Hate Cruises, Love Zumba
Posted on February 7, 2016 by Ching under Travel, Zumba.
Since I mentioned that Brian and I don’t particularly like going on cruises, you’re probably wondering why we went. Here’s the draw:
The number of Zumba classes offered was no joke. I actually thought there were more classes than that. There was Zumba from 8 AM all the way to 9 PM on most days. Every inch of the ship was doing Zumba.
Here are some of the places that Zumba classes were held on the ship:
– Main Pool Deck
– Pyramid Lounge
– Conference Room
– Studio B (where the ice skating rink is)
– Fitness Center (this is pretty obvious)
– Royal Promenade (I think this surprised some people)
– Jogging Track
– Alhambra Theater
– Helipad (it was pretty rough but made for cool photos)
– Sports Court (this was actually my favorite surface to dance on)
– On Air (also known as the karaoke bar)
– H20 Zone Pool (Aqua Zumba)
– Solarium Pool (Aqua Zumba
I picked some high profile celebrity instructors to take classes from so most of my classes were at the Main Pool Deck, Studio B, or Sports Court. I did crash a few classes in the other locations, though. Classes were going on simultaneously throughout the day. At any given time there were at least half a dozen to a dozen classes to choose from. Besides the classes I’d signed up for ahead of time, we had opportunity to take other classes on a “first come, first served” basis and there were times that it was really hard to decide which class to crash.
Day One, Monday, January 25: Brian and I got up early, had breakfast at the hotel, took a quick selfie, and then headed down to wait for our shuttle to the cruise terminal.
We wanted to board the ship early because I signed up for Nick Logrea’s 2:45 to 3:45 PM class. I had no idea where the class would be so Brian and I wanted to get on early, have some lunch, and maybe even do some exploring around the ship before my class. That was the plan, anyway.
We took the 10:30 AM shuttle to port because we thought we would be able to board at 11:00 AM. Well, that didn’t work out because they were having some technical issues on the ship. After checking in, we had to wait in this massive staging area. It seemed like we waited forever. At least they gave us these nice goodie bags with a nice Zumba Cruise sweat towel and a little Zumba gear catalog with the new designs.
I knew that the Zumba Education Specialists (ZES), celebrity instructors, and other VIPs would get to board first because they had to prepare for their classes and they’re special and such, but it took a really long time. At the time, we didn’t know that there were computer issues. Brian and I just thought, this is why we hate cruises. They herd you like cattle and there’s a lot of waiting around. It was almost noon by the time the VIPs were boarding and it was well after noon by the time boarding for us regular folk started.
It was 1:00 pm by the time we were on the ship. There was no time to waste. We made a beeline for the lunch buffet so I could have some food before my class. Brian, itching to make the most of his $70 a day unlimited drink package, got a Stella from the first bar we came across. LOL.
We didn’t have much time to explore the ship after lunch before I had to be in class but we did have some time to stop by our stateroom. We got an interior cabin to save some money and our room was shockingly tiny. Again, we were reminded of why we hate cruising. Our room was half the size of our master bedroom and our bathroom reminded of an airplane toilet. Good thing we didn’t spend much time in there. Although, I have to say, you get used to the size after a few days. By the fifth day, our tiny room didn’t seem so bad. It’s just a shock when you’re used to the expansive, luxurious rooms that you get at all-inclusive resorts.
It had been almost seven years since our last cruise and I guess we’d forgotten what the staterooms were like. Another reason it was hard to compare is that we’d never cruised on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship before. Our prior two cruises were on Carnival. That and we got a handicap accessible room on the last cruise so the bathroom was actually really roomy, as cruise ship bathrooms go.
Anyway, the information sheet stated that our luggage may not get delivered to our rooms until 8:00 pm at the latest. Brian’s duffel was already outside our door when we came by after lunch so that was impressive. Still, mine hadn’t arrived and may not arrive until much later. Knowing the risks, I came dressed in Zumba gear so I was ready to go for my 2:45 PM class despite not having my luggage.
Here I am waiting for Nick Logrea’s masterclass to begin. I’d never taken a class or workshop from him but I’d heard many great things so I was super pumped.
