Tag: ice cream

Oasis of the Seas: Day 4, Visiting Jamaica!

Going in to the cruise, I think we all were a bit apprehensive about stopping in Jamaica. Our only other visit to the island was 8 years ago on an NCL cruise, and it ended with a pretty serious injury to one of my daughter’s hands due to negligence on the part of the zip line operator. That was also the cruise where we saw that if you’re late coming back from a cruise line sponsored excursion, they will in fact wait for you. Due to the injury we were an hour late getting back to the ship, and obviously the last tender from shore before departure.

On this stop, things couldn’t have ended any differently. We booked an excursion through Royal that took us to Dunn’s River Falls for a climb up the falls, followed by a lunch stop at some resort, and ending with a 35-minute river tubing trip. There were a couple of lows, but overall we had a lot of fun!

After getting off the ship and meeting at the designated location for our tour, we were broken up into two groups of ~15 for the bus ride. It was nice not being packed into some large tour bus, the small groups were perfect. On departure, they told us they were changing the order, and that we’d do the falls first, so that we could avoid the larger crowds that show up later in the day. That was fine with us. After about an hour of riding in the bus, we arrived at the falls to a mostly-empty parking lot. There were a couple other small tours there, but the place never felt overcrowded.

After getting all checked in, we were assigned a guide and videographer and were led to the bottom of the falls. For those who have never done this, it’s really not that hard. They scrub the path every morning to keep it from getting slippery, and are always pointing out the best spots to step on the way up. Now, there are times that your group has to hold hands and form a human chain while climbing, but overall it was pretty easy to get around. The guide was great, and while the videographer did a good job of capturing everyone along the way, we chose not to pay the $40 for the DVD, as I had my GoPro with me.

After the climb, they lead you back to the bus through the little market place there, where you do encounter some pushy shop owners. This is one of my least favorite parts of Jamaica, as we all remembered it having some of the pushiest locals of any port we’ve stopped in, and this area was no exception. After a string on “no thank you” responses, we made our way back to the bus to head out for lunch.

The lunch stop was some little resort along the way where you get access to a buffet with some mediocre eats. Things like jerk chicken, rice, beans, salad, and assorted deserts. One thing to note here, on the way in they give you a very small glass of rum punch. That’s the only free drink you get here. Period. Bring water… Also, a very pushy gentleman will take your families picture on the way in, and try to get you to buy it on the way out for $10. He’s a pretty bad photographer, as a few pics were blurry, and ours was fogged over. Yea, no thanks.

After leaving the resort, we took a short drive to the starting point for the river tubing. This was an absolute blast. The last time we did something like this was in Belize, cave tubing, and we were highly disappointed. That wasn’t what I consider tubing, as they pulled us down the river the entire way, there was zero current. Here, there was plenty of current, with a few small drops along the way. Nothing to fear though, it was really, really fun!

After tubing, we all loaded up in the bus for the long ride back. As we were leaving, it started raining pretty hard, which made the drive back even slower. On arriving back at the port (around 4:30pm ship’s time, if I recall), it wasn’t raining there yet, but was about to start. We walked through a couple of shops and picked up a few small items before heading to the ship right as it started pouring. One nice thing about the enclosed shopping area at the port, the store owners aren’t pushy like they are everywhere else.

Even though we got back pretty close to dinner time and were soaked and tired, we managed to get ready and make it on time, and enjoyed another tasty meal with more excellent service from our wait staff.

After dinner, we headed over to Dazzle for Battle of the Sexes, but the best we could do seating-wise was an upstairs section against the center glass, and even with that view, couldn’t really see a thing. A lot of people seemed to be really unhappy with the views in there, and a number of others left without being able to find a seat. That was a pretty popular game show that was held in a really horrible venue. I think we stuck it out for 10 minutes before we decided to head to the boardwalk so Bayley could take picture with the penguins from Madagascar:

That pretty much did it for the night. Bayley went hunting for a snack, but with some very limited options at 9:30pm (basically Sorrentos and the half a dozen items in the promenade café), chose to skip it. We’re still really surprised at how limited late night snacking is on a ship this size.

