Royal Caribbean Blog

Today Oasis of the Seas docked in Costa Maya, Mexico for the only port day of our 4-night cruise. From beaches to cycling and eating mouth watering Mexican food, it was a day well spent.

The gangway opened around 8AM, and I disembarked Oasis of the Seas right away so I could start my day before it got too warm. We were docked next to Jewel of the Seas.

I hoped to rent a bicycle, but I was wary of booking in advance because the weather forecast showed thunderstorms. However, the weather appeared sunny with partial clouds in the morning, so I took the chance at a bike ride.

The best day I've ever had in port thus far was when I rented an e-bike in St. Maarten and looped the entire island in one day. Being on a bicycle is so freeing, as there is no need to wait for taxis or worry about how you will get from place to place, so I was looking forward to discovering Mexico by bike.

I rented a bike for the day from a tour operator located adjacent to the Mayan pyramid replica in Costa Maya, located just outside the port. The total cost for a day rental was 300 MXP, or around $15 USD. I was given a pink beach cruiser, and while it wasn't as fancy as the hybrid e-bike I had in St. Maarten, it was perfect for exploring the coastline of Costa Maya.

The only other time I was in Costa Maya, I visited the Chacchoben Mayan ruins, and while it was an awesome day, the tour did not leave any extra time to explore Costa Maya. Therefore, today's plan was to discover the culture and lifestyle of Mahahual, the town next to the Costa Maya cruise port.

Related: Excursion Focus: Chacchoben ruins in Costa Maya

I started with a short ride to the Faro de Mahahual, a lighthouse with a nice view of the port. From there begins a 1/2 mile stretch of a car-free boardwalk lined with shops, restaurants, cafes, and beach clubs. Called a malecón in Spanish, this is a hub of activity and the perfect place to get a glimpse of Mexican culture.

I rode the length of the boardwalk and continued on, which turned into a gravel road followed by a stretch of sandy road surrounded by both ocean and rainforest. I rode about 6 miles each way on the quiet road, passing popular beach resorts like Maya Chan before turning back to cycle toward the malecón.

I'm lucky I turned around when I did, because as soon as I got back to the boardwalk it started to rain! I sought refuge in the La Dolce Vita cafe, where I had one of the best smoothies ever, made with mango, maracuya (passion fruit), and banana.

Next up was lunch, and I was hoping to taste authentic, non-touristy Mexican food. I decided on La Curvita, a small restaurant on the corner just two blocks off the malecón, where I had a delicious meal of chilaquiles rojos.

If you're looking to have a great meal in port, my top tip is to leave the main tourist street and find a small, hole in the wall restaurant filled with locals. Additionally, if the menu is small and not in English, this is a good sign the food will be authentic and at local prices.

Using these tips, whether in Rome, Thailand, the Bahamas, or Mexico, will usually always result in a fantastic meal.

It rained lightly on and off throughout the rest of the afternoon, but as the humidity was so high it actually felt quite nice! Today was a good reminder to never put too much thought into the weather forecast when cruising to tropical destinations. I expected a day of heavy rain and thunderstorms, but this was not the case at all.

I cycled a bit more around the boardwalk and in the town of Mahahual itself, grabbed an espresso and pastry from La Tartaleta Panadería, dropped off my bicycle, and headed back to Oasis of the Seas.

Just like I expected, renting a bike resulted in an unforgettable day exploring Costa Maya and Mahahual. I was surprised to see just how bike friendly the town is, and I would recommend to anyone interested in a slightly active day to rent a bike!

Once back onboard, I spent some time decompressing in the thermal suite and in my stateroom.

It was Indian night at the Windjammer for dinner and it was super delicious! After dinner, I spent the rest of the evening relaxing in Central Park with an espresso martini while listening to live piano music.

Overall it was a wonderful day in port and onboard. Latin America has always been my favorite region of the world, so I absolutely love cruising to Mexico. Mahahual exceeded my expectations, and I found all the locals to be extremely friendly!

Tomorrow is the last day of our cruise, which will be spent at sea.

Stray observations

I'm not usually a fan of port areas, and the Costa Maya port feels a bit like a Mexico-themed Disneyland. The pool is nice and there are plenty of shops and restaurants to enjoy, but it definitely does not feel like you're in Mexico while there. I recommend leaving the port and visiting the malecón in Mahahual instead!

The seaweed in Costa Maya seemed a lot worse than I remembered it being when I briefly visited in September 2021.

If traveling with kids, I would recommend taking a taxi to the malecón and renting a bicycle from there instead of near the cruise port so that you can avoid cycling on roads with cars.

I still really want to try a day at Maya Chan, so I will definitely do this the next time I'm in Costa Maya!

Also, shout out to my stateroom attendant, Mustofa, for being a Royal Caribbean Blog reader!

It has been just over nine months since Royal Caribbean restarted cruises from North America, and on April 24th, 2022 I boarded Harmony of the Seas for my 13th cruise since the "Royal Comeback."

While I have been on many different ships, this is the first time I’ve been on Harmony since December 2019.

I was curious to see not only what’s different since then, but how cruising has progressed since my last sailing just two months ago. For reference sake, I’m writing this blog on day three of a seven night sailing.

Masks optional in cruise terminal

I received my e-mail from Royal Caribbean with their updated “Healthy Sailing” instructions two days before the cruise.

