Symphony of the Seas. Royal’s newest ship.
The biggest cruise ship in the world…. weighing in at 228,021 gross ton. 262 metres long with 18 decks. She can take 5,518 passengers as well as 2,200 crew.
Central Park has over 20,000 tropical plants.
She has been doing a few months in Europe and we are now taking her to Miami – to the new terminal.
FUN!
DAY 1
Ruth and Michael drove me down to Barcelona and onto the ship. Such an easy boarding process. I was on by 11.15. Check-in was done on an ipad – didn’t even have to line up. I just walked in and someone grabbed me and checked me in. They then stamp your Set Sail pass and off you go. And WOW. What a ship.
So huge.
I wandered up to the infamous Suites Lounge / Coastal Kitchen. Amazing. Such a beautiful room with great views.
And the food and drinks were amazing. Not a Concierge Lounge bar… but an almost full bar. Much better quality drinks – as if we needed that but great. The bar is open from 11am-11pm.
And the food. Similar to what other ships put on for the once a trip Suites luncheon. This was amazing.
Coastal Kitchen is at one end and chairs for the lounge at the other.
And best of all ~~~~ NO PLASTIC STRAWS~~~~
But – as if the snacks were not enough – we were all told it was tie to go down for our Pinnacle lunch. Ad wow – another amazing spread. Ice Carvings, fruit carvings, special menu and so much more.
All the food was great
We ate and had a talk from Millie -corporate head of Crown and Anchor from Miami. She told us of our arrangements for the trip.
There are 231 Pinnacles on board – apparently 80 of them cancelled (when they sussed out who else was coming etc. hahah)
Then ff to find my room. A balcony room but its huge compared to other ships. The balcony is also much deeper.
Muster was out in the Aqua Theatre and was so different. Everyone listened and paid attention. They played the ‘Spy movie’ that runs on the TV on many ships – so most people have seen it, but everyone sat quietly and concentrated!
One of the bars – Dazzlers – has been made into a Pinnacle Bar. I spent some time there – mainly to look at the food on offer. Again it was like a banquet. MACARONS!!!!! Had to take a few of them for later!
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Next stop was to the Diamond Lounge to catch up with Tracey, Jim and Margret form Harmony last year and Lou and Gracie from Mariner. Great fun. Many laughs and drinks. |
Then dinner at Chops. Again much fun was had.
Day 2. At Sea.
Today seemed to be all about food, and catching up with people.
I started with a breakfast in Chops.
To ease congestion in the CK they have set Chops up as a breakfast and lunch CK – but with the CK menu. It was crazy busy so got to have a lovey relaxed breakfast.
I then went up to the lounge and caught up with many people. The day just kind of evaporated with time disappearing all day long.
A few of us decided to go down to chops for lunch – plus an extra single that I grabbed and dragged in wth us. But they were really busy – so they sent us to Jamie’s Italian for lunch. For free. Bonus.
Another very long lunch then off to watch the Aqua show. But it was cancelled due To weather.
So off to the diamond lounge to meet up with the gang. So good to catch with my Harmony 2016 friends. That group of us then went to our booked dinner – at Jamie’s. Hahahaha. But fun was had. Much laughing.
We then went to see the broadway show ‘Hairspray’. It didn’t start till 10.30. The theatre was totally full as it is for all shows on this class of ship. We were sitting right in the middle.
After about 15 minutes of scratching and squirming in my seat I realised I was having an allergic reaction to something. Not serious just uncomfortable and so annoying to Margaret and heather sitting beside me. Oops. But the show was great.
But after a shower and a handful of Phenergan I got to sleep by about 1 am.
DAY 3
A trip to Granada.
We arrived in MALAGA to a really wet and miserable day. But I had booked a tour. An “on your own” tour to Granada. Bus transfer to Granada then off you go and do your own thing.
Last night was very late night so it was so much fun getting up at 6.30 and out to the bus in the pitch dark.
We set off through Malaga on the two hour bus trip.
As we travelled I couldn’t help thinking that no wonder the Spaniards loved Australia so much as immigrants. The place looked so similar in many parts. Rugged and scrubby with most granite rocks everywhere.
Well similar until we got into olive land. Then olive groves as far as the eye could see.
Old groves. Young groves. Old groves with baby trees planted in rows between the old ones.
Many of the groves had tees planted in pairs or in threes and trained to lean out. I guess it then makes it easy to set up the nets and shake three trees at once. It looked really cool.
Then amazingly fertile farming lands.
