Royal Caribbean Cruise 2025 – Southern Caribbean

Today Andrea and I returned from an 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas! Our traveling party included friends, Brent and Tracee.

We sailed round trip from Port Canaveral, with the ports of call being (1) Willemstad, Curacao, (2) Oranjestad, Aruba, (3) Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic, and (4) Perfect Day At Cococay, Bahamas.

Andrea and I were in cabin 1305, located on Deck 10 mid on the starboard side. Brent and Tracee were in cabin 9279, on deck 9.

Our cruise staff for this cruise

  • Cruise Director: John
  • Head Server: Ivor
  • Waiter: Joseph
  • Asst Waiter: Joan

Throughout the cruise we played a few games that included “The Game”, “Forbidden Island”, “Zombie Chickens” and “Exploding Kittens”.

Day 1 – Port Canaveral. Also in port were Disney Wish, Disney Magic, Utopia of the Seas, and Carnival Glory.

Day 2 – sailing. The four of us ate at the steakhouse Chops Grille.

Day 3 – sailing.

Day 4 – Curacao. Brent, Tracee and I took the excursion that visited the Hato Caves and took a walking tour of historical Willemstad. While in the caves, we got to see some fruit bats. During the tour, the power supplying lights for the caves decided to experience a temporary power outage, causing a complete blackout for a few seconds.

Day 5 – Aruba. The four of us took a submarine excursion. We boarded a boat, and met the submarine and transferred to it while floating. At one time near the end of the tour, the pilot actually touched down on the bottom at a depth of 141 ft. About an hour and a half after we left Aruba, the ship had to return to Aruba for a medical emergency.

Day 6 – Dominican Republic. Brent, Tracee and I went on a Reef Snorkel excursion, during which I managed to temporarily lose my camera. After about 15 minutes, one of my fellow swimmers was able to locate it and it was recovered by one of the crew about 30 ft down.

Day 7 – sailing. Andrea and I experienced “Sip, Tour, Bruch”, where we got to have a quick drink, tour the galley, and have a brunch.

Day 8 – CocoCay. We didn’t spend much time on the island. We got off to find a light mist and once we found our seats we were going to use, it started thundering. A little bit later it started with the light show with a bunch of lightening, so we decided to head back to the ship to see if the weather would get better, which it never did. Also visiting CocoCay was the Icon of the Seas. While at dinner, we saw a Disney ship sailing a few miles away.

Day 9 – Port Canaveral. Also in port were Disney Treasure and Carnival Freedom.

During the cruise, we watched a few of the shows including:

  • “The Misfit of Magic”, Ed Alonzo
  • “Cool Art, Hot Ice” ice skating show
  • “Invitation to Dance” and “Can’t Stop the Rock”
  • “Battle of the Sexes” and “Crazy Quest” adult game shows

This was our 1st cruise on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (Adventure: 1) totaling 8 nights, making us Crown and Anchor Society Gold members.

Disney Cruise 2025 #2 – Bahamian

Today Andrea and I returned from a 4-night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Magic! Our traveling party included Amberlee and her 8-year old daughter Natalie.

We sailed round trip from Port Canaveral, with the ports of call being Nassau, Bahamas and Disney’s Lookout Cay.

Andrea and I stayed in cabin 7136, located on Deck 7 aft on the port side. Amberlee and Natalie stayed in cabin 2102 on Deck 2.

Our cruise staff for this cruise

  • Captain: Marco
  • Cruise Director: Joel
  • Head Server: Petros from Poland
  • Server: Ace from Philippines
  • Asst Server: Miguel from Portugal
  • Trainee Server: Timur
  • Palo Server: Diego
  • Stateroom Host: Brenda
  • Diamonds and Wishes: Henning

While dining in Palo, Andrea ate a mussel for “try it Thursday”.

While in the DVC member celebration, we had an issue that manager Ruddy had to help with.

While visiting Lookout Cay, Amberlee, Natalie and Joe participated in the “Tropical Reef Safari Snorkel” excursion, that included a catamaran ride to the swim site.

This was our 24rd Disney cruise (Magic: 3, Wonder: 5, Dream: 5, Fantasy: 9, Wish: 2) totaling 145 nights on these beautiful ships.

Flying – Mar 2025

Today we flew a Cessna 172R (N670MA) from Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) over to Siesta Key, south of Sarasota, for a scattering. Our total flight time was 2 hrs. This was my 22nd flight.

Disney Cruise 2025 – Bahamian

Today Andrea, Lizzy, Abby (a friend of ours on her first cruise ever) and I returned from a 5-night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Fantasy. Our immediate party included Andrea’s parents, and another couple of friends.

We sailed round trip from Port Canaveral, with the ports of call being Nassau, Bahamas; Disney’s Lookout Cay; Disney’s Castaway Cay.

