summer holiday – The AWord

Harmony of the seas 2023 cruise

Harmony of the Seas is a member of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class of ship. Measuring 1,181ft 1in overall and with a gross tonnage of 226,963 this ship can accommodate 6,296 passengers in total with 2,300 crew members. Aside from the size there are 3 key features that distinguish Oasis class from other classes which are: the Central Park area on deck 8 forward, Boardwalk area on deck 6 aft and the 8 different neighbourhoods the ship has.

Harmony of the Seas docked in Saint Kitts

Royal Caribbean is a US based cruise line which was part of the reason we decided to go on holiday to Orlando the week before. As the cruise sailed from Miami we got a private transfer down to Miami on Friday 18th August and stayed at the InterContinental overnight.

Saturday 19th August dawned and we prepared to embark on our cruise. When we got to the cruise terminal me and my sister were surprised that we would be staying in one of the Aqua Suites, As we were in one of the Aqua Suites it meant that we got assigned a ‘Royal Genie’ as well as earlier access to the ship and our cabin. For me personally this really helped as the early access was only for Suite guests so the only real people around were crew members; it also helped as the Royal Genie takes you to your Suite. As a blind person this helped me to memorise the way to the cabin in a less stressful and quieter environment.

You can read more about the suite experience in the post Harmony of the seas-Aqua Suite experience.

We entered the ship in the promenade area which is home to many of the bars such as Bolero’s, On Air and Boot and bonnet there are also some food options on this deck including Café Promenade and the infamous Sorrento’s Pizza.

As an Oasis class ship Harmony of the Seas had a plethora of activities for guests to engage with. Granted a lot of these activities are universal across the oasis fleet but that didn’t make them any less enjoyable.

There are two main places to look for activities on an Oasis class ship the first is the Lido deck and up which would be decks 15 and 16 and potentially deck 14 if you were interested in the kids clubs. The other place to look would be the entertainment place which is on decks 4, 5 and 6.

Starting off at the entertainment place on decks 4, 5 and 6. on deck 4 there is an ice skating rink, art gallery, casino and of course the royale theatre. On this cruise their where two shows on at the theatre; at the start of the cruise Grease was on and then towards the end Columbus the musical was on. At the ice skating rink there were also to shows; at the start of the cruise there was a show called journey through time and towards the end of the cruise it was the ISkate ice showcase where the skaters performed to there favourite songs. The ice skating rink was also open at certain times for guests to use. There was also a silent disco and comedy nights which were based in the Attic also located on deck 4.

As I stated earlier Deck 5 (the promenade) is where a few of the bars were; however, deck 5 is also host to lots of different activities all the way from quizzes to games shows, karaoke to dance classes. Deck 5 also hosts the parties on board such as the welcome aboard party and balloon drop or the 70s disco party.

Deck 6 is where the Boardwalk is located at the aft of the ship, with a carousel, rock climbing walls, netted climbing for children and the aqua-theatre. This is also where the Ultimate Abyss slide ends which can make deck 6 a busy place especially with the shops, hot dog house and Johnny Rockets.

Going up 9 Decks we reach Deck 16 (there is no deck 13 as it is seen as unlucky). Deck 16 is where the Ultimate Abyss slide starts; it is also where the zipline and flowriders are located. The zip line goes diagonally across the boardwalk and is quite fun but can also be quite busy. The Flowriders produce stationary waves where guests can boogie board, body board or surf.

Deck 15 is where the pools, waterslides, minigolf, sports court, teen area and video arcade are located. there are 3 pools for guests to use and a splashpad known as splashaway bay which babies and children can use. Access to the waterslides can be gained on deck 15; there are 3 waterslides known as the perfect storm these slides are called Cyclone, Typhoon and Supercell. The minigolf is located at the aft of the ship and has 9 holes and a variety of obstacles to get through. The sports court can host anything from Volleyball to football and anything in between. The living room is the designated teen area where teenagers can go and do activities designed for them or play things like video games; the main video arcade is around the corner from the teens club and holds all kinds of different games.

Deck 14 is home to the other kids clubs from the nursery all the way up to pre-teen. Deck 14, 15 and 16 all have the adult only solarium at the front of the ship.

