rcrdale

I also forgot to mention that Captain Iv got off the ship yesterday in St Maarten to start his vacation and the new captain is Captain Todd. 

peppered baconshrimp cocktailbeef carpaccio9 oz filet - medium (sorry I forgot to take a picture before I started eating.  9 oz filet butterflied because she wanted it medium well Gruyère cheese tater totsasparagus New York style cheesecake red velvet cakekey lime pie with meringue 

We did Chops tonight for dinner and it was fabulous as usual.  I had the 9 oz filet done medium and it was perfect.  My wife also had the filet with mushrooms.   Our son got the spicy shrimp.  For our appetizers I got the peppered bacon, my wife got the shrimp cocktail and our son got the crab cake.  Our sides were mostly the Gruyère cheese tater tots and asparagus.   

If I can ever figure out how to upload a video, I’ll upload some of the planes landing and taking off.  
 

We were there from 12:50 pm  to 2:45 pm and the bigger planes were starting to come in around 1:30 pm.  
 

We go here all the time as we love watching the planes.  

old sign is now at Sunset Bar and Grill by the entry/exit from the parking lot

10 hours ago, alexgtp said:

Please let us know how MAHO is. We will be there for NYE trip , but looking at the flight times, most of the Interesting planes start around 1:30PM local time. Most Ship excursions start at 9AM. Might have to do it on our own.

 

Thanks

We did it on our own.  There was 4 of us and they taxi charged us $9 a person.  We told the driver it was the first time at the island for one of us so he did a quick tour to look at some of the important buildings and other sites.  He was fabulous so we gave him$50.  He asked us how long we planned on being there and we said about 2 hours.  He waited there for us.  We gave him $45 for the return trip. 

12 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Are you doing all ship excursions or any private excursions?

We did one ship excursion and the rest of the islands we will find something to do on our own. Been to these islands a lot so we might not get off the ship at some of them.  

So we finally docked in San Juan about 5:00 pm.  We originally were to be here at 4:00 pm.  We had an excursion booked and they changed the time to meet to 5:15 pm.  We went down to deck 2 around 5:10 and was told to go up and wait until we are told we could get off.  I understand that we have to be cleared by customs prior to them letting everyone off the ship.  We were finally allowed off the ship at 6:00 pm.  Our tour was “ Let’s have some rum”.   The description was “Learn about the history of rum while watching a bartender make you drinks to enjoy at an Old San Juan bar”.   We met our guide and  he asked us which of 3 drinks we would want when we got to where we were going.  You could choose from a pina colada, mojito or a rum and coke with lime.  He then took us to the tour company owners house which was about 3 or 4 blocks away.   We went upstairs to a small room off of what I think was a tiny restaurant.   The tour guide did tell us about the history of rum making and then someone brought in trays of the drinks we said we wanted.  He then had 3 of us come up 1 at a time to make one of the drinks.  We then got a shot of another rum.  He then took us to a shop/restaurant and that is where the tour ended.   I have done many excursions through RCCL and this was just pathetic.   We did talk to someone with shore excursions when we got back.  The description of the tour was no where near what I thought it was going to be.  It was very misleading.   
 

We had dinner at Johnny Rockets Express and it was ok.  We also got a milkshake and they really made them smaller since I cruised last in 2019.  
 

Tomorrow we will be in St Maarten and we are taking the kids to Maho Beach and the Sunset Bar and Grill.  

Captain Iv is still the captain onboard. At least the person making the announcements at noon is saying he is Captain Iv.  

Captain Iv said we were going to be late getting into San Juan due to us leaving an hour late and the seas being a little rough at the moment.  Will have to check to see if our excursion is going or not.  Two70

If anyone else is on this cruise and wants to post some information, please do so.  You will not be hijacking this thread and the more information other people can get the better it will be.  

Tomorrow we are in San Juan from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  We are doing the ship’s Let’s have some rum excursion.  Probably will do Johnny Rockets for dinner.  That’s all for now.  

The WorldThe Forbidden AppleThe Mushroom Garden

Halibut in clear paperChicken and the egg

Sorry, didn’t have internet service in our room yesterday.  We walked around some to check out everything.  We did the bumper cars and it was really fun.  The ride lasts about 4 minutes.  We had our poker pub crawl.  The best I did was a pair of 10’s.  The winner had a full house.  There was I think 42 of us so the winner got $280 and second place got $140.  
 

We had dinner at Jamie’s Italian, and I forgot to take my phone so no pictures.   We shared the meat plank, garlicky prawns and garlic bread.  I’m not a spicy eating person so some of the items on the plank I didn’t eat, but everything was good.  I had the prawn linguine and the lamb chops with posh fries for dinner and ot was fabulous.   My wife had the lasagne and the penne carbonara with freaky fries.  She said it was very good.  
 