The updated mask policy read that masks are optional for vaccinated guests onboard and also in the terminal, unless required by local regulation.

It felt odd to enter Port Canaveral’s terminal without a mask. That’s something I haven’t done in over two years.

Entertainment: Main Theater

After doing the e-muster drill (which I hope Royal Caribbean never gets rid of), we went to our room.

We had a copy of the show schedule for the week tucked into the daily planner.

The main theater has their Broadway Musical “Grease” performing on three different days. The Headliner performers were a comedian, a musician and a magician. There was a movie showing the first night, “Reminiscence”. The Love and Marriage Game Show will be held later in the week. There are many days of Bingo scheduled.

What continues to be notably absent is the “Columbus! The Musical” stage show. There has been no word on when or if it’s returning.

Entertainment: Studio B

Studio B is where you will find the ice shows. Harmony has a brand new ice cast that signed on this week. In fact, the show we saw was their "opening night". The cast performs two different shows. “1887: A Journey in Time” is their main show.

I’ll be honest, it’s not one of my favorites in the fleet. The story is hard to follow and the music is not exactly engaging. However, I can appreciate the artistry and athletic abilities of the cast so it’s still enjoyable.

Their other show is “iSkate Showcase.” It’s a chance for the cast to show off their talent with songs that they have chosen. It is high energy, fun, and they are very engaging with the audience. We really enjoyed that show.

Entertainment: The AquaTheater

“The Fine Line” was Harmony’s main show in the aqua theater for years. I’m not sure if it’s been available on other sailings since the restart, but on this one it has been replaced by a “showcase,” which I assume is similar to the free skate show that we saw last night from the ice cast.

Movies are also being shown. Some examples are “Cruella,” “No Time to Die,” “Jungle Cruise” and “Fast and Furious 9: The Fast Saga.”

Later in the week, the aqua theater will host the 70’s Disco Inferno dance party.

Entertainment: Around the Ship

The pool has been a bustle of activities with the return of the belly flop and world’s sexiest man competitions as well as plenty of live music.

The On-Air Club and Schooner Bar are home to trivia. I counted 25 different trivia options in my Royal Caribbean app. Everything from music, movies, general knowledge and eras. They also offer a scavenger hunt throughout the ship.

The Boardwalk is the place for Hula Hoop Competitions and Beer Pong (with water instead of beer).

“The Quest” continues to be unavailable. In fact, I haven’t seen it come back on any ship since the restart.

Read more: Trying out the free activities on Harmony of the Seas

Dining

We purchased the Unlimited Dining Package for this sailing.

Yes, I know, there are so many free food options that you don’t need a dining package. We decided we wanted to be able to go to all of the specialty restaurants for lunches (embarkation and sea days only) and dinner.

We like the variety and a more intimate, personalized dining experience. The main dining room and Windjammer feel crowded and loud to me.

So far we have had lunch at Jamie’s Italian, Chops and Sabor (which is being replaced by Playmakers on most ships. It’s currently only available on Harmony and Allure.) Dinners have been at Coastal Kitchen and 150 Central Park. Everything from the service to the meals themselves have been outstanding.

It should be noted that the unlimited dining package isn’t exactly “unlimited”. It does not include Chef’s Table, room service, the tapas menu at Vintages or “Captain Jack’s” shack on CocoCay.

You may have heard that the Windjammer buffet has gone back to self service. We stopped in there to check out the situation for ourselves. There was a crew member at the entrance making sure everyone was washing their hands. We also witnessed the crew sanitizing each table between guests.

Crown and Anchor Society

This is the first cruise since we turned Pinnacle nine months ago that we are allowed back into the suite lounge and have access to Coastal Kitchen for lunch and dinner. Even though the two venues are connected, our sea pass cards only unlock the door to the suite lounge and not Coastal Kitchen.

On Harmony, Pinnacles are still not permitted in Coastal Kitchen for breakfast. There is a pinnacle breakfast available daily at Chops. We went yesterday as soon as they opened. We waited 45 minutes for our food to come out, only for it to be cold. It was very disappointing.

The top tier event was held in the main theater. That was a first for me. I’m used to it being in the aqua theater on the larger ships or the Star Lounge or Viking Crown lounge on smaller ships. Platinum members and above were invited to the event. It was a full house. Captain Johnny and Paul, the Loyalty Ambassador welcomed two new couples to the Pinnacle Club, recognized folks that were reaching 1050 and 1400 point milestones and introduced the top three cruisers. The passengers per tier were as follows:

• 1,276 Gold Members
• 491 Platinum Members
• 234 Emerald Members
• 464 Diamond Members
• 295 Diamond Plus Members
• 85 Pinnacle Members

Paul also mentioned that there are a total of 1175 Pinnacle members in the Crown and Anchor Society.

On the first day we had invitations in our room for the “virtual backstage tour.” I’m not sure what that entails, as it is on day 6 of our cruise, all I do know is that the bridge tours and the behind the scenes tours remain unavailable.

Day 6 will also be our “Cheers with an Officer” lunch in the main dining room. It’s available to Crown and Anchor members with 340 points or more and is typically offered on sailings of seven nights or longer. Pre-pandemic, it was “lunch with an officer”, where an officer would be seated at each table and you could chat with them and get to know their role on the ship.