I mentioned earlier about the shows that where put on but there was also bands and soloists playing at different points throughout the ship. There were also a lot of different dinning options which I look at more in depth in my Suite blog post.

Overall I really like Harmony of the Seas and whilst she isn’t the biggest cruise ship she is still big enough to host everyone comfortable; it didn’t feel as if you were being squashed in even on sea days when everyone was in the same places it still felt comfortable even if there wasn’t as many seats.

Harmony of the seas – Aqua-Suite Experience

When we arrived at Miami Cruise Terminal me and my sister had no idea what was about to happen. We had no idea that we were about to embark on a cruise where we were staying in an AquaTheater Suite, which is part of Royal Caribbeans Star Class.

a picture of a plastic sign the sign has a deep purple background with white writing on the writing reads star reserved seating the word star is in bigger font and has the outline of a box which is also in white

Depending on what class you are in you get certain amenities. In Star class you are entitled to complimentary gratuities, complimentary speciality dinning, complimentary minibar and laundry/pressing services, complimentary beverage and refreshment packages. You are also entitled to some of the best seats in select entertainment venues, VOOM Wifi, priority entrance to onboard activities, suite lounge and sun deck and of course you have access to your own Royal Gene!

We were in cabin 9330 which was on the starboard side of the ship in the aft. As we were in an AquaTheater Suite it meant we were able to see/watch the AquaShow whilst onboard. Our Royal Gene was called Wendy and she was absolutely amazing throughout our cruise from the little things like making sure the cabin had enough snacks all the way to organising behind the scenes tours of the bridge, galley and even organising a special behind the scenes tour of the theatre for my sister who loves musical theatre.

a picture of a banner which is in front on angled windows the banner is a thin material and is black with pale pink and white confetti and balloons on the words happy birthday in cursive pale pink writing are in the middle you can also see blown up balloons hanging from the ceiling. the balloons in frame are red and blue

When we first arrived there were balloons on the door and as we entered there was a happy birthday banner and cake for my dad and mum (me and my sister also got a cake but later on in the cruise). As we had priority boarding it allowed us to unpack and get to lunch before anyone else was allowed in the cabins which made the whole boarding experience stress free and a lot quieter.

a pale blue iced cake which has pale blue, white and purple rose shapes around the border in the centre the words happy birthday chris and angela are written in purple icing

a chocolate iced cake which has two halves of a strawberry placed at 12 o clock there are three macaroons on the cake one is down the centre of the strawberries the others are placed at the bottom of the strawberries the two macaroons at the bottom of the strawberries are brown and the one in the centre of the strawberries is green there is red icing in the middle of the cake which reads happy birthday amy and kim

As I mentioned earlier Star Class guests have complimentary access to speciality dinning, and we definitely took advantage of this. We didn’t go to every single speciality restaurant onboard as we didn’t really like some cuisines like izumi which is a sushi restaurant. We did visit: Johnny Rockets, Coastal kitchen, Chops grill, Jamie’s Italian, 150 central park and we accessed room service/Starbucks as this was also complimentary. Whilst this may seem like we has similar things every night I can assure you we didn’t and we even tried things we wouldn’t have thought to try had we not been there. Now as someone who was only expecting to go to one speciality dinning for one meal and then spending the rest of the time in the buffet or main dinning room, the concept of going to a speciality restaurant for every meal took some getting used to.

the front entrance to Jamie's Italian there is a curved roof under which light up red writing reads Jamie's Italian the word Jamie's is in much bigger font and is slightly higher than the word Italian which is smaller, lower down and slightly left of centre

the inside of Central park cafe it is a fairly dim restaurant but we can see circular tables which are laid out for guests with wine glasses and cutlery on a white table cloth

I still can’t decide if I liked Jamie’s Italian or Chops grill better.