By the way, that ID thing around my neck my “sea pass” card. Yet another reason that we prefer all-inclusive resort vacations to cruises. You have to carry around that thing with you to get drinks. We never need badges at AIs. I didn’t know where else to put it (ours was tied to our credit card, so I definitely did not want to lose it) so I had to dance with that thing around my neck the entire time. I still had a blast despite the minor inconvenience of having that thing flop around.
Here are a few snippets from class…
Missy’s class was canceled because they were still trying to set things up outside so she ended up taking Nick Logrea’s class with me. You can’t see us very well in this photo because we’re toward the front.
Here are some closer photos…
Here’s a pic of the two of us with ZES Nick Logrea.
And just me…
Brian and I did some exploring after the class. When we returned to our room, my suitcase had arrived. I thought about changing outfits but I only packed so many clothes (we always pack light on our trips) so I decided to just stay in the sweaty clothes. I was just going to sweat again anyway.
My next class was with ZES Steve Boedt at the Main Pool Deck. It was so packed, we could barely move. You make the most of the situation, though. I danced my butt off and managed not to get trampled.
Kass Martin did a cameo in Steve’s class.
She did several songs with him, actually. It was awesome!
I’m glad Brian got some photos because I didn’t have my phone on me. I didn’t have anywhere to put it and I didn’t want to lose it while I was dancing.
Brian and I had dinner by ourselves that night. We called Glynda’s room and Missy and Todd’s room but they didn’t get our message. After we couldn’t connect, I really thought we might not see our friends the entire trip. It’s hard to find people on the ship because it’s so crowded. Brian and I actually lost each other several times. Thankfully, we shared the same room so we just went back there. LOL.
We went to the party at Labyrinth where DJ Francis was spinning and stayed until about midnight. We were hoping to see Missy and Todd, or Glynda, or Rob and Heather but never did run into them. Missy and Todd told us the next day that they went. We must have just missed one another.
That’s pretty much day one in a nutshell. Stay tuned for a recap of day two.
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Cocos Asian Bistro and Bar
Posted on February 7, 2016 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews, Travel.
Brian and I had dinner with our friend Glynda on the eve of the Zumba cruise. We invited her cruise roommate Kate also, but she was too tired from all the shopping they did at the mall. Only Glynda was able to join us.
I remember craving Thai food that evening but Brian wasn’t in the mood for it and Glynda had never tried it before so we decided to play it safe and picked Gilbert’s. We got our Uber driver to pick us up at the hotel and drop us off at Gilbert’s only to find out that they’re closed on Sundays. We looked around the shopping plaza and there weren’t many restaurant options. There was a very loud bar across the parking lot which seemed like fun but it did not appeal to Brian. As luck would have it, Cocos was just a few doors down from Gilbert’s and they were open. The three of us agreed to eat there instead so I got my wish of eating Thai food after all.
We got to the restaurant early enough that we beat the crowds. The restaurant was considerably busier when we left.
Glynda was having problems with the Uber app so Brian helped her install and set it up. And then he explained how to use it and gave her a code for her first ride free.
Here are some of pictures of our meal…
We splurged a little bit and had a few samplers. The calamari was a little spicy for me but otherwise fantastic. I wish that Brian like calamari because he would have enjoyed the sweet, spicy flavor of this dish.
The chicken satay was delicious.
The fried dumplings was another great starter.
Glynda had some miso which she said she enjoyed.
She also wanted a salad but I’m not sure that the soft shell crab papaya salad was quite what she expected. I think she found it a little odd.
We already had several starters so Brian decided to have lettuce wraps for his meal.
I always try the yellow curry everywhere that I can get so I ordered the chicken massaman. At $30 it was a bit more expensive than I’m used to paying. I usually get curry around town for about $10 or maybe $15 if it’s a nice restaurant. That said, this was the best massaman curry I’d ever had. It had just a hint of spice and ample sweetness. I felt it was worth the higher price.
Overall our Cocos experience was pretty good. The menu prices were a tad high but it’s a pretty minor complaint considering the quality of the dishes I tried that evening. If I had some time to spend in Fort Lauderdale, I wouldn’t mind eating here again.
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We’re Back!
Posted on February 6, 2016 by Ching under Travel, Zumba.