Usually the Captain, Hotel Director and the cruise director toast to the room and say a few words before leaving you to your meal with your fellow passengers.

Capacity

Probably one of the most asked questions in recent times is “how crowded is the ship?” This sailing has 4992 passengers. It can reach max capacity of 6,780, which is not typical. The double occupancy total is 5,479. There are 1,964 crew members onboard.

It’s not as crowded as it was pre-pandemic but it is definitely getting there. If you’re concerned at all about social distancing, stay out of the elevators. The signs are gone that limited the number of people in the elevator and guests are using every inch of available space.

Final thoughts

Even though it’s only been three days, the cruise has been fantastic. Besides the Chops breakfast that wasn’t up to par, everything else has been outstanding. (In Chops defense, we had lunch there today and the food and service was great). We have been lucky enough to find two of our favorite bar staff from previous ships. It’s nice to see our crew friends again.

While masks are optional for passengers onboard, the crew is still required to wear them, even the lifeguards at the pool. Hopefully that can change soon. Slowly but surely things are returning to “normal,” which is wonderful to see.

The cruise industry is poised for a major comeback, and Royal Caribbean sees better things to come over the next year and a half.

Speaking at Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami on Tuesday, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty shared his thoughts on the prospects for emerging from the depths of the pandemic.

"We expect the back half of this year to normalize and 2023 to look and behave like the pre-Covid period," Mr. Liberty shared when asked about his thoughts of the future.

Mr. Liberty expects this to be a transitional year, with 2023 performing better than pre-pandemic, "That means all ships back up and running and full capacity."

A strong 2023 has largely been Royal Caribbean Group's plan since talking to Wall Street in February.

During the company's earnings call with investors in February, executives said they expected a a return to profitability in the second half of 2022.

Part of getting customers back is establishing confidence in the experience, "By doing our jobs and building that confidence, the desire to cruise is back to where it was before Covid."

"Throughout the pandemic, we’ve learned a lot about the capabilities of our organizations, especially in terms of health and safety."

Joining Mr. Liberty at the keynote event was Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and MSC CEO Pierfrancesco Vago.

Mr. Donald also thinks things are looking brighter in the near future, "The overall trajectory for the cruise industry is good … it’s resilient and there is a tremendous amount of growth potential. The overall future for cruise is extremely bright."

Cruise industry resilience

The same day of the keynote, the cruise industry took a moment to celebrate some important milestones that point to more people wanting to get back on a cruise ship.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) shared their new findings of how strong demand has been for cruises despite all the challenges.

In a statement, CLIA President and CEO Kelly Craighead talked about the recovery process, "As the industry resumes operations, passenger volume is expected to recover and surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2023, with passenger volumes projected to recover 12% above pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2026.

"Cruising is accessible, responsible, and experiential - making it the best way to see the world for people of all ages and interests. With the support of an incredibly resilient community, the future of the cruise industry is bright."

CLIA's consumer research had some interesting facts:

• Intent to cruise is rebounding, with 63% of cruisers or potential cruisers indicating they are ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to cruise in the next two years.
• 69% of respondents that have never cruised said they are open to cruise, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
• Millennial cruisers are the most enthusiastic about taking another cruise, with 87% indicating they will take a cruise in the next few years, followed by Gen X at 85%.

The second day of my 4-night cruise on Oasis of the Seas is a sea day as we make our way to Costa Maya, Mexico. The weather today was perfect, with near total sunshine and a slight breeze, making for a beautiful day to spend onboard a beautiful ship.

I headed to Central Park as the sun was rising around 7AM and had a quick, casual breakfast at Park Cafe. I was happy to see a specialty coffee station within Park Cafe, as I did not have to brave the Cafe Promenade line for my latte.

Early morning on a cruise ship is my favorite time of day. The ship feels nearly empty before guests wake up, there are no lines anywhere, and a sunrise walk on the pool deck is always wonderful.

The majority of my day was spent filming our upcoming full ship tour of Oasis of the Seas on the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube channel, which will premiere in the next few weeks. As a result, I walked up, down, and around the ship today to explore every nook and cranny onboard.

First up was the Solarium. I love the Solarium's layout on Oasis of the Seas! Not only is it filled with jacuzzis, comfy seating, and a pool, but there is a huge outdoor sundeck area to enjoy.

Solarium Bistro is not open for dinner on this sailing, instead offering a combo breakfast and lunch. Today's hours were from 9:30 to 1PM, so I had a casual buffet lunch there. By lunch time, the Solarium was packed with people.

In fact, it felt as if every person on the cruise headed to the pool deck at the same time! Because I had never cruised prior to last year, I was used to cruising with capacities from around 30-60%. Being on a cruise closer to full capacity is a bit of a shock (there's a line for food?), but it also gives a fun energy and atmosphere to the cruise that wasn't as possible with so few guests.

Puzzle Break Center

Today I also had the opportunity to try the Puzzle Break Center onboard. This is the first cruise I have been on where the escape room was open, so I was excited to try it out as I had never done an escape room before on neither land nor sea. The escape room comes at an extra cost of $20 per person.

Mission Control: Apollo 18 is the Puzzle Break Center on Oasis of the Seas, and players must solve puzzles and challenges to send their rocket off to space before time is up. The room is set up with six launching stations, each of which has three sets of challenges to solve.