The Andalusian mountains then made an appearance. And they were not small. I did see some white horses so obviously they were Andalusians.
The huge mountains behind Granada were covered in snow. Pretty.
We were dropped off at the wrong end of town and give a be back by time.
Lots of people dived out of the bus and headed off on a mission. So I just followed them. Of course I started chatting at traffic lights. We were off to the Palace. Alhambra.
The weather was great. Overcast but no rain. And 10 degrees. The walking kept me warm so was able to walk in short sleeve most of the time. Had to put my light cardigan on a few times. Of course the locals had their ski clothing on.
And what a walk it was. Uphill. A gentle slope but uphill all the way. Past many lovey buildings and statues, fountains etc.
The roads narrowed from grand major roads to small winding streets, with tiny alleys off them. And it got steeper. And steeper.
The streets in all these old parts of Europe are narrow and twisty for defence purpose. The enemy are more likely to get lost and confused.
Then came the real uphill. A few of the people I were walking with decided that it was too steep and that was enough. They stopped.
Once inside the gate it for so steep. A huge gradient. I then parted company with the remainder of my walking friend, telling them to head off as I was slow – really slow!
The Alambra is a palace and fortress started in 889AD on the remains of a Roman fortification. It was then left and renovated in the mid 13th century, when it was converted to the royal palace of the Sultan of Granada.
By 1492 it became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (the guys who endorsed Christopher Columbus on is explorations).
The path/ramp went through a stunning Forrest. So beautiful. Xiang chestnut trees dropping rip chestnut everywhere. It wasn’t hard to visualise the nobles our hunting boar through this forest.
And then there I was at the top. The palace is immense and built of some of the most beautiful stone. And of course it kept going up and up. But the views were great.
Even inside the fortified walls, the twisty theory was still in play. Through the front gate was a tunnel entrance with four turns.
Then out to the open protected areas with great formal gardens.
After about an hour I headed back down. And yes down was worse. Shuffle shuffle. I did think about jumping into a taxi for the trip down but that would be weak.
I ended up waking all the way back to the bus stop before I stopped for lunch. I knew once I stopped it was going to hurt to get going again.
I found a tapas bar and had the most amazing tomato salad and avocado.
I was there a bit early, and when she did she could make me a sandwich. I thought that sounded great. But when I saw it – yay!!!!
The “sandwich” and a soft drink cost me 5.50 euro. Hahahah
Huge hunks of salmon and the best chunky tomato sauce ever.
Then back onto the bus for the trip home. And the rain started. Perfect timing.
It rained all day in Malaga. Heavy rain so they had a miserable day. Many people didn’t even get off the ship. Silly them. It’s only rain. They will not melt.
I had a quiet evening then went to big lounge and managed to find Phyllis and Gerry. Then Coastal Kitchen for a light and quiet dinner. And it didn’t disappoint.
We sailed out of Malaga and said goodbye to Europe. Coastal kitchen looks out to the front of the ship and down onto Central Park. Very cool view as I ate with everything sparkling in the wet.
At about 10.30 we went through the Gibraltar straight. Africa in view on one side. Europe on the other.
Then bed!!! Well after spending time out on the balcony watching a great lightning storm over Spain somewhere.
My step counter was impressive.
Big day. Huge day. Awesome day.
Day 4
At Sea
A lovely relaxing day. Trivia, chatting and wandering around.
I was cold and heavy rain for much of the day. Lucky this ship is so big with lots to do.
Central Park is so very cool. It’s weird going UP in the lift from my room to the garden. And as we came out of Chops at lunch time it was pouring. The wind was whipping the trees and pants around. It was wonderful. Like a winters day. Don’t think a lot of people agreed with me.
The ship was set up for Halloween.
A different kind of “chair hog”. Bad weather so rather than hogging pool chairs they settled in inside. Sleeping and movies.
Many people dressed up.
I did the Zombie.
Fun.
Day 5
At Sea
The sun peaked out for a bit then went back behind the clouds. And the weather was glorious. The ship was rocking (only a 4 m swell), the wind was howling ad it was abut 14 degrees. Wonderful.
I started the day with a quick breakfast in Chops – the Pinnacle Coastal Kitchen. What a way to start the day. Hot chocolate, Champagne or Bellini and Crab Cake Benedict. Damn. Lucky I don’t go there often!
Followed up by a bridge tour. Always fun to go onto a different bridge. This ship is so huge. The view down the side of the ship just goes on and on and seems to fade into the distance.
