We planned for a slow morning with brunch in the suite.
I was glad that we had opted not to do a shore excursion because the weather was pretty gloomy that morning with on and off rain.
We were docked beside the Norwegian Pearl, Disney Wish, and Liberty of the Seas.
I of course took this opportunity to get a good look at the Disney Wish.
It's pretty cool being this high up with so much private outdoor space.
The slightly weird thing about the Royal Loft Suite is how visible it is from the sports court. It was entertaining because we could watch people playing games, but at night when we had all of our lights on and curtains open, I realized that the people on the sports court probably had a great view of us.
If we had better weather, we could've enjoyed this area more. I did ask if we could eat lunch outside, but the room service team didn't have the right tablecloths and the deck was a bit wet, so I said that we would just eat inside if that was easier.
We started the morning with brunch. Tao sent mimosas and Bloody Marys.
We definitely enjoyed the double height space.
We had asked if we could use the hot tub after lunch, and as they were setting that up for us, some rain rolled in.
Luckily, our hot tub was covered. Everything really worked out great.
The water really ponded here on our deck. We pointed it out to Tao thinking he'd send for someone to dry it up, but he returned with a squeegee and dried the deck off himself!
You could peek down onto the hot tub from the window at the top of the staircase inside.
The rain slowed down and people returned to the sports courts. We had a prime viewing location.
The slope/drainage on this deck really isn't the best, but I'm probably the only person to ever comment on that. It's not a complaint, I promise, just an observation.
Bachelorette shenanigans -
We had a late lunch (unfortunately inside due to how wet it was outside and the tablecloth situation I mentioned earlier) which Tao actually described as "afternoon snacks." He sent so much food!
The girls were cracking up because the previous night before dinner, Tao came to the door and asked what we wanted for snacks the next day, and they were all talking on top of one another, "Chicken Tendies!" "Mozzarella Sticks!" "Nachos!" and Meredith, "SHRIMP COCKTAIL!" And wow, Tao delivered all of it.
Meredith's personal shrimp cocktail -
Is this how the other half lives?!
Each of the dishes came with French fries, so there was an abundance of French fries.
After lunch, we decided to go check out the pool deck, mingle with the common folk. (Hahahaha I'm kidding!)
On embarkation day, I noticed that bar service around the pool deck was very slow. I brushed it off as an embarkation day fluke. But again today, bar service was so slow. They seemed understaffed.
I got a better look at the Norwegian Pearl and realized that it was set up for some sort of concert. It must've been a charter cruise.
Jay and Silent Bob Present Cruise Askew. I wasn't familiar, but if you're interested in going down the rabbit hole, here's a comprehensive summary of the Askewniverse.
View into the Central Park neighborhood -
Despite it being a bit chilly, people were swimming. I suppose temperature is all relative.... it probably felt nice and warm to anyone from a cold climate.
The hot tubs were all packed, and the solarium was pretty crowded as well. We sat down in some covered lounge seating. I texted Tao and asked if we could have the hot tub set up again for sailaway.
I found this small pool with a current that goes round and round to be very amusing.
The Norwegian Pearl was the first to leave port.
And we we were next! We made it back to our room for sailaway.
I got a better look at the Norwegian Pearl and realized that it was set up for some sort of concert. It must've been a charter cruise.
Jay and Silent Bob Present Cruise Askew. I wasn't familiar, but if you're interested in going down the rabbit hole, here's a comprehensive summary of the Askewniverse.
View into the Central Park neighborhood -
Despite it being a bit chilly, people were swimming. I suppose temperature is all relative.... it probably felt nice and warm to anyone from a cold climate.
The hot tubs were all packed, and the solarium was pretty crowded as well. We sat down in some covered lounge seating. I texted Tao and asked if we could have the hot tub set up again for sailaway.
I found this small pool with a current that goes round and round to be very amusing.
The Norwegian Pearl was the first to leave port.
And we we were next! We made it back to our room for sailaway.
Got a better view of the Disney Wish -
Obligatory Bachelorette photoshoot -
The balcony hot tub really worked out well for our group.
The hot tub starts out super hot, then kinda cools down. Kristi's back is proof how how hot the hot tub can be -
Our ship was the next to leave port.
Goodbye, Nassau!
