The Symphony, The Key, Two Teens, and Me: A March 2019 Review

[nancy drew]

Day 2! Finally!

We slept in, because we could. When we woke up, I checked the Cruise Compass to see what was still open for breakfast.

by the time we were all awake, dressed, and ready to go, our only options were Park Cafe or The Windjammer buffet. We were still trying to avoid the buffet so we went to Park Cafe. I did not take any photos. Park Cafe is located in Central Park, next to the Trellis Bar. Park Cafe is home of the famous Kummelweck sandwich, which is a famous roast beef sandwich that I did not try once on the cruise. I fully intended to, but I was ordering steak or prime rib almost every night at dinner, and I did not want more red meat for lunch. Park Cafe had a few options for breakfast, including grab and go fruit, and pastries. We got some pastries and they were eh. Not great. DD was mad because she couldn't have one, because of her allergies, but I truthfully told her she wasn't missing anything. I mean, we have some AMAZING donuts here in Chicago (if you are ever visiting, you must try either Stan's or Do-Rite Donuts). These were worse than Dunkin Donuts (and I won't turn down a Dunkin Donut).

So we decided to get lunch instead. Well, DS went to the Teen Club and DD and I went to get lunch.

It was St. Patrick's Day, so naturally we went to El Loco Fresh and got nachos.

Isn't that what you are supposed to eat on St. Patrick's Day? No? Oh well.

They were good. The beef was OK, but I am guessing the chicken would have been better. The chicken in the quesadillas was pretty good, so if that's what they had out for the tacos, then I think it would be great on nachos. BTW, as I posted earlier the nacho section has the chips, then they have a vat of chili beef (basically chili, which I got another time on the chips and it was better than the steak/beef you see in the photo) and a vat of cheese. But next to that is the taco bar, so you can pile stuff on from there, too. Don't feel limited by the setup.

After lunch, DD and I went on a search for chairs near the pool. Or anywhere on Deck 15 or 16. It was tough. It was REALLY windy up on both decks, and all of the chairs were taken. We eventually found some, but I wasn't happy with the location so DD held those chairs and I went searching for better chairs. My persistence and refusal to accept the first chairs we found paid off, and we ended up near the Toilet Bowl slide. Somehow this became our spot, and we sat there again another day. It was a pretty fun place to be, because you could hear people screaming as they went down the slide. Sometimes there was just an initial shriek as they went down the tube. "AAAAAAAh" We tuned those out because they were too boring and predictable. Sometimes they didn't shriek until they got into the Toilet Bowl, and that was more entertaining because you could hear them going around and around, and if they weren't keeping their body together they slid around and it was all "WhhHHHhhhOOOooooOOOooAAaaaAAAA" as they swirled around. Those were funnier. Sometimes they just screamed the entire time "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" which was kind of funny, because most people didn't scream at all. And it was both men and women screaming equally.

We had show reservations today, for 2 shows. The first show was 1977, which is one of the skating shows. FYI there are 2 skating shows. 1977 is the "main" show, and you need to make reservations in Cruise Planner. iSkate 2.0 is the other show, and you do not need reservations but I HIGHLY recommend this show. I highly recommend both shows. HIGHLY recommend.

I forced DS to go to the show. He didn't resist much, but it was a skating show and I could tell he was a bit reluctant. I promised him Flow Rider time if he went, and said it would be worthwhile. And afterward he said he really enjoyed it.

The Key: We had reservations for the show, and I am glad we did. As we entered they were scanning Sea Passes and WOW Bands and turning away people without reservations. They had to go stand to the side and wait. AS we entered I asked where the Key seating was, and I was directed to the giant sign that said "SUITES, PINNACLES, DIAMOND +" but said nothing about The Key. I asked if this was our section, and showed our wristbands, and I was told yes, and there were 5 seats left. Luckily 3 of them were together. Our section was one of the sides, in the first several rows. 2 minutes after we sat down they removed the sign and opened up the section to anyone. Our seats were OK, but I would have preferred center seats. We were in the 2nd row and had heads in our way. It was my fault for being late (this would become a recurring theme) but I still wish the seats had been in the center, not off to the side. This was a semi-benefit to us, as without The Key we would have ended up much farther back, but I sort of wonder if we would have been able to see better from farther up?

Meanwhile... we were there for the show, and it was AMAZING. That is actually an understatement. I recorded a lot of the show, and I don't want to spoil the whole thing so I will only post one video of the beginning. If you want to scroll past to avoid spoilers, go ahead. But this is by far the coolest way to open ANY show, ice skating or not.

After the show, the CD made a comment about the opening and how it was a great way to spend a million dollars, or something. It was pretty bold of him, IMO, but also really funny.

The show has a story, but it would be totally fine with me if it didn't. These skaters were incredible. The ice is so small, the ship is rocking, and they are doing jumps and spins and backflips... it was amazing. Have I said that yet?

The costumes were amazing. This particular woman did like 25 quick changes in 2 minutes, or so. It was crazy!

It was amazing. Go see the ice show. Don't be all "Really? An ICE show???" Go see it. I command you. Ok not really, but go see it.

