The Symphony, The Key, Two Teens, and Me: A March 2019 Review

[SorcererHeidi]

When I was going through University I worked part time at Best Buy at the returns counter. Someone could be 1 day past the return policy and come in yelling and screaming and I wouldn't return it. Alternatively, someone comes in one or two months past and really calm and polite, explaining what happened and I would do what I could to get them a store credit. The yeller and screamer would likely get their way by going up the chain....but not from me....it was my own absurd way of teaching people some manners. Who knows if it worked (probably not) but I always told the polite people the only reason I was doing it was because they were acting like actual humans.

Good for you - people on this earth NEED to be reminded that there are other HUMANS - with thoughts and feelings - that inhabit this planet, besides themselves! And it's s shame they HAVE to be reminded!! I am a HUGE "courtesy and manners" person. I also have a saying that you probably have thousand other people in your day to tel you you're doing a crappy job, let me be the ONE that tells you you're doing a GREAT one! I love to make people smile by letting them know I "see" and appreciate them, and doing random acts of kindness. Just yesterday at the movie theater - the young girl working the concession stand was obviously very nervous, and it was probably her first (or close to it) day. She gave me popcorn instead of the drink I ordered. When I corrected her, I could see she was getting very bent out of shape, and close to crying, trying to figure out how to "refund" the popcorn. Didn't make it any better the manager was headed that way,. and she started shaking, poor thing, watching him approach. I told her "Never mind, I'll pay for the popcorn - give it to the next person who orders it, on me. And I'll also pay for/take the drink". The look of relief on her face was priceless, and it made me feel SO good. And I got to do TWO random acts of kindness!!

 

[anitag888]

I think that every person should be required to work in customer service or guest services at some point. It really gives you perspective on what is the best way to treat people. I spent 5 years in guest services at a theme park and I learned so much about how to deal with people. This continues to be a great thread, thanks!

 

[SorcererHeidi]

I think that every person should be required to work in customer service or guest services at some point. It really gives you perspective on what is the best way to treat people. I spent 5 years in guest services at a theme park and I learned so much about how to deal with people. This continues to be a great thread, thanks!

You're right - I spent most of my life in public service - you learn how to treat others when you've been on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTER OR DESK for awhile!!

 

[nancy drew]

Uh, oh. And now that I read what it was…I can see why that would be frustrating. There's definitely room for improvement there, especially since I assume you paid for that benefit.

Actually we aren't there yet. Stay tuned to the end .

Okay, this is a first…I've never quoted myself before I just wanted to come back and say I just ordered those masks from Amazon and they guarantee delivery by tomorrow! Thanks for the tip!

Awesome! I have to say at first it is really disorienting, putting your face in the water with the mask on and breathing normally. I always had that with the snorkel tube too, but this seems worse to me. I have to take it off and put it on a few times because my brain keeps saying "YOU ARE UNDERWATER YOU CAN'T BREATHE HERE!!!" and I have to be like "Chill out, yes I can" and it takes a while for it to resolve, but then I'm good to go.

When I was going through University I worked part time at Best Buy at the returns counter. Someone could be 1 day past the return policy and come in yelling and screaming and I wouldn't return it. Alternatively, someone comes in one or two months past and really calm and polite, explaining what happened and I would do what I could to get them a store credit. The yeller and screamer would likely get their way by going up the chain....but not from me....it was my own absurd way of teaching people some manners. Who knows if it worked (probably not) but I always told the polite people the only reason I was doing it was because they were acting like actual humans.

I always try to be polite and understanding. Sometimes the service person is the one being the jerk (this is rare, and usually over the phone, when they are actually wrong about a policy- in your example it would be if I were returning something within the window and you said it couldn't be returned because it was Friday and you don't process returns on Friday or some made up thing like that). That's when I start to lose my cool. But otherwise, especially in my old age, I am finding that patience and kindness are appreciated.