Wendy (our Gene) made sure we knew what we were doing each day and when we were doing it, even sending us reminders 15 minutes prior to the event. Like I said Wendy was amazing and she would even take time to come see us at least two times a day to make sure everything was ok. It was more than ok.

a picture of My sister kim and our royal gene wendy kim is stood on the left wearing a blue, red and white Hawaiian shirt and has a slytherin lanyard around her neck which has the snake representing slytherin house on kim has mousy brown short shoulder length hair she is smiling and is wearing glasses to the left of the picture is wendy who is wearing a pale purple shirt with a grey cardigan over the top she has long black hair and a south asian complexion wendy is smiling and has big wide eyes which show her smile in

With our star class status we could go along to the flowrider session put on for star class guests only and whilst I didn’t take part my dad and sister did. I was quite happy sitting getting gently sprayed with water as even though it was 8am it was already about 30 degrees. We also used to Suite deck a lot more than we did the normal pool deck as it was just a lot quieter and there was more shaded seating which was appreciated.

The priority embarking and disembarking from the ship was also an amazing perk for us especially when we had excursions booked, or when we got to Coco Cay as this meant we were some of the first at the loungers on the beaches.

Now the big question everyone is probably thinking. Is it worth the price?

From my point of view I believe it is worth the price, If you utilise as much of it as you can then it is definitely worth the price. Now we may not have necessarily utilised what we had as much as other people do but we utilised what we needed to. I think for us the biggest positives were the access to the Royal Gene as this helped our holiday run a whole lot smoother: this includes the prioritised seating we got, early access and the behind the scenes tours and all of the opportunities Wendy helped provide us with throughout the cruise. The access to laundry as we had already been on holiday for 9 days prior to embarking on the ship. Of course the speciality dinning really helped us to try things we might not have tried had we been in the buffet we probably would have stuck with what we knew we liked.

I think we probably could of used more of everything involved in the experience but we like to be able to go out and explore and experience things on the cuff rather than having everything in black and white. Whilst our schedule had been planned ahead of time for somethings we were able to adjust the timings to suit us, a brilliant example of this is when we moved our dinner to a later time a couple of hours prior as my sister wanted to go and perform at karaoke.

If you are planning on getting a suite which includes a Royal Gene I have two pieces of advice for you

Be nice to them they are human and they are amazing with everything they do behind the scenes.
Don’t feel as if you can’t change anything. If you don’t like that restaurant or the menu that day as to switch it out and if possible it will happen. If you don’t want to do that show it is completely fine

Overall if you can do a suite experience like this even if it is only once do it. I loved it and as a blind person it made my holiday so much more relaxing and I am sure it would make anyone holiday more relaxing.

Universal Studios ride rating

I recently went on holiday to Orlando, specifically Universal Orlando. I thought I would give my ranking for all of the rides in the Universal Studios Park..

There are 13 different rides in this park some of which are rollercoasters and some of which are simulators. You can view the full list here.

As a blind person I am going to have different experiences on these rides as I interact with all of these ride differently to how everyone else would.

13 Illuminations villain con minion blast

This is the newest ride in Universal Studios, in fact it opened when I was in Florida on the 11th August, however, for me this ride was very underwhelming. for a new ride the line was short we only waited 30 minutes; this could of been because the ride is a moving walkway meaning the queue is constantly moving but it could also be a lack of interest in this ride. As I said this ride has a moving walkway which moves you through the building where you have to shot things that come up on the walls. Now the shooting aspect could be another reason I personally found this ride underwhelming as I had no idea what to do all I know is there were flashing colours. But I did overhear comments from other guests in the park about how underwhelming this ride was. for me personally this ride is definitely not worth the wait. One aspect of the ride I did like was the queue because it allowed you to interact with some of the replicas of the villains devices, it was also very cool which was a nice break from the heat.

a picture of a bright orange sign which has white writing on which reads welcome to villain con international

12 Dispicable me minion mayhem

Another minions ride, this one is a lot older but is still a bit underwhelming. It is a nice calm ride to go on but it is very similar to a lot of the rides in this park and I have definitely grown out of these kinds of rides. Again I feel I could be missing crucial parts of this ride due to my sight loss and the fact this ride is a simulation. I can definitely see the appeal of this ride for younger guests or families.

a picture of a sculpture there are multiple minions with a sign in the middle which has a blue background and yellow writing the sign reads MInion Land

11 fast and furious supercharged

This ride is very much like King King Skull Island. The ride is a party bus which is very jerky and is very loud and for me was very overstimulating with the noise, lights and movements. I really didn’t enjoy this ride and personally I think a lot more could have been done for this ride; they could of had a rollercoaster (which they are planning for Universal Hollywood) which in my opinion would have been a lot better and more exciting.