There were around twelve passengers in the room and we all worked together to try and break out in time. From finding hidden keys to figuring out interactive patterns and puzzles, it ended up being a lot more fun than I initially thought it would be. Plus, our group solved the escape room with just 4 minutes to spare!

Relaxation and entertainment

Next up was my daily smoothie at Vitality Cafe, this time strawberry banana with peanut butter! I also relaxed a bit in the spa's thermal suite and took an afternoon walk on the pool deck.

I had reservations to see the matinee show of Cats, but when I went down to the theater I was informed the show got changed to the fourth day of the cruise. Instead, I decided to enjoy a glass of wine at Vintages, the wine bar onboard Oasis of the Seas.

Vintages is never very crowded and always has comfy seating, so it's a nice place to go onboard to get away from the crowds. Plus, the venue has a tapas menu and does wine tastings!

I opted for an early dinner at Park Cafe and enjoyed soup and salad, followed by a well-deserved nap in my stateroom. The biggest perk of staying in an interior cabin is definitely how well you sleep when in a room with no windows!

Prior to the ice skating show, I made my first ever visit to the Diamond Club. I did not realize there are complimentary appetizers in the evening in the Diamond Club (I thought only breakfast was served), so this was a nice surprise!

Tonight's ice skating show was Frozen in Time. Ice skating shows are one of my favorite entertainment options on a Royal Caribbean cruise, and while I did not fully grasp the storyline of the show, I was impressed with the talent and set design in Studio B. The costumes at ice skating shows never fail to make me laugh, especially tonight's full body duck costumes worn by the cast!

I watched the sunset from the "secret" chairs at the aft of the running track. As there are only a few chairs there and not many guests know about the area, it was a peaceful way to end a sea day onboard Oasis of the Seas.

The rest of the evening was spent listening to bossa nova and jazz music at Jazz on 4 before calling it a night to get ready for a port day in Costa Maya tomorrow.

Royal Caribbean has rolled back the rule requiring children to wear masks in the supervised programming areas of the cruise ship.

When Royal Caribbean dropped its mask requirement for vaccinated cruisers in late February, the only area of the ship that still required mask wearing as in Adventure Ocean, regardless of vaccination status.

As of this weekend, it appears the mask rule in Adventure Ocean has been changed.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader AshleyDillo posted a new posted rule on Oasis of the Seas that says masks are now optional for kids in Adventure Ocean.

"Mask wearing is optional for children participating in Adventure Ocean. However, masks are recommended for unvaccinated children 2 and up."

"Children under 2 do not need to wear a mask at any time."

Adventure Ocean is the kids camp on Royal Caribbean ships, where parents can drop their children off.

The updated mask rules for Adventure Ocean matches the general guideline for masks on ships made last week, in which Royal Caribbean said masks are optional for vaccinated guests and recommended for unvaccinated children onboard.

The change in mask wearing for Adventure Ocean tied in with the cruise line relaxing mask rules in cruise ship terminals.

Masks on a cruise are virtually non-existent

Over the last couple of months, mask requirements are greatly eroded away to point now they are all but gone from cruise ships.

As cruise ships restarted operations in 2021, masks were a cornerstone of new cruise ship protocols.

It looked as though masks might have gone away as required in summer 2021, but a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants required Royal Caribbean to keep the requirement in place for much longer.

A combination of Covid cases dropping dramatically on land and Royal Caribbean opting into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highly vaccinated program has enabled the cruise line to progressively remove mask requirements.

Face masks are among the most visible signs of the pandemic, and the need to wear them has been a major pain point for cruise fans who want to get the cruise experience back to a sense of normalcy.

In late February, Royal Caribbean dropped the requirement to wear masks while indoors.

Just last week, the cruise line announced masks are optional in cruise ship terminals.  

Now with masks not needed in Adventure Ocean, the only time you would need to wear a mask potentially on a cruise is due to local regulations, such as in a port of call the ship visits or in some cruise ship terminals as mandated by local requirements.

The Kids Sail Free offer is back.

Royal Caribbean has brought back the Kids Sail Free offer for the last week of April, where children under the age of 12 booked in the same cabin as two adults will qualify for free cruise fare.

Families may find extra savings on a new cruise booked in which kids stay in the same cabin.

This is the second time Royal Caribbean has brought back Kids Sail Free since the pandemic, with the previous sale about a month ago.

In addition to Kids sail Free, there's also up to $550 off sailings departing May 27, 2022 or after, 30% off every guest, and even bonus bonus onboard credit when redeeming a future cruise credit.

Deal details

Kids Sail Free applies to new bookings made between April 25 – May 2, 2022 on sailings departing on or after June 1, 2022 – April 30, 2023, providing free cruise fare for third guests and higher who are 12 years old and younger as of Offer Cruise departure date on sailings 3 nights or longer booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests in a triple or quad- occupancy stateroom.

Kids Sail Free excludes Thanksgiving sailings departing November 18, 2022 – November 25, 2022, Holiday sailings departing December 21, 2022 – January 6, 2023, Spring break sailings departing March 10, 2023 – March 24, 2023, and Holy Week/Easter sailings departing April 1, 2023 – April 11, 2023.

Taxes, fees, and port expenses are additional and apply to all guests. 

Up to $550 off applies to new bookings made between April 25 – 30, 2022 on sailings departing on or after May 25, 2022, and provides instant savings of up to $550 USD per stateroom.