This ship has three rotating azipods so is very manoeuvrable.
They an do an emergency stop in less than 2ks from full speed. Thats impressive…..but also a good warning to never cut in front of a cruise ship. they can do an emergency sharp turn in less then 1k.
The Captain came up ad chatted to us for quiet some time.
A mature brown footed Booby Bird was flying around the front of the ship the whole time we were there. I know because Lou saw it top! hahaha
After a bit of time chatting in the Suites lounge I headed off to explore. But first the Suite lounge.
Huge, with massive glass walls looking forward over the pool deck and to sea. The bar is open 11-11 so no need to go back to your room to get water or soft drinks…or even alcohol. Lovely. It really is a beautiful place to hang out.
I wandered up to the Solarium. First the Bistro which is basically a healthy choices, mini Windjammer.
Then out onto the Solarium. Two decks of “Pool deck” type place but no pool. I think its brilliant without a pool. Adults just blob in the pool usually – so no loss.
There are plenty of spa/ hut tubs, and heaps of space for hanging out. Its at the front of the ship so the view is fantastic but has a terraced type roof, so is sheltered. Lots of chairs, loungers and pods.
They are putting new roof on the bar at the moment but this will be finished in a few days.
There are also two “bridge wing” open areas – fantastic for bird watching, looking at the ocean etc.
The back of deck 15 was next. Sports court, Flow rider, Golf, the giant dry slippery slide – The Abyss.
There is a Mexican food place out there. Its free and mad me sad as they took the pay one ‘Sabor’ off (it was amazing) and replaced it with this free place “El Loco”. Classic mushy tasteless so called Mexican food.
The Mobile Piano was out in the promenade today. He appears all over the place, even rides up and down the lifts while laying. Great fun!
An awesome night followed in the Diamond Lounge with “the gang” (from Harmony). Lots was drunk and much fun was had.
Then we headed off to “Hooked”. A new seafood restaurant. And WOW it was amazing. Really nice place with great decor. But the food.
“Did we want to order starters or go family style?” Family style of course.
Well, the food started to flow. There were seven on us in the group…..
Three dozen fresh oysters. A dozen of each cooked – Rockefella -Breadcrumbs and something, Brie and wine, and Leek and white wine!
Big bowls of muscles, in two different sauces.
Trays of brilliant Calamari.
Crab Cakes,
Prawn cocktails.
And don’t forget the Clam Chowder. and the salads.
Main course was Lobster, or Lobster and more, and heaps more.
The amount of food was insane. Amazing but insane!!!!
Then amazing desert – – but the famous desert stomach failed me! I shall have to go back!
We were loud, sang along to the music, consumed more wine and had an amazing time.
Day 6
At Sea
Today started with a galley tour – and it was fantastic! Samuel, the Sous chef of specialties, was out guide and he was fun. It was by far the best Galley tour I have done…and I’ve done a few.
He would take us to each area, but rather then just standing looking, we were able to walk right in around the lines and look.
They prepare 8,000 prawn cocktails – and that is only for the 5.30 service. Then they do 8,000 more!
6,000 Caesar Salads!
Everything for Jamie’s Italian is supplied by Jamie. They cannot use anything from general stores. If hey run out – bad luck. Jamie is really strict about his ethical food – all free range, real Spanish an Italian Jamon (the huge pig leg hams), the correct tomatoes etc.
One shipment missed the pick up in Barcelona, so had to be rushed by road to Malaga. That dish was unavailable for the days.
And the equipment was amazing. They have moved away from Bay Marie warming dishes to avoid steam burns. They use state of the art flat tops – heated benches.
The soup and sauce pots are giant crockpots. Hundreds of litres. He showed us how they tilt to pour and for cleaning. They are all had scrubbed then waste is poured into grates in the floor.
We got to taste a sauce being made – with our fancy little tasting spoons. One lady thought it was a little salty and gave the Sous Chef fo one of the biggest kitchen operations in the world….. a tip about boiling potatoes in the sauce to get rid of the salt.
The food waste machine is amazing. Scraps are scrapped in then a huge vacuum system (like the toilets) gulps it all down, mashes it and feeds it into a giant incinerator – almost instant dust! It’s kept locked as it could swallow a person.
And this was only one of about 15 kitchens on board. The kitchens are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Brilliant tour.
After some time in the lounge chatting I went and played on the stair from 15 to 16.
It’s a giant piano! The steps have sensors. When you step it plays a note. You can jump up and down and make your own tune, or just walk up and down. Bet you cannot guess which I did. 
