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Just back from monarch -- review

dolfandude

By dolfandude,
in Royal Caribbean International

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dolfandude

dolfandude

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Just departed the Monarch of the Seas yesterday from our 4 day cruise. Here's the first part of my long winded review. Hope you enjoy!

 

MONARCH OF THE SEAS

JAN 5-9, 2009

 

SATURDAY JAN 4TH – The Drive Down

We arrived in Cocoa Beach on Saturday night late. Myself, my wife and 17 year old daughter. Drove from NW Georgia. We live about 45 miles NW of where metro Atlanta starts. About 9 hours total with a 3 hour stop in Statesboro to pick up my daughter and her boyfriend. They go to college at Georgia Southern University. Both are just 6 months past their 21st birthday. This fact will apply later!

While my family has had a beach house in Cocoa Beach for 26 years, I chose to stay in the Marriott Courtyard on Atlantic Avenue. The beach house is undergoing some refurbishment. First time I’ve paid for a hotel there since 1981! Excellent hotel.

$114 a night. You can’t beat that for the digs! The hotel has a restaurant and pool. It’s a short walk to the ocean. Maybe 100 yards down a path. Very centrally located in CCB. While we were driving from NW Georgia to Statesboro, my daughter informed me that her boyfriend woke up sick Saturday morning. Vomiting! Norovirus here we come! She took him to a clinic and the doctor diagnosed him with food poisoning. Seems he ate what he thinks was some bad chicken and/or mayonnaise the night before. He did get a note from the doctor with this diagnosis in case I needed to inform the ships physician. This of course, changed our plans some. They decided that they’d drive down on Sunday depending on how he felt. We continued on. But only after her mother and I cleaned her kitchen! Three college girls in a house. You’d think at least one of them would be a clean freak. Not!

 

SUNDAY JAN 4TH – Game Day!

Woke up Sunday morning late! Went to Walgreens for some last minute supplies. Then went to Jetty Park to make sure that they’d be open at 8pm when the Mariner of the Seas was leaving Port Canaveral for the last time. Paid my $7 and checked it out for a good spot to video the Mariner. She was our first ship back in 2004. I like to say we lost our cruise virginity to her. We’re sailing the Adventure this summer mainly to experience the Voyager class again. I then drove to the port to get an up close look at the Mariner and check out the parking and luggage drop off. She’s quite a sight. The Disney Wonder and Carnival Something (do you really care?) were there. Disney has a wonderful looking terminal. And the ship looks grand. Then back to our room at the Courtyard to get ready for the Dolphins playoff game. This game is what made us drive to CCB on Saturday. Originally, we were driving in on Sunday. Watched the game. Lost. But had a great season. From 1-15 to 11-6 in one year! Super. Just not Super Bowl. Wait til next year!

DD and BF got in right after the game. He was completely cured. Hallelujah! Went to dinner at Bunky’s Raw Bar. It’s on 520 just a block west of Ron Jon’s. Local place. Good FL seafood. I was raised in FL and love seafood. Just not fish! Go figure. (I wonder if fish ever get tired of seafood.)

After dinner, had to make the annual trip to Ron Jon’s! Been going there since the 70’s and have watched it grow and grow and grow and….well you know. It’s a city block now.

After that we headed to Jetty Park and staked out our spot on the pier to watch Mariner leave. Normally, she leaves at 5pm, so getting to see her headed out of the channel with all her lights on was amazing. There were not a lot of folks there watching. In fact, I told two groups walking off the pier that they should stay and watch. They thanked me later! I took some great video. As the Mariner went past, we were yelling and cheering. The passengers yelled and hollered back. Then the Captain sounded the ships horn. When I got back to our room I logged on to Cruise Critic and found that someone had already posted a video! And I thought that I had an exclusive! He was 50 yards inland from where I was. Found out later we were parked right next to each other! I’ll try and posted mine on YouTube. Never posted on YouTube before. Anyway, from there it was on to ABC. Florida’s premier liquor store for some Captain’s and Bailey’s. I was determined to find out if Rumrunners really worked! I mean, it’s all for the benefit of other Cruise Critic members’ right? Hahahahah! Then off to bed.

