Cruising with the MIXED NUTZ

2012-02-08T20:09:00.002-05:00

It really won't be long!

It's February and we are in the doldrums of winter. Actually, that has been in name only as the weather up here in the north has not been too bad at all. At this moment it is snowing lightly. I missed the first one while we were in Florida. Seems strange to see it falling and here I am thinking CRUISE!!!!!

2012-02-06T17:23:00.002-05:00

WANTED..........

original MIXED NUTZ to join us on ALLURE.

STILL TIME TO JOIN THE FUN AGAIN!

( some of the new NUTZ have heard of you and /or have seen you in videos )

Come on back and show them how it's done.....lol

Counting Down

2012-02-06T17:09:00.002-05:00

Time is flying by and we will be on ALLURE before we know it.

We found ourselves in Florida taking care of un-happy family business. We were to be there for three weeks. We looked online and saw that the Majesty of the Seas was departing on January 30 from Miami for a four night cruise to Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West. We got an ocean view for $250 pp. So we had to go. We drove from Palm Coast down to Miami. It was about a 4 1/2 hour drive which is no big deal when you are heading to the cruise. Not so much fun when going back......lol.

Majesty is still nice. It's small..... and old school cruising. It is very popular due to the low price. Some insides were going for $199. Can't beat that. Dave Chapman was the Cruise Director. He was young and full of energy.

We had a table of ten in the Main Dining room. The food was good....the service good as well. All the couples were very nice and we did attend the shows together and hung out together here and there.

So this was a tune up for Allure. Having been last on Oasis and then onto Majesty was quite different indeed. So, we are pumped up big time for this MIXED NUTZ GROUP adventure. April 29th from Fort Lauderdale. All are welcome to be a part of the NUTZ. If you are interested.....nycruisr@optonline.net E mail me and I will quickly send you details.

2011-12-12T09:35:00.002-05:00

THE MIXED NUTZ ON ALLURE IS NEXT

Here we are just before Christmas getting ready with buying gifts and making plans for the holidays. Soon all of the holiday business will be past and then it will be time to dedicate our energies to planning all our fun stuff on Allure of the Seas.

I'm looking forward to making this a big old happy time with our old & new cruising friends. Every cruise with the Mixed Nutz is always a mixture of prior Mixed Nutz cruisers and new folks that that join us for the fun. We hope to see plenty of new MIXED NUTZ joining us on this cruise.

This time we are planning on making a commemorative shirt for men and women. I'll be working on a new design shortly. Send your ideas in.

2011-11-12T12:07:00.002-05:00

Specialty Restaurants

I now stand corrected. Prior to this cruise I have resisted dining in the specialty restaurants. I said, "how good can they be?" I mean really...we are in the New York metro area.... the city is nearby, they have the greatest dining establishments in the world...... but........

What I always said was that of all the places to eat in NYC, there were no cruise ship dining room restaurants. I always enjoyed dining with large groups in the traditional dining room at both early and late seatings.

This time however we ate at both Chops & Giovanni's Grill. Both were EXCELLENT!

September news

2011-09-15T15:43:00.004-04:00

It looks like we have reached the end of summer on Long Island, NY.

It was a nice summer for the first half and then we had to deal with a medical issue with wife Carol in the second half. I had an excellent tan going up until that point. We were able to get a last beach day in a few days ago trying to boost the tan a bit. I don't think it did much. ( I may have to resort to FAKE BAKE....lol )

Now we are in the under one month countdown for the OASIS OF THE SEAS on October 15, 2011. This is not a Mixed Nutz event but a few of us ( two) are going to be looking over the layout of OASIS and be ready for the MIXED NUTZ on ALLURE OF THE SEAS on April 29th of 2012. We have a big event planned for ALLURE and there is plenty of room for new MIXED NUTZ. We always welcome new folks to join with us and create new friends that you will keep in touch with forever. Once a Mixed NUTZ always a MIXED NUTZ. ( there is no singular ....lol ) So if you want to have a good time..... come and hang with us.

Right now we are looking forward to OASIS and all that it is. It promises to be a wonderful time. It seems like everybody who cruises on OASIS...loves it. And now...... just 4 weeks away.

There is an active cruise critic thread for this cruise and we look forward to meeting our cruise critic friends there.

2011-06-15T22:06:00.002-04:00

We are back from Caribbean Princess

It's been awhile since my last post as I had been busy with a few projects. The 9 night cruise on Caribbean Princess was a nice new experience for us. I went on this cruise with the intention to NOT try to compare RCCL to Princess in every way. I will say this, it's all good with Princess. I may like some RCCL features better but that would not stop me from cruising Princess ships again. In fact, I am very interested in the new upcoming Royal Princess.

The Caribbean Princess is a large ship. I thought the decor was well done...not too over the top for glitz and neon as on Carnival ships. The food choices were excellent as was the service in the Horizon Court/ Caribe Cafe and the dining rooms.

In my opinion the itinerary times were not as good as they could have been. Mostly too short a stay on every port except Puerto Rico which for whatever the reason was all day and all night. ( Most folks said that was un-necessary and could just as well skip San Juan )

The weather was fair. It could have been better in my opinion as we had plenty of clouds with sun in between.

We had 4 new things for us this cruise.

1. First time leaving from NY

2. First time in a mini suite

3. First time in Bermuda

4. First time in Turks and Caicos

All in all....a very good cruise.

2011-04-04T12:28:00.003-04:00

HERE WE ARE...IT'S APRIL

We are just 60 days away fro the Caribbean Princess cruise and for me, it can't come quick enough. There is no sign of spring here on Long Island. A few weeks back there was a teaser of spring for two days but the weather quickly reverted back to what I call "THE DOLDRUMS OF MARCH." It always was the worst month of the year to me. However, I must state that my sweetie Carol's birthday is in March but her date is almost April so that doesn't really count as March....lol.

Before we get to the cruise in June, we will be taking a little trip to Florida to see Carol's Mom. With that of course we will get a dose of much warmer weather, which will make me more annoyed when I get back to Long Island in mid May and still have lousy weather. Typically the weather thru May is so up and down. We used to plan on opening the pool for Memorial Day every year. ( pool is gone now) Some years it hardly seems worth doing because the weather was so poor. What it will be this year remains to be seen.

