I'm back on the second of my month apart Celebrity cruise - this time with my husband.
On Friday, we board the Reflection for an eastern Med cruise. I've got both a camera (not just a phone), and a husband with a new camera, so I really will try to both post pictures and post in a timely manner (I don't think he'll run around with a tablemate until 2 am like my sister and I did on the Equinox a few weeks ago).
So where am I now? It's about 11:45 pm and I'm in an airport hotel in San Francisco. The hotel is located right by the runway, and thus every 3 minutes it gets very loud in the outside. It's not the hotel we usually stay at and an experiment with a Starwood property (I'm a Marriott person). So far, pre cruise Starwood is 0 for 2. I usually stay at the Marriott, a couple of miles away, but they were very expensive for tonight.
We leave at 8:30 tomorrow Am, hence the hotel tonight, arriving in Rome via Chicago (so glad I didn't connect through Houston) at about 11:00 am Thursday. I may post from Chicago tomorrow, but hopefully with nothing particularly exciting to report. I'll also bring back my thread on the Princess board if I notice anything new and different. And last but not least, I'll also put this on my blog.
Good night all. Any typos are due to husband distracting me by putting pillows over the computer. Apparently he wants the lights out. Too bad, I had two cups of coffee and one ice tea at dinner.
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Friday, August 18, 2017
Farewell Miami - see you next year
Sadly, it’s debarkation day. We awoke around 7 and were happy to see that our bags were gone. We dressed, packed up and headed to the buffet for a final breakfast, since we’d missed the dining room. Never did make it there for breakfast. It was possibly the busiest place we’d been all week. We finally found a table, and grabbed some food - I had a final eggs benedict and our last really good orange juice. We still had quite a while before our group would be called - we were in group 40 and I think they were up to about 7, so we went to the sky lounge to wait for our number. Our official “meet time” was 9:40 and at about 9:55 they called all the final groups. We headed off the ship into a fairly long line at the bottom of the gangway. It seemed to take a while, although honestly, it was probably more like 10-15 minutes. Once at the bottom of the escalator (which was probably the reason it was slow, it was fairly fast to get through immigration. We then went to the baggage claim, and there were carousels. I’m used to wandering through a section of a warehouse looking at every bag. It didn’t take long to find our bags and head outside.
It took a while to figure out where the rental car pick up was - we never did figure it out. I saw a Budget truck drive by so I ran (as much as I could with suitcases) and found the van past the port area, and at a lunch truck. I asked the drivers if that was our van, and they told me to hop in. I called Beth and once we were on, and they were finished with their snack, it was off to the Budget office.
I’d heard stories of long lines on turn around days, and when we dropped the car on the way in there were lots of people waiting. Since the Equinox was the only ship in, and we were the only ones on the shuttle, there was no wait and the car was ready.
We were flying out of Ft. Lauderdale in the evening so lots of time. First thing we decided to do was visit the Wynwood Walls - an art exhibit of graffiti on building walls - the area was previously warehouses, and now features work by well known street artists. We walked around for about an hour, including a stop at a coffee house. It was very warm, so we left after an hour.
Next stop was the Holocaust Memorial in South Beach. Beth said it gets great don’t miss reviews on trip advisor. If you drive by, you see a sculpture of a hand reaching up, but if you park and go in, you see all the people sculpted with around it, and around the base. If you walk to the center, you walk among the sculptures - very moving. The walls also have panels with victims names - apparently the names are those that were submitted to them.
After that, we decided to head up to Ft. Lauderdale for lunch and then the airport. Several years ago we’d spent Thanksgiving in Ft. Lauderdale, so were familiar with it. We knew the mall there had some good restaurants, so we headed there. We ended up at the Capital Grill having burgers - very good, and better than what we’d had on the ship. From there we went to Starbucks, and put gas in the car. (When we rented they said for 14.00 we could return without gassing up - since we put in about 5.00 worth, we were glad we didn’t do it.
At the airport, we were disappointed we weren’t in the same terminal, so Beth walked me to my security checkpoint, since it was nearer to the rental car return, and we said see you in November. We both then went to our delayed flights.
My first flight was about 20 minutes late, and I had a 55 minute connection in Denver. It looked like the gates would be about 5 apart and we’d only be a few minutes late, so I was told it wouldn’t be a problem, and there were 16 of us connecting to San Francisco. When I arrived in Denver the flight to SF was going to be 30 minutes late - and I think it was just announced, since I was checking constantly while on the first flight. It ended up, by the time left, being almost 2 hours late, and I got home at 2:00 am.
It was a fun trip, and now time to start thinking about my next one - I’ll be back from the Reflection in just under two weeks.
It took a while to figure out where the rental car pick up was - we never did figure it out. I saw a Budget truck drive by so I ran (as much as I could with suitcases) and found the van past the port area, and at a lunch truck. I asked the drivers if that was our van, and they told me to hop in. I called Beth and once we were on, and they were finished with their snack, it was off to the Budget office.
I’d heard stories of long lines on turn around days, and when we dropped the car on the way in there were lots of people waiting. Since the Equinox was the only ship in, and we were the only ones on the shuttle, there was no wait and the car was ready.
We were flying out of Ft. Lauderdale in the evening so lots of time. First thing we decided to do was visit the Wynwood Walls - an art exhibit of graffiti on building walls - the area was previously warehouses, and now features work by well known street artists. We walked around for about an hour, including a stop at a coffee house. It was very warm, so we left after an hour.
Next stop was the Holocaust Memorial in South Beach. Beth said it gets great don’t miss reviews on trip advisor. If you drive by, you see a sculpture of a hand reaching up, but if you park and go in, you see all the people sculpted with around it, and around the base. If you walk to the center, you walk among the sculptures - very moving. The walls also have panels with victims names - apparently the names are those that were submitted to them.
After that, we decided to head up to Ft. Lauderdale for lunch and then the airport. Several years ago we’d spent Thanksgiving in Ft. Lauderdale, so were familiar with it. We knew the mall there had some good restaurants, so we headed there. We ended up at the Capital Grill having burgers - very good, and better than what we’d had on the ship. From there we went to Starbucks, and put gas in the car. (When we rented they said for 14.00 we could return without gassing up - since we put in about 5.00 worth, we were glad we didn’t do it.
At the airport, we were disappointed we weren’t in the same terminal, so Beth walked me to my security checkpoint, since it was nearer to the rental car return, and we said see you in November. We both then went to our delayed flights.
My first flight was about 20 minutes late, and I had a 55 minute connection in Denver. It looked like the gates would be about 5 apart and we’d only be a few minutes late, so I was told it wouldn’t be a problem, and there were 16 of us connecting to San Francisco. When I arrived in Denver the flight to SF was going to be 30 minutes late - and I think it was just announced, since I was checking constantly while on the first flight. It ended up, by the time left, being almost 2 hours late, and I got home at 2:00 am.
It was a fun trip, and now time to start thinking about my next one - I’ll be back from the Reflection in just under two weeks.
Last sea day AKA Cruiseship highway
We decided to sleep in so hit the very late breakfast. There was a decent set of choices, even with what they called late breakfast - no poached eggs (Benedicts) available, but you could still get omelettes, etc. We were there so late that they were setting up lunch, and we happened to see a whole display of gluten free desserts. Two of my nieces have Celiac, so that was very reassuring for Beth.
We then had a sort of do nothing day, until we went to lunch a couple of hours later. We were seated at a 4 top table, and right after we sat down, we noticed that Tom and Michelle, from our St. Martin tour, were walking to a nearby table. We had them join us and we had a very nice and delicious lunch, that lasted a long time.
