I love sea days! And after a busy Day 2 at Coco Cay, we were ready for it. Some people feel very strongly about sea days vs. port days and will pick itineraries heavy with their preference, but I like a nice blend of both, and this itinerary delivered.

We started the day like every other day on a ship for me; breakfast. This morning was different because we went to the Main Dining Room instead of our usual delivered breakfast in the stateroom (more about that here, bottom of page). It was great and there was a variety of offerings from your standard brioche French toast, to lox and bagels, and parfaits. It was not a long, drawn out, meal as the dinners can turn into, rather they move you along nicely to get your day started. With sporadic healthy-eating and exercise plans early in the trip, my husband had a “Power” breakfast that was actually pretty good.

If you’re not interested in having breakfast delivered to your room there are a number of venues on the ship to help you start your day! The Windjammer is one of the best places to have breakfast onboard, and it’s available on all ships. Solarium Bistro, another modified buffet-style option, is a good adults-only alternative that’s available on select ships if you wake up before kiddos and are looking for some morning solitude. Park Cafe in Central Park on Oasis Class is also a favorite of ours.

After breakfast, we went back to the room to change into our pool attire with plans to get crazy at Splashaway Bay, but a friend on the ship called and invited us to Izumi for lunch. We hadn’t made dinner plans for Izumi on this sailing, and really do enjoy it, plus, we’re not ones to turn down an invitation from great friends! So we let the girls have some down time in the room while waiting for our lunch reservation time. We found the children’s programming on the TV isn’t quite as strong as when Royal Caribbean had their contract with DreamWorks, but its not bad for the limited amount of time we’ve needed it. I mean, who doesn’t like Muffalo Potato?

Lunch at Izumi

Izumi is a favorite of ours when we cruise. We have eaten on the hibachi side and the sushi side- both excellent. At the time of this post, unvaccinated children are able to eat on the sushi side of Izumi (I dont see this changing). We ordered an assortment of small plates, large plates, and desserts- the cost for lunch was $34.99 for a pre-fix menu. If your kiddos aren’t interested in anything on the menu, just ask, and they are happy to pull together something from the standard kids menu (chicken fingers, burgers, etc). Their presentation is always on point, and this time was no exception. Obligatory “She’s a Geisha” drink was checked off the must-dos. You can find the recipe for She’s a Geisha here!

The Ultimate Abyss

“Step to the edge. Peer into the darkness. Listen to the call of the unknown. There’s no turning back once you take the plunge. Into the Abyss!”

After lunch all the kids were ready to go to the Zip Line and Ultimate Abyss. While my oldest is quite the daredevil, I didn’t think she was ready for the Zip Line, or perhaps I wasn’t ready for her to go Zip Lining! I wasn’t really even sure she was going to follow through with her determination to ride the Ultimate Abyss, but was supportive yet also prepared for her to back out when she actually got up there; I know I almost did and my husband DEFINITELY did! He’s not as concerned about the heights, but more freaked out by the slight awkwardness of the bag and tube and… and… and.. it just wasn’t for him this trip. Pro Tip: You can’t have any bags, drinks, etc. with you when traveling down abysses so plan accordingly. .

If you haven’t ridden the Ultimate Abyss, I can tell you, if you don’t have an appetite for heights, proceed with caution. I was able to do it but standing up on the glass platform, ten stories above the boardwalk, definitely gave my stomach a good turn!

This is a dry slide- so, no swimsuit. Shorts and shirt sleeves shirts are required if you are headed up in swimwear, and many recommend a long sleeved shirt or rash guard! The dry slide is nice because it gives you more options to fit it in throughout your day. The height requirement is a minimum of 44 inches.

When you get to the top, you climb onto the slide and put your feet into a cloth bag. You hold the bag up with straps and cross your arms. Then off you go! Plummeting 10 stories down the tallest slide at sea!

You’ll end your journey at the bottom on the Boardwalk so make sure you have one parent or someone waiting for kiddos at the bottom as they may find themselves a bit disoriented.

Sugar Beach

After the Ultimate Abyss, the kids were so hopped up on adrenaline we did what any parents who have temporarily lost their minds would do- we gave them SUGAR! Off to Sugar Beach we went. Sugar Beach is one of Royal Caribbean’s signature venues; an onboard candy shop that transports you straight to the classic beachside boardwalk. It has a walk up Ice Cream window with cute colorful seating right on the Boardwalk next to the carousel.

You can try one of their Signature Sundaes (7.50 or included with Star Class):

• Chocolate Blackout

• Sea You Later

• Cookie Crunch Split

Or you can choose from one of their delicious flavors (1 scoop/$3.00, 2 scoops/$4.50, 3 scoops/$5.75):

• Quadruple Chocolate

• So Very Strawberry

• Tahitian Vanilla

• Sea Salt Caramel

• Raspberry Sorbet (dairy free)

• Cookies, More Cookies, and Cream

• Tiramisu

• Triple Chocolate (no sugar added)

• Mango Fiesta

The kids and adults alike all loved Sugar Beach. I had the Chocolate Blackout and it was decadent! If you’re a chocolate lover, you HAVE TO TRY IT! It features Quadruple Chocolate ice cream and comes topped with gooey brownies, chocolate drops, chocolate pearls, whipped cream and a thick drizzle of Nutella. It’s quite the treat!

If none of the offerings so far pique your interest, fear not, you can get adventurous and choose up to three scoops to build your own ice cream sundae!

The combination of the Ultimate Abyss and Sugar Beach put our kids into a tailspin that could only be corrected with a monster afternoon nap. We wandered back up to the room to give our adrenaline and sugar hangover some time to recover. The kids crashed HARD and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset at sea on the balcony.

While we found an abundance of activities to keep us busy on our own, there was no lack of Royal Caribbean planned activities either. Some of the choices on our first sea day were:

• Family Mini Golf Competition

• Family Big Screen Trivia

• Family Themed Trivia, Harry Potter

• Family Scattegories

• Family Christmas Movie Quote Trivia

• Family Holiday Karaoke

• Family Name The Tune, Animated Movies

• Aqua80, 7PM

• CATS, 8:30PM

All of these were open to families in an unvaccinated venue.

Evening

This was the first evening we would use Adventure Ocean on this sailing. On Day 3 the staff at the Adventure Ocean clubs have a much better idea of how many kids on the ship are using their services that week and will often open up availability on Day 3. The is when you want to inquire about any openings if you were unable to get all the time you wanted on boarding day. AO wants parents and kids to have a great sailing and always encourages parents to check back throughout the week and ask if there is any new availability.

We dropped Audrey in AO Junior and handed Palmer over to the wonderful team at AO Babies. They were both offered snacks, crackers, fruit, pizza, and drinks. They asked again about any allergies, last diaper change, requests for sleeping, checked temperatures, washed hands, and they were checked in! They only allow one family at the pick up/drop off desk at a time. This is actually not a new covid precaution but has always been done to respect families’ privacy.

While the kids played, Michael and I went to explore the ship a little, and grab some adult beverages! Our first stop on this trip was the Diamond Lounge. This was our first sailing as Diamond Level Crown & Anchor members and we had to check out the lounge and take advantage of our new free drink perks!. We found it on Deck Four and, almost to our disbelief, we scanned our Sea Pass cards outside the door, and like magic, they opened and we were in! Conversation and highly-entertaining people watching over a cocktail was just what we needed to wind down after such a whirlwind day.

Cheers to a wonderful day at sea and another memorable sailing!