PRINCESS NEWS

The Princess boards for our cruise date on cruise critic is a busy one. There is a very large meet and greet planned and more people are joining in daily it seems. There are of course the thread regulars and we've met a bunch of friendly people so far. Tim, as it turns out, is also an avid movie maker. He has posted a trailer for our cruise on the thread. He did a great job and I look at it often as a pick me upper. GOOD JOB TIM. ( I think he's already working on a sequel.......don't say I told you ....LOL )

That's about it for April 4, 2011.

2011-03-14T12:04:00.002-04:00

Allure...still a long way off!

This Mixed Nutz Friends and Family cruise is still more than a year out. At the one year mark I will be sending invitation / notifications to everyone who has previously cruised with us. Seems that a year in far out enough for many people to book. Not like us 100% NUTZ....lol. It's never too soon. It must be true.... I probably do have too much time on my hands. ( Thank God for that)

Denise ( derrick22) mentioned T shirts. I have been working on a design that will fit the bill for us. I want to make them in both mens and women's styles. Purple of course and maybe two sided. Let's have a slogan contest for the other side of the shirt..... for example........ " The Mixed Nutz are lost at sea for 7 days...DO NOT SEND HELP" You got the picture!

The CABIN CRAWL POKER GAME went well last time. I have a new and improved idea on that game.

Door decorating this time. We always had the door signs but individual creativity wins a prize this time.

Still lots of time to work out the fun stuff.

2011-03-14T12:03:00.001-04:00

April 29, 2012

This is the MIXED NUTZ friends and family cruise. The group for this one is building already. We hope to get a really big turnout for this one.

Don't forget...... it's 2012... and since the world is supposed to end late in the year, this will give you one last chance to take part in a Mixed Nutz Cruise Group event......LOL. So... come and join us.

2011-03-08T15:09:00.002-05:00

MORE NEWS!

The cruise on Majesty of the Seas for October 17, 2011 has also changed. We have reverted back to the Oasis of the Seas on October 15, 2011. CRAZY? YES! As it turned out, friends who we mentioned this cruise to, have decided to go. Okay...we killed another tree with all the paperwork. LOL.

The upcoming Caribbean Princess cruise looks real good and I am excited to go on it. Our first cruise on Princess promises to be a fun and new adventure filled time. I'll have more on this as I get some ship details of interest.

MIXED NUTZ ON ALLURE............ Come and join us! April 29, 2012

2011-03-04T12:39:00.002-05:00

NEWS!

We made a late change and will NOT be cruising on the Celebrity Summit this June. We have switched to the Caribbean Princess, for a 9 night cruise to the caribbean, departing from New York. Once again we have secured a true aft balcony cabin. This one is on Caribe deck (10) on the corner...# C752. This is our first Princess cruise and our first cruise from our homeport, NYC.

We also had made a booking for Oasis in October but changed that as well. Once again we will cruise on Majesty, a four nighter out of Miami. It was so good last year ( and got an even better price this year) that it was too hard to refuse.

Still on the books ( and NOT TO CHANGE) is the MIXED NUTZ CRUISE GROUP on the ALLURE of the Seas. We were originally going on Oasis this year to get a head start on the layout of the ship. However, we will remain newbies for it and enjoy the feeling of awe as we board.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1249639&page=33 Come over to cruise critic and join our thread.

2011-02-27T23:11:00.002-05:00

Upcoming cruises....

June 5, 2011

We are taking a cruise on Celebrity for the first time. This one is going to Bermuda... someplace we have never been. RCCL does not have a seven night cruise to Bermuda...only a five nighter. Not enough for us, so it's with Celebrity on this one.

October 17, 2011

Last September we cruised on Majesty of the Seas, a four night cruise from Miami. We originally had Oasis booked for 10/15/11, which would have given us a preview of what we would see on our next cruise on Allure. However, we thought it over and couldn't resist the spectacular savings by cruising Majesty. RCCL is offering a NY residency savings certificate. True.... you can't compare the ships but since we were going to be in Florida anyway for other reasons, the 4 nights work out just fine.

April 29, 2012

This is the MIXED NUTZ friends and family cruise. The group for this one is building already. We hope to get a really big turnout for this one.

2011-02-05T12:46:00.000-05:00

Lots of new stuff coming soon.

OASIS & ALLURE

2010-08-25T10:45:00.001-04:00

2010-08-25T10:36:00.001-04:00

First day

2010-08-25T10:18:00.003-04:00

Liberty of the Seas

Our cruise on July 18, 2010 did not disappoint us in any way. This was our second Freedom class ship and believe it or not, Liberty seemed just a bit better. Everything on this cruise worked out just great. From the port of Miami and the subsequent days that followed, everything was wonderful. The weather co-operated and except for one brief shower in Jamaica ( near the end of the day) we didn't see rain.

The shows were ..... well.... what cruise ship shows are. The ice show however, never fails to be great.

The MIXED NUTZ once again were the Quest winners. We couldn't have done it without some new recruits. Cruise Director Mike Swajkowski turned up the difficulty by adding some dance moves into the game. Without our young recruits we would have been losers for sure. Their energy put us over the top.

Okay, I'll step back now and start from the beginning of the trip.

We started off from Islip MacArthur airport on Long Island, NY. We took an early flight to Fort Lauderdale on the day before the cruise. We stayed at the Ramada Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood Beach, just minutes away from the airport.

We had the whole day to enjoy the sun, the sand, the waters....including the pool and hot tub.

This group consisted of my family and my brothers family. We strolled the broadwalk and lunched at a small place along the walk. Later that day, original Mixed Nutz George and Marie arrived, bringing new friends with them.

We had dinner that night at O'malleys right on the beach in front of the hotel. It was a beautiful night and we strolled again on the broadwalk. ( yes ...it is broadwalk, not boardwalk ...it is pavers, not boards) There was lots of activity going on all along. Many clubs and restaurants with music and bands playing.

The vacation is only starting and we have to get some rest for the next seven days. So it is off to get some rest.