Oasis of the Seas: Our Day 3 Stop in Labadee!

Two ports down, one to go! For this post, I’ll focus on day 3, which saw us spending time in Labadee, Haiti. This stop was a first for us. We’d stopped at a Royal-owned private island in the past, Great Stirrup Cay, which we had fun at, but Labadee blew that out of the water.

For this stop, we’d booked spots for the 11:30 zipline time, and planned to just hang out on the beach the rest of the day. After getting off the ship, we headed over to the zipline desk to check in (which you should do right away no matter how late your scheduled time is). After getting the waivers filled out and getting our “flight time” wristbands, we walked over to Columbus Cove to set up camp. We chose this based on other reviews indicating that it’s the least busy of the beach areas due to distance, and were glad we did. It’s a pretty short walk over there if you take the correct path, and when we arrived, one of the attendants arranged some beach chairs beneath a couple of palm trees just a couple of feet from the water for us.

We spent some time hanging out in the water, which was the perfect temperature, and resting on our chairs before heading over to the zipline for our scheduled time. Side note: When we left Columbus Cove, we did leave some of our stuff on our chairs, since we planned on coming back, and nothing was touched while we were gone. Arriving at the zipline area, we did get a locker to store the two bags we carried with us from the beach, and that locker cost $8. Granted, you get access to it for the whole day, but we only used it while we were on the zipline.

Once everyone on your tour arrives, they get you set up with your harness and give a quick talk about what’s going to happen before they lead you over to the practice course. This short run gives you a chance to see how the harness works, what the two positions for flight are (torpedo and sitting up) and how the braking at the end of the run will feel. That part’s a rush in itself due to how fast you stop when you hit the end. Once everyone finishes the practice run, it’s time to load up in the trucks and head up the hill to the top of the real zipline. That’s where the fun really begins 🙂

On arrival, you walk up to the platform area and they split the group in to two sides. You do get to ride with the people in your group/family, as the 5 of us all got to ride at the same time. Just like the practice run, they give you the instructions on how to launch, whether or not you need to change positions in mid-flight (based on weight and the wind speed, you may or may not need to be in “torpedo” the whole way down). Once that’s out of the way, it’s time to fly. I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of heights, but this never once bothered me. Maybe it’s the nature of the harness, or maybe because you have no control over your launch, but this was far more fun than a traditional multi-traverse zipline to me, and standing on and launching off of that big platform didn’t bother me a bit. See for yourself!

After the zipline, we hopped the tram back over to Columbus Cove. On the way there, we got a taste of why that beach is a better option than the ones closer to the ship. When we passed the first set of beaches on the truck up to the zipline and again on this tram, we saw a couple of really long lines for the buffet at that location. Arriving at our beach, there was no wait to get food, and we had no issues getting a picnic table. Seriously, this beach is like a 6-8min walk from the ship if the tram’s not available, and it’s worth it. Far less crowded than the ones right along the main area closer to the ship.

Anyway, we enjoyed the bbq, all provided at no additional cost. Since we have soda packages, we were also able to refill our soda cups at no charge while there. My package includes all non-alcoholic beverages, so I got a virgin Labadoozee for Jen, and purchased one with rum for me. Good stuff!

After lunch, we spent a couple more hours both in the water and laying on our chairs before deciding to call it a day. I have to say, Royal really knows how to get people on and off these large ships. We had no wait to get off right when disembarkation started in the morning, and even though quite a few people were getting on at the same time as us, we got through security fast, and were back in our room in a short matter of time.

