WONDERing about Paradise Beach, Crowded CocoCay, and Aqua Nation - July 14-21, 2024

Back online after we stuffed ourselves at Giovanni’s last night, saw a juggler I’m pretty sure we’ve seen before, and crashed after neither of us slept well Saturday night.

I’ll post some GK food pics & the entertainment schedule for @perfect match at some point today. Wife is still asleep & I’m off to the CL for cappuccino in a little while.

The plan is to get off the ship ASAP to claim our favorite spot by Oasis Lagoon before the combined Wonder/Allure masses descend onto CocoCay. My wife is also possibly “taking an online course” at 8:30am. Some Florida teacher nonsense where I’m not sure how much she even has to pay attention as long as she has the Zoom window open (salaries are terrible but they’ll pay her for that). So anyway, since we share internet, I may not be back until the afternoon.

Thanks to all who were following yesterday. As mentioned, I don’t expect to post nearly that much most days.

20 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

My wife is also possibly “taking an online course” at 8:30am

What’s all that nonsense about? Lol

Kidding, good for her. I am past that point in my career lol

15 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

What’s all that nonsense about? Lol

She’s our age, 24 or so years in with a master’s lol, she’s past it too… it’s about opening a window on her phone while we sit by the pool so the county will send her some money.

Hope you’ve all recovered from yesterday’s disaster of a day & have a much better rest of your trip.

The beauty of 2 coffee machines in the CL, I don’t have to clean them anymore…

No chocolate croissants in either CL or Solarium Bistro. Wife made do with chocolate donut & muffin. The search continues tomorrow. SB omelet lady remembered me. She’s been here since March.

Off to wait for the gangway to open. Be back later from CocoCay.

8:20am and it’s almost as empty as when here alone.

Wife finished her course. It started getting crowded around 10am but it’s really not terrible. More people in the pool than we’re used to but we mostly just hop in to cool off & get out. It’s pretty darn hot & sunny. I keep rooting for the cloud, lol.

On my 2nd Kraken colada, off to the Snack Shack. Wife’s new food hack… she’s gonna add the snack shack chicken to a Caesar salad from Chill Grill.

Backing up to dinner at Giovanni’s Kitchen last night…

We had requested our server from last month earlier in the day but he was sent to help in the MDR. We really wanted to see him again b/c he was super nice & had zero problem with us slowly ordering a bunch of stuff one course at a time. He also told me I HAD to try certain items, my kinda guy. Our new server was good too though & equally OK with us taking a while after we warned him we were going to be ordering a weird combo of items.

I started with a Negroni b/c I saw it in the menu & never had one before. Not really my kind of drink but it was different.

We skipped appetizers entirely. I enjoyed mine last time but wanted to try the pizza so that was my trade off. Caesar salad is the only app my wife would eat & she can get those anywhere so she tried a pizza also. I got the Giovanni’s with spicy salami, ricotta, & honey b/c it sounded interesting. Wife normally gets plain so she tried the 7-cheese to be a tiny bit adventurous. My fear was the gorgonzola would make it a no-go and I was right. I liked it though, interesting blend with some cheeses you don’t normally see on pizza. I liked mine better, just wish it had a bit more salami & ricotta. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have eaten  3/4 of it like I did. It’s very thin but still pizza.

After that, wife got filet & tagliatelle alfredo on the side, same as last time, she just ditched the chicken in the pasta. I wanted the filet again and also got the osso buco b/c it was recommended by both servers & others. Both of mine were delicious. I prefer my steak plain if it’s a good steak (and it was) but the osso buco was really good too with the sauce & risotto underneath. Everything worked well together and you could cut it with a fork. It felt weird not ordering pasta but I didn’t love the carbonara last time & that’s usually my go-to (always liked it at Giovanni’s Table).

We loved 3 different desserts last time & @Ampurp85 recommended the pistachio panna cotta so that became dessert #4. The chocolate ravioli & banana/nutella stromboli were still our favorites. My wife loves the ravioli and you only get 2 small pieces so we got 2 of those. The pistachio panna cotta was very good too. My tiramisu was dripping with Kahlua this time  so it wasn’t as good but no biggie, we were stuffed. We basically spent the next couple hours digesting until it was time for the juggler at 9:45.