Good for you - people on this earth NEED to be reminded that there are other HUMANS - with thoughts and feelings - that inhabit this planet, besides themselves! And it's s shame they HAVE to be reminded!! I am a HUGE "courtesy and manners" person. I also have a saying that you probably have thousand other people in your day to tel you you're doing a crappy job, let me be the ONE that tells you you're doing a GREAT one! I love to make people smile by letting them know I "see" and appreciate them, and doing random acts of kindness. Just yesterday at the movie theater - the young girl working the concession stand was obviously very nervous, and it was probably her first (or close to it) day. She gave me popcorn instead of the drink I ordered. When I corrected her, I could see she was getting very bent out of shape, and close to crying, trying to figure out how to "refund" the popcorn. Didn't make it any better the manager was headed that way,. and she started shaking, poor thing, watching him approach. I told her "Never mind, I'll pay for the popcorn - give it to the next person who orders it, on me. And I'll also pay for/take the drink". The look of relief on her face was priceless, and it made me feel SO good. And I got to do TWO random acts of kindness!!

That was a great save with the popcorn. And a great act of kindness!

I think that every person should be required to work in customer service or guest services at some point. It really gives you perspective on what is the best way to treat people. I spent 5 years in guest services at a theme park and I learned so much about how to deal with people. This continues to be a great thread, thanks!

I haven't personally worked in customer service, though being a teacher is kind of similar because we definitely get parents who treat us as "service" employees and talk down to us or make unrealistic demands. I was married to someone who was in a service based industry and after hearing years of stories I started to lose faith in humanity. But it made me want to do better than the people in the stories I had heard.

 

[pattyw]

@nancy drew this is a wonderful report! So much information- great pictures!! I am loving reading along- and will re-read many times before our cruise on 4/14

 

[nancy drew]

@nancy drew this is a wonderful report! So much information- great pictures!! I am loving reading along- and will re-read many times before our cruise on 4/14

Thanks so much! I have read so many detailed reports, and they have always been helpful to me. I would never have considered going on a cruise if not for some of the really detailed reports I have read. I guess this is my way of paying it forward! I did a few reports a long time ago, for Disneyland, I think? They are buried somewhere in my signature. And I did one last summer for our Alaska cruise elsewhere. Its fun for me, and I enjoy reliving our vacation!

 

[nancy drew]

Day 5 continued

After reconvening in the room, I tried to open the bottle of wine. They had thoughtfully provided one of those corkscrews that you twist into the cork and then pull it straight out. Well I could not get the cork to budge. I let DS try and he couldn't do it, either. I looked it up online and found all kinds of tricks that involve walking the bottle and a shoe against a wall, but I didn't want to do that to our neighbors. We tried so hard but the darn thing wouldn't budge. I ended up having the room attendant open it. He put the bottle on the ground and squeezed it with his feet then pulled up on the corkscrew with both hands. POP! It came right out. I had probably loosened it for him.

One thing I have heard often when discussing cruises is "I can't have a balcony stateroom with my children, I would be terrified that they would go overboard!" Well I wouldn't really worry about that. First of all, you have to turn the balcony handle up and pull at the same time, and the door is really heavy. Second, you can lock it way up high so no one can open it. It is safer than having a balcony in a hotel room, where they don't always have all of these safety precautions. I never hear people refusing to stay in a hotel with a balcony due to fears of their child falling.

Anyway, I am sharing the photo because I remember a heated discussion once where someone insisted that this lock did not exist on cruises, they had never seen it, and that meant it wasn't there. Well, it is there, at least on Symphony.

We went to dinner, and I stopped to take a stealth photo of this art on the way in to the dining room. I like those chairs a lot. It would be cool to have a huge dining room, and one of those long tables that goes on forever, and have those chairs at either end.

Our beverage server, I Putu, decided it was time for the kids to mix things up with their drinks. They had been drinking non-alcoholic mojitos, and daiquiris, and he thought they needed to expand their options, so he brought us the bar menu. I wasn't going to post it, because it would take up so much space, but I think this should work.

This looks like maybe it is the prime rib. I wish I had taken photos of the menus, but I somehow thought they had already been shared somewhere. Unfortunately I cannot seem to find them anywhere to double check what we ate each night.