After lunch, we went to Guest Relations to get Beth’s card replaced yet again (it had demagnetized before lunch, and I noticed people with disembarkation tags. We’d never received anything. So while at the front, I asked about it. We should have received a disembarkation letter and tags, so the agent gave them to me for our preferred time. (Last debarkation time since we weren’t flying out until evening).
After lunch we did a final use the OBC shopping trip (I found some very nice earrings) and then got ready for dinner and, sadly, pack. Originally, Beth had arranged with Manny and Steve that we’d come and get them at 6, and go to the Casino before dinner. The Celebrity Today showed Beauty and the Beast playing at 5:15 and we thought it would be fun to watch the start of that. So on our way, we stopped by their room to let them know we’d meet them in the Casino around 6.
We did watch the first 50 minutes or so of the movie and then headed to the casino, where Steve and Manny were waiting. They said the casino was too dead, so we went to the GastroPub bar. They all ordered drinks from the gastropub, but I went to the Martini bar to get my last Candied Apple Martini (yes, it’s very sweet). Beth and I wanted to see the last of the shows - Life. Manny decided to go with us, and then we talked Steve into it. He said he’d go but only if we sat near an aisle so he could leave early. Deal struck and off we went. We did sit by an aisle, and Steve made it through all but the last number of the show. I felt this was the weakest of the shows. There was minimal costuming and set, and I guess the very vague story line was boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, or something like that.
We then went briefly back up to the room to grab pen and paper to exchange contact information and went to our last dinner. We were all there, although many tables seemed to be empty nearby. Steve and Manny had brought a bottle of champagne, so we had several toasts. The best, had to be Beth’s, who toasted that this was the best table she’d ever had on a cruise (remember this is her first cruise). After dinner we bid a fond farewell to our waitstaff (and Manny who decided to go to bed early) and headed back up to the Sunset bar to watch for the meteor shower, which was supposed to peak tonight. We spent time chatting and looking, but all we saw were a lot of cruise ships going every which way. We did, after about an hour, see one, so we gave up and decided to call it a night, since everyone has to be up early.
But first, we headed to the front of the ship to the Sky Lounge where they were doing the second of two instances of Silent Disco. That, if you’ve never been to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah lately, is where participants wear headphones playing music and they dance to it. There are 3 channels so everyone’s dancing to different things. There was a short line to get headphones, so I decided to join it. Although Steve said he thought it could take hours, he decided to join too, as did Beth. We then bid Terry and Claude a fond farewell.
It took only a few minutes to get our headphones, and we joined the party. First step was to order our parting drink from the bar and then we danced. Beth and I found some of our favorite songs that were played at the Susan Koman 3-day (an event we are part of every year) and other songs that I’d love to dance to. After about 45 minutes, we returned the headphones, and head back to our rooms. We bid Steve a fond farewell, put out our bags very late, and made one last trip to Guest Relations to take care of a couple of odds and ends. Thus ends our last full day.
We then had a sort of do nothing day, until we went to lunch a couple of hours later. We were seated at a 4 top table, and right after we sat down, we noticed that Tom and Michelle, from our St. Martin tour, were walking to a nearby table. We had them join us and we had a very nice and delicious lunch, that lasted a long time.
After lunch, we went to Guest Relations to get Beth’s card replaced yet again (it had demagnetized before lunch, and I noticed people with disembarkation tags. We’d never received anything. So while at the front, I asked about it. We should have received a disembarkation letter and tags, so the agent gave them to me for our preferred time. (Last debarkation time since we weren’t flying out until evening).
After lunch we did a final use the OBC shopping trip (I found some very nice earrings) and then got ready for dinner and, sadly, pack. Originally, Beth had arranged with Manny and Steve that we’d come and get them at 6, and go to the Casino before dinner. The Celebrity Today showed Beauty and the Beast playing at 5:15 and we thought it would be fun to watch the start of that. So on our way, we stopped by their room to let them know we’d meet them in the Casino around 6.
We did watch the first 50 minutes or so of the movie and then headed to the casino, where Steve and Manny were waiting. They said the casino was too dead, so we went to the GastroPub bar. They all ordered drinks from the gastropub, but I went to the Martini bar to get my last Candied Apple Martini (yes, it’s very sweet). Beth and I wanted to see the last of the shows - Life. Manny decided to go with us, and then we talked Steve into it. He said he’d go but only if we sat near an aisle so he could leave early. Deal struck and off we went. We did sit by an aisle, and Steve made it through all but the last number of the show. I felt this was the weakest of the shows. There was minimal costuming and set, and I guess the very vague story line was boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, or something like that.
We then went briefly back up to the room to grab pen and paper to exchange contact information and went to our last dinner. We were all there, although many tables seemed to be empty nearby. Steve and Manny had brought a bottle of champagne, so we had several toasts. The best, had to be Beth’s, who toasted that this was the best table she’d ever had on a cruise (remember this is her first cruise). After dinner we bid a fond farewell to our waitstaff (and Manny who decided to go to bed early) and headed back up to the Sunset bar to watch for the meteor shower, which was supposed to peak tonight. We spent time chatting and looking, but all we saw were a lot of cruise ships going every which way. We did, after about an hour, see one, so we gave up and decided to call it a night, since everyone has to be up early.
But first, we headed to the front of the ship to the Sky Lounge where they were doing the second of two instances of Silent Disco. That, if you’ve never been to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah lately, is where participants wear headphones playing music and they dance to it. There are 3 channels so everyone’s dancing to different things. There was a short line to get headphones, so I decided to join it. Although Steve said he thought it could take hours, he decided to join too, as did Beth. We then bid Terry and Claude a fond farewell.
It took only a few minutes to get our headphones, and we joined the party. First step was to order our parting drink from the bar and then we danced. Beth and I found some of our favorite songs that were played at the Susan Koman 3-day (an event we are part of every year) and other songs that I’d love to dance to. After about 45 minutes, we returned the headphones, and head back to our rooms. We bid Steve a fond farewell, put out our bags very late, and made one last trip to Guest Relations to take care of a couple of odds and ends. Thus ends our last full day.
Where do those stairs go? Don't go
This was our first of two final sea days, and the first time that we could sleep in a bit since San Juan. We grabbed a late breakfast, and during breakfast heard the days announcements. Up at 11:30 was the Great Equinox cook off - a, what top Chef would call a Quick Fire, cooking challenge between two Marine officers and two hotel officers. We decided to attend that.
Before that, though, we headed to future cruise sales to figure out next year’s trip. Beth has limited time to travel based on her kids schedule and other things, so we worked with the representative to find the perfect cruise - same ship, a week earlier and Western Caribbean.
Then, on to the Cook-off. Each team had similar ingredients, but a different protein - they first introduced the hotel team. They walked over to station 1, and then switched to station 2. Apparently station 1 had salmon and 2 steak - and they decided Marine should do Salmon.
The teams had 15 minutes to make and plate a dish (two plates each). The judge was the food and beverage manager. The clock started and Sara (cruise director) and hotel guy (forget his name) entertained the crowd with jokes and comments about the food and beverage department. They did point out that on the ship, none of the chefs cook, so are probably very out of practice. The marine team had Nina, a security officer from Romania, who apparently cooks a lot at home. They made a salmon with a garlic aioli, with a side of veggies. The hotel team made a steak with veggies and fingerling potatoes. I’m not exactly sure what their preparation was, since the dishes were never described.
The first comment about the steak dish by hotel guy was that the one dish had one extra carrot and the other one extra piece of steak. The hotel team responded by eating them. The tasting was pretty even (and pronounced delicious) but the Marine team won because they had the better plating. As we walked out we could inspect the dishes. We took advantage of that, and spent a few minutes chatting with Sara. We suggested maybe more commentary on what they were making and we also found out about her background. She’s from the Basque part of Spain, and was given English lessons as a child, so that’s why a non-native-English speaker can be a CD. (Every other one I’ve ever has has been from an English speaking country, usually Canada or the UK). She actually has been one of the better ones - spending about 5 minutes each morning explaining the days activities but leaving us alone to do them after that.
