Rating the Land Yacht against a Cruise Ship

As many of you are aware, Chris and I purchased a RV last year (feels weird saying that!! Welcome, 2015!) and we decided to do a ranking, point by point of what is different and better for each.

We'll start with the easy ones -

Overall size of cabin vs the motorhome - the cabin is about 190 sq feet, not including the balcony, whereas the motorhome is about 300 sq feet, but as we all know, the actual sq footage of space we can use on the cruise ship is significantly different (I mean, the RV has 2 TV's, but no pool or theater!) so cabin size is probably a good place to start. The bed is bigger in the cabin, the mattress is more comfortable, but there is no place to sit other than an uncomfortable couch. Less overall storage in the cabin though, and it's definitely going to be crowded when you have more than 2 people in the cabin. The bathrooms are pretty much a tie, the cabin has better storage and a better showerhead and water pressure, but the RV has more shelves. We also don't have any ice and the fridge is pretty crappy in the cabin, and the RV has a great fridge which can make ice! Advantage RV, but only because it's a complete living area.

Next, let's talk about food and beverages - the benefit of the cruise ship is it's all done for you, nothing to do but order what you want and someone will bring it to you with a smile, and take the dirty plates away when you are done. Nothing to cook or clean here! However, you do have to be wearing presentable clothes (no PJ's!) and there are sometimes when you just want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and all that is available is roast beef. Advantage cruise ship, but not by much.

Ease of vacation - toss up really. Once on the cruise, it's pretty easy to get around, you don't have to spend a lot of time thinking about what you will eat and where you will go once you've made a choice on ship and itinerary. In the motorhome, you have to bring everything you want, and then make your own dinner or drinks - but you don't have to fly somewhere to get on the motorhome, just drive out and go.

Overall - I like both vacations - the RV is great for the ease of doing a weekend run, but requires a lot of prep and maintenance to execute. The cruise requires more money but somewhat less effort - I don't have to bring all my own food, but I have to get on an airplane to head someplace warm. Plus in the RV I can take the cats.

 

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Let's see if we have a photo!

 

 

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Barbados and the Chocolate Factory

Today we docked at the beautiful island of Barbados, home of Rihanna, Mt Gay rum and a chocolate factory? Really?

Yes, there is a chocolate factory in Barbados, and it's within walking distance of the cruise terminal - and for the low price of $18, you to can have a tour of the Agapey Chocolate Factory. They produce small, single sourced dark chocolate which is very rich!

I discovered this activity on the internet, and since we were going to be in Barbados on a Tuesday or Wednesday (the only days they do the tours) we decided what the heck.

The first fun activity is finding the place....it's close to the port, but the cabbies aren't always wanting to take you on such a short ride, so it's probably faster to walk, and as the streets aren't well marked, it's a challenge to follow the map. So the owner has basically listed on his website exact picture directions on how to find the place (it's on the backside of an industrial building) and if you follow them, you will find it!

I can't post too many pictures, as the owner did ask us not to post them on the internet, but I do have a few.

We began by tasting the raw materials, sugar and roasted cacao beans. There are apparently 4 different types of cacao plants, we tasted the 2 most known for their flavor. He buys them raw from Grenada and the Dominican Republic, and roasts them in a big fancy German roaster. The next step is to remove the shells from the cocoa nibs, which are then ground into chocolate liquor along with some sugar. They then smooth the chocolate so the particles are not distinguishable in your mouth (has to be less than 50 microns!) and then they conch the chocolate, which removes the bitter acids. Then it's time to temper the chocolate and add the appropriate flavors or fillings. Sounds so easy, right? Not so much really, getting the steps done correctly without screwing it up can be a challenge.

Anyway, that was the highlight of our day, we then went back to the ship (retracing our steps down the side streets!) and had ourselves a nice time out on the deck - it was really warm without a lot of wind, so spent most of the time in the shade.

The evening came, and we headed on down to Blu, which was super crowded and wasn't really what we wanted to eat anyway - so instead, we decided to see if Silk Harvest, the asian restaurant, had any openings - and lucky for us, they did! We were seated pretty quickly and then proceeded to have a delicious dinner served family style. My favorite was the cream cheese wonton appetizer......and I don't even really like cream cheese! The orange chicken and pepper beef were also good, and we skipped dessert after a meal like that. The Martini Bar wasn't too crowded when we went back, so we occupied some seats and people watched. This cruise has a very unusual demographic, so there was lots to see! Sometimes, you have to question what someone was thinking when they left their cabins wearing what they showed up in - it truly boggles the mind.

After the 80's dance party ended, we called it an evening and headed back up to our cabin to get some zzzz's. For tomorrow was Dominica!