 

[nancy drew]

Loving your review!

Oasis class ships are my favorites! Symphony is the only one we haven't cruised. Too many land vacations coming up so probably not likely until 2021.

We're pretty good about packing light (no formal clothes/8 pairs of shoes for us). I also do some laundry - even just hand washing when we travel.

I think RC does a pretty good job of embarkation. Thousands of people and it seems everyone has a seat. Once Disney stopped addressing my daughter as "Princess Kasha" when boarding, I didn't care what they called us (and we have one of those names that no one can pronounce correctly).

We've never gotten any beverage package (we don't drink soda) but it might be fun to try for mocktails! Do love the pizza at Sorrento's though! Cafe was good too. Daughter and I did the Allure by ourselves (best cruise ever!) and we did Rising Tide. You should have done it!

I agree about The Key and the lines. Eventually everybody will buy it thinking that they're going to get to the front of the line. That's when it will really be
a mess.

Surprised (but understand) that you didn't eat in the WJ. We are there A LOT. I love to try a little bit of everything.

And the pools!!! Ahhhh sooo many pools! That's my biggest gripe about DCL. And I LOVE the live music too!! The toilet bowl was a blast! I lost count how many times we went on it. Enjoyed more than the "Aquas" on DCL. I didn't like the Abyss. I got thrown around inside and burned my arm up pretty badly. My daughter had no problem and enjoyed it.

Looking forward to Day 2.

Now that I've got my bearings and feel comfortable with the ship, I would do Rising Tide.

I was kind of surprised that we didn't end up at the Windjammer, too. There was one day we were going to go, but it was closed. So we went to Loco instead. Otherwise I sort of just forgot about it, to be honest!!!

Thanks for reading along!!

 

[nancy drew]

Day 2 continued

Tonight was formal night, so we were dressed fairly nice. I had decided DS had to come to dinner with us every night, so we all went together. I am sure I ordered the Caesar salad again, and this appears to be the beef tenderloin.

For dessert, DS ordered the carrot cake

DD had something, and I had the souffle. It was good, kind of eggy but that's how souffle usually is. The sauce was really good.

Then DS ran off to the Teen Club, and DD and I were left to wander until our next show. We had reservations for Hairspray, but much later in the evening.

Now, I had heard about the restaurant called Wonderland, and I went back and forth and back and forth on whether to reserve it. In the end I realized I really just wanted the dessert, not the main courses. We don't really eat seafood and that seriously limits what we can have at Wonderland, and at pretty much all of the other specialty restaurants.

I had asked online if we would be able to go to Wonderland for dessert, and I was assured that wouldn't be a problem. We would pay out of pocket per dessert, but it should be fine.

Well that is not how it works any more.

I had mentioned to our servers, who used to work in Wonderland on the Harmony, that we wanted to have dessert there one night. He said "Well, that might not be possible. Let me see what I can do, I will talk to my boss and see what we can do." He said they used to let people go there for dessert but they stopped allowing it because they are too busy now. I decided to stop by, and walk through the place, and ask there if we might be able to stop in for dessert.

It is definitely a cool space.

To enter, you go down the rabbit hole.

And through (or around) the magical door.

There is this cool seat here.

Now, you may not want to eat here, but maybe you just want to stop by and experience the place for yourself. You CAN go to the bar, and I believe they have a 2 for 1 Happy Hour.

And here, below, is the restaurant. If you look carefully, you will see the whimsy: mismatched chairs, chairs with rabbit ears, some random woman with a St. Patrick's Day fascinator looking at me, etc.

So I walked up to the host stand, and asked if we could have dessert. When I was looking over at the restaurant, I saw a couple that was just being seated and given menus. The place closes officially at 9:30, but they were just being seated, and there were empty tables, so I figured no problem, squeeze us in for a quick round of desserts.

Nope.

I asked if we could just go ahead and make a reservation for later in the week for dessert.

"Oh let me check, no, sorry, we are fully booked. And with such a full booking we can't really let people in for dessert. We used to allow it, but not any more, not for a year or so." (Um the ship is not a year old but ok sure.)

So we left, and were thinking about going back to the room, because I thought we had some time. I looked at the time for the show, maybe on the app, and realized I had the time wrong. I had been thinking about another show that started at 10:45 later in the week. Hairspray started at 10:30, and it was currently 10:35. Oh great.

We rushed to the theater and of course if had already started. So no Key benefit here, but it was 100% my fault.

We grabbed seats off to the side, so we weren't disrupting anyone. It wasn't the best location, but the show was still amazing.

Seriously, another winner. Go see the show. And check the time, and double check the time. This wouldn't be the last time this happened to us.

After the show I summoned DS to the room, where we found this guy waiting:

And that's the end of Day 2! Day 3 would be another day at sea, so more sleeping in! Yay!

 

[starvenger]

Donuts - please tell me Stan is short for Stan Mikita.

Yes, I’m a big fan of Wayne’s World. Why do you ask?

Quick change lady sounds like the “feature performer” they add to the middle of the ice shows. Basically acts as a break for the skaters, and it’s usually fun for the audience.

