TravelBluebird

Yes they are and yes I do!

I’ve been busy! Worked on a video for a little while in my room and in the solarium Then country line dance class.. It was PACKED. I think I’ve found my tribe. After the class, the instructor took us out near the giant Cowboy Hat where the VERY GOOD country trip was playing. We did our dance there. Then I stayed there and sang along with all the songs at the top of my lungs. There were two other ladies ALSo singing at the top of their lungs, and when I asked them where they were from, they were from my town (Knoxville!). Should have known 😂 Finally got around to getting my. Soda Cup from Boleros (they were out at Sorrentros) and tried another bartender for a blueberry no-jito, and FINALLY a non-sweet drink! Going to find that bartender again. While waiting for cup and drink met a lovely couple on their first anniversary trip AND first cruise. THey. recognized me from YouTube and we sat around and talked cruising which was fun. Now changing for dinner! It’s formal night.

It did FINALLY stop after the entire restaurant glared at the offending family. Once the child was on the Dad’s lap all was well.

@OCSC Mike Ah! That makes sense. It’s been OK in restaurants as well.

Sigh; ignore those 2 video-looking things in post above; when you incorrectly select video instead of photo because of bad eyesight, that happens sometimes even if you delete the video (and you have to wait till the movie uploads to do it). Also an FYI for anyone who wants to live blog or post on Cruise Critic from a ship; for some reason, Safari barely works for me on my iPad and iPhone, but Chrome is a breeze. Internet today has been great!

No limits that I have found for dinners so far. Lunch at Izumi’s was a set 1 small plate and 2 big plates—I believe the big plates were 1/2 rolls but that is plenty! Plus desert (I had Green Tea Ice Cream). If you are NOT UDP what I just had—with 2/2 rolls—is $39.99 price fixe. You can dine a La carts and those prices include full size rolls not 1/2 rolls 1/2 rolls was PLENTY I am stuffed. Good thing dinner is 8:15 tonight! IMG_6174.MOV IMG_6174.MOV

Oh Dear that screaming child has been crying endlessly at the top of his lungs. Parents did NOTHING until literally every other table in restaurant glared at them. Child stopped when FINALLY picked up. Now other two tables near me are discussing parenting styles openly. I mean, sure, don’t give into a tantrum UNLESS you are in a small public restaurant!

You must! EXCELLENT selection of rolls and additional non-sushi items as well —Poke Bowls and Teriyakis, Ramens etc! My Spider Roll did not disappoint either!

Just had the Champagne Lobster Roll. OMG. HEAVEN. One of my favorite things I’ve had on the ship!

OMG there is a screeching toddler in here. One of those high pitched squeals/screams. Make it stop 😭

Those Hibachi people are whooping it up! Hope I get a good group when I do it! My salad was excellent! My vegan friend I cruise with would have loved it.

@LisaLisa87 I am taking an independent tour in St Marteen—wanted to try a Royal one for the experience. I saw that World desert and was sad I didn’t order it! Will get it next time YUM! I don’t think Park Cafe has the espresso drinks on Wonder—just regular coffee, but I’ll check tomorrow!

Ack. Forgot to take my morning Thyroid medication, so had to dash back to my room before Izumi’s. The GOOD news is I LOVE my room being so close to the front of the ship! Easy elevator access, and I’m RIGHT there for Solarium (or that little bar outside Solarium that is outdoors, but too windy to sit at today) and the Royal Theater, and can go down the stairs and be in Central park in seconds. Great location (especially for someone who doesn’t mind ship motion). Off to Izumi’s!

So I went to the Port and Shopping talk and lasted about 15 minutes, Needs to be renamed SHOPPING talk. Which is great if you like to shop! However, that shopping guy Van something or other, really has ENERGY! So much energy at this talk (in the Royal Theater). Wish that the cruise director did a morning show like this like on Carnival. He (Chris) does a taped one with no audience. It really helps you get to know the Cruise Director and the entertainment staff, and DH and I really enjoy those. Decamped to the Solarium to look at the ocean. I mean, it was 11:30 and I hadn’t seen the ocean yet! Was too windy for pool deck. Sun already GONE. 😭 Snagged a lounger right by the windows on the ocean (people were leaving due to boat motion). I’m enjoying the boat motion…I really love it, but I feel sorry for those who are finding it difficult. You really feel it in the Solarium!! We are passing Turks & Caicos on the Starboard side (can’t see it). Aqua shows were cancelled again last night due to ocean. Evidently the weather is being caused STILL by Tropical Storm Phillipe (captain is saying right now) and he’s saying similar tomorrow 😭. So clouds rest of afternoon and swells 8-10 feet,

@Hogladyrider LOL…for me, its Starbucks all the way (on land). Which annoys my husband as he doesn’t like it 😂

Yes, actually this is overall the case for me BUT I do enjoy the larger ones too. I feel like I’ll find my stride and less-crowded nooks and crannys as I go along. I know where to find them on the big Carnival ships; I just haven’t figured it out yet on Royal, other than Park Cafe for late breakfast.

Ooh…they have espresso coffees there? Excellent; that line for Cafe Promenade coffees is killer. I will check that out! Starbucks is ALWAYS empty cause we’ve all paid for our coffees with beverage plans. I’m stubborn; will NOT get my coffee there. BTW, the coffee is VERY good at Cafe Promende; have been quite pleased with my dry cappuccinos there!