2010-06-24T23:16:00.002-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGNd_D-T7g

This is the link to the Mixed Nuts Cruise Video Parts 6 & 7 . Once on you tube you'll see all the other parts. More still coming.

We are getting ready to cruise on LIBERTY of THE SEAS on JULY 18th, 2010.

I have a new mini pocket video camera for this cruise.

BEWARE....lol

2010-04-29T10:39:00.002-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9pU6kSSS4

This is a link to one of the Mixed Nutz Cruise Groups videos.

This is a composite movie of the group on both Serenade and Navigator.

MIXED NUTZ CRUISE GROUP

2010-04-27T11:32:00.002-04:00

THE CRUISE VIDEO

I made a DVD of the MIXED NUTZ ON ADVENTURE. It was not a cruise in review but covered it well in our own perspective, covering what the Mixed Nutz did.

The entire video is too large for you tube so I have broken it up into segments. The first segment I posted online was a composite of the original Mixed Nutz on Navigator and Serenade. The next segment I'll post the link here as soon as it is on You Tube. Other segments will follow.

Next trip I'll have a Video camera rolling. I put that away for the last few cruises and have just been using a digital camera instead.

2010-04-21T19:54:00.002-04:00

The Quest on Adventure of the Seas.

The Mixed Nutz formed one of the teams for the QUEST GAME which is held in Studio B. This is the multi use space that is used for Ice Shows / Quest / Theme Parties...etc

We were there proudly displaying our cruise group banner. My brother Bruce was one of the Captains. The other was Melissa. Our cruise Director MIKE S. changed up the game a little and even busted someone who brought items to the game. One of the early moments of the game was that each team was to do something to get there cruise director and staff's attention. That group would win that Quest. The groups on the other side were the first to go. The cheered..... some cheered and waved. Some made crazy noises. As it was coming to be our turn, a woman from another group sitting with us suggested. "Lets do "NOTHING". JUST SIT QUIET. Okay...let's try that. And we won that QUEST.

That was only the beginning. It got crazy after that. I captured much of the action in photos and a little video. In the end, THE MIXED NUTZ CRUISE GROUP won the quest. This was a highlight of the cruise DVD I made. Rich was named Ms. Adventure of the Seas. You had to be there. ( or see the DVD) It's too long for You tube.

2010-03-17T10:36:00.002-04:00

More Trunk Bay pictures.

Trunk Bay, located on St. John, is a short boat ride from St. Thomas. It is a great place to snorkle. There is a marked underwater trail to follow.

I find this place to have the whitest sand a most crystal water of all the places I have been. I really enjoy just laying half in and half out of the water and soaking up the beauty of it all. To me it is worth the trip and time to get here.

2010-03-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

Excursion to Trunk Bay in St. John

2010-03-16T12:10:00.002-04:00

Welcome to the Serenade Folks who I thought might drop in.

As I had said, a few of your cruise mates on your up-coming cruise on Serenade are Mixed Nutz members. ( incidently..... membership is open to everyone)

Serenade was one of our past cruises. We had a great group onboard and had a load of fun. We bought a horse for the horse races thanks to Mixed Nutz member Dave, who had the knowledge on how to buy it for the lowest possible price. We unfortunately, did not win the owners race and therefore did not win our money back. BUT...we had fun! I'll post a picture of Nuts so Fast ( our horse) and how he was decorated.

I recently completed a DVD movie of our last Mixed Nutz cruise and added a featurette showing the Mixed Nutz of old. Great fun.....great memories.

The Mixed Nutz next cruise is July 18, 2010 on Liberty of the Seas. We are going west............again! We have new folks that never went on the western itinerary so by popular choice ( as it's done) west we go.

As an organizer of these events, I try to make each cruise as memorable as possible, even at my own cost. Although I'm doing it for others, I'm doing it for me as well.

If you have a moment, look back on this Blog. As you can see, I'm still writing about Adventure. I stopped to make the movie which was very time consuming but the results made it worthwhile. Someday I'll figure out how to get it ( it's large...33 min) connected to this.

Enjoy your cruise.

2010-03-15T21:07:00.001-04:00

The start of the Adventure of the Seas cruise with the MIXED NUTZ CRUISE group.

The following few pictures are from the first day and night of the cruise.

2010-03-15T21:03:00.000-04:00

Royal

2010-03-15T20:57:00.000-04:00

2010-03-15T13:52:00.000-04:00

2010-03-15T13:47:00.002-04:00

2010-03-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

Our Pre-Cruise dinner at Ajili Mojili in San Juan, Puerto Rico the night before the cruise.

2010-03-15T13:16:00.003-04:00

The DVD of the Adventure Cruise is done!

And it came out great!

I have been sending it out in groups. I believe everyone who is or would be interested in receiving one will get one. It's too large to post to You Tube so it won't be found there. I could potentially break it up into segments and post it, but it's not the same without the intended flow.

It's not a cruise in review movie, but more like a sampling of what we all did. Plus I tried to add some amusement to it with catchy music and sub titles. In my opinion I think I created a neat video of the MIXED NUTZ on Adventure of the Seas, in particular the segment about "WHY WE ARE THE MIXED NUTZ." In addition I added a featurette about the MIXED NUTZ previous cruises and again with some catchy music to go along with it.

Here are a few pictures to get this cruise review started.

2010-02-12T22:49:00.002-05:00

THE MIXED NUTZ ON ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS

The planning for this cruise began nearly two years before our departure from San Juan Puerto Rico on April 20, 2008. After many years of trying, Carol and I managed to get my brother Bruce and his wife Sharon to book this cruise with us. I suggested they try cabin 7388 and we'll take our tried and true 7688. So we booked..........and waited.
Along the way we had a very active thread on CruiseCritic. Our threadmates hailed from all points of the USA. Our group usually consists of East meeting West with a little South and North also. And not to forget the middle....we get them also.
Once again we planned to meet the night before for a pre-cruise kick-off dinner for all those who could be there the day before. We had a nice crowd for this get together. It was decided previously that "authentic" Puerto Rican cuisine was desired and a restaurant was selected. A private room was reserved and we all met there.
It was great fun getting a chance to meet face to face with folks we have been writing to and from for so long. We knew instantlly that this crew was going to be one to remember. Time has proven that. Of course not everybody stays in touch but enough of us do. We keep a Mixed Nutz thread active on Cruise Critic's Floataway Lounge. It is updated daily.
There is much to write about this cruise and I will get to it real soon. I have a photo project underway from this cruise and hope to finish it soon. When I'm done, everyone who has remained in contact will get a copy. When that is finished I will complete the write up of that cruise on this blog.
I have to hurry. The July cruise will be here before you know it.

