GenerationX

Friends I am beginning to think that there is a third certainty in life and it is American Airlines flight complications. Just as our bus pulled up to LAX I received the dreaded notification that our flight home has been pushed out nearly 2 hours to a 7:30pm departure which won’t land us in STL until 1am. Luckily tomorrow isn’t a school day so Gen Z will be able to catch up on sleep (and since our bodies are on LA time it won’t feel like she’s up very much later than she’s been partying in camp at sea the past couple of nights). I know many don’t see the value in an admirals club membership but to me it’s priceless especially in situations like this and especially when traveling with a child. The thought of trying to kill 4 hours hanging out in the bustle, uncomfortable seats and expensive restaurants of the LAX terminal with a semi-exhausted kid sends shivers up my spine. This is my first time in the Terminal 4 admirals club and while it’s on the smaller side, I like it. Lots of open windows, a quiet area (where we’ve set up camp) and a few more menu options than some of the other clubs. Gen Z is having a second late lunch and relaxing with the iPad while I do some catch up posting. This morning after a final breakfast in Luminae and delivery of Gen Z’s custom made thank you envelopes (I think this is my first cruise where I didn’t see our cabin steward or our butler the last morning, so we just left theirs in the room), we said goodbye to her cruise bestie who gave her a goodbye gift from the ship’s gift shop of a bracelet that lets her track a real shark in the wild. Her mom and I connected on FB and Insta so that we could swap addresses and the girls can become penpals. I know, sweetness overload. Then we headed to the celebrity theater to meet our group for our post cruise excursion. The terminal was using facial recognition so customs was lightening fast at 8:30am with very little line for US passport travelers. After getting our bags and clearing customs we were lead out to the coach for our excursion: the Beverly Hills, Malibu and Santa Monica sight seeing bus tour. The bus looked brand new and spotless and had full seatbelts and phone charging ports at each seat. I’m not sure who got a bigger thrill out of Beverly Hills, Gen Z or me. Our bus parked near a park with public restrooms and we had 45 minutes to explore Rodeo Drive on our own. Remember my whole philosophical musing at the beginning of the review about cruising > things? Well, I had to remind myself of that during our entire walk. I swear the Dior is even more beautiful glistening in the California sunlight. It’s a really good thing we only had 45 minutes and that I have final payment for our July cruise and Jeremy and I’s Rome flights to book next month. I could have done serious damage to our financial future. As it was, all I purchased was a popsicle for Gen Z at an ice cream truck outside of Gucci (and even that cost $7, welcome to Beverly Hills, folks). After Beverly Hills we took a drive up and down the pacific coast highway while our awesome tour guide Jon played beach boys music and told us about the history of the LA area and its different neighborhoods and cultures. He even sprinkled in some fun Hollywood gossip like pointing out the church where Elizabeth Taylor had her 7th wedding and the bar and grill where Mel Gibson had several too many before making an absolute disgrace of himself to the LAPD and the world. The visibility was so good we could even see Catalina Island and the site of our much less enjoyable excursion a few days before. In Santa Monica we had an hour and a half to either go to the amusement park on the pier or check out the shopping district. It looked like the pier was shoulder to shoulder crowds of people so Gen Z and I browsed in Nordstrom and went to a few souvenir shops in the shopping district then grabbed some very good NYC style pizza at a little hole in the wall by the slice shop that our guide recommended. Everyone in our group got back to the bus a few minutes early so our guide and driver threw in a quick drive through Venice Beach to show us the murals, canals and the famous Muscle Beach. When we got to the airport the bus made stops to drop off at each terminal and we arrived at the AA check in desk a little after 2pm. I was very happy with the excursion for the price I paid (especially since when we left the ship Uber was showing surge pricing to LAX of almost $100 pre-tip. This excursion wasn’t much more than that (free for me as I booked it with OBC) and it definitely beat spending all morning in the airport (and what I now know would’ve been an even longer day killing time here). I’m going to go grab another cocktail then will start working on my reports on our last night onboard and final thoughts on the cruise.

Current Situation: Gen Z is having her last kids club hurrah and I’m having my last martini bar social. While sitting here I was messaging with Jeremy about plans to pick us up from the airport tomorrow and just how salty I am about another great cruise coming to an end. He was quick to remind me that his sympathy for me is very slightly north of zero because 2 weeks after he picks me up from the STL airport he’ll be dropping me off there again to sail solo on Beyond. I was prepping my thumbs to rapidly type a text back accusing him of being dramatic till I actually looked at my calendar. Yep, I will literally be turning around and flying out for my next celebrity cruise precisely 2 weeks from tomorrow. What can I say? My personal motto is “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing” and Metaverse cruising ain’t gonna do it for me.