Wife’s standard CocoCay dessert…

I’ll get funnel cake in a bit. Not sure how long much longer we’ll be out here. Sun is getting pretty strong and not many clouds. I’m actually rooting for clouds in Cozumel. Think we’ll need to leave the daybed to cool off in the pool fairly often as is. The sun/heat is not my friend.

Switching topics… just heard a thump above my head. Is it good luck when a seagull takes a on your pool umbrella?

Random CocoCay stuff…

-DJ iPod has been playing lots of 90’s music again.

-Two different people asked about the cup clips. @asquared17 is really missing out on referral $.

My brother likes to get the Greek salad and add the mozz stick to it at Snack Shack. 

We got that 7-cheese pizza and was disappointed because the blue cheese really changed the taste. I really want a panna cotta, my next Italian's will be GT and Jamie's for the next 4 cruises, so it is going to be a while. 

36 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

We got that 7-cheese pizza and was disappointed because the blue cheese really changed the taste.

Yeah, it’s such a strong flavor that it’s impossible to blend it in with the other cheeses. I took it to go but it wound up trashed.

We decided to head back a little early. Got another squirrel…

58 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Two different people asked about the cup clips. @asquared17 is really missing out on referral $.

GOSH I REALLY AM!!!!

New short term plans… wait for a plumber to come take a look at our shower which isn’t draining. Our bathroom looked like a kiddie pool after my wife showered until we threw some towels down.

Maintenance said 20-25 mins.

@perfect match

Utopia was here yesterday…

Wonder docked next to Allure…

Maintenance took more like 35 mins but quickly unclogged the shower from the hallway. 10 minutes later our stateroom attendant showed up with a fresh full set of towels.

Ship happens… and maintenance has been good about taking care of stuff the couple times we’ve needed them.

Off to ELF for a snack and to wander. Italian night in MDR tonight and ice show at 10:00 unless we change plans.

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Wonder docked next to Allure…

Can't wait to sail on her again next year after the amplification!  

Snack + another pineapple jalapeño margarita. Same bartender as yesterday & I like how she makes them. She puts everything in a shaker then strains the drink into the glass so no actual chunks of pineapple or jalapeño floating around (how every other one I’ve gotten either at Cantina Fresca or Playmakers has been made). When she did it yesterday I wasn’t sure but it adds all the flavor & I don’t really need to eat jalapeño rings.

Then grabbed another Mississippi Moonlight to rake back to the cabin. Wife is taking a cat nap before dinner.

Doing ok with vouchers so far (even though they tend to never show up from CocoCay for me). I could see using all 10 since we have dinner, whatever we find to do after, and the ice show at 10:00.

Clocks go back tonight so we’re going to try not to crash early. Sea day tomorrow with Top Tier at 10am & Mason Jar brunch at 11:45.

I see the sour cream has been stocked at ELF, what about the steak?

28 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I see the sour cream has been stocked at ELF, what about the steak?

Only one out of two unfortunately. I’m guessing no steak this week.

Leaving Allure & CocoCay behind. View from the same exact window table we had last month.

@Neesa, @Lovetocruise2002…

We ran into Vinay again leaving the MDR. He was back home when we cruised last month. He is now in charge of the crew mess (seems like an even dumber position) and also helps out as an MDR manager as needed.

We coerced him into being more honest about his job changes & he kind of admitted he liked CK the best (which we all figured) but is happy to provide for his family regardless. That part I understand and believe.

MDR Italian night…

Everything was pretty good by our MDR standards. Lemon tart was good again & wife really likes the chocolate hazelnut cake.

Our servers are super nice & we were the only ones in their section for most of the meal so we talked to our assistant server for a while (Ni from Bali). She’s one of those crew members who doesn’t mind being honest about the pros & cons of her job. She encouraged us to visit Bali… I’ll be starting a gofundme for that when we get home.

All the food on Italian night looks a little extra done .

5 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

All the food on Italian night looks a little extra done .

My lasagna definitely was but I just about chipped a tooth on the top layer last cruise so this was an improvement, lol. The rest was OK but I’m not a huge fan of any of those entrees so it is what it is. This will be a late night Cafe Promenade and/or Sorrento’s night which is fine with me. Leaving towards tuna & wraps.