 

MONDAY JAN 5th – Departure Day

 

I had told everyone that I wanted to be at the terminal by 11am. Remember, we now had my lovely wife of 22 years, my 21 DD, my 17 DD and a 21 young man. All in the same hotel room trying to get ready! I didn’t think about that when I booked one room with a fold out sofa for 5 people. But it wasn’t that bad. I was up and ready before they even woke up! Left the hotel and went by our beach house to check on something, then to Mickey D’s for a breakfast sandwich. We were dropping off luggage at exactly 11am (thanks family!). Parked and speeded through check in. We were on the ship at 11:35! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Isn’t that the best feeling? When you first board and just say Ahhhhhhhhhhhh? I know it is with me! You enter on deck 4 and they have tables set up with info on various things. The spa. The drinks. The excursions. The drinks. The future cruises. The drinks. Remember what I said about cruising with two just turned 21 year olds?

Well, even though I read that cabins would not be ready until 1pm, I caught an elevator up to deck 7 – the Promenade deck – (yes, the one where everyone can look in your window!) to see if I could get to our cabins. There was an attendant waiting for people like me! She told me to get my butt back in that elevator before the door closed… not really….but I did! She politely informed me that the cabins would not be ready until 1pm.

Headed up to the Windjammer for lunch. We were directed to the rear portion of the WJ (where I was going anyway – to beat the crowds). But it was early and not many folks there anyway. I love the couches they have midway down on the sides. It’s a very comfortable place to sit and eat and enjoy the views. Maybe not so much of Port Canaveral but we could see the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Cape or Kennedy Space Center as it’s called now. I had to get some Honey Stung Chicken. You know, if you put a piece on a bun with a pickle, it would taste a lot like Chick Fil A! Don’t flame me you HSC cult people!

It was good. The WJ is a good place to eat. Good food. But it’s still a buffet. Don’t get me wrong, I like buffets. Or is it Buffett. Hey I like him too. Parrotheads Rule! Wonderful views from the WJ. But…. Better views from my favorite place on a RCL ship…the Viking Crown Lounge. And that’s where we headed. There was only one couple there. It always amazes me how the place is never really crowded. Ordered a Black and Tan (Guinness and Bass Ale) but was horrified to find out that they didn’t have any Guinness! This completely ruined my cruise. No I’m just kidding. But if I can vent for a minute, it really ticks me off when someone gets soooo mad about something soooo trivial on their vacation. Anyway, I picked a Bass Ale by itself for me. Two mixed drinks, one virgin strawberry daiquiri and a Bud Lite for $36. What a bargain. Remember… two 21 year olds. And we’re just getting started! After that “the boys” got two Foster oil cans to go! That’s a huge can of beer. Actually the best bargain for beer on the ship. $6.80 for a little over 25 ounces. Yes, this was going to be a spring break cruise in January!

Headed to the room around 1:15. We met our stateroom attendant, Connie from Jamaica. She was absolutely fabulous. Our best stateroom attendant yet.

We were in a deck 7 OV – room 7512. Forward on the port side. Our daughter’s cabin was down the hall – room 7542.

We had asked for our beds to be put together but they were not. We told Connie about it. She said she was sorry and no problem. We walked down to DD’s cabin and saw their beds together and how much space it took up and reluctantly agreed to keep ours apart. You see, having the Pullman bed above us and the beds together, you would only have about two feet between the wall and the side of the bed. This way we could all sit on the insides of the two beds, walk in between to get things, ect. It turned out to be perfect except for not getting to sleep with my DW for four nights. We made up for it by slow dancing more and snuggling throughout the cruise! We were prepared for the size of the room. 122 square feet. But you know what? It wasn’t that bad at all. The only real time the three of us collided was getting ready for formal night! Don’t ever get between a teenage girl and her hair straightener! We were up before her all week and went to bed before her every night. I originally booked a deck 2 OV for $169 per person during a WOW sale. Another $75 off for the sale. Then two weeks later, I upgraded to deck 7 for $30 more each. Ended up paying less than $200 per person for a 4 night cruise. What a deal!

