APDMOM

Early Morning Sunrise at Sea:

My View: Day 9 (2 of 4) - Nassau, Bahamas

Daily Program - Day 8 (or 1 of 4) Port Canaveral:

My View: End of Day 8 - Port Canaveral Goodnight, Moon!

Oasis in Port - doing the Bahamas/FL sailing from Bayonne: Sailaway Fun: How many kids do you count in the hot tub? 😆 (I love kids, by the way. I work with them in my day job.) Port Canaveral Views at Sail Away:

Muster Drill: We were told by guest relations that we would need to do the muster drill again, since their system is not set up to handle back to back. We watched the video, dialed the number, then went to scan our cards. After 2 of us scanned, they stated, "Oh, you are back to back. You don't need to scan your cards." Oh well, rather safe than receiving a call to the 'naughty room' again. 🤣 Dinner - Day 8 (or 1 of 4) - Port Canaveral: I decided to venture out and order something new and different. I did this for you 😉 I ended up loving the Spanish Delight, but not the fish. However, DH said the fish was his favorite meal of the 8 days so far. It was a very 'fishy fish'. If you know what I mean... I am more of a light fish person.

After Lunch Balcony Views: Another good thing about back to back is the ability to return to your cabin at any time. We enjoyed seeing some wildlife from the balcony, including 2 manatee sightings, dophins at play, seagulls, and pelicans: DSCN1918.mov Pelicans being chased by Marella Discovery:

Embarkation Lunch in Biscayne: TIP: If you want to avoid the day one craziness of the Marketplace buffet on deck 8, head up to deck 16 for Biscayne. We chose this option and had a very quiet and calm lunch. Options were a bit more limited than the Marketplace, but there was plenty of really good food. It included Nachos, Chicken, Cheese, Muffaletta sandwiches, and other pre-made sandwich options. Pizza was available, and of course the soft serve ice cream, which you can ONLY find here for free.

Documents ready, off we go... and our second leg is ready to start. It is like day one, only better because we have already unpacked! Hope those pallets contain a replenishment of chocolate milk and romaine lettuce 😄 First ones in the pool and the hot tub at Miami Beach Pool:

A few early morning views of the Jungle Pool:

Continuing Port Canaveral Views: That early morning full moon setting on one side of the ship, with the sunrise on the other side of the ship: Wonder of the Seas:

@Georgia_Peaches Not a hijack at all! I love hearing from you and always appreciate your input and perspective. Someday we will splurge on yacht club. 🙂 Things have thankfully calmed down so far today. The ship is distinctly more crowded but we continue to find good and quiet spots.

TIP: This post is for back to back cruises on MSC, turning around in Port Canaveral. We were given instructions to go to guest services between 7:30 and 8:30. DH and DS did not get this information. Fortunately, we went to ask at guest services the night before, because we would have wasted our time. Only people who change cabins go to guest services in the morning. The rest just had to meet in Haven Lounge at 10 AM. They provided coffee, tea, and pastries for the wait. We did not have to wait long - about 10:10, we were escourted off the ship via the same area where luggage is picked up for disembarkation. We quickly made it through the line at customs/passport control and walked right back onto the ship. Once back on the ship, we were allowed to roam or go back to our cabins. We gave our room steward the day off from our room, as it is always very busy for them on turnaround day. He had already replaced our sheets the previous day.

My View: Day 8 - Port Canaveral (Turnaround Day)

We were afraid this would happen... I will post tomorrow about our turnaround day for this back 2 back experience. So far, the atmosphere on this second leg (4 days) is very different. Our room steward had told us that there would be many kids on this cruise, and that rings true - many unattended kids, that is. Also, we ran into a situation in the Marketplace tonight involving a drunken, rowdy crowd. They will need a much more visible presence of security on this cruise. One good thing is that we had the thermal area almost 'to ourselves' tonight. There were only 3 other people. I may be spending a majority of the next 4 days on the balcony... That is not a complaint - just the apparent reality if I want to avoid a drunk crowd or kids running around. 😄 We shall see. Maybe it is just the first night excitement and people will party themselves out?

Daily Program: Day 7 - At Sea

My View: End of Day 7 - Sea Day with a Sunset over Miami and Fort Lauderdale:

Starwalker: The Michael Jackson Show Although it was good, it was not excellent. The dancers were impressive, but I remember the show being much better in 2019. Not sure if my memory is playing tricks on me though. I do remember walking out of the show in 2019, thinking WoW! Not so last night. It could be that I had built up the show in my mind from our 2019 experience, and was therefore not as impressed. 🙂 Besides "Ben", this was my favorite song of the evening: "We are the World" I love how it ends with some of the crew members joining in on stage.

Dinner Menu: We did not eat dinner in the MDR, but here is the menu:

We may have crashed a party... We did not receive our invitation for the loyalty "welcome back" party. I happened to see the roped off area with the loyalty party set up. Since neither of our 2 cabins received an invitation, I started wondering (conspiracy theories galore in this mind) whether 'nobody' received invitations. There was no line like usual at these events. Since we had our gold cards in hand, we decided to wait and see if we could attend. We were allowed in when the ropes were opened, and enjoyed the party - even posed for our 'free photo' for the welcome back event. When I went to pick up the free photo, the lady asked which of the welcome back events I attended - the one earlier in the week, or the one this day? It turns out they have so many voyager club members, they have multiple events. It is possible that our invitation will arrive for the last part of the 11-day voyage. We shall see. Loyalty Event: This was very different from all the other events we had attended. The 'cheers' were very brief and only one officer attended with the captain. It was so quick, I did not even catch which officer attended. It was still fun, but I do enjoy seeing and meeting officers. I do understand that this can be a very time-consuming event. They had one half of the 3 decks around the atrium roped off for the event (Bistrot la Boheme, Champagne Bar, and Shine Bar all dedicated to the party). They served sparkling wine and punch. I would love to take this cruise... As soon as 'my ship comes in'. 😆

@Georgia_PeachesDid you make it onboard yet? Curious to know if they looked at your form. They did not look at our forms at all last Sunday. Enjoy your cruise and say hi if you see us! 🙂

❤️That is what is great about a cruise - there is usually something everyone can enjoy, or another option when something is not as enjoyable as expected. I am determined to force my eyes to stay open for tonight's glow party at 11:45 PM. 😄

Buffet Breakfast Selections:

My View: Day 7 - At Sea

I will let you know how this one goes. My previous White Party was on Seascape, where the music and dances were very unfamiliar - too hard for my clumsy self to keep up with the moves...LOL! On Meraviglia, there was a pre-party by the Galleria, which was fun and more my style. Will see how Seaside compares. 🙂