Today, we decided to go to the Gastro Bar for lunch. They have a la carte pub menu that looked good. We both decided to order burgers and maybe a side. We thought about truffled fries, but Beth doesn’t like truffles. We agreed that the Cheddar soup sounded good, so we decided to split one although not perhaps, the most obvious choice with burgers. The waiter did warn us that it could take a little while and asked if we wanted the soup first. He also offered to bring the soup first.
After a time (I don’t remember how long it took - not long enough for me to worry about it) he brought two bowls of soup and two burgers. The burgers came with the truffled fries, so he said he’d bring Beth some plain ones. The soup was absolutely delicious - and the burgers were good, but the burgers and the fries, were not very warm. I think the problem is that the food comes from the dining room galley, which is at the back of the dining room. So in addition to the time it takes for the waiter to walk the food through the dining room to the bar, he/she has to go back to check for it. I’d probably do it again, but maybe just get soup and eat the rest of lunch elsewhere.
We then wandered around the shops for a bit, and then got ready for our evening. Since this was Friday night, somebody had set up a Friday night service (Jewish). I know they are passenger hosted, and have always been curious so we decided to go. It was led by a young man from London, and he seemed to know what he was doing. Because there were people from different branches of Judaism, the service was a little different - but I don’t go very often so I can’t be very specific as to what was what. The ship (I assume) provided wine (Manachevitz) and Challah (bread). They only set out about 6 wine glasses, and somebody suggested we all share, but we weren’t exactly up for sharing with strangers. Someone found a stash of wine glasses, so Beth and I shared a bit, and we all shared the bread. Apparently some people dip it in honey so there was exactly one individual package of honey (the size you get with the sugar for coffee and tea). We did speak to the leader afterwards, and it turns out he’s a cantor (singer in the synagogue) and on his honeymoon. There were also prayer books, so I’m thinking the ship has them, since I doubt people bring 10 identical hardcover books on board.
We had about 40 minutes after it ended before dinner, so we decide to walk around for a bit. And at the nearest bar we ran into our stablemates Steve and Manny, so we sat and had a drink with them, and then headed to the dining room for a fun dinner.
Since this was supposed to be the start of the annual meteor shower, we headed up to the rear of the ship to watch for meteors for a while. We hung out there for a while, and then gave up. Terry and Claude (our other stablemates) went to bed, and the rest of us went to the casino. Manny played a bit of slots, with us taking turns pushing the button. It took about 10 minutes to lose 20.00. He played a second game while we watched. Next it was roulette, and Steve talked Beth into playing some roulette.
At this point, I decided that I wanted to change my shoes from heels to sneakers. I went up from the casino on 4 to our room on 10, carrying a bottle of water, a glass of ginger ale and my shoes. Got to the room, and my key had stopped working. So back down to Guest Relations on 3, new key, back up to 10, back down to 4. Did I mention I did all this via stairs? When I returned, Steve was still there with Beth, who’d already played and lost her small chip set. Then we watched Steve play 3 card poker for a bit. Finally, we decided to go back up to the top to see if the meteors had shown up. I’d brought my phone so I could Face Time Glen, so I decided to text since it was getting late his time, and I wanted to let him know I’d try to call. The message didn’t go through, because it was text - I was on the wifi, so I thought it would go through as iMessage. I then tried FaceTime and it said it was awaiting activation. After about 10 minutes of trying, I got a text from Glen (via iMessage) asking if I’m seeing (or saw) the Carnival Magic behind us. I did, and figuring that iMessage, and FaceTime would work, I called him for a bit.
By this time, it was getting on 2:30 am, so we decided to go to bed. Steve decided he was hungry, so we stopped by the buffet. On the way, we noticed a crew door open with stairs. Steve suggested that we go down and find the crew bar. Beth and I said no. On arriving at the buffet, we found nothing there. This surprised me, since it was a cruise ship, you’d think there would be food 24x7. Apparently you could order from room service, but after 11pm, there’s a delivery charge. We gave up and went to bed.
Before that, though, we headed to future cruise sales to figure out next year’s trip. Beth has limited time to travel based on her kids schedule and other things, so we worked with the representative to find the perfect cruise - same ship, a week earlier and Western Caribbean.
Then, on to the Cook-off. Each team had similar ingredients, but a different protein - they first introduced the hotel team. They walked over to station 1, and then switched to station 2. Apparently station 1 had salmon and 2 steak - and they decided Marine should do Salmon.
The teams had 15 minutes to make and plate a dish (two plates each). The judge was the food and beverage manager. The clock started and Sara (cruise director) and hotel guy (forget his name) entertained the crowd with jokes and comments about the food and beverage department. They did point out that on the ship, none of the chefs cook, so are probably very out of practice. The marine team had Nina, a security officer from Romania, who apparently cooks a lot at home. They made a salmon with a garlic aioli, with a side of veggies. The hotel team made a steak with veggies and fingerling potatoes. I’m not exactly sure what their preparation was, since the dishes were never described.
The first comment about the steak dish by hotel guy was that the one dish had one extra carrot and the other one extra piece of steak. The hotel team responded by eating them. The tasting was pretty even (and pronounced delicious) but the Marine team won because they had the better plating. As we walked out we could inspect the dishes. We took advantage of that, and spent a few minutes chatting with Sara. We suggested maybe more commentary on what they were making and we also found out about her background. She’s from the Basque part of Spain, and was given English lessons as a child, so that’s why a non-native-English speaker can be a CD. (Every other one I’ve ever has has been from an English speaking country, usually Canada or the UK). She actually has been one of the better ones - spending about 5 minutes each morning explaining the days activities but leaving us alone to do them after that.
Today, we decided to go to the Gastro Bar for lunch. They have a la carte pub menu that looked good. We both decided to order burgers and maybe a side. We thought about truffled fries, but Beth doesn’t like truffles. We agreed that the Cheddar soup sounded good, so we decided to split one although not perhaps, the most obvious choice with burgers. The waiter did warn us that it could take a little while and asked if we wanted the soup first. He also offered to bring the soup first.
After a time (I don’t remember how long it took - not long enough for me to worry about it) he brought two bowls of soup and two burgers. The burgers came with the truffled fries, so he said he’d bring Beth some plain ones. The soup was absolutely delicious - and the burgers were good, but the burgers and the fries, were not very warm. I think the problem is that the food comes from the dining room galley, which is at the back of the dining room. So in addition to the time it takes for the waiter to walk the food through the dining room to the bar, he/she has to go back to check for it. I’d probably do it again, but maybe just get soup and eat the rest of lunch elsewhere.
We then wandered around the shops for a bit, and then got ready for our evening. Since this was Friday night, somebody had set up a Friday night service (Jewish). I know they are passenger hosted, and have always been curious so we decided to go. It was led by a young man from London, and he seemed to know what he was doing. Because there were people from different branches of Judaism, the service was a little different - but I don’t go very often so I can’t be very specific as to what was what. The ship (I assume) provided wine (Manachevitz) and Challah (bread). They only set out about 6 wine glasses, and somebody suggested we all share, but we weren’t exactly up for sharing with strangers. Someone found a stash of wine glasses, so Beth and I shared a bit, and we all shared the bread. Apparently some people dip it in honey so there was exactly one individual package of honey (the size you get with the sugar for coffee and tea). We did speak to the leader afterwards, and it turns out he’s a cantor (singer in the synagogue) and on his honeymoon. There were also prayer books, so I’m thinking the ship has them, since I doubt people bring 10 identical hardcover books on board.