 

[nancy drew]

Day 3! Day at Sea!

Forgot to add the compasses!

So again, we slept in, and missed most of the breakfast offerings. I am pretty sure we just bypassed the breakfast thing and went for lunch, possibly pizza.

Oh by the way, we were making GOOD use of the soda cups. I am super addicted to the Barq's Diet Creme Soda with Strawberry flavor. Omg I drank that all week and I still want it. Sometimes I was like "Look, I keep getting this. I have HUNDREDS of options. Why not try something different?" So I would try the diet Fanta Strawberry (eh) or the diet Fanta Cherry (Ok that was good) and maybe the diet Minute Maid sparkling strawberry something? In the end I was like "Why mess with perfection?" and I just got the diet strawberry creme soda. Lots of it. There was a machine up near El Loco and 2 machines at Sorrento's, and 4 machines (?) in the Windjammer, and one in the Park Cafe.

Day 3 was more of the same from day 2. DD and I laid out on the pool deck after searching high and low for chairs. Again it was REALLY windy, and difficult to find chairs. DD wouldn't go to the Teen Club because "It will just be the same and all the people are older than me and they all know each other" ok FINE whatever. I mean, I should be glad she wants to be with me but really? What teen wants to spend their vacation with their mother? I guess I'm just super cool and awesome.

You've actually already seen most of my photos from Day 3, interspersed in the earlier posts. DS did the Flowrider again, with the same crowd, at the same time. He was actually pretty good at it, especially considering he had never done it before!

Oh I did find a photo of the Main Dining Room!

Dinner must have been uneventful, but dessert was very special. On day 2, Shadiek had said he and Vinko had no luck getting us in to Wonderland for dessert, but he offered to bring Wonderland to us. I asked if that was really possible, and he said yes.

So for dessert, we had all of the Wonderland desserts.

The World (I do have a video but I don't want to ruin the surprise. You can see videos on You Tube if you want to see what happens) chocolate, caramel, peanut butter... so good!

The Forbidden Apple (raspberry mousse, lemon curd, coconut)

The Mystical Mushroom which was meringue and marzipan?

Now, they were supposed to be safe for DD but they forgot about her coconut allergy, and the one that looks like an apple had coconut. They had thought she was allergic to peanuts but she is not, so she was able to have the chocolate World dessert. And the mushroom thing had loads of nuts so that was off limits. So I ate the Apple Shaped Raspberry Lemon Coconut thing, DS ate the Mushroom Full of Nuts thing, and DD ate the Chocolate Amazing Everything I Like thing.

The Apple Raspberry Lemon thing was good, but the chocolate one was the best.

Day 4 was approaching, and it was our first port day! We would wake up in St. Kitts, and we had a tour scheduled with a local guy. I'd never been there before, so I was excited to explore the island.

 

[nancy drew]

Donuts - please tell me Stan is short for Stan Mikita.

Yes, I’m a big fan of Wayne’s World. Why do you ask?

Quick change lady sounds like the “feature performer” they add to the middle of the ice shows. Basically acts as a break for the skaters, and it’s usually fun for the audience.

Huge Wayne's World fan as well, and many WW references are made in our home. Alas this Stan's is not Mikita. But still worth a try! Or if you just can't, then Do Rite. Their chicken sandwich is also amazing. Donuts and chicken sandwiches, can't top that.

Sounds like that's what she was doing, and it was fun to watch! DD does theater and she always complains about the quick changes. I said something to her like "Well at least you don't have to do THAT". She was super impressed by her and very glad she didn't have to do it.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

@nancy drew - SO been enjoying your report, you have a wonderful style of writing! I became interested because i'm trying to make my mind up whether or not to get The Key for my NE/Canada cruise on the Anthem this September.

I saw your Freestyle concoction of Diet Creme Soda and Strawberry, and I must say I am intrigued - it sounds just weird enough to be good. LOL. I'm going to see Dumbo this weekend at at AMC that has Frreestyles, adn I may just have to try this! I will say I found (and love) the Diet Cherry and Fruit Punch mixed at this theater.

Can't wait to read the rest of your awesome report - thank you again!!

 

[nancy drew]

@nancy drew - SO been enjoying your report, you have a wonderful style of writing! I became interested because i'm trying to make my mind up whether or not to get The Key for my NE/Canada cruise on the Anthem this September.

I saw your Freestyle concoction of Diet Creme Soda and Strawberry, and I must say I am intrigued - it sounds just weird enough to be good. LOL. I'm going to see Dumbo this weekend at at AMC that has Frreestyles, adn I may just have to try this! I will say I found (and love) the Diet Cherry and Fruit Punch mixed at this theater.

Can't wait to read the rest of your awesome report - thank you again!!

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT! It isn't even something that I made up, it is one of the offerings! Just select Barq's Creme Soda (I choose diet, you can make your own decision about that) and then it offers you flavors.

Google's got my back:

 

[nancy drew]

Wait, Day 3 was not done yet. I really am forgetting everything now. I need to get this done before I forget everything!

I had booked the Adult Comedy Show and was excited to finally go somewhere that DD couldn't tag along. Again, I enjoy her company, but she would.not.leave.my.side.

