Cruise Semi-Live? Navigator July 28th -7Nts

[Awjeez317]

Well here we go.

 

This is my first attempt at a live cruise review/update/word-TikTok ever….so obviously it has to start with the obligatory statement of a writer‘s insecurity that I may be terrible at this and you should forgive me. So…

 

I may be terrible at this.

 

Please forgive me. 

 

I am writing this from the Hilton Long Beach in Cali (a nice hotel super close to the cruise port with a pool!), where the only thing that can stop the vision of my perfect upcoming cruise is the dense smog covering this massive city within a city within a city. 

 

I would speak the typical “not so hot take” and say I don’t like LA because of the traffic and the issues and the problems and the issues on top of issues. But honestly. All I hate is LAX. I haven’t spent enough time here or seen NEARLY enough to form an opinion about the city. 

 

LAX however. Is the worst. I hate any airport in which i have to take a shuttle to get to an Uber/Lyft. My father would call it a “communist plot.”

 

LAX is the worst. 

 

Well. Flying out on Wednesday from the east coast at 6pm with a connecting flight to Charlotte and then to LAX is the worst. 

 

Well….flight delays are the worst. 

 

Well…pilot shortages that cause the delays are the worst. 

 

No, finally getting on your LAX bound flight only to find that the cabin is 87 degrees is the worst. 

 

No no, getting to your hotel three hours late and at 2 am PST when you live on EST (that’s 5am people!) is the worst. 

 

Actually, I should check myself. DH would probably tell me to “Get on the Relaxy Taxi” — a statement he has probably said to dozens of people on embarkation day who are more determined to find the things they dislike about the ship than enjoy the fact that THEY ARE NOT WORKING or THEY ARE NOT AT HOME and are — in fact — ON A VACATION. 

 

So Relaxy Taxi here I come. 

 

Tomorrow I get on the Navigator of the Seas. It is a seven night cruise to three places I have never been to.  Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan. I’m also extremely excited to see this newly amped ship. This is the first Voyager class ship that has been Amped so I’m quite intrigued. 

 

I got the Dining package…because honestly when you do it once….you kind of can’t NOT do it. When I checked the app Chops was $63 a person for one meal! The package is a steal at that rate. PLUS I don’t have to find out if I like or hate the new menu in the main dining room. Better than a drink package in my mind. Also the five drinks from DP benefits help. 

 

And casino drinks help too. 

 

Casino losses do not. 

 

I guess it’s a wash. 

 

DH is busy with his business at home so I am venturing out solo (double points! If only I could book a suite it would be triple!). 

 

One would think…why in the %!*& would anyone get on a cruise to Mexico at the end of July???

 

Well, when I landed here…its was 15 degrees cooler than where I left from. So……yeah….we broke the planet. 

 

I am pretty sure I will have a small amount of TKA though. Tiny Kid Aversion. It may drive me to the Solarium more than I think, but luckily the Voyager class has an open air Solarium that is actually adult only.

 

(Nothing against kids at ALL! I just don’t have any of my own….sooooooooo…..yeah.) 

 

I say it is a SEMI Live update because honestly, I will try with all my might to update this everyday and also post some photos. But if I stray….don’t be mad at me. IM ON A CRUISE. I’ll update it all eventually when I get home. 

 

But if I stray…don’t be mad at me. IM BACK AT WORK PEOPLE. 

 

More tomorrow. I think. Yeah….

 

Definitely more tomorrow…probably. 

[Awjeez317]

Some embarkation photos before the post! The ship was docked in front of a the Iowa…a US Battleship which was equally impressive and I imagine would be kind of scary when it was operating. Went to the helipad for sail away. 
 

More to come! 

[breezy_carol]

Love your writing style.  I will be following.

[LuCruise]

Following along.  We got off Navigator a couple weeks ago, but it was just a short one for us over the weekend.  Navigator is a wonderful ship.  Don't miss the shows.  Interested in hearing your experience.

 

PS - We also stayed near the port.  Our hotel was nice but and found a good coffee shop and dinner place, but found the area strangely quiet. 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited July 29, 2023 by LuCruise

[Awjeez317]

2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Following along.  We got off Navigator a couple weeks ago, but it was just a short one for us over the weekend.  Navigator is a wonderful ship.  Don't miss the shows.  Interested in hearing your experience.

 

PS - We also stayed near the port.  Our hotel was nice but and found a good coffee shop and dinner place, but found the area strangely quiet. 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 Yeah Long Beach seems to be…uh…..growing?  I had such a fiasco getting in at 2am and then having to change rooms 5 hours later that I just decided to hang at the hotel and watch a Below Deck marathon. Haha! 

[Awjeez317]

3 hours ago, breezy_carol said:

Love your writing style.  I will be following.

Thanks so much!!!!!

[HBCcruiser]

Enjoy your cruise! We live in SoCal and have done this itinerary many times. Cabo is one of our favorite places so enjoy! We jump on NOS next Friday for a short 3-day long weekend getaway. It’s a great ship IMO. 

[luv2sail7]

Following! Love your style/humor!  

[Awjeez317]

Obligatory Food and drink pics from Day 1! 