Let’s talk about Deck 7 rooms. Most people say DO NOT BOOK DECK 7. I disagree. Nobody peered into our cabin. We simply closed the sheers or closed the curtains when we were dressing. We really were not in our room much other that for getting ready to leave the room. Except for Nassau, when we chilled for a couple of hours after being on the go all day.

There were some kinds of barrels, in two rows, outside our window all down the deck, so no one could even touch our window if they tried. It was really nice to walk a few feet down the hall and be outside. Or leaving Boleros bar and walking outside for half the ship and then back in to our cabin. We loved Deck 7!

Well, it’s late and I’m tired. More tomorrow if you’re interested. I love to write. Hopefully, you love to read.

 

Steve

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dolfandude

dolfandude

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the barrels you mention under your window are the life rafts the crew use in case of an emergency! Pax get the lifeboats (with about 5 officers/crew per boat) but crew (those not assigned to run a lifeboat) get the life rafts.

 

Thanks for that info. How many total people do the lifeboats carry?

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dolfandude

dolfandude

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So, was the 21 yo BF better by the time you left or was he still feeling sick. I would hate to get on a ship and already feel nauseous before the ship has even started moving.

 

Great review...I'd like to hear more.

 

He was feeling 80% by Sunday afternoon. Then, on Monday morning, he was 100% and ready to party!:D Did I mention both are Greek? Meaning, fraternity and sorority! 21 and Greek--- Yes, some things you read about Greeks are true! But in a good way!;)

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Clarea

Clarea

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the barrels you mention under your window are the life rafts the crew use in case of an emergency! Pax get the lifeboats (with about 5 officers/crew per boat) but crew (those not assigned to run a lifeboat) get the life rafts.

The captain told us during the Q&A on this cruise that International Law requires a cruise ship to be able to help another cruise ship in distress. If a cruise ship picks up another cruise ship's passengers, they must have enough life boats to hold all the passengers - the original passengers and the newly rescued passengers. Hence the inflatable lifeboats.

 

Great review so far Steve.

 

Bob

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dolfandude

dolfandude

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Clarea (Bob) was part of our CC group and I really enjoyed spending time with him and his family.

Well, here's more of our adventure on the Monarch. I'll take you through day (and night!) 1.

 

As we were leaving our cabin to go explore, we saw our luggage down the hall so we grabbed it and retreated to our cabins again. Unpacked and got organized. I’m all about while traveling! I hung up my must-have shoe organizer on the outside of the bathroom door. This, by far, is the one thing I’ve found to bring that helps keep your cabin organized and a little more clutter free. And I filled it about 20 of the compartments! Of course the 21 yr olds check right away for the Runrunners in their luggage… OK, I did too! Worked like a charm. I brought a quart of Stoli vodka, a quart of Baileys and a pink of Bacardi. They took a quart of spiced rum. We make ourselves a drink and head out. Don’t worry alcohol police; by the end of this review you’ll see I purchased enough alcohol from the ship for them to be happy! In fact I think I won a prize! I can’t remember!!!! Our room attendant came by to give us our C&A coupon books. We’re Gold but they were out of Gold books so she gave us Platinum books! I felt special! And, no, nobody ever asked to see our ship card when using a coupon. We used them in the casino for the $5 match play during Blackjack, coffee shop, ships shop, free spin in the casino and, of course, the free drink coupon.

Well, by now it’s around 2pm and we need to be in the Schooner Bar for our CC meeting at 3:30 so we go exploring. Ended up in the Schooner Bar 20 later ordering my Black and Tan! Yeah! They have Guinness. Our waiter, Marshall from India, advises me that the VCL was probably just temporarily out of the Guinness. We only sit for 5 minutes after the drink come and head out again. Around 3:15 pm we head back to the Schooner Bar. Marshall the waiter sees me and says “Hi Steve, the usual?” I LOVE THIS SHIP! DW and DD17 decide to head to the pool deck instead. DW didn’t want DD17 to feel left out, I guess. Anyway, by 3:30 the CC members start filtering in. We only had around 8 folks post on our roll call but I think 6 showed up. This was our 2nd meet & mingle and our 5th cruise. It was nice putting faces to names. Three of us agreed to meet in the morning on Nassau day to go to Atlantis. For some reason we were all under the impression that the muster drill would be held at 4:30 but at 3:45 the announcements started stated it was at 4pm! So we only had about 15 minutes together. We headed back to the cabins for our life jackets and outside to get in line. Remember our cabin was like three from the front of the ship but our muster station was all the way back in the aft! At least it was still on the port side of deck 7. No revelations here. Same old thing.