10 Race through New York starring Jimmy Fallon

This ride is very similar to the Minion Mayhem ride only with a tad more excitement. Again I feel I missed out on some elements of this ride due to it being a very visual ride. Again I loved the consistent theming throughout the queue and being given a colour which was represented on the NBC logo.

a picture of the front entrance to JImmy fallon race through new york the front of the building is designed to look like NBC and has what looks like a cut out of jimmy fallon on the top of the overhanging entrance — Photo from Discover Universal (https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/attractions/complete-guide-to-race-through-new-york-starring-jimmy-fallon-at-universal-studios-florida/)

9 Kang and kodos twirl and hurl

This is essentially the Studios version of Red Fish, Blue Fish, One Fish, Two Fish but it is themed to the Simpsons genre. A fun classic theme park ride, I have witnessed smaller children being scared of the ride due to the aliens and the sound they use for the alien voice. other then that this is a great classic theme park ride.

8 Hogwarts express

You may be thinking Amy you have already reviewed this but as the train goes both ways i am reviewing it again. This ride (like I have said previously) is a great way to stay cool for a few minutes and transfer between parks. I do like the fact the storyline changes depending on which way you are going. But again I missed out on part of the ride due to its visual nature. It would be great if Universal could offer visual impaired guests an audio description headset for the journey.

7 Transformers the ride 3D

This ride is again a visual ride whoever it is more like the Spiderman ride over in Islands of adventure meaning that their were 4D elements during the ride. despite this ride being mostly visual I still enjoyed although I did remember it being more exciting than it actually was. I did struggle with the queue as it was very dark and the lighting in the queue was red or blue which would change unexpectedly; as a blind person I really struggled with the lighting in this queue and even turning a torch on wasn’t helpful..

a picture from the back of the transformers ride building you can see where the entrance is and there is a transformer on the roof nearest to the entrance

6 The Simpson

This is another simulation ride which is very visual but also physical as the ride vehicle moves around in conjunction with the visual aspect of the ride. For me personally this was one of the better rides as i could see the bright colours that they used in the film and the audio and physical movements of the car helped me gage what was happening.

5 MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack

a picture of the men in black ride it is a white building with arcs the sign is in a oval shape in black and reads men in black alien attack — Photo from Universal Orlando ( https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/gb/things-to-do/rides-attractions/men-in-black-alien-attack)

This ride is another ride where you have to shoot something in this instance you have to shoot aliens. Now I love this ride its like a mini rollercoaster but a simulator at the same time. and honestly I just randomly point and shoot and it has never failed me so far. Do I get the best scores no. But I did manage to beat my family, don’t ask me how.

a picture showing the three blasters belonging to Amy, her sister and her mum the photo is a bit blurred due to the ride still moving but you can see the score on all of the blasters the one in the far left belongs to amy mum you can't make the full score out but it was around 10,000 the blaster in the middle belongs to amy sister kim and again you can't make the full score out but it is around 9,900 the blaster on the far right belongs to amy and has the score 23,950

4 ET adventure

This is a classic Universal ride its calm yet still entertaining and interactive. For me personally the ride was just pitch black but I was told there were lights throughout the ride. Even though I couldn’t see the visual aspects of the ride I still really liked this ride and would definitely go on it again.

3 Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit

This is probably the most daunting ride universal studios offers, but like we say in my family “if you can do rip ride rockit you can do anything”. I do really enjoy this ride and although I can get stressed going on it due the moving walkway and how quick you have to get in your seat. I also sometimes feel as if I am not secure in the seat but that is mostly in my head. This ride is enjoyable and you do get to chose music (although I didn’t as I was unable to access the touch screen). I would do this ride a few times maybe not all in a row but definitely a few times spread out over the course of a visit.

a picture of some of the track for rip ride rockit we can see where the ride starts and goes up at a 90 degree angle as well as the loops and upside down sections of the track