Side note – The soda cup that came with my drink package went missing while we were on the beach here, and since I really wanted to keep using the Freestyle machines, I went to guest services to get a replacement. They sent me to the café, where I had to purchase another one for ~$10. I get it, they have no way to know who really lost it/had it stolen vs who’s trying to get an extra soda cup without paying for the whole package, but having to pay another $10 for a replacement didn’t sit that well with me. An easy fix would be to actually tie the chip in the cup to the guest, so if it’s lost it could be deactivated. Then charge a smaller fee if one absolutely has to be charged. Obviously that would mean having to set all bars up with chip readers to be sure cups they’re handed are valid, but still, it seems like a better solution to me.

Anyway, dinner tonight was delicious. It was Italian night, which for me meant some antipasti and lasagna. Both delicious! The sticky bread pudding that accompanied it for dessert wasn’t too shabby either. I have to say, the food and service in the MDR have been outstanding thus far. Can’t say enough good stuff about our waiter Gerson and his assistant Rydon.

We were all pretty tired after a day on the beach, but somehow managed to stay up for “Who wants to feel like a millionaire” and the “Love and Marriage” show. The former was just okay, and since it was held in a bar that was showing game 4 of the NBA finals, there were several ticked off patrons when they turned the game off at the end of the first quarter for the game show, but it happened anyway. The “Love and Marriage” show was pretty funny, and is one of our favorites on any sailing.

That pretty much ended day 3 for us. Next up, my recap of day 4’s stop in Jamaica!

Oasis Of The Seas: Day 2 Is In The Books!

Our first sea day here aboard the Oasis was both fun and frustrating at times. If I’ve learned one thing that needs to be passed on, it’s that anyone sailing a ship in this class needs to ensure they bring a large amount of patience. Between the elevator waits, buffet lines, and overall crowds in some areas, there are times where you really see the downsides of being on such a large ship. So how did the day go? Let’s take a look!

As usual, I woke up early, getting out of bed at 7am, throwing some clothes on, and heading to Windjammer for breakfast. At this point, not many people were up, so the buffet was pretty dead, and I was able to get a good seat:

I was a bit disappointed in the quality of breakfast up here, as the bacon and pancakes were both pretty soft (the pancakes a bit under-cooked). I didn’t even bother with the waffles, as they were way too soft for my liking. This seems to be a common theme with cruise ship buffet waffles, and while I get that it’s hard to cook for this many people, would it kill a line to cook at least one batch of waffles long enough for them to be golden brown?

Regardless, I decided to head for the Promenade to fill my soda cup, as the Freestyle machines in Windjammer were in bad shape (all out of ice, one totally unresponsive to touch). Arriving at the machines outside of Sorrentos, I found one out of both ice and low/no calorie soda, which brings up my next gripe. I understand all too well how these work, so I know they can be problematic, but keeping it full of ice shouldn’t be a big deal (the same one was still out of the same two items at 11am), and as it happens, the machines are set up to electronically inform someone when a soda cartridge is almost empty, so unless they’re not set up right, someone should be pretty aware that servicing is needed. The other machine was fully operational, so I grabbed a Pibb Zero (with ice) and decided to check out the walking/running track on deck 5. Pretty cool use for the space, as I’ve found the equivalent deck on the last couple of ships we were on to be totally dead most of the time. There were quite a few people out there making use of it, too.

After walking it once and strolling around a few other areas, I headed back to the room, where the girls were starting to wake up. After getting ready, they wanted some food, so I walked back up to Windjammer with them. As soon as we arrived, we turned right back around. Yea, if you want to eat at the buffet, get there early. The line of people waiting for a table was pretty long, and considering it was something like 10:30 by now, there’s no way all of them got in before it was switched over to lunch. In our opinion, the Windjammer is way too small for a ship with 6200+ passengers. It’s the smallest buffet of any ship we’ve been on in the last 5 years, which seems really odd considering the passenger count.

The buffet plan thwarted, we headed to the café in Central Park, which turned out to be a good call. There was hardly anyone there, and we were all able to get something pretty quick. It’s not a full buffet, but does offer enough selection to be a decent substitute for waiting in some other line. I ended up getting a bacon egg and cheese biscuit, which wasn’t too bad.