We had about 40 minutes after it ended before dinner, so we decide to walk around for a bit. And at the nearest bar we ran into our stablemates Steve and Manny, so we sat and had a drink with them, and then headed to the dining room for a fun dinner.
Since this was supposed to be the start of the annual meteor shower, we headed up to the rear of the ship to watch for meteors for a while. We hung out there for a while, and then gave up. Terry and Claude (our other stablemates) went to bed, and the rest of us went to the casino. Manny played a bit of slots, with us taking turns pushing the button. It took about 10 minutes to lose 20.00. He played a second game while we watched. Next it was roulette, and Steve talked Beth into playing some roulette.
At this point, I decided that I wanted to change my shoes from heels to sneakers. I went up from the casino on 4 to our room on 10, carrying a bottle of water, a glass of ginger ale and my shoes. Got to the room, and my key had stopped working. So back down to Guest Relations on 3, new key, back up to 10, back down to 4. Did I mention I did all this via stairs? When I returned, Steve was still there with Beth, who’d already played and lost her small chip set. Then we watched Steve play 3 card poker for a bit. Finally, we decided to go back up to the top to see if the meteors had shown up. I’d brought my phone so I could Face Time Glen, so I decided to text since it was getting late his time, and I wanted to let him know I’d try to call. The message didn’t go through, because it was text - I was on the wifi, so I thought it would go through as iMessage. I then tried FaceTime and it said it was awaiting activation. After about 10 minutes of trying, I got a text from Glen (via iMessage) asking if I’m seeing (or saw) the Carnival Magic behind us. I did, and figuring that iMessage, and FaceTime would work, I called him for a bit.
By this time, it was getting on 2:30 am, so we decided to go to bed. Steve decided he was hungry, so we stopped by the buffet. On the way, we noticed a crew door open with stairs. Steve suggested that we go down and find the crew bar. Beth and I said no. On arriving at the buffet, we found nothing there. This surprised me, since it was a cruise ship, you’d think there would be food 24x7. Apparently you could order from room service, but after 11pm, there’s a delivery charge. We gave up and went to bed.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
What country are we in?
Today was Sint Maarten, St. Martin. In this port, we'd worked with a local guide, Tony Dublin, to provide a 5 hour taxi tour. We'd be joined by two couples from our cruise critic roll call. Late yesterday, I received an email from one telling me that 1/2 had broken her knee and they'd have to cancel. I asked if they were able to continue the cruise. No reply. The pricing was based on a minimum of 6, so if only four went the price would go up. We hadn't heard from the other two, and didn't meet them at the gathering, so if they didn't show, we'd have the whole price, unless we could recruit our table mates. We couldn't, so if it was just us, oh well.
We did a room service breakfast, and because we had concierge rooms, we got an expanded room service menu. Yesterday, we'd ordered a bunch of stuff, but today, we decided that a cold cereal breakfast plus some bacon was perfect. We learned that if you order cereal, you do need to order enough milk for it. Then, Beth put her tea bag in my coffee, so another call to replace. At least I made the order taker laugh.
We then made our way down to where we agreed to meet. We were pleased to see that not only did the people who hadn't cancelled show up, the people who did were there too. Turns out her knee wasn't broken, so if she didn't have to do serious walking, she could do the tour.
We then headed off the ship, and it took them a little while to get off, since, because she'd been taken to a hospital yesterday, she had to be cleared to leave the ship in port. They'd cleared her, but there was no record of it or something. After a few minutes, the clearance was recorded, and off to meet Tony.
He took us all over the Island, explaining much about the history, the culture and other interesting facts. We did see a lot of the well known beaches, including Orient Beach and the small communities there.
We also visited a farm that is a day resort. They have a restaurant, gift shop, pool, hiking trails and activities. They are thinking of making it a hotel with rooms, and if they do it will be a very nice place to stay. We then went to Marigot, the capital of St. Martin. We stopped to walk around and visit any of the shops or restaurants. We went to Sarafina, which is considered the best pastry shop around. We had fruit beignets which were delicious.
From there, back to the dutch side. We made several stops for the view, and also visited Maho beach, known for being right by the airport runway (you might recall a woman died from a jet blast a few weeks ago). We didn't time it right for a big plane, but did see a small one come right over us. A few more stunning views and our tour was over.
We then shopped the port a little bit, but really didn't see anything we needed. Then back to the ship. Since it was almost 3 and we'd only had a snack since breakfast we headed up to lunch. Turns out that the buffet ends lunch at 2:30, which to me seems early considering people often come in from excursions later than that. They had what they called afternoon snacks, which was basically pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salads. I tried a burger from the grill and wasn't too impressed. We ate with our fellow cruise critic and tour participants, and had a nice time.
We finished around four and headed downstairs for some relaxation time before dinner. I went up to the sky lounge to watch the sail away. Dinner was the usual lively affair, and we pretty much closed the dining room. Two of our tablemates want to attend a homage to Miles Davis, and so the rest of us went to the casino. I don't gamble so it was just to hang out. We stayed for about an hour just watching, while Steve (our tablemate) decided that Beth should meet a high roller. We spent some time talking about whether the ring on his left hand was a wedding or signet. Well, actually Steve talked about it. After that to bed, another fun day in the books.
We did a room service breakfast, and because we had concierge rooms, we got an expanded room service menu. Yesterday, we'd ordered a bunch of stuff, but today, we decided that a cold cereal breakfast plus some bacon was perfect. We learned that if you order cereal, you do need to order enough milk for it. Then, Beth put her tea bag in my coffee, so another call to replace. At least I made the order taker laugh.
We then made our way down to where we agreed to meet. We were pleased to see that not only did the people who hadn't cancelled show up, the people who did were there too. Turns out her knee wasn't broken, so if she didn't have to do serious walking, she could do the tour.
We then headed off the ship, and it took them a little while to get off, since, because she'd been taken to a hospital yesterday, she had to be cleared to leave the ship in port. They'd cleared her, but there was no record of it or something. After a few minutes, the clearance was recorded, and off to meet Tony.
He took us all over the Island, explaining much about the history, the culture and other interesting facts. We did see a lot of the well known beaches, including Orient Beach and the small communities there.
We also visited a farm that is a day resort. They have a restaurant, gift shop, pool, hiking trails and activities. They are thinking of making it a hotel with rooms, and if they do it will be a very nice place to stay. We then went to Marigot, the capital of St. Martin. We stopped to walk around and visit any of the shops or restaurants. We went to Sarafina, which is considered the best pastry shop around. We had fruit beignets which were delicious.
From there, back to the dutch side. We made several stops for the view, and also visited Maho beach, known for being right by the airport runway (you might recall a woman died from a jet blast a few weeks ago). We didn't time it right for a big plane, but did see a small one come right over us. A few more stunning views and our tour was over.
We then shopped the port a little bit, but really didn't see anything we needed. Then back to the ship. Since it was almost 3 and we'd only had a snack since breakfast we headed up to lunch. Turns out that the buffet ends lunch at 2:30, which to me seems early considering people often come in from excursions later than that. They had what they called afternoon snacks, which was basically pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salads. I tried a burger from the grill and wasn't too impressed. We ate with our fellow cruise critic and tour participants, and had a nice time.
We finished around four and headed downstairs for some relaxation time before dinner. I went up to the sky lounge to watch the sail away. Dinner was the usual lively affair, and we pretty much closed the dining room. Two of our tablemates want to attend a homage to Miles Davis, and so the rest of us went to the casino. I don't gamble so it was just to hang out. We stayed for about an hour just watching, while Steve (our tablemate) decided that Beth should meet a high roller. We spent some time talking about whether the ring on his left hand was a wedding or signet. Well, actually Steve talked about it. After that to bed, another fun day in the books.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Saltfish and goat and okra oh my!
