Vancouver - Boarding Day

We started the morning by packing up last minute items before taking a walk around the corner to Ciclo for one last amazing coffee.

Jeff is practically on a first-name basis with the baristas at this point, and they don't even need to ask for his order. Our arrival time at the port is 12:30 and our checkout time for the Air BnB is 11:00, so our goal is to push our departure to the absolute last moment and just arrive at the port early. The worst case scenario is that we end up waiting for boarding – but that's never been the case, especially since electronic boarding documents were implemented.

We lingered over our coffees and enjoyed some incredibly well-made pastries, enjoying our last few hours in Vancouver and anticipating the start of the "real" vacation, despite already having enjoyed some of the best food we've ever had in restaurants, anywhere. We returned to the AirBnB, put on the finishing touches, and shuttled our suitcases down to the lobby. 

Our challenge was going to be finding an Uber that would accommodate four passengers and all of our luggage. We requested an XL and a large Kia SUV arrived, which just fit everything. We had the good fortune of a driver who was familiar with all of the ins-and-outs of the cruise terminal drop-off process. Thanks to his knowledge we avoided the long drop-off lines and were able to take our luggage out of the car and hand it directly to a porter. We did have a bit of a longer walk than had we gone to the other entrance, but not having to wrangle suitcases more than compensated for the extra steps.

This is our 46th cruise, across four cruise lines, departing from 18 different ports in five countries. It was the most convenient and one of the smoothest processes we've ever experienced, even if it did involve a bit more walking than any others that we can recall. After dropping our luggage we snaked through a short maze of hallways to the elevators, rode up a level, and then continued along a concourse, out of the building. You then walk in another door and go through security. After security you show your passport and get a paper ticket (I think I've got the details in order, I may have a step or two mixed up, but the general concept tracks.) Then you proceed into a large room where there are a line of cruise reps armed with iPads. Boarding passes are scanned and (assuming you completed the online check-in) you're sent along ANOTHER path that runs parallel with the first path you followed from the elevator to the outside. You exit again, then proceed down the breezeway past the door you entered a few minutes ago (showing your paper ticket for passage) and then proceed back in the building, through US customs, and on to the ship. Despite walking approximately half the distance of the Yukon trail this entire process, from handing luggage to the porter to stepping off the gangway onto the ship, took us exactly thirty minutes. 

Thanks to the online safety briefing we were able to complete our muster station check-in within minutes after boarding and then headed to the Windjammer for lunch.

The Windjammer experience was one of the least hectic departure day lunches we've ever experienced. Perhaps it was because we were a party of four, maybe it was just the crowd, or the timing of the day (I heard that the late departure, due to waiting for the tide to allow bridge clearance, allowed some of the pre-cruise activities to run a bit later, so maybe that was it.) Whatever the reason, it was fantastic. 

By the time we finished lunch our cabins were available, so we were able to drop our carry-ons, convert to "vacation mode," and explore the ship. This was our second Quantum-class ship, and was recently "Amplified" (in Singapore last April) so we were curious to see the changes. Most obvious was the removal of the Bionic Bar and it's replacement, the Tiki Bar. The Tiki Bar has several frozen drink dispensers, a couple of which seem a bit questionable, but all are tasty. Giovanni's Kitchen was added, along with Izumi Teppanyaki. The family Splash Pad area was updated as well. The pool area aft of the Solarium has a sliding roof, providing a protected area for colder-climate itineraries. In place of El Loco Fresh (one of our favorite spots on Odyssey) there's a Fish & Ships on the pool deck - which received good reviews from everyone I spoke with. Odyssey has a Sports Bar, with food available for an added fee,  where Ovation has the Dog House, which has a selection of complementary hot dogs and brats which make a good mid-afternoon snack when returning from an excursion after lunch.

Our luggage was delivered promptly at 3:00 (air tags are brilliant for tracking progress!) so we returned to the room and spent about 30 minutes unpacking and organizing before relaxing on the balcony for a bit.

This is the first time we tried early seating for dinner. We have been on small cruises with only one seating, but traditionally we've always opted for late seating. It's difficult to make a comparison due to how unusual an Alaska itinerary is to a Caribbean itinerary. We have early seating for our upcoming New Year's cruise to be more kid-friendly for the grandsons, so that might give us a little better idea.

The welcome aboard comedian was a complete bust. He started strong, but after the fist five minutes or so he devolved into a stream of disjointed babbling and never managed to recover. We ended up in Boleros for a couple of drinks and called it a night.