And a few more from around the ship.
Yet another great day.
And tonight is the fourth 25 hr day since getting back from Monaco. One the night before boarding, then the last three night. Glorious.
Day 7
At Sea
I started the morning off with a look at the sunrise! Very pretty.
This was followed wiht a theatre tour . The theatre is a full on Broadway stage with all the bells and whistles. The room seats 1500 guests. Huge. Biggest at sea. Much bigger than the Canberra Theatre at 1230.
The stage itself has amazing technology. All over the floor are channels for the pulley and winch systems. Props have “blades” on the bottom. They are slotted in – with 2mm error of margin, and are then driven all around the stage by machines.
In the show “Flight”, There is a 2 tonne prop lifted into the tracks. That then movs around the stage. At the same time, the drop down section if the stage is ascending with cast all over it – while others are lowering from the roof in aerial harness. Pretty intense. Everything of course had a manual backup – in case of error. Apparently during hairspray one f the props missed its mark, and had to be hand cranked into place. We didn’t notice.
The gantries that the aerials work from is 14 metres above the stage. Thats high. In Hairspray the mother is lowered own from the roof in a double bed. Not even Broadway does it that way.
We then ent backstage into the dressing rooms – tiny. The storage rooms – tiny and many other places. I met the wig guy who flies around the world going to each ship (on his run) to maintain the wigs (because 99% of actors are in wigs. He washes them and tunes them up. That’s a pretty specific job description.
At the back of the stage is a scary thing. A huge sled hammer and a weak link in the anchor chain. Wouldn’t like to be on when they had to use that. 
Great tour.
I then went up to the Suites Deck. A private deck on Deck 17 Forward. Amazing. gated community with with a 360 degree walk around. So you can sit in comfortable chairs, on on loungers at look in all four directions. There is a bar up there, a spa and a shower. Pods, open space. Wonderful.
And got to do the Royal wave to me Canada’s down in the normal area.
We crossed the mid Atlantic sea ridge today. Its only 30 metres deep in parts. Captain said we could feel the bump!
Daily weather report from Captain Rob.
Again I bumped into people and went to lunch! More time gone.
Met up with some of the Aussie crowd at trivia.
After visiting in the lounge I went out to see the sunset. When up to the Suites Deck and had the whole place to myself.
Imagine that – Me, seeing sunset and sunrise on the same day.
It was then off to Pinnacle dinner and what an amazing night. We started with a most beautiful cocktail. I had to fid a barman and get the recipe. I’d never really understood the Botanical Gin thing, until I had this drink with – Botanical Gin, a pomegranate liqueur, chambon and lime with ?champagne. There was a large sprig of Rosemary in it, and when you brought it up to drink it was amazing the smells…..not just of the Rosemary but the gin was amazing!
I sat with the Chief Engineer and he was really interesting. From Croatia. Learnt lots about the systems in the ships. Well the systems below deck three. Electricity, water, sewerage, air cond, heating etc. Basically everything but moving the ship.
Starters was a goat Cheese and Onion tart, and an amazing Charcuterie Platter. Amazing. Jamon, cheeses pate, terrines…wow.
Mains was just….. a Surf and Turf. Lobster with the most amazing slow cooked beef.
Desert nearly killed us. A platter of some of the best ships desserts I have seen.
I forget what the wines were but they both sold on the ship for $100 a bottle.
We then all were given a peak hat present. Lovely.
The table were covered in bunches of flowers and all was spectacular.
What a night! Damn good! Although my belly did hurt after it all.
25hr day!
Day 8
At Sea.
I started the day off with a walking tour of Central Park. Well, its only 100 metres long, and there are no bike or horses like in the NYC Central Park so I guess it had to be a walking tour.
The team of four is headed by Laszlo, a landscape architect who never dreamed he would end up at sea. He had started up all four Oasis class ships, the only ships to have a full garden.
And this is a big garden. 10,000 in Garden and 20,000 more in the in vertical gardens.
This ship built in France and all of the plants came from form Holland. Tis has made it much harder for Lazlo. He needed to start up with plants that could handle the European conditions. When he arrives in the US and Caribbean next week he will start the process of changing out all the plants for ones that will survive the hot humid conditions, AKA tropical plants. The first 10,000 are delivered the day we arrive in Miami. The first two ships in this class were built in Florida so was easy to get any plants. Symphony was delivered early so cold weather killed many of the ones they installed.