Aha thank you! Very helpful!

Oops…forgot photos in that last post: By the way this ship is BIG. I ended up on the wrong side of Central Park and had to walk the entire length of the ship to get to my room down the room halls (you’d think I’d figure that out…on Promenade I’ve got it covered—I’m the side by the big cowboy hat!) I’m all the way forward) . Phew. I’ve put in 2,500 steps already! Yesterday my count was 13,500! Ran into the Piano Man too!

So I slept in late and missed the beginning of my Dance Fitness Class. Didn’t set an alarm; obviously needed my sleep! Wandered by on my way to coffee and that class looks EXCELLENT. Very Zumba like; I will definitely take it again when offered! Got my Espresso at Cafe Promenade, then went to the Park Cafe in Central Park for some fruit and a place to sit and have my coffee. The Promenade is SO busy in the morning; thank you to whoever suggested that for a quiet morning stop. When I DO want breakfast; this is going to be my stop—they had lox and bagels! I sat outside in the SUN; it was breezy and not too hot and delightful. Then I had to go to excursions to see if I could add a day tour of St. Thomas before the Sunset Cruise I booked last night (after my Selfie Tour got cancelled). Nope. None of the tours offered would get me back in time. I also didn’t want to explore St. Thomas on my own—I’ve seen some nightmare traffic situations with lots of ships in port there, and I’ve never actually toured the island before. SO, I gave up the sunset cruise (I figured it would be crowded and I wouldn’t drink the champagne) and booked the 5 Star Island Tour, Magen’s Bay Beach & Shopping. Will get a few photos from Mountain Top and downtown, and another chance at a sunny beach. Open air “buses” so won’t get that motor coach feel. Hope it was the right decision. Off to explore more; probably going to take some sun after lunch!

So far most of the “big” shows are given 2x a night. Times seem to vary; most of my late shows this week are 10:45 but one is at 10pm and there is one tonight (Voices) at 9:45. Same with the early shows. First night, there were 2 cancelled Aqua shows, for instance. I THINK the earlier one was 7:30 (and that is why a paper Compass would be useful). Tonight they are running Voices at 7:30 and 9:45 and the Ice Show at 8:30 and 10:45. Comedy tonight at 8 and 10. And I AM having a very nice time!

Refreshed every day. AND I watched the Cruise Director’s (Chris) morning TV talk and he DOES give the link quickly on the TV to the digital copy. The link only has the compass for that day. Good point—need to see if I can safe via a PDF to have a copy digitally post cruise! I did manage to finally get a paper copy last night for day 3 (as mentioned above).

My tour of St. Thomas (the Selfie Tour) got nixed due to lack of participants (had a message on my phone when I got back tonight) . Guess I was the only one who wanted to run around the island and just take lots of photos 😂 So far I have substituted the Sunset Cruise (me on a smaller boat looking at the ocean will be nice) but I’m not sure there are any earlier tours that will work that are not already sold out, and not sure I want to explore on my own. Will talk to excursions desk tomorrow. Looked around the casino, played a little bit, but didn’t feel particularly lucky. REALLY wanted to play the Little Shop of Horrors slots (I Assistant Directed that once) but they were completely busy. The Latin Dance Party was smack in the middle of the promenade and it made me claustrophobic—felt like more people than last night!) so I skipped it. Carnival’s deck parties are just as packed, but I think being outdoors on the pool deck makes it better (for me at least). OK off to bed! Nice lazy sea day ahead. Plans tomorrow so far are a morning dance fitness class, Izumi Sushi for lunch, Slot Tournament (if I can make it after lunch) and a late Chops dinner (8:15), ending with the late ice show. Good night and thanks for following along! 💕

OK Voices. I preface this brief review by saying that, as someone who performed in theater for many years AND was on the board of a theater for over 10 years. I completely over-analyze any theater I see. If you do not wish to read this sort of review, I can honestly say you’ll enjoy the 40 minutes—very talented actors and singers, and a new concept. For those that want to dig deeper… WHAT was the producer and director thinking?? The concept of VOICES is that the entire show would be acapella—a sort of Pentatonix thing writ large. I LOVE me some acapella Pentatonix! IF Royal had produced a group of beat-boxers off to the side live-singing the “instruments” parts, this show would have been spectacular! But they didn’t do that. Instead, they decided to pre-record a bunch of people singing and beat-boxing, and you got an endless supply of GIANT peoples faces up on the screen, completely distracting you from the performers on stage. Think 1984 (the book) and Big Brother. Think infamous Apple commercial from 1984. Throw in lots of crazy virtue-signaling odd images like the giant image of a very old Indain man and a homeless man and quotes from Gandhi and Mother Teresa, and you have the hot mess that is VOICES. Small point, but watching giant mouths beatbox is much like watching people eat. blech. Other times the whole thing looked like one of those Zoom calls where choirs would sing during the pandemic. I really LOVE live music in a cruise ship show, and the pre-recorded voices just nixed that for this, and somtimes overpowered the very good singers on the stage. Here are a few images to show you what I mean:

Apple dessert needed more Apple and less raspberry sorbet, but was not overly sweet! In the theater —this theater is HUGE!