I will ALWAYS drink martinis at 11pm for the sake of the children. That’s just the kind of compassionate person that I am. 😂 I have that documentary in my prime queue and have been debating whether to watch it before we sail. I feel like it’s either going to make me very excited or terrified about our Seascape cruise.

Quick Update: If you see me on a cruise ship with a cosmo in my hand and I’m NOT smiling, it’s probably because tomorrow is disembarkation day. Just a heads up for those sailing this itinerary soon, when I went to the ATM after lunch to pull some extra tipping funds, neither the casino nor guest services one was working. When I reported it to guest relations, the gentleman behind the counter said that the satellite link is down and that “this often happens on our sail back to California” and there’s nothing to be done but see if/when it comes back online. Fortunately I keep some emergency cash in the safe so worst case if it’s not working by tomorrow morning, I can use that for additional gratuities envelopes, but will be sad not to be able to be as generous as I’d like to be. For those sailing soon who usually give extra tips, as much as I prefer not to have large sums of additional cash around for any significant period of time, you may want to hit the ATM while the ship is in its last port and then keep the money in your safe rather than waiting until the last day sail back to LA. Gen Z is having one last row at camp at sea with her friend group (some of them won’t be in the evening session goodbye party due to early disembark and flights tomorrow) and since I’m holding off a little on envelope stuffing in hopes of an evening ATM resurrection, I’m using the time to do some of our packing while there’s only one salty woman in the room souring the mood. Our hot glass appointment got moved to 5:20pm so once I get a couple of suitcases tackled, I’ll go get another resentment martini and maybe burn a little bit of OBC on a slot machine till it’s time to pick her up.

Good morning from the solarium. Well kids, we’re not in Cabo anymore. The temperature on the pool deck is about 59 degrees and windy. The pool attendants seem to be expecting a busy day in here because chair saving prevention is in full effect. There are also pool servers providing drink service which is nice. I remember on our Alaska cruise having to jump out of my nice warm solarium hot tub and brace myself against the glacier breezes to go stand out at the pool bar to get a drink. Picking up where we left off yesterday, after a great lunch at Sushi on 5 (as you can see, Mini Me is over me taking photos of all her food 😂), Gen Z and I went back to the cabin for some family puzzle time then napped until it was time to dress for chic night dinner. Gen Z had her usual shrimp cocktail and salmon from the MDR. I went with the Luminae menu and had the kale soup, then both the lobster and scallop entrees. For dessert we split the baked Alaska. The portion sizes on the soup and dessert were like double what they were in Luminae on Apex but the lobster and scallops were much smaller. I couldn’t help but think of those massive delicious scallops I was given on the side of my veal my first night on MSC Divina (sorry, Jeremy had told me I really need to stop with the MSC comparisons). Anyway, despite the smaller sizes, both were cooked well. After dinner Gen Z was conflicted between the magician show and going to a pajama party at kids club with her friends. She decided to go PJ party and see the matinee magician show after lunch today. Gen Z’s cruise bestie’s parents and I decided to let the girls stay at kids club late while we got some martinis together. Complimentary kids club hours end at 10pm but if you let the staff know in the morning, they offer extended hours till as late as 1am for an extra charge of $6 an hour. Total charge for an hour and a half of extra martini time: $9. I charged more than that when I was babysitting as a teenager. When we got back to our room, the bad news was on our bed. Gen Z took it even harder than Jeremy did on Apex. Sharing the disembark and future cruise offer info for anyone interested: As I suspected, Gen Z decided that she wants to do Tuscan Grille again for dinner tonight. Folks who were on Solstice recently and dined there, please feel free to share recommendations! Since my go to’s were a bit of a dud last time I think I’ll use tonight to try some new things. Agenda for the rest of the day: -A little more indoor pool and mimosa time (perhaps while making some dining reservations for my Beyond cruise next month, don’t judge me) -Shower, dress and hit the atm and guest services for thank you envelope supplies -Lunch in Luminae -Mommy and Me Hot Glass Class -Matinee Magician Show -Packing and Sulking before one last dinner and show at sea.

My dad always says the only thing worse than a liar is a bad liar. 🤣

Currently in a Celebrity Suite on Solstice and we have 2 tubes of lip balm in our bathroom. We also had them in a sky suite on Apex last month.