It's a New Year!

2010-01-02T23:30:00.002-05:00

It's a new year and it's been awhile since I updated this Blog.

We got a little side-tracked with the holidays. There was also the coming of our first grandchild on December 23rd. All that kept me away from the computer but now we are looking at the next cruise coming in July. This promises to be anothe big blast of a cruise. We'll talk more on this a little later following my next entry on past cruises with the MIXED NUTZ.

There is a lot to talk about yet so keep checking here to see the updates.

2009-09-28T21:17:00.005-04:00

Brian at Sunset.

2009-08-21T22:27:00.002-04:00

Coming up......... The MIXED NUTZ on ADVENTURE of the Seas.

The planning for this cruise started way back......almost two years earlier. I was finally able to convince my brother Bruce and his wife Sharon to come with us an a Caribbean cruise. Being that we booked it so early, we had a choice of cabins. We wanted 7688 and we reserved 7388 for Bruce and Sharon.
As usual, we started a thread on Cruise Critic.

Thats where it started............again.

The whole story next time.

2009-07-23T22:13:00.007-04:00

And then there was Freedom.............

I was intent on being on the inaugural sailing of Freedom of the Seas. We booked it well in advance to once again secure a cabin of our choice and this time it would be a corner Aft cabin on deck ten. The itinerary was once again going to the western Caribbean with only Montego Bay being substituted for ocho Rios. Regardless, I was ready to cruise. But then.......... something came up.
It turned out that our son Brian who was still in High School at the time was scheduled for finals during our cruise week. So, we needed to change the booking. Luckily we discovered this soon enough and we were able to move our booking to the 4th sailing of Freedom. As it turned out, by the 4th sailing the bugs were worked out of the systems and we had a fabulous time aboard.

Coming up....... getting a crowd together for Freedom.

2009-06-29T21:37:00.014-04:00

A Tune up cruise before FREEDOM.

The best secret on the Seas.

Our Freedom cruise wasn't until June 25th of 2006 and we found ourselves in late February without our customary cruise booked in April. We were poking around the RCCL website just to see what was going on when we noticed that Enchantment had a four night cruise for a very inexpensive price. We booked it for April 6th, departing from Fort Lauderdale for four nights stopping at Key West and Cozumel.

I phoned George and Marie ( original Mixed Nutz) to see what they were doing in April. George told me they had plans to go to Florida for business. We told them what we were doing and they liked the idea so they booked.

We communicated on the roll calls with a few others and we met them all at the pool bar. Not like the Mixed Nutz cruises, but still fun.

We discovered that Enchantment of the Seas, since it was stretched was quite a delight. The pool deck was large and spacious. The area above the added piece of ship had a steel bridge with flared out sides. They called them Sky Bridges. They were lit up colorfully at night and it emphasized the expansion by making the ship unique in looks. Everything about the ship was like that...... nice.

When we were at Cozumel we took a cab to Paradise Beach. All of Cozumel was just beginning to crawl back to life after the hurricanes of the year before. The piers were destroyed..... most of the beach areas were messed up. The day we were at Paradise Beach they were still working on the structure and were working on the landscaping around the property.

The food at the restaurant was affordale and the food tasty. The weather was superb as usual in April in Cozumel.

The four nights flew by of course. We really don't like short cruises because they end too quickly but it was cheap and we wanted a tune up cruise to get ready for THE FREEDOM CRUISE.

2009-06-26T21:17:00.002-04:00

The next Cruises.

It is quite difficult to organize a re-union cruise or plan a new group cruise adventure. The best way I have found has been to book the cruies wayyyyyyy far in advance so it gives prospective cruisers time to think about it and book it. So when you don't do it that way, the group will be smaller. So if you do something with really short time, well...... it will be what it will be.

I did plan for the inaugural cruise of Freedom. There was quite a group gathered on the Cruise Critic boards even earlier than me. What was different about this ensemble of cruisers was that for the most part they were veteran cruisers who were remaining un-affiliated with a group. As the months were winding down we finally were able to get a school schedule we were loooking for. And of course it showed that son Brian had finals on the week of the inaugural Freedom of the Seas cruise. We moved our booking to cruise number four instead.

2009-06-19T23:24:00.002-04:00

The Mixed Nutz cruise on Serenade was done.

There are no pictures of us saying goodbye. We don't take those. We only take ones saying hello. So until the next MIXED NUTZ cruise............ come back soon and see the next cruise with the next batch of Nutz.

Hello.

Chilled out on the last day.

2009-06-19T22:59:00.018-04:00

Dave taking a snooze.

Sandy and her Purple Monkey. How a tradition begins.

Cheryl and Chris

Put a fork in Bob........he's done!

The Purple Monkey winds up on Sandy.

And finally.......

Never fall asleep with my camera around.

The Final Day of the Cruise

2009-06-19T21:59:00.023-04:00

Carol chillin'

Chris on Deck

Bob and Sandy

John, Teri and Chuck

Lava flow on Martinique

The last day for the MIXED NUTZ on Serenade of the Seas.

The last day of on this port intensive cruise was a sea day. This was a chance to chill out and enjoy the ship for one last day and night before returning to San Juan. We had visited St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbados. This was certainly a great isand hopping itinerary. The southern caribbean Islands have some of the most fantastic waters to see and playThe in. In addition to that, the weather was as near perfect as it gets.

A group of us sat together on the pool deck soaking up the final sunshine of our vacation. We chatted about the success of organizing a second MIXED NUTZ cruise and the prospect of more in the future.

The pictures below are from the final day at sea. We passed close to Martinique which had been the scene of a major volcanic eruption a few years back. Check out the massive Lava flow that engulfed the homes on this side of the island.