Our lunch over, we did a bit more walking around, including passing back through the Promenade as some “sales” were happening. Wow, the crowd…

At that point we headed up to the zip line area to see if we could get a run on it in, but the line for waivers was ridiculously long, and the zip line had already closed for the morning. Side note here, you’re supposed to be able to sign the waivers electronically on the TV in your room, but it fails every time once you get past the general waiver, at least for us. Oops. Anyway, knowing we’d have to wait in that line to sign up to ride it after it opened back up, we decided to wait on the waivers, too. We were just past the start of lunch at that point, so we headed to the Solarium Café to check out the eats there. All in all, not bad, just more limited choices than what you’d see in Windjammer. Following lunch, we headed to the room to rest up for a bit. We had a few things on tap starting at 2, so getting in a little break sounded good to all of us.

Our schedule this afternoon had us in the Schooner Bar for a couple of hours enjoying some trivia. First up was the progressive, and while we don’t know what score we have currently, felt like we did okay. Following that was brain-teaser trivia, and we ended up being declared co-winners of it after tying another team with a perfect score, followed by both of us getting his only tie-breaker correct. The prizes included highlighters, zipper pulls, and even a backpack/water bottle. In our final round, the cartoon music trivia, we didn’t fare as well, but really weren’t too far off of the winning score (I think we lost by two). Not a bad afternoon, but I will say that we all agree the trivia sessions on the Divina were a lot more fun and lively.

After everything in the Schooner was over, we headed for the boardwalk, where the Daily Planner indicated we’d find some pirate themed stuff going on. Nope. The staff had some kids activities going on, and the performers were practicing in the Aqua Theater, but no pirates were found anywhere. Oh well, we hung out and watched the diving practice. They really are amazing. I have no doubt it takes a lot of guts to jump off those high platforms…

Next on tap was dinner, so we headed back to the room to change. Tonight was the first formal night, too. Dinner itself was good once again, with the highlight for me being the beef tenderloin and the bittersweet chocolate soufflé. Oh, and the birthday cake, which was finally delivered to the table tonight, complete with a round of singing. I have to say, the chocolate celebration cake on Royal’s gift site is absolutely delicious!

After a quick trip to the room to change in to more comfortable clothes, we headed to 4 so Bayley could get a pic with Alex the Lion from Madagascar. Yea, even at 20, she loves character pics! That pretty much capped the night for me, as I was feeling pretty tired. The girls participated in Majority Rules (which they said was “just okay”, again, not as good as on the Divina), and walked around a bit before calling it a night.

Day 3 brings our first stop, Labadee, Haiti, which is Royal’s private island. We’ve got the zip line booked, and plan to enjoy the beach the rest of the day! More to come!

 

MSC Divina – Debark and Final Thoughts on Yacht Club

After some debate on the way home, I’ve decided to split my final MSC-related post of this trip in to two. This one will focus solely on our final thoughts about this sailing, while my next will be more of a comparison of the MSC experience to that of some of the more typical cruise lines that sail from US ports.

Starting with disembarkation, it went pretty smoothly once again. On our Christmas sailing, I was pretty impressed with how easily we got off, but the Yacht Club experience was obviously better yet again. Instead of having to deal with crowds getting to either the buffet or MDR for one last breakfast, we packed up and headed down the hall to Top Sail to grab something off of the buffet in there. Talking to a couple of friends who were also in Yacht Club, The One Pool was open for breakfast as well, with the same hot foods I’d eaten the previous two days. We’d planned on going to Le Muse, but were pretty tired when we got up, and none of us were really hungry enough to justify the walk. I’m sure it was delicious!