2 Harry potter and the escape from Gringotts

Escape from Gringotts was definitely in the running for first place, With the high speed rollercoaster section mixed in with 3D and 4D elements this ride was definitely one of the best. I loved the fact that even though I couldn’t see the 3D parts I still knew what was going on because of the audio, sound effects and 4D effects like fire and water. I would go on this ride all day if I could.

a picture taken from down diagon ally of Gringotts bank it is a tall white building with pillars on the top of this building sits a white dragon the dragon on top of the building will breath fire at random intervals

1 Revenge of the mummy

This ride most certainly deserves 1st place. Very similar to how the Gringotts ride works the Mummy has high speed rollercoaster sections which also go backwards. If my memory is correct I believe the Mummy has had some more parts added in as there were a few parts that I didn’t remember being in the ride previously. Again this is a ride I could go on continuously and never get bored of.

a picture if the entrance to the mummy it is a white building with four pillars out front the is a sign that reads revenge of the mummy — Photo from Universal parks and resorts ( https://universal-parks.fandom.com/wiki/Revenge_of_the_Mummy_(Florida))

Islands of Adventure Ride Ranking

I recently went on holiday to Orlando, specifically Universal Orlando. I thought I would give my ranking for all of the rides in the Islands of Adventure Park.

There are 18 rides in Islands of Adventure. You can see a full list here.

Some of these are rollercoasters and some are motion simulation rides. Unfortunately I will not be including the Cat in the hat ride, One fish Two fish Red dish Blue fish ride, The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride or the Caro-Seuss-el ride as I have not been on this as these rides are recommended for 12 and under.

As a blind person i am going to have different experiences on these rides as I interact with all of these ride differently to everyone else.

14. King Kong Skull Island

This is probably a controversial one. But I personally don’t like the King Kong ride. Personally I wasn’t a fan of the party bus style of ride especially as a lot of the ride is very visual so i didn’t really get the full experience of what was going on around me. I did like the queue aspect of the ride as this was themed very well and all though most of the queue was inside the lighting was pretty good. This was good for me as a blond person as i really struggle with changes in lighting. However this wasn’t enough for me to rank this higher on my list.

13. Flight of the Hippogriff

This is a classic simple rollercoaster. This is a ride mainly aimed at younger guests but is definitely worth a go. I personally now find the seats cramped and and the ride is very jerky which causes a lot of movement which the seat. If this ride wasn’t as jerky as it is I would definitely go on it again.

a picture showing the hippogriff rollercoaster cars the front of the cars is shaped like the head of a hippogriff and the are two people to a car — Image from Universal Studios Japan (https://www.usj.co.jp/web/en/us/attractions/flight-of-the-hippogriff)

12. Pteranodon Flyer

These are probably only this low because of the amount of other rides available in this park. The Pteranodon flyers are essentially a suspended swing which has the top part shaped like a Pteranodon. This is a classic theme park ride and for a very long time was the only sort of ride my sister would go on.

11. Hogwarts Express

This ride transports you between each park however what makes this ride ‘pop’ is the visual aspect something which I can’t appreciate as much as other people. I do still like this ride as it is a calm way to get between the parks and the sounds that are played along the way are very realistic of what it may be like riding the train either to Hogsmeade or to Kings Cross.

A video of the Hogwarts Express pulling into Hogsmeade station

10. Storm Force Accelatron

This is a classic theme park ride and is essentially a glorified version of the teacups. Now whilst I do enjoy the teacups they do have a habit of making me incredible dizzy something which can impact one of the eye conditions that I have. I personally also feel there are better rides throughout the park.