Dessert was pavlova. The pavlova and fruit were good, but the whipped cream is that whipped cream that is thick, and obviously not actual whipped cream. But I still ate all of it, so obviously it wasn't that big of a deal.

DD got the crème brulée. She got this a few times, and DS got it at least once.

I have no idea what we did after dinner as there is no photographic evidence of anything. DD and I probably went to Schooners and DS went to the teen club.

And that's the end of Day 5! Day 6 would be our last day at sea, as we would be in Nassau on Day 7. The plan was to enjoy the sunshine, sit in a chair, and read. DS planned to hang out with friends, or whatever he was doing all week.

 

[nancy drew]

Day 6! Day at Sea!

I couldn't believe how quickly the week was flying by. Again, I hate having a port day on the last day, because it makes it feel so much shorter. But I don't get to make up the itineraries, so what are you going to do!

We slept in (big surprise, I know) and then by the time we all were awake and functioning breakfast was over, so we went down to the Promenade and got pizza for breakfast/lunch at Sorrento's. DS headed off to the club, and DD and I were going to go up to the pool deck and get some sun and read. However, they were setting up for a parade in the promenade, so we decided to stay. Our usually spot was taken so we didn't get a very good view. It was cute, though! I know a lot of people are upset that Royal ended their contract with Dreamworks, and people are wondering what they are going to do. I don't see a need to do anything! Sure, my kids are too old for characters, but there was so much going on at all times, I don't really think characters make the experience that much better for kids. With 1700 kids under 12 on board even without Dreamworks, I don't think Dreamworks is a make or break component of a cruise.

Who needs Dreamworks when you have pirates!

She came down on Rising Tide, which is an excellent way to make an entrance. If I ever have to make an entrance on the Promenade it will definitely be like this.

There was some story, but I don't know what it was. Pirates, Vikings, etc. It was fun, but we couldn't really see it so we watched for a short time and left. I really just wanted to enjoy the sunshine. I am making it sound awful, and it definitely wasn't. It was rather fun, and very festive. When you can't see it, though, there is no point in sticking around.

So up to the pool deck we went. It had been very windy up on deck all week, and today it was very rocky. There were some really big swells out on the water that had us rocking back and forth. DS ended up putting his bracelet on, and I did too, eventually. But we stayed out for a long time, relaxing.

Ha, it looks completely calm there, but I was on Deck 16 so you can't really see anything. It also got a bit worse later. Not horrible, it was kind of funny, actually.

DS had promised he would go on The Abyss today. He was done with the Flow Rider because he had fallen when running around and scraped up both of his knees, and he said he couldn't do the knee boarding thing any more. So he had promised he would do The Abyss, and I held him to it because I knew he would regret it if he didn't. Both kids tend to wait until the last day of vacation to try anything, and then they are like "Oh that ws fun, can we do it again?" and I'm like "No, we leave tomorrow, and you could have been doing this for 7 days if you had tried it when I first told you to try it."

Anyway, he tried it. They let me go up and take photos, which I already shared, of the glass ledge overlooking the Aqua Theater and the water. But I'll share it again, with DS's feet again, because yikes. Also, feet pictures with shoes are OK, though still usually unnecessary, it is the bare feet pictures that I have issues with. In this case I feel like the feet help you understand that you are looking down. I am overexplaining it.

And the outside of The Abyss, again, just because

Here's DS getting his last minute instructions. As I have said, listen and do what they tell you. There are some sharp turns and you can get banged up if you don't sit the way you are supposed to.

He said it was fun, but he didn't do it again. He told me I should try it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

I went to the Solarium for sunset again. I could swear this was the night the ship was rocking and rolling, but then I see we had the skating show and I thought they would cancel that for motion. They did postpone the second aqua show, Aqua Nation, due to ship motion. Anyway, I think it was this evening in the Solarium when I was in the pool with one other person. You can see out of the windows of the Solarium from there, and see the horizon, and we were definitely going uuuuuup and doooooown. The water in the pool was sloshing one way........ then the other way........ then back again............ and so on. We were laughing when we had a big swell and it went up like 12 inches. They had closed one of the pools earlier due to the same thing. I heard kids screaming (with joy, always with joy) and I figured it was due to the water going back and forth so much.