We enjoyed our time in Vancouver, but it was nice to get settled on the ship.

Antigua

 10 November, 2024

St John, Antigua

We had every intent of participating in the Betty's Hope, Devil's Bridge & Parham excursion offered by the cruise, but some changes in medication doses tossed a monkey wrench in the works and we opted for  a low-key day focused on relaxing and recharging. We were within the cancellation deadline, so I went to the Shore Excursions Desk to plead my case. When I explained the situation to Luis he was happy to accommodate us and sent me away as a satisfied cruiser. Don't misconstrue this as an indication that we've been disappointed in the past, because we haven't – it speaks more as an affirmation that our choice to spend most of our cruise budget with Royal Caribbean is the correct decision.

I did venture out into St John for a while, to see what it was like and pick up a couple of items. Walking with purpose with eyes up and forward will keep the local solicitors from picking you out as a likely customer. If you're meandering slowly and give the impression that you're not quite sure where you're going or what you're doing then you'll be offered everything under the sun from a sightseeing tour to a beach shuttle. I'm sure the folks offering these services are completely polite and reasonable (they'd likely lose their tourism credentials if they weren't) I'm happy to avoid repeating myself multiple times on my way to my destination. I'm better than the average bear when it comes to maps and navigation, so I can usually make it several blocks without referring to directions, adding to the illusion that I actually know what I'm doing.

Overall I found the area intriguing. It's rough around the edges from an architectural and infrastructure standpoint, but the people were pleasant and (after escaping the immediate port area) un-intrusive. One or two ladies politely invited me to examine their souvenirs, but didn't press when I offered a polite excuse and stayed the course. I'm not sure how mature the cruise industry is in Antigua, but I suspect that we will see overall improvement in the coming years as more tourist dollars augment the economy. I'm not ready to go home and plan a trip to Antigua, but it is on my list of places I'd like to visit again should the opportunity present itself.

For dinner I made a rare visit to the Windjammer, which we usually reserve for late breakfast or midday snacks. I took advantage of the "roll your own" pasta station – a dinner version of an omelette station. Choose your "enhancements" (garlic, onion, tomato, zucchini, mushroom, etc) to be lightly sautéd, then select your pasta (spaghetti or penne) and sauce (pesto, marinara, Alfredo, bolognese – or a combination, if you like) which are added to the pan and warmed through. Then any "finishes" (cheese, chives, crushed red pepper...) are added. Despite my best efforts at restraint I ended up with a sizable portion that I could not stop eating. By some stroke of luck, the assortment of ingredients I chose produced a balanced and flavorful finished product. Armed with inspiration, I now have another recipe concept to explore.

Changes in Latitudes (Sea Days 2 & 3)

 

November 7 Sea Day #2 

Today I switched up my breakfast to poached eggs on toast and the streak continued. Once again, we gathered our bags and headed to Two70 for the Alaska cruise presentation offered by the NextCruise staff. We made a few notes that will help us plan more effectively for our trip next July on Ovation of the Seas. 

Our reservations for The Book weren’t showing up in the Royal Caribbean app, so I spent a few minutes standing in line at Guest Services to get that sorted out, then had to go back to shuffle some of our dinner reservations. The app is a wonderful tool, in concept, but needs significant work to make it convenient and effective for guests. Some screens overload the user with information while others force you to dig a rabbit hole to figure out the information you want to see. I should be able to filter by time, venue, or type of event. (But what makes Karaoke entertainment and a dance class an activity?) I shouldn’t have to scroll through four of the same item in an hour just because it happens every 15 minutes. I should also see all of my reservations on “my” page instead of having to scroll through hours and hours of empty time to find my dinner or show reservations. I should be able to exclude those things that don’t interest me (Volleyball tournament? No thanks – let me filter it out, please.) 

My issue with our reservation is that I made one as soon as we got on board, but the app crashed in the middle of the process. A flag was set, somewhere, so I couldn’t make another reservation, but I couldn’t see our reservation, either – nor could I cancel it and start over. So, back to Guest Services to stand in line where they had to first cancel my "nonexistent" reservation before they could re-book a new reservation later in the week. The Quantum class ships have a spectacular reservations system when it comes to making multiple reservations in-person, or reviewing reservations, but changing them is a bit clunky.