Afterward we decided to explore the ship. We were on the Majesty last year so there were a lot of similarities. The ship looked beautiful. New carpet. Shiny rails. Clean glass. Again, the crew was super. EVERYONE we saw so far greeted us with pleasantries. That fact continued throughout our cruise with one exception that I’ll get to later. We decided to head back to the Viking Crown Lounge for sail away. Ordered another round (ya think?). DD and her boyfriend decide to go roaming around. The VCL is THE place to be during sail away I think. Great views. Headed down for more exploring. The shops onboard, the casino, the photo gallery are exactly the same as the Majesty which made learning the ship really easy especially after what I’d drank so far! Don’t worry, I’m a big guy and can hold my liquor better that the average bear! The casino opened and we headed there and met up with our 21 yr olds. I made my usually token offering! The fun was watching the 21 yr olds play. The casino was clean and not smokey—hah! But it had just opened. I occasionally smoke, when I occasionally drink but DW is a reformed smoker (6 yrs) and it really bothers her. Only stayed an hour and headed to the room to get ready for our late dinner seating (8:30pm).

DD17 headed to the teen mix and mingle in Club Fuel. We pretty much let her do her thing during our cruises. We’ve been blessed with two wonderful daughters who have never gotten into any major trouble their whole lives. We’ve been lucky. She planned on meeting us at 8:30 in the MDR.

We were seated in Claude’s dining room on deck 4 at a 10 top table with a single parent father with 4 kids. This is the first time in 5 cruises that we actually had other people dining with us. I usually request a 4 top. Nice folks from near Orlando not far from where I was raised. Our waiter was named Hita from Indonesia. He was outstanding. He looked like a twin of the actor Kal Penn who plays Dr. Kutner on House and also played Kumar in the Harold and Kumar movies. He had just joined the crew of the Monarch in CA for the trip to Port Canaveral two months ago. Very personable and likable. 28 yrs old in his 8 year onboard ships. Carnival first then RCL. Best waiter yet. Did I mention I brought a drink with me to dinner? Baileys and Stoli. That’s right, just the two. Nobody will say a word about bringing a drink to dinner. But if you order from the bar, be prepared to wait 20 minutes for your drink. That was the norm for the three nights we ate in the MDR. Our assistant waiter was aptly named Oscar. Remember Sesame Street? Yes, this was Oscar the grouch. For reasons beyond our knowledge, he was just plain sour! He did his job but had no personality. Oh well. Did it ruin my cruise? Yeah right! He did well by continuously offering us the award winning Savory Bites of bread! Oh I do love Savory Bites! And DD21’s boyfriend loved them too. Food was good. I won’t go into all the offerings except to say the Black Angus steak was “free” and very good. I did not see the infamous $14.95 steak anywhere. Everyone was pleased with their dinners.

FYI… I refused to “dress up” except for formal night while I’m on a cruise. Now, my idea of dressing up for dinner is Dockers and an island casual Tommy B or new jeans, yes jeans, and a Tommy B with casual shoes. I can dress with the best of you, just not on a cruise. It’s hard enough to put that tie on for formal night.

