Day 12

Escape Rooms, Shuffleboard Confusion and Late Night Game Shows 🎭😂

Today was our first full sea day after several sightseeing days in Mexico, so apologies in advance if there isn’t quite as much happening today! We’re also looking forward to heading to Hawaii in a couple of days as a change from our recent week of cruise ship life. Overnight we regained another hour due to crossing back through time zones, so our reward was an extra hour of sleep.

After breakfast, we spent most of the morning relaxing in the adults only section of the ship until around 10:30am, when I headed off to an escape room activity I’d booked onboard. Apparently these escape rooms are something Royal Caribbean specialises in, although unlike normal escape rooms where you play with your own small group, these involve complete strangers all working together.

Things didn’t exactly start smoothly. The games master arrived fairly late, although in fairness he may simply have had a busy schedule elsewhere onboard. Then the introduction video refused to cooperate, leading to several awkward minutes of technical difficulties before we could finally begin. Once we entered though, the room itself was genuinely impressive. It had been designed to resemble an old observatory, complete with scientific equipment, mysterious controls, hidden compartments and atmospheric lighting. Royal Caribbean had clearly put a decent amount of effort into it.

Surprisingly, considering there were twelve strangers involved, most people worked together really well. Most being the key word. One older woman was so loud and domineering that it occasionally became difficult for the rest of us to contribute. The puzzles themselves were also genuinely challenging and at several points we needed hints from the games master because information wasn’t always being communicated properly between different parts of the group. Even so, it was still a lot of fun and definitely something I’d consider doing again on another Royal Caribbean cruise.

I deliberately ate lunch early afterwards because I figured the gym might be quieter while everyone else was eating. Thankfully the strategy worked, and the gym was far less crowded than the last time I attempted to work out onboard. Meanwhile, Ted had been messaging the others about playing quoits on deck, which somehow created confusion on several levels. Firstly, his phone autocorrected “quoits” to “coitus.” Secondly, the Americans had absolutely no idea what quoits even was (I think it’s called “ring toss”). Thirdly, Ted eventually realised he actually meant shuffleboard the entire time. In the end, none of us played anything because we couldn’t even find the equipment.

Ted and I later wandered down to check out the ship’s ice rink—not because either of us planned on skating, but simply because it still seems bizarre and impressive having a functioning ice skating rink inside a cruise ship sailing through Mexico. Afterwards we spent a fairly lazy afternoon back in the room while I continued my current Netflix addiction, Million Dollar Secret. We also decided to pre-book a cruise ship airport transfer for when we return to Los Angeles. It’s only slightly more expensive than using Uber, and neither of us particularly likes the idea of competing with several thousand passengers trying to order rideshares on disembarkation morning.

Tonight was another formal night onboard, so we thought we might try dining in the main dining room instead of the Windjammer Marketplace. Unfortunately it was already fully booked, so we’ll attempt that tomorrow night instead. We still dressed up though, although it’s interesting that the majority of passengers on this cruise don’t really seem to participate in formal night anymore. It definitely feels much more casual than cruises we’ve done in the past.

After dinner, we headed back to The Bamboo Room for drinks where Ben and Brett convinced us to attend the adults-only late-night activity called The Crazy Quest Game Show. The show basically involves teams of passengers racing around the theatre completing ridiculous challenges set by the cruise director. The tasks start off fairly harmlessly before becoming increasingly chaotic, involving costumes, dancing, audience participation and people willingly embarrassing themselves in the name of competition.

To say some passengers became committed to winning would be an understatement. Several people launched themselves into the challenges with absolutely no concern whatsoever for preserving their dignity, which honestly made the whole thing hilarious to watch. Let’s just say it definitely wasn’t a game show designed for shy people.

We ended up having a much later night than intended—well after midnight, which feels practically reckless at our age—but thankfully tomorrow is another sea day, so we can recover properly before eventually arriving back in Los Angeles.Read more