We were booted from Two70 while they set up for The Book, so we relocated to Boleros, where we enjoyed a few frozen Mojitos before heading to the room to change for dinner. If you like a good Mojito then I strongly suggest you give the frozen variant a try. They are incredibly refreshing and well-balanced. Other bars will make them for you as well, but Boleros seems to have a more consistent supply of fresh mint leaves. I'm still searching the ship for a proper Mai Tai. So far they've been an assortment of overly-sweet juice-based concoctions that are better suited for inducing diabetic ketoacidosis than anything else. Rum, orange liqueur, orgeat, and fresh lime juice are all you need. No pineapple juice needed, and grenadine should be applied sparingly, not gratuitously! 

We enjoyed another good dinner in the dining room, thanks to our convivial service team. In our early cruising days on Celebrity dinner was often spectacular. For the last 15-20 years the food on most cruises has been good, with an occasional "great" and a rare "awful." I still drool over the seeded rolls (pepita, sunflower, sesame – I'm a fan of all) with butter, and enjoy trying new ingredients and dishes, but at the base level the cruise industry food lost the "wow" factor a long time ago.

Tony Tillman was scheduled in the Royal Theater this evening, and he is a consummate showman. His combination of singing, dancing, and comedy has a bit of something for everyone. I suggest sitting back and allowing yourself to take the show as it comes, without projecting expectations. He'll take you on a foot-tapping, belly-laughing, sing-along journey that you didn't know you needed. 

November 8 

Sea Day #3 

The poached egg streak was absolutely shattered today. This morning my “poached” eggs were “hard-boiled without a shell” – an absolute disappointment. Taking it as an opportunity to try something a bit different (I’ve never been a boiled egg eater, other than in the form of deviled eggs.) I gave them a try. A misguided try. I learned that hard-boiled yolks are just too dry for my taste. The flavor was acceptable, but the texture just isn’t something I can handle. 

The Royal Caribbean Fleet

This morning a fleet talk was scheduled, outlining the various classes of ships in the Royal Caribbean lineup, the varying features between classes, and the fundamental types of itineraries offered by each. There is a shift towards shorter itineraries (3-4 day) for the larger ships sailing from the “Big 3” Florida ports these days (specifically the Oasis class) with new ships (Icon class) making the “traditional” eastern and western seven day runs to the Caribbean. Quantum and Radiance ships appear to be covering the more unusual itineraries, with the Vision and Voyager classes servicing the regularly scheduled service from Gulf and East-coast ports. Freedom class ships appear to be popular for some European itineraries and filling niches on an as-needed basis. All if this is based on my extremely casual and highly unscientific analysis and may have no bearing on reality or be readily refuted by a more considered approach. 

As I was making notes, working on this blog, and scanning email I began having a few glitches with internet connectivity. The new VOOM system has been designed for the least-savvy users on board, and it serves them well. You connect with your device (a smartphone, more often than not) and away you go. If you have a multi-device plan you can share a code with another device to allow it to connect – but your primary device stays connected. Again, not an issue for most, but if you want to juggle multiple devices on the same account it can be annoying. 

Unless you go old-school and set up a username and PIN under the legacy system. This is still available, and it works well with minimal effort. The “secret” is that you must first connect using a browser, not the Royal app, and set up your account. As long as you remember to terminate your session by entering the proper URL before shutting down your device everything runs quite well. Shout out to Zak on the VOOM team for helping me sort this quickly. 

We had lunch in Giovanni’s, which was a first for us. They open up with garlic knots and sauce that would inspire you to disrespect your grandmother. Don’t over-indulge on these, because you’ll only regret it as you move through the meal. We shared a burrata appetizer, which was delectable, despite the sad state of the November tomatoes. There were a few nice cherry/grape tomatoes on the dish, but the larger tomato was more reminiscent of a pale hunk of watermelon than a tomato. But, for November, we didn’t expect too much in the first place. For entrees we shared pizzas. Their crust is thin (so you’re not going to stuff yourself with an abundance of baked dough) and the cheese and sauce are nicely balanced. I like more basil than what our pizza was dressed with, but it was still tasty. We also had the Mamma Italia, with prosciutto, arugula, tomatoes, parmesan, and mozzarella – drizzled with EVOO. The prosciutto was amazing, and there was ample arugula (I would prefer less, but it was easy enough to pick off a few leaves.) The tomatoes were (again) unimpressive, but didn’t detract from the pizza. The same crunchy, slightly charred crust made for one of the better pizzas I’ve ever eaten. Yes, Sorrentos has free pizza just a deck away that is “useful,” but if you want something special, I suggest giving strong consideration to pizza at Giovanni’s. Any comparison between the two isn’t reasonable, as they’re as different as the filet from Chops when compared to the hamburger in the Windjammer – they both have their place. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent lounging around with adult beverages, followed by another perfectly nice dinner in the main dining room – made better by our team of waiters, Surachai from Thailand and Steve (his actual name) from India. These two gentlemen haven’t missed a beat and are attentive without being overbearing. They tolerate my bad puns, dry wit, and sarcasm.