Afterward, we noticed some folks gathered a deck up by the shops. Went up to check it out and would you believe it? It was a free liquor tasting party! Did I mention both 21 yr olds are Greek? As in fraternity/sorority. Party on Garth! I actually found a new liqueur that I like called Rum Jumbie. A nifty bottle in the shape conga drummer with a real straw hat! Ring it up! Anyway, at that point, DW was feeling tired and decided to leave us. I’m in trouble now! We head for The Circuit, the nightclub. First you have to understand my musical tastes. I am a 70’s classic rocker and lover current country. The Circuit is M&M / 50 cent / and other current top 40 hits! Not my Casey Kasem Top 40! No sooner that we ordered drinks, my DD17 showed up. You have to be 18 to enter the club but she doesn’t look her age and will be 18 in three months and I needed a dance partner! She is a trained dancer/cheerleader/tumbler and she agreed to dance with her daddyman! I think I may have embarrassed them! Hahahhah! That’s what they get for getting me drunk! It was all their fault! Actually, had a really good time. Good place for the youngsters. Stayed until after 1am. Headed to the room for some much deserved sleep. End of our first day! What a day. Tomorrow is Coco Cay. We went there last year onboard the Majesty and absolutely loved it. First tender at 8:30! Not gonna happen! More to come!

 

Steve

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spadercool

spadercool

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Drove from NW Georgia. We live about 45 miles NW of where metro Atlanta starts. About 9 hours total with a 3 hour stop in Statesboro to pick up my daughter and her boyfriend. They go to college at Georgia Southern University.

what part of NW atlanta?? GSU is an hour north of me.

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patnolen

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We were at Bunky's that night for the game, it was a mad house! I hope you enjoyed the meal! We're regulars there and couldn't believe the manager didn't have enough staff on for the big game that wasn't televised in this area unless you had the NFL package. Many fans were out that day to watch the game, all the restaurants were packed!

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dolfandude

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Steve, Cumming, GA here. We are leaving next Friday for our Monarch cruise. We plan on leaving around 5am and should be there by 1:30 or 2pm. Love your review, so far, and looking forward to reading more.

 

One of my good friends lives in Cumming. Man, you're cutting it close, don't you think? Personally, I always would drive down the day before in case of car trouble. but that's just me. You'll love this ship. Fantastic crew. Best yet. Have fun.

Steve

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firstplacechef

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I agree, but the DW cannot get away the day before. Heading our on a wing and a prayer. We may try to leave a little earlier. We normally get up around 4:30am anyway so not a problem. We have a couple of friends going with us so looking forward to a little R&R, good food and NO PHONE.

BTW, I see Hawaii is your fav cruise destination? When did you last cruise and with which line? We are going on our 25th anniversary in March on Celebrity for a 16 day RT from San Diego, really looking forward to this one.

 

Scott

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dolfandude

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Here's our second day on our Monarch 4 night.

 

I awoke around 9am on my own and surprisingly felt OK! But just “OK”. Tired and a little worn. Showered and shaved (it was formal night). The bathroom was really small but functional. The only complaint we had was that the shower curtain wanted to be your friend during your time inside the shower! I’m a pretty good sized boy (5’11” / 250) and I found myself slapping the shower curtain away and cursing at it! It didn’t work. Actually, it was kinda funny. Skinny DW had the same complaint. But she doesn’t talk to inanimate objects! The shower water pressure was super. Nothing like a steaming hot hard shower to get your blood flowing. Feeling better now. Got the teenager up surprisingly easy. After all she was born and bred in FL and now lives in the mountains, so a beach day is what she wants most out of the cruise.

Went to the WJ for breakfast. I’m not a food critic so you will not get detailed reviews from me. Did I tell you how much I weigh? Need I say more? Standard breakfast. DD21 and boyfriend did not like the bacon. I told them it was from their hangover but they proudly advised me that they didn’t have one! Damn kids!

Headed down to the bottom to catch a tender. Take the elevator to deck two and then you’ll walk down the stairs to deck one. Guess what! Some of us forgot to bring beach towels. Oh, it wasn’t me! I actually bought two really cool C&A towels on EBay that fold up into its own beach bag. So, maybe the 21 yr olds DID feel a little out of whack! Ha! I told them we’d meet them on the island and off we went. Did you know that each tender hold exactly 120 people (seated) on each of its two decks? Some useless trivia for you. Got some good photos of Coco Cay as we approached. We really loved Coco Cay last year. We’ve been to NCL’s private island once and we like CCC better. And remember folks it’s Coco not Cocoa! That bugs me because Cocoa Beach is our second home. In fact our new dog is named Cocoa! More useless stuff for you! Got off the tender and had our picture taken and headed for the small straw market. It’s immediately on the right as you exit the tender. I saw what looked like football behind one of the booths and had to investigate. What I found was a guy that had coconuts and he made them into football souvenirs. He hollowed them out. Drilled some holes and laced it up. Painted strips on each end. And would paint your favorite teams’ logo on it. He painted Coco on one of the strips and Cay on the other. He then engraved whatever name you wanted on the other side and 2009. Guess what team I got?