Saint Thomas! Today, we have a two hour walking tour called the Tasting and Cultural tour. We were told to be at the Ft. Christian entrance for a 10:00 tour, and to be 15 minutes early. We figured it was about a 40 minute walk, and I had google map printouts of the route. So at about 9am we left the ship. It was very hot, so we opted to take the shared taxi to downtown. It was 4.00 each. So, everything I googled and printed said Ft. Christian. I told the taxi service I wanted the Courthouse. No idea why I did that. I'm sure the driver was surprised why anyone would want to go there.
When we got there, we checked the voucher and then realized it was Ft. Christian. Fortunately we were 20 minutes early. We asked at the Courthouse they said to turn right and it was the big red building a block away. Needless to say, we arrived in plenty of time.
Just before 10, Gerard, our guide arrived. Turned out we were the only two people on the tour today, so we set out. The tour was a tasting and cultural tour of the downtown area. We learned about the US purchase of the Virgin Islands, how Charlotte Amalie was built up, slave revolts and other fun facts. We visited a tea shop for hibiscus tea, saltfish quiche and a small salad. The next stop was for Rum Cake at a bakery owned by a nonprofit that helps at risk kids get job training. They opened a very good back for those kids to work at. Next stop was Gladys's cafe - a well known cafe featuring local favorites - a conch fritter, a cornmeal and okra mix and callaloo soup. Beth pointed out that there was a Cosby episode about Callaloo soup. Our final food stop was at a place called Cuzzins, where we were served goat stew, rice and beans and a plantain. The plantain was the best I've ever had. We finished the tour at a bar, and were served a bushwacker a local drink with about 5 kinds of liquor in it. Google it for a recipe.
Following that, we decided to see the building where Camile Pressaro, the father of modern impressionism was born. It turns out, while it's called the Pressaro building, it's pretty much retail with a lawyer and doctors office. There is a plaque indicating that's where he was born, but that's about it. After that, we went to the synagogue - the oldest in North America, and one of three with a sand floor. They have a small museum and we learned a bit about it's history. Pressaro's family were members back in the 19th century.
We also went to a craft shop run by a retired english teacher, and Beth bought a Moko Jumbie for her doll collection (that's a Carnivale stilt walker). I also bought a pair of earrings with a local stone. After that, we decided to head back to the ship. Our guide had told us that to get a shared cab back, we should cross the main street on the beach (they drive British side but with American left side drive, driver in the weeds) and find an indent in the road. I thought we were at a taxi stop, because it said Taxi parking only, but Beth thought it wasn't indented enough. An open air taxi stopped, but by the time we asked how much, he drove on because the light changed. About 5 minutes later a closed van taxi came by, and told us it was 4.00 each back. He told us to hurry in, so we did and back to the port we went.
It was a zoo when we got to the port, probably because the Allure of Seas (nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the Seas by some of us when it was new) and it was dumping over 5000 people. It had been docked for a couple of hours, but I suspect that people had lunch and then left. An hour later it was quiet again.
We didn't want lunch, so went to Cafe Bacio for coffee, and then sailaway. After that, we didn't do much until dinner.
It was great going back to our regular table for dinner. The dinner was the usual good, and featured the menu we thought we'd have the prior night. All was well in the food world. We enjoyed our dinner, and pretty much closed out the dining room. We wanted to keep the conversation going, so we decided to go to the sky lounge up on deck 14. Once we got there we discovered it was Latin Night with the DJ and impossibly loud. So we decided to move to the Ensemble lounge on deck 5. Back down we went. We ordered drinks, and then a subset of the orchestra, the jazz ensemble, started playing jazz loudly. Too loud to talk, so decided the library would be good. The library is on the 10th floor, and opens up to the atrium. There was a party going on in the atrium and the music was very loud, and carried up all floors. That wasn't going to work. Finally we settled on going outside to the back of the ship. We found a table, chatted for a while and finally around midnight called it a night. Quick facetime to Glen and then bed.
When we got there, we checked the voucher and then realized it was Ft. Christian. Fortunately we were 20 minutes early. We asked at the Courthouse they said to turn right and it was the big red building a block away. Needless to say, we arrived in plenty of time.
Just before 10, Gerard, our guide arrived. Turned out we were the only two people on the tour today, so we set out. The tour was a tasting and cultural tour of the downtown area. We learned about the US purchase of the Virgin Islands, how Charlotte Amalie was built up, slave revolts and other fun facts. We visited a tea shop for hibiscus tea, saltfish quiche and a small salad. The next stop was for Rum Cake at a bakery owned by a nonprofit that helps at risk kids get job training. They opened a very good back for those kids to work at. Next stop was Gladys's cafe - a well known cafe featuring local favorites - a conch fritter, a cornmeal and okra mix and callaloo soup. Beth pointed out that there was a Cosby episode about Callaloo soup. Our final food stop was at a place called Cuzzins, where we were served goat stew, rice and beans and a plantain. The plantain was the best I've ever had. We finished the tour at a bar, and were served a bushwacker a local drink with about 5 kinds of liquor in it. Google it for a recipe.
Following that, we decided to see the building where Camile Pressaro, the father of modern impressionism was born. It turns out, while it's called the Pressaro building, it's pretty much retail with a lawyer and doctors office. There is a plaque indicating that's where he was born, but that's about it. After that, we went to the synagogue - the oldest in North America, and one of three with a sand floor. They have a small museum and we learned a bit about it's history. Pressaro's family were members back in the 19th century.
We also went to a craft shop run by a retired english teacher, and Beth bought a Moko Jumbie for her doll collection (that's a Carnivale stilt walker). I also bought a pair of earrings with a local stone. After that, we decided to head back to the ship. Our guide had told us that to get a shared cab back, we should cross the main street on the beach (they drive British side but with American left side drive, driver in the weeds) and find an indent in the road. I thought we were at a taxi stop, because it said Taxi parking only, but Beth thought it wasn't indented enough. An open air taxi stopped, but by the time we asked how much, he drove on because the light changed. About 5 minutes later a closed van taxi came by, and told us it was 4.00 each back. He told us to hurry in, so we did and back to the port we went.
It was a zoo when we got to the port, probably because the Allure of Seas (nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the Seas by some of us when it was new) and it was dumping over 5000 people. It had been docked for a couple of hours, but I suspect that people had lunch and then left. An hour later it was quiet again.
We didn't want lunch, so went to Cafe Bacio for coffee, and then sailaway. After that, we didn't do much until dinner.
It was great going back to our regular table for dinner. The dinner was the usual good, and featured the menu we thought we'd have the prior night. All was well in the food world. We enjoyed our dinner, and pretty much closed out the dining room. We wanted to keep the conversation going, so we decided to go to the sky lounge up on deck 14. Once we got there we discovered it was Latin Night with the DJ and impossibly loud. So we decided to move to the Ensemble lounge on deck 5. Back down we went. We ordered drinks, and then a subset of the orchestra, the jazz ensemble, started playing jazz loudly. Too loud to talk, so decided the library would be good. The library is on the 10th floor, and opens up to the atrium. There was a party going on in the atrium and the music was very loud, and carried up all floors. That wasn't going to work. Finally we settled on going outside to the back of the ship. We found a table, chatted for a while and finally around midnight called it a night. Quick facetime to Glen and then bed.
Thursday, August 10, 2017
A tale of two restaurants
It was the best of meals, it was the worst of meals ...
Actually, not the worst, it just went with the title. Stay tuned on this ...
