Hello everyone! It's the end of day 5 on our 7-day Western Caribbean cruise and my dad purchased a 3-day internet access package for his iPad, so I'm using it now to let you guys know what's been happening.
But first of course let me start out with some pictures for you guys.
Oh and before I begin, a silly little message to our wonderful local comedian Zealot. No, this S.S. Jesus and Plant Winslet did not strike a Charles Darwin/Richard Dawkins iceberg and sink to an icy doom. The waters are actually really warm here. I'm still here xD
Here is the view outside our stateroom balconies at night. It overlooks the 2nd rock climbing wall, the aqua theater, and the boardwalk deck.
Meanwhile our two doggies Crystal and Emmy are enjoying the doggy play-kennel we are having them cared for at while we are gone!
Anyways about everything...
There is so much to do on this ship yet I haven't engaged in many of the activities because of valid reasons. For example I didn't pack a bathing suit (I packed fast at the last min, that's something I forgot) so I can't go surfing on the flow rider or swim in the pools (who am I kidding, I wouldn't use the flow rider anyway, I don't know how to surf).
The food, like always on royal Caribbean cruises, has been absolutely FANTASTIC! Though I do my best to avoid eating lots of desserts because it's easy to gain lots of weight here just eating these desserts. Not to mention I'm not old enough to use the gym (you gotta be 18 to enter, I'm only 17 and 3 quarters). And that I didn't pack any exercise clothes as I procrastinated and didn't pack until the last minute before we left for the cruise.
They have quite exotic food which is nice but at the same time they maintain an acceptable level of normality with whatcha got to eat. They got hamburgers and pizza and hot dogs and every other American food there is on this ship. They got a Johnny Rockets on the boardwalk down on deck 6 which is nice, though I have not eaten there because I know I would get a milkshake, and their milkshakes literally have over a thousand calories just in one serving.
Compared to other cruise lines, I'd have to say Royal Caribbean is definitely the best overall. I've done several Disney cruises before and the food was dog crap compared to what we get here. Not to mention on the Disney ships the dinners are extremely tiny and most of their dishes are WAY too exotic. Half the stuff they had on their menus on the Disney Wonder was dishes with raw meats, I kid you not.
Another thing RC Annoying Oranges other cruise lines on is their ship engineering. On the Disney ships there was constant light slanting from side to side on the ship. On these royal Caribbean ships I literally cannot tell that I am on a boat at all. There is no rocking or slight tilting even up on deck 17, the top passenger deck. Maybe it's just because this is the largest class of cruise ship in the world, but I think it's mostly due to their advanced stabilizer and multidirectional propellor technology.
The only advantages Disney cruise line has over RC would be that their staff is slightly nicer, and that they have awesome water slides and activities for teenagers and kids.
On Royal Caribbean, things are catered more so for upper-class young adults and old people. I mean sure you got the teen club and arcade rooms, but unlike on Disney where the arcades and soda drinks were free, you gotta pay subscriptions and packages and other stuff just to enjoy them.
The teen club is open and free, but it's filled with those types of unintellectual mainstream guys. You know, the kind of showy jerks that dress in basketball clothes, wear their hats backwards, think rickroll and Lolcats are a hip new thing, that play call of duty all day, and think Star Trek is for dorks and that anime is for fat guys who live in their mother's basements (my heart goes out to the members of the basement-dwelling community who like me have been put down by the man). The girls there are just as bad. 98% of them (unfortunately I'm not allowed to generalize all of them because that'll make the politically correct people around here cry a new ocean for this ship to cruise on) are those kind of shallow girls who say stupid crap like "you know," "like" "oh my god" "yolo" "hashtag this and post it on Instagram" every other word and dress in tiny denim shorts and very exposing tank tops (and I'm not talking about their swimwear) and you just get the impression that they're looking for a good time with 40-year-old men for $350 an hour.
I'm getting off topic, where was I? Oh yes, the ship is very adult-oriented. They literally have about three different restaurants on this ship
just for tasting wine. A quarter of the public passenger areas on this ship I can't even access either because you have to be at least 18 and/or formally dressed to enter AND/OR a "premium" member. I can't work out in the gym cause I gotta be 18, I can't have a quiet breakfast in the forward pool lounge because apparently they don't want ya there unless they can sell you a margarita (I exaggerate about that, of course, for dramatic effect).
That's all for now! I'll see if I can post some daytime pictures tomorrow. The view from the observation deck of this ship is absolutely stunning at sunset!