Duh…..The once great and soon to be great again Miami Dolphins. And of course, Dolfandude 2009 engraved on the back. My main vice in life is sports memorabilia and I’m a sucker for anything Miami Dolphin so this was a unique find. $30. He wanted $35. He also did baseball team with rounder coconuts.

Wait, look, here come the 21 yr olds. Will I have to drink again? By this time its high noon and the food is out at the BBQ pavilion. It smells good. I didn’t eat much for breakfast so I told the brood that I was getting some food and they soon followed. They do a really nice spread. If you consider that they have to bring everything from the ship when we get there, set it up, serve and break it down and take it back to the ship, it’s really a great job that they do. And for the Monarch and Majesty, they do it twice a week. I wonder if the crew likes Coco Cay. Food was good. Hamburgers, hot dogs and ribs. Now, I’m a southern boy raised on BBQ so I won’t say what I thought about the ribs. But they were eatable. We snagged a picnic table on the grass (same as last year). It was an slightly overcast day. The sun peeked out about half the time. About 80 degrees with low humidity. A beautiful day on the island. Chickens roam free and you can throw them bread and watch them fight over it. Ah, the amusements of a slightly hung over 40 something yr old! The steel drum band began to play as we sat down. Guitars, Tiki Bars and a whole lotta love. I love the steel drums. It’s on my “things to do before I die” list. Have you made one of those? You should.

Headed out to find a place in the sun. Walked past the volleyball courts and easily found five lounge chairs together. I headed over to the island sports hut to find out about the rentals. Paddle boats and kayaks for $15 for 30 minutes. Small catamarans for $30 for 30 minutes. Didn’t ask about the wave runners.

Then I felt like a little “hair of the dog” so off I was to the bar for a Planter’s Punch. But, alas, only the first two bars that you come to have fruit juice. The last two are satellite bars and only have coke and such for mixers. So, I walked the whole 50 yards back to Bahama Jacks bar. Beware. Not many drinks are actually blended in front of you. For my Planter’s Punch, the bartender poured in a lot of Myer’s Rum and then filled it up with a premix juice. He did the small thing later on when my DD21 asked for a strawberry daiquiri only it came out of an Icee machine. She didn’t like it and neither did I but she did drink it all! She went back later for a Bahama Momma.. While we were there we saw some stingrays in the water. DD21 and BF were walking in the water and I filmed it from shore. The shore is elevated in that area by the Wave Hut. DW and I walked around to the other side of the island past Coconut Willies bar. There’s a stand of palms on the beach and it’s really pretty. Got some good pictures. I have a relatively new Sony Camcorder that also takes still pictures and I brought it along. I’ll post some video and pictures soon. We walked probably ¾ of a mile down the beach. There’s not much flat, hard sand to walk on so you’ll find yourself walking in deeper white dry sand. Take your shoes off and enjoy the water. It’s an easier trek. We decided to head back to the ship around 3pm. Everyone agreed. We were about to go through security before getting on the tender and had forgotten that I’d taken the Bacardi run runner with me! DD21 had her Captain Morgan’s and she was freaking out! I said “no problem mon”. It went through the x-ray machine fine. 2 for 2. Go Rum Runners! Dot com! Note: the upper portion of the tender unloads first. We were on bottom and you had to wait about 10 minutes for the top to unload. No problem. Headed to the room. No wait at the elevators.