All the plants must be approved by US agriculture. No fruit or veg or anything that could cause problems. Definitely no citrus at all. Nor any that particularly host insects. The Department of Ag will be the first to board when we dock in the US and will inspect everything. The ship will not be cleared for people to get off util they are happy.
But Lazlo claims that they are not all experts. He thinks they are just “here for the lunch”. the first time two me on board. Then 4, then 6. He wonders how many will board in a few days.
Birds come and go in Central Park. They have never nested there. Always itinerants.
Water system is automated but we had so much rain it’s turned off at the moment to let their feet dry.
When you see staff hand watering that are actually manually rinse them from above. The salt air and the beach pool on deck 15 overflows to Central Park sometimes.
Someone asked it they would ever put in a waterfall. They cannot. It would need to be chlorinated to stop any risk of legionnaires disease, but that would damage the plants. Some of the plants are already damaged my mist from the salt water pools above.
All plants are on pot plants – even the trees. But hidden. Under bark.
The giant towers around the park are smoke extractors for promenade on deck six. In the case of fire, smoke would be sucked up and vented here. Every time they need to inspect or work on the extractors, they need to pull out the garden.
Great tour!
Won Trivia.
The Captains Corner was great. Captain Rob who was on Rhapsody for our Christmas cruise. A lovely guy that we had a fun dinner with. He was a commercial fisherman captain and did14 years in the Bearing Sea. Then off Africa. He decided it was then time to change or be a fisherman for the rest of his life, so move to cruise ships. Got into Royal but at the bottom, as a junior bridge officer. Worked his way up all the positions. He is now captain of the biggest cruise ship on the world.
He was the start up Captain for the build and had 4000 contractors worked for a year. As he sailed out with the new ship he claimed “It’s like a brand new car. “
He’s a lovely guy – popped up to meet with groups on the bridge tours. Came to Pinnacles functions. Very funny. Captains Corners always have many silly questions and he answered many with short hilarious answers. Vey dry!
“What do you do with the food you throw out”. “We throw it out”.
“What is the V snapped thing on top”. “You mean the wind deflector?”
“Yes. But why is it in the wrong direction”. “We sometimes make mistakes”.
Someone asked “Why did we deviate when we crossed the tectonic plates (Mid Atlantic Ridge)”.
“because there is a bump.” But then went on to explain that it was really it’s to clear the ‘economisers’. The steam heat recapture things that runs a steam generator. Every now and then they use the steam to blast it clean. They need to turn into the wind to make it happen properly.
He explained the Air lubrications cushion system that is all over the hull. Royal was the first to use it and Symphony has the latest generation.
There are chambers in the hull. They are piped to compressors. When we are going 17 knots the compressors pump out small bubbles that reduces surface tension. The ship floats on a cushion of air. It will definitely reduce power consumption by 25%. They are getting an amazingly fast recovery of the expense of putting it in.
Someone asked about his contract. He does 10 weeks on, 10 off. Bobby Brown the Cruise Director (the Scottish guy from Radiance) jumped in and said “Well Captains get that contract. With me they just said Bobby, let’s take it a day at a time”
The ship has a 75% success rate of recyclables. They off load in Miami. Glass is crushed. Cans compressed. If it cannot be recycled it’s incinerated and is reduced down to about onto one one ton bag of ash. The money then goes into crew welfare fund. For things like parties, pool tables etc.
“On deck 16 there is a thing that looks like a weapon to shoot down aliens.”
“Yes. It’s a weapon to shoot down aliens”. But really it’s a crane for the garden when they swap out the trees.
Dinner was at Wonderland. We went right down the Rabbit Hole and had a fantastic time. The food was amazing, and the host, the Mad Hatter was exceptional. So much fun.
Then off to the theatre for the 10.45 session of Flight”.
Flight is an original production and was sensational. It’s the story of the history of flight. It starts with us all being told to strap in. Our flight was about to take off. We were all the first passengers on a commercial space cruise ship. Very Dr Who.
A two ton space shuttle comes out on the stage with zero gravity people inside and an Astronaut space walking on the outside. Phenomenal.
The journey then went backward through time. The fancy days of aircraft with people in huge seats and dressed up. The Orson Wells reading of War of the Worlds.
Space ships and green Martians everywhere. WW11 and the WASPs. There were tributes to all the Firsts – First to orbit the earth, to walk on the moon, fly the Atlantic, black women to get a pilots license. So good. And then right back to the first powered flight of the Wright Brothers.