Oops, time to watch the ice show for the 4th time.

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

We ran into Vinay again leaving the MDR.

And found this from him when we got back from the ice show…

Snack time…

Small serving by @Ampurp85’s brother’s standards I know though I do have chips & cookies to go with the sandwiches.

Thank you for posting the entertainment schedule Mike. I looked it over and it doesn’t look like too much has changed. Voices and Effectors 2 are both listed. Apparently I’ll be doing what I don’t want to have to do and that’s spending part of embarkation day planning rather than enjoying but it is what it s. At least I don’t see any time conflict with our MDR time and I won’t have to keep morning person DH and our morning people friends out too late. As for me, I’m good at staying up late. It’s mornings I have problems with.

I think I’ve figured out where your spot is at the pool from your pictures. We are doing Coco Beach Club on  Wonder  so it will have to wait for Utopia in January.

I think your wife and I would be great dessert buddies.  

10 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Only one out of two unfortunately. I’m guessing no steak this week.

All of the steak budget went to the Utopia WJ spreads this week....lol.  

6 hours ago, perfect match said:

We are doing Coco Beach Club on  Wonder

Even though I won’t pay for it we loved our 2 freeloader lunches there. Enjoy! And you can always grab some of the free desserts anyway. 

2 hours ago, ScottD said:

All of the steak budget went to the Utopia WJ spreads this week....lol.  

Clearly. After being greeted by Utopia decorations in the port & CocoCay, it’s like it’s all they care about right now. Our local morning news talked about Utopia every morning since the day it arrived at PC and probably still is.

Time change got me as expected. Staying up til almost midnight is about as late as it gets for us but here I am typing at 5am since it should be 6am. Could be worse, 6 hours of sleep isn’t too bad. @SweetPea’s head is once again exploding at the thought of someone on a cruise being up before 8am let alone at 5am, I know.

Not much to share. Using our last voucher on a Truly for the cooler while I went to get my snack last night I just saw in the app my wife got charged $4.41 somehow. The CL concierge is usually able to fix such minor issues so I’ll deal with that later.

Also, for the 3rd or 4th cruise in a row, not a single voucher drink from CocoCay has shown up in our account. We all know how bad RC IT is but I still don’t understand how they haven’t figured out how to link the island system to the ships yet.

Should be a quiet morning. Wife will go walking whenever she gets up while I get my CL coffee. Nothing else planned until Top Tier at 10am in Studio B again.

Utopia is all I see on my feed, as well. My TA and her whole company is there, Matt is there, some other bloggers I follow are there. I do love the look of the ship, the small changes really look nice- that Pesky Parrot bar and the food truck with grab and go food are really nice touches. MAYBE eventually it'll do full week cruises and I'll jump in. I actually started looking at B2B on her for next year.... they sucked me in. 

Oh, and your tuna sandwich pic reminds me that I have to try one this week!!! 

13 minutes ago, ScottD said:

that Pesky Parrot bar and the food truck with grab and go food are really nice touches.

Agreed. It’s so similar to Wonder I knew I’d like it but just about every small change is appealing too. After those two, I was thinking Giovanni’s looks nicer & eating outside with that view from up there could be pretty cool.

Question for the tuna sammy lovers: is there celery in it? I've been afraid to try it because I can't stand celery... LOL.

tuna sandos!!!!!!

29 minutes ago, Debstr66 said:

Question for the tuna sammy lovers: is there celery in it? I've been afraid to try it because I can't stand celery... LOL.

i am largely ambivalent about celery although i also do not like it in my tuna. as far as i recall, there isn’t celery in the ones i have had. there are sometimes carrots though. 

each tuna is ever so slightly different ship to ship. like it was maybe harmony that had the unusual green spread on it?? i am forgetting now.  

but i don’t think i’ve ever had celery on any of them.

2 hours ago, Debstr66 said:

Question for the tuna sammy lovers: is there celery in it? I've been afraid to try it because I can't stand celery... LOL.

No celery in mine but they’re not plain sandwiches. They have pesto in the ones on Wonder that make them interesting to me but that would definitely turn others off.

Quick math… at least half the ship are pre-gold & a huge majority if you add in Gold.