Checking in from our rocky sea day afternoon on Solstice. I’m glad I got meds in my system because it seems we’re getting more motion on our way north. Up on deck 10!in our stateroom the ship is groaning and creaking pretty loudly with the rocking. I’m so glad Gen Z has a solid stomach. Being on the top deck and all the way forward the kids and teens club areas get the worst of the movement. I questioned the decision on E class to put the kids and teens clubs on the lowest decks with minimal windows, but maybe there was method to the madness after all. Gen Z got invited to play Minecraft in kids club with her friends this afternoon, so I’m in Al Bacio enjoying a French Kiss coffee cocktail and writing about our evening last night. Last night’s dinner was at Tuscan Grille. I’ve always thought TG is kind of a “spotty” specialty restaurant on Celebrity. Some ships the food has been outstanding, others just ok, a few occasions flat out disappointing. Granted it was several years ago, but I remember when Jeremy and I did our Alaska honeymoon cruise on Solstice it was one of our best Tuscan experiences. This time, while the service was just as excellent, the food, or at least some of my favorite items, had definitely slipped. Our calamari starter wasn’t breaded well and it was like chewing rubber. The Caesar salad that I had at lunch from room service was actually a bit better than the one I got in Tuscan. My ribeye was very flavorful and properly cooked and I devoured most of it, but it was back to those skinny breakfast steak style thin ribeyes that I remember having in some of the M class Tuscans. The meatballs and sauce on the spaghetti side that I ordered were very good, but the pasta was undercooked so I just focused on eating the meat and sauce. I spent a little of that OBC we have to get a bottle of one of my favorite amarone’s. The last two cruises I’ve done it was sold out onboard. The sommelier told me I got one of only 3 bottles left on the ship this cruise. Things seemed to go far better food wise on Gen Z’s side of the table though. In fact I didn’t even get a picture of her bronzino entree because she devoured it in record time with literally only a sliver of rosemary left on her plate. Gen Z was given both the regular and kids Tuscan menu (pic below as I don’t think it shows in the app) and was free to order from either even though we paid the much lower kids price for the restaurant cover charge. For dessert I had a slice of the lemoncello cheesecake which was thankfully as heavenly as always and Gen Z had a scoop of vanilla gelato which the chef was nice enough to garnish with white chocolate shavings for her. I would love to tell you how it was but I was not permitted a bite. Earlier in the cruise I heard someone talking about how good the veal was at Tuscan this cruise and I’ve never had it before so we may give Tuscan one more try. We’re still burning OBC so I told her we could do a specialty restaurant of her choice (other than LPC) for dinner tomorrow night. Given how much she enjoyed that fish I have a feeling she may pick Tuscan. After dinner, we were supposed to go to the ship’s production show together, but I was once again ditched. This time, my competition was Camp at Sea’s Campout Party, which is usually held on the lawn club but due to our weather was held in the sky conference center. The kids didn’t seem to mind because the staff still set up the tents and faux campfire and s’mores, music and games seemed to be in abundance. Gen Z won a couple of the games and got a Celebrity t-shirt and Camp at Sea seapass card lanyard as prizes. After dropping Gen Z off I headed to the show solo. Upon sitting down a server promptly arrived to offer me a drink to enjoy during the show. The show was Amade and description as a “tribute to Mozart”. Per standard, plot = zero and avant-garde was the order of the day for costumes. I’d say maybe 50% of the music was actually Mozart and the rest was more current popular songs, but I think where they were going with it is a showcase of the themes in music and dance that have continued for hundreds of years and how elements of the classics can be found even in modern work. The singers, dancers and acrobats all did an excellent job. On my way out of the theater, two kids I’d never seen before in my life came up to me and said “hey miss you’re [Gen Z]’s mom right? Are you going to pick her from Camp? Is she coming to the white party????” Now I know how poor Jeremy feels on our cruises. After I picked her up, Gen Z and I did in fact hit the very well attended white party (which was also moved from the pool deck to the grand foyer due to weather) and nearly shut it down.