I'm going to pause here. School and work start tomorrow, and I have to get some sleep. Sorry!!! I had really wanted to get this done before work started up again, but grad school and parenting got in the way.

 

[Mikamarii]

Both kids tend to wait until the last day of vacation to try anything, and then they are like "Oh that ws fun, can we do it again?" and I'm like "No, we leave tomorrow, and you could have been doing this for 7 days if you had tried it when I first told you to try it."

This reminds me of our trip to Aulani last year. DS was 5 and DD was 3. They love the water and DS loves water slides, but not the enclosed ones, those are too scary. It was day 1 So DS says he would be brave and do the enclosed waterslide. All 4 of us wait in line. We get to the top and Wife goes down, then DD (she’s fearless). DS gets up and chickens out. Try to encourage him but no go. Holding up the line so we do the walk of shame down. When we get to the bottom DD loved at wanted to go again. We all go up. Wife first, then DD. DS gets there and chickens out. Try to bribe him and no go. Knowing it’s day 1 and he’ll miss out on a couple weeks of this (I’m not listening to the whining on the last day!) I tell him “just sit in the water, I’ll buy you ice cream and if you want out you can get out” he sits, annddddd I push him down the slide.....people behind us give that nervous laughter. I turn around and say “don’t worry, we’ll be back up ASAP” sure enough we were back up and he rode that slide multiple times a day for the rest of our trip! He still talks about that slide and can’t wait to go back.

If onnnlllyyyyy kids would listen to their parents! Besides I have a good 5-7 years before I learn the trust ramifications I risked that day haha.

PS I feel those end of trip blues coming on as if MY vacation is ending. This report has been fun.

 

[buzzrelly]

Actually we aren't there yet. Stay tuned to the end .

Oh, boy! I thought it was the Key thing. Can't wait to hear what it really was!

Awesome! I have to say at first it is really disorienting, putting your face in the water with the mask on and breathing normally. I always had that with the snorkel tube too, but this seems worse to me. I have to take it off and put it on a few times because my brain keeps saying "YOU ARE UNDERWATER YOU CAN'T BREATHE HERE!!!" and I have to be like "Chill out, yes I can" and it takes a while for it to resolve, but then I'm good to go.

I think I'll have a problem with that too. I'm not a great snorkeler. I've only done it a couple times and the last time was in the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon. I ended up just holding my breath and then popping up for air. I only ordered two of those masks, just in case. If the kids want them I'll just use the regular snorkel stuff and probably do the whole, breath-holding-pop head up-thing. My mom will also be with us but I don't think she'll be getting off the boat to snorkel anyway so I didn't order one for her.

I went to the Solarium for sunset again. I could swear this was the night the ship was rocking and rolling, but then I see we had the skating show and I thought they would cancel that for motion. They did postpone the second aqua show, Aqua Nation, due to ship motion. Anyway, I think it was this evening in the Solarium when I was in the pool with one other person. You can see out of the windows of the Solarium from there, and see the horizon, and we were definitely going uuuuuup and doooooown. The water in the pool was sloshing one way........ then the other way........ then back again............ and so on. We were laughing when we had a big swell and it went up like 12 inches. They had closed one of the pools earlier due to the same thing. I heard kids screaming (with joy, always with joy) and I figured it was due to the water going back and forth so much.

That's a gorgeous sunset.

Doesn't it always seem way more wavy on the last night of every cruise? I think it's because they speed up to get back, or so I've heard. We have come to expect it now so it doesn't freak us out like it used to

 

[pattyw]

Beautiful sunset pictures!
I've never had a motion sickness issue before- but this will be our first cruise and I'm a little scared for what you said about the big waves and the ship rocking! You used SeaBands ? I want to bring meds just in case I need them. I'm ready to buy every variety on the market!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I love the sunset picture!