After dinner we enjoyed an excellent performance by The Diva of the Seas, Stephani Parker, in the Royal Theater. If you’re a fan of strong, soulful lyricists (think Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick) then this show is for you. I’ve seen all of the above in concert, and at any given time during Stephani’s performance I could close my eyes and be transported back in time and space to previous concerts. In the world of shipboard entertainers she ranks in the upper echelon.

Special Requests

 

I submitted a "Special Services" request last week for a mattress topper for our upcoming Caribbean cruise. As you may recall from our trans-Atlantic experience, the beds on Odyssey are excessively firm, even for someone who can sleep on a hardwood floor without padding. I was delighted when I received a confirmation yesterday that our request was confirmed. All that's left now is to decide where we want to eat the night before embarkation.

Planning

I've been researching flights for our 2026 Alaska trip for several weeks, and the airlines should release our dates in the coming week. We have an Air BnB lined up for our time in Vancouver, so our flights are the last piece of the puzzle.

Our New Year's 2026/2027 cruise will largely be a repeat of our upcoming Caribbean cruise (logistically speaking) so planning for that has already been worked out, so that is simply a matter of time.

The "Big 60 Birthday Bash" with Viking River Cruises is still in flux, and over two years out - plenty of time to determine our flights to Budapest and our return arrangements from whichever city we decide to depart from (Munich appears to be most likely, but Prague is an option.)

In the meanwhile we consider other possible adventures. Northern Lights? Antarctica? A Christmas Market river cruise? A Trans-Pacific cruise? Backpacking by train in Europe? Something entirely different? The Scottish Highlands and Ireland are on our list - but certainly don't fit any of the previous mentioned travel methodologies (except the train, on a limited basis.)

North, to Alaska!

 To borrow from Johnny Horton (no, I didn't know his name without looking, just the catchy line from his song) we've booked a Vancouver departure for 2026 and opted for the post-cruise land add-on. Our thought process being that with everything on our list Alaska will probably be a "one-and-done" destination, so let's do as much as we can (within reason, of course.)

Ovation of the Seas

This will be a new destination and yet another new adventure - travel with my sibling and her husband. No kids, no parents. For a touch of irony, they booked an Alaska cruise for this year after hearing us talk about our (now rearranged) cruise. As I've previously noted, our trip was shuffled due to surgery. Well, their trip also befell what I'll simply refer to as "organizational challenges" and fell by the wayside. As I was contemplating plans for 2026 I looked at Alaska itineraries and discovered a similar trip to our original booking was about 1/3 less in cost.

Courtesy hold? Yes, Please!

Now, my wife is generally of the "just tell me how to pack and when we're leaving" mindset - but I wanted to let this simmer for a couple of days and give us both time to think. You know, at least pretend to be adult. I sent my sister an FYI email with the details of my hold and a note saying "This is what we're thinking about..."

They put a hold on an adjacent cabin.

After a proper conversation, which in reality consisted of "is there any reason we shouldn't?" I paid the deposit and informed my sister. She paid their deposit, and now the planning begins!

 Future Plans

USPS Photo

One thing I've learned over the years, if you're not willing to adapt to schedule changes then travel probably isn't your thing. I still get a bit wound-up when I'm traveling with others and there's a major glitch - not because I'm inconvenienced, but because I don't want others to suffer discomfort. Sometimes we're lucky enough for the changes to come well in advance, sometimes they happen in the moment - while you're at the gate or when you arrive at the venue. We try to keep things moving, making plans on the cusp of published schedules.

On our Panama Canal cruise (fall 2023) we booked an Alaska cruise for this August (2025) only to have hip surgery make an August trip impossible. So the 2025 Alaska cruise became a November Caribbean cruise. Thanks to a bit of good fortune with the reservations department this was accomplished with minimal hassle.

On our 2024 trans-Atlantic crossing (Civitavecchia to NYC) we booked the return for the spring of 2026 (NYC to Barcelona) It appears there may be a conflict brewing with that itinerary, so we're in the process of shuffling the deck again - moving the NY-Europe trip to the spring of 2027 and booking an Alaska trip for August of 2026.

Flexibility.