Oh CC, it’s been a rough morning on Solstice. Literally and figuratively. For Mini Me, the struggle was getting out of bed in time for breakfast due to being up till almost midnight on the dance floor with me at the White Party last night. For me, the struggle is due to a weather front that has us facing white caps and swells. I knew I should have done preemptive Dramamine last night. Poor Gen Z (who fortunately has a sea stomach solid as Gibraltar) has never seen me sea sick and was very concerned. She actually suggested skipping kids club this morning to take care of me. 😭 I assured her I’d be just fine once my meds kicked in. I’m currently nursing a Sprite on a low deck midship watching passengers in far better shape enjoy a cha-cha dance class in the grand foyer. Given my current state, it seems like an appropriate time to revisit the only other rough experience in the cruise thus far: our Bison Expedition excursion in Catalina. On a different day, in different weather, this excursion probably would have been an amazing experience. As it was, Celebrity probably should’ve cancelled it from the get go. When we boarded the hummer for the tour, our guide told us he would be going “kind of fast” and that there would be no stops for photo opps because “Celebrity told us the weather forecast changed and we have to try and get you through the tour before the storm gets too bad”. The first 15-20 minutes of the 2 hour tour was actually pretty fun as we wound our way up into the beautiful mountains of Catalina and got some great views of Solstice. Our guide/driver was also very nice and entertaining and shared lots of good info about Catalina and the history of the bison on the island. Gen Z’s cruise bestie and her older brother were also on our jeep with their grandmother and the girls got to sit together. The thing with animal viewing expeditions is that these are wild animals with their own minds and schedules and it’s never guaranteed you’ll see them and I was prepared for that possibility. However, there could have been 500 head of bison lining the hillsides shoulder to shoulder and we would never have seen them because a half hour into the tour, a massive rain storm settled over the mountain (at that altitude we were literally in the middle of the rain cloud) and visibility was so poor I could barely make out Gen Z and her friend at the other end of the jeep bench. The temperature also dropped rapidly to a point where I could see the breath coming out of my mouth. As the rain picked up and our driver sped up to get us out of the weather, being on that open air jeep the rain felt like being pelted nonstop with ice marbles. I’d packed light rain coats for Gen Z and I, and our guide handed out blankets to wrap up in, but with the volume of wind and rain, we all were completely soaked through within minutes. When we reached the top of the mountain we stopped at a cool little airport and bar where we got to go inside and warm up for 10 minutes (and where we did see one bison and one other very adorable form of “wildlife” lol). I desperately searched the gift shop for ponchos but they were sold out. Finally one of our fellow excursion guests came up with the idea to ask the bar staff for trash bags we could all put over ourselves to use as ponchos for the hour drive back down the mountain in pouring rain and thunder. I was praying on the way down that our driver knew those narrow winding roads really well (he did, he’d been driving them for 10 years) because again there was no visibility. We did manage to see one tiny fox go running across the road right in front of us and fortunately the kids on the tour seemed to take the whole thing as a funny adventure. The adults however, were less amused. There was a family of 6 on the tour with us and I could tell when we finished that the dad was furious. He was talking loudly about how Celebrity clearly must’ve known how bad the weather would get but decided to try and rush us through the tour rather than cancel and have to give refunds. When our tender got back to the ship, I saw him marching his entire soaked and trash bag adorned family with him over to guest services to demand a refund (at over $150 per person I guess they’d spent serious money on that tour). All I cared about at that point was getting Gen Z and I hot beverages and into warm dry clothes and wasn’t going to wait in line to complain about anything, especially weather. We went straight to our suite where our savior Ronald brought us hot chocolate and tea. By dinner that evening I noticed that our onboard account balance had jumped over $300 to the negative, so I guess whatever angry dad said to guest services was convincing enough that they just refunded everyone on the tour. I would love to do Catalina island and even this tour again sometime when the weather is better. I don’t see any sailings for this itinerary in 2024 on Celebrity though. In better news, as I’ve been writing this I’m feeling my Dramamine really kick in! I’m going to go get myself a green tea to further settle my stomach and counteract the drowsiness from the meds then will pick Gen Z up from the ping pong tournament at camp and we’ll head to lunch at sushi on 5. Turned out to be a perfect day for it, that miso soup at sushi on 5 is a miracle drug for sea sickness (and hangovers too btw). Sharing the few Catalina pics I managed to get before I had to shelter my phone from the elements.

I agree about this LPC show. The cooking competition is my favorite. I was also disappointed that they’re now only doing one show/menu for the entire cruise. They used to do one show for the first half then switch to another for the second half. I’d go again if I could see a different show but don’t need to do the same one twice. I also agree about the size of the CS bathroom. I could swear it was much bigger in our CS on Millennium. I thought maybe it was just feeling small because I was spoiled by the royal suite bathroom on Silhouette.

Quick update from Solstice: Life on Solstice just keeps getting better for Mini Me. She found a cruise duck today! According to the tag, he was found on Carnival Vista last November then brought on Solstice this week. Gen Z wants to keep his travels and cruise line jumping going by hiding him on MSC Seascape during our cruise in July. Guess I better get on designing a tag and hashtag when we get home!

