One Adventure After Another, Live Rolling Review Aug 14, 21 and 28

[3kidsncats]

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by 3kidsncats

[3kidsncats]

The 4th day at CocoCay we were once again booked for the Beach Club.  I really wanted to get a day bed at the pool, so we got up extra early and were ready to get off the ship by 7:15, although had to wait until 8.  So basically first people on the island and we still barely managed to get a day bed.  I’m going to go into a small rant here, because honestly we were kind of appalled at how some people behave.  I don’t know if the problem group of people are here on CC or not — but doesn’t matter to me.  There was a group that had apparently been on for several B2Bs — we saw them the week before on our first club day, when we also got of the ship ahead of them, but on the same tram to the club.  But that day we opted to enjoy the beach seating with our friends.  We though it would be fun to experience different aspects of the club. 

 

Anyhow, members of this group would jump off the tram before it even finished stopping, then literally RUN to get the day beds.  EVERY single day they were there from what we heard, for multiple weeks.  We heard from some friends that they experienced it the day before, while we were at the water park.  So yes, everyone has the right to go early to try to get the seating they prefer but what a way to be an absolute selfish word I can’t say here.  What made this worse, is that the lead person was throwing items on ALL the beds, so that even though my husband ran also (after the tram stopped), and managed to get the beds right behind her,, she claimed 3 beds with her belongings, to save for the rest of her group.  Then she went to the other side of the bar and threw another item at the last day bed (next to the one my husband had grabbed) while some people we had met were standing next to it already, taking their back packs off before sitting on the bed.  This woman literally threw her bag over the pool  to the bed, then tried to tell them that it was hers.  Unbelievable.  So good luck if you want to get a day bed.  Better wear your sneakers because I wouldn’t be surprised if this kind of behavior all the time.

 

[3kidsncats]

[3kidsncats]

As we were leaving, we passed Brilliance of the Seas, who was waiting to pick up a number of crew who were getting booster shots (some issue with the original type of vaccine they got in their home countries, and RC wanted them to have more protection via a booster or necessary second dose.). As we left the dock, they were all standing in a long line, waving at us, and cheering —the connections we create with the crew and friends are amazing — needless to say, we were waving and cheering right back at them, and very happy that they are being protected.

 

 

[BecciBoo]

My main pet peeves in life are line cutters, I would've just removed her stuff and slung it back on her other beds if I'd been the people preparing to get the last bed.  Would've also gone to the manager and come back with him!  She wouldn't have been able to do anything unless she was prepared for fisticuffs....Lonesome Dove: "I can't abide rudeness in a man/woman...won't tolerate it"  I would've said, "Pardon me but this bed is taken!"  I would've been filming the whole exchange with my phone, you can bet that.

Edited September 6, 2021 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

BTW I've had my eye on those beds for months.....we will succeed, I guarantee...without rudeness!  Anyway, if we don't we'll be happy just to be there.

 

Lovely pictures Kid

Edited September 6, 2021 by BecciBoo

[3kidsncats]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

My main pet peeves in life are line cutters, I would've just removed her stuff and slung it back on her other beds if I'd been the people preparing to get the last bed.  Would've also gone to the manager and come back with him!  She wouldn't have been able to do anything unless she was prepared for fisticuffs....Lonesome Dove: "I can't abide rudeness in a man/woman...won't tolerate it"  I would've said, "Pardon me but this bed is taken!"  I would've been filming the whole exchange with my phone, you can bet that.

My husband was close to all of the above — we did comment about it to a staff member and he just shrugged and could care less.  But we did get one, and the two beds on the other side of the bar actually have a better view,  the people we met got the one next to us (the one where the lady tried to throw something across the pool to claim it) and it was more enjoyable to not have to sit next to the other group.  It would have been hard to enjoy if we had to see them all day.  The staff also seemed to cater to this group — we passed anytime we needed to use the restroom and saw that they had been provided with pitchers of infused water and flower bouquets, which I didn’t anyone else provided with.  Not a biggie, we got great service from the crew but it was noticeable. We would have not had a problem not getting a bed in a normal, one per person distribution — but this was pure unadulterated selfishness on the part of this group.