So far, all of this chaos is going to cost us $200 and $50 on-board credit. Do I enjoy dropping $200? Certainly not - but that's a lot less than if we hadn't booked onboard with NextCruise with their reduced deposits.

So this is what we have on the calendar at the moment:

• November 2025 – Caribbean cruise
• July 2026 – Alaska cruise 
• December 2026 – Caribbean (New Year's with all the kids)
• Spring 2027 – Trans-Atlantic? (NY-Europe)
• Spring 2028 – European river cruise

There are other small trips sprinkled here and there, and rough outlines for Antarctic, Arctic Circle, Trans-Pacific, Australia and SE Asia destinations on the board.

Lots to see and experience.

Stay tuned.

Pardon me while I vent a little.

The big news of the last week in the cruise industry is the proposed loyalty program revamp floated by Carnival. It has been met with outright hostility by most, including reports of death threats towards some public-facing Carnival representatives and blatant abuse of call-center staff.

It would appear that Carnival has discovered their "New Coke" moment - and now we wait to see how it plays out. (In the case of the Coke debacle, they blinked - handing an uncontested win to Pepsi.)

Emotions are running high, much higher than Carnival anticipated based on the observations of a consumer lacking any degree of inside access to the industry - and rightfully so. The connection people feel (or, likely, felt, at this point) is visceral. They've spent years patronizing a company and building a bond they felt was reciprocal, while failing to recognize that companies function on financial statements and "shareholder value" without regard for emotion.

People are pledging to jump ship, others are exploring other options in the industry. Competitors are using the opportunity to leverage the mis-step to their own advantage in their marketing, hoping to capitalize on the animosity and attract disenchanted former Carnival loyalists.

It's obvious from this site that we're largely "Loyal to Royal" and enjoy the perks we're afforded by the Crown and Anchor program. I'm sure I'd be a bit miffed if they decided to modify their program to a transactional, "what have you done for me lately" structure, but for the disappointment to rise to the level of personal threats is absurd. Unfortunately we're living in a world of entitlement, immediate gratification, and fundamental human disconnection.

I haven't tried to figure out what we'll be missing with the Carnival revamp. A free drink? A discount on an onboard purchase? Whatever it might be, it won't have a significant impact on us. We cruise because we enjoy the experience and the ability to design our own vacation within a vacation. On a cruise you can stay in your cabin 24x7 if you want, or you can just shower, sleep, and spend 18+ hours a day roaming the ship. (Obviously most of us pick something between those two extremes - the flexibility is the salient point.)

Will we take fewer Carnival cruises? Don't know.

Will we give another cruise line a try? Perhaps - this debacle has made me aware of the level-matching program offered by MSC, so perhaps we give them a try. (I find their website to be an absolute disaster from a planning/exploration/research standpoint, but perhaps my user experience will improve.)

One thing is glaringly obvious - people have forgotten how to be thoughtful and kind.

The person who answers the phone in the call center has as much to do with corporate decision making as they do with choosing your dinner menu. Yes, they're a point of customer contact - but people should be able to communicate their disappointment without debasing themselves by devolving to ad-hominem attacks.

Feel free to express disappointment and dismay, state your intent to take your business elsewhere, but do so calmly, respectfully, and direct your ire appropriately. Carefully selected vocabulary is much more effective than high volume profanity - people actually process it instead of tuning it out.

Has Carnival made a monumental mis-step? Absolutely. Just as Coke lost loyal consumers with "New Coke", despite bringing back "Old Coke" - Carnival will suffer a drop in numbers and their reputation will be forever scarred.

All because they have "too many loyal customers."

How this is a problem and not a point of pride is beyond me. I suppose when your focus is "shareholder value" and not corporate vigor things can get a bit yumpy in the C-level offices.

Panama Canal - Getting Underway

7-8 November, 2023

I've been fascinated by the Panama Canal since my grandfather first told me about it when I was a child. He told me about passing through the canal on a destroyer during World War II and conveyed the scale and magnitude of the project. He omitted the involvement of the French, Ferdinand de Lesseps, mosquitoes, malaria, the eventual U.S. takeover, and the secession of Panama from Colombia that led to completion of the canal. Transiting the Panama Canal is one of several noteworthy cruises on my list, along with going around Cape Horn, which we did in 2011. The rest of the list consists of transatlantic, transpacific, and crossing the equator. This cruise was booked when we were on our ABC Islands cruise in October of 2022.

On the way to Miami!