Savings amount varies by stateroom category booked and sailing length as follows:

• 5 nights or less, $25 USD savings for Interior and Ocean View, $75 USD for Balconies, and $150 USD for Suites
• 6 nights or longer, $50 USD savings for Interior and Ocean View, $100 USD for Balconies, and $550 USD for Suites

Up to $550 off is combinable with 30% Off Every Guest, FCC Kicker, and Kids Sail Free as well as with promotional OBCs, Next Cruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers, Free Upgrades, Shareholder Benefits, but not combinable with Ultimate World Cruise and Crown and Anchor discounts. Resident rates apply to select states on select sailings; valid state of residence must be provided at time of booking. 

Will I save money with this offer?

They say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", and similarly, how lucrative a deal is depends on the person trying to book it.

The biggest drawback of any Kids Sail Free offer are the blackout dates, which greatly hinder many families ability to book a cruise that qualifies for the offer.

If you can find a sailing date that isn't blacked out, kids sail free offers can absolutely save money, especially for higher category rooms. Suites, in particular, offer big savings with kids sail free.

Of course, Kids Sail Free deal requires the kids to be in the same stateroom as the parents, so you cannot split across multiple rooms and use the offer.

Using a good travel agent, you can easily compare and contrast prices between sailings.

Today is the first day of my Western Caribbean cruise on Oasis of the Seas, and I’m live blogging this week to showcase all that this Oasis Class cruise ship has to offer. This is a 4-night cruise with two sea days and one port day in Costa Maya, Mexico.

Oasis of the Seas marks my first time sailing out of Miami and my first cruise as a Diamond member in the Crown & Anchor Society!

While I don’t have any set plans for the week, I’m hoping to experience the activities and venues that make Oasis of the Seas unique, such as Portside BBQ and CATS the Musical.

Embarkation

I arrived in Miami late last night and spent the night at the Holiday Inn & Suites Miami Airport East. Located just across the street from the airport, the Holiday Inn was convenient, clean, and affordable. While not the most exciting location in Miami, it worked well for a 10PM arrival.

The hotel offered a shuttle to the cruise terminal, but I opted to take a Lyft, which came out to be around $22. Upon arrival at the terminal, I was pleased to see relatively few lines. The check-in procedure took around 20 minutes in total.

I did not feel like going to the Windjammer, which was likely packed with people, so I enjoyed a quick lunch at El Loco Fresh while waiting for my cabin to be ready.

Staterooms were ready at 1PM, and I am staying in an inside cabin for this sailing. While the decor looks a bit dated when compared to my cruise last month on Wonder of the Seas, I was pleased to find the room comfortable and quite spacious.

Thermal spa

First up on my agenda today was to use my first Diamond drink voucher. Up until this point, most of the extra money I spent on cruises had been on drinks, and I never enjoyed paying $15 for one cocktail. Therefore, to celebrate achieving Diamond status, I enjoyed my first complimentary drink: a mango banana smoothie from Vitality Cafe.

I had quite a bit of onboard credit, so I decided to try out something new for this cruise: a thermal suite pass at the Vitality Spa. I booked the 4-day pass at the spa’s front desk for $59 (plus 18% gratuity).

The thermal spa, located on Oasis and Quantum Class ships, is a thermal suite featuring hot stone loungers, steam chambers, a dry heat chamber, and rainforest showers. Vitality Spa sells passes that last the entire cruise and there is no limit on how many times you can enjoy the thermal spa, which is open from 8AM to 8:30PM.

After purchasing my pass, I changed into a bathing suite and tested out the thermal spa. I tried all three sauna rooms: the steam room, aromatic steam room, and dry heat chamber. All were fantastic, but my favorite was the aromatic steam room.

I also tested out the rainforest shower, which has four options: rainforest, thunderstorm, waterfall, and ice fog. Each shower type disperses water differently, from the mist of the ice fog shower to the rapid stream of a waterfall.

I spent most of my time in the thermal spa on the hot stone lounger wondering why it took me so long to purchase a thermal spa pass!

Needless to say, I will likely be spending a lot of my time in the thermal spa on this cruise. In fact, laying in the hot stone lounger with my laptop might become my new blogging office…

Dinner and sailaway

I spent the rest of the afternoon onboard relaxing, first on the pool deck and later in my stateroom.

Dinner tonight was at the Windjammer. I am not a huge fan of the Windjammer location on Oasis Class ships, as the area usually feels cramped. I think this is one of the biggest improvements made on Wonder of the Seas, which has the biggest Windjammer in the fleet.

Despite the crowds, though, the Indian curry I had at the Windjammer tonight may have been the best I’ve ever tried on a Royal Caribbean cruise! My dessert did not disappoint either.

As I started cruising last August, this is my first cruise with a self-service buffet. While it is nice being able to pick exactly what you want from the buffet, I definitely prefer the crew serving guests. The stations quickly got messy and it seemed a lot slower than what I was used to.

Sailaway was delayed an hour to 6:30 PM. As this was right in the middle of dinnertime, there were virtually no crowds outside for sailaway and I was able to grab a great spot on the back of the sports deck!

Sailing out of Miami was gorgeous, with the sunset creating a silhouette of downtown and giving the perfect glow to Miami Beach. I had heard great things about sailing out of Miami, and this was certainly one of the most beautiful sailaways I’ve seen yet.