[3kidsncats]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

BTW I've had my eye on those beds for months.....we will succeed, I guarantee...without rudeness!  Anyway, if we don't we'll be happy just to be there.

 

Lovely pictures Kid

Grab one to the left of the bar as you come in (facing the ocean) — lovely unobstructed view.  And thank you 😊

[3kidsncats]

The dining room was so empty on this cruise — mostly we were enjoying our dinner too much to notice, and it really allowed for a more congenial service experience with our waiter and assistant waiter.  And Mahmudi had some time to start creating the cutest napkin animals for me — first was this lovely swan, who went out and about with us to Boleros, and enjoyed the balcony for CocoCay

[3kidsncats]

On a side not of sorts —when the new masking protocol was announced and people were given wrist bands to wear designating vaccinated status, a lot of us were confused.  Only 11 and under were unvaccinated, and can’t go to bars, so why the need for vaccinated only bar venues???

 

Late in the second cruise, we found out, from more than one crew member, that some unvaccinated adults were on board for that short window of roughly the sailings from the 14th to the 28th.  Probably would have been the last few weeks as well, but the Bahamas changed their requirements, so as of the current sailing, it’s back to all vaccinated 12 and older. 

 

Of course, during our cruises, none of us were really paying any attention to the wrist bands, and no one was paying attention to whether you had one or not when entering a venue.  So this is my one real disappointment with Royal as far as this cruise goes.  I don’t like that we didn’t know from day one, because it potentially impacted our behavior and safety.  We do know that someone tested positive on board — no idea if follow up testing with a PCR test confirmed it or not, but people we met were quarantined (and happily followed up with negative PCR).  The rumor mill says a crew member - but no confirmation one way or the other.  So the lesson learned is to proceed with caution  and engage in a level of masking and social distancing that suits you, regardless of whether you think everyone is vaccinated.  We will be doing at home Binax tests tomorrow afternoon

[BecciBoo]

That is just simply Kool! The swan I mean!

Edited September 6, 2021 by BecciBoo

[brookmill18]

If you're the first set of people off the ship, is it faster to walk than take the tram? We never took tram on Labadee but haven't yet been to CocoCay. I would be heading to Beach Club first. 

 

And your pictures are beautiful!

[3kidsncats]

2 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

That is just simply Kool! The swan I mean!

It was one of the best I received but I’ve more to post 😊

[WVHillbilly]

I understand patient rights and such but I wish they were more forth coming on cases on board.  I was under the impression that everyone over 12 was vaccinated and one of the reasons I chose this cruise.  That being said it's been a week since we've been back and still healthy.

 

I will say the only rude behavior we ran into was at the Headliner Show on the last night.  In the third row of the theater (first available row for seating) was a group of about a dozen pre-teens and teens.  A middle age couple sat down in the two seats on the end, one boy (12) told them they couldn't set there that there were plenty of seats in the theater.  They got up and moved back to the next row, the wife was livid and wanted to call for a crew member.  I told her that they were big people and if they moved it was their call.   So as not to condemn them all a 17 year old boy told the other kid that he was rude.  

[3kidsncats]

22 minutes ago, brookmill18 said:

If you're the first set of people off the ship, is it faster to walk than take the tram? We never took tram on Labadee but haven't yet been to CocoCay. I would be heading to Beach Club first. 

 

And your pictures are beautiful!

It’s possible — we took the tram and it winds around the perimeter.  They have smaller trams for the club, so those load up quickly and take off.  The other trams have two or three sections, and take longer to load, plus they drop you off to the right (water park).  I personally wouldn’t want to try to race the tram and arrive hot and sweaty and maybe have nothing to show for it.  I would hope that most cruises, there would not be a large group engaged in this kind of greed — if it had been a group of 4, it would have less impact.  A group of 10-12 like we encountered had a major impact on that seating.  The low cost and capacity of the AOS sailings really contributed to people booking 4+ B2B and helped create this particular hog situation.