 

I think that I will post separately for food/drink and happenings of the day. I don’t know why. It feels more organized? Plus you could be someone who doesn’t get on a cruise to eat so you can just skip this part…… 

 

HA!

 

Now that we’ve gotten the standard acceptable amount of sarcasm out of the way, to the food!

 

I started the day at Hooked for lunch because….well it was the only restaurant open. Yup, Jamies, Chops, and Izumi are all closed on Embarkation day. So if you’re planning a lunch…they make it easy for you. It’s Hooked.

 

I guess I could have gone to Playmakers but it’s important for you to know that prior to this cruise I have lost about 20 pounds. I didn’t do it JUST for the cruise (though the thought of being less of a—how shalI say—pear-like human onboard did help) so I would like to not have to start ALL OVER when I got home. 

 

Sorry Onion Ring Tower! Find someone else to give your delicious heartburn too! I say all that…but don’t hate on me  if you see a picture of that stupid tower on here one day. I will try to stay strong but no promises. It hurts so good. 

 

Anyway…the drinks…I have made a challenge for myself. I want to get a specialty drink from every single one of the bars on the ship and I dont want to pay for a single one of them. I do NOT have a drink package, though I do have 5 Diamond Plus drinks per day. I think the math works out.

 

The coupons should last. Me however? We’ll see. Hopefully, I don’t wake up one morning to post photos only to find nothing but drunken pictures of mostly my finger blocking a sunset or the inside of my pocket. 

 

Boleros - Ginger Cooler - I actually really loved this drink. It had some sweetness but not crazy sweet. I liked the ginger beer bite that it gives the lime and rum. Oh yeah…it’s Kraken rum, lime, some lemon sugar syrup thing, and ginger beer. Perfect first drink! 

 

Hooked - St. Petersburg Spritz - This was also nice. I feel like I’ve had this before and it tasted different and was served in a champagne glass, maybe I’m making things up though. I don’t remember a THING about what is in this. Sorry! 

 

Food:

 

Hooked - Okay, to say I was skeptical to go to Hooked would be….well polite. We’ve been to Hooked twice before. Once of Symphony and once on Wonder. The last time was January of this year on the Wonder and it was honestly the only meal we genuinely didn’t enjoy. My lobster was still see through (raw) and DH —who doesn’t like seafood — ordered the Turf and Turf. The Chicken was somehow overcooked and raw? Honestly it scientifically made no sense. Everything was dry. It was bad. And I am a “find the positive” person. 

 

But I had heard good things from people going to Hooked on Navigator. So here I go. Also, again….I had no choice. 

 

Started with the biscuit. Twice I have wanted this biscuit to be great and twice it was too crumbly or too dry. I live in the south. Biscuits are a love language here. 

 

I have to say. It was moist. HOT. There was actual cheese coming out of it! I wasn’t going to eat one because of the previous mentioned weight conscious decision making….but I mean…CHEESE WAS COMING OUT OF IT! Either they figured out their recipe or the best time to go to Hooked is the moment your cruise starts so everything has literally just been made. 

 

I do think it just makes sense to do Hooked early in the cruise if you’re so inclined. I just think seafood that has been on the ship for six days is probably just a tad different than seafood on Day 1. Remember….the oysters have been on the ship as long as you have….

 

Speaking of Oysters…they were great. They didn’t have that seawater taste that usually ruins oysters for me. I asked for horseradish and they didn’t have any on hand. But a few minutes later, my server Rommel —who was awesome — brought some raw chopped horseradish to me and said “Chef prepared some for you”  so nice. 

 

Lobster roll - Um. Why has no one ever told me about this? Like….I mean….I just….I have no words. Honestly, I thought this would be waaaay too bready, but it’s a brioche bun so it’s mostly just air. It’s so puffy! The lobster was great and they douse the whole thing in drawn butter. So yeah….about that diet. Although, I only had a few fries (they were MEH) and after two bites i grabbed a fork and ate the lobster out of the bun and left the bun carcass behind. 

 

So I have to say - I really enjoyed Hooked. I have it booked for dinner. So we can test the biscuit theory later this week. 

 

Dinner was good ole Chops. I think I have 4 visits to Chops coming. I will be getting different things every time, but I had to go with the classics for me on this one. 

 

Shrimp Cocktail - a staple. If you asked DH what is the one thing he knows I will order if I see it on a cruise menu…he would tell you its Shrimp Cocktail. PS that should totally be a question on the Perfect Couple/Love and Marriage Game Show.

 

 

Goat Cheese Salad - This is one I normally don’t order but I had to in honor of DH. Shrimp cocktail to me = Crispy Goat Cheese Salad to DH. The combo of the pears and candied walnuts (which are not overly candied!) and the cheese is just great. I would probably tell them to use about half the raw red onions next time though. It would be better if they used PICKLED red onions too. 

 

Filet - Oh man, this was the first steak I’ve had since…I don’t know….April? May? I can’t honestly remember. I ordered it medium rare. It came out cooked perfectly…but somehow was room temperature. Even on the seared outside. (My father would have said the steak was FROZEN!!!) When the server checked on me I told him it was cooked perfectly but was there a way they could warm this up and not over cook it? 