AND WOZERS – a life sized plane model came out on stage. Fantastic. Orwell Right climbs in ……..And then it took off.. and flew around the theatre. Right over us. RIGHT over us.
Insane. They claimed to be the most technological theatre on or off Broadway, and they nailed it. It was amazing. The crowd went wild!
What an amazing show. Great music as well. Sensational.
The weather has taken a terrible turn for the worse. Each day is now over 25 degrees C and the sun belts down all day!
And hurray, we turned the clocks back AGAIN. These 25 hr day are brilliant. Lucky as I am missing out on so much. There just isn’t enough time!
Day 9
At Sea
Life is just to busy on a big ship. I’m I serious risk of not seeing everything. I though I would dash down for a quick breakfast on my own. But then someone walks in and joins you. And 90 minutes later ……it time to go to choir practice. And that was a big practice as we are getting close to performing so…. an hour later I went for a walk. So much to see!
I did a lap of the walking track.
It’s a brilliant facility. The ship is so big. one lap is .66ks.
The tack is on deck four. Its all out of the wind and undercover. And very flash. Water station, motivational signs, a rubber surface. Even has a heartbreak hill – well a tiny rise/fall. And all along are little pockets of things to do. Spaces with chairs and loungers, Table tennis, shuffle board.
The aft is fantastic. You are down so low, so the sound is amazing. So many chairs and people out there sitting, reading, listening to music, knitting! And the three giant azipods churn the water to the most amazing aqua colour.
And a wander around Boardwalk. Of course a ride on the merry go round.
I then went up to the lounge for a quick chat to whoever was there. And of course had a great time………Two hours and a lovely lunch later I left. The lounge is spectacular. And of course the bar runs from 11 – 11.
It was then time to go back and watch “Flight” again. Just as mind blowing. Just had to see that plane again.
Down to the diamond Lounge for a quick catch up with the Canadians and up to Coastal Kitchen for dinner.
Then down to the ice rink for “iSkate 2.0”. It was a really good show. The skaters are so talented. The music in the show was great and the whole thing was such high energy. The show went form classical Ice Dancing like in the Olympics to rough gritty numbers with people being tossed and sun.
Great fun.
And then…. you guessed it…. off to the Aqua show. And it was mind blowing. Insane.
The pool is tiny – lie a backyard pool but very deep. Lucky as people jump off huge towers. This show had everything.
Amazing Hip Hop dancers, who were so athletic and could ‘pop and lock’, flip, tumble and everything else. It was cross over gymnastics and dancing. And no only were they doing this dancing…..they were doing it in water ranging from about 50mls deep to about 300mls deep.
The floor of the pool is hydraulic. It comes up to be a dance floor. It goes down to allow the divers to use the pool. And water is used in everything. Fountains, squirters, water drummers with giant percussion splashes.Splashing was a huge feature of the dancers. Either with the dragging of their feet – or with the Samurai fighting sticks they were using.
There were aerial artists. People who came flying in over head from behind. With a rigid waste piece that allowed them to spin and tumble, to walk upside down. To do al kinds of amazing things.
Synchronised swimmers wiggling their legs around.
There were tight rope walkers. 40 metres up.
And ‘Slack Rope’ artists. I suppose you could describe them as trampoline artist but the trampoline is only about 75mm wide. Sensational! Exhausting to watch. These performers don’t need to go to the gym. The work so very hard on their shows.
All finished by 11.30. Wow. What a day.
But now I am caught up on the words and will try to add photos tomorrow. It’s late now and the horrid clocks are not going back tonight. How rude!!!!!
Day 10
At Sea
This day started off with another sunrise. Who knew!
Then a Pinnacle photo. Hard to do a photo of that many people – 231 of us.
So we met on the bridge on deck 16 – under the “thing to shoot down aliens”. We were spread out over two levels. The photographer went up onto a superstructure to get a great angle.
Had chat with Captain Rob while up there.
I know the Atlantic does get terrible hurricanes…but basically is is such a flat peaceful ocean.
My room is on deck 7 which is amazingly handy. Only one flight down to the main area – Promenade and Boardwalk, and one up to Central Park and the Pinnacle bar.
On the staircase fROm 6 to 7, is an art work that has folded over material in it. It took me nearly a week to stop seeing it out of the corner of my eye and stopping to pin it back up. ONce a teacher always a teacher I guess.
The other way is a holographic picture of the Chipmunks. Its really hard to look at. The image moves as you do, so is always a bit different. On the “whip” of the corner between landing you get quiet lose and it appears to be about 500mm deep – with a chipmunk in your face. Its a bit tricky! Kind of like you have someone else’s reading glasses on.