I am an introvert. I need to have some time where someone isn't interacting with me. I can have my introvert time around others, as long as they are leaving me alone. A lot of people don't understand what it means to be an introvert. People often confuse "introvert" with "social phobia". I hear things like "So you don't like people?" or "Oh I am such an introvert; social situations terrify me!" and neither of those things have anything to do with being an introvert. I like (most) people. Some social situations are terrifying, but most are not.

Being an introvert or extrovert is more about how you recharge yourself. Think of your phone (or your Walkman, if you're one of those people). When it isn't plugged in, the battery is slowly draining. It works just fine until it gets down to 10-15%, then it starts sending out warnings. "Plug me in!!" The phone (Walkman) is you. Your battery is slowly draining when you are away from whatever it is that charges you. You manage just fine, until you've been away from your charging situation too long. For me, an introvert, I charge when I am not interacting with people. If people keep trying to talk to me when I am trying to recharge it makes me angry and resentful. I want be left alone, not because I hate them, but because I need a break. I need to not have to answer questions or interact. I need to process and think and be alone with my thoughts, again not because I am being dramatic or can't deal with your crap, I just need that time. I can't explain it because it just is that way. Extroverts, I guess, are the opposite. I would imagine after being left alone for a while, an extrovert needs to interact with someone in order to recharge.

So anyway, all that to say I had tickets to the 18+ comedy show and DD had to fend for herself. I made her go to the Teen Club and said I wouldn't be able to text her during the show because I'd be heckled by the comedians (that is very likely to happen, right?) so she had to just do her best.

So I tore myself away from DD and went to The Attic, which is illogically located on Deck 4 , and once again I got there RIGHT before the show was starting. I was directed to an area where you had absolutely no chance of seeing the stage and had to watch on a screen. No thank you! I walked around a bit, and the other open seats were behind poles. One of the comedians actually joked about this because it was ridiculous how many poles were in the room, blocking the view. I finally found an empty chair in the middle of the main room, next to a couple. I asked if it was taken, they said no, I asked if they minded if I sat there and they said it was fine.

Simeon went first and was HILARIOUS! There were some people up front who are Diamond status (not the highest loyalty level of Royal, but high up there). He was totally picking on them (and others). At one point he said "Oh, Diamond people, if you only knew what corporate thinks of you" and then he looked at the bar tender, who was laughing so hard she had to leave the room. Yikes, guess he got a little too close to the truth there? But it was funny!

Simeon also said there were 1500 kids under the age of 12 on board, and someone corrected him and said 1700. 1700 kids under the age of 12! That is insane! When people say Disney is the only cruise line for families, I want to point out that statistic to them.

Anyway, he did his bit and was awesome. I had seen him the week before we sailed in some videos shared by some long time CC members, so it felt a bit like seeing a celebrity. I guess he was the Cruise Director that week, but he was not CD on our sailing.

Then Rich Aronovich came out and he was also hilarious. Both guys picked on audience members (the way comedians do), so if you have thin skin don't sit anywhere near the stage.

I was so glad that I went to the show. It was nice to get out and laugh, and be around grown ups.

Meanwhile DD was suffering in the Teen Club. She did text me, asking when she could leave, etc. I ignored her during the show. Again, don't want to make myself a target.

I finally texted DD that she could leave the club so she did, though she had actually made friends. She said she talked to some other girls who also thought the club sucked. I was so happy for her! See? You CAN find friends, DD! That's great, what were their names? I don't know. Are you going to go back another night and see if they are there? No, I hate the club and I don't want to go back there.

So there we were, end of the night, ready for our first outing the next day. One of the comedians had said "Oh, we're going to be in St. Kitts tomorrow. Are you excited for that?" and after we all "WOOOOOOO"ed, he said "Obviously you haven't been there before.

But we had plans, and I was hopeful that the photos I had seen would pale in comparison to the actual island.

 

[nancy drew]

Day 4! St. Kitts! Solid ground!

It had been windy, but the sea had been fairly calm. We had started out wearing Sea Bands, the motion sickness bracelets, but we had taken them off by day 2 since we didn't really need them. We would later, but at this point we didn't. Nevertheless, we were glad to see land and get off the ship for a bit.

Before I forget again:

So, knowing we had to be up and out early to get to our tour guide, I ordered us breakfast to the room. There is a free a la carte continental breakfast option, with pastries, fruit, coffee, toast, etc. You can add on options like eggs, bacon sausage, pancakes, etc. for $7.95 flat fee. So we went for it and got some toast, doughnuts, eggs, bacon, hash browns, etc. No photos, sorry. It wasn't good. The hash browns were too salty, the eggs were not salty enough. The bacon was ok. And I am pretty sure there was the requisite grilled tomato, so there's that.

So we cobbled together enough to keep us satisfied for a while, and headed off the ship.