 

Somehow…I’m assuming a quick sear on a very hot pan…they were able to do it in no time at all! It was so delicious. I always get all three sauces around the edge and use the Bernaise sauce as a pseudo Hollondaise sauce for the asparagus side. 

 

Most shocking news of the day - I avoided dessert the whole day! 

 

This will not last. Let me know your favorite ones I should try. I particularly am curious what to order and Hooked for dinner in terms of dessert.

 

Happenings of the day post will come later! Thanks for following! 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Awjeez317

[Awjeez317]

50 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Enjoy your cruise! We live in SoCal and have done this itinerary many times. Cabo is one of our favorite places so enjoy! We jump on NOS next Friday for a short 3-day long weekend getaway. It’s a great ship IMO. 

Yeah it’s been interesting talking to the crew about the itineraries on this ship and how the crowds are so different. For those of you who don’t know, the NOTS does 4 weeks of 4day/3day and then 1 7 night cruise, then they start over again. 

 

I was talking to the casino host last night and asked her how many people she thinks she’ll have to ban from the casino this cruise (this happens on every cruise apparently!). She said “Probably less than on the three day cruises.” HAHAH I guess that’s more of a party scene. Less kids for sure. 

 

I bet it’s nice to have some variety for the crew though. It would be fun to do a B2B2B with all three itineraries to see the differences. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Awjeez317

[JK805]

I love the helipad for sail away on Navigator! Always my go to. The open deck and calm really helps get me in the cruising spirit 😊.
 

I’ve done 3 and 7 night sailings on Navigator - definitely a different vibe entirely. I’ll be doing my first 4 day in a few weeks, followed by a 4/7 B2B. 
 

Enjoy the sailing, can’t wait to head down to the Mexican Riviera in two months myself. I’ll be living vicariously through the post until then…

[Awjeez317]

Day 1 Happenings - 

 

To say that the day went off without a hitch would be wrong. In fact, it started with a rather large hitch. Word of warning to all those who have not sailed out of Los Angeles: Don’t put “Port of Los Angeles” as your desired location for drop off on Lyft. Turns out the port is just as large as the city, and as I stared out the window looking for that first glimpse of the Navigator…I just kept seeing shipping containers. And cranes. And construction signs. And no cruise ship. 

 

We arrived at our destination. Our destination was nothing. Literally…nothing. It was a corner with a sign that said “Detour.” Uh, yeah. I got that much. My Lyft driver was confused to say the least. Especially when I was like….um….this is not a cruise ship. 

 

Commence Anxiety. 

 

I grabbed my phone and looked up the email with the port directions on it. First line….Port of Los Angeles. Okay…

 

Then I noticed a little link. I clicked it and it opened google maps to something called “Los Angeles World Cruise Center.” Well that makes more sense. Might have lead with that one Royal. No worries. I still had half an hour to my arrival time so i went to update the Lyft app and it turns out that being surrounded my shipping containers and metal structures is actually not conducive to cell phone signal. I clicked edit and received nothing but the dreaded rotating Circle of Doom just spinning and spinning. 

 

Okay…I manually entered this new destination into Google Maps and it actually worked! I asked the Lyft driver to follow my instructions and go straight! I will update Lyft as soon as we had signal. Trust me, Lyft driver!

 

Turns out, asking a Lyft driver to trust you and keep driving when you are in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by what looks like a scene from a Batman movie or where a drug cartel would go to take someone out and not be heard, is kind of a big ask. 

 

After a few awkward moments filled my desperate explanations, he crept forward along Google’s route. Thank the Lord that Lyft got signal about 2 minutes later. I literally saw his whole body relax. But honestly, how ridiculous. I’m trying to get on a cruise! Not murder you! Duh. 

 

I got dropped off at the ship 15 minutes later. Yes…we were 15 minutes away and technically in the SAME PORT. NYC is tall. LA is wide. Real wide. But not fat….too much vegan food. More like….flat/wide.

 

Anyway, this is the first port I have ever been to that actually had signs out for your specific boarding time. There were people standing behind the 1:00 boarding sign just STEAMING from both blood pressure and the actual sun. I was very grateful I had the 11am boarding time.

 

Security was a breeze. The way I like it. I suppose the aforementioned steaming people would disagree, but oh well. Me dry and happy on ship. 

 

Off to book dining! On our last cruise I was that person at Giovanni’s holding up the line with my iPad calendar on the hostess desk booking our whole week’s reservations. I’m not proud of it. But I’ll admit it. Last time I had to shuffle things around and my preplanned dining schedule was almost totally scraped by evenings already booked by Suite Concierges, Genies, and single dining online purchases. 

 

I asked where to go and was told to head to the 4th deck main dining room, where just inside was a table, a man with a computer and about 8 chairs for people waiting to get to said table and computer. I had one couple in front of me. Hooray! 

 

WARNING: First Relaxy Taxi candidate! 

