We were lucky enough to get a very reasonable upgrade to a balcony cabin for this cruise (Image Below). 14 nights from Ft Lauderdale to LA through the Panama Canal. This ship is smaller and older than the Anthem was but perfect for this trip. It’s the largest Royal Caribbean ship that fits through the locks of the canal. We are what is called Panamax. We only 2 feet clear each side as we go through the locks.
On the first day, after getting a drink, I promptly broke my glass on the tile floor in the Solarium. Since then it’s been too crowded to get a lounge chair in there so I’ve been spending my time by the outdoor pool. The average age on this trip is probably upper 70’s so there are more people fighting over chairs in the Solarium and in the shade than there are fighting over chairs by the pool. There are a few children on this cruise and a few twenty something’s but for the most part it is an older, quieter crowd. That is pretty refreshing after spending 4 weeks on the Anthem full of Spring Breakers and little kids. We have the unlimited dining package for this trip. We can eat at the 3 specialty restaurants as many times as we like. We had enough of the Main Dining Room menus after spending 7 weeks rotating through the same Sunday – Saturday menus. Tonight we ate in Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant. Had a great meal and have 3 more reservations for the rest of the trip.
The image above is our location next to Cuba during dinner. We could see Cuba.
On day two, we came back to our cabin after dinner and the show (Celine Dion impersonator who was actually pretty good) to a bottle of Champagne in an ice bucket that had a crack in it and there was water all over the desk and down the drawers. There was also a fancy box of chocolates, a plate of cheese (that was warm and mushy by the time we got to it – eww – it was the thought that counted) and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. We cleaned up the mess, ate the strawberries and put the chocolates in the little cooler (not a mini fridge as it only keeps things slightly cooler than room temp). We are going to try to find out where all the goodies came from and see if we can exchange the Champagne for red wine. The put the cheese plate and the remnants of the strawberry plate out for room service to pick up. We ate at Izumi this evening. We had another delicious meal, this time Asian food and Sushi.
The images above are of the Royal Theater. This is a smaller stage and theater than Anthem of the seas.
The seats are more comfortable. Unfortunately we do not have any Broadway or West End shows on this ship.
Day 3, went to a seminar on the Panama Canal, its history and how it was made. Pretty interesting and it saves us the 6 hour excursion on a bus to see the iMax film. Inquired tonight about the gifts left for us last night. Amit, the Diamond lounge concierge, is checking into it for us and will swap the champagne out for a red wine tomorrow. We need to drop it off to him in the morning before we leave for our 8:30 AM excursion to the Old and New Cartagena, Columbia. We had dinner in the Chops Grille tonight and ate more than we should have. The filet just melted in our mouths. Tomorrow we are getting room service for coffee and cereal before our excursion.