9.. Dr Doom Fearfall

This is another classic theme park ride; where you as the rider are shot straight up into the air and then back down. For me personally I think this type of ride was one of the first theme park rides I went on and whilst they may not give me the same type of adrenaline kick they once did they still do give me an adrenaline boost. I loved the atmosphere of this ride the sound effects played throughout the line and as you boarded the ride added an extra layer of atmosphere to the whole ride.

a picture showing two towers that loom in the sky there is a sign at the bottom of the picture in pink which reads DR DOOMS FEAR FALL in the centre of the sign is a picture of dr doom — Image from Universal Orlando (https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/gb/things-to-do/rides-attractions/doctor-dooms-fearfall)

8. The amazing adventures of Spiderman

This is a 3D simulation ride which takes you on a trip through New York as you try and rescue the Statue of Liberty from the villains. Again this is a very visual ride but even with that in mind I still really enjoyed this ride there was a lot going on audible so that I could still have a vague idea what was going on during the ride. and even during the queue there was audible aspects such as the Bugles editor telling you what the mission was. there was also some aspects of the ride such as water spray or fire being unleashed which I was able to feel. I did also like the lighting in the queue as it wasn’t overly dark or overly bright which for me as a blind person was really great.

7. Jurassic Park River Adventures

This is one of three water rides in Islands of Adventure. This is a tame river ride through the Jurassic period where you encounter numerous different dinosaurs; the ride suddenly gets caught going into the raptor area which is classified as dangerous before you finish going down a steep incline narrowly escaping a TREX. For me this ride wasn’t as exciting as it could be and I seemed to remember it being scarier than it actually was; whether that was because the ride has changed or whether it was because I was a lot younger the last time I went on I couldn’t tell you.

entrance to the Jurassic park river adventure there is a pale grey stone with a red sign reading river adventure the stone slopes off to the left of the picture and forms a point like a triangle — Image from discover universal website (https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/attractions/complete-guide-to-jurassic-park-river-adventure-at-universals-islands-of-adventure/)

6. Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls

This is the second of the water-rides in Universal Islands of Adventure. This ride is more like a log flume which makes in my books makes it more exciting than Jurassic Park River Adventures the final drop down is definitely steeper and higher up. Whilst this ride gives me less auditory feedback than Jurassic Park River Adventures Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls gave me more adrenaline and excitement. I did struggle queuing for this ride as parts of the flooring can be wet and therefore slippery; for me as a blind person this wasn’t the best.

5. Hulk

Now I already know that this ranking is going to be a controversial one. Whilst I do like the Hulk I always come off the ride feeling dizzy and faint; this is the only ride I have ever come off feeling like this. I also struggle with the lighting in the queue for the Hulk not only is it dark but the little lighting that is in the queue also happens to be green which makes the whole queue seem even darker. Now I get that the queue is themed to the ride but for me as a blind person this is probably one of the worst queues for me to go through, As I said earlier I do like the Hulk but it doesn’t seem to like me.

a picture showing the whole of the hulk rollercoaster track the track is green and shows multiple loops, turns and corkscrew sections — Image from Fandom Website (https://universal-parks.fandom.com/wiki/The_Incredible_Hulk_Coaster)

4. Harry Potter Forbidden Journey

This ride is one of the rides in the parks which has a moving walkway when you board the ride; the staff were lovely on this ride and directed me to the stationary boarding area so that I wouldn’t have to tackle the moving walkway. The queue for this ride does go from light outside to dark inside which was very hard for me to adjust to. For the ride itself it is one of those rides that I personally could go on again and again without getting tired of. Whilst the majority of the ride is visual there are a lot of audio aspects which accompany the visuals and add more to the story. The same can also be shown in the queue for the ride as whilst it is dark there are things like talking portraits. I have loved this ride since I first went on it in 2014.

3. Popeye and Bluto bilges-rat barges

This is the third and final water-ride in Universal Islands of adventure and for me this is the best out of the 3 in this park. This is a rapids ride which sends you over waterfalls and into caves. Now I don’t know if it was just me who felt this but at certain points of this ride such as when you go into the cave I could feel cold air being blown about making you feel as if you were truly stuck in a cave. This ride just felt entirely more immersive.

