Denversail

I got the turkey dinner for my entree. I enjoyed it. I didn’t like the stuffing though.

Starters tonight are pan seared asparagus, tapas, seafood cake, and shrimp cocktail. I enjoyed all of them.

It was a great day. I did some shopping and just lounged around some of the bars and read my book. The weather was really nice. I had hoped to do some ship activities but boy the crowds were fierce. This is the first day that it felt crowded. Elevators were busy and really hot for some reason. People were everywhere. I’m not sure where they have all been hiding out all week. Just got to the MDR for dinner. This will be my last night in here for dinner. Next week will be all speciality restaurants. The plan is to pack right after dinner for my room change. I will probably spend an hour in the casino and then head to the pub.

Mango daiquiri

Let’s talk about my room steward Shawn for a second. I think I previously mentioned that when I met him I told him to fit in my room during the shift he has the most time. Outside of passing pleasantries I’ve only had two other interactions with him. 1. Laundry. I wanted to get laundry done two days ago. I found him the night before and let him know. He gave me the bag and I asked if I could just leave by the door inside my room in the morning for him to pop in and grab. He said I will need to find him and give him the bag. Okay, I can do that. Now the next morning when I found him he asked for the form. Well Shawn you only gave me a bag. So I then had to go back to my room and dump out the bag to list everything on the form. This was a little stressful since I had an early excursion. I managed and all was well and took the bag again to Shawn. 2. Cabin move. This is where i get irritated and am not so quick to give a pass. I received my instructions for tomorrow and it stated that my steward would assist me with my cabin move. So I find Shawn this morning and ask him what time he wants to move my things. I get a “well if you really need my assistance”. To the point where I’m like if you can leave me a cart in the morning I can roll it to my new room. He responded, “I don’t use a cart I just grab everything and carry it over.” He then stated I’ll need to find him again and if I want his help it needs to be before 10 am. He just really left me feeling like I was inconveniencing him. I have no complaints about how he serviced my room but I am disappointed that the two times I needed something additional he didn’t want to be bothered.

Entree was another attempt at salmon. This one wasn’t as overcooked as the last. the captain made his afternoon announcement that weather looks good for going back to Miami. We should dock around 3:30 am.

I started with the cheese plate and wedge salad. This one did have blue cheese on it.

After breakfast I sat down to read for a little bit and promptly fell asleep again. So now it is early afternoon and I decided to try the MDR brunch since I won’t get a chance next week. What is brunch without a mimosa?

So I was awake earlier and around 7 am I decided to check out park cafe for breakfast. I was not really a fan and ended up just grabbing a couple cups of fruit.

It is early afternoon on our last day of week 1. This has been such an enjoyable week. It just flew by so I’m happy to have another week. Today is a sea day and although I slept the morning away I’m anxious to enjoy some of the activities. I spent most of the day on the ship yesterday but the activities were limited due to it being a port day. I checked out the dance club last night. They were having it in studio b and the dance floor was packed. I was shocked I knew the songs. My favorite so far has been the guy in the pub (I don’t know his name). He is really good and really gets the crowd going. I’ll be stopping there tonight again. Good times.

I also got the chicken Marsala which was decent.

So I already took the lobster out of the shell before the pic. I thought it was large and it was really tasty. I was confused that it came out with rice. I could have sworn the menu said it was served with a baked potato.

Dinner is being served and I’m ready for it tonight. First is the onion tart. I also had shrimp cocktail (served on lettuce for clarification from the pic the other day.).

maybe reading this will get you back on a cruise ship sometime in the next decade. 😁 It is a dry slide. You get in a bag that you steer. It is enclosed. It takes you from deck 15 down to deck 6. I will try it by the end of my trip. I think I’ll even get on the flow rider again before this trip is done. Hopefully no embarrassing video this time. 🤣

Chocolate martini. Dessert in a glass. I only got this because I’m starving. I tried stopping by the diamond lounge thinking I could get a snack. Even though they had appetizers out they had them roped off. My dinner time is in 20 minutes. I guess those apps are for folks with a later dinner time. 🤷‍♀️ Anyways the martini was super yummy.

Regarding the app… I noticed it never updated my calendar to my changed dinner reservations. I did really like that you could see the dining and bars that are currently open. This was really handy. I wish they would add in the ship activities like the slides, zipline, casino, etc. I’ve found it to be a pain trying to figure out when these are open.

Quick tip: if you are wanting to play pool and playmakers is busy just head to the music hall. It has a hidden pool table on the second level that 95% of the passengers don’t know about. I took the pool table one upside down. Oh well too lazy to go back 🙃

I was going to try the Abyss slide but chickened out when I saw him explaining how to control the mat. I’m sure I’ll find the liquid courage in the next week. I finally made it to sports area. Looks like fun. Flow riders were going. The bbq place looks good but it seems like they could have made the area smaller. El Loco Fresh seems smaller but a lot busier. I walked through around 1:30 and the line was long but when I came through again an hour later there was no wait. Random comments: Toilets: the only place I’ve noticed having problems in on deck 4. They’ve addressed it quickly each time. All the public restrooms I’ve been in have been clean except when I went into one of the single restrooms. I can’t remember the deck but it wasn’t clean. Crowds: I’ve stood in line at Sorrentos a few times. Even when it has been long I haven’t waited more than two minutes. I’ve walked directly to my table every night so no issues there. Like I said Loco Fresh seems popular and a line forms but I haven’t eaten there. I haven’t waited more than a minute or two for bar service all week. I don’t know the passenger count this week but it seems the same to me as any other cruise. I haven’t had issues getting elevators. Rude people: I’ve only encountered maybe 3 rude people the entire trip. The few times I’ve seen kids not displaying manners their parents have corrected them. The kids I’ve encountered by themselves have been very well behaved. Weed: I’ve only smelt it once. It was in the evening in the pool deck. I haven’t typically been out there in the evenings so not sure if this was repeated nightly.

Bahama Papa. It is some kind of banana drink.

I’m a little burnt out on the pizza so I decided to head to the boardwalk and try the doghouse. I got the bratwurst which was good. They need to work on the buns. A few other random pics of the ship.

Got off the ship for a little bit to look around the port area. Tons of stuff to do right off the ship. They have a pool area, massages, bars, tons of shops. It is really hoppin. Fun for families and/or folks that want to party. it is pretty hot out there.they do have a tram running to take you to the end of the pier. I did chat with a guy that is on the Dawn. He said the ship, food, and crew are horrible. Yikes 😮

So I said steps but obviously I walked more than 1,000 steps. I meant my move circle. I just woke up and my brain is still groggy. 🤪

Good morning from Costa Maya, how are already at day 6? It seems like I blinked and this weeks cruise is almost over. Last night was a really late night and a losing one. Still way below budget so nothing to cry about. I had a lot of fun losing my money. The dealers on this ship know how to have a good time. I lasted longer than my Apple Watch. After 22 hours and over 1,000 steps she puttered out. Not sure I’ve ever outlasted my watch in one day or logged that many steps. Today’s plan is to mostly stay on the ship. I do plan to get off the ship and do some shopping. I might also get something to eat on the pier. I’ll be taking a lot of pictures of the port area which I plan to post today. Norwegian Dawn is showing off her ass.

Good. Really good.

Oh my that was all tasty. Definitely will be going back. I don’t hear it talked about so assumed it was expensive but it wasn’t. I got enough appetizers to feed 6 people. It was $21 before I tipped extra for being annoying and wasting all that food.