The best view I get of Nassau is coming to and leaving port. I haven't been off the ship here in.... maybe a decade. I should probably give Nassau another go, I just haven't found the right excursion to motivate me.
The rainy weather made for some pretty epic skies leaving port.
One day, I will visit Atlantis and live out my Holiday in the Sun dreams.
Time for another Bachelorette photoshoot. Don't worry, the ring float was for photo purposes only. It never left the room.
We had dinner reservations at 150 Central Park
They seated us at a large table right at the entrance of the restaurant. The entire restaurant was pretty empty. Sabor was also very uncrowded the night before, but I had expected that because it's the first night and despite my love of Sabor, it seems to be a generally unpopular specialty restaurant (my guess is that cruisers don't consider Mexican cuisine 'specialty'). However, 150 Central Park has been more difficult reservation to get in the past, so I was surprised at how empty the dining room felt.
Our waiter was Luna. He gave a little spiel about the restaurant and then asked us if we had any plans that evening. We told him that we were going to see the aqua show at 10:15 PM. "Oh, okay, I'll try to get you out of here in time, speed up the dinner service." Speed up the dinner service? It was 8 PM!
It turns out 150 Central Park has an efficiency issue. We had all ordered drinks, but it seems like they were running to a bar outside of the restaurant to get the drinks. They brought them out to us two at a time. It took 15 minutes to get drinks.... maybe it was going to be a struggle to get out of here in 15 minutes.
On the bright side, Kristi loved the garlic bread.
I ordered the Roasted Organic Beet Salad. It was a nice dish, but at this point, I was HUNGRY and really needed something more substantial.
This is the Seared Honey Glazed Scallops -
Rachel had the Braised Short Rib. Excellent choice.
For my entree, I had the Lamb Wellington.
Rachel had the Roasted Tenderloin of Beef for Two. The "for two" part was throwing a lot of the girls off, but we confirmed that it could be ordered by one person. Not sure why they decided to make the dish "for two." It's a specialty restaurant, so everyone is paying a flat fee to dine there, it doesn't really make sense to designate one entree for sharing.
Tao came in to greet us, and he started by putting his finger over his lips.... I guess he was used to us screaming, "Tao!!!" at this point. He told us that he would meet us for the aqua show outside Sabor at 10:15. He would get our drinks for the show. We decided to make it easy on him and all went with red wine.
I ordered the Roasted Organic Beet Salad. It was a nice dish, but at this point, I was HUNGRY and really needed something more substantial.
This is the Seared Honey Glazed Scallops -
Rachel had the Braised Short Rib. Excellent choice.
For my entree, I had the Lamb Wellington.
Rachel had the Roasted Tenderloin of Beef for Two. The "for two" part was throwing a lot of the girls off, but we confirmed that it could be ordered by one person. Not sure why they decided to make the dish "for two." It's a specialty restaurant, so everyone is paying a flat fee to dine there, it doesn't really make sense to designate one entree for sharing.
Tao came in to greet us, and he started by putting his finger over his lips.... I guess he was used to us screaming, "Tao!!!" at this point. He told us that he would meet us for the aqua show outside Sabor at 10:15. He would get our drinks for the show. We decided to make it easy on him and all went with red wine.
For dessert, I got the Fried Cheesecake.
And they brought out a cake for Rachel. Luna brought over a friend of his, a fellow waitress at 150 Central Park, because he thought they were going to be singing a song. But then he realized that this isn't the occasion for "Happy Birthday." However, he and his friend had won a karaoke competition onboard the ship, so he really wanted her to sing. She settled on Tina Turner's Rolling on the River, and it was true, she really had pipes. When she finished, everyone in the restaurant applauded her. Finally, something to break up the stuffy atmosphere.
And they brought out a cake for Rachel. Luna brought over a friend of his, a fellow waitress at 150 Central Park, because he thought they were going to be singing a song. But then he realized that this isn't the occasion for "Happy Birthday." However, he and his friend had won a karaoke competition onboard the ship, so he really wanted her to sing. She settled on Tina Turner's Rolling on the River, and it was true, she really had pipes. When she finished, everyone in the restaurant applauded her. Finally, something to break up the stuffy atmosphere.