 

The couple in front of me sat down and asked for Jamies on Day 2 for dinner. He said it was all booked up online. Being a HUGE fan of eavesdropping, I got out my iPad to rearrange Jamies for night 2 so I didn’t deal with the same thing. While doing so, the woman of the couple seemed to be completely confused and downright DISTRAUGHT that someone could have booked it before her. 

 

“But I tried to book online but you can’t! I tried!”

 

”Yes, Ma’am. The suite concierge and the people who booked individual dinners are able to book online.”

 

”Well that does seem very FAIR…..blah blah blah….I’m mad…Pay attention to me!”

 

Okay she didn’t really say that last part. And listen, I get it. You had a plan and now there needs to be a change. Some people don’t do well with change. And thus, they never will change themselves. But I still felt inclined to say that you have a 3 night dining package! There are 7 NIGHTS! It’s not like he told you the restaurant was closed, which happened to me on the Harmony in 2021 when Sabor was still not up and running and no one informed us of this until embarkation. Even then…we just rolled with the punches. 

 

GET ON THE RELAXY TAXI! 

 

Oh and just to clarify I did not say any of this out loud of course, I kept my thoughts contained to single eye roll. It was a good one too. Like…A grandparent would have told me if I kept doing that my eyes would get stuck that way…kind of good.

 

Also…I was sure to keep my eye roll out of sight, lest I get the wrath of the woman who was obviously on the FUSS BUS. 

 

I got everything else booked the way I wanted and only had to rearrange dinner for night 2. Hooray! You can check out the previous food post for how I ended up at Hooked and what I thought of the food. 

 

I’ve developed an Embarkation routine recently. Leisurely Specialty Lunch. Some Spa treatment to kill an hour and begin the relaxing at a pretty decent discount because its embarkation day and the spa is deader than the Library on any ship, anywhere. By that time rooms are ready so I drop my backpack off and call whoever I need to call to tell them I’m on safely and I love them and Ill be careful and SEE YA SUCKERS, IM ON A CRUISE! Usually the luggage arrives and I unpack before Sail Away. 

 

I love this because I am just NOT a person who gets in the pool before we leave. I don’t know, I just dont like the idea of getting wet and potentially having to change back into dry clothes in a bathroom on the pool deck for some reason. Call me weird. This schedule kills time, starts the trip off with a great meal and in this case, a facial. Also it prevents me from doing the only other thing I would do during these five hours. Which is have like 852 drinks just because I can. SO yeah…there is that. 

 

Random note on the facial…I booked the EXACT same facial (Elemis Energizer For Men) on the Wonder this last January, and my goodness did this experience make me realize it really is about who you get. In January, my spa person didn’t tell me what she was doing or about to do (which led to a LOT of facial surprise twitches) and she would put on a mask and just like….leave for ten minutes. I just sat there…looking like god knows what wondering, should be burning? Did she forget about me? How long has it been already? HELP.

 

This time, my person was amazing. She honestly cared about me getting the most out of the treatment and said “In my country what you pay for this service is a lot of money (TO ME TOO!), so its very important to me that you get the most out of it.” When I told her about my skin care routine (exfoliate, vitamin C serum, day time eye roller, spf moisturizer, evening cleanse, evening eye gel, night cream), she did something that NO SPA TECH HAS EVER DONE. 

 

“After your treatment I will recommend a product, but honestly with what you’re doing you dont need it.”

 

WHAAAAAAAA? NO SALES PITCH! Knowing that was off the table before the treatment started made it so much easier to relax. No awkward “no thank you!” No walking into the room with an Elemis bag to DH shaking his head…”again?”

 

Although, he isn’t here anyway…so who would know!

 

Okay: Funny Tidbits and observations from the rest of the day before I finish it out:

 

1. Spa - My spa person presented me with the three receipts at the end of the treatment. We sign two for them and keep one. WHY THREE? I actually said “Omg, that’s a lot of receipts.”

 

She actually said: “I know…we save the waves, but we kill the trees.” HAHAHA I booked her for a massage for Day 2. 

 

2. When I met my stateroom attendant, I had my first experience of the impact of one cleaning only. When I said evening…the guy almost literally deflated. I imagine he was doing the same eyeroll I gave Fuss Bus earlier. To be honest, I didn’t know which time I would prefer. This is new to me. I said between 4-7 but that I’m getting ready for dinner or just hanging in the room between 4-5:30 so if it could be after 5:30 that would be great. 

 

He said, “What about if we did morning but I did it late…at like 12-1.” 

 

After thinking about it…that is way better. It really fits my day a lot better and I agreed. He re-inflated himself and we were both grateful. 

 

3. At Hooked, I was seated near two women who told my server they were friends of 40 years but that they had never been on a vacation together. They told him they first met each other at a bar back in the day. The server responded:

 

”Well, if the vacation doesn’t work out, there are so many bars here you can just get another friend!” HA 

 

4. I was walking back to my stateroom from the wrong side of the ship (Day 1 bearings issues) and I got caught behind my stateroom attendant who was pushing a bit of luggage. I was only about 3 doors away so I just slowed down rather than saying anything to get by him.

 

I guess I am a quiet walker because he didn’t notice me and when I got to my door and he was about 15 feet passed me, I heard the distinct sound of an unhindered fart. HAHAHAH Love candid Crew moments. 

