On our second day of Allure of the Seas, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas. When Rachel and I were in the initial planning stages of her Bachelorette Cruise, we looked into a few options for chartering a boat in Nassau. However, we decided that since this was only a 3-night cruise, our time/money would probably be better spent staying on the ship and enjoying the Royal Loft Suite.


We planned for a slow morning with brunch in the suite.

Good morning from Cozumel! Thankfully, the weather was looking much nicer than it had been on our Christmas Cruise just a week earlier.

I spotted a Royal Caribbean ship approaching in the distance. I think they were headed to the International Pier.

We were docking at Punta Langosta Cruise Terminal which is the older, smaller cruise ship pier in Cozumel. Disney ships typically dock at Punta Langosta. The International Pier (where we docked on the Summit) is located farther south.


We were scheduled to dock at 8:45, and planned to disembark immediately so that we could beat the crowds to the beach.

On Day 6 of our Harmony of the Seas cruise, we were back in Cozumel - this time as originally scheduled. Once again, no plans to leave the ship!


Rachel and I went to work out this morning. The gym was the least crowded I had seen it. I had plenty of room in the free weights area, and there was no wait for the Smith machine.

We had to hurry and finish our workout because we had made plans with Judy and Stove to eat breakfast at Johnny Rockets. The breakfast at Johnny Rockets is actually not included in the specialty dining package - it's free for everyone on the ship! A nice upgrade to the Windjammer, that's for sure.

Today was a full day at sea. Aaron and I started the day with brunch in Triton's.


We braved breakfast in Cabana's once the entire cruise (when we just missed the cut-off for seating in the dining room), and Aaron was horrified - he said never again (guess I spoiled him by taking him straight to the dining room every day - the buffet is the madness I grew up with on cruises)! Seriously, Cabana's in the morning (well, anytime really) is complete chaos - screaming children, clanking dishes, a fight for tables. Aaron and I ate almost exclusively in the dining room the entire cruise. The Sea Day brunch offerings are nice because in addition to breakfast dishes, they offer steak, soups, pastas... very good selection!

On Day 3 we woke up in beautiful Cabo San Lucas!  This was my second time in Cabo - I had visited before with my family on our 17-day Panama Canal Cruise.  I really enjoyed the port on that cruise and was excited to be back.  Also, since I had been there before and new exactly what I wanted to do, I didn't book an excursion in advance through DCL or another company because I was pretty sure I could get a better price and more custom experience in port.


We stepped outside on the fourth deck to check out the view -

At the end of Day 7 in Bonaire, Mom was not feeling well (we made her take "medicinal shots" of whiskey). She woke up today completely sick - stuffed head, sore throat, achy body... she wasn't coming out of the stateroom. It really sucks to get sick on vacation (I think we've all been there at some point... except Dad).

Rachel and I went to workout in the gym that morning and decided to check out the sauna and steam room in the ladies' locker room that Rachel had remembered. They're probably redone this layout in the drydock, but the Navigator had gender-separated sauna and steam rooms, which isn't as common on cruise ships anymore.

We ran into Dad after our workout and decided that today might be a good day for Johnny Rocket's (though we felt guilty because Mom loves Johnny Rocket's).

So Johnny Rocket's has been slowly climbing in price over the past fifteen years. There was once a day when it was less than $5 per person. The price for our sailing was listed as $6.95 per person, which we found to be a little ridiculous considering it's fast food burgers, and they're getting closer and closer to their "on-land" price. I'm wondering if Royal Caribbean is reconsidering their partnership with the Johnny Rocket's franchise because Rachel said she got a survey from RCCL asking about what kind of burger she'd like to have on a cruise, having her choose between Johnny Rocket's and other brands.


So we sat down thinking this is kind of pricey, we should get all of the things while we're here.

Service wasn't great.  We were seated for maybe ten minutes before anyone came to take our order.
 We all ordered milkshakes and made the plan that Dad would ask for a to-go milkshake for Mom before we left.

We flew/drove in the day before and stayed at the Fairfield at MCO the night before the cruise.  This trip begins how they normally do - with me scrambling to get to the airport.  This time I was confused and thought my flight left an hour later... only to realize that it didn't, and I didn't have time to take a shower.  Luckily there were no people in the two seats next to me, so no one had to put up with my un-showered self.  Once at MCO, I had the hardest time finding the complimentary airport shuttle to the Fairfield.  I circled the entire shuttle deck twice - the only clear and visible signs in the entire darn airport are for Disney's Magical Express.  Finally, after complaining to Dad, I learned that I actually had to call the hotel, then they would send the shuttle over to get me.  Once I did that, it was super quick and painless.  No photos of the Fairfield, but it's very close to the airport and a decent budget travel hotel.  I have no complaints, but I remember Rachel saying the gym sucked.