So our first port day, but not until late afternoon, so we decided to a late breakfast at the buffet. Once again, a lot of choices but I settled on a eggs bennie with some bacon. Because of the drink package, we could get better OJ which was interesting to me. I also liked that the servers came around with a plate of pastries. Nice touch.
During breakfast we heard that the galley tour started at 11. I've been on a few on Princess, but Beth's never been so we headed to the restaurant for that. It started with the Cruise director introducing the various department heads, and then a long q&a while they called groups of 2-20 people for their tour through the main galley. Why the number varied was that as you entered or stood in line to enter, you were given a ticket with a group number. Some groups were very small so I guess people left.
Our group was headed by one of the pastry chefs - I think the head pastry honcho. We went through various salad, main, side, etc stations. As I learned on previous tours, entrees are cooked to order, although some things that take hours are prepared in advance, much like a restaurant. We also learned that they have a completely separate area for preparing food for those with allergies, or gluten issues. The tour ended at the entrance to the specialty restaurants with a redo of the food demos and the crew ready to take your reservations. They do push those restaurants hard.
We then took a brief break before lunch and then headed to the dining room. Lunch is on deck four (we are in fixed and on deck 3) so that was interesting. We were seated at a table for 8 with a group of four from Montreal. We enjoyed talking with them. However, we both ordered the every day beef hotdog, and they brought Beth a sandwich by mistake. The waiter sent the assistant waiter for a hot dog and it took many minutes for it to arrive. And by many, I'm talking over 10 minutes - at one point the hostess from the front came by and asked how everything was - we pointed out that she still hadn't received her food. She went to go check, but it still took a while - by the time she got everyone else was just about done. If this were a restaurant, the meal would have been comped. It did eventually arrive, but with not even an apology. The servers also slightly messed up the desserts as well. Overall the service has been very good, so this was surprising. ,br>
From the table, we watched the sail in to San Juan. After lunch, we decided to head to Cafe Bacio (notice this is becoming our favorite hangout) to meet with some Cruise Critic folk to head into town for drinks for us, drinks and dinner for them.
A couple of people showed up, but it was supposed to be 6 of us. We waited about 15 minutes, then gave up and headed off the ship. Luckily, we were docked in Old San Juan, so walking distance from just about everything. Beth wanted a Walgreens and there was one right there. We didn't know where the bar was that our group was going to, but Michelle (one of our group) knew the name, and I had google maps and Waze, so we found it. It's on the rooftop of a small hotel. When we got up there, the rest of our group was there, so we settled in for some conversation and really good strawberry mojitos. We also order some fried cheese balls to have something to eat with my drink. It turned out it was happy hour, so two for one Mojitos. Whoo hoo!
After a while we left to do the drugstore run and headed back to the ship. We opted to skip the comedian for the night, and just did a Cafe Bacio run followed by in room relaxing before dinner.
We fully expected our tablemates to be there tonight since none of said we were eating in town. We headed to our entrance and were told it was closed, because there was only open seating due the late departure. They then told us to go up a deck to the open seating level. When we arrived, we asked to share a table for 6, not 8. They told us they only had tables for 2, and took us to one in the back area of the dining room. It was a a table for 4, so they could have added a couple of people. They handed us the menu, and in looking at it, we realized it was the menu that was listed as the menu for the next day on the onscreen menus. We decided that was the least appealing menu, and that's why we'd booked specialty for it, so maybe we'd leave and throw ourselves on the mercy of the specialty restaurant host to see if we could move the night.
On arrival, they said they were booked, but if we could wait until 9pm they would likely have a table for us. Another host came by and pointed out a table we could have. We were in!
Dinner was in Murano, the steakhouse/french restaurant. We had a great server from Serbia, who explained you could either have the 5 course fixed menu or the a la carte menu. Both were the same price, it was just how you ordered. We opted to start with 3 shared appetizers - a poached pear in phyllo, a goat cheese souffle and caprese salad. All were excellent, although the caprese salad was the least interesting. We skipped the optional caviar course, and went straight to entrees, rack of lamb for Beth, veal for me. Both very good. For dessert, we did the souffles (Grand Marniar for me, Chocolate for Beth) and also split a strawberry crepe, with the sauce flambed table side.
By this time it was after 11 and we were sailing - up to the room, actually call Glen, and bed. Tomorrow - St. Thomas.
Actually, not the worst, it just went with the title. Stay tuned on this ...
So our first port day, but not until late afternoon, so we decided to a late breakfast at the buffet. Once again, a lot of choices but I settled on a eggs bennie with some bacon. Because of the drink package, we could get better OJ which was interesting to me. I also liked that the servers came around with a plate of pastries. Nice touch.
During breakfast we heard that the galley tour started at 11. I've been on a few on Princess, but Beth's never been so we headed to the restaurant for that. It started with the Cruise director introducing the various department heads, and then a long q&a while they called groups of 2-20 people for their tour through the main galley. Why the number varied was that as you entered or stood in line to enter, you were given a ticket with a group number. Some groups were very small so I guess people left.
Our group was headed by one of the pastry chefs - I think the head pastry honcho. We went through various salad, main, side, etc stations. As I learned on previous tours, entrees are cooked to order, although some things that take hours are prepared in advance, much like a restaurant. We also learned that they have a completely separate area for preparing food for those with allergies, or gluten issues. The tour ended at the entrance to the specialty restaurants with a redo of the food demos and the crew ready to take your reservations. They do push those restaurants hard.
We then took a brief break before lunch and then headed to the dining room. Lunch is on deck four (we are in fixed and on deck 3) so that was interesting. We were seated at a table for 8 with a group of four from Montreal. We enjoyed talking with them. However, we both ordered the every day beef hotdog, and they brought Beth a sandwich by mistake. The waiter sent the assistant waiter for a hot dog and it took many minutes for it to arrive. And by many, I'm talking over 10 minutes - at one point the hostess from the front came by and asked how everything was - we pointed out that she still hadn't received her food. She went to go check, but it still took a while - by the time she got everyone else was just about done. If this were a restaurant, the meal would have been comped. It did eventually arrive, but with not even an apology. The servers also slightly messed up the desserts as well. Overall the service has been very good, so this was surprising. ,br>
From the table, we watched the sail in to San Juan. After lunch, we decided to head to Cafe Bacio (notice this is becoming our favorite hangout) to meet with some Cruise Critic folk to head into town for drinks for us, drinks and dinner for them.
A couple of people showed up, but it was supposed to be 6 of us. We waited about 15 minutes, then gave up and headed off the ship. Luckily, we were docked in Old San Juan, so walking distance from just about everything. Beth wanted a Walgreens and there was one right there. We didn't know where the bar was that our group was going to, but Michelle (one of our group) knew the name, and I had google maps and Waze, so we found it. It's on the rooftop of a small hotel. When we got up there, the rest of our group was there, so we settled in for some conversation and really good strawberry mojitos. We also order some fried cheese balls to have something to eat with my drink. It turned out it was happy hour, so two for one Mojitos. Whoo hoo!
After a while we left to do the drugstore run and headed back to the ship. We opted to skip the comedian for the night, and just did a Cafe Bacio run followed by in room relaxing before dinner.
We fully expected our tablemates to be there tonight since none of said we were eating in town. We headed to our entrance and were told it was closed, because there was only open seating due the late departure. They then told us to go up a deck to the open seating level. When we arrived, we asked to share a table for 6, not 8. They told us they only had tables for 2, and took us to one in the back area of the dining room. It was a a table for 4, so they could have added a couple of people. They handed us the menu, and in looking at it, we realized it was the menu that was listed as the menu for the next day on the onscreen menus. We decided that was the least appealing menu, and that's why we'd booked specialty for it, so maybe we'd leave and throw ourselves on the mercy of the specialty restaurant host to see if we could move the night.
