02 Mar

Day 1 – First Look at Rapunzel’s!

 

We flew into Miami the day before, and stayed at the beautiful JW Marriott.  Ally and Tori arrived several hours before me, and when they pulled up to the hotel in the Lyft, they were convinced they were at the wrong hotel because it was so nice!

And it was!  I loved this hotel!  I got in after they were asleep, so I whispered hello, took a bath and went to bed!

The next morning, we woke up, and started to get ready.  This is the disaster that was our room:

 

It’s not good advertising for how nice the room was! Ha!

But look at this tub! This is good advertising:

And this is the view:

The Magic is back over there!

I got on my computer for a little while the girls got ready. After finding some breakfast downstairs, and packing up we called a Lyft and were on our way! Here we are!

Check in!

While we were checking in, I went to get something in my bag, and realized – my laptop wasn’t there.

Dang it, Joan!!

I left it on the desk in our room. I knew it immediately.

I gave the girls my carry-on, and sent them in to the waiting area. I went back out through the in door, confusing security, and caught yet another Lyft.

I got back to the hotel pretty quickly, but when I got there, I had to go through about 12 levels of security and verifying it was my laptop! I appreciated it on one hand, but on the other, I was in a hurry!

After I finally got it, I called a Lyft (again), and headed back. I was sure the girls would be on already, but boarding still hadn’t begun! That was odd.

Made it back!

Still no boarding!

We ended up waiting about an hour past normal boarding time. I found the problem on the internet, but I don’t remember what it was!

We were so happy to finally board though. Hanger was setting in. Thank goodness Cabanas was waiting for us!

Here is where I warn you that I didn’t get my camera out until dinner! I was tweeting pictures of the new updates like crazy, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to take real pictures too.  So we will continue with phone pics for a while!

After we ate, we dropped off our bags, and toured the kid’s clubs!

And played.

Driving the ship:

Vibe had been updated, so we went to go see it next!

We stopped by the Cove to see it. It looked great!

We stopped for a selfie!

It was a beautiful day out!

Keys!

The Shutters set up was good!

Ice cream was a must.

Hello, Miami!

I think I camped out here for a while.

Sailaway!

Why thank you, stateroom TV!

Then it was time for dinner at Rapunzel’s! Woohoo!

Tori was escorted in by a thug.

Then we were in! I broke out my camera! Finally!

Such cute goblets!

And I love the bread bowl!

It wouldn’t be Rapunzel’s without the lanterns!

Menu!

These pretzels were amazing! I have since learned to always ask for extra pretzels when eating at Rapunzel’s.

Chair details!

The thugs put on a show. We were in the spirit!

And look who was here!

With musical accompaniment.

Sup, Vladimir?

There was much dancing, singing, and general merriment.

Ally knew she was in my photo path.

Ally got a charcuterie board!

I had ravioli.

I loved the live music while we ate! It’s such a great touch.

We were all excited when we realized Flynn Rider was going to make an appearance! The girls said hi to Rapunzel.

All together now!

When the big number came (I see the Light), we were not disappointed. The singing and music was beautiful, and the lanterns were the perfect touch!

Look at these dessert menus!

We tried many desserts. Had to.

The fry pan skillet was basically fried dough. There is nothing wrong with that!

That was a great meal! Food was great and the atmosphere was spot on! I took a few more pictures on the way out.

We found Pascal!

We stopped by the shops after dinner. They were setting up for the next cruise which was a Marvel Day at Sea!

After that, we went to the show and then Fathoms for the adult only activities.  We ended up trying the mocktails of the day every night!

The first activity was a club wide game of Rock-Paper-Scissors! Everyone stood up and played.

First we all played against the host – Matt. I won!

And we kept going. And more and more people had to sit down. And I kept winning!!

I made the final two and had to go down front for a two out of three finale against the other last person standing!

I WON!! I was a major award winner!

That was exciting! After the next show there was something called “Silent DJ”. What on earth was that?

We decided to stay and see. AND WE LOVED IT!

Silent DJ has become a do-not-miss activity for me on a cruise. It is soooo fun!

If you haven’t ever done it, here’s what it is. Everyone puts on headphones. There’s a DJ up front controlling the songs on one channel. There are usually two other channels with different themes (disco, Latin, etc.). You scroll through the channels, pick what you want, and dance! The club is silent, all the music is on your headphones! It’s the perfect way to dance if you are self- conscious about your dancing. No one knows if you are way off beat, or just listening to another song! People seek out others who are clearly listening to the same thing, and dance in groups. If you take off your headphones and just watch, it’s hilarious! It’s basically a quiet room with people dancing like crazy! And of course, some people can’t help singing along, so there’s usually some very bad acapella happening as well.

We didn’t leave our chairs that night, but we did later in the week! We were hooked!

 

 

Spring Break Cruising – March 13-18, 2018
Day 1 – First Look at Rapunzel’s! 
Day 2 – Castaway Cay Day
Day 3 – Rainforest Room for the Win! 
Day 4 – More Silent DJ!