Read more: The best spot for sailaway on every Royal Caribbean cruise ship

Evening activities

I reserved a spot to see Aqua80s in the AquaTheater tonight. I had heard great things about this AquaTheater show, so excitement was high. Originally I was going to book the show on day 3, but as the AquaTheater performances can often be canceled due to weather conditions, I figured I should try it on the first day just in case.

Plus, even though this is my third cruise on an Oasis Class ship, I had yet to see a full AquaTheater show. I sailed on Harmony of the Seas during the peak of omicron and Wonder of the Seas when the AquaTheater show was not fully ready, so I was definitely eager to see a full AquaTheater performance.

I ended up really enjoying the show, which had a high-energy and upbeat atmosphere. The performers put full effort into the show with diving, slacklining, acrobatics, dancing, and aerialists, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

I called it a night after the AquaTheater show to get well rested for a fun-filled sea day tomorrow while on our way to Mexico.

Stray observations

Because I started cruising right when the industry restarted after the coronavirus shutdown, my experience of cruises has been quite different from what was once considered “normal”. Thus, one thing that confuses me are the amount of chairs and lounging areas in the cruise terminals. Did people sit in these at one point waiting to board the ship? I cannot think of a time when you would ever need to sit in these waiting areas now with the staggered boarding times!

The plants in Central Park seem bigger on Oasis compared to what I saw on Harmony and Wonder. I feel like I am in a park more on this ship than the others.

I’m surprised there are no chairs of any kind on the back of the sports deck by the Ultimate Abyss (outside of the seating at Wipe Out Bar).

I had a 12PM arrival time at the terminal, but no one was checking times when I arrived.

Did you miss any of this week's Royal Caribbean news? No worries, because we have you covered with our wrap-up of cruise news!

Royal Caribbean has dropped mask requirements in cruise ship terminals.

Following the overturning of a federal mandate for masks in transportation hubs earlier this week, Royal Caribbean announced masks would be optional in cruise terminals, unless required by local regulation.

Rival cruise line Carnival also announced a similar policy change.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean announces health protocols for UK cruises
• Royal Caribbean adds optional field to upload proof of booster in app
• Royal Caribbean updates: Rhapsody of the Seas drydock, Galveston terminal, & more
• Wonder of the Seas departs on transatlantic to begin inaugural European season
• Cargo ship hits Mariner of the Seas while docked in Freeport
• Royal Caribbean has spent the second most on TV travel advertising so far this year
• Guide to cruises from Fort Lauderdale

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 451st episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, in which Matt lists his favorite places to eat on Royal Caribbean.

Matt revisits this list to see which restaurants are his must-eats every time he sails.

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New RCB Video: The Royal Caribbean drink package mistake too many people are still making

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — The Royal Caribbean drink package mistake too many people are still making — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Mariner of the Seas live blog

Allie and Angie took a 4-night Mariner of the Seas cruise to see if they could get on the cheapest cruise they could find.

They also shared a daily look at what it's like on Mariner of the Seas right now, with updates from around the ship.

Not only did they share the onboard experience, but their cruise visited Freeport, Nassau, and Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Odyssey of the Seas vs. Wonder of the Seas

Which of Royal Caribbean's two newest cruise ships should you go on first?

Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas offer the latest and greatest that Royal Caribbean has to offer, but they're different classes of ships with a different set of things to do.

Check out our look at how Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas compare.

Alaska cruise guide

Alaska is one of the most beautiful places you can visit on a cruise ship, and you're going to want to know what to expect before your visit to avoid common mistakes.

Planning an Alaska cruise means considering the time of year, ports of call, shore excursions and what to pack.

Our Alaska cruise guide includes everything you'll need to know before you sail north.

The question of if you’ll have to wear a face mask before and after your cruise in the terminal is officially answered.  

In an update to guests, Royal Caribbean updated it’s health protocols by indicating masks are now optional while in cruise terminals. 

Following the overturning of a federal mandate for masks in transportation hubs earlier this week, the question remained if masks would be required since there wasn’t any announcements by the cruise lines initially. 

An email was sent to guests with the new policy, "Due to recent changes in mask guidance, we’ve updated our mask policy, effective immediately, for all of our sailings where we've announced protocols, excluding Singapore departures."

"In our terminals, masks are optional unless required by local regulation. Some destinations we visit may require masks."

Royal Caribbean also added that these protocols are subject to change.

Prior to Royal Caribbean making this change in policy, Port Everglades said it would defer to the cruise lines to craft a mask policy, "Our intention at Port Everglades is to allow the cruise lines to take the lead on instituting and maintaining their own safety policies in the cruise terminals and on their ships."

The announcement comes on the heels of the United States Coast Guard announcing it would not enforce mask mandates.

Similar to how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) enforced the mask mandate for air travel, the Coast Guard was responsible for doing the same for the cruise industry.

In an update to the Coast Guard's Maritime Transportation System, the armed force said that unless something changes, mask enforcement is out, "the Coast Guard will not enforce the directives requiring mask use on public transportation and in transportation hubs."

Royal Caribbean's announcement came the same day Carnival Cruise Line announced a similar change to its policy.

Carnival says masks are highly recommended during the embarkation and debarkation process. 

It’s the final day of our 4-night Bahamas getaway cruise, which means we are sadly packing up our bags and getting ready to drive back home tomorrow.