When I booked this cruise I wasn't sure what to do in St. Kitts. I knew we enjoyed snorkeling, but we were planning to do that in St. Thomas, and it didn't seem like that was as much of a thing in St. Kitts. I asked DD (back at home, long ago) what excursions she had liked on our other cruises, and she said she liked driving around and seeing the place that we were visiting. So I looked into it, and it looked like there were some tour options that would work. I did my research on CC, and Trip Advisor, and found 2 tour companies that were run by locals, who would take you around in a smaller group and show you THEIR island.

The first one I read about was Royston, the other was Thenford Grey. I ended up with Royston, not sure why, but it was a great choice. I am sure Thenford would have been great, too, but I think I hadn't heard of them yet and had already reached out to Royston. After a few quick emails, we had set it up. I would pay when we were done with the tour. So far it was just the 3 of us. I posted about it in our cruise group, and another mom said she would be interested in going. Her son was about the same age as DS, and had similar interests, so we thought it would be a good idea. She also had a 3 year old, and was traveling with her mom, sister, and sister's family (husband and young daughter). She wasn't sure who would be joining us initially, but in the end everyone joined and we had a full van.

Now, when I was reading the reviews, the same words kept standing out to me. Words like "rustic" or "rugged" or "off the beaten path" or "Royston are you sure this is a road". I had read that his vehicle was a van where the glass had been removed from the windows. One reviewer said something like "If you are expecting an air conditioned tour bus, this is not the tour for you." They were right! But all of the reviews were glowingly positive, and the photos on the website and Trip Advisor were stunning, so I felt like we would be fine.

When I told my kids about our plans, I was trying to describe the vehicle, so they wouldn't be surprised.

What I said was: "It's a van with no windows."

What I meant was: "The glass has been removed from the windows."

What they heard was: "We are all going to be murdered."

So after a bit more explaining, they were on board. But every time I mentioned the tour I kept talking about the van with no windows and they were like "Mom stop talking about that it sounds so shady" but I couldn't stop.

First look at St. Kitts from the balcony!

I really love waking up and throwing open the curtains (and watching my kids writhe in horror from the sun like vampires) and seeing where we are.

So when you order breakfast, you choose a time window for it to arrive. Little did I know they call you before they show up, so it is like a bonus wake up call. I was already awake, but was like the third alarm for the kids (1. the actual alarm on my phone, 2. me opening the curtains and saying "Oh look, we're here! Look at that!", 3. the phone ringing so loudly in the room).

We ate out on the balcony, at least I did, and the kids ate in bed because they really didn't want to leave their beds.

Eventually they rallied and we got up and got out.

I did have a few moments of self-doubt here and there. What do I really know about this Royston? How did I know he didn't write all those reviews himself? Were we actually going to be murdered? But I shut those thoughts aside and decided it was probably going to be fine.

Always have to take photos of the ship so we know where we parked it and we can find it later on. No?

So when we got off the ship I quickly realized I had no idea where to go. At all. None.

I thought somehow Royston would be in the port with a sign, or something, like the airport drivers, but of course that was ridiculous. So what to do, what to do.

There were lots of guys asking if people wanted tours, wanted taxis, etc. So I approached one of the louder and more confident guys and said "Hi we're supposed to meet Royston, do you know where he is?" I figured it was a small island, probably everyone in the tour business knows each other. Well score one for Mom instinct because he was like "Oh yeah, Royston. He'll be over there, outside the port, on that side."

And there he was. With the murder van. And the other family we would be touring with. Who we hadn't met yet, and someone had more people than they had said. Royston was a little off guard about having so many people but the younger kids mostly sat on laps so it worked out. We sat in the second row behind Royston and whoever was in the passenger seat at the time.

Moms, get this: I DID NOT SIT IN THE MIDDLE AND MY KIDS (mostly) DID NOT FIGHT!!!! I was the one paying for this tour (for my kids and I, not the other family), I was the one who wanted the photos, I was sitting next to the dang window. It was a Christmas miracle.

So we got into the murder van and headed out. We drove through downtown Basseterre.

And then we went out of the city and off to the hills. There are 3 volcanoes on the island. One of them is still active, and is smoking. The last time it erupted was 1500 years ago. We asked if it was going to erupt again and Royston kind of shrugged and was like "I don't know, maybe?" and we were all cool with that.

We were driving down the road, all normal, like any other tour vehicle, and then suddenly Royston jerked the wheel and turned off the road onto this dirt path that was maybe as wide as the van and going up at about a 45 degree angle. "Aha" I thought, this is where the "Royston are you sure this is a road" comment came from on Trip Advisor. We went up and up, through the branches, bouncing around, swaying side to side, bumping through holes, up and up until the brush cleared from one side and we had a stunning view of the end of the island. And also a sheer drop that was about 12 inches from the tires (maybe less but I want to believe there was a foot of road there). We kept going up, and eventually came to a clearing and Royston asked if we wanted to get out. YES we wanted to get out! At least I did. There was enough space to walk around, and here the drop wasn't so sheer. There was a gentle slope, and a ledge, and another slope... it was fine. That's what I told myself anyway. But it was worth it for this.

We piled back into the murder van and made our way down the "is this really a road" road. Oh by the way DD would not get out of the car and she was terrified for most of the ascent and descent. She had been in the window seat so she and DS switched so he was at the window. Seemed to work out better for them.

