WE'RE BACK!
Actually we got off the ship yesterday and headed to Vero, where we are now. Tomorrow we will start the process of gettingBill's mother into some assisted living facility......don't know how long it will take, but at least we can start the process.
Saw the shuttle launch tonight from a restaurant in Stuart, where we met some friends who drove up from West Palm Beach, as Stuart was about half way for both of us. Thank God for our GPS, or we would never have found the place, but at least it was worth the trip. Had a fish reuben, which was yummy....Bill had steak, he's so adventurous!
Navigator was great, service was wonderful, as we've come to expect. Even with the spring break crowd, things seemed pretty calm. Of course, some kids were drunk, but so were some adults. Kids were pretty respectful for the most part. I did hear about the kids that were thrown off in Cozumel for fighting and some others for underage drinking. We didn't find out about it until the last night, as we sat with some folks in the CL who saw the kids leaving the ship with security and their luggage in tow. I guess we were on the opposite side of the ship, so we didn't see anything. Our waiter also told us about some who were thrown off for getting drunk and then trashing their stateroom. Don't know how much is fact or not, but that's what we heard.
Also, tried the MTD, and loved it! however, we made reservations for the first night at 8:45, as there was only one show at 7, and we wanted to see it. Loved our waiter and assistant waiter, so we made reservations for his table at 8:30. then the rests of the nights at 8:15, which probably is not the case with most people. We asked about wait times without reservations, and were told the longest wait has been about 10 minutes. They used deck 5, rear starboard section of the dining room. I asked the waiter if he liked MTD or traditional, and he preferred MTD, mostly because of the prepaid gratuities. He thinks that because of the economy, more folks are not tipping. Sad!
Saw two production shows that were new to us, and frankly, didn't care for the first one, I think it was called All Access. Songs I didn't recognize, and the singers didn't have great voices. Dancers were OK, but one dancer (male) actually fell during one of the numbers...first time I've ever seen that......and seas were not rocky at all. Second show was better, but not great. Comedian adult show the last night was very funny. Ice show was fantastic, as usual.
New departure process worked well, and we were off by 8:30. They had a platinum and diamond departure lounge in the dining room, and you were supposed to be led off by 8. We arrived at 8, and only had time to pour a cup of tea, and they were telling us to line up to get off. Line stayed stationary for ever, so finished my tea and joined the line, and still the line didn't move. I think they were letting the excursion folks off before the priority people....no big deal, we weren't catching a plane, just going back to the hotel to retrieve our car. Our shuttle dropped off people at the airport, and that was a zoo. Our friends had an 11:30 Southwest flight and they were in the line for one and a half hours, and finally told someone that their flight was coming due, so they brought them to the front of the line and checked them in. They made the gate area at 11:15, but their flight was a bit delayed, so all was well.
Carlos was pleasant, and Chris, his bar server, was excellent. Our drinks were in front of us almost before we sat down, LOL!
Bill was telling me about someone on the other boards complaining about the smell in the CL, but he didn't notice it. Well, I did, but never said anything. I thought it smelled like urine right around Carlos' desk and also around the sink area. I'm sure it's probably from drinks or liquids being spilled, but it was there. Our friends cabin also had a strange odor, coming from the vent right inside the door on the upper wall area. I can't describe the smell, but suffice to say they had the room sprayed and while it got better, it was still there. Luckily, after you made it to the bedroom area, you didn't notice it any longer.
I did hear some man mention that he didn't think the ship was maintained well at all, and I can't agree with him. I didn't see anything that needed repair.......rugs were clean, ship seemed well maintained to me, no missing tiles, no broken windows, so I don't know what he was talking about. I know one day one of the hot tubs in the solarium was cold, but the next day it was toasty warm (he was in the solarium when he said that, so that may have been what he was talking about).
We did have the 14.95 steak on the menu, but we went to Chops and had the steak there instead of the MDR. Chops was busy all week.
Didn't get chocolates on the pillows....no great loss, we usually end up taking them home. No Q tips or cotton balls in the bathroom of our JS, but we did get shower gel, shampoo condition and lotion in the little bottles.
Meals were pretty good. Some new menu items, including a calzone as a dinner entree on the last night. Struck me as a strange dinner entree, I think it's more suited to lunch. Also, I love the salad bar at lunch time in the MDR. On the Jewel and Navigator you select the ingredients for the salad, then they chop it us and give it to you in a salad bowl. However, on Jewel, they then had a large assortment of things you could add to your salad, prosciutto, grilled chicken, huge shrimp, mozzarella balls, etc., but on Navigator they added what you wanted......just a little difference, but I prefer taking what I want to getting what they want to give me. Probably a cost cutting measure, as you wouldn't believe the plates of shrimp that people were having on the Jewel!
Casino slots were tight, except for the last night.
Time to say goodnight. BB, I will give you a call when we have our plans firmed up, but it sounds like you have a houseful!
Rita
:lol