Our first annual (at least that's my hope!) Holidaycation continued on Wednesday, and started off the same way every day on a cruise ship starts out for me: with a white chocolate macchiato.
And then, another mega-breakfast!
Last time we arrived in Coco Cay, we tried to be one of the first people off the boat. This time we went at our own pace, and had ourselves our coffee, breakfast, and mosied around the boat before packing up for the day.
There were two boats at Coco Cay, which so far has been our experience (people rave about when there is just one boat in port, but we haven't had that yet). The second boat, however, was one we were parked next to in Nassau, and the boat we're taking in April: Liberty of the Seas.
We knew where we were going this time around, so we headed for chill beach and took a little while to enjoy the hammocks under the palm trees (which were full of coconuts!) We were enjoying the fact that it was a nice warm, but not too hot day. The weather in December was way better than September.
However, the water was also much choppier at Coco Cay, and you couldn't go out very far. You had to stay within the rock walls, and couldn't go past them, which was kind of a bummer since we bought new snorkle gear for the occasion.
Luckily, there were some fish hiding in the rocks away from the waves too. So even though it was only a couple feet deep, we could spot lots of fish.
After about an hour of snorkeling in the shallow waters we headed on over to the pool area.
The water was colder this time around, but not too terrible. It did make for a less crowded pool, though!
Last time I wasn't super impressed with the Snack Shack, but this time the funnel cake was way better. It was lighter, fluffier and less hard, plus they topped it with caramel. Asa, however, didn't like his chicken sandwich as much.
We played some games out on the beach..
And after awhile we headed over to the buffet for lunch. I do love that everything on Coco Cay is included. It's like being on the boat on land.
I do love the unique eats here too (unique in that it's different from the boat, not so much unique in it's imagination) the fruit is always good, and this time I got a fudgy brownie instead of a dry one, which was nice. And the bbq chicken was pretty good too.
We nosed around the island a little bit more, before heading back to the ship.
When we got back on the boat, we ran into Cruise Director Katie. She was a great director, and I was so excited we had a female cruise director! Not that I've been on a ton of cruises (this was my 5th), but still.
We do like getting back on the ship in the early afternoon, because if you do that, it's basically empty. Check out the Royal Promenade, there's nobody there!
And there's basically no wait for coffee either!
We headed back to the room and got changed and then headed around the boat to see what we could do while the ship was empty.
We hit up the lazer tag, which was just us and one other family in a boys vs. girls showdown. (The boys won, though).
And we went to trivia with our good friend Philly Fritz. We didn't win, but there was literally only like five teams at trivia, so Fritz gave Asa a highlighter anyway.
We went to Playmakers and played some pool.
And took a dip in the pool- there was literally nobody in it!
Then we went to the back of the ship to watch as everyone had to board the ship and we set sail.
Winter cruises like this are fun, because the set sail time lines up with the sunset times and you get some gorgeous views.
(Liberty set sail first, we'll see you in April, Liberty!)
After we left, Asa and I headed over to try out some Fish and Ships. It's extra, but only $5, and totally worth it. We actually got the shrimp and chips and I deemed it worth the upcharge.
Back at the Schooner Bar, we made it to Holiday Trivia!
And then we headed up to the Windjammer for dinner.
I wasn;'t hungry at all, so I just went for the desserts! The had a chocolate fountain, which was awesome.
Asa went for a full meal, though.
When we returned to our room, we had a towel animal.
But we were there just real quick to change for ice skating, since it was about to be time for Key Holder skating. If you are a normal guest, without the key, you have to sign up for a skating time later in the evening, and then you're with a bunch of other people. But, it was literally just me and Asa and one other couple. Half the time they weren't even on the ice, and it was just me and Asa skating solo on the ice. This was super cool to have, and made the key even more worth it for us.
For real, compare these pictures to last time, when we had to dodge people left and right. This was amazing.
As we left ice skating, the line was at least 100 people deep just to sign up, so we had dodged the crowds yet again. Another place to dodge crowds? Outside on Deck 4. This time around it was much brighter outside thanks to a nearly full moon.
Last time on the ship, we also missed the broadway production of Grease. Since we had reserved seating with the key, we decided to pop in to watch it. I had never seen it before, and I won't say it ages all that well. But, Asa and I had a good time.
After Grease, we bundled up, grabbed my blanket, and our orca's (knockoff yetis we got from our neighbor for Christmas that we love) filled with wine, and headed up to Deck 13 to watch the movie on the pool deck. (The nights in the wind were chilly!)
I was proud of myself for making it to Rock-a-roki that night, basically karaoke with a band, because usally I'm asleep before 11pm.
After rock-a-roke, we went out to the helipad to look at stars.
Albeit, by the light of the moon, which was super bright.
And then we headed back to our room that had the info about being a key holder and departing the ship.
Next up: breakfast on a cruise ship, lunch at disney, dinner at Universal. Could I ask for more?
No comments:
Post a Comment