In Slow Motion
June 28. 2025
Sea Day #1
Sea Days are our FAVORITE!
Morning
After a decent night's sleep we got ready for the day and made our way to Café Latitudes on Deck 5 for a coffee. TIP- This location serves Starbucks coffee but IT IS included in your Ultimate Beverage Package. While there we noticed some small breakfast items like sandwiches and burritos so we opted to completely forgo the Windjammer and try these breakfast items since we had lunch and dinner specialty reservations. This prompted us to try and not eat in the Windjammer at all this whole cruise... Challenge Accepted. These small breakfast items were actually really good and reminded me of the Café at 270* on the Anthem of the Seas in June 2025.
Well hello there Saturday... We LOVE YOU!
Café Latitudes breakfast options... These were a great way to avoid the Windjammer!
The coffee was lacking a bit in my opinion!
After breakfast we made our way to the Schooner Bar for the Morning Puzzle followed by 4 different trivia contests. Unfortunately, we did not win any of these but we met new cruise friends and had a great time chatting with them and trying to win these ridiculous trivia questions. We then went to our lunch reservation at Giovanni's Table.
It's time for Giovanni's Table! I am so excited!
Afternoon
Once again, Giovanni's was so impressive and we were completely blown away by the food. I swear the lunch may have been even better than the dinner. And as mentioned before, the Mushroom Risotto is delicious and worth every calorie. TIP- Giovanni's lunch is well priced at only $20-25 per person and WELL worth not having to fight the Windjammer. We left "fat and happy" and then decided to go walking on the outside of Deck 5.
Giovanni's Table came as if out of NOWHERE and we were so impressed with the food!
Meat and Cheese Board- 3.5
The meat and cheese board to share was pretty good... We loved the cheese and olives.
Caprese Salad- 5.0
Seriously... this was SO GOOD!
Spaghetti Bolognese- 2.0
The pasta was weird and fat but the sauce was good
This is the best thing I have had to eat in a LONG TIME (on sea or land).
Panna Cotta- 4.0
This was really rich but so good!
We walked several laps around the ship before deciding to lay out in the shade of Deck 5 listening to the ocean go by. Although we noticed not only were the seas calm but we were moving SUPER SLOW. After we laid for about an hour, we decided to check out the map on the TV to see how fast we were going... It turns out, we were going 7 knots or 3 miles per hour. Basically just traveling in a circle as we made our way to Coco Cay.
This is always my FAVORITE view!
This right here... calms me even from the biggest anxiety attacks.
No kidding... I watch this to reduce my blood pressure!
The elevator door on Deck 3 was shattered... It was not like this early on this day!
The rest of our afternoon was spent at the Casino. TIP- The Jewel has a TINY casino and doesn't offer very many table games, but the Casino bar has plenty of seating while waiting for a table or slot machine to open! After about a 20 minute wait, we were able to find 2 spots at the $10 blackjack table where we stayed for nearly 2 hours. Chris got down fairly quick after the 2 hours but I kept going and walked away up, but not by much. Unfortunately, we missed the Friends Trivia but we had fun in the Casino.
Evening
We went to the Pre-Dinner Trivia in Schooner Bar and once again came close to winning but we did not. We opted to go get ready for dinner and then come back to the Safari Lounge for the Family Feud gameshow. It was formal night and we got dressed in our "semi formal wear" and fit right in. TIP- Royal Caribbean suggest attire but it is not enforced by any means. Nowadays, cruise formal wear is pretty much anything YOU feel comfortable in. I wore a nicer "church/ professional" dress and Chris wore khakis and a button down shirt. No coat and tie needed on Royal- which is nice!
Formal Night #1... We love the "laid back" Formal vibes on Royal Caribbean!
After the Family Feud gameshow we went to listen to the piano player in Schooner Bar before our Chops Grille dinner reservation. Chops Grille, as always, was SO good. The food is made to order and is always the best steak at sea. We had a great meal and even got to see the Icon of the Seas and the Carnival Celebration pass by... proving we were going SUPER SLOW!
The Chops Grille main menu (we were able to order more than one appetizer)
The Crab Cake- 4.5
This NEVER disappoints and is LOADED with flavor!
The Shrimp Cocktail- 4.5
Chris LOVED this!
The Lobster Bisque- 4.0
This is always so good but SO RICH!
Goat Cheese Salad- 4.5
This is always my favorite part of the meal, it is so light and flavorful and the pecans just make it pop!
Side Dishes- 4.0
These were SO GOOD. The tater tots were my favorite!
The Chops Grille dessert menu
Sky High Apple Pie 4.0
I am not a pie person but this was really good and cooked very well!
Hello Icon of the Seas!
Despite being on a VERY small ship with very little to do overall, this just doesn't appeal to me right now! 6K+ passengers and the amount of kids alone just screams "no thank you". Maybe one of these days (and not during the summer).
After dinner we went to the Comedy show in the Coral Theater and this was a bigger hit than the Tango show but was still a miss in our book. TIP- Royal Caribbean just DOES NOT do comedy well overall. In our opinion and experience, Comedy is the BIGGEST PLUS Carnival has to offer. They do comedy SO WELL!
We ended our night once again watching cricket in the Pit Stop Sports Bar before heading to bed around 11:30PM. Tomorrow was Coco Cay and we were so excited to explore this private island of Royal Caribbean's on our own. The last time we came to Coco Cay on the Independence of the Seas 2024, we spent the day at the adults only beach club- Hideaway Beach Club so we were excited to see what all Coco Cay has to offer!
We love Sea Days!
Up Next... Coco Cay on our own! Stay tuned!
God is Good... ALL THE TIME!
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Carnival Legend- ALASKA- 2016
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