So this is the one thing I didn't like about St. Kitts. Ok not the monkey, but what I'll show in a bit. There were wild monkeys all over the island. Royston said they had come over on ships (with humans, not on their own, although THAT would be a GREAT story). Apparently the monkeys would climb the mast of the ship and they would get really excited when they saw land. Probably because they had been trapped on a ship with humans for weeks or months and that isn't really the monkey's natural habitat, is it.

So we started seeing the monkeys all over. And chickens. And roosters. And chicken nuggets (baby chicks, duh).

I'll circle back to the monkeys in a bit.

We kept driving, and stopped at this cemetery.

Then, we got to the water, and a dock/pier, and Royston just drove right out onto the pier. "Ok", I thought to myself, "We might not be murdered, but this IS where we will die." I mean he was like 6 inches from driving off the pier, for sure. I don't want to think about it. I just looked out and admired the view.

First we thought this guy was a statue. Then everyone thought he was spear fishing. But it turns out he was measuring the ground levels or something for something that was being built.

I mean can you see how close we were to the edge?

There were huge fish down there, and I consoled myself that the water wasn't that deep and if we fell in it would be pretty easy to get out of the van, what with the lack of glass in the windows.

Then we drove into a residential area and this is what I was talking about with being sad. We stopped at this house, where this monkey was in this little chicken wire cage on the side of the house. He was also chained to the house. Royston gave us bananas to feed him, and petted him and loved on him, but it still made me sad. I kept trying to ask questions like "But does it get to come out of the cage?" and "Does it get to go in the house, or go anywhere else?" but I don't think I got any real answers. I probably don't want to know anyway.

Royston also drove us past his house. His dad has a shop in front of the house, and he has an amazing view of the Caribbean Sea (I stupidly called it "The Ocean" so I felt dumb for the next 30 minutes or so). He also took our lunch order and asked if we wanted fish or chicken. Almost all of us wanted chicken. We had no idea what that meant, because that was the extent of the lunch order. "Fish or chicken". Would there be something served with the fish or chicken? Were these sandwiches we were talking about? It was very mysterious.

We made a bathroom stop, which seemed to be a random bathroom in the yard of someone's house? And Royston was friends with the guy of course. I want to say that's where he got our lunch but that can't be right. I don't want that to be right.

We got out and saw some dogs, and at least one of them was chained. I really just hate seeing this. I hate it. We petted the puppies and then I realized they probably had fleas or worse so we washed/wiped our hands before getting back in the murder van.

We drove out to this site, which is apparently an archeological dream come true as it has petroglyphs from the 1600s and they just recently discovered a whole rum distillery that they never knew was there. We did not get out and explore, we just drove through. There is a train that takes people around the island, but Royston said it just goes around the outside, not really inside the island. Obviously these are not the tracks for that train. That would be a death train for sure. There were remains of the aqueduct, etc. all around. I do wish we could have explored.

We drove around some more.

 

[nancy drew]

And eventually we came to the fortress.

Hey, you can see the murder van in this one!

Looking up to where we were heading.

I believe this was the gunpowder storage building. Which seems odd as it was not all the way up, but what do I know about forts. I could also be totally wrong.

Looking down at what I referred to as the "gunpowder building" or whatever it really is.

This place was really cool.

So this is where we had lunch. There were picnic tables, and Royston drove right out to them, because of course he did. This is what we ended up having.

You can't tell, but there was SO MUCH FOOD in here. And it was all delicious! His friend had made it. I asked if he knew what was in it (like, the spices) and he said no. We all told him how good it was, and said to tell his friend he is a great chef. He said no way he was going to tell his friend that because then he would start charging more for lunch.

We all ate (though it was a bit unsettling eating chicken after seeing all those chickens running all over the island) and explored.

Speaking of unsettling...

What is going on there? At first I thought "Oh he must be guarding the fort." But no, the fort is behind him and he is 5/6 surrounded by solid walls. He could easily be blown apart by anyone from most angles. Then I thought "Oh, maybe he is off duty and that's where he rests." But there is no resting happening there because it is basically a standing up open coffin. It reminds me of the security guard in Seinfeld, when George wants to give him a chair. I wanted to give him a chair. But that didn't end well in Seinfeld and I am sure it wouldn't end well here. But I still do not know what was going on. So I just took a picture and moved along.

There was a long, sloped walk up to the top of the fort. It's worth it.

Down in here they have rooms set up like they were when the fort was active. Go down and check it out.

"I can see my murder van from here!"

Let's take a moment to examine this picture. On the right you see the sign for the Bake House, where they baked the bread. On the left you see the bath house and latrine. Hmmmm. I would not be eating much bread if I were stationed in this fort. Just saying.

This is the bake house. "No thanks, trying to cut carbs!" And norovirus.

I did not take a picture of the bath house and latrine because there was an actual toilet in there. I know I took a picture of a bathroom earlier. I'm just making up excuses.

Then this was the barracks. DD swears she saw one of these guys move. That would be a fun prank.

We eventually piled back into the murder van and headed back down. DS and the boy from the other family had become friends and were walking around the fort together. The whole family was very nice.