 

[nancy drew]

This reminds me of our trip to Aulani last year. DS was 5 and DD was 3. They love the water and DS loves water slides, but not the enclosed ones, those are too scary. It was day 1 So DS says he would be brave and do the enclosed waterslide. All 4 of us wait in line. We get to the top and Wife goes down, then DD (she’s fearless). DS gets up and chickens out. Try to encourage him but no go. Holding up the line so we do the walk of shame down. When we get to the bottom DD loved at wanted to go again. We all go up. Wife first, then DD. DS gets there and chickens out. Try to bribe him and no go. Knowing it’s day 1 and he’ll miss out on a couple weeks of this (I’m not listening to the whining on the last day!) I tell him “just sit in the water, I’ll buy you ice cream and if you want out you can get out” he sits, annddddd I push him down the slide.....people behind us give that nervous laughter. I turn around and say “don’t worry, we’ll be back up ASAP” sure enough we were back up and he rode that slide multiple times a day for the rest of our trip! He still talks about that slide and can’t wait to go back.

If onnnlllyyyyy kids would listen to their parents! Besides I have a good 5-7 years before I learn the trust ramifications I risked that day haha.

PS I feel those end of trip blues coming on as if MY vacation is ending. This report has been fun.

I am familiar with the Walk of Shame. If only you knew how many times I have dragged both kids out of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland: one crying because s/he didn't want to go in and one crying because s/he didn't want to miss out. As a single mom it was all or nothing, and sometimes nothing won. But then there was Star Tours, where I forced DD to ride, and she S.C.R.E.A.M.E.D. the whole time as though she were being digested by the Sarlacc Pit. I mean top of the lungs panic shrieking the whole dang time. Everyone was going back and forth between enjoying the ride and giving me side eye for torturing my child. The ride ends, and she turns to me mid-shriek, stops screaming, and without missing a beat says "That was fun, can we do it again?" The guy next to her said "Nice job, Mom" and I am still not sure if he said it because of the screaming or the "That was fun" comment. I choose the latter.

Oh, boy! I thought it was the Key thing. Can't wait to hear what it really was!

I think I'll have a problem with that too. I'm not a great snorkeler. I've only done it a couple times and the last time was in the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon. I ended up just holding my breath and then popping up for air. I only ordered two of those masks, just in case. If the kids want them I'll just use the regular snorkel stuff and probably do the whole, breath-holding-pop head up-thing. My mom will also be with us but I don't think she'll be getting off the boat to snorkel anyway so I didn't order one for her.

That's a gorgeous sunset.

Doesn't it always seem way more wavy on the last night of every cruise? I think it's because they speed up to get back, or so I've heard. We have come to expect it now so it doesn't freak us out like it used to

The thing that happened with Guest Services isn't huge, but it is still a mystery to me. Maybe one of you will help me figure it out because I am baffled.

I definitely hold my breath when snorkeling, for a while. That's why I take the mask off and put it on again so often at the beginning. But once I resolve the conflict between "NO NO DON'T BREATHE" and "Chill out" I am fine and I can go for a while. Give the mask a try, and see if you like it! It really made snorkeling easier for my kids. The snorkel tube always pulled their masks off, or fell off the mask strap. Oh and the plastic mask straps would rip out our hair. The mask I posted has fabric straps, so putting it on and taking it off is painless, so you can do it way more often and easier than a regular snorkel setup. And you get to keep all of your hair!

I was wondering about the speed causing the rocking, but there were definitely swells out there. I wondered if it was from other cruise ships nearby, causing wakes? They weren't that close, but maybe that's it? Who knows!

Beautiful sunset pictures!
I've never had a motion sickness issue before- but this will be our first cruise and I'm a little scared for what you said about the big waves and the ship rocking! You used SeaBands ? I want to bring meds just in case I need them. I'm ready to buy every variety on the market!

I wear Sea Bands and have Dramamine as a back up but I have never used it. I get nauseated on smaller boats, and I think the only reason I was OK on the snorkel boat is that I was already used to the motion from the cruise. The motion wasn't that bad until day 4 or 5, so I had my "sea legs" by then. I have been on smaller ships where the rocking was worse and I was a bit green (though it may have been a hangover, that is still unclear) but getting off the ship in port makes everything better. How many sea days do you have before your first port? For our first cruise, it was 4 nights so the very next day after we boarded, we woke up in Nassau. So I knew I could get onto solid land in less than 24 hours.

