M&JfromSDL

Thank you for live blogging your cruise.  I've done it in the past and it's a bit of work.  We will be aboard for the TA next month.  Really enjoy your food photos!  Thank you again for sharing.

Interesting. I have the HAL offer but not the NCL.

Thanks for taking us along with you.  Live threads add a bit of 'work' to a cruise so I appreciate you taking the time from your vacation.  

It sounds like you have an incredible trip planned.  I hope you both enjoy every minute of it!

47 days... this may end up being one of the longest live threads on CC!  😀 Can't wait to follow along.  

I either leave it at home or secure it in the safe.  I find it starts sliding when I have sunscreen on and I'm afraid of it slipping off.  

I like the Wonder itinerary better because of CoCoCay but not $2,800 better. Especially since itineraries can change at the cruise line's discretion as you mentioned.  I'd take the Harmony itinerary.  

I'm loving your live thread.  In fact, I just got to your last post and have a window open with your previous reviews.  Enjoy your cruise!

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Our prior experience was that Costal Kitchen was good (not as good as specialty dining), but good. 

 

We were on the Quantum of the Seas at dined in Coastal Kitchen last month and almost every meal was bad. One night, we sent back two steaks for being blue (cold in the center, moo moo moo). 

 

We were so disappointed. And the restaurant manager could care less. On the Quantum, CK is at the entrance to the Windjammer and we purposely walked past the restaurant manager into the Windjammer after dinner to get some decent food. 

...

 

That's really disappointing.  

I just booked a back to back with two Casino offers.  4 night + 7 night on Oasis in November.  This is after I redeemed an offer on a 7-night on Harmony earlier this year.  I regret not looking into these offers sooner. The cost to upgrade from whatever room category they are offering to a balcony is not that much either.

We arrived into Fort Lauderdale late and there were very few taxis available.  The train will have WiFi.  I would suggest ordering an Uber using the train's wifi as you approach Fort Lauderdale station.  

CoCoCay is so great I've considered doing B2B 3 or 4 day cruises just to visit it twice.  Sorry you missed out.

I used an AirTag for the first time this summer while flying in Europe.  I've had a cruise line lose my luggage when I did luggage valet at the end of a sailing.  The AirTag would have been somewhat helpful for that.

I just let the valet put them on at the pier.  

I went on HM in April and got COVID while onboard.  Initially I thought it was allergies acting up since I had been away from our pets for a week and a half.  But a day or two later I woke up with a very slight sinus headache.  I decided to take some sinus medication and while I laid in bed waiting for it to kick in, I read posts on our sailing's FB group.  People were posting left and right about testing positive.  

I would not do anything differently.  The vax/boost did it's job. The worst part of the illness was the quarantine.  I luckily had no symptoms aside from the initial sinus headache save for a slight cough for a 2 or 3 days.  

We are already planning our next cruise.

Honestly, it’s pretty cheap to just Uber from the port to the airport rental car.  When I did it in October I think it was $15-20 and worth not trying to load my luggage on a crowded shuttle.  

17 hours ago, Working 2 cruise again said:

How did it go? Considering doing this as well. 

We took Amtrak from the DC area to Fort Lauderdale back in October.  It was a great trip and I would love to do it again!

I avoid flying SW on the way to a cruise because they do not reaccomodate on other airlines.  If something goes sideways and you need to change your flight, they will only rebook you on a Southwest flight.  If you book with United, they can reaccomodate you on American if need be.  

The cool thing about the beverage package pricing is you can always buy it and if the price goes down, cancel and repurchase at the lower price.

Question for you, I’ve never purchased the UDP before but have it for my upcoming Harmony sailing. Are you really able to eat in multiple restaurants daily with it?  For example on a sea day, lunch at Jamie’s; afternoon snack at Izumi and dinner at another restaurant?

Despite how large an airline Southwest is, they do not reacomm on other airlines.  Sorry your vacation was ruined.  I hope you are able to make the best of your time off.  

We are sailing on Harmony in 3 weeks and are following along with your trip report.  Enjoy your cruise and thanks for posting!

Be sure to check out Press & Grind for a healthy breakfast/coffee.

We used Door Dash in Fort Lauderdale to deliver to the Hilton Marina without issue.  But there are a ton of places near the Hyatt Place to eat.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I decided to soak up every second of the remaining days of the cruise without having my head buried in my phone. I will have to do that when I am home. I will up date this thread from the plane ride home. 

Tuesday - October 12 - Saint Thomas

The later arrival time was great. We slept in a bit and grabbed room service breakfast. 

We booked the Champagne Catamaran sail to Saint John ahead of the cruise. We did this excursion about 9 years ago on a Royal cruise and had a great time. 

The excursion starts with a 40 minute drive out to the Marina. It’s a roller coaster of a drive with okay scenery. The other passengers were pretty quiet. You could hear a pin drop. 
 

The catamaran departs from eastern side of the island near red hook. The ride over to Saint John is beautiful. The water is deep blue and you see some incredible homes and boats along the way. 

After a 45 minute ride we arrived at Honeymoon Beach. I decided not to snorkel but to just wade in the water.  It was so relaxing and many fish swam right up to us. 
 

The catamaran ride back was a lot of fun. We caught a brief shower but it didn’t dampen the fun.  The rum punch was flowing, the crew did a great job firing up the crowd, and we had a great ride back. I highly recommend this excursion. 
 

We switched it up and did sail away on the Magic Carpet which was pretty cool. 

 

Dinner again at Luminae. 

Short Rib

Dessert

I decided to grab my nightly cappuccino from Cafe il Bacio.  

I lent my wife $50 so she could play the slot machine next to me. She got down to $8 and then won over $1000!!!!  Think we may be signing over the voucher to the future cruise desk.