Freshened up. Took showers. Changed clothes. Relaxed and made a drink! More Russian/Irish spirits. If you’re interested, mix about 2-3 ozs of vodka and fill up the big cup with about 8 ozs of Baileys. Yum! After about an hour we headed out with DD17 to climb the rock wall. She loves doing this. Got there about 5pm and only one adult and one small girl were climbing. Our little spidergirl scaled the wall in record time! Well, her record. The rock wall is in the back of the ship and we got to see (and photo) a beautiful sunset as we sailed away from CCC. Stopped at the Schooner bar and saw the 21 yr olds there. Order a drink! Wouldn’t want them to think I couldn’t keep up! Then headed to the cabin to get ready for Formal night! We use Formal night for our formal family photos and that’s the only reason you will get me to wear a suit on a cruise. I just don’t think when you’re on a cruise to relax or whatever that you need to get dressed up and have dinner. But for DW’s sake, I do it! Just my honest opinion. Headed down for photos at 7:30. Posed, and I do mean posed, for three different photographers. These guys are good. Each had us pose four or fives ways. Me and DW. Then add our girls. Then add BF. Then DD21 and BF. Then the two girls. I have a beautiful family!

I feel blessed.

Dinner was again good. Hita was great and we noticed a change in Oscar. He was smiling! Wow! He’s not such a bad guy after all. Now get over here with those Savory Bites! Good meal. As dessert was being ordered I heard the Bee Gees playing Night Fever. You know, Saturday Night Fever. It was the 70’s dance party going on in the Centrum. I walked outside to check it out with DD21. They had crew dressed up like the Village People and other 70’s styles complete with afro wigs! We came back to the dining room and they had shut the doors on us! Now where did I want to be—inside the stuffy MDR or dancin’ in the street to my 1978 Senior Prom theme songs! Yeah, the dining room is where we went. DW would not have been happy if I disappeared! We scarfed down dessert and said goodbye to the guys and headed out to boogie! The placed was packed. We could now barely see the dancing going on one deck below. Suddenly the Indian chief from the Village People is in front of DD17!!! I struggle to open the camera. He runs away. We are in hot pursuit. We catch up and DD17 gets her photo with this beast of manliness. (He’s not the real Indian from the VP)! I’m right next to the Guest Relations desk so I ask for my running total of my onboard charges. Whoops. That was a buzz killer! So far, we had spent $340 on alcohol in the two days! With Rum Runners! And we were headed for the Circuit Lounge for the 70’s/ 80’s dance party! The night was young. Oh well, it’s only money. And we’re on vacation.

Headed to Boleros because we heard Old time rock and roll. Stayed for a couple drinks. Good band. They’re called D’Version. Good 60’s and 70’s classic rock.

When we get to the Circuit, around 11:30pm, there’s no 70’s or 80’s music playing. It’s rap! OK, I endured it last night but I was pretty buzzed. I’m pretty sober tonight. And tired. DW absolutely hates rap. The Cruise Compass clearly states the time for 70’s/80’s party is 10:45-midnight. We asked the bartender and he looked dazed and confused. Nice turnabout. We’re told there’s no party. Only rap. Guess they stopped a little early. DW says a big no and we decide to head for the theater for the late night adult comedy at 12:15am. The comedian was Chas Elstner. He did a good show. Worth the late night. Lasted a half hour or so. Then back to the room.

When we got back to the room and we found that we have a monkey towel animal. We love towel animals! Forgot to mention we had an elephant the night before. Found mints on our pillows. Love that Connie. We saw her a lot during the cruise. She was always smiling and I always made some type of conversation with her. Asked her one time how many cabins she took care of and she said 13. Asked another time if she got to keep all the money from the 13 cabins or did it go into a pool. She said it went to her. Good to know. Good night Irene! DD17 strolled in at 2pm which is the curfew for under 18’s. We actually peeked into the Club Fuel teen Disco around midnight to see DD17. About 5-6 teens yell a big “GET OUT” to DD21!! Right after that DD17 appears. I remind her about the 2am curfew. The kids just hang out, play cards, listen to music, and play dodge ball. She had a great time. Met some new friends. She is still in contact with kids from our Hawaii cruise back in 2005 and our Jewel cruise from 2006. They use Face Book or My Space to keep in touch. More to come! End of day two.

 

Steve

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