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St Kitts

Today we were in the beautiful island of St. Kitts, which is shaped like a turkey leg. Not kidding, look it up!

We have been here several times already, so after getting up, we only walked around the port area for about 30 minutes, then returned to the ship. It was then time for laying out by the pool and enjoying the 85 degree weather. We are leaving St Kitts at 3pm today since we need to be in Barbados tomorrow, with our 1 planned tour of the chocolate factory.

Update on the photos, I can get the photos off the SD card now (thank you onboard Apple Store for having one) but now am having issues with posting photos in the app I am using, so it may a problem until I am back with wifi.

 

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St Thomas test post

Arrived in St Thomas without any issues - the docking was quiet enough I didn't even wake up. :)

Around 930am we decided to get up and go on a bit of a walkabout - having been to St Thomas multiple times, there wasn't anything special I wanted to do today. Plus, they were swearing in the new Governor of the USVI today at 1030am over in town, so that was going to be a mess, even worse than the 4 ships in port!. Fun fact - the new governor has 71 grandchildren!

We got off the ship and checked out a few stores in the WICO (West Indian Company) dock area, and snapped some shots of the ships.

 

Here's Adventure of the Seas, she came straight from San Juan, PR. Chris and I figured out we've spent 30 days on that ship. That's another fun fact for you!

 

Our ship, the Celebrity Equinox was all the way at the back, which means I think we leave first. You can see the dock area was a bit wet, it had been raining pretty hard earlier in the day, but had cleared up nicely after about 11am.

It started to get a little warm and I needed to get these blog posts completed, when I discovered my fancy new camera does not like to play with my ipad, so until I figure out that mess, I won't have too many pictures, unless I email them to myself (like I did here) or I take the ipad everywhere for photos (which makes you look like an idiot while you are taking them, but I'll do it for you! when I can.

Also, our current location

 

More to come later! And hopefully can make some updates to the earlier posts as well.

Tomorrow, St Kitts!! 152 nautical miles, and we need an average speed of 15 knots to be there tomorrow at the pilot station by 630am. (the captain just told us this)

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Sunday Funday! Pools, storms and a Miami DJ.

After the late night on Saturday, Sunday was a slow wake up, didn't make it to the pool until after lunch, lucky for me I have friends who get up early and they snagged a chair in the sun for me.

If possible, it was even windier than yesterday (I didn't know it was possible really) but it kept the heat down. There were also a series of clouds, but nothing too major overall. Had a few adult beverages, read some magazines and listened to tunes on the ipod. It was a pretty nice day - we participated in the Classic Rock trivia contest at the pool, (18/20) but didn't win unfortunately! Decided it was time to head back to the room, and when sitting out on the balcony about 30 minutes later, this monster of a storm was headed right towards us.

Now, the balcony we are in has a big overhang for the deck above, so it's pretty sheltered overall, but I even got a little damp from that one!

Headed downstairs for some people watching about 530pm and met some nice people at Crush, which is adjacent to the Martini Bar. They were all from the DC area and worked at various government agencies, including the Library of Congress, which was interesting to hear about.

About 730 we headed for Blu and dinner - our first error this evening. The place was packed and we barely got a table. Donovan wasn't available so we sat with another waiter named John who was also good. I had French onion soup, caesar salad, an orzo pasta with chicken and After 8 ice cream for dessert (they did manage to keep some for us from the previous day)

Back to the Martini Bar for some entertainment, and there was going to be a "Miami DJ" party there at 1115pm, so we decided to hang around and see what that was all about. We had primo seats for people watching.

I have to say, I was surpised at how much fun it was at the dance party! The DJ was very good and he had a drummer with him - they played for at least 75 minutes and were still going when we left at 1230am. The bartenders put on quite a flare show as well - flipping cans and bottles around to the drumbeat, which made for a fun experience. I have some pictures to check out, once I can get them on the ipad.....!

Off to bed, St Thomas was tomorrow and we wanted to get our beauty sleep!

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it's Saturday!

Just a reminder, no pictures until I get my connector working. Or I get online with a computer. :(

Saturday dawned bright and early (like always) and we made our way out to the pool for some sun time.....except we were on the wrong side of the pool this day, only shade for us. And wind, lots of wind.

The pool entertainment for the day was the Pool Olympics - the activity staff somehow got about 24 people to volunteer for different teams - they then all participated in multiple events (row the boat, fill the bucket with water using a towel, and syncronized swimming, my personal favorite) Overall, took about an hour and was fun to watch. Will post some pictures if I can!

Had some lunch at the Mast Grill (best hot dogs and hamburgers at sea!) and a few adult beverages because I can. Tonight was formal night, and even though we weren't participating it's always a fun time to watch. We would also be eating in Blu, the special restaurant for Aqua class cabins, which did not require formalwear.