Sailing out of Miami again, we had grand plans to eat dinner at Versailles the evening before embarkation. Unfortunately our flights were delayed (again!) and our plans for dinner had to be scrapped long before we even left Charlotte. We stayed at the Hilton Tru again and enjoyed a nearly identical experience to the year prior. This time we did take advantage of breakfast, which (as I am fond of saying) was quite useful. A quick repack of the suitcases and another Uber ride and we were at the cruise terminal, ready to check in. Still waiting for ankle replacement, a RCCL team member assisted my wife with a wheelchair, making the boarding process as convenient as possible. The smaller Radiance class ship, coupled with a Tuesday departure, meant the cruise terminal was virtually deserted and there was ample staff to keep the boarding process running smoothly and efficiently.

All aboard!

We were a bit surprised that our cabin was in the bow of the ship, neither of us recalling making that selection. In retrospect, it appears that a finger-fumble went undetected and our choice of cabin 7600 was changed to 7500. Lesson learned! The cabin was perfectly acceptable, save the fact that the air conditioning was woefully inadequate. My suspicion is that the HEPA filters in the return were overly restrictive and hampered the air circulation. A few doors down the passage there was a server room and the air blasting from beneath that door could have stripped the varnish from wood. Unfortunately we didn't enjoy even a reasonable fraction of that air volume. Multiple calls to maintenance and repeated attempts by our steward to mitigate the problem proved unrewarding. We couldn't even get a box fan, as none were available.

As is our routine, we handled the muster station check-in, finalized our specialty dining arrangements, scoped out the Solarium, and enjoyed lunch in the Windjammer before grabbing a drink. For sail away (which was a bit early, as all the provisions and fuel were loaded and everyone was aboard) we staked out a spot in the Viking Crown Lounge and watched Miami disappear in our wake.

We headed to the dining room for dinner, which I think we've done on every cruise. (Well over thirty at this point.) We eat most of our meals in the dining room, so meeting our service team the first night tends to set the tone for the entire cruise. We make a point to communicate our first specialty dining reservation so they're not anticipating a late arrival for that evening and can move along with service instead of looking over their shoulder for guests who aren't going to arrive. "Our guys" were being pulled all over the place by a couple of high maintenance tables, thankfully the table full of Brits next to ours were of a similar mind as us and the angst from the other tables didn't overflow to our space.

Morning view

Wednesday was a delightfully relaxing day at sea. We were up and at breakfast early after a restful night's sleep. If you're surprised that I had Eggs Benedict then you haven't been paying attention to my previous posts. After breakfast I spent the remainder of the day reading about the Panama Canal project while sipping on various libations and nibbling snacks in the Solarium. A lifelong friend recommended the book and gifted it to me for my birthday. I was already a couple of weeks of light reading in, but really wanted to get much deeper before we passed the first lock on the way to Gatun Lake. This book digs deep in the diplomacy involved and the drastic measures de Lesseps took to try and secure the project. Unfortunately he attempted to replicated his wildly successful Suez Canal project in an environment that couldn't have been more different. The project was doomed to failure until the link between mosquitoes and malaria was determined, regardless of the progress that may have been made on the engineering side.

ABC's and 123's – Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao

Everybody has a cousin in Miami

29 October, 2022

After working as a paramedic full-time for a year we took our first real vacation as a couple in over three years. Given the vagaries of air travel in the post-COVID world we flew to Miami two days prior to our cruise departure. One day would have been adequate, but the difference between flying on Thursday instead of Friday for our Saturday embarkation exceeded the expenses of spending an extra day in Miami by a significant margin. Having never spent any time in Miami I was flying completely blind when I started making hotel plans. We've been huge fans of Cuban food since our time in California, and have been limited in our access to Cuban food for the better part of twenty years. We do have friends in Miami, of Cuban heritage, so I did have an excellent source of recommendations for Cuban restaurants to visit! Our original plans included Cuban dinners for two nights, but our flight from Charlotte to Miami was delayed, so the first night we had to make alternative plans.

We stayed at the Tru by Hilton in West Brickell. This new property is nestled in a mostly residential area that appears to be reasonably quiet by our impression. As is the case with the Tru product line, there are grab-and-go beverages and a limited selection of snacks, but not much else is available after breakfast service in the morning. Fortunately there is a pizza shop just a few blocks away that offers delivery, and it happens to be "The best pizza in Miami." After eating their pie, I don't consider that claim boastful in the least, and would have no problem saying their pizza is among the best I've ever eaten. Amazing crust covered with fresh and flavorful toppings is a recipe for success.