On arrival, they said they were booked, but if we could wait until 9pm they would likely have a table for us. Another host came by and pointed out a table we could have. We were in!
Dinner was in Murano, the steakhouse/french restaurant. We had a great server from Serbia, who explained you could either have the 5 course fixed menu or the a la carte menu. Both were the same price, it was just how you ordered. We opted to start with 3 shared appetizers - a poached pear in phyllo, a goat cheese souffle and caprese salad. All were excellent, although the caprese salad was the least interesting. We skipped the optional caviar course, and went straight to entrees, rack of lamb for Beth, veal for me. Both very good. For dessert, we did the souffles (Grand Marniar for me, Chocolate for Beth) and also split a strawberry crepe, with the sauce flambed table side.
By this time it was after 11 and we were sailing - up to the room, actually call Glen, and bed. Tomorrow - St. Thomas.
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Wandering around doing nothing on day 2
So today was a, to quote Mary Poppins, a practically perfect day.
Our first event of the day was the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle, hosted by Celebrity. On our gatherings over the years on Princess, we've never had one hosted by them, although occasionally some officers show up to say hello. Sara, the cruise director introduced all the officers with a brief description of what they do to help us. We spent some time with the Guest Services director, who hails from Glasgow Scotland. He was most impressed that my sister and I have been to the Ubiquitous Chip in Glasgow.
Right after that, we noticed that there were tables set up for cooking demos. There was on station for each specialty restaurant and of course plenty of staff around to take your reservation. We watched a chef from Silk Harvest make Orange Chicken, Sushi on 5 guy demo'ed making a shrimp tempura roll, watched a pasta maker from Tuscan Grill and finally a Murano chef make their special lobster (the preparation looked wonderful, but since I don't like lobster, maybe they'd make it with chicken. Somehow, I don't think it would be same.
After a break in the room to check email, we decided to try the buffet for lunch. We arrived at the pool deck just before 1:30, just in time for poolside line dancing! We joined in and did about 5 dances. There were two guys from the cruise staff kind of leading them, but not really teaching them - just follow them. Fortunately, I've done enough of this that I know the Electric Slide, and their line dance to "Happy" used a cha-cha basic, which I know well. It was a bit challenging in part, but fun.
From there, it was our first buffet meal. The buffet has many stations, and honestly, it was a bit overwhelming to decide. I finally settled on Indian Papadam with a beef fajita burrito like thing. Also some salad.
After lunch, time to go to the "not to be missed" Corning Hot Glass show. It's up on the lawn, and sailing through the Eastern Caribbean in August is very hot. The three young glass blower ladies must have been sweltering up there. Apparently, they make both pieces such as vases and also what they call cane (think of Venetian glass) that will be used later. And I guess, to have it all make sense, you need to go to all shows. It was interesting, and what they make is gorgeous, but about an hour and a quarter is pretty much all I need to know. Most interesting to me was that one of the blowers has her fine arts masters from Chico State, which I attended remotely a while ago. Yay.
After that, we went to what is now Beth's favorite place- Cafe Bocio for tea and coffee. Tonight was Smart Casual night, and we decided to go see Elyseum, the production show, before dressing for dinner. It was entertaining - a cruise ship broadway style show with some Cirque du Soleil type stuff thrown in. There was apparently a story line that neither of us got, but it was still fun to watch.
After that, down to dinner - all of us showed up and we had a nice dinner. We'd been given a bottle of sparkling wine (pretty sure the house stuff is not actual champagne) so we decided to share it with our table. The dining room staff also gave us a rum punch thing, so lots of not drunk alcohol.
Tonight was the first silent disco, but we weren't going to make the start time. After dinner, we walked over to it with our table mates, and it was a very crowded area with people with headphones. Maybe we'll try the next one. We did head to the Celebrity Central, a smallish theater used mostly for lectures and watched Alone in Berlin, a movie based on a real couple fighting Nazism by writing cards suggesting overthrowing Hitler. Here's a bit of trivia for you - it starred Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson. A couple of trivia questions for you - what movie franchise did they also do together? Question 2 - what blockbuster franchise does Brendan's son appear in?
After that, up to bed - but wait, on my nightly step out on to the balcony, I noticed we were having a fantastic thunderstorm. We don't get them in California, so it was pretty spectacular. We watched that for about an hour, then decided to get some ginger ale. We went up to the 14 deck to the lounge, it was too loud and busy so decided to walk across the open deck to the buffet. Uh, no - pouring. Went down, got the ginger ale, had it and finally went to sleep around 2 am.
Our first event of the day was the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle, hosted by Celebrity. On our gatherings over the years on Princess, we've never had one hosted by them, although occasionally some officers show up to say hello. Sara, the cruise director introduced all the officers with a brief description of what they do to help us. We spent some time with the Guest Services director, who hails from Glasgow Scotland. He was most impressed that my sister and I have been to the Ubiquitous Chip in Glasgow.
Right after that, we noticed that there were tables set up for cooking demos. There was on station for each specialty restaurant and of course plenty of staff around to take your reservation. We watched a chef from Silk Harvest make Orange Chicken, Sushi on 5 guy demo'ed making a shrimp tempura roll, watched a pasta maker from Tuscan Grill and finally a Murano chef make their special lobster (the preparation looked wonderful, but since I don't like lobster, maybe they'd make it with chicken. Somehow, I don't think it would be same.
After a break in the room to check email, we decided to try the buffet for lunch. We arrived at the pool deck just before 1:30, just in time for poolside line dancing! We joined in and did about 5 dances. There were two guys from the cruise staff kind of leading them, but not really teaching them - just follow them. Fortunately, I've done enough of this that I know the Electric Slide, and their line dance to "Happy" used a cha-cha basic, which I know well. It was a bit challenging in part, but fun.
From there, it was our first buffet meal. The buffet has many stations, and honestly, it was a bit overwhelming to decide. I finally settled on Indian Papadam with a beef fajita burrito like thing. Also some salad.
After lunch, time to go to the "not to be missed" Corning Hot Glass show. It's up on the lawn, and sailing through the Eastern Caribbean in August is very hot. The three young glass blower ladies must have been sweltering up there. Apparently, they make both pieces such as vases and also what they call cane (think of Venetian glass) that will be used later. And I guess, to have it all make sense, you need to go to all shows. It was interesting, and what they make is gorgeous, but about an hour and a quarter is pretty much all I need to know. Most interesting to me was that one of the blowers has her fine arts masters from Chico State, which I attended remotely a while ago. Yay.
After that, we went to what is now Beth's favorite place- Cafe Bocio for tea and coffee. Tonight was Smart Casual night, and we decided to go see Elyseum, the production show, before dressing for dinner. It was entertaining - a cruise ship broadway style show with some Cirque du Soleil type stuff thrown in. There was apparently a story line that neither of us got, but it was still fun to watch.
After that, down to dinner - all of us showed up and we had a nice dinner. We'd been given a bottle of sparkling wine (pretty sure the house stuff is not actual champagne) so we decided to share it with our table. The dining room staff also gave us a rum punch thing, so lots of not drunk alcohol.
Tonight was the first silent disco, but we weren't going to make the start time. After dinner, we walked over to it with our table mates, and it was a very crowded area with people with headphones. Maybe we'll try the next one. We did head to the Celebrity Central, a smallish theater used mostly for lectures and watched Alone in Berlin, a movie based on a real couple fighting Nazism by writing cards suggesting overthrowing Hitler. Here's a bit of trivia for you - it starred Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson. A couple of trivia questions for you - what movie franchise did they also do together? Question 2 - what blockbuster franchise does Brendan's son appear in?