The Martini Bar was PACKED yet again, and so far the demographics on this cruise have been very unusual. I already talked about the Boca people, there are also a LOT of large family groups on board (15-20 people) and a whole bunch of younger couples. it's interesting to watch, that is for sure.

Blu was excellent, we had our waiter Donovan, sommelier Miroslav and assistant waiter Ashlam. The food was very good, service was excellent and we were done in time to catch the 830 show.....which we left at 845 because WOW, it was not good. We then got waylaid by the Molecular Bar, where they make many, many fancy drinks (most of which have at least 8 ingredients) and had a lot of fun there. Ran into a few of the officers and had a nice time chatting with them until we shut the bar down at around midnight - walking back to the cabin, I'm pretty sure the entire place was asleep, including the casino. Crazy. We also have to turn the clocks foward one hour, to match with Atlantic Standard time for the islands (+4 hours to PST, for those watching from home!)

Tomorrow, another day at sea and some more good times at the pool!

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To the port we go

Just wanted to give a little update, the new camera does not play nicely with my iPad, so until I get that solved, it will be text only. :(

We got up after our exciting Duck Victory and found out we will be playing Ohio State in the National Championship! Guess that is what happens when you are on the east coast and it's a late start game, you discover who won after you get up. We did some quick laundry, repacked and left Hobe Sound. The drive was uneventful, except for all the crazy Florida drivers! We all arrived safely at the Hertz return at the FLL airport, and then climbed into the car with Pam and Michael for our drive over to the port.

This was our lucky break - because the ship left on a Monday, we could use the Oasis/Allure terminal (since they leave on Sat/Sun) and it is set up much better than most of the other ones.

We had a few issues checking in, mostly because they were beginning to shut down some of the desks and since we were in Aqua Class, they had to wander around and find our ship cards. It's not a big deal, it took about 25 minutes total, but it was a lot of waiting for things to happen, which can be annoying.

After getting on board, we went to our cabins (1597 and 1508) on deck 11. We dropped off our bags in the rooms and were immediately shocked at the cleaning smell that was in our room....this was not going to be good. More on that later. Since by this point its about 245pm, and muster is at 330pm, we needed to get some food, and headed for Bistro on 5. The food itself was quite good, but I have always found the service to be a bit slow unfortunately, and this was no exception. I think we had 10 minutes to eat prior to walking to our muster station, which for us was in photo gallery.

This was quite the experience, usually they take attendance, everyone stands around for a bit, you watch a video then leave. This was the LONGEST drill I've been in for a while, and most of the time was just waiting for things to happen - the videos are actually dumb because you can't see them anyway with so many people standing around, and they had to take attendance again at the end, which took a while. Not the best experience I've ever had. Now the funny part was, I think every resident of Boca Raton (originally from the NE) was there in our section, and Chris and I brought the age down considerably. Never have I heard so much complaining - just think of Jerry's parents on Seinfeld, and you were there with us.

Back to the cabin and lucky for us, there was our luggage. Started to unpack, then heard from Pam and Michael their keys still don't work for their room, so back to guest services for them. Finally, after the 4th try, they had ones that would work.

Dinner was in Tuscan Grill, the italian style steakhouse onboard. I don't know if it was because it was the first night, or if it was overcrowded, but this was not my best experience. The food was good, but not excellent, and it seemed that my steak had been off the grill for quite a bit prior to being served to us. Not sure if we will be back there this cruise, but we have lots of options.

We did FINALLY get a seat at the Martini Bar, but it was pretty crowded the whole night. They do have some diet tonic available if you ask, although we did bring our own because it's much better.

Oh, and the smell? Apparently the carpets in our room had been cleaned and it hadn't aired out well. We left both the cabin door and the balcony door open for about 90 minutes while we unpacked to air it out, and our cabin attendant also had her assistant do something while we were at dinner. The thing that really solved the problem was a magic ionizer that Pam had, but it's much better now, so that's a relief!

Some pictures when I can get them on the ipad.....!

 

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Go DUCKS! Rose Bowl!!!

So today we waited for the Duck Game at 5pm, and we went and got a pedicure today webefore we left for the duck game.
For lunch, we stopped at a place called Hogsnappers, which has only been open about 2 weeks and the food was pretty good,  We did not even get hasseled that much being we were Duck fans in South Florida....

The game itself was pretty uneventful, other than being the Oregin Fans in a sea of FSU fans......they were loud at the begnning, but by the 2nd quarter ,didn't hear much......

Now we are watching the Alabama / Ohio State game, but we don't care really so we shall see what the outcome is.

 Yup.  That's totally true.