Why can’t every week go as quickly as it does when you’re on vacation?

Today, we arrived early in the morning to Nassau, Bahamas. Angie and I were responsible today and set our alarms for a gnarly 8:30 AM to ensure we wouldn’t sleep another morning away.

I was again surprised to see the ship was already noticeably quiet, meaning most people were up earlier than we were to start their Nassau day. We didn’t have any issues with getting a seat in the Windjammer and the coffee bar was wide open - all good ways to start our morning.

We allocated 30 minutes to have breakfast and another 30 minutes to get ready for the day. Our goal was to be off the ship by 9:30 and we were successfully off the ship right around that time. 

Good Morning, Nassau

As I mentioned yesterday, we had Resort for a Day passes to the RIU Palace in Nassau. This all-inclusive resort is located on Paradise Island right next to Atlantis. It looked to be about a 10 minute drive from the port to the resort.

Our passes for the day were around $100 each and included access to the pools (including chairs and towels), unlimited alcoholic drinks and unlimited food. The pass was valid from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, but Mariner’s gangway up time was 3:00 PM for all aboard.

I don’t like to play with fire when it comes to all aboard time. You won’t see me cutting it close.

During my Semester at Sea abroad program, we would be punished with ‘dock time’ if we were late to the ship. Dock time was the ultimate punishment because for every 15 minutes you were late for all aboard time, you’d lose an hour of port time at the next stop. Needless to say, it’s engrained in me to give at least 30-60 minutes of buffer time for returning to the ship.

As we walked off the ship in Nassau, we were docked next to Carnival Freedom and Disney Magic. I might be biased, but Mariner looked to be in the best shape of the 3 ships.

There was a ton of construction, apparently for a new cruise port terminal in Nassau that’s being built. We probably had a solid 10 minute walk as we zigzagged through the construction. Finally, we reached the main road outside of the current terminal, which is basically a few tents.

A lady wearing an official looking vest asked if we were going to Paradise Island and we told her we were headed to the RIU Palace. She had us join a large group of others heading to Paradise Island. I was actually fine with this - as two women traveling together, I prefer to be in a larger group just to be safe.

RIU Palace - Resort for a Day

The drive was a quick 10 minutes and I initially was very impressed with Paradise Island’s curb appeal. We walked into the RIU Palace right at 10:00 AM, as we had hoped, and waited in line to check in. The lobby was beautiful with plenty of views of the pool and ocean.

In alignment with our theme this entire cruise, it was quite windy as we walked outside to the pool area. There were 2 pools, one of which was an infinity pool overlooking the ocean. There was a swim-up bar and plenty of chairs to choose from.

The wind was a bit overwhelming when we first arrived, so we walked around the resort for a bit to see what it looked like. As you can guess, we are loyal cruisers so we haven’t really been to an all-inclusive resort before.

Angie ordered a vanilla milkshake from the snack bar inside - a wild start to our unlimited drinking! We noticed that people seemed to be enjoying the infinity pool without getting blown over, so I grabbed a drink and we snagged a spot on the corner near the infinity's edge.

The infinity pool had a gorgeous view of the ocean with some lounging chairs partially submerged in the water. The pool was super nice and the bar was blocking us from the majority of the wind. The temperature was perfect. We settled nicely into the infinity pool and had a mini photoshoot with the picturesque views.

The other pool appeared to be less protected from the wind, so we stayed comfortable in the infinity pool near the swim-up bar. The RIU Palace also has a private, direct access to the beach. The water was gorgeously blue, but the red flag and giant waves made us appreciate the infinity pool.

We also met some nice gals traveling from Las Vegas. This is one of my favorite parts of traveling - getting to meet and connect people from all over the world!

Between the views, pina coladas and new found friends, it seemed like the time really flew by.

Lunch was being served both poolside and in the buffet. Since cruising is essentially one big buffet, we opted to try the Caribbean-style buffet poolside. We tried the rice, jerk pork and jerk chicken. All of it was delicious and hit the spot.

Since we needed to return to the ship by 3:00 PM, we started to pack up around 1:30 PM. We had to check-out of the resort, in which the front desk would return my ID that they held and would cut off our wristbands.

The line, unfortunately, wasn’t moving quickly as many people had now arrived to check-in to their rooms at the resort. We waited probably 15 minutes before I approached the bellhop to ask if he could arrange a taxi for us to go back to the ship.

The bellhop went behind the front desk and returned my ID while also cutting off our wristbands. I wasn’t getting too worried about the time at this point, as we had an hour to get back on the ship.

Our taxi driver promptly returned us to the port where we walked and zigzagged through the construction again.

We made it back to the ship by 2:15 PM, which was still plenty of time.

Overall, we really enjoyed our time at RIU Resort. It had a party-vibe with lots of groups and friends traveling together, perhaps for bachelor and bachelorette parties. There was a wide array of people there though, so I think people of all ages would enjoy this. The unlimited food and drink is a great perk. The infinity pool and beach access are also great amenities.

I would check to see how long you have in port and how early you can check in for your resort pass. We could check in at 10:00 AM and needed to be back on the ship by 3:00PM, which only gave us about 4 solid hours of the 8 hour pass. If our ship was in port longer, or if the resort had let us in earlier, we would have gotten more of our money’s worth.