2009-06-15T23:12:00.002-04:00

The MIXED NUTZ Serenade Cruise was nearing the end. ( but not quite yet)
The cruise that was accicently dubbed the "Marinade on the Serinade" was coming to the end. And like every cruise we have been on, the realization that seven nights have gone by as in Hyper Drive was beginning to sink in.
The Mixed Nutz have spent days and nights together doing lots of fun things or just hanging out.
We still had a sea day to go on our way back to San Juan, so we all got up on deck to enjoy yet another spectacular weather day. We planned a balcony party on one of the last nights. It was called the "Leaving St. Lucia " balcony party. The Captain was supposed to sail us past the Pitons ( mountains) after departing St. Lucia. We had a great view from our corner aft balcony (9256) and we packed in all the MIXED NUTZ that wanted to be there.

2009-06-15T22:46:00.012-04:00

The Staff got into it.

PARTY TIME HOT HOT HOT!
Chris

Limbo Time

Chuck and Jen

Deck Party on Serenade.

The music was playing up on deck late at night so we went up there to join the party. The weather on this cruise was really nice and the nightime conditions were wonderful. The girls jumped right into the line dances. Here's a few photos.

2009-06-11T21:47:00.011-04:00

Main Dining room pictures

Dessert time.

Flower Bouquets

Bob and Sandy and

Christine

Sisters Jen and Liz.

Dinner in the Main Dining room.

2009-06-08T23:13:00.017-04:00

Photos of the Quest.
Years later, we still laugh about it.

The Quest on Serenade.....

What is the Quest? The Quest is a game that adults play while on Royal Caribbean ships. Basically, it's a scavenger hunt of sorts. The main difference is that the items that the cruise director is going to ask for are in your possession already, only you don't know it yet.

The game is played in the Ice rink on Freedom and Voyager class ships and in a lounge on the rest of the fleet. Teams are made and there will be at least one Captain. Sometimes the Cruise Director wants one male and one female captain for each team. Each Cruise does it a bit differnet from the next.

On Serenade we made Chuck our Captain. Pictures tell the story.

2009-06-06T23:34:00.001-04:00

Next..........The Quest

Fun onboard the Serenade

2009-06-04T00:09:00.006-04:00

Horse Racing

We decided to participate in the Horse Racing on Serenade by purchasing a horse. All six horses are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Dave ( our gambling expert) helped us buy the first horse. All those who contributed from the group received an extra name tag as a horse "part owner." The horse was named NUTZ SO FAST", which was what he turned out to be.

When you buy a horse, you get to possess it for the week. You decorate it and personalize it with whatever you want. You also take the horse wherever you go on the ship..........dining room.........lounges.....pool deck , etc.

We decorated it with our special mascot as the jockey....the infamous PURPLE MONKEY. ( more on him later)

The final race of the cruise is the OWNERS RACE. What makes this race special is that all the money from the horse auctions is the winners purse. You can win a chunk if you are lucky.

Mercy was our jockey for the race.

It all looked good...we were ready to win....but fate was against us and we did not win. However, we had fun with the horse for the week.

2009-06-02T11:14:00.009-04:00

The Antigua Nutz Big Adventure.

Eli's was an excursion we'll always remember. This was a multi faceted trip on Eli's boat. You get to see and do a few different things. His boat was so new that he wanted everyone to take their shoes off so he won't get scuff marks.
We assembled on the pier right by the ship. It doesn't get any easier than that. He pulled away and in moments we were at speed.

Being an Island Native he was very familiar with all the features of the waters around Antigua and could offer an informative narrative as we went. We had the opportunity to sea a lot of it. We saw a shallow area where the bottom was loaded with Starfish. We cruised inland waterways looking for turtles and other wild things. Plus we saw LONG ISLAND. This is a playground of the rich. This is where Jumby Bay is.

We stopped at Bird Island which we climbed to see the views from the top. Rarely have I seen such a sight. On one side is the dark blue Atlantic Ocean. On the other is the multi blue and greenish Caribbean Sea. Beautiful!

Eli had the novice snorklers get a chance to practice in the shallow beach area of Bird Is. A little later we got the chance to snorkle in deeper crystal clear waters.
But our main target was.....Hells Gate....a natural bridge....and more.
But first we had a lunch provided by Eli. It was home cooking at its best. We really enjoyed it.
During the snorkling in deeper water, Sandy and Carol bumped into each other.....looking face to face through the masks and said, "who is this?" They did not recognice each other in snorkle disguise....LOL. A short time after that Carol was swimming alone not far from the boat. I was on the boat and I heard her scream from UNDER WATER! She popped up....yells to Eli....."JELLYFISH!"
"What do I do?" Eli points to the left and says...." swim around it." I guess you had to be there....lol.
Eli anchored his boat offshore from the small island. To get there, you had to swim for it. Not too far....not too close.....but still for me....more than I usually would attempt. You had just a small sandy beach to land on, otherwise it was all rocks. So there we were, our group assembled on this little beach.... with nowhere to go......so we thought.
Off to the side was a somewhat hidden entrance to a cave. Not a particularly big and wide cave, but with a little crouch and twist, you can navigate it easily enough. The ladies were mostly afraid there would be Bats inside..... there was not....... only Spiders....YUCK!!!!! Why did it have to be spiders. Luckily, they were content to stay in their webs, which we did not disturb.
The cave was not very long and it opened up to a chamber that was sloshing with water which Eli said was the waves from the Alantic. With each wave the water would rise then fall......rise, then fall.
We had to climb a natural rock step ladder which brought us to the top of the natural bridge. Once on top, we crossed over the natural rock bridge. The whole formation was not very wide, not too high but was very steep. If you should fall off the edge it would be a very bad thing. Everybody stayed away from the edge. After crossing over, there was a steep rocky trail to get back down to the little sand beach. Everyone made it...slowly, as one wrong step could result in a fall or a twisted or broken leg. Once we were all back down, we swam for the boat.
Once back in the boat Eli swiftly headed for the pier we started from. This was an adventure we will never forget.

