Well, 8 days at sea went pretty much as we expected.  The minute we were out of European waters, the crew quietly told everyone masks were no longer “required” but “recommended.”  Ok, well, we all know what happened then!  Yep, mask wearing went to the dogs and we hid!  To be honest, we had an idea this would happen, which is why we A) upgraded to the suite to have more space when we hid in our cabin, and B) went to as many shows as possible on the first leg when social distancing and mask usage was still in place. 

That being said, we did enjoy ourselves for the rest of the sailing.  We did go out – we walked deck 8, which is a great circuit.  We never used the elevators, but walked up 3 flights, then across the length of the ship, up 3 more flights, then back, etc.  We went to trivia every morning at 10am, just to have something to do and get out of the way of our cabin stewards and Ricki, our sweet butler.  Stayed in our cabin most of the balance of the day and lucked into some good movies, and some bad movies, and White Christmas!!! (Yay says the Christmas girl!).  Sat outside a couple of days on the Haven sun deck, in the comfy lounge sofas, while writing the blog and reading.  Went to the gym (of course!).  Did go to the theater to see the comedians, who on this part of the sailing were fantastic (WAY better than the first two). 

Got heckled by Claudius, one of the activity staff, who we had befriended the first night of the 2^nd leg at the back of the theater.  We told him we’d always be there and would never sit in the Haven seats, but, sadly, we couldn’t sit up at the back of the theater because the people were ridiculously rude, talking loudly when they entered the theater, after the show had begun, standing right next to us without masks looking around, like deer in the headlights, trying to figure out where they were, what was going on and whether they were staying or going.  Sigh.  It just was not comfortable, so, yes, we played the H card and ended up sitting down there in the “reserved” section for all the comedian shows.

Went on hide and seek excursions onboard looking for Kasi, one of our favorite wait staff who got reassigned from the Theater and Syd Norman’s and moved to the outdoor movie bar, meaning we hardly ever saw him again.  We never did find him at his assigned station!  But he did come to the theater a couple of times to see us. And then would jostle for attention with Kadek, our son, from Bali, who absolutely adored Ed and began calling him his father, and me his mother. 

Took Sunny up to the Haven Lounge for his Gingerbread Photo Shoot.

Watched an awful lot of incredible sunsets.

All in all, it wasn’t as torturous as it could have been.  Heck, we can find things to do anywhere, anytime.  It is just a matter of perspective!  So, now onto the staff and ship itself.

Great things:  Obviously there were a whole bunch of fabulous staff.  Kadek. Kasi. Claudius.  Janet, the Haven hostess, always adorable and happy to chat.  Rachel, the Haven bar server who would see me coming and pour my wine and get Ed’s beer without prompting.  Ricky, the butler, who would come and chat with us forever.  Yomi who was box office staff, who stood guard outside the doors of capacity controlled venues, who, after we stood in line with her so many nights, gave us her card and told us to call her so she could get us into any show we wanted without standing in line.  Kristine, who we’ve already mentioned, the wonderful guest relations staff who went out of her way to help us with that stupid Eurofinns registration.

And so many other staff who were wonderful throughout the whole cruise.  Without them, it would have been a wholly different experience.

Entertainment was definitely a plus – 2 boring comedians on the first leg notwithstanding.  The production shows were outstanding.  Full-fledged Broadway like productions.  The special Black light show was mindboggling.  The rock band we’ve already talked about – but we (Cathy) might as well have been back in high school or college listening to the actual band.  Food was incredibly good – from the main dining room to the specialty restaurants – all excellent, well-prepared meals. 

Not so great things:  While we did manage to find movies to watch, the movie selection in general was ridiculous. It was all superhero and kids’ stuff.  The outdoor movie screen showed these awful films more suited for the adolescent and teen market.  I mean, really!  On a T-A? In these COVID restricted conditions? I.E., everyone had to be vaccinated to get on the ship so there were not any kids hardly at all – and any of them aboard were over 15.  Minor annoyance, really, but still.

The biggest issue for us was just the ship itself!  We just don’t like that size and design ship.  The venues are all too small for the passenger capacity.  Even without capacity control (which went by the wayside along with the masks on the 2^nd sea day).  Every place was always packed.  Restaurants, the atrium, shows.  It just isn’t comfortable for us – personally.  We know a lot of people who love the big ships – there can be a lot to do, for certain – but we’re just not in that category.  Give us Azamara 680 people any day.

Another negative was the inconsistency of just about everything onboard. From lack of communications, to one hand not knowing what the other hand was doing, to conflicting messaging on timing of tests or when we were allowed off the ship.  It was very frustrating, to say the least.   

In the end, we just chalked it up to the big ship experience.  We just confirmed that we won’t sail on another ship that size – regardless of cruise line.

All that being said, it was an enjoyable voyage and a great way to get home vs. 12 hours of flying cooped up in multiple airplanes.  And bonus!  We were allowed off today after arriving in Miami.  We all went through immigration – waiting until dead last so that we didn’t have to wait too long to get back on the ship.  Even though we were escorted down by the Haven staff, there was still a huge, long line waiting to go through Passport control.  Not as if there was anything else to do.

Once through CBP, we wandered outside to just stroll around on dry land.  We really didn’t want to go into Miami or do anything much, so we just walked around the port area, making it as far as the Seamans Park area before the skies opened up.  We were lucky in that there was a little picnic area underneath a large overhang attached to the Tennis building where we could wait out the rain.  While we were dressed for it, it was blowing, driving rainfall and we preferred not to be totally soaked to the skin – even in the warm temps!

As the rain abated, we made our way back to the ship, waited outside until we were sure we were all cleared to go back aboard (as it turned out, we could have waited in a special area upstairs, but who knew?  Again, inconsistent communication!) then spent the rest of the day finalizing our packing and preparing for our flights home tomorrow.