We stayed in cabin 7050 (Cat 05B Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah) located on Deck 7 fwd on the port side.

Our cruise staff for this cruise

  • Cruise Director: Ashley
  • Head Server: Kemar Lushane Sterling
  • Server: Jay Manalansan “Jay-R” Aggari
  • Asst Server: Akshay Valiyoliparambil Joshy
  • Palo Head Server: Sasha (shares a birthday with Andrea)
  • Palo Steakhouse Servers: Carolina & Sara
  • Stateroom Host: Richard Gasco Martinez
  • DVC: Kathy from Clermont, FL

When we sailed away from Port Canaveral, the Disney Wish was also in port the same day for their journey. On our day at sea, which happened to be Andrea’s birthday, the 8 of us were able to eat brunch at Palo in the Palo Room. On the day we visited Nassau, the Disney Dream had to also visit the island due to a medical emergency, before continuing to their destination. On Lookout Cay day, our ship was delayed a few hours leaving due to a medical emergency that “could only be handled shore-side”.

This was our 23rd Disney cruise (Magic: 2, Wonder: 5, Dream: 5, Fantasy: 9, Wish: 2) totaling 141 nights on these beautiful ships.

Flying – Nov 2024 #2

Today we flew a Cessna 172R (N670MA) from Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) over to Daytona Beach, for three scatterings. Our total flight time was 1.6 hrs. This was my 21st flight.

Flying – Nov 2024

Today we flew a Cessna 172M (N46299) from Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) over to Witham Field Airport (KSUA), and then to the beach east of the airport, for a scattering of three family members. Our total flight time was 2.5 hrs. This was my 20th flight.

Disney Cruise 2024 #2 – Bahamian

Today Andrea and I returned from a 4-night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Wish.

We sailed round trip from Port Canaveral, with the ports of call being Nassau, Bahamas; Disney’s Castaway Cay.

We stayed in cabin 6150 (Cat 04C Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah) located on Deck 6 aft on the port side.

Our cruise staff for this cruise

  • Captain: Thord Haugen
  • Cruise Director: Christiaan Abbott
  • Head Server: Cindy Jermaine Joseph McKenzie from Trinidad and Tobago
  • Server: Midori Nakagawa from Japan
  • Asst Server: Robert Perez Gil from Spain
  • Palo Steakhouse Server: Aleksandr
  • Stateroom Host: Badrud Anam

Our table mates were 2 couples: Jeff & Anne, and Alejandro & Edna.

Some of the cruise staff we interacted with this cruise included (from the shops) Chloe, Kerry, Marina and Shelly, and (from DVC group) Sammy, Davida, Robin and Charlene.

We rode on the AquaMouse (twice).

This was our 22nd Disney cruise (Magic: 2, Wonder: 5, Dream: 5, Fantasy: 8, Wish: 2) totaling 136 nights on these beautiful ships.

Flying – Jul 2024

Today we flew a Cessna 172M (N46299) from Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) over to Cherie Down Park, just south of Port Canaveral, for a scattering. Our total flight time was 1.3 hrs. This was my 19th flight.

Disney Cruise 2024 – Western Caribbean

Today Andrea and I returned from a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy.

We sailed round trip from Port Canaveral, with the ports of call being Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica; Disney’s Castaway Cay.

We stayed in cabin 10530 (Cat 05A Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah) located on Deck 10 fwd on the starboard side.

We cruised with Krista and Kaylee, from Las Vegas, who stayed in cabin 7668.

Our dining team included Juan Israel Cervants Rivero from Mexico (server), Jovan Molnar from Serbia (asst server), and Deneval C. Miller (head server). Our stateroom host was Romain David Smith. Our cruise director was Stephen, with Anne as the asst cruise director.

The evening we visited Grand Cayman, Andrea fell while on deck 11 after getting some ice cream, leaving her with a few bruises and aching joints all over.

On most cruises, we get to know many of the cruise staff, but this one found us interacting with most of them working in Mickey’s Mainsail and Sea Trasures. I am probably going to forget some of them, but hugs and thanks go to (alphabetically) Gustavo, Karina, Marcela, Miguel, Natasha, Patricia, Sam, and Sol. Karina has a wonderful talent of drawing, and she shared one of her drawings of Simba with us to take back home.

One of the shows we went to see was by JunNk – a percussion group that included singing and comedy during their performance.

The end of our 21st Disney cruise (Magic: 2, Wonder: 5, Dream: 5, Fantasy: 8, Wish: 1) marked 132 nights that we have spent on these beautiful ships.

Flying – Jun 2023

Today we flew a Cessna 172N (N734MG) from Merritt Island (KCOI) down to Hillsboro Inlet for a scattering. Our total flight time was 2.9 hrs. This was my 18th flight.

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