Family Cruise Day 1

We woke up bright and early. Which turned out okay because despite being here only one night, I had gotten really scattered. We headed down for the “Made to Order” complimentary breakfast.

Well, it was just made to order omelets. Which were totally yummy. I have been studying Spanish for almost two months so  I said “Gracias” to the lady and she replied “De nada”. I would have liked to order more of the ingredients in Spanish, but I only knew cheese, meat (which is too general) and chicken, which they didn’t have. Here and there I can pick up words I recognize but my vocabulary is still quite limited. Unless I need to tell Raphael his new pants are too big LOL.  There was also a hot buffet.

We went for the 10:30 shuttle, which was $10/per person and quite full. It had been scattered rain showers since we got up. Apparently while we were having a monsoon on our (tiny) balcony,

the girls had sun. On the trip over to the port, it was all sorts of different weather. I’m not sure I like cruising in September.

Megan was sitting with Grandma on the shuttle and they were too far away for me to hear what they were saying. I wanted to see what Grandma thought of the ships. As mentioned in an earlier post, Mom had watched a video about this ship and I was worried she'd be disappointed when she saw this was what we were going on. As you approach the pier, you pass all the other (smaller) ships and it’s hard to see the actual size difference from partial views from the bus. However, talking to Mom later, she apparently missed all the other ships ("we go through a tunnel and there's the ship--looking so huge!"). 

We unloaded and Mom was beaming. So adorable. The check in really was smooth and easy using the Royal Caribbean app (Port of Miami free wifi). Much different than other check ins. We got there at about 10:50 (and hit the jogging track at 11:19). Then we hit security. We had to to empty our waterbottles, which we had just filled up with ice and water at the hotel. I had a heating pad (with docter’s note) in my bag, and I worried that the cord looked like an extension cord.  My bag went through, but Megan’s backpack was pulled over. The girl opened it and was like “What?! Figure skates?” She had to phone her supervisor. Apparently, in all the time she’s been working, no one has ever brought skates on board!

Once past that hurdle, it was smooth sailing! We got on board and let Mom take in the Royal Promenade for a minute. Then we basically headed to Central Park to go to Park Café for lunch. We weren’t all that hungry yet but wanted to get it done before it got crowded. We had made to order salads, and I think Rob had a roast beef sandwich.  On the Allure, they had been "Hand tossed salads". Not now. There seemed to be fewer ingredients and they were just put in a bowl. 

Then we headed out to tour around the ship, we went through the Solarium and got our first drinks. At some point we stopped at the dining room and discovered we were placed at two different tables. He instructed us to go down to a different level to get it changed. We did, and lickety split, it was fixed! Rob commented how quick that was. I think because of “My Time” dining, there is a lot more flexibility in the dining room for those getting the set time. 

It wasn’t too long until they announced the rooms were ready.

We headed up to our cabin first, 11545. Just a basic inside cabin. When we got there, a woman was just finishing up vacuuming.  She didn't say anything to us. We went in, and boy, it was squishy with 5 people! I don’t know what Mom was thinking, but it was my plan to show her our cabin first. We explored the cabin and bathroom, and I took all my stuff out of the checked suitcase so the girls could take it to their cabin. We headed out to see their’s.

Although we are both on the starboard side, we are as forward as you can go. And the girls’ cabin is about as aft as you can go! It’s a long walk! I timed it one day, and including the wait for the elevator, it was five minutes to go from one cabin to the other. As we walked, she could briefly see into some cabins—insides and balconies. Being her first time on any ship, I knew she wasn't really registering what she was seeing, or that her door was on the side of the hall that would have balconies. 

We got there, and let grandma try unlocking the door. She walked in, and noticed right off it was brighter. She saw the window and said “Oh, we have a room with a view!” Then she walked over and noticed the balcony! She was so excited “A balcony! That’s so sweet of you! How lovely!” She was really happy! We hung out for a bit then they got their swimsuits on and we went up to get a quick swim before the muster drill.

The first pool we came to was the Beach pool. She was really enjoying that! Then she wanted a fresh water pool and Rob and the girls were at a different pool so we headed over. OMG. The deck on that side was so incredibly hot. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that on a cruise before. The blue part wasn’t bad but the “wood” parts were scorching. We just managed to get in the water and they announced the pools were closing for the muster drill. We took a slightly shorter sprint back to the chairs, trying to find a pathway that was already wet. I never thought to use my new swim shoes on the pool deck, but I’m packing them from now on! However, I did find later that while they helped, they did eventually feel hot too.

We took the girls back to their room, with instructions that we would meet them at the dining room for dinner. We went to our room for a few minutes and then to the muster drill. Our station was in the theater. Many decks down. It wasn’t too long.  We saw the same video we had seen the last cruise, I think, which was Celebrity. 

Captain Rob came on the video...wow, he was pretty chill. American, but no life!

We decided when we came out that rather than climb back up 8 floors (the elevators are packed) that we’d walk down to the girls room since it was 2 floors up....and all the way down the length of the ship. They were already there. Their station was the dining room, one floor below them. So we stayed to watch the sail away from the balcony. Before that though, Rob took the girls to Sorrentos to get our first pizza. Just as good as before!

We were on the starboard side which was against the dock. We could watch the side thrusters and the police boat—who turned on the siren and waved (who knows if it was for us, but we were on the first deck with balconies). You don’t get to see a whole lot, but it was nice for grandma to be out of the hustle and bustle for a bit. It would have been nice though to sail past the other ships in port. Just for comparison from balcony height. You can see plenty of other Miami pictures here and here. Also from the last days of those cruises.

Then it was pretty much time to go for dinner. Since we were closer to the dining room than our cabin, we just headed straight there.

We had tables 360 and 361, pushed together and set for six. We had a view of the windows, but were up against the multi deck opening, so there was a lot of noise. Our assistant waiter was Dobrovoj (Dough-bro-yo). Immediately we nicknamed him Dough Boy (he brought the bread baskets). He was from Bosnia and this was his first contract on a ship ever. The waiter was Andrew from India. He was going home at the end of the week.

 I had the Antipasti, Crab Cake,  Prime Rib, and Key Lime Pie. I think all of us had prime rib. And we all wanted it medium, to medium-rare.

 The little garlic toasts were so good. I don't have a picture of the crab cake. It was really good!

When Andrew brought our prime ribs, he joked as he put each down...fish for you...pork chop for you...I never really paid attention to prime rib until our cruise two years ago on Celebrity. That was so good. This was also really, really good.

The Key Lime pie was very yummy. It didn't seem like meringue like on a lemon meringue pie. It was very smooth and sweet.
Mom had three glasses of wine, and got a little emotional during dinner. The empty seat, for some reason, was at the end of the table (the outer end), across from her. Prime Rib was one of dad's favourite meals. When she told Andrew why she was emotional, he was quite matter-of-fact. Anyone of us could be not here tomorrow. When she told Dobrivoj, he was much more comforting though he was probably a little confused LOL.

After dinner we walked around. One of the few sunsets I've gotten to see on a cruise!

 These were little chairs near the kids' water park area. Of course, when Rob stood up, the chair was stuck. We were killing ourselves laughing but didn't get a picture.

 Entrance to the dry slide, The Abyss. Not open. Not sure why activities are not open in the evening.

Prop at the mini golf, which is open as it's self directed and you don't need a waiver.

We had reservations for Hairspray. Pretty awesome! Megan wanted to sit down right at the front, so we had to go to the side section. I think it was a little close for that type of production. After that...I think we finally went back to our cabin after dropping off the girls. Might have gotten some pizza first LOL.