 

5. The servers and bartenders at Hooked don’t have a soda gun. They have 2 liters in the bar! This is a very rare example of Royal Caribbean finding a way to spend MORE money than they need to. Also it just makes refills for a whole table a pain in the woohoo! 

 

6. At Chops, two women probably in their 40s sat down next to me (Lot of girl power meals going on here. Love it) They ordered French fries for their appetizer. FRENCH FRIES. Not Beef Carpaccio, or Tuna Tartare, or thick peppercorn bacon, or mushroom soup. FRIES. At CHOPS. Like…I mean…just….ugh.

 

7. Karaoke has one law on night 1 and 1 law only - the first two people will be good. Like…good good. They signed up first and have sang their particular song a nauseating amount of times. The last entry will be a group of two people (in this case, two very drunk 20something ladies singing “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood) who seemingly have never heard a song in their life and will laugh through the entire performance because, honestly, they forgot they signed up an hour ago and didn’t realize it was actually going to happen. They will be terrible, but oddly they will make you smile because that’s actually what karaoke is all about. Doing whatever the heck you want to and just having fun. You will find these people brave. LOUD. But brave. 

 

8. The comedian will make jokes about things that happened in the 60s and 70s. Even on a cruise filled with younger families. Our comedian discussed things like “How many of you remember not having a dryer! We had a clothesline!” And “How many of you remember when vacation was going for a “drive” in the back back of a station wagon! You minivan people dont get it!” Though she did tell a pretty hilarious joke about how you deserve an award if you get home with the Rotisserie Chicken from Costco still intact. She eats the drumsticks on the way home. When her husband asks what happened to the chicken…she says “I mean they sell the thing for $5, you think it’s gonna be a whole chicken? It comes like this.”

 

That’s about it! I’ll upload some photos soon! 

 

Oh also, I won $415 bucks on a bonus on a slot machine. Here’s to giving it back to them slowly and not in 30 minutes! 

 

[Awjeez317]

56 minutes ago, JK805 said:

I love the helipad for sail away on Navigator! Always my go to. The open deck and calm really helps get me in the cruising spirit 😊.
 

I’ve done 3 and 7 night sailings on Navigator - definitely a different vibe entirely. I’ll be doing my first 4 day in a few weeks, followed by a 4/7 B2B. 
 

Enjoy the sailing, can’t wait to head down to the Mexican Riviera in two months myself. I’ll be living vicariously through the post until then…

Oh that B2B sounds fun. You’ll feel the whole shift in dynamic. Cool!

[JK805]

7 hours ago, Awjeez317 said:

Oh that B2B sounds fun. You’ll feel the whole shift in dynamic. Cool!

Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. Last year I added on a 3 day last minute to my 7 day, so it was at the end. It wasn’t bad, but the energy change was a bit more dramatic going from 7 day to 3 day crowd! So I think the 4 day to 7 day will be better. And my 4 day is 1 port (Ensenada) only, so extra sea day bonus! If the bartenders I like are still there at Schooner, they’ll take good care of me on both sides of the B2B 😂. 
 

And your spa person sounds awesome! Gotta love the no upsell. I usually can’t get myself to depart with that much money for a treatment, but with someone like that and your positive experience I might change my mind haha. 
 

Enjoy Cabo tomorrow. I enjoyed my lunch as we sailed in along the coast last year, I got seated by the window with a great view as we came in. Made a great experience (before the tendering to get ashore). 

[LuCruise]

Great hearing your experience.  Sorry you had such a confusing time getting to the port.  I know what you mean.  It is not obvious (and not the nicest port or sail away tbh with the shipping containers - Miami is much prettier).

 

Your spa experience sounds lovely, and how it should be.

 

We had the same thing with the room attendant and the cleaning.  Our guy was lovely, but he asked us if we prefer morning or evening.  When I responded evening since showers are before dinner so it would be great to get clean towels after that, he responded "what if I did morning instead?".  We said we really preferred evening if it was just once a day and that was ok.  Our trick?  We put the "do not disturb" sign on our door all day and removed it when we left for dinner.  It worked (but of course we did risk getting no cleaning at all).

Edited July 30, 2023 by LuCruise

[Awjeez317]

7 hours ago, JK805 said:

Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. Last year I added on a 3 day last minute to my 7 day, so it was at the end. It wasn’t bad, but the energy change was a bit more dramatic going from 7 day to 3 day crowd! So I think the 4 day to 7 day will be better. And my 4 day is 1 port (Ensenada) only, so extra sea day bonus! If the bartenders I like are still there at Schooner, they’ll take good care of me on both sides of the B2B 😂. 
 

And your spa person sounds awesome! Gotta love the no upsell. I usually can’t get myself to depart with that much money for a treatment, but with someone like that and your positive experience I might change my mind haha. 
 

Enjoy Cabo tomorrow. I enjoyed my lunch as we sailed in along the coast last year, I got seated by the window with a great view as we came in. Made a great experience (before the tendering to get ashore). 