We were going around the other side of the island, where the weather is worse. We had been on the Caribbean side, and now we were heading to the Atlantic side. This here is where the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean meet. See the white waves out there waaaaaaaay in the distance? That's where they meet.

This is just a pretty view. There are lots of them here.

Oh yeah, so then Royston drove right out to the waters edge. We were basically driving in the water. I don't really remember why. Probably just because it seemed like a fun idea. If I recall we had a hard time getting out of here. The wheels kept spinning. That would start happening more and more. Good times.

This was the view opposite the water:

And on the other side of the van:

See how uneven this terrain is? Yeah we were still driving in this. No worries its all good. Royston's got this.

At this point there was not even a question of whether we were on a road because it was very clear we were not. I mean it was fine, we were just 100% off road in a vehicle that did not seem like an off road vehicle. But he knows what he's doing.

There were a bunch of cows chained up out here. Again, so sad. I hated seeing this.

We drove past this sugar mill. I gave DS my phone to take photos, which was a mistake because he took selfies and pictures of his shoes instead. Luckily Royston has been there done that and he turned around so I could take my own photos thankyouverymuch.

We asked each other whether anyone would want to sleep in here overnight. There were a surprising number of "Yes" replies. I am guessing those were false positives though. Both of my kids said they would and I know for sure they would hear one random noise and bolt.

I'm sure this donkey was also on a chain. Royston had stopped and bought some sugar cane, and he gave it to us to feed the donkey. He said the donkey is probably diabetic now from all the sugar he gives it. It was funny at the time, but now not so much.

We were near the end of the tour and we finally got to the place I had really wanted to see. Black Rocks.

Of course it started pouring so everyone ran back to the murder van. I didn't run. I think we then drove out onto this crazy rugged terrain and got stuck. Wheels spinning, we were on a steep angle, and I was sure we were going to have to get out and push the murder van out of there. But sure enough it rallied and we got out. Whew.

We drove through another town that was Royston's favorite town. He liked the way it looked, and so did I. We were rounding a corner and Royston was driving slowly so I asked DS to take photos of this tree because it was so cool.

After this we drove back to the port and said our goodbyes. I told Royston truthfully that we would never forget St. Kitts or him, and that I would recommend him to everyone. And I do. Despite all of the "Uh oh, are we going to die now?" moments, it was totally worthwhile to see the island from his perspective.

I'm going to stop here because I am exhausted.

 

[cel_disney]

OK, so now this. I looked at the packages this morning, and the deluxe was $49/pp, but now, just a few hours later, it's $56. Do you think when I call special services that they'd be able to honor the lower price?

I don’t believe they will be honor your quote but if you see it at the lower price point again - but it for all three of you and then call to have your daughters cancelled.

 

[buzzrelly]

I think DD was overwhelmed by the number of kids who were there. I'll probably get to this eventually, but her claim was "They all know each other already" which couldn't be true, but she also skipped the Meet and Greet so maybe it was true? Who knows. She did end up meeting some girls she liked but she never went back to see if they were there.

That's too bad. I make my kids go to the icebreakers on the first night so they can make some friends.

So, in looking at my photos, it appears that I only have one photo from dinner the first night. So to make up for that, here is another sunset photo from night 1.

Gorgeous

stopped off at Guest Services and bought all of us WOW Bands. What is a WOW Band? Well, it is pretty much the same as a Magic Band at Disney. It works as your room key, you can charge things to your room with it, and it does everything the Sea Pass card does but you can wear it on your wrist.

What the…??? Hello, DCL?? This is such a missed opportunity for them and I would LOVE if they had these on our cruise. I hate wearing the lanyards and so do my kids. They forget them and leave them all over the place, plus for pictures you have to keep taking them on and off, or just leave them on and ruin the picture. Good for RCCL for doing this

I was enjoying myself, but DD had been texting me almost nonstop. DS was doing it too, a little bit.

"Mom"

"The kids are all older than me."

"They all know each other already."

"No one will talk to me."

"I want to leave."

"Mom"

"Really I want to leave."

"Mom"

"Can I leave?"

On the one hand, who wants their kid to be unhappy on vacation? On the other hand, you can't just give it one try. Also I had really wanted to have MY vacation, too, and have some adult time!

Teens are so much fun

It was chaotic, as you can see. The balloons were constantly popping. I have no idea how they were popping so quickly. It was crazy, and I was very glad to be up on Deck 6.

It looks kind of cool, but I think I'd like it better from where you are standing too

Meanwhile... we were there for the show, and it was AMAZING. That is actually an understatement. I recorded a lot of the show, and I don't want to spoil the whole thing so I will only post one video of the beginning. If you want to scroll past to avoid spoilers, go ahead. But this is by far the coolest way to open ANY show, ice skating or not.

That looks amazing!

It was amazing. Go see the ice show. Don't be all "Really? An ICE show???" Go see it. I command you. Ok not really, but go see it.

You've just about convinced me!

And here, below, is the restaurant. If you look carefully, you will see the whimsy: mismatched chairs, chairs with rabbit ears, some random woman with a St. Patrick's Day fascinator looking at me, etc.