2009-06-02T10:38:00.016-04:00

Pictures from the Antigua Adventure

Eli tells Carol to swim around the Jellyfish.

Sandy and

Carol .....

"Who's this?"

Steep walk to the top of Bird Island.

This was where the big adventure was. The Atlantic was on was side and the Caribbean is on the other side.

Chris with the Atlantic behind her.

Some practice snorkling in shallow water first.

The view of the beautiful blue Caribbean from

the top of Bird Island, Antigua. This was one of the best views ever....anywhere.

Zooming away from the pier.

Nice ride. Eli really rips on the water. Bob, Sandy and Carol

Eli's ( then) brand new boat.

Cooling off at the beach at Bird Island.

Mixed Nutz Ladies on the Dock.

2009-06-01T23:16:00.005-04:00

Antigua...... Eli's Eco-Tour.

This was a big adventure for 40's and 50's folks.

We met Eli on the pier right next to where Serenade was docked. The tour is limited to about 15 people as I recall. We loaded onto his new boat and we pulled out slowly from the port. I don't think we ever went slow again after that.

2009-05-31T17:21:00.004-04:00

Cheryl was next door!

We were in cabin 9256 which is a corner aft balcony room. Real nice views from there. I had the mini xmas lights wrapped around the rails of the balcony. Real pretty at night. This is a tradional thing for us.

2009-05-31T17:12:00.004-04:00

More pictures on Serenade

2009-05-31T17:05:00.004-04:00

Back on
the Ship.

2009-05-30T18:01:00.006-04:00

The Famous sign at Orient Beach. This is a file photo from the internet. No Naked Nuts....sorry.

More St. Maarten Pics

2009-05-30T17:35:00.006-04:00

St. Maarten

We visited the famous Orient Beach. The area where we were was in the more clothed side, so there was not many "sights" to be seen on this section of the beach. Chuck said we should take a walk down the beach. "You ever see a naked volleyball game?" he asked. I don't believe any of us had ever witnessed something like that so three couples took a walk into the "NUDE ZONE."

We had just gotten to the Nude Beach sign and the swim suits were now gone. We did like many tourists do.....taking pictures at the sign. But how will we get all of us in one picture? Solution...Chuck asked an older woman who was sunning herself if she could take a picture of us all. Yikes.... she was old, tanned and saggy. We had no trouble smiling for the camera.
Onward we walked.
A little further down the beach, we were noticing that the nudies would make sure the "clothed" tourists would get a good look, so some would stand and make sure. Thats how we spotted "Harry the Hose." No further description is really needed....lol. I noticed a woman getting up off a lounger ( I couldn't help it, I have peripheral vision ) and she was tanned where the sun don't shine. I said to myself, " Learn something new every day."
Orient Beach in St. Maarten was a great beach day that we soon won't forget.

2009-05-28T16:32:00.005-04:00

St. Thomas

St. Thomas is a favorite of Cheryl. She likes it because: (pick one)

a) She has a favorite beach

b) She likes the birds

c) She has a favorite jeweler

d) She has a favorite club

Serenade of the Seas

2009-05-28T15:40:00.006-04:00

RCCL's Serenade of the Seas .............7 nights............. 5 Ports.......2 Sea Days...... April 10, 2004
Built in 2004, 962 feet long at 90,000 tons with 2500 passengers. The ship is beautifully decorated and features much glass that affords ocean views from within.

The San Juan weather was picture perfect. After a number of cruises we have found that Late March and April are good weather months in the Caribbean. It looked to be the same this year.

We are headed for some ports we had never been to before. We were really looking forward to seeing St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbados as we have heard much about how nice they are. And we were also stopping at St. Thomas and St. Maarten, islands we had been to a few times before but are both really nice places to see.

2009-05-28T14:06:00.007-04:00

The MIXED NUTS on Serenade of the Seas.

So there we were, finally on Serenade, which was the newest of the Radiance class ships. We met as planned at the Sky Bar and the fun continued from where we left off the night before at our pre-cruise dinner.

Sisters Jen and Liz and Cheryl and her daughter Heather were there today, having just flown in from their respective home areas and joing us at the sail-away party. As always, there are the core group folks and others who were now and then on the cruise critic thread. But regardless, all are always welcome. If you want to be with the MIXED NUTZ, the MIXED NUTZ want you. Since we started off cruising, it has been better and better each time. All Mixed Nutz are encouraged to expand the group anytime they cruise. Once a MIXED NUTZ, always one.

2009-05-28T13:56:00.002-04:00

We took over the Sky Bar.

2009-05-27T16:26:00.002-04:00

The Sail-away Party on Serenade

2009-05-27T16:17:00.008-04:00

The Mixed Nutz party gets started on Serenade.

The night before while at the dinner, Chuck asked John what time he was planning to get to the Port. John told him "about 11:30." Chuck likes to be the first on line at the port so he was just checking on Johns' planned arrival time.

Knowing Chucks intentions, John decided to beat him there and arrived at about 10:30. We watched the taxi pull up and was fun to see the expression on his face when he realized he'd been beaten to be first on line and by whom. We set him up well.

2009-05-27T14:40:00.007-04:00

Marinade on the Serenade!

The cruise name Marinade on the Serenade was coined accidently by Sandy. It stuck immediately. Ultimately, it was to be included on our name tags as well. During the long wait for the cruise we posted dozens and dozens of pages and chatted real time on Sunday nights, later expanding to Wednesday nights as well. Somewhere along the way Mr Bumper showed up. He claimed he was from Bangor, Maine and everything he posted was in rhyme. Mr. Bumper appeared to know little secrets about a lot of people and he would let out this information in poetic form. So who is he? Nobody knew for sure. Some thought it was Chuck, some thought otherwise. But then one day, his sister showed up. She also wrote only in rhyme. And believe it or not, one day, the mother appeared. Mr. Bumper even showed up in our live chats. They did not reveal who they really were. Just before the cruise, Mr. Bumper announced he too would be coming on the cruise. More on him later.