The art work around the sip is pretty amazing. Some really interesting things and some strange Even the staterooms have lovely photo art rather than the ugly painting on many other ships.
We had our final rehearsal for the choir. And then a wander around the Boardwalk.
After a hotdog, choir time. We were singing at the talent show and most of the acts were …….. interesting.
The choir was fabulous of course! We sang “This is me” for the Greatest Showman. A pretty powerful song in both sounds and meaning…so that was good.
Other acts included a lady who had been tap dancing for two whole years, a baton twirling grandma, a lady playing and singing to a Appalachian dulcimer – like a ukulele on her lap. And many, many piano recitals.
More drinks and hysterical times with the ‘Canada’s’. I catch up with Phillis and Gerry first then down to the others. So much fun.
Dinner was at 150 Central Park – the fanciest of the restaurants. We had fun. We were entertaining….just ask us!
Yay – another time change. Awesome.
Day 11
At Sea
And guess what the sun came up again. The time changes means I get to see far more than I normally would.
Tomorrow we make land in the US of A in Port Canaveral, Orlando. Because it’s the ships first arrival in the US, we have to go through immigration and jump through many other hoops.
The Dept of Agriculture will inspect the gardens. The foods people will go through the kitchens with a fine tooth comb. The Coast guard will test everything – gear and procedures. After immigration the ship will go through a number of drills. Any crew member can be questioned on many things. Its a massively high pass rate. Something like 98%. Less and the ship is grounded. The pressure is on!
People are scrubbing and practicing everywhere.
This as early this morning.
We arrive at about 3 am and it all begins. ALL staff will go off the ship and front immigration between 3 and 7am. Poor people.
Then the immigration of the passengers begins. And WOW.. what a fuss. The poor babies all have to get of the ship……just like in most other countries in the world. We all have to march out to immigration, then stay off the ship until it is cleared but all the different authorities (remember sitting in the terminals in Singapore, and Hong Kong and Vancouver). What a fuss! People have gone nuts because “They booked a sea day” not a day on shore…..they need compensation! Well sorry people, the itinerary says …Day 12 – Orlando!
Royal have put on buses to take Diamond and above people too a ‘local’ shopping place. About an hour away. That’s 2,400 people they are transporting at their expense! We shall see what they have to whine about after it.
(In previous years it has taken till after lunchtime). Yes, it’s a pain, but if you want ‘border security’ I guess you have to secure the borders.
I went back t0 Hooked (the seafood place) today for lunch – it was so good last time and I didn’t have room for the infamous “Maine Lobster Roll” that night. And again it was sensational food.
I asked for a tiny sampler of starters. Three oyster, a bowl of calamari and a bowl of mussels in wine sauce. Yum oh.
And I can see why the rolls are famous. Pretty damn good. Desert was a “Whoopi Pie” that I have seen so much int he movies. Many movies seem to have people pick one up and literally shove it into their mouth. The look like hard biscuits but are spongey and full of fluffy sweet cream. I have now eaten (part of) one. And all for $17. I forgot to have the crab cake!
And suddenly it’s day 11 – the last sea day. This ship has been so busy. The time thieves, have been hard at work. Although they have given us seven extra hours, they seems to have taken a few days away. There is so much I haven’t seen or done! Guess I shall just have to come back again.
Day 12
Port Canaveral, Florida.
Port Canaveral was added to the itinerary after the voyage had been on sale for a few months.
Turns out the main reason for adding it was that the new many millions dollar terminal would be open so there would be a huge media hoop la.
The first port for a new ship arriving in the states is always huge. Last time on Harmony people were still getting off at lunchtime.
I was smart and booked a ship tour that year and got off really early on Harmony. So i booked one again this year.
Lots of people were bitching and moaning about this extra day. Then immigration declared that we all had to get off. Oh my god. All the people went nuts. “I planned a Sea day. This is unacceptable”. O course it was Royals fault – since they tell Immigration ow to do things!
Royal did their best to keep the debarkation under control. But….
I mean how many times can they get on the PA stating that the immigration hall is full. Please go and sit down and wait. But no. They all queued. Lines stretching forever. They did paid for it when they got onto the immigration hall. Some lines took hours to got through.
“And Royal were not there to give them water”…..poor babies didn’t think to carry water. And “there were only 12 officers manning the immigration counters.”
All beyond Royals control.
My tour was me at to leave at 10. We drove off at 12. 9 people never turned up. Must have got cross and decided not to come.