Ah just another afternoon in paradise…when I picked Gen Z up from kids club she asked if we could have room service lunch on the veranda and watch for whales. I’ve never really eaten much from the room service menu outside of breakfast and late night hours. Ronald was on break but another butler brought everything within a half hour and set it all up on the veranda for us. The Caesar salad and pasta primavera were pretty decent once I added a little salt and pepper. After lunch we made a quick trip into port for some souvenirs. When we pulled in port yesterday and I saw 2 other ships in I knew that wasn’t the time to get the best shopping prices. Especially looking for kid items for Gen Z with a Disney ship around. Far better leverage to wait to haggle the second day a couple of hours before last tender back, and pick a shop where I could get multiple things we were looking for to negotiate volume discounts. For other parents following, when shopping in Mexico for kids items I usually try to leave Gen Z with my mom or Jeremy. The vendors often up their prices significantly if you have a kid with you and they know you’re buying for them. They bank on you not wanting to disappoint your kid by walking away empty handed. This trip taking Gen Z along was unavoidable so I briefed her appropriately before we left about how negotiations work in Mexico and reminded her about “poker face”. No acting super excited over anything she saw and liked or begging. When she saw the souvenirs she really really wanted she was just to point and very casually and calmly say the code sentence: “hey mommy would this be good to bring back for Bailey/Johnny?” (Bailey is our chihuahua mix and Johnny Cash is our Labrador Retriever, not that the vendors need to know that.) Then move on to looking at something else disinterestedly while I inquired about and engaged in price negotiations in Spanish. Worked like a charm. We got two hand made stuffed animals (initially quoted a price of $35 each), matching t-shirts (initially quoted at $20 each) and a very nice chrome, engraved key chain shaped like a whale with blue and silver crystals embedded in it (initially quoted at $12) for her travel key chain collection all for $45 total. When we got back to the ship, Gen Z had a voicemail on our phone from her girlfriends asking to meet up at camp at sea for charades at 3pm. Because there are less kids today (with families in port) the 10-12 group is in the the X Club teens. I was a little nervous about that but Gen Z was so excited to hang out in the “teen room” and the counselor assured me the handful of 10-12 year olds would be closely supervised and not actively doing group activities with the older teens. A copy of the activity schedule below for anyone interested. While my little social butterfly does her thing I’m by the pool again. I figured while in Mexico I’d best have a margarita and Robert my server suggested I try one with a brown cane sugar rim instead of salt. When I decided to take him up on the offer I saw him going running off the pool deck. The man went to an entire other bar to get the sugar to make my margarita. While I’m waiting for him to bring round 2, about dinner in Le Petit Chef last night: Because of the overnight in port there was only one seating at 8:30. After her day Gen Z was pretty tired by that point but adamant that she didn’t want to miss this dinner she’d been looking forward to. It was the same dinner/menu that Jeremy and I did on Summit in Bermuda but Gen Z had never done it before. This was also the first time I learned that, in addition to the main show menu and alternate menu, for the less food adventurous kids they can also do kids menu courses of chicken nuggets, Mac n cheese and a Kobe beef burger. I did the straight show menu and Gen Z had the chicken nugget starter but then the poached shrimp from the main menu and bronzino alternate entree. For dessert we both got the strawberry cake from the main menu then our server also brought us the chocolate alternate dessert to try. She didn’t care for the sweet sauce on the poached shrimp (I rather liked it) but other than that cleaned her plate for every course. I didn’t even get to try a bite of that great looking bronzino for review purposes! I never thought Gen Z would take strawberries over chocolate but she ended up liking that dessert much better and I tend to agree. The puff pastry was done properly unlike on Summit and it made all the difference. The short rib main course with wasabi mashed potatoes was just as tender and flavorful as it was on Summit. We were both full and exhausted after eating so we went straight back to the cabin after dinner and were in bed before 10pm. On the walk back Mini Me tried to convince me to eat dinner at LPC for the remainder of the cruise. Sorry kiddo, mom’s digestive system will definitely not tolerate her eating short rib nightly for 4 days straight. I’m going to enjoy my taste of the Mexican riviera for a bit longer then it’ll be time to drag Gen Z back out of kids club for sailaway and to get ready for tonight’s dinner in Tuscan Grille.

Thank you! I’ve been considering Edge to Alaska for next year. That Aqua class price is a great value. I’m currently on Solstice and not sure I want to wait for a Retreat appointment with future cruises on this one. I may throw some elbows and get right down there with my credit card after lunch.

Well now you’ve opened a can of worms…I just spent a little poolside time sniffing around Princess’s Alaska cruise prices for this summer (feeling like a creepy dude texting his mistress while sitting right next to his wife) and they look a fair bit more reasonable than Celebrity for the weeks I was interested in but were out of budget on Solstice…dare I try another new cruise line? Dare I broach the subject of adding yet another cruise to my calendar this summer with my office and my husband? Tabling further thought on this one till I’m not 3 mimosas deep!

Thank you! I’m going to order it today. It will be a nice surprise to cheer her up from post-cruise back to reality funk once we get home.