The cruise was set for April 10, 2004. It was leaving from San Juan, Puerto Rico at 10 Pm. Due to the distance many of us chose to fly in the day before. Since we were in San Juan ahead of time, we decided to get together and meet at a pre-cruise dinner. Some of us had never met before, which is the way the MIXED NUTZ keep expanding. Usually, we meet on the cruise thread, chat for a year and then meet at the port and our sail-away party. But this time would be different. One of our group, Dave from upstate NY, had been in San Juan most recently and knew of a place for dinner. We agreed on the place and Dave arranged for us to meet and eat at Tony Roma's.( famous for Ribs)

Everybody who was coming to dinner were booked in close by hotels. They started arriving and we were seeing old friends and meeting new friends. But...............no Mr. Bumper. Hmmmm.

2009-05-26T22:45:00.000-04:00

2009-05-26T21:35:00.005-04:00

The MIXED NUTZ Plan the Next Cruise.

We were barely home from the Navigator when the core group of MIXED NUTZ decided to cruise together again. Most of us were regularly e -mailing each other at this point so there was lots of communication between us. Plus, we were regularly chatting on AIM each Sunday night. It didn't take long for us to decide on which ship and itinerary.
It was going to be SERENADE OF THE SEAS departing from San Juan and making stops at St. maarten, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbados.

Now the fun will really start.

2009-05-25T11:11:00.004-04:00

Day 8

Miami

We arrived back in Miami early in the morning. This is a sad day for cruisers.

The party is over......... for now.

The MIXED NUTZ are planning for the

next cruise already.

2009-05-25T11:06:00.002-04:00

Misc Photos

2009-05-24T22:08:00.005-04:00

Day 6

The sixth day of the cruise was the port at Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is an excellent beach day and you can count

on it being HOT HOT HOT.

The boys rented waverunners. They both got dumped off in a high speed turn

attempt.

Most of us were on the Fiesta Party Boat. Chris and Joe participated in an "adult" type game. ( no details...lol)

2009-05-24T22:01:00.006-04:00

Day 7

At Sea

Sea days are fun on the Voyager class ships. The pool deck offers lots of space for music, socializing ,tanning, drinking the frozen drink of the day and of course, the pools.

2009-05-24T21:57:00.001-04:00

GRAND CAYMAN

2009-05-24T20:35:00.016-04:00

Day 5

Grand

Cayman

Grand Cayman has been one of our favorite stops over the years. We have done varios things for excursions each time we visited there. On our first visit back in 1999, we did a Stingray city tour. I can still hear the screams of the ladies as they saw the large dark shadows swimming silently below the shallow water. The shoal we stood on was no deeper than 30 inches deep. The Rays moved in and the women went up onto the shoulders of the men as they screamed in terror. In just a few moments I realized that they were not attacking.....just hungry.

It was decided by a few of us that we would do a combination Stingray City snorkle, a reef snorkle and Beach lunch. We started off with Stingray City.

We were the first boat there in the morning. The captain said the Rays would be hungry and will be looking for food when they realize we are there. The ship has a bucket of squid to use if you want to feed them by the stairs at the front of the Catamaran. Mike was ahead of his brother so he didn't see Matt stick his hand in the bait bucket and he patted his Mike on the butt as if to be saying " get a move on."

They entered the water and the huge hungry Rays started to attack the squid smell on Mikes Butt. I heard him saying" What the heck!" The water was about four feet deep and the Rays were swarming the bait smell. Finally with others in the water with bait to feed the Rays, the attack dispersed somewhat. Matt had the last laugh this time.

After awhile, we weighed anchor and headed towards the barrier reef. The current was strong here...... really too strong for me. I was trying to catch up with the "guide" but with the strong current, I was losing my strength. I was then trying to find my youngest son who I was worried about but it turned out he was keeping up with the guide. I was spent. So I blew some more air in my vest , turned onto my back and floated. My son Mike swam by, saw me and asked me if I was okay. I said I was okay but out of gas. So..... he towed me back to the ship.

Next stop was the beach and lunch. The food was much better than I anticipated. Carol and her parents and Marie wound up on the same beach with their beach excursion, so we snuck them some lunch.

George and my boys took a high speed banana boat ride that was very thrilling for them. I was hoping that Mike would keep his little brother Brian from falling off. He later told me that Brians butt was consistently bouncing off the banana boat but he kept him on.

Another fun day in Grand Cayman.

2009-05-23T13:56:00.004-04:00

Day four.... Ocho Rios, Jamaica

We were in Ocho Rios a number of years ago. While there we took the Dunn's River tour. This is probably the most popular attraction here. So this time we decided to enjoy a quiet ship while everybody is off the ship visiting the Falls and other things. We did leave the ship to escort two sons to find their Horseback riding excursion and then returned to a quiet relaxing day. A bunch of the Mixed Nuts who had not yet seen Dunns River Falls hired Peet Taylor as their guide. I recall Chris & Joe, George & marie, Chuck & Teri and Sandy & Bob going together.

Our oldest son Mike was up partying very late the night before so he wasn't exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning, but he soldiered on. They had an exciting ride, culminating with a ride in the water. They said that was really cool.

Later at night the fun continues on the ship. Dinner....shows...and the Pub.

THE NAVIGATOR CRUISE

2009-05-23T11:41:00.009-04:00

Day 3 Labadee "The private Island."

Labadee is a section land on Haiti that Royal Caribbean either owns or leases to use as a private beach for it's cruises. Some people thought it was an Island just off of Haiti, but it is not. It is located on the Northwest tip of the country.

Haiti, is among the poorest nations on earth and makes it an un-likely place to have such a lovely beach paradise. There is a dividing line. Haitians over there and tourist over here with the exception of those natives that work for the cruise line and those that can participate in the market area.

Royal Caribbean does a great job keeping the place clean and ready for each cruise ship that stops there. We have seen the place change slowly since our first visit there.

Labadee requires tendering, which in case you don't know what that is, means you need to access the port by way of a small ferry boat. This can be a bit time consuming, so it pays to get an early start. Earlybirds get choice spots and some shady spots which are really nice on a hot beach.

A popular thing to do here is to do the Waverunner excursion. This is not just renting a waverunner.....instead it is a full speed follow the leader trip out past the ship and beyond. You actually can start getting into the rolling ocean waves which you can "jump" with the waverunner.