A few other things that help:

Fresh air
Look at the horizon
Green apples
Soda (the bubbles help, I swear)
Wear the Sea Bands before you board the ship, don't wait until you feel sick to wear them, and wear them on the right spot. If it isn't working move it a bit.

I love the sunset picture!

Thank you!

 

[nancy drew]

Day 6 continued

We had plans to see iSkate 2.0, the other ice show on Symphony. No reservations are needed, just show up. I was a little nervous about finding seats, so I planned to arrive early. You can guess how this went by now. But for a different reason! The Cruise Compass says the show starts at 7, but somehow I had 7:15 in my head. I swear I checked the app and it said 7:15, and I swear I checked it later and it still said 7:15. So we show up at 7 ("Yay, we're early!" I thought to myself on the way down there) and the freaking doors are closed. NOOOOOOOOO! How did this keep happening to me?????

Luckily they let us in, and we found seats. Thank goodness because once again this show was awesome! This is a fun show, no story, set to music you will mostly know, where they just go out there and show off their moves. If you like the first show, see this one. It has all the skating of the first show. The only thing missing is the drones. I have video, but when I posted it on Instagram and Facebook I received a notice of copyright infringement for the music from BOTH sites, so I don't want to post the video here. Songs include: We Are the Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody (not the whole thing), This is Me, and other upbeat songs.

The do all of these projections on the ice that add to the show and make it more immersive.

This was during Bohemian Rhapsody, I think.

During a song from The Greatest Showman which I cannot share here because I do not own the rights to the song or music (OK Facebook/Insta, I GET IT)

Great show, once again. Try to sit in the middle and in the front, especially with kids as they will high five kids etc.

After the show it was time for dinner. I had the Caprese Salad as a starter. Could they have used less balsamic? I don't think so. But still, otherwise very difficult to mess up a Caprese Salad and this one was fine.

I believe I also ordered the Onion tart because I couldn't imagine what that was, and Shadeik said it was like a quiche, and I like quiche. I guess I really liked it because I ate it without photographing it.

I think this was the tenderloin, which was pretty rare. I know, I had a lot of red meat on this vacation. I hardly ever eat it at home, so on vacation I order it often. DD ordered a steak "medium" one night and it was SUPER rare (Shadeik took one look at it after DD cut into it and was like "Whoa, that's not medium, can I get you a new one?" so they were on top of it), but that and this were the only times the meat was a bit undercooked.

For dessert... Baked Alaska!

Side note: the first time I had Baked Alaska I was in... Alaska.

DD ordered the chocolate lava cake.

On the way up to wherever we were going next (probably to the room, to change into "normal" clothes, as it had been formal night again), I heard piano playing and singing, and I thought "Wow, the guy at Schooner's has his microphone turned waaaay up and has a huge crowd tonight! As our elevator ascended, we spotted the Stowaway Piano Man!

This guy moves all over the ship, and you never know where he'll be. Sometimes he is in an elevator (DS found him there twice) and sometimes out near the dining rooms or other locations.

Super short video:

You never know when or where you'll find him, so keep your eyes open, and watch other elevators through the glass, too!

So we went up to the room, and this guy was waiting for us:

Then probably DS went to the club and DD and I went to check out other places besides Schooner's. We checked out On Air, the karaoke club. I had stopped in there after the adult comedy show, and there were teens there, so FYI this is a family-friendly place. Would your young kids be entertained? Maybe earlier in the day but not at 10pm. I swear they brought in ringers for karaoke. There is NO WAY there are that many amazing singers on one cruise ship, even if it is the biggest cruise ship in the world! NO WAY! A family sang Bohemian Rhapsody (I wonder if that is a popular song on the Rhapsody of the Seas? Probably not), two teens sang "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night," a woman sang "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and it went on and on. Really fun, and usually standing room only! Bring your A Game to karaoke on RCI!