[Ocean Boy]

4 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

And Mahmudi had some time to start creating the cutest napkin animals for me — first was this lovely swan, 

 

 

 

That swan is very classy... and impressive.

[3kidsncats]

3 minutes ago, WVHillbilly said:

I understand patient rights and such but I wish they were more forth coming on cases on board.  I was under the impression that everyone over 12 was vaccinated and one of the reasons I chose this cruise.  That being said it's been a week since we've been back and still healthy.

 

I will say the only rude behavior we ran into was at the Headliner Show on the last night.  In the third row of the theater (first available row for seating) was a group of about a dozen pre-teens and teens.  A middle age couple sat down in the two seats on the end, one boy (12) told them they couldn't set there that there were plenty of seats in the theater.  They got up and moved back to the next row, the wife was livid and wanted to call for a crew member.  I told her that they were big people and if they moved it was their call.   So as not to condemn them all a 17 year old boy told the other kid that he was rude.  

Kudos to the one boy — and I wouldn’t have moved, lol.  We really didn’t encounter much rude behavior other than the day beds, thankfully.  With such low capacity ship wide, it was not really an issue.  We did have a group who thought playing a loud dice game (with raucous laughter and shouting) was a good call for the Solarium.  😳. Crew ignored it until others complained.  But that’s pretty chill compared to what we’ve seen in the past

[WVHillbilly]

3 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

Kudos to the one boy — and I wouldn’t have moved, lol.  We really didn’t encounter much rude behavior other than the day beds, thankfully.  With such low capacity ship wide, it was not really an issue.  We did have a group who thought playing a loud dice game (with raucous laughter and shouting) was a good call for the Solarium.  😳. Crew ignored it until others complained.  But that’s pretty chill compared to what we’ve seen in the past

 Yea I wouldn't have moved either, and my first instinct would be to throttle the young lad; but knowing that would get me banned from cruising he might have just had a little slip on the stairs.  Honestly I blame the parents, they made an announcement that no unattended children were allowed in the first three rows.  That's the only bad behavior we observed on this cruise and I didn't let it ruin my night, all in all it was a great cruise.

[BecciBoo]

28 minutes ago, 3kidsncats said:

and I wouldn’t have moved, lol.

I'm afraid I'd have to take the whippersnapper down a peg and scare him with "We're not moving and I'm getting Security!"  I bet that would've shut him up.  Such disrespect for adults and  authority, if my kids ever behaved like that, they would've regretted it severely!  I have seen security in action a couple times over the years and they take that behavior very seriously.  On one cruise, the Wolf Tails were on the ship (that group that followed the teeen werewolf series back in the day and had tails sticking out their pants)  had a rude run in with someone and the next port, their whole family were escorted off the ship!  It was so satisfying!

Edited September 7, 2021 by BecciBoo

[cynt]

9 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

 

9 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

 

 

 

9 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

 

 

9 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

 

 

8 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

My main pet peeves in life are line cutters, I would've just removed her stuff and slung it back on her other beds if I'd been the people preparing to get the last bed.  Would've also gone to the manager and come back with him!  She wouldn't have been able to do anything unless she was prepared for fisticuffs....Lonesome Dove: "I can't abide rudeness in a man/woman...won't tolerate it"  I would've said, "Pardon me but this bed is taken!"  I would've been filming the whole exchange with my phone, you can bet that.

 

7 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

My husband was close to all of the above — we did comment about it to a staff member and he just shrugged and could care less.  But we did get one, and the two beds on the other side of the bar actually have a better view,  the people we met got the one next to us (the one where the lady tried to throw something across the pool to claim it) and it was more enjoyable to not have to sit next to the other group.  It would have been hard to enjoy if we had to see them all day.  The staff also seemed to cater to this group — we passed anytime we needed to use the restroom and saw that they had been provided with pitchers of infused water and flower bouquets, which I didn’t anyone else provided with.  Not a biggie, we got great service from the crew but it was noticeable. We would have not had a problem not getting a bed in a normal, one per person distribution — but this was pure unadulterated selfishness on the part of this group.