There is a swim park sectioned off for kids. It has fake icebergs to climb and jump or fall off of. Some folks like to wander around........going for a walk to see and hear "Dragons Breath." This is a natural rock formation that captures air as the waves crash in and makes a roaring sound and blows out a mist. Mostly this is a full sun day for me....good tanning opportunity.

At mid day the barbeque and buffet is open. They bring everything from the ship. Food, drinks, desserts....so it's "eat up."

Eventually, the day is over. Enough sun and sand or time to head for the ship. Don't get stuck here......no place to go.

Now it's back on the ship, a dip in the pool to cool off or head to the cabin and shower and nap on the balcony. Our balcony is very large and offers sun and shade. I'll take the shade right now. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

ONBOARD FUN ON NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS

2009-05-23T11:22:00.002-04:00

The rest of the week on Navigator of the Seas.

Day 2 SEA DAY

The cruise started off really well with the MIXED NUTZ sail-away party the afternoon before and promised to be a really fun cruise. Our only rule, "THERE ARE NO RULES" was now in effect. However, the old addage "Birds of a feather....." seems to always apply as the group seems to naturally gather.

Our first day was a Sea Day. I happen to like a particular spot on the pool deck so I get up there early and have my choice. I'm not a chair hog because I actually sit in my lounger. Ok...I hog one other for Carol, but I do make it look like shes's there. Some of the others in the group will follow suit and sit near me, others have their own special spot. The weather is picture perfect with clear blue skies and a blazing Caribbean sun. Nice!

There are pool games being played.....live music .......frozen drinks.......now this is a vacation.

2009-05-20T23:08:00.000-04:00

Matt singing a Bon Jovi tune.

2009-05-20T23:06:00.000-04:00

Teri singing in the Pub.

2009-05-20T22:56:00.002-04:00

Nightime Fun on Navigator.

We met Billy Glades for the first time on this cruise. He ran the entertanment in the Pub and kept us coming back nightly. We would close the Pub at about 1 am. Always a noisy fun crowd with Billy.

Karaoke is a Mixed Nuts Tradition. There have been some great performances in the past. One memorable one was Chris, Carol and Sheila singing "Girls just want to have fun."

Chuck and Teri also do duets and have been in Karaoke competition on some of the cruises.

2009-05-20T22:53:00.002-04:00

Formal Night

2009-05-20T22:51:00.000-04:00

Formal night

2009-05-20T22:49:00.000-04:00

Formal Night

2009-05-20T22:43:00.001-04:00

Formal Night

2009-05-20T13:38:00.003-04:00

Check out the videos of Liberty of the Seas which will be our upcoming cruise on July 18, of 2010

Details of that cruise are coming.

Go to Cruise Critic

Roll Calls Royal Caribbean

July 18, 2010

2009-05-17T14:42:00.002-04:00

The boys checking over the menu for the nights' dinner. They ate really well.

2009-05-17T14:40:00.001-04:00

The group on the stairs.

2009-05-17T14:36:00.000-04:00

The Main Dining Room.

2009-05-17T14:33:00.001-04:00

Dinner Photos.

2009-05-17T14:30:00.000-04:00

Dinner the first night on Navigator.

2009-05-17T14:13:00.002-04:00

Dinner...............

Navigators dining room, as on all the Voyager class ships, are three floors of beautiful decor. Once again, I go in there and marvel at the beauty. The centerpice is the huge chandelier at the top of the highest floor. The Captains table is beneath it, which is the center of the entire dining room. At one end of the main floor is the grand staircase that turns to the left and to the right. It is a great photo spot.

Our table is near the window, affording us a spectacular ocean view. In order to enjoy it better, we rotate seats nightly so everyone can see it from every angle. As usual our service was good and dinner is very enjoyable each night.

Formal nights are special and we dress up for them. Although some people do not care for that, we do. It's not something we do every night of the week, so we dress well, if only for a few hours.

2009-05-17T14:04:00.002-04:00

Looking towards the ocean from in the Miami Port. This photograph was actually taken on the morning we returned, about 7 am. On the day we departed the sun shone brightly.

2009-05-17T13:27:00.004-04:00

The Navigator Cruise with the Mixed Nutz Cruise Group.

We gathered at the Port, met at our Sail-away party and now, headed off for the mandatory Muster Drill. Soon we would be underway.
A little earlier we had lunch in the Windjammer and checked out our cabin. We had selected something new this time...... a corner Aft balcony. It was located on deck seven....cabin number 7688. The first glance at it and I knew it was special. The cabin itself was nice. The room had a couch and a small cocktail table, a desk and chair and the bed was made up as a queen. But there at the far wall was the glass doors leading to the balcony. Going out the doors revealed our own little special place, only it was not that little. The balcony of 7688 was the size of a room. One special feature was the six foot wide circular opening that gave you a wonderful view out of the side of the balcony. Combined with the view out of the back, it was fantastic.
Following the muster drill, we went to the upper decks to watch as the ship eased out of the Port of Miami. There are always people on the opposite shore watching the ships depart. We wave....they wave....but we are on the ship. As the ship nears the mouth of the port, you look northward and get a great view of Miami Beach. Thats all good but we know it's going to get better.
The breeze picks up as the ship begins to pick up speed. It turns and heads south towards our caribbean destination. The fun is just beginning.

2009-05-16T16:48:00.001-04:00

Meeting the Ohio Mixed Nutz for the first time.

2009-05-16T16:46:00.001-04:00

Yes.......... thats Joe standing at the Pool Bar.

2009-05-16T16:36:00.002-04:00

Most of the Cruise Critic folks showed up for the Sail-Away.

Where is Joe?

2009-05-16T16:33:00.002-04:00

No booze for the youngest. The boys had chatted online before the cruise.

2009-05-16T16:29:00.001-04:00

The younger bunch were having a good time as well at the Sail-away.

2009-05-16T16:24:00.001-04:00

Carol and Chris's Mom and Dad watching all the dancing on the pool deck.

2009-05-16T16:20:00.002-04:00

Everybody is happy at the Sail-away Party on Navigator of the Seas.

Where is Joe?