2. Jurassic Park Velocicoaster

This is one of the newest rides in Universal and it definitely was difficult deciding between the top to rides. But for me this ride felt like a mix between the Hulk and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. I liked the fact the queue had clips of recorded footage making it seem as if you were actually going on a mission involving dinosaurs. However the queue was again dark and what little light that was in the queue was coloured blue making it even harder to see. I probably did go on this ride the most but it was a worthwhile ride and for a newish ride it shocked me how short the queue was.

a picture of rollercoaster track you can see the track angling towards us as it covers round begore going straight again and curving the other way

1. Harry Potter Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure

This ride was well worth the 75 minute wait I had to wait in at 8am. Theming for this ride is on point with the ride vehicles replicating Hagrid’s motorbike with the side car and buttons on the motorbikes dashboard, The ride would accelerate and slow down much like Hagrid’s motorbike did and at some points the bike would even go backwards. Along the ride at various points you would encounter different magical creatures from blast ended skrewts all the way to a unicorn. What i liked about these encounters is you would have a commentary from ‘Hagrid’ and some of the encounters would have an aspect you could feel such as fire. I loved all the aspects of this ride the only thing I didn’t really like was the darkness of the queue.

a picture of the entrance to Hagrid's motorbike there are 4 people stood under an umbrella by the entrance the entrance is a stone arch way which leads into a spire at the top there are trees in the background — Image from WDW News Today (https://wdwnt.com/2023/01/rumor-hagrids-magical-creatures-motorbike-adventure-to-close-for-refurbishment-next-month-at-universal-orlando-resort/)

Now as I stated earlier my rates are going to be completely different due to certain circumstances that not everyone will have. I also know that a lot of what I found difficult about each of the rides is what a lot of people find engaging and what actually sets the rides apart. This is in no way an official rating of each of the rides and all of these are my own opinions.

My Floridian holiday (Summer Holiday Part 1)

I made it!

Finally after 3 years of waiting I got to go on my 2020 summer holiday. If this is the first blog post that you are reading you may want to read ‘Is summer here??’. Now this holiday is going to be split into 2 parts; part 1 is going to be about Orlando Florida and the Universal parks, part 2 is going to be about my Caribbean cruise on Harmony of the Seas.

On Thursday 10th August I travelled to Heathrow airport and flew out to Orlando Florida. When we arrived at the airport we found out that for this flight my dad had upgraded us to premium economy as well as booking us into the Club Aspire lounge.

A picture containing an LED screen which is mounted on the wall. The screen primarily has a black background but there is some yellow at the top of the screen and white in the middle. the screen says Lounge D club aspire lounge pay on entry passengers welcome open 01:00 - 22:00

a picture taken inside of club aspire of an LED sign which reads Club Aspire with a symbol which looks like a > sign

I will admit this did make the whole process of checking in and waiting at the airport less stressful for me and I felt a lot more relaxed going into the flight. We did sign up for assistance at the airport and got fast-tracked through security and we did get priority boarding for the plane but as my mum was with us we needed minimal assistance but what we received from the staff was great. Again this did make the process less stressful which is always a bonus.

a ;picture of the Portofino Bay hotel it is a posh looking hotel with a facade meant to replicate the style used in Portofino Italy there is a lake in foreground of the picture which reflects the building on its surface, the buildings are a mixture of yellow, red and pink.

We landed at about 8pm and got to the hotel around 9:30pm. We were staying at the Portofino Bay hotel which is a Universal hotel meaning we got early to the parks. For early admission you are allowed in from 8am and there were two rides you could go on at this time which were Hagrid’s Motorbike or Velococoaster. These are the two newest rollercoasters but there was a massive difference in wait time. For example Velococoaster was 15 minutes when the park was open to all guests but Hagrid’s Motorbike was 50 minutes long at 8am when the park is only open to early admission guests.

We decided to spend a couple of hours everyday either in Islands of adventure or Universal Studios. The heat was just too much to be spending full days in the parks; so we opted to spend a couple of hours and then head back to our hotel for a few hours before adventuring back out to City Walk for food.

a slightly blurry picture of Amy stood in front of the universal globe at night. Amy has dirty blonde short hair she has a small smile on her face. Amy is quite far away from the globe so you can see the word universal on the globe and to the right of the picture you can see the arch which is the entrance to the universal studios section of the park

I loved a lot of this holiday but the thing that both shocked and amazed me was the amount of knowledge and acceptance that the staff at universal seemed to have for visual impairments, well disabilities in general. The fact that I could walk up to a ride with my white cane and get help with the whole ride process made me feel included like I was everyone else. Yes at a certain point in the ride queue I would be asked if I wanted to use the lift to get to the ride station and at that point I would go a different way to everyone else. But on the whole I felt so much more included.