Then it was back to the room for bed. Our last day was tomorrow! Hard to believe it was almost time to say goodbye to the Symphony, and to our vacation! In the past we had scheduled a few days at Disney or Universal after a cruise (sailing in and out of Port Canaveral) but this time the kids were leaving to visit their dad's family the day after we returned, so no post-vacation for us.

We were docking in Nassau on Day 7, and our plans were a bit different than usual.

 

[starvenger]

I think this was the tenderloin, which was pretty rare. I know, I had a lot of red meat on this vacation. I hardly ever eat it at home, so on vacation I order it often. DD ordered a steak "medium" one night and it was SUPER rare (Shadeik took one look at it after DD cut into it and was like "Whoa, that's not medium, can I get you a new one?" so they were on top of it), but that and this were the only times the meat was a bit undercooked.

As much as I love things like tenderloin being medium rare, I have my limits. Good on the staff for recognizing right away and getting it fixed.

btw can't tell if your picture is the medium cut or the rare one, as that's usually the colour I aim for when doing my roasts to medium.

 

[pattyw]

I wear Sea Bands and have Dramamine as a back up but I have never used it. I get nauseated on smaller boats, and I think the only reason I was OK on the snorkel boat is that I was already used to the motion from the cruise. The motion wasn't that bad until day 4 or 5, so I had my "sea legs" by then. I have been on smaller ships where the rocking was worse and I was a bit green (though it may have been a hangover, that is still unclear) but getting off the ship in port makes everything better. How many sea days do you have before your first port? For our first cruise, it was 4 nights so the very next day after we boarded, we woke up in Nassau. So I knew I could get onto solid land in less than 24 hours.

A few other things that help:

Fresh air
Look at the horizon
Green apples
Soda (the bubbles help, I swear)
Wear the Sea Bands before you board the ship, don't wait until you feel sick to wear them, and wear them on the right spot. If it isn't working move it a bit.

We port in Nassau on Day 2 so that will be good! Thanks so much for the tips!! I will bring some meds just in case- I'm going to check out Sea Bands!

 

[nancy drew]

As much as I love things like tenderloin being medium rare, I have my limits. Good on the staff for recognizing right away and getting it fixed.

btw can't tell if your picture is the medium cut or the rare one, as that's usually the colour I aim for when doing my roasts to medium.

They had two options for the tenderloin: medium rare and medium well. I think. I know there were two options. I would probably choose the other option next time, just to be safe. This was probably more on the rare side, and DD's steak was for sure very rare.

We port in Nassau on Day 2 so that will be good! Thanks so much for the tips!! I will bring some meds just in case- I'm going to check out Sea Bands!

Oh that's good! That's a good way to start off.

 

[nancy drew]

You guys, I had a panic moment (OK, panic 30 minutes). My photos disappeared from my phone. I have no idea where they went. They are on the SD card, but the SD card gallery is gone. I can't get the SD card out, either, because you need some pin-sized thing and an actual pin doesn't work, apparently. I thought I was out of luck!

Thank you Google, for backing up my photos!!!!!! They're here, but it is taking me twice as long to load them to Flickr. I am hoping to finish this up tonight or tomorrow.

 

[nancy drew]

OMG it is a miracle. I restarted my phone and it is back to normal. Well, I can't get those 30 minutes of my life back, but at least now I can get the photos updated and finish this up tonight or tomorrow.

 

[nancy drew]

Day 7. The Last Day.

It doesn't matter how long your cruise is, the last day is always sad. Well maybe unless you go on one of those World Cruises that are 150 days long. Then maybe you are ready to resume life on land.

Today we would be docking in Nassau at 10:00. We woke up at around 8:30, and when I went outside I saw this:

Which is strange because it meant we were approaching Nassau.

I'm not sure I have ever been on a ship that arrived early, but maybe I have. Doesn't matter, we were there and that's what's important.

We did a 180 so we could back into the dock. Wouldn't it be funny if cruise ships made that beeping noise when they backed into a dock?

That meant our side of the ship would be against the dock. This meant I could watch us dock.