Three Strikes on the SkyPad

Back on the ship, I made one final attempt for the SkyPad. I dressed in workout gear and put on my closed toe shoes. I even tried to yank off my wedding ring to make sure I didn’t have any jewelry. To no one’s surprise, my fingers were swollen from the heat, eating and alcohol so I was not successful at removing all my jewelry.

As I trekked up to the SkyPad, I saw the long line coming around the stairs. Filled with determination, I made my way to the line where the employee would approve my outfit. I guess my ring was no problem but Angie’s shorts were too short and my top didn’t cover enough of my arms. We discretely traded shirts so Angie could capture me doing the SkyPad.

I think the universe was laughing when I wrote the SkyPad was on my top 3 things I wanted to do for this cruise. They only had 1 trampoline in use and there were probably 12 adolescents in front of me. A storm was brewing in the distance and the employees told everyone they could stay in line but the SkyPad would close if it started to rain.

At this point, I accepted that I wasn’t meant to do the SkyPad. Most of the people in line were significantly younger than I, so I also didn’t want to take a spot from one of the kids if the line happened to magically move fast and the rain stayed away.

We made our way to the Solarium to grab a cocktail and drown my sorrows of 3 failed attempts at the SkyPad. Angie said how she hoped maybe we could grab one of the daybeds in the Solarium to watch the sail away from port.

Well, fate just wasn’t on our side again because all of the daybeds were taken. What made me super frustrated was that all 3 daybeds on one side of the Solarium were ‘taken’ but no one was using them.

Cruising is officially back because the chair hogs are back in full swing!

As we sailed away from port, Angie and I waited at least 20 minutes and no one returned to the daybeds. One of the beds simply had a beach bag on the corner so we sat on the opposite side while watching the ship sail off.

We agreed if the person came back to the bed, we would just move to another spot. After sitting on the edge for some time, we hear a voice that says “uhm, can you not sit by my stuff?”

I responded that I was sorry, but no one was using it. She grabbed a towel from the adjacent daybed (that no one was currently using either) and draped it across the entire bed to claim her territory.

Essentially, she was hogging 2 of the coveted daybeds and walked away!

Angie and I were pretty surprised that she was blatantly hogging the beds and didn’t even use the daybed after telling us not to sit ‘by’ her stuff.

I wish people could be more considerate on these packed sailings. In the full hour that we were in the Solarium, not one person laid on the daybeds that they were saving.

Jamie's Italian for Dinner

All the chair hogging got me worked up, so we went back to our cabin and got ready for dinner. We had a reservation for Jamie’s Italian tonight and we were both very excited. Our reservation wasn’t until 6:00 PM but we arrived a little early and were accommodated without problem.

The first time we ate at Jamie’s was on Spectrum of the Seas during our China sailing. We had been craving a sense of cruise normalcy during that time, so Jamie’s really hit the spot and knocked it out of the park on our first impressions. We also dined back in February at Jamie’s with our parents on Harmony of the Seas.

Angie and I die for good Italian food, so we came hungry. We started with the black truffle arancini and ultimate garlic cheese bread. Both of these were delicious. We’ve also enjoyed the meat plank before, but we skipped this time around since it was just the two of us.

For pastas, we ordered the carbonara, truffle tagliatelle and bolognese in the smaller portions. We both agreed that the truffle pasta was the winner, which was also our favorite last time.

Angie ordered the lasagne for an entree and I ordered the beef short rib. Angie’s lasagne was delightful, rich in sauce and plenty of cheesy layers. My short rib was tender and very flavorful. We opted to polish off our meals with the pavlova and epic brownie. The pavlova is always a hit and Angie hoarded it mostly to herself; I wasn’t mad though, because the brownie was also rich, fudgy and decadent.

The service was excellent again and we commented how we’ve had such fast services during all of our meals.

The two of us got talking to the table next to us - an older couple from Chicago area. We were chatting away until we realized it was nearly 7:00 PM and we had to go to the Royal Theatre for the show. The final headliner tonight was a variety show featuring the previous night’s juggler and the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers. It was a lovely show to end the cruise.

And yes, the family-friendly juggler comedian mentioned flatulence (as I predicted) multiple times.

We finished our night with one final drink at The Bamboo Room. Angie and I both enjoyed a mojito. I also wanted to say goodbye to our Ukranian bartender we met, as he really tugged at my heartstrings the first day.

Here we all are on this cruise, a carefree vacation, while some of the crew members have families in an active war zone. The crew work so hard while sailing on these cruise ships and they receive very little time off. Most of the time, these crew members are working to support their families back in their home countries.

With a deployed spouse myself, I empathize greatly with the sacrifices they make being away from family. I know personally how hard that is to be separated from your family and miss milestones, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. 

I always keep this on my mind and in my heart when I finalize my gratuities on the last day. I want to recognize the crew members that really make cruising so special for us and reward those who go above and beyond to cater to our needs. 

After our last mojito and a farewell to The Bamboo Room, we came back to our stateroom and packed our bags. The saddest moment of the cruise - truly!

So that brings us to the end of our sister cruise! We had the best time sharing this experience together and capturing all the incredible (and unexpected!) moments. We still can’t believe our ship was hit by a cargo ship on the first day - nonetheless that our first day was meant to be a sea day.

Thanks for following along and hope to see you all back at sea soon!