Why don't I ever run into these rude people? I would have thrown all her crap on the ground and started tossing all my stuff on the beds. Especially after she ran off to toss stuff on the other side. And people I saw walking up, I would tell them have a bed Joe. Aaarrrgghh! I can't stand selfish entitled people. I enjoy ruffling their feathers. What is she going to say, I saved 3 beds. Her word against mine. 

 

I always do this in the theaters. No ma'am or sir. I arrived 45 minutes early just like you to get a good seat. You are not saving a whole row of prime seats in the Middle of the theater. Your family should be with you. I've had a ton of folks ticked. I don't give a hoot. I sit right on down with them hoofing and puffing. Trying to save 20 seats. Get out of here with that nonsense. 

 

And yep I give towels, shades, books, etc to pool attendants too. I'll give them 60 minutes to come back to their seat but then I'm taking the lounger. 

Edited September 7, 2021 by cynt

[exm]

8 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

On a side not of sorts —when the new masking protocol was announced and people were given wrist bands to wear designating vaccinated status, a lot of us were confused.  Only 11 and under were unvaccinated, and can’t go to bars, so why the need for vaccinated only bar venues???

 

Late in the second cruise, we found out, from more than one crew member, that some unvaccinated adults were on board for that short window of roughly the sailings from the 14th to the 28th.  Probably would have been the last few weeks as well, but the Bahamas changed their requirements, so as of the current sailing, it’s back to all vaccinated 12 and older. 

 

Of course, during our cruises, none of us were really paying any attention to the wrist bands, and no one was paying attention to whether you had one or not when entering a venue.  So this is my one real disappointment with Royal as far as this cruise goes.  I don’t like that we didn’t know from day one, because it potentially impacted our behavior and safety.  We do know that someone tested positive on board — no idea if follow up testing with a PCR test confirmed it or not, but people we met were quarantined (and happily followed up with negative PCR).  The rumor mill says a crew member - but no confirmation one way or the other.  So the lesson learned is to proceed with caution  and engage in a level of masking and social distancing that suits you, regardless of whether you think everyone is vaccinated.  We will be doing at home Binax tests tomorrow afternoon

I thought in Adventure out of Nassau everyone 12 and up had to be vaccinated. Interesting.

 

I appreciate your updates, what a special time to cruise.

[Jerseygirl1416]

5 hours ago, exm said:

I thought in Adventure out of Nassau everyone 12 and up had to be vaccinated. Interesting.

 

I appreciate your updates, what a special time to cruise.

I followed your posts here and just have a question for you about the Margaritaville day pass in Nassau. Did you get this information from the resort because on their website they state that they don’t sell day passes? Any other details about where to buy because with the Melia closed for renovations I’d love to use this option. Thanks for all the information and pictures you shared😊

[BecciBoo]

 

From this picture it doesn't even look like they used the beds!  

[exm]

3 hours ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

I followed your posts here and just have a question for you about the Margaritaville day pass in Nassau. Did you get this information from the resort because on their website they state that they don’t sell day passes? Any other details about where to buy because with the Melia closed for renovations I’d love to use this option. Thanks for all the information and pictures you shared😊

 

I asked at the resort, and there were also a few locals on a day pass. You can email Kessa to confirm:

Kessa Minnis - Kessa.Minnis@margaritavilleresortnassau.com

[3kidsncats]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

 

From this picture it doesn't even look like they used the beds!  

 

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

 

 

They were in the pool a lot, and may have been at lunch when i took this.  The two times I walked past, they were mostly empty.  

 

One thing I will say is that imo, the pool area needs more loungers.  A lot of that section is over flow dining tables or a few couch arrangements.  No one sits in the white water loungers as they are uncomfortable.  Not sure how they could adjust it, but it’s part of the problem for those that prefer a no sand day.

Edited September 7, 2021 by 3kidsncats