After eating a little bit in Top Sail, we went over to the concierge desk to get one last butler escort off the ship. They called Jacques, who came over and escorted 5 of us off the ship:

 

The escort off was an interesting experience. He led us down the elevator, through Piazza del Doge and the casino, and then into a small passageway that was closed off. As we came out, we were right at the front of one of the debark lines, cutting directly in front of the passengers waiting to get off. That marked the first time I really felt uncomfortable with any of the YC benefits, as I’m not big into cutting in line.

After the walk off, we headed to baggage claim, where our bags were already off the belt and waiting. All in all, it might have been 20-30 minutes from the time we left the concierge on 15 until we were at our car in the parking garage. Very, very smooth.

Moving on to final thoughts on the sailing, the short version is that we had an absolute blast this past week. While we had fun in December and enjoyed everything MSC had to offer under the Bella experience, the differences between that and Yacht Club cannot be understated. From the little things, like the sliding door that opens and allows you in to Yacht Club when you slide your ship card:

(be sure to hit the play button)

 

To the bigger things, like the far more relaxing private pool area:

 

The differences made the added cost totally worth it to us, and really are too much to list in a single post, so I recommend reading about them on MSC’s site. The service was better, the food was better, and all of the added perks and private areas made it a more relaxing cruise for all three of us. All of that should be expected, considering the gap in cost to move up to Yacht Club, but I felt it important to call it out, as we felt they nailed it. Here’s our full list of positives and negatives from this sailing:

Positives:

  • The lack of smoking, as called out last time, too. As non-smokers, this is a huge draw for us, especially in the casino.
  • Our butler Jacques and his assistant were outstanding. They always had smiles on their faces, would stop to chat with us, and were always receptive to anything we needed. Far better cabin experience than last time.
  • The private Yacht Club areas: I wasn’t sure what to expect here, as I generally don’t like sitting around in more subdued areas and was concerned I’d get bored pretty easily. That wasn’t the case at all, Frankly, I loved having Top Sail and The One Pool available whenever we wanted to use them. They were never crowded when we were in either, and we didn’t have to deal with people yelling or running around. Much more peaceful.
  • Also a Yacht Club exclusive, not having to pay for drinks: This only applies in Yacht Club areas, but we never felt the need to buy as much as a soda in the main areas because we always had the option of grabbing something (Alcoholic or non) from Top Sail, the One Pool, or even our own mini-bar, since those drinks and snacks are included in the cost, too.
  • The butler escort on and off the ship when in port was excellent. With the line to get off in St Thomas last time ridiculously long (and we waited at least a half hour *after* it started to go down), having that service this time and being able to get off with no wait was a very nice touch.
  • Our cabin was nice, and a pretty good size for the three of us. We were in 15028, a shorter YC1 than most, but as mentioned before, what you lose in length, you gain in width. There are only 4 of these on our floor, and 4 on 16, and if we’d been in a normal YC1, it would have been much closer quarters (and we’d have had a much narrower balcony, as shown here). Check the deck plans for deck 15 and deck 16 to see where these wider ones are.
  • Pizza delivery to the room at no added cost was cool, too. You call the concierge, they call down to La Cantina di Bacco and order what you want, and a little while later, one of the butlers delivers your pie. All pizza we’ve had on this ship is amazing. Best pizza at sea!
  • All of the children we encountered in Yacht Club were very well behaved. Every age group was represented, and at no time were any of them loud, running around in places they shouldn’t have been (restaurants, Top Sail, etc) or out of control. A very stark difference compared to walking around the main buffet or pool areas.
  • Le Muse: We’ve never eaten in a main dining room so often on a ship. I think we ate there for lunch almost every day and did so for every dinner, and one breakfast. The food was really good for the most part (best burger on the ship, too), and the service far exceeded that of the regular MDR. I don’t think any meal took longer than 1.5 hours, while the MDR on our last sailing could exceed 2-2.5 hours for the same 3-course meal due to how overworked the servers in Black Crab appeared to be. Service in Le Muse was outstanding, from the maitre d’, to our waiter and assistant waiter. It’s also a much smaller setting, and as such has a far more relaxing feel to it.
  • The entertainment: Once again, MSC delivers. With the shows being mostly the same as last sailing, we only attended a few, focusing on the ones with acrobatics (The Mask, the Paris show, TI, and the Michael Jackson tribute). All were excellent once again.
  • The entertainment team: Just as good, if not better than last time. Most of the team from December were still there last week, which we were happy to see, as they all look like they’re truly having fun, and work really well together. There are plenty of activities throughout the day, as well. Things like trivia, Scattergories, Taboo, Jenga, and even a few pool games that you’d see on the more American lines (belly flop contest, Mr sexy legs, etc). The entertainment team is a definite highlight of the Divina experience for us.
  • On both cruises, one of the cleanest ships we’ve sailed on. They are always working to ensure the public areas remain clean, and it shows.