Of course the internet went nuts. “Royal didn’t even come out into the hall and give them water, or chairs”. Probably as they are not allowed too.
But we all got out and survived. Well many are damaged for life. They will not travel with Royal again. They will not do a TA again. Lol.
But off I went on my excursion.
If was a three hour (well now two as we were so late) trip on a flat bottom boat around the lagoon.
We went up to Cocoa Beach – a long spit separating the Atlantic from the Indian River Lagoon. A combination of the Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River and the Indian River. It’s one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4,300 species of plants and animals.
The town is built around the space industry. NASA, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station also Elon Musk’ SpaceX and Aerospace, private companies working on commercial space flights.
Last time I was there I went to Kennedy Space Centre. Amazing.
The town of full of retirees astronauts and surfers. They say it’s common to see a 70yo skateboarding down the street with his pony tail flying. This is the home of Kelly Slater – world’s most successful surfer. And to the RON JON surf shop. The shop that never closes. Well it has once! For a mandatory evacuations.
During hurricane over a category two, ALL boats must be removed for the water. They trailer them out to roads inland then chain them to the ground.
Cocoa Beach is the beach where “Master” found the genie bottle in ‘I Dream Of Genie’. Barbara Eden come back each year to award the winners of the Genie half marathon. Where they all run in genie outfits.
Cocoa beach is not a poor area!
We sailed through the lagoons past amazing houses. Wow. All have swimming pools and giant alfresco area. Most of them in giant meshed pergolas. Insects are thick here. .
We saw many dolphins, a sub species that never leave the lagoon. They have evolved to heard fish up against the stone walls then stun them with a tail blow. Awesome to see them working the walls – up and back.
The bird life was also amazing.
Heaps of Osprey. Some vulture. Blue heron. The blue heron here are giants. 1.40mm highland massive beaks.
We had a fun few hours. Even without manatee. Although the captain and mate were a tad red necked. They kept talking about thing like “There are only a few species of shark you can eat. Because shark urinate through their skin you cannot just kill them. You need to but their back ends off and let them bleed to death.” Couldn’t quite work out the correlation of bleeding to death and the urinary tract.
When we got back poor Royal was in damage control. They have staff (not their staff as they aren’t allowed to do things in the hall) handing out thousands of bottles of water … and thousands of Subway sandwiches. Even at a deal price must have cost a fortune.
But we all got on board and we all ailed away. It was a pain that many people lost half a day…….but governments cut back to border security was to blame.
People were so angry that this was not done the next day in Miami. Th day they had flights booked!
Back on board for the final night. After the lounge we headed off to dinner.
But first the final show. Anchors away parade.The entertainment on this ship was phenomenal.
The Farewell show was in the promenade and a tribute to sailors through the ages. Vikings. pirates. Royal Navy. Chinese dragon boats. Sinbad.
It was incredible. There were 10 Segways with boats built around them – scooting up and down. I had over 100 participants. Staff from the theatre, Aqua show, Dancers, Singers, Cruise Director staff, sports staff, kids club, ice skaters. And super elaborate costumes and props. Life sized boats on wheels. Towers.
Then the last super with the group – ‘The Canada’s’ was amazing. Izumi Hibachi was sensational
We all sat around a large cook top. Our private chef came out and the show started. He claimed that this was the noisiest restraint at sea. And it was. He would play music with his cooking utensils and the stove top. We all drummed along with chopsticks and anything we could hit.
And the cheering and yelling and so much singing. We had been pretty loud at many restaurants so this one caused us no problem. We were loud.
And had so much fun.
It started with fried rice. About a bucket full and it was great. Then veggies. Him chopping, flipping, oiling and making noise. He added 12 eggs to the rice. But cooked them up as a giant egg roll. He cut the front to shape then turned it into a singing and dancing egg snake/creature. It was hysterical. Then he cut it up and flicked bits at us. Heather was the only one who caught the flying eggs.
The meat was amazing. I had the lobster. Best lobster I have eaten. And the filet. Again perfect.
What a fun time. We then went up to the Windjammer for chocolate desert. And again were quiet and ….
Then it was then over. The amazing trip on this truly mind blowing ship was done. So sad to say the goodbyes.
Many of us are off to the Mariner of the Seas. But not the Canada’s. (Jim and Tracey, Heather and Trace and Margaret who is actually from Manchester) but the group did need a name.
Tomorrow – Off to the Mariner.
Next page – Mariner of the Seas.
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