Where did you have lunch on arrival? MDR? I was thinking of heading to helipad again for arriving in. 
 

[Awjeez317]

Time for random ship photos!!!!

 

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Awjeez317

[Awjeez317]

Day 2 - 

 

Well, I felt surprising headache free in the morning! WIN! Thanks Liquid IV (*no endorsement has been paid for in this post….but someone is more than welcome to if they want).

 

So I booked a massage yesterday as I left my spa appointment. You get 20% your second service, and I loved my person so it was worth it. She had recommended Hot Stone, which honestly I would never book because the picture literally just looks like someone laying there with stones on their back. Boring!

 

It was odd however. During my facial I asked if they had to be trained in everything at the spa and I was unsurprised to find that indeed they do! talk about wearing a lot of hats…or a lot of oils…or whatever. But when I went to book the massage with the chief computer booking lady at the front of the spa, she said “She cannot do Hot Stone, only Deep Tissue.” I was like…uh…..I mean…okay fine I’ll take the Deep Tissue. I asked why though and she said “qualifications.” Which is…like…the complete opposite of what my tech told me earlier.

 

Odd. 

 

So today when I was picked up by my spa mama with a smile, and escorted into the room she said “I have prepared the Hot Stone Massage for you today” —I was confused to say the least. I told her what happened. And she goes “No, yesterday I recommended Hot Stone for you so that’s what were going to do.” 

 

Even more odd. 

 

My first cynical thought was…did computer booking lady just push me into deep tissue cause it costs more money? Am I being Elemis Swindled!? Later when I looked at the menu….nope. Same price. 

 

My second thought was…oh God is she not qualified!? This went against everything my experience with her had been so I kind of just went with it. 

 

Once again, I LOVED it. She basically did a deep tissue massage with hot stones in her hands. No boring laying with rocks on my back at all! Is this how it is for everyone? Anybody else had one of these on Royal? Just wondering if this is the norm or if I had supreme luck this time around. 

 

And once again…no product pitch at all. Just lovely. Makes SO much of a difference. 

 

I booked my massage at 10:30 (50 minutes…I ain’t made of money!) So I could be free for my 12 lunch at Jamies. NO WAY I was getting a massage AFTER Jamies. Ew.

 

Now, I’ve done Jamies before, many times. I ALWAYS get the burger for lunch because it’s mortality-ending good. I eat it…and die. But this is a the cruise for new things. So I skipped the delicious risotto arroncini things and the burger. 

 

Started with the Tomato bruschetta. Dear Lord. First things first, its portion appropriate. I’ll say that again. ITS A NORMAL PORTION. ON A CRUISE. Made me feel okay about the bread. As you can see in the picture, it’s basil and roasted cherry tomatoes on fresh mozzarella with olive oil and balsamic. Balsamic on bruschetta or caprese salads is often overbearing and pushy, bully all the other flavors on the playground. 

 

But this dish was just perfect. It was so fresh! Not to filling. The bread wasn’t overly toasted, so I avoided the oh too familiar sensation of crunchy bread turning into little knives in my mouth. I could order that again and again. 

 

I got a small portion of the Carbonara Pasta dish, which I did not realize (or pay attention enough probably) was going to be penne pasta…which was…different.

 

Now on the Wonder in January, we went to Giovannis twice and our server insisted I order the Spaghetti Carbonara. Not something I typically order. But it still stands as one of the best dishes I’ve ever had on Royal Caribbean. So I thought I give this a whirl.

 

This was…not everything. It wasn’t even something. The bacon (not pancetta in case you’re curious) looks curiously like the breakfast bacon at the Windjammer…which Jamies is located inside of. SO yeah…it’s the Windjammer bacon for sure. The sauce had no thickness and separated a bit. It pooled at the bottom like a thin butter sauce, didn’t cling to the pasta at all. Carbonara, in my experience, gets thicker the longer it sits….somehow this got thinner??? It seemed like a pasta dish you get ready-made at one of those stations inside the Windjammer. So yeah…it probably was.

 

Then I ordered the Chicken. I know…who gets chicken at Jamies? Well, again, I wanted to try something new. Also it was relatively lighter. It was surprisingly flavorful and really great. The sauce was really bold. It had capers and Kalamata olives in it. So yum. 

 

Skipped Desert again. 

 

The drink was an Elderflower Spritz. Which…was surprisingly tart and sweetness free. I have no idea what elderflower tastes like but I am somehow absolutely certain that drink didn’t have any. HAHA. 

 

During the cruise, I’ve seen a lot of orange shirts around and haven’t been able to figure out what the group is. Every cruise has a group I find. But when I left Jamies, I looked to the left in the Wind Jammer and there was a pretty large section roped off for “Autism On The Seas.”

 

I love this. Families. I love that Royal has made space and is in full support. Absolutely everyone deserves vacation, but to have it be made a little easier for those who would benefit from it is probably more valuable than I realize.

 

At first, I was a little concerned because some people can be kind of awful and entitled on a cruise anyway and the last thing any of these kids deserve is someone being a little extra to them. 

