DAY 2: At Sea
Monday, Jan 14
Monday, Jan 14
This morning was very relaxed! We slept in until about 8:00 - well Tom was up earlier and then went back to bed. We figured it was probably the busy time at the Windjammer so we opted for one of the other options. Johnny Rockets serves hot breakfast and there is no cover charge (unlike lunch and dinner, when they serve their traditional menu). Johnny Rockets is located in the "Boardwalk", so it was fun to sit at an outside table and take in the sights and sounds of the neighborhood. We could see they were setting up at the Aqua Theater for the Crown and Anchor Loyalty Reception (for repeat guests), so after breakfast we went to that - yes we actually had the free drinks: a Sea Breeze. There was some entertainment - some performers from last night's show - and then the Captain came out and talked about the fleet, which I always enjoy hearing about. Next we walked around the Boardwalk a bit, checking out shops that were not yet open yesterday. I even took a ride on the Carousel!
We went on a tour of one of the Suites called a "Loft Suite" that is a 2 story amazing stateroom with a gorgeous balcony. It was open for tours for a couple hours and then later this afternoon it was a prize in the Bingo game, that the winner could upgrade to that suite. I would die! I have never played Bingo on a cruise before, and I think it starts at about $35 to play. I was tempted to try to win that suite, but the timing conflicts with our show reservations. Oh well, touring it was still fun.
In the afternoon I went to the Flash Mob dance class. We are practicing for a Flash Mob on Saturday night. That will be fun if I can remember the steps! I thought I had Tom talked into doing it to, but once they started teaching the steps he backed out. Couldn't handle it I guess!
Did I mention the task it was to coordinate show and dinner reservations every night? It's not as easy as it sounds! I made our reservations at home online, but they only open up a certain percentage of the availability early because of course they must retain some availability for guests making reservations while on the ship. We had reservations for the 5:00 ice show. As usual, it was fantastic - They were excellent! They even had an act that used hula hoops... many, many hula hoops! Wow!
Tonight was formal night, but we are beyond getting worked up about that. It just means that the dress I wear this night is a little bit dressier perhaps than the others. Tom wears a tie. At dinner we both ordered the Beef Tenderloin - emphasis on the "TENDER"... O...M...G... Outstanding! I said I would talk later about the My Time Dining... Here's the dilemma: we like the routine of traditional dining where you have your same table, same waiters, every night. I myself don't mind at all sitting with other people but Tom feels that it can be awkward or something - and I know it can, but it does't bother me. I actually like a chance to talk to someone else and hear what they are doing and stuff like that. But it's not like I'm opposed to a table for two either, and the flexibility of being able to eat at a different time every night is a plus - especially on this ship where we have reservations for shows at all different assorted times. Like tomorrow night we have a show at 7:00. If we didn't have the ability to move dinner up, our seating would conflict with that show and I would have been forced into a later show - and some of them don't start till 11:00! I should mention that you can request a table for two with traditional dining but it's much more likely to be denied due to availability, where with the My Time Dining you could just wait for one if you wanted. And they do still seat "strangers" together at the My Time Dining if you want that.
We had experienced the Freestyle Cruising on Norwegian and it was horrible. The worst service we have ever had on a cruise ship, and I attributed it to the fact that you are not with the same waiter every night, thereby not developing any relationship whatsoever with any waiters. In fact, they didn't even check back to see if we liked our meal and obtaining refills on soda was a major undertaking. Even the hostess that greeted us on Norwegian was rude and gave us the impression she was doing US a favor by seating us. So we were hoping that the Royal Caribbean version won't be nearly that bad.
So anyway, last night - our first dinner on board - we arrived at the Dining Room and found two lines: One for guests with reservations, and one for those without. We only had to wait about one minute and then checked in by telling her our room number. We were immediately and graciously ushered to a table for two, way back in a nice spot out of any traffic patterns. Here's the shocking part: The waiters greeted us by name! Yes that's right, the hostess at the front had already electronically notified the wait staff that we were coming and they greeted us by name! They introduced themselves including what country they were from. And the service was fantastic, as we have come to expect on Royal Caribbean. So I explained to Tom that the next night we could be seated anywhere and most likely not have our same waiters, because every night is different with My Time Dining. So we get there tonight and get ushered back to the SAME SPOT, SAME WAITERS, earning me the "you are losing your credibility" speech from Tom. The Assistant Waiter, Edgar, even had our Diet Cokes to us immediately without us even ordering them: that is the kind of service I was expecting to miss with My Time. I asked Darwin, our Waiter, how we were so lucky as to get seated in his section again and he confirmed that yes, they do look up in the computer and see where you were seated previously and who your waiter was, and they make an effort to seat you in the same section the next night. Amazing! He said of course when it gets busy they can't always pull it off, but WOW. Now I am really impressed!