Thank you! Amazon and The Children’s Place have really good selections of Mommy and Me/Family matching outfits. For cocktail and formalwear, I use one of our local bridal and pageant dress shops that can order evening dresses in my size with matching fabrics in junior bridesmaids sizes/styles for Gen Z. The sales associates get very excited when they see us coming. 😂

Buenos Dias from beautiful Cabo San Lucas! This morning we slept in and had Ronald bring us a late breakfast on our veranda as we watched one of the tenders be brought back onto the ship. I noticed last night that Gen Z was running extremely low on a few clean essential laundry items so I gave Ronald the items this morning for rush service (return by tomorrow morning at latest) at a 50% rush charge. It’s going to cost over $50 for what’s maybe a quarter of a load of kids laundry, but we still have over $400 in OBC to spend thanks to the refund for our Catalina excursion fiasco (I know I still owe that story). I have a bag of laundry free as an elite perk but was told the turn around time for that is now 2 days, and I wasn’t going to have Gen Z running around in dirty shorts for that long. I’ll likely put in my free bag this evening to lighten the load on my post-cruise laundry when we get home. I also used my complimentary pressing Elite perk on the first day of cruise to have my less suitcase friendly evening dress for second chic night pressed. To give a sense of timing I gave it to Ronald on the afternoon of embarkation day and got it back late morning on day 3. Gen Z is at a model plane building class at Camp at Sea (apparently there IS something that can pull her away from whale watching) so I’m sipping a mimosa by the pool. While I’m chilling, about the rest of our Cabo day yesterday: We did the Luxury Whale Watching Tour booked through Celebrity. I think the tour can also be booked independently through Cabo Adventures for a lower price, but we got so much OBC with this cruise booking our excursions through Celebrity made more financially sense. We met in the theater and tendered over as a group with the other “speedboat” whale watching tour through the same company. I’d read that both tours book up quickly so I booked right after I booked the cruise in Fall. I heard that both were completely sold out by the first day of the cruise. I went back and forth between the two when deciding which to book and it seems like there are pros and cons to each. For the luxury tour, we were on a very nice two story catamaran with bathrooms, shaded areas and padded couch seating. The speedboat tour boats were essentially small outboard fishing boats with bench seating. Because it was essentially a small yacht we weren’t required to wear life jackets on our boat and were free to get up and move around. The group on the speedboats were seated shoulder to shoulder with life jackets on for the duration. I can’t recall if food or beverage were included in the speedboat, but our tour came with an open bar and after an hour or so of whale viewing the crew passed out bento boxes with a nice assortment of canapés. The fried shrimp was especially good. I think the whales were fans of our snacks too because while we were stopped so the crew could pass out the trays, out of nowhere, a humpback with a head the size of my Jeep Cherokee breached the water no more that 20 meters from our boat and crashed back into the ocean creating a wake that rocked that 2 story, 60 person capacity catamaran so hard that it threw Gen Z across her seat (giggling with delight) and scared the shrimp out of all of the adults! Our captain had to fire up the engine and back up quickly for our safety. I had to make a run to that (very clean) bathroom after that. I think a big pro to the speedboat tour is that the smaller boats are much faster and more maneuverable so when we’d see blowhole or breaching activity, they were able to get over to the whales much quicker than we were and I think they got better views. We still got to see several whales though (in addition to Moby Dick the happy hour canapé crasher). While we were snacking our guide also put a an underwater microphone into the ocean connected to a speaker on the boat and Gen Z was so excited to hear a few whales singing! Our tour also included a professional photographer who took picture of us and the whales and gave us an email address to write to to get the pictures. I sent my email requesting the photos this morning and will be sure to post the good ones when I get them. When we got back to port, we came face to face with the most massive line to get to the tender area I’ve ever seen. It went all the way to the back of the port area. Then I started to realize that I didn’t recognize any of the people in line. And, how can I say this nicely, their behavior seemed a bit more typical of a Cabo spring break crowd than what I’ve experienced so far on Solstice. After looking around a little I figured out that there were 3 separate (but not well marked) entry lines for the tender area for the 3 ships anchored. The massive line was people waiting to get on Norwegian Bliss. There was a tiny notebook paper sized sign next to a separate line entrance for tenders back to Solstice (with no wait whatsoever). When heading back to the ship when multiple ships are in port be sure to pay attention and look for these tiny signs. The port workers weren’t really paying attention to seapass cards or directing traffic to the right tender lines at all. I saw a family that was supposed to be boarding the Bliss almost head down to a tender to the Disney Wonder until they noticed all the families in matching mouse head t-shirts around them. I’m gonna take a dip in the pool and grab one more cocktail then will report on last night’s dinner.