Celebrity equinox was already there. Show off.

I tried to raise the dead (you know who I mean) and only one of them thought this was worth watching. I now wish I had taken a photo of all of the heads I could see looking over their balcony railings, watching us dock.

Here comes the Pilot!

We would have lots of new neighbors when we returned later. But for now, it was just us and our show off Celebrity sister.

Sloooowly backing up now...

I've always wondered how these massive ships dock. I used to sail at overnight camp, on sailboats that could hold 4-6 girls. I was quite the sailor, but even so every now and then I would hit the dock too hard, or fly past the mooring and have to try again. I know cruise ships sometimes have to try again, and again, and again. It was smooth, so we wouldn't have to try again, but still, I was very interested in how this would work.

This gave me pre-nightmares. The kind of nightmare you have while you are awake and nothing bad has happened, but it really looks like something bad could happen at any moment. This guy was out on the black thing, with his feet in the water, and all I could think was "What is he DOING??? What if he falls!??!"

I had started to go back inside because, well, pre-nightmare. But I couldn't tear myself away. I was behind the glass now, though, because I wanted to hide if something bad happened. (Nothing bad happened). The guy was farther off the black thing at one point, and that is when I hid behind the glass. You know, because then I can't see anything. Behind glass. Clear glass. Yeah not sure what I was thinking.

So it seems he had been pulling a very thin line out of the water. By the way, if you know what is going on, don't tell me. I like my uneducated version better. Its more fun.

Now even I know that line isn't going to hold the ship. I've seen the lines that hold the ship and that ain't it. But I couldn't imagine what he was doing with that tiny line. Line? Rope? I don't know. I haven't sailed in 30 years.

Ohhhhhhhhh, there's a bigger line/rope there, and the smaller line/rope is pulling it. Ok, that's making more sense now.

Now that I was fairly sure the guy wasn't going to fall in the water, I was fully invested in watching. At least for 5 more minutes. They hooked the line on that little forklift.

And the forklift started to drive away.

I decided to film this part, for some reason.

Interestingly, this is when I decided I was done watching this and we should go get breakfast. I'm so disappointed in myself. But, in my defense, we were eating at Johnny Rocket's for breakfast (included with your cruise fare!) and then we had plans, and I didn't want to spend all morning watching us dock. Next time. Maybe.

Johnny was calling my name, so off we went. Why? Well let me tell you. 1) We had not successfully had an official breakfast in a buffet or restaurant once on our cruise. This in itself is both shameful and impressive. 2) We had held out on the buffet so long, I decided to go the distance and avoid it again. 3) I don't even like buffet eggs, so that wasn't really a sacrifice. 4) I DO like buffet waffles, and the strawberry syrup that always happens to be nearby, and the whipped cream that also happens to be nearby (but only the real whipped cream, not that solid stuff that looks like whipped cream but tastes like paste. 5) Not that I was planning to eat waffles anyway. 6) Or strawberry syrup. 7) Or fake whipped cream. And 8) because I wanted an omelet and I forgot that the Solarium Bistro exists and also has an omelet station.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny! (At Sea!)

I was very happy to get my omelet. It was good! Nothing like the disappointing room service eggs. The potatoes were basically French fries, so that's awesome. And the toast is toast.

Somebody got this well-rounded meal of pancakes and bacon and someone else got French toast and bacon.

Neither of them got the potatoes. I did not want to share, but I did. A little. Luckily they liked their food so it was all good. We ate outside and it was so nice. It was quiet, sunny, but we were in the shade so it wasn't hot. It really was the perfect outdoor dining situation.

I wasn't sure what to do when we were done. Do we still get a bill? Do we just leave? The servers were fawning all over this (admittedly adorable) baby who was hamming it up for them but I asked at the door and they said we could just leave. Oh, I had ordered a Diet Coke (don't judge, I need my caffeine and I do not like plain coffee, lattes only for this gal) and it was included in the beverage package, as was the orange juice my kids ordered. So we paid nothing for the meal.

I am going to be mean and stop here, because it is late. Sorry!!!!!