The kind of help I was offered honestly depended on the ride for some rides I would have the moving walkway slowed down, for others I would be able to have my cane one the ride but most I had to give it to a ride attendant. For a majority of the rides I would go to a different loading area whether that just be the opposite side to the normal loading area or a custom built one like they had on forbidden journey.

This amount of accessibility and thoughtfulness really did make my holiday that much better as it allowed me to be like anyone else who was visiting the parks.

There were some days when we didn’t visit the parks but on these days we still went out either to Universals waterpark Volcano Bay, walking down International drive, visiting SeaWorld or even Hotel hopping to different Universal owned hotels.

a picture of Amy who has dirty blonde hair is wearing dark sunglasses and a small smile. Amy is standing in front of the fountain outside the hard rock hotel the fountain has a sculpture of guitars in the middle

I enjoyed everything in the first half of my delayed holiday and there was even more to come.

If you want to know what I thought of each ride at Universal Orlando go the Islands of Adventure Ride Ranking or Universal Studios Ride Ranking.

To read about the Caribbean cruise I went on go to Harmony of the Seas 2023

Preparing for summer!!!

A couple of months back I wrote an article, titled is summer here, about whether my 2020 summer holiday was finally here (3 years later). Well it is now officially summer; meaning it is now time to start preparing for my (delayed) holiday.

Going on holiday tends to mean one thing… shopping for holiday clothes/essentials. Now I am not the biggest fan of clothes shopping or shopping in general. As somebody who is blind but also isn’t fully comfortable in the way they look this task is made some what harder. The main point of shopping for clothes is to see how they look on you and how they fit. Shopping can cause me a lot of anxiety and stress especially as shops tend to be crowded, overly-loud and bright.

Thankfully for me I happen to have a ‘fashion guru’ at home in the form of my sister Kim. I honestly do not know how she knows what suits each person and if it matches their skin tome based on colour theory. Apparently if you have green veins you are a warm toned person and will suit red, orange, or yellow-ish colours, if you have purple or blue veins you are a cool toned person and will suit blue, purple or green-ish colours and if you have all three colours of veins (blue, purple, green) you are neutral toned and will suit pretty much any colour. (I have fact checked what I just wrote with the guru herself so it is correct)

Although the shopping trip did make me exhausted, my sister did somehow get me through it in one trip eliminating any need for any more outings than necessary.

a picture of me and my sister Kim in a clothes shop. there is a variety of colourful clothes behind us on railings. my sister has short light brown hair which is styled and reaches the very top of her shoulders she is wearing a light blue long sleeved top she had glasses on and is smiling. I am stood next to her I have short dark blonde hair which is down to my shoulders I have a denim jacket on and a red and blue polo shirt i am looking about ready ti go home there is a very faint smile on my face though

A few weeks have gone by since the dreading shopping day and it is now time to start packing ready for this 3 week holiday. My empty suitcase soon became full of clothes; one side of the suitcase holds clothes for Florida and the other holds clothes for the cruise

an empty red suitcase with two sides on display

one side of the red suitcase full with clothes this is the side dedicated to cruise clothes in the picture we can see blue aqua shoes in the top left there is a red t shirt in the top right on the left hand side in the middle there is a flower dress and below that there is a white short sleeved cardigan and in the bottom left corner there is a pair of white shorts. going down on the right hand side there is a pair of green shorts and below that there is a pair of blue shorts and in the bottom right there is a blue Hawaiian shirt

I have had this suitcase since my first trip to Florida back in 2014, I originally chose it because it was red and looked “cool”. But now I like this case so much because it is so tactile and I can feel the design on it and know it is mine. It also happens to be a bright red which is one of the colours I can see best.

Now the only thing left to pack is my carry on bag. Here is a list of all the things I take in my carry on for a long flight.

IPad
Charges for things like my phone, IPad ect
Headphones
Sunglasses
Any medication I may need that day
Light weight hoodie (in case it gets cold)
Snack food (in case I don’t like the food on the plane)
Wallet
Hand sanitiser/ wipes
Bluetooth keyboard

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