 

And that’s when I started to notice the weirdest thing…the people on this cruise have been overwhelmingly nice and courteous. No rushing into the elevators before people can get it. No shoving and pushing. Even the kids running at the pool deck slow down when they get near people. It’s weird and I’m here for it. 

 

I was on an elevator today that could fit maybe two more people. The door opened to about 15 people waiting to get on. One couple started to get on and then this other couple said “Go ahead, we can get the next one” Okay so they know each other. Makes sense. 

 

But the couple that got on….got OFF the elevator and said “No, no…you guys have been waiting longer than any of us. Here.” WHAT!? The right and respectful thing to do!? Love it. I’m glad these kids get a crowd like this and not the kind we’ve had before were people just cut every line and yell at the bagel guy at the Windjammer. 

 

I mean…I’ve only run into 1 Relaxy Taxi person. 

 

I’ll take a break for now and finish the rest later. Got to get to the helipad for the Arch!

[Awjeez317]

[teddie]

Very much enjoying your report!  It's great fun 🙂

 

Teddie

[Cherful59]

@Awjeez317 Enjoying your review.  I sail on Radiance in 19 days, so I am getting my pre cruise fix from reviews.

 

I saw you like ginger beer.  Have you ever tried tequila, lime and Ginger beer.  One of my favorites.  But I like extra lime in mine, so I always need to ask for several extra lime pieces.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Awjeez317]

6 hours ago, teddie said:

Very much enjoying your report!  It's great fun 🙂

 

Teddie

Thanks so much! 

[Awjeez317]

6 hours ago, Cherful59 said:

@Awjeez317 Enjoying your review.  I sail on Radiance in 19 days, so I am getting my pre cruise fix from reviews.

 

I saw you like ginger beer.  Have you ever tried tequila, lime and Ginger beer.  One of my favorites.  But I like extra lime in mine, so I always need to ask for several extra lime pieces.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

I have not tried that yet actually. Perhaps I will get one tonight. Think it would be okay with silver tequila? I prefer clear liquors haha.  And thanks for following alone! 

[Awjeez317]

Couple of other notes from Day 2

 

My server at Jamie’s had braces. UGH I hated those years…not sure if that’s because I had braces or just because everyone hates being 12-14. But It occurred to me that when I had braces I had to get them adjusted or tightened every so often. I can’t remember how often at the time, but I know that it’s quicker than a Royal cruise contract. Does that mean they have an orthodontist aboard for the crew? Or is the dentist dual trained? Or does he have someone in Mexico he goes to on port days? What if they miss the port? What happens to his teeth?

 

These are the things I think of…

 

Animal Count: I have totally forgotten to mention this about embarkation day, but I was outside for sunset on my balcony and juuuuust far enough away to not be able to capture on a camera, there was a HUGE pod of dolphins that were either fishing or just jumping for general glee that they live in the ocean and not at Seaworld. I mean….they’re whole actual bodies were coming out of the water with the sunset behind them. It was Disney level magical. Also, while at Jamies I saw a whole bunch of flying fish take sudden jumps out of the ocean and glide along. That was cool. What was cooler was the reason they were running. At what I think was top speed was a sea lion jumping in and out of the water trying to catch them. Honestly…you can’t make this up. Some one next to me said they thought it was a bird….I commenced in another internal eye roll. 

 

I went to Izumi for dinner and I LOVE it. It’s consistent. Everything is good. It really doesn’t seem to matter what you get. The only inconsistent thing is the gyoza. Twice now I have found that the dumplin itself seems a little stale…like its been frozen too long or left out in the are. It didn’t have a doughy texture on the edges. Too firm. Flavor was great though. 

 

Drink: I tried the She’s A Geisha. Lovely name. Lovely drink. Kind of like a Sake sangria. Very refreshing and not too alchoholy….alcohol tasty…it not alcoholic because it definitely had that in it…but you couldn’t taste it…what’s the word…oh you know what I Mean…

 

There was a family of five that was seated behind me. Grandma Grandpa, Son and daughter (one of them an in-law) and their baby Scarlet. It was scarlet’s birthday. The family asked if they could get more than one of the small plates…claiming that they were just using Scarlet’s allocated price fix portions. Scarlet was turning one. ONE. Yeah you can have Scarlets firecracker shrimp roll…she’s sooooooo over shrimp right now. And doesn’t eat gluten. 

 

Then the parents ordered Sake bombs. For those of you who haven’t tried them (I haven’t so this was new to me) You take a pint of beer and put two chop sticks across the rim of the beer. Then you balance a shot of sake on the chopsticks….Renni…your server…then sings a song that ends in SAKE BOMB. Then you bang the Table incredibly hard and the shot magically falls into the glass and you chug it. And it doesn’t spill anywhere! Before they did it I thought the drink should come with a poncho. 

 

Also…it turns out that a one year old REALLY likes a fun song but REALLY DOES NOT LIKE when that song ends in a very loud bang and the sound of ceramic falling into a glass filled with beer. Scarlet let her dissatisfaction be known. She was adorable to be honest. So speak your mind girl. I have no problem with that. 