Ok friends, I think my daughter just had the best morning of her life. After breakfast we went to the pool deck with Gen Z’s vacay bestie (whose mom has given the ok for me to post pics of her) and her parents. Within an hour the Cabo sun made it comfortable enough for me to get in the heated pool. Mercy, a very sweet pool server from Kenya brought the girls virgin Miami Vices and a good stiff adult one for me and checked on us regularly. About 11am cruise director Patrick started a poolside dance class that the girls got out of the pool to join which allowed me to take my eyes off Gen Z and look for some whales. It didn’t take long to spot one and I’ve never seen Gen Z ditch a Pitbull song so fast. Gen Z is OBSESSED with whales. In fact, “whale” was her first word. Mention a whale in front of her and prepare for a 20 minute monologue about different species, their migratory patterns, hunting strategies, diets, and on and on and on. She’s wanted to see a whale in the wild her whole short life. Not an easy feat to accomplish when you’re raised 5 hours by plane from the nearest ocean with a whale it. When she saw that humpback breach the water and leap backwards into a wave she literally cried tears of joy. The Disney Princesses could all have shown up on deck right then handing out free live ponies and my kid would not have moved from that rail. She was even more excited when I reminded her that this afternoon we’ll be going out on a catamaran to see them closer up. We grabbed a quick early lunch from the mast grill (because I had a better chance of winning six figures in the casino than I did of convincing Gen Z to turn her back on the ocean and go down to Luminae) then I had a work emergency pop up so we had to head back to the room so I could take care of it before our tour. Gen Z’s sulking ended quickly though because when we got to the room she saw that Ronald had left her a plate of chocolate chip cookies AND there was another whale swimming right off our balcony. I’m finishing up an email while Gen Z hangs out on the balcony with the binoculars plastered to her face. Some day, Gen Z will look at me with a face streaked with tears of teen angst and claim that I don’t really love/care about her. When she does, I will remind her of this trip.

Ah…now THIS is more like it. THIS is the weather I spent all that money to cruise in. As you can see this morning the clouds have opened and the temp has jumped into the low 70’s. I was awakened this morning by the sound of paper crumbling. It was my child wide awake and eating pillow chocolates at 7am. I was very confused by the volume of them that we got at turndown last night. Then Gen Z informed me that right before we left the cabin for dinner, she left our stateroom attendant “a note on the bed with just a small request” (which he left on the nightstand after fulfilling). This kid is something else. In other news from last night, Gen Z and I made a quick stop by the officers party in Michael’s Club. It was pretty packed and getting warm in there so we just had a quick chat with Mar the Retreat manager and our guest services manager and hotel director then went to Al Bacio to listen to live guitar in the foyer. Once Luminae opened we headed to dinner which was not crowded at all right at 6pm. We did a combo of ordering off of both the Luminae and MDR menus. Gen Z had her shrimp cocktail to start and then some broiled salmon and French fries. I had a Caesar salad and the lamb chops from the MDR and then we split the potato mezzaluna pasta from the Luminae menu. No disappointments! Service was very quick and since Gen Z wanted to skip dessert in favor of more lemon tarts from the Al Bacio dessert case, we were able to make the 7pm show in the theater. About Cheaza’s Whitney Houston tribute show…The first couple of songs I thought I wasn’t going to be very impressed by her singing but then her voice really warmed up and by the closing number (of course I Will Always Love You), Gen Z and I were thoroughly entertained. I remember a while back Celebrity had another Whitney cover performer, I think her name was Ashley Amber? Who I think did a bit better show. That said, I think it’s important to acknowledge that Ms. Cheaza’s voice is precisely 8,000,000% better than mine, so who am I to be critiquing her when my dogs start howling when I sing in the shower. After the show Gen Z begged for more camp at sea time for a robot obstacle course competition so I took her up and then I headed to MY camp at sea…the martini bar. While I was sitting and sipping, I had an epiphany. Brace for martini-fueled brilliance folks. Me thinks I’ve stumbled upon a better revenue generation idea for Celebrity than charging for extra lobster… What if, hear me out on this, what if, the technology for the emergency phone that camp at sea gives me could also be leveraged for profit. Specifically, what I’m thinking of is a martini concierge service. For an extra $500 per passenger plus 20% gratuity charge of course, and for a much higher price if you don’t already have the beverage package (I’m not accountant [90 Day fans check in] someone else do the math) upon embarkation you get issued one of these bat phones and at any time and from any location on the ship, you can call and order a martini off of the martini bar menu for immediate delivery, perhaps with some accompanying caviar and/or premium canapé menu. Regardless of the martini bar’s hours. Maybe the bartender who shows up with your order even arrives with the drink still in the shaker and does a little flare juggling/shaking before pouring in the glass for your VIP entertainment. By the pool after lunch and want a tropictini? Signed, sealed, delivered. Enjoying sea day lunch in Luminae or sitting at a slot machine at the casino and thinking “man I could go for a French 75 martini right now”? Done. Martini bar Doordash at sea. Take that Virgin Voyages. Y’all think you so cool, but do you have martinis on demand? You’re welcome, Ms. Luftoff-Perlow. Ok, sorry I digress. Anyway, today is a half sea day as we are scheduled to arrive in Cabo at noon. At the show last night they announced that because we’re docked in Cabo through tomorrow, tenders to port will run through the night, but between midnight and 6am they will only run one tender per hour. I think Gen Z and I will hit the pool after breakfast for some sun (finally) and to watch sail into Cabo. Then this afternoon we have a whale watching excursion planned. Tonight is the dinner Gen Z’s most been looking forward to: Le Petit Chef. Wish us luck on spotting some humpbacks today!