Negatives:

  • The only Yacht Club area we were iffy on was the concierge desk. Most of the time they were helpful, but on occasion, appeared to be throwing attitude. As an example, on one of our pizza orders, she asked why we were ordering again so soon, having just ordered a pizza an hour earlier. Yea, that wasn’t us. Someone two doors down had ordered one, and for some reason she thought it was us and gave Bayley some attitude in the process.
  • It would have been nice to have reserved seating in the shows for Yacht Club like some other lines do for suite guests. With the quality of the shows on the ship, getting good seats means getting there pretty early without any reserved seating.
  • The soft-serve ice cream dispensers were an issue yet again. Only open from 2pm-5pm daily (but closed at least 30min early on two days), I’d hope they’d be well maintained. On both sailings, this wasn’t the case. Most times we stopped, it was all too soft to be edible, only two of four machines on each side were open, and they were totally messy. This is one area where there more contemporary lines do a much better job.
  • Better internet speeds: On both sailings, speeds were better than what we saw on the Norwegian Escape last November, but uploading anything other than simple pictures or text was painfully slow. Because I’m constantly posting pictures and the occasional blog post (and sharing time with Bayley and Jen), I tend to buy as much time as we can, but I heard a guy at lunch complaining how slow it was for even basic email, to the point he was on his second $50 package. Do not underestimate how much time you need, because the packages appear to be more expensive on-board than they are if you buy them in advance or on the first day. On day 5, the login page showed the 24-hour package at $199, whereas I paid $120 for it by buying in advance. You can see Scott Sanfilippo’s screenshots from the same page on day 1 of his sailing here and here, showing the same prices I saw (and paid) online prior to sailing. Compare that to what the login page looked like on day 5, and ouch. No way.

 

Well, I think that about covers it for this trip. We really enjoyed our time in Yacht Club, and look forward to sailing in this level again when the MSC Seaside arrives in late 2017! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading these posts and found them helpful! If you missed any from this sailing, you can find them all here:

http://blog.wanderlistvaca.com/tag/mscdivinasb16/

Or if you want to see how things compared to our Bella experience on the Divina, those are available here:

http://blog.wanderlistvaca.com/tag/mscdivina1215/

MSC Divina Day 3 – The Yacht Club Fun Continues!

As the end of our second sea day approaches, I wanted to get another post up on our time in Yacht Club so far. As I think I mentioned before, we weren’t really sure what to expect going in, but so far we’ve been really happy with everything the suites have to offer.

The past two days have been filled with a mix of activities for us. We’ve participated in several of our normal activities, from Taboo to trivia, and even another round of Scattergories, and have had a blast at all of them. I know I’ve mentioned how great the entertainment staff is in several previous posts on the Divina, but it really can’t be understated. This team is really fun to be around, and they do their best to ensure all participants are having a good time. They always have a smile on their faces. Always. So glad Bingo Boys are still a thing, too. Those guys make bingo fun (even if you don’t play), and that’s no easy task.