Holy moly, that restaurant! And that lady

Dinner must have been uneventful, but dessert was very special. On day 2, Shadiek had said he and Vinko had no luck getting us in to Wonderland for dessert, but he offered to bring Wonderland to us. I asked if that was really possible, and he said yes.

So for dessert, we had all of the Wonderland desserts.

The World (I do have a video but I don't want to ruin the surprise. You can see videos on You Tube if you want to see what happens) chocolate, caramel, peanut butter... so good!

The Forbidden Apple (raspberry mousse, lemon curd, coconut)

The Mystical Mushroom which was meringue and marzipan?

Now, they were supposed to be safe for DD but they forgot about her coconut allergy, and the one that looks like an apple had coconut. They had thought she was allergic to peanuts but she is not, so she was able to have the chocolate World dessert. And the mushroom thing had loads of nuts so that was off limits. So I ate the Apple Shaped Raspberry Lemon Coconut thing, DS ate the Mushroom Full of Nuts thing, and DD ate the Chocolate Amazing Everything I Like thing.

The Apple Raspberry Lemon thing was good, but the chocolate one was the best.

Those all look super cool

I finally texted DD that she could leave the club so she did, though she had actually made friends. She said she talked to some other girls who also thought the club sucked. I was so happy for her! See? You CAN find friends, DD! That's great, what were their names? I don't know. Are you going to go back another night and see if they are there? No, I hate the club and I don't want to go back there.

Of course!

First look at St. Kitts from the balcony!

Gorgeous!

Moms, get this: I DID NOT SIT IN THE MIDDLE AND MY KIDS (mostly) DID NOT FIGHT!!!! I was the one paying for this tour (for my kids and I, not the other family), I was the one who wanted the photos, I was sitting next to the dang window. It was a Christmas miracle.

Yay! It's the little things!

But it was worth it for this.

Stunning

Then we drove into a residential area and this is what I was talking about with being sad. We stopped at this house, where this monkey was in this little chicken wire cage on the side of the house. He was also chained to the house. Royston gave us bananas to feed him, and petted him and loved on him, but it still made me sad. I kept trying to ask questions like "But does it get to come out of the cage?" and "Does it get to go in the house, or go anywhere else?" but I don't think I got any real answers. I probably don't want to know anyway.

Aw,

 

[hdrolfe]

As a fellow introvert, I get it! I love cruising with my son but he hates the kids club on RCL. He likes it on Carnival so we will now cruise Carnival until he gets to an age where he will try RCL's again... I love spending time with him but I need that "just me" time to keep me sane. Glad you were able to sneak in some time alone!

 

[starvenger]

What the…??? Hello, DCL?? This is such a missed opportunity for them and I would LOVE if they had these on our cruise. I hate wearing the lanyards and so do my kids. They forget them and leave them all over the place, plus for pictures you have to keep taking them on and off, or just leave them on and ruin the picture. Good for RCCL for doing this

Well the drawback is that the WOW bands cost money. I actually kind of like the idea of the medallions over on the Carnival brands, but since you dislike lanyards it probably won't be your kind of thing.

With that said, I did find it weird that while DCL has Magic Bands, it's for Oceaneers only. Doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch nowadays to extend the tech to the whole ship, so I'd say we keep an eye on DCL's new ship developments to see if they go in that direction.

 

[OKW Lover]

Really enjoying your review. We've been on the Oasis 3 times now, and will be on the Allure in just a few weeks but we have never even seen the skating rink. Maybe next time I'll actually go look for it.

 

[anitag888]

Donuts - please tell me Stan is short for Stan Mikita.

Yes, I’m a big fan of Wayne’s World. Why do you ask?

Quick change lady sounds like the “feature performer” they add to the middle of the ice shows. Basically acts as a break for the skaters, and it’s usually fun for the audience.

Me too!!

 

[mevelandry]

Day 4! St. Kitts! Solid ground!

(...)

Then we drove into a residential area and this is what I was talking about with being sad. We stopped at this house, where this monkey was in this little chicken wire cage on the side of the house. He was also chained to the house. Royston gave us bananas to feed him, and petted him and loved on him, but it still made me sad. I kept trying to ask questions like "But does it get to come out of the cage?" and "Does it get to go in the house, or go anywhere else?" but I don't think I got any real answers. I probably don't want to know anyway.

(...)

Poor Monkey

 

[anitag888]

I looked at the port schedule and it looks like we are going to dock in the less-popular port in St. Thomas. Is that where you docked? And did you go into town or take an excursion? I read that there are really limited taxis that will transport a wheelchair and I might have to make prior arrangements because it's like a 2 mile hilly walk.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT! It isn't even something that I made up, it is one of the offerings! Just select Barq's Creme Soda (I choose diet, you can make your own decision about that) and then it offers you flavors.

Google's got my back:

I definitely do the diet, trying to watch my sugar. But I've made up my mind - I am SO trying this tomorrow night, and I will think of you (also loved the Nancy Drew books as a teen!). I think I might have to try at leat the orange/cream too.