Ready for dinner!

Friday morning we woke up at our leisure and caught a ride over to the Brickell City Center to pick up a power adapter for my laptop. In highly abnormal fashion I managed to leave mine at home. While connecting to the outside world isn't the highest priority when I'm on a cruise, maintaining contact with family is a consideration - along with downloading books and the occasional new music. The shopping at City Center is definitely upscale, with ample security to match. I located a replacement power adapter and my wife ended up with a new iPad mini by the time we were ready to go back to the hotel.

Dinner that evening was at Versailles - and it met every expectation we had. They were busy, but not packed to the walls when we arrived. The staff was efficient, but a bit curt and seemed to have the expectation that we should know the menu without requiring any need for clarification. The servings were ample and we ordered with our memory and our heart instead of our stomachs, so regretfully we left a  good bit of amazing food on our plates. The roast pork was tender and crispy and the moros rice was the perfect ratio or rice and beans. The plantains were tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. My only regret is that I couldn't eat more.

Saturday morning we woke early, eagerly anticipating getting on the ship and starting the core of our vacation in earnest. Our Uber got us to the pier without any hassle, check-in was seamless, and we were aboard Explorer of the Seas, completed our check-in at our muster station, and enjoying lunch in the Windjammer Cafe in no time flat. We gained access to our cabin a few minutes early and dropped our bags before going to finalize our specialty dining reservations for the week.

Cruise mode engaged

With all the "business" matters squared away we found a comfortable spot and enjoyed our first drink of the cruise as we passed time waiting for our luggage to be delivered to our room. We confirmed (to our dismay) that Explorer doesn't have a Vintages wine bar, which is one of our favorite places on the Voyager class ships. 

By 4:00 our luggage was delivered and by 4:30 everything was unpacked and we were headed to the Viking Crown Lounge to watch the sail-away. This is when it starts to sincerely feel like vacation has started.

Instead of trying to give a blow-by-blow report of the week this post will be more general. In the time between booking our cruise and departure my wife was diagnosed with a failed ankle and was scheduled for replacement surgery. While our cruise didn't turn out to be the trip we originally envisioned, we made it what we wanted and had a wonderful time - largely in part to the excellent staff and crew of Explorer.

In summary, the grew was outstanding in every respect and at every interaction. Smiles and genuine warm greetings abounded, with none of the perfunctory "painted-on" expressions that understandably sneak in as the travel-weary members of the crew approach the end of their contracts.

Our cabin steward greeted us as soon as we arrived in our cabin. He did everything within is power to keep us comfortable the entire cruise, and always with a beaming smile. Ice packs were needed regularly, and our ice bucket stayed filled day and night.

Our service team in the dining room was exemplary. While the food continues to lag behind the level of quality just after the RCCL-Celebrity merger, it does represent a significant improvement from the few years prior to the pandemic - when it seemed to trend steadily towards "pedestrian" in every venue except the specialty restaurants. Our waiter and assistant waiter were consistent and never missed a beat. When things got hectic, thanks to a few "high maintenance" tables in our section, our headwaiter magically appeared and seamlessly filled in the gaps. 

Royal Promenade

Breakfast service in the dining room was some of the best we've ever had in the open seating era. Due to my wife's limited mobility we were seated in the same general area, near the entrance, every morning, which means we had the same servers several times. "Our" breakfast guys made the general chaos of breakfast disappear. With the large menu, varied schedules of guests, and a wide variety of demands and expectations, things can get a bit wild - but our teams just kept smiling and took everything in stride. This cruise also had the most consistent and best Eggs Benedict I've experienced on a cruise to-date. They were so good I couldn't bring myself to branch out and try anything else for breakfast. The final morning of our cruise we thought we were arriving early for breakfast, but thanks to the change from daylight saving time and the confusion caused by modern technology we arrived just after service ended. Apparently we weren't the only ones who suffered this affliction, and our (familiar) breakfast team made sure we were not turned away hungry. While their job is customer service, they went far above and beyond for us. Our experiences with specialty dining were, as always, special. From dinner at Chops to appetizers at Izumi the food and service were both exactly what we have come to expect. 

We had great service in the R Bar, the Pub, and the Schooner Bar throughout the cruise, from both bartenders and cocktail staff. The pianist in the Schooner Bar was simply amazing. Keep an eye out for Ventzi Nelson - he's not just a musician, he's an entertainer. If you make a request that's not in his catalog at the moment he'll learn it and play it for you on a subsequent night. He works the crowd as good as anyone and has a range that expands well beyond the usual sing-along piano bar fare. Finding a seat was always a challenge due to his popularity. If I were choosing between two similar cruises and Ventzi was on one, that's the one I would pick. He's that good.

