Beyond the Blue
- Jan 8, 2020
- 4 min read

From a Quick Escape to a Fine Line

Stop me if you have heard this one before...Also Spoiler Alert.What do you get when you lock 12 mid-westerners in a room? Anyone....anyone.... You get the fasted team in the last two months to Escape the Rubicon. That's right not only did we escape the Rubicon, we crushed it.

Our day started out very lazy and quickly turned interesting. Madison and I got ready, grabbed some breakfast at Mini Bites and headed for the Escape Room. We booked our escape room experience months ago. Upon our arrival we met the 10 other folks we would be playing with. To our surprise and theirs we all had something in common. Everyone single one of us was from the Midwest. There was a couple from Apple Valley, MN, 4 folks from Ohio, another couple from Chicago, and a couple from Fargo, ND. What are the odds of that? No really could one of you math wises figure that out for me. We entered the Rubicon only to realize we were trapped with no place to go. Maybe it was because deep down we really did not like each other and wanted out of the room quickly or maybe it was because some one in the group smelled bad, hopefully it wasn't me, but we demolished that escape room in under 40 minutes. There was almost enough time to do it twice. We also did it with out any clues. Our guide for the event said we were the fastest group he has seen come through there in the two months he was on the ship. We politely informed him, we are all from the Midwest, we spend our winters trying to escape rooms because, well, there really isn't anything else to do. So after taking a group photo, it was time to do something else. I actually expected it to take longer then that.

We decided to walk around the ship a little bit and maybe participate in some of the on-board activities. Madison challenged me to mini golf, something about wanting revenge and being able to putt with the roll of the ship. Nope it decided to rain. So back to the room for a little work and to complete the review from yesterday. Madison even got in on it and assisted remembering what we actually did. After we were done with that, it was off with Johnny Rockets for lunch.

So Johnny Rockets is one of the specialty dining options on Royal Caribbean. It is a much cheaper option with burgers and other sandwiches and all you can eat fries. Unfortunately, this was another not so good stop for the diet. I see a theme emerging. After consuming a large amount of "Oh so good but I really should not eat that food, including a strawberry shake, burger and fries, it was time to work it off. So we reverted back to out winter ways and went and took a nap. It did not help that it was raining and most activities shut down. Darn, I was really hoping to do the zip line again. Or not.

Tonight was formal night, so it was an opportunity to get dressed up and look all fancy. Made me feel like I deserved to be in the Crown Suite. I tried to go there, they threw me out. Well back to steerage for us Jack. After getting ready, we headed to the Main Dining room for supper. We had a nice meal consisting of fresh fruit again, Seafood Vol-au-Vent, and Beef Carpaccio for starters, and then enjoyed Roasted Beef Tenderloin and Almond Crusted Cod for our course. Madison went back to her staple for dessert Apple Pie a la mode and I found the Creme Brulee tasty last night and just as tasty tonight. Side note... Beef Carpaccio makes my daughters face frown. She was not a big fan of it. She wanted me to advised everyone that it is a life choice you should never make.

After supper we went and watched the Friendly Feud in the On Air Club. It really wasn't that friendly. Got to be honest with you, I thought I was going to have to break up a few fights. But in the end, everyone walked away with a lovely key chain. We then headed for our main show of the evening the Fine Line show in the Aqua Theater. While standing in line, we met a nice couple from Ham Lake, MN. This time we did not talk politics. We discussed the escape room and how weird it was that in our journeys today we met two couples from MN on ship that holds over 6,500 people not including crew.

Wasn't sure what to expect with the Fine Line show. We watched some of the practice from our room this afternoon. Madison seem really enthusiastic about it as you can tell by the photo. The show featured dancing, slack line walking among other things, aerial acrobatics, and water splashing. Glad I was not in the front row. All in all the show was very well done and entertaining. It was hard to keep up as there was so much stuff going on all over the place. The slack line walking at 55 feet above the deck was probably the most impressive as he was on a moving ship with a little wind and a bunch of people watch him. After the show, it was back to the room to turn in for the night. Tomorrow Madison is going to put her college education to work when she becomes scuba Steve.