Hello, everyone! We’re back! Actually, we’ve been back for a week. We’ve just been super duper busy so I haven’t had a chance to post anything on the blog. Of course, if you’re on Facebook then you’ve already seen lots of pictures and videos because it’s easy and convenient to send those there from our phones.
Here’s the trip in a nutshell.
Brian and I are not really fond of cruising and I didn’t really care for the ports of call on this trip. I went for one thing and one thing alone: Zumba.
These are all the classes I’d registered for:
We did way more dancing than this, though. We crashed a few other classes during the week and attended some late night parties. We were on our feet and dancing the whole week for sure!
Let’s start from the very beginning: flying out of ICT really early. Our ride to the airport picked us up at 4 AM on Sunday, January 24. We wanted to arrive in FLL the day before we board so we wouldn’t have any issues with missing the ship in case of flight delays or cancellations. This was a very real concern because of the way the weather has been. Several people from the East Coast actually missed the cruise for this very reason.
Glynda got to Fort Lauderdale before we did so she was already shopping at the mall when we landed. We stayed at the same hotel so the three of us (Glynda, Brian, and I) went to dinner together that night. Missy and Todd had arrived in Florida on Saturday night but they went to Beto’s class in Miami and were busy cruising around town so we didn’t get to meet up with them before boarding.
The three of us ended up having dinner at Cocos Asian Bistro and Bar. I will post separately about this because it deserves a story all its own.
Here’s our boarding day selfie. Whee!
Brian is up now and we’re supposed to deep clean the house so rather than writing one, really long blog post I’ve decided to break this blog up into the separate days. Keep checking back for the continuation of our trip recap.
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Cram Post Cont’d
Posted on January 23, 2016 by Ching under Babies, Life.
I finally got Nickira’s Christmas present to her after hanging on to it for a couple of months. Ironically, it was the first Christmas present we purchased and it was the last one we had left at home. Nickira asked for the Barbie shopping mall
The package arrived back in November and we just hid it in the office. I wanted to give it to Nickira before Christmas but she ended up going to Texas and didn’t return until after the holidays. Instead we just hung on to it until she got back and I gave it to her on our first meeting of the year.
Nickira set it up in her room the same night she got it and texted me a picture of the completed mall really late. I think it was well after midnight. I didn’t see it until the morning. She said it’s right next to her dollhouse.
In other news, my boss just celebrated her 60th birthday. Brian and I were fortunate to be there for the surprise party. Carmen and Nick were there too, which is a good thing because besides Ginger’s kids we didn’t know anyone else there.
Speaking of kids, we’re seeing some progress with Molly and Saki. It’s slow but I think they’re starting to get along bit by bit. They still fight at least a couple of times a day but I’m optimistic that the fights will eventually become less frequent.
Saki is growing exponentially quick. She doubled in size in her first month. When we got her she was only 4.5 lbs, about half the size of Molly. When we took her to the vet for her pre-spaying assessment and treatments she was 7.5 lbs. I left for Topeka that Monday and when I returned a couple of days later she was 9.5 lbs. That was about two weeks ago. This morning Brian took her to the vet to get weighed and she’s now 10.5 lbs. She is officially way bigger than Molly who tops out at about 8 lbs on a good day.
We mailed out our “Happy New Year” cards a few weeks ago to make up for not sending out Christmas cards this year.
I love Mixbook because they have really cool templates that you can easily customize. I was able to design the card with just a few clicks. I rushed the text a little bit and later found I omitted a few things. Oh, well. That’s what I get for rushing. Overall I was really pleased with how the cards turned out, though.
That’s it. That pretty much catches us up, which is good because Brian and I are leaving town tomorrow and we will not have access to internet.
Come back next week to hear about our adventures on the first ever Zumba cruise!
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What Your Email Address Says About You
Posted on January 23, 2016 by Ching under Web.
This is old but it still cracks me up. Most of the time I use my Gmail address but depending on who I’m emailing I do use different email addresses. I use my @wichitazumba.net email address when communicating with my Zumba pals, my @brubakers.us email address when communicating with others, my @cox.net for another group, and so on. I have specific email addresses for specific reasons although, despite my best effort, I have gotten lazy over the years and junked a few of these up.
One can only be so organized, you know?
P.S. I have different phone numbers for different purposes too. I’m weird like that.
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