Before going to the terminal, we stopped by a liquor store to buy wine.  Disney used to have an alcohol policy which allowed you to bring hard liquor aboard, but they have since switched to a policy which allows two bottles of wine or six beers per person over age 21.  Since we like to try the different bars and lounges on the ship, we only got two bottles per stateroom (and I'm not sure we finished them all).

We woke up Christmas morning in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  San Juan is perhaps the worst port to be in on Christmas Day because Puerto Rico is very religious and traditional, so most stores were closed, and very few tours were operating.  We were also in port for a very short period of time, departing at 2PM, so it wasn't really long enough to justify a trip to the beach.

We were joined in port by the Carnival Conquest.



No plans, but we decided to leave the ship to walk around. We needed to visit a drug store to pick up some medicine, as Rachel and I were both coming down with something.

May 11, 2014 - At Sea

Rachel woke up early that morning (7AM!) for yoga at the Donald pool. I thought about going with her... until the wake-up call, and I decided it was way too early.

She gave me a report of how yoga went (Rachel is a group fitness instructor and teaches cycling classes). So she arrived at her class 15 minutes early because she always goes to fitness classes early so that she'll have time to set up equipment, get a good spot, etc. Other women came, and they waited... and waited... it's 7:00, and they are wondering if the fitness class is canceled or if they are in the wrong location. Then three minutes late, the instructor rolls in carrying his yoga mat. Nobody else has yoga mats. The instructor tells them that they need to go to the fitness center and pick up yoga mats. So they all go and get their mats, and by the time that they are back at the Donald pool and set up, it is 7:15. So they finally begin and it soon becomes pretty obvious that the instructor has NO IDEA WHAT HE'S DOING. He didn't know the names of any poses except downward dog and child's pose (not even warrior 1, warrior 2). So he would tell them, "Now go into this pose. And hold it. And breathe." As the class goes on, more and more people are getting frustrated. Rachel said that it wasn't just getting pathetic - it was getting dangerous. There were senior citizens in the class, and the instructor was having them do challenging balance poses (some of which were made up) with no alternatives. Rachel said that it was nice at first because it was very peaceful and relaxing... and then children started to show up... and then music started to play. But at least she got to bond with the other yoga attendants about how terrible the class was. She said that another lady suggested that they should just call it "morning stretch" and then no one would expect anything. The next day, morning stretch was listed on the Navigator, so I think that Disney thinks they're really teaching yoga.

I got up and finished unpacking Rachel while I left Max sleeping. Rachel came back to the room with Dad, and they were going on the walking ship tour. I decided to join them!

The tour is nothing behind-the-scenes, and some people left after they learned that. I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into from reading others' reports online, and I just wanted to learn my way around the ship better. The tour guides were from the entertainment crew, and they were really fun and energetic.

Hey, Mickey!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - Aruba

Max requested to eat breakfast in the dining room - that's something I haven't done in several cruises! It turns out that Max paid a great deal of attention every evening when Subrata would tell us what was in store for dining the next day because he always knew where the special food was.

We wanted a table for two and had to wait a bit for it, but the view was well worth it...



Service felt rushed and impersonal. When we were ordering, I asked for an omelette with scrambled eggs. "Do you want an omelette or scrambled eggs?" I couldn't have both? I was caught off-guard and told him just the eggs.... big mistake!!!

This post is a chapter of my 2013 Royal Princess Christmas Cruise Photo Review.

This cruise review was originally published on Cruise Critic beginning January 3, 2014.  You can read the original review here.

December 27, 2013

One of my goals for this trip was to take long exposures of the ship at night. This is something that I kind of started on my Epic cruise with a gorillapod. This cruise, I brought my travel tripod and remote with me. I knew that I wanted as few people as possible in the frame, and like I said before, the key to that is patience..... or getting up remarkably early. I set my wake-up call to 5 am, and while I did not want to get up, I knew that the photographs would be worth it, and I'd regret it if I didn't.

I started with the pool deck.

We woke up the next day in... SUNNY Barbados!!!

The Royal Caribbean crew was doing a safety drill... the alarm went off right after I flushed the toilet in my cabin (already a loud noise), so I kind of freaked out - WHAT DID I DO?