The first question I had for our stateroom attendant was whether we had to look after that plant and I was very relieved that the answer was no. I’m great in our garden but when it comes to house plants I have a toxic thumb!

Doing my best to inspire the next generation of full formal dressers for evening chic night… I even let her wear her first pair of proper kitten heels. 😍

Quick Update from Solstice: Thus far the casino on Solstice has not been my friend, but hey, if gambling were a solid way to get rich quick, every casino would be full 24/7. After an unsuccessful hunt for a generous slot machine I picked up Gen Z from kids club and we went to lunch at Luminae. The parsnip soup and veggie pancit were both very good. Gen Z ordered the grilled salmon with fries on the side and cleaned her plate. I felt like I needed some protein along with my pancit so I asked for a small piece of the grilled salmon on top. I guess “small” is a relative term for the kitchen. Gen Z was kind enough to finish the rest when I got full. After lunch we went back to the room for a little down time and reading then one of Gen Z’s new friends came over for a Lego play date while her parents are getting a couple’s massage at the spa. Somehow the girls were actually hungry again, so our butler Ronald brought a fruit bowl and kid friendly snacks. He also brought a glass of wine, shrimp and charcuterie for this supervising mama (blessings be upon Ronald, his tip envelope groweth). Also sharing some info that was in our room on Captain’s Club events (Gen Z’s classic status is reflected on her sea pass card and we received info for both her status and my Elite) and hours and events in the Retreat lounge. Soon we’ll start getting dressed for our first evening chic night, senior officer’s party in the retreat lounge, dinner in Luminae and the Whitney Houston tribute show.

So glad you’re enjoying the report. I don't know, I think the prices they’re charging in some of the shops come pretty darn close to piracy! 😆

I’m soon going to have a bone to pick with these Camp at Sea folks. I booked this cruise so I could spend some quality time with my kid. Apparently my kid is only interested in spending quality time at Camp at Sea! During breakfast our phone rang and once again it wasn’t for me. Apparently this morning they’re learning about whales and sea lions at Camp at Sea then having a ping pong tournament. How could I compete? So here I sit again just me and my green tea (and also an almond croissant…don’t judge me. Jeffry my server from yesterday saw me sit down and had one in front of me before I could say “good morning”). Another somewhat creepy moment from Solstice: As I was getting dressed this morning, Gen Z shouted from the living room “Mama! I think Santa came and gave us new furniture while we were sleeping!!!!” I figured she’d had too much hot chocolate at breakfast but when I looked where she was pointing outside sure enough…at some point between sunset yesterday and this morning, someone came and changed out all the furniture on our veranda. I mean I guess the table was starting to look pretty beat up, but the ninja-style swap out with no notice was a little weird. Sharing pics of the before and after below. Also sharing some other pics of our Celebrity Suite. Overall we’re happy with the room and how much space we have. It has the pros and cons of pre-Revolution S class. I really missed these Bvlgari toiletries, they’re so much nicer than the Bigelow stuff to me. On the flip side, there’s no outlets in the bedroom and it seems to be a wifi dead zone. Fortunately I packed my power bank so still have a means to charge my phone bedside. Well, I guess I’ll finish my tea now and figure out how to amuse myself till lunch. Maybe I’ll find myself a mimosa and go in search of a loose slot machine. There’s a vintage Louis Vuitton in the shops that costs about 3 nights in a very nice hotel in Rome (and thus I can only afford via a generous blessing from the Blue Chip gods). Veranda Furniture Sunday Afternoon Veranda Furniture Monday Morning