 

Having covered the normal activates in the posts about our Christmas sailing, I’d like to focus this more on the Yacht Club aspect of this trip. So far, it’s been worth every penny. I recognize it’s not a cheap upgrade, but it’s one that I wouldn’t hesitate to go for again. On the last sailing, the service from our dining room team and cabin attendant was somewhat lacking, as I covered in those posts, but this trip has been the exact opposite:

Cabin: Our butler Jaques and his assistant have been outstanding. Our cabin always looks great, and they always seem to be around, greeting us with a smile. Some of the best cabin service we’ve had on any sailing.

Dining room: In Le Muse, I finally see the purpose of a Maître D. In a large MDR, you never really see what they’re doing, and generally they only stop by once a cruise (unless there are issues raised), which can make you feel like they only showed up to get the extra tip that’s common for the Maître D on some lines. In a smaller setting like Le Muse, you really get to see him (or her) work. Our Maitre D has been outstanding, taking care of our seating arrangements, stopping by more than once per meal, and always engaging in short conversation asking how your day has been, how the meal is, etc. All with a smile on his face. We’ve eaten in there for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he always seems to be there ensuring guests are happy.

Our head waiter (Dejan) and his assistant have been outstanding. Always there to get what you need, and doing an excellent job keeping our glasses full. Also, I’m not sure if it’s intentional, but when we’ve eaten in there for breakfast and lunch, we’ve had the same head waiter for (I think) each of those meals as well, even though we’ve been at different tables. A nice touch if it is part of the plan.

Food: The food in Le Muse has so far been consistently better than what we remember of the MDR. We did have some good food there, but it was almost a hit or miss thing, with one night being good, the next night no so much, etc. In Le Muse, I don’t think we’ve had anything we didn’t like yet. Yes, the Easter dinner menu was the same in our restaurant as it was in the MDR, but other than that they’ve had little overlap, and we’ve had some good quality food compared to our previous MDR experience on the Divina.

Other perks of Yacht Club have been great as well:

Captain’s reception: Earlier today, there was a reception in the Top Sail lounge specifically for Yacht Club guests to meet the captain. Other than our trip on the Celebrity Summit, I’m not sure we’ve ever attended the captain’s events on previous ships. This time, we took advantage and hung out in the lounge with some drinks as the captain made his way around. He stopped by each table and chatted with the guests for a few minutes. Jen was sure to tell him how much we enjoy the entertainment staff, hope they get some recognition out of that!

 

Pool deck: This is where the whole “ship within a ship” concept stands out. We didn’t lay by the pool at all yesterday, but in walking the 14th and 15th decks outside have noticed how full it is during the day. There are a crazy amount of deck chairs out all around (pretty much any open spot on either deck front to back), and they’re always full. Either people are laying out in them, or they’ve got towels and bags on them. Can’t say I remember any ship we’ve been on where you really couldn’t find two or three chairs together anywhere unless you got down there really, really early. In Yacht Club, no such nonsense. We laid out today after lunch, and were easily able to find open space (plenty of it, in my opinion), and it was very peaceful. No kids running around yelling, and no real noise other than the waves. So relaxing. Here are a couple of comparison shots taken this afternoon:

 

It doesn’t hurt that there are a really good selection of drinks (both alcoholic and non) available at no additional cost in Yacht Club J

One additional thing to call out in regards to my mention of no kids running around the pool, it’s not that there aren’t any children in Yacht Club, because there are. What we’ve seen so far is that they’re really well behaved. Whether it’s in Le Muse, Top Sail, or up in the Yacht Club pool area, they’ve all been very polite and well-mannered regardless of age. I’m not saying all kids outside of this area aren’t, since good behavior is certainly not reserved for suite guests, but overall it’s been a nice change of pace compared to some of the ones we’ve run in to (literally, sometimes) while out in other areas of the ship.

Overall, we’re having a great time, and even with the same itinerary as Christmas, this feels like a completely different cruise. With a day in St Thomas on tap for tomorrow, can’t wait to see where the rest of the trip takes us!

Good night from cabin 15028!