 

On that note, a cute baby being sat right behind you is not a problem. Listening to YouTube videos of songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider for the entirety of dinner however…not so fun. But I got over it. The food was too good. I got a roll and the Sashimi entree, both of which I took bites of before I realized I had not taken photos.

 

I broke on desserts. I had one. Don’t judge, I TOLD YOU this would happen 🙂 

 

The Lava Cake. Oh That Lava Cake. It’s all gooey and stupid and unfair. It was so molten the molten had started to molt before I even cut into it. (The chocolate was coming out already if you couldn’t follow that last bit). 

 

Fun fact: Izumi can look at all of your previous dining reservations. Like. Ever. On Every ship. Everywhere. I walked in and they said “welcome back Mister Jesse! You have been with us many times.”

 

I’m like…bro it’s day 2 what are you talking about? Then they told me and I felt quite foolish for not assuming they keep customer data. Everything else in our life does after all.

 

The service was on another level. Renni was just awesome. Full of jokes and energy and always remembering my name. He added something interesting too: “The chef recommends this, but I recommend this instead.” Chef had recommended the Sesame Ball dessert and he recommended the afore mentioned chocolate lava cake. The woman next to me, who was eating with her daughter ordered the sesame balls, and based on how she gave that clear-your-throat-this-is kind-of-spicy-cough we all do and kind of wrinkled her nose, while my eyes rolled back in my head. I think Renni was right. Ill try the Sesame next time I’m at Izumi to find out.

 

Also, ANOTHER meal seated directly next to two women dining together!? There is obviously nothing wrong with that but at this point the odds are getting kind of crazy. 

 

Near the end, the service was so good I gave my bigger Specialty dining tip reserved for excellent service. They all get something extra cause they are all good, but for every A there are A+’s out there and they deserve that plus. 

 

It got me to thinking…is Izumi the only restaurant that can look into previous dining bookings on past cruises? Or are they only restaurant that does the work to check it? On a first visit at every other restaurant it always starts the same way. 

 

How are you? Welcome,  Funny banter Funny banter. Too big laugh that I actually enjoy. Awkward segue into name of server and then…..some version of “is this your first time dining at____?”

 

Do they just not look? Do they not know and Izumi just has better systems? Or do they no and they are secretly testing us to see if were filthy liars! Why they would do this? I have no idea. But again…

 

These are the things I think about. 

 

Gambled a bit. Haven’t given all the money back yet so that’s good! Found a cologne that I bought two cruises ago, but broke in my suitcase on the way home (It’s my own fault. We flew Spirit. I think they use a giant slingshot to load the luggage). I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. It wasn’t on the Wonder, and I couldn’t remember the exact name so online was out. I knew it was Hermes and I knew the smell. But I found it! YAY! I smell mahhhhvelous. 

 

Went to watch the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire show. The host who asked the questions was really funny, but his interactions with his…assistant? His Vanna White…ya..I’ll go with that. Those interactions were hilarious. She kept loading in the options for answers incorrectly. He would say A, and C would pop up. Or the answer would accidentally pop up. Or he had to ask her to load the question three times while said, I’m trying! It was really funny. I don’t if that’s on purpose or if their software was just terrible. 

 

The final prize ended up being the new version of those bingo stuffed animals…which was a bingo keychain and the coveted Bingo Tee shirt. When you have those, all you have to do is show them to the bingo host on any ship at anytime and you get free cards. You have to win a bingo to get one typically. When he announced it people actually gasped. Someone said “That’s like…a real prize.” HA

 

If you will allow a not so humble brag, I have the blue Bingo Seal (his name is “LittleBabySealPup” and you have to say it really fast) and the Light blue Bingo Puffer fish stuffed animal (unnamed…he’s kind of a prickly HA). And the tee shirt. I will never throw them away. They spark joy. 

 

Went to bed early. Cabo next! Some more photos later too! 

[JK805]

15 hours ago, Awjeez317 said:

Where did you have lunch on arrival? MDR? I was thinking of heading to helipad again for arriving in. 
 

Yeah, my lunch was in the MDR. Actually had my waiter for dinner “steal” me over to his section as the host was leading me somewhere else for the lunch during as arriving to Cabo. Bonus was the window seat, and I sat with my waiter for all MDR breakfasts and lunches after that for the rest of that cruise! (He actually grabbed all of those from my dinner table for the other meals I found out by day 3 or 4, and we laughed about that at dinner haha.)

 

Helipad for arrival into Cabo sounds delightful too, maybe I’ll try that in a few weeks. Haven’t decided on any plans yet for Cabo yet. 
 

Jaimie’s bruschetta was delicious when I had it! I got UDP once on a 3 day, just to give the specialties a try. I enjoy MDR though, so I don’t usually book specialty that often. Interesting to hear about Izumi “following” you though, but makes sense for Royal at the same time. 
 

And your spa experiences are almost tempting me to splurge and book a treatment or two sometime… (or hope to win the spa raffle 😂) but I think I’d want your person if I booked on Navigator. Sounds like a pretty good one all around!

 

i actually won a round of bingo last time on Navigator too, and if the same host is there I fully expect him to remember me from last year! But I already know the “secret” code for extra cards, in addition to all the items etc.