the in cabin TV within about 15 minutes of it ending so you will be able to see it eventually. Did Godfrey win again? :)

Glad you have been using those lovely hot tubs. I never got up the nerve and still have never been in a cruise ship pool. I enjoyed the In the Air show too.

 

Denise

[Stormy15]

Today I heard 34 Pinnacles are onboard.

 

 

 

As for how they're handling overflow with so many high tier C&A members onboard, as I said they're not giving out crystal blocks at the high tier welcome back party, they're just being delivered to the room...

 

 

 

... Happy Hour for Diamonds is in the Sphinx...

 

 

 

... Diamond Plus and Pinnacles in the Viking Crown Lounge...

 

 

 

... Suites only in the Concierge Lounge...

 

 

.)

 

Wait, pinnacles can't go in the concierge lounge? I enjoyed Pinnacles (and Diamond Plus too) being in the suite lounge on my last cruise out of Galveston. They were a friendly group with a lot of knowledge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited November 7, 2015 by Stormy15