Bonaire

As I've mentioned previously, our cruise wasn't what we intended, and the guest relations staff ironed out all of our rough spots without so much as a pause - they just "fixed it" and that was that. To summaryize everything to this point, we've been satisfied Royal Caribbean guests for many years, and this cruise affirmed the choice we made many years ago.

We had grand plans to take excursions in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, but everything required walking and climbing in and out of a bus, which had become a non-starter for us. Not to worry, we maximized our enjoyment even without doing anything grand in any of the ports. A perfunctory quick stroll around the pier served to mark our "visit" - which was suitable given the circumstances. Life happens and sometimes you have to adapt and make the best of your situation.

The only disappointment in the entire trip was the transfer from the pier to the Miami airport at the end. While the buses aren't owned by RCCL, they do reflect on RCCL. Most of the seats were permanently in a "semi-reclined" position, which was uncomfortable. They also failed to accommodate those with mobility issues with seating near the front of the coach, forcing several individuals to slowly shuffle to the rear of the bus to find a seat. Hopefully this issue has long been rectified.

Stormy sunset at sea

Baltic Cruise - Helsinki & Stockholm

6 August - Helsinki, Finland: Our day in Helsinki was somewhat abbreviated by a late start and a scheduled early departure. We opted for the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus for a general overview of the city with a couple of strategic stops to see specific sites. In general we've had good service and success using HoHo buses all over Europe, with just an occasional glitch usually created by people shore-side who don't know how to deal with pre-purchased tickets. In order to preserve cash I usually purchase tickets online, which either upsets or baffles the representatives at the kiosks.

Our general impression of Helsinki was an incredibly clean and safe city without many compelling sites to see. I'm the first to admit that my impression may be completely myopic and I just need to explore the opportunities available before deciding that Helsinki isn't worthy of a future visit. That said, I'm keeping it on my list of potential destinations until I can make a more informed decision.

One of our specific stops was the Temppeliaukion kirkko, or The Rock Church, a Lutheran Church carved out of rock in a downtown Helsinki square. Known for having quality acoustics, the church is mostly used as a performance venue. On days that it is open to the general public (there is an admission fee) there are almost always a series of performers. We had the pleasure of sitting and listening to a pianist for a while. We easily lost track of where we were and nearly lost track of time. Come for the architecture, stay for the entertainment!

We also participated in a little local economic stimulus, purchasing a fair quantity of gifts for family. Ultimately we ended up back on the bus to complete the circuit around the city before being delivered back to the ship just prior to departure.

7 August - Stockholm, Sweden: If I were forced to pick a single word to describe my initial experience in Stockholm it would be "surprised." Without any real idea of what to expect after visiting Helsinki, the only thing we really knew Sweden had going for it was Abba. A friend has spent a significant amount of time in Stockholm for work, and a distant (older) cousin married a Swede long ago and lives somewhere in Sweden - but that's the sum total of my knowledge before our arrival.

Gamala stan

Stockholm immediately passed my "vibe" test. I've heard all the things people say about the Swedes being distant and cold, but our impression couldn't have been more different. I'm not saying we experienced hospitality like you would in the southern region of the United States, but we certainly didn't get what we expected.

The city is complex (just pull up a map) thanks to being spread over a series of islands. There are tunnels, bridges, cross-overs, switchbacks, and I'm sure a few traffic configurations I can't even identify. This makes navigation close to impossible for the newcomer - even if you choose the HoHo bus as your primary transportation.

The old city (Gamala stan) is a series of walkable, narrow streets filled with shops, cafes, and restaurants. One street will be nearly empty, then the next will be filled with people, but everything is civilized and polite. The afternoon light reflecting off the buildings in these streets is mesmerizing. If you're any kind of photographer you'll find yourself waiting, clicking, and waiting a bit more as the scenes transform in real time. I can't tell you why, specifically, I want to return to Stockholm - I just know that I do. The public spaces are lush and perfectly groomed. There are massive parks where kids play soccer (football) in the warm months and ski in the winter. Maybe it's the sensation that there's always something to discover around the next corner (very few streets are straight, almost everything bends and twists.) It's captivating. Maybe I'll be disappointed, maybe it will become another favorite city. All I know is I have to figure out which it is.

Stockholm Shadows