Today we had breakfast in the main dining room.  It has been almost 3 years since we cruise and I thought the menu was really skimpy.  I got the eggs benedict with a side of bacon.  It was ok, but I think I prefer the Windjammer or Solarium Bistro.   
 

We had our slot pull today and there was 38 of us.  We all put in $20 and we played Wheel of Fortune slot machine playing either 4 $5 spins or 2 $10 spins.  We were at $18 a person so when then did 3 $5 spins.  After that round we were at $14.75 a person so we had the one player do some spins for us.  We ended up with $14 a person at the end.  It was fun, just didn’t have a lucky machine. 
 

We had dinner at Wonderland tonight and loved it.   Since we had never been there before, we had the waiter bring us 8 appetizers to try.  We had the baby vegetables in the garden, tomato water, crispy crab cones, citrus seas shhhh, the birds nest, mad hatter’s purple potted shrimp, liquid truffle mushroom risotto and the liquid lobster.   I thought the liquid lobster was salty.  Didn’t really care for the vegetables in the garden.   Everything else was really good.  I got the halibut cooked in clear paper and everyone else got the chicken and the egg.  We all loved what we got.   For desert 3 of us got the World and my wife got the forbidden apple.  The waiter also brought out the mystical mushroom garden.      The World was really good and my wife said the apple was good.  My son really like the mushroom garden, but I didn’t try it.   

The cruise director said this morning there are 2700 people on board this cruise.   So far we haven’t had to wait long for anything.  We had breakfast in the Windjammer and there was a small line waiting to wash your hands.  It was around 9:00 am and we found a table for 4 pretty quickly.  Had reservations for the bumper cars at 11:15, got there around 11:05 and waited through 2 rides then we were on.  It was fun and we really enjoyed it.  Doing a pub and poker crawl this afternoon at 2:00 pm.  $5 a person and so far there are 48 people saying they are going. Winner gets 75% and next highest hand gets 25%.  Be nice to win some money.  Walked through the casino and my dear wife saw the quarter drop machine, so when she disappears, I’ll know where to find her.  

16 hours ago, Broons77 said:

Weirdly specific question.  The showers in the bathrooms - are they made of a smooth fiberglass, like a home tub surround? I have those little suction cup hooks that DW likes to use, just want to make sure they'll work.

 

Here is a picture of the shower.  It is all smooth

We Had lunch in the Windjammer about 12:30 and had no problem finding a table.   Food was good, I had a cheeseburger and 2 tacos.  Rooms opened up around 1:30 pm.  
 

Was able to book our shows, the bumper cars and booked one of the paid trips on the Northstar.  
 

We also have the deluxe drink package and plan on using it a lot.  The wife even got a hot chocolate at La Patisserie, which is included.   
 

Our departure was delayed until 6:00 pm due to a container ship coming in.   We had to wait until it docked before we were allowed to leave.  
 

Dinner was at Chops and it was fabulous.  We all got the filet and had a variety of sides.  Since we have the ultimate dinner package, we will be trying a lot of the specialty restaurants.   Tomorrow will be Jamie’s Italian and day 3 will be Wonderland.  

Well, thought I would try and document some things from our sailing.  
 

This is our 13th cruise all with Royal, we are a couple in our 50’s sailing with our one son and his girlfriend.   We are in an ocean view balcony (10262) on the port side of the ship.  Our son has the room next to us (10264).  Our room was very clean and spacious enough for us.  Bed is by the bathroom for those that ask and on the forward wall.  Our son’s bed was by the balcony and on the aft wall.  
 

We had a 12:00 pm check-in time and got to the port around 11:15 am.  We were able to go right in.  We waited about 5 to 7 minutes in line to go through security and then another 7 to 10 minutes to get checked in.  We were in the ship with a drink in our hands by 11:40 am.   

And exactly how do you find government approved tours?   When we visit Barbados, we love going to the Boatyard.  Are there any tour operators at the port that will take us there?

Got my answer today from the CDC announcement that the updated CSO as of today, does away with the 7 day limit.  So I guess we will be good to go!

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

A 12 night cruise where? The CSO doesn't apply if the ship doesn't touch a US port. The CSO is still in effect for cruises touching US ports.

December cruise on Anthem out of Bayonne.  

I know the CSO originally stated no cruises longer than 7 days.  We have a 12 night cruise coming up in December.  I know we are all patiently waiting to see what happens with the CSO in the next week.  
 

My question is, I have seen where some people have said the 7 day rule was taken out of the CSO.  I can’t find anything on that.   Is the CSO still limiting cruises to 7 days?

I'm have a lift and shift cruise from last December that is booked for this December out of Bayonne.  It is the 12 night Southern Caribbean cruise.  Our group has already discussed some of the possible rules and seeing what the CDC just put out, I don't think our group will cruise.  It is not a vacation if I must wear a mask almost all the time.  We already have a backup plan with a trip to Mexico to an all-inclusive, so we would still be disappointed if we can't cruise again this year.  Here's to hoping things change, but I'm not very hopeful.