Tomorrow: Labadee!!
We went on a tour of one of the Suites called a "Loft Suite" that is a 2 story amazing stateroom with a gorgeous balcony. It was open for tours for a couple hours and then later this afternoon it was a prize in the Bingo game, that the winner could upgrade to that suite. I would die! I have never played Bingo on a cruise before, and I think it starts at about $35 to play. I was tempted to try to win that suite, but the timing conflicts with our show reservations. Oh well, touring it was still fun.
In the afternoon I went to the Flash Mob dance class. We are practicing for a Flash Mob on Saturday night. That will be fun if I can remember the steps! I thought I had Tom talked into doing it to, but once they started teaching the steps he backed out. Couldn't handle it I guess!
Did I mention the task it was to coordinate show and dinner reservations every night? It's not as easy as it sounds! I made our reservations at home online, but they only open up a certain percentage of the availability early because of course they must retain some availability for guests making reservations while on the ship. We had reservations for the 5:00 ice show. As usual, it was fantastic - They were excellent! They even had an act that used hula hoops... many, many hula hoops! Wow!
Tonight was formal night, but we are beyond getting worked up about that. It just means that the dress I wear this night is a little bit dressier perhaps than the others. Tom wears a tie. At dinner we both ordered the Beef Tenderloin - emphasis on the "TENDER"... O...M...G... Outstanding! I said I would talk later about the My Time Dining... Here's the dilemma: we like the routine of traditional dining where you have your same table, same waiters, every night. I myself don't mind at all sitting with other people but Tom feels that it can be awkward or something - and I know it can, but it does't bother me. I actually like a chance to talk to someone else and hear what they are doing and stuff like that. But it's not like I'm opposed to a table for two either, and the flexibility of being able to eat at a different time every night is a plus - especially on this ship where we have reservations for shows at all different assorted times. Like tomorrow night we have a show at 7:00. If we didn't have the ability to move dinner up, our seating would conflict with that show and I would have been forced into a later show - and some of them don't start till 11:00! I should mention that you can request a table for two with traditional dining but it's much more likely to be denied due to availability, where with the My Time Dining you could just wait for one if you wanted. And they do still seat "strangers" together at the My Time Dining if you want that.
We had experienced the Freestyle Cruising on Norwegian and it was horrible. The worst service we have ever had on a cruise ship, and I attributed it to the fact that you are not with the same waiter every night, thereby not developing any relationship whatsoever with any waiters. In fact, they didn't even check back to see if we liked our meal and obtaining refills on soda was a major undertaking. Even the hostess that greeted us on Norwegian was rude and gave us the impression she was doing US a favor by seating us. So we were hoping that the Royal Caribbean version won't be nearly that bad.
So anyway, last night - our first dinner on board - we arrived at the Dining Room and found two lines: One for guests with reservations, and one for those without. We only had to wait about one minute and then checked in by telling her our room number. We were immediately and graciously ushered to a table for two, way back in a nice spot out of any traffic patterns. Here's the shocking part: The waiters greeted us by name! Yes that's right, the hostess at the front had already electronically notified the wait staff that we were coming and they greeted us by name! They introduced themselves including what country they were from. And the service was fantastic, as we have come to expect on Royal Caribbean. So I explained to Tom that the next night we could be seated anywhere and most likely not have our same waiters, because every night is different with My Time Dining. So we get there tonight and get ushered back to the SAME SPOT, SAME WAITERS, earning me the "you are losing your credibility" speech from Tom. The Assistant Waiter, Edgar, even had our Diet Cokes to us immediately without us even ordering them: that is the kind of service I was expecting to miss with My Time. I asked Darwin, our Waiter, how we were so lucky as to get seated in his section again and he confirmed that yes, they do look up in the computer and see where you were seated previously and who your waiter was, and they make an effort to seat you in the same section the next night. Amazing! He said of course when it gets busy they can't always pull it off, but WOW. Now I am really impressed!
Tomorrow: Labadee!!
There's Tom!
Time for a ride on the carousel!
Central Park is full of plants, flowers, trees, vines, and lots of benches to sit and enjoy it all too.
Central Park. Like the Boardwalk "neighborhood" there are balconies overlooking it.
Eating lunch at the Windjammer, overlooking the Boardwalk.
View of the Boardwalk. See the Aqua Theater at the top of the shot, and the red umbrellas are Johnny Rockets. You can see the stateroom balconies overlooking.
The ice show was incredible, as usual!