150 Central Park is a restaurant that I want to like, but both times I've dined there (on Allure, and previously on Harmony of the Seas), I haven't had the best experience. The pace of dinner is slow and inefficient. I'm not sure where the kitchen is located relative to the dining room, but I think that could potentially be the issue. The atmosphere also felt stuffy, and having so few people in the restaurant just contributed to the awkwardness. The food was good, but the overall experience wasn't the greatest.
We got out of 150 Central Park at 10 PM.... wow, it really did take 2 hours.
Some of the girls were cold and asking if they should go to the room to get sweaters, and I told them they had to tough it out because we had to meet Tao at 10:15 and didn't have enough time to go back to the room. We met Tao on the Boardwalk outside of Sabor. He was wearing his Bachelorette button, and waved to one of his fellow Genies, pointed the his button, and then gestured to us. It was cute, he acted very proud to be escorting us around the ship.
Tao showed us to the seats he had reserved, then came back with red wine for everyone. He then came back again with pool towels for us to use as blankets since it was cold! Wow, what service!
When the girls asked to go get sweaters earlier, I was very tempted because I realized that I only had my 50mm lens, and I would have loved to have my 26-300mm lens for the aqua show.... but I made due with 50mm.
When the girls asked to go get sweaters earlier, I was very tempted because I realized that I only had my 50mm lens, and I would have loved to have my 26-300mm lens for the aqua show.... but I made due with 50mm.
The aqua show on Allure is Oceanaria, and it was really incredible.
This show seemed even better than the shows that I saw on Harmony a few years ago. There was very little dancing around and silly narrative, and a lot of talent and stunts packed into a 45 minute show.
I would be lying if I said I didn't get nervous for the safety of the performers a few times during the show. The precision required is incredible. Also, the technology involved with raising/lowering the platform... if something malfunctioned, that would be horrific.
This act was impressive -
So high!!!!!
After the aqua show, we headed to Studio B where they were playing The Quest. When we got there, they had just finished with another game show, so we were like salmon swimming upstream into the theatre. We got seats, but they were more toward the back, so we weren't close enough to really play.
This show seemed even better than the shows that I saw on Harmony a few years ago. There was very little dancing around and silly narrative, and a lot of talent and stunts packed into a 45 minute show.
I would be lying if I said I didn't get nervous for the safety of the performers a few times during the show. The precision required is incredible. Also, the technology involved with raising/lowering the platform... if something malfunctioned, that would be horrific.
This act was impressive -
So high!!!!!
After the aqua show, we headed to Studio B where they were playing The Quest. When we got there, they had just finished with another game show, so we were like salmon swimming upstream into the theatre. We got seats, but they were more toward the back, so we weren't close enough to really play.
It's honestly remarkable how little The Quest has changed in the 20 years that I've been watching it. It feels very dated now. I'm quite sick of the schtick at the end where they dress a man up "as a girl," and they perform for us. And the guys lack creativity.... why is it that they all choose the occupation "stripper" or "dancer"? Get more creative, Royal Caribbean.
At the end of Quest, they said that the final Quest was for us all to come down to the floor. So we did... and that's when they turned it into the nightclub. They had bars setup on two corners of the floor. It was absolutely packed. Someone spilled their drink on me, so I decided to go back to the room and dry off, also dropping off my camera.
Getting from Studio B back to our suite was quite the mission.
I dried myself off, then took a few photos of the room turned down before heading back out.
Look how carefully they laid out Rachel's captain hat veil -
When I got back to Studio B, the girls were just leaving. They weren't feeling the music, but unfortunately, this was the nightclub for the night. Blaze would not be open. That was a bit of a bummer. We went to Boleros where the bartender was closing down the bar, but he was kind enough to give us a round of beer first. Then we went to the casino bar, but it was awfully loud and smoky in there (also a few of us were tired), so we decided to head back to the room since we had an early morning at Perfect Day CocoCay.
I dried myself off, then took a few photos of the room turned down before heading back out.
Look how carefully they laid out Rachel's captain hat veil -
When I got back to Studio B, the girls were just leaving. They weren't feeling the music, but unfortunately, this was the nightclub for the night. Blaze would not be open. That was a bit of a bummer. We went to Boleros where the bartender was closing down the bar, but he was kind enough to give us a round of beer first. Then we went to the casino bar, but it was awfully loud and smoky in there (also a few of us were tired), so we decided to head back to the room since we had an early morning at Perfect Day CocoCay.
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