After that, up to bed - but wait, on my nightly step out on to the balcony, I noticed we were having a fantastic thunderstorm. We don't get them in California, so it was pretty spectacular. We watched that for about an hour, then decided to get some ginger ale. We went up to the 14 deck to the lounge, it was too loud and busy so decided to walk across the open deck to the buffet. Uh, no - pouring. Went down, got the ginger ale, had it and finally went to sleep around 2 am.
Monday, August 7, 2017
Arrival night and first day
Picking up where I left off.
Flight was uneventful (yay). I watched a movie (Gifted) and a lot of Family Feud. Steve Harvey is a very good and funny host. Especially when you're watching the Pro Wrestlers tournament.
At arriving at the airport, I was meeting my sister (who henceforth will be referred to as Beth since that's her name) at baggage claim. Got a text said she'd be there as soon as she figured out how to get there since the airport didn't believe in signage or working doors. She was there before the bag arrived, so all good. Went to the hotel and then took Lyft to dinner.
We went to Versailles - a well known Cuban restaurant. Very busy, but very fast service, and very good food. Then to the heart of little Havana for ice cream and back to the hotel.
Sunday morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast, and drove to the Budget office nearest the port. There were a lot of people there with luggage so I was wondering how many shuttles we'd have to wait through. Turns out most were coming off a cruise, and waiting on cars. We're doing that next Sunday since we have evening flights out of Ft. Lauderdale and don't want to spend the day at the airport, so will drive and stop along the way. After about 10 minutes a shuttle arrived, and all who wanted on, got on. Most were going to the Carnival Visa. They got dropped first, then the four people for the Equinox. Luggage drop was efficient, as was checkin. The boarding line was a little chaotic as some were waiting for the photographers, others weren't. Once past there it went quickly and I believe from dropping the car to onboard was less than an hour.
Upon boarding we were offered (and accepted) champagne or mimosas and then we went off to explore. I had my backpack and those reading this from Princess - you can't go to your room so I had it with me. We were in Concierge class, and there is a lunch for concierge in the dining room, so we took advantage of that. In the dining room there was a place to leave your carry on stuff. Somewhere in all this we made a dinner reservation for the second night in in Murano.
We sat with a very nice family and as lunch was ending, they announced the rooms were ready, so we headed up to the room to drop our stuff. We found the menus on the TV, so went through them to decide which night to do Murano. We determined that night 4 was the least appealing, so back I went to the dining room to change it. Which I did, about 15 minutes before the mustard (as my niece calls it) drill.
In the room, we found an invitation to watch sailaway from the helipad. After attending the drill - a demo of the life jackets, a video humorously covering the the safety information, followed by a tedious reading of all the cabins that weren't marked off as being there (they did a manual mark off) we were free to go. We went up to the helipad, got another drink (not sure what it was) and sailed out of Miami. As we entered the channel we left to go to the Sunset bar to meet up with our Cruise Critic group. That was a nice gathering.
We went back to the room, got ready for dinner and then went to a Rock and Roll review show in the theater with a band playing hits from the 50-80s. They were pretty good, and I missed dancing with my husband, who is working this week so my sister and I could do the cruise.
A little more ship exploring - the fun part for me because I know Princess ships like the back of my hand, but this is my first Celebrity- we got in line for our 8:30 fixed seating. Because Celebrity doesn't put the table information on the cruise card but on a card in the room, it's a bit slow the first day. If you have your card, great - if not, they have to look it. We brought our card, so were seated quickly once we got to the front of the line. We were at a table for 6 as requested, and there were actually 6 of us.
Starting tomorrow, I'll try to post food porn and describe dinner. For tonight, I'll just say food was good, service was good, and it was nice having both a sommelier and a drink package.
We were going to try to see a movie after dinner, but they close the doors after the movie starts and we couldn't get in. We'll try again tomorrow. We then went up to look at the top decks, saw the sky lounge and called it a night.
Flight was uneventful (yay). I watched a movie (Gifted) and a lot of Family Feud. Steve Harvey is a very good and funny host. Especially when you're watching the Pro Wrestlers tournament.
At arriving at the airport, I was meeting my sister (who henceforth will be referred to as Beth since that's her name) at baggage claim. Got a text said she'd be there as soon as she figured out how to get there since the airport didn't believe in signage or working doors. She was there before the bag arrived, so all good. Went to the hotel and then took Lyft to dinner.
We went to Versailles - a well known Cuban restaurant. Very busy, but very fast service, and very good food. Then to the heart of little Havana for ice cream and back to the hotel.
Sunday morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast, and drove to the Budget office nearest the port. There were a lot of people there with luggage so I was wondering how many shuttles we'd have to wait through. Turns out most were coming off a cruise, and waiting on cars. We're doing that next Sunday since we have evening flights out of Ft. Lauderdale and don't want to spend the day at the airport, so will drive and stop along the way. After about 10 minutes a shuttle arrived, and all who wanted on, got on. Most were going to the Carnival Visa. They got dropped first, then the four people for the Equinox. Luggage drop was efficient, as was checkin. The boarding line was a little chaotic as some were waiting for the photographers, others weren't. Once past there it went quickly and I believe from dropping the car to onboard was less than an hour.
Upon boarding we were offered (and accepted) champagne or mimosas and then we went off to explore. I had my backpack and those reading this from Princess - you can't go to your room so I had it with me. We were in Concierge class, and there is a lunch for concierge in the dining room, so we took advantage of that. In the dining room there was a place to leave your carry on stuff. Somewhere in all this we made a dinner reservation for the second night in in Murano.
We sat with a very nice family and as lunch was ending, they announced the rooms were ready, so we headed up to the room to drop our stuff. We found the menus on the TV, so went through them to decide which night to do Murano. We determined that night 4 was the least appealing, so back I went to the dining room to change it. Which I did, about 15 minutes before the mustard (as my niece calls it) drill.
In the room, we found an invitation to watch sailaway from the helipad. After attending the drill - a demo of the life jackets, a video humorously covering the the safety information, followed by a tedious reading of all the cabins that weren't marked off as being there (they did a manual mark off) we were free to go. We went up to the helipad, got another drink (not sure what it was) and sailed out of Miami. As we entered the channel we left to go to the Sunset bar to meet up with our Cruise Critic group. That was a nice gathering.
We went back to the room, got ready for dinner and then went to a Rock and Roll review show in the theater with a band playing hits from the 50-80s. They were pretty good, and I missed dancing with my husband, who is working this week so my sister and I could do the cruise.
A little more ship exploring - the fun part for me because I know Princess ships like the back of my hand, but this is my first Celebrity- we got in line for our 8:30 fixed seating. Because Celebrity doesn't put the table information on the cruise card but on a card in the room, it's a bit slow the first day. If you have your card, great - if not, they have to look it. We brought our card, so were seated quickly once we got to the front of the line. We were at a table for 6 as requested, and there were actually 6 of us.
Starting tomorrow, I'll try to post food porn and describe dinner. For tonight, I'll just say food was good, service was good, and it was nice having both a sommelier and a drink package.
We were going to try to see a movie after dinner, but they close the doors after the movie starts and we couldn't get in. We'll try again tomorrow. We then went up to look at the top decks, saw the sky lounge and called it a night.
Saturday, August 5, 2017
A new cruise!
So it's been a while since I've updated the blog, but since I'm having a brand new cruise experience, I figured I'd blog it. I'll be doing the original posts on Cruise Critic and copying here.
I'm at the airport waiting to board my flight in about 20 minutes. I now remember why I don't like traveling in August. Airport is crazy, and I don't understand parents who, when traveling with 2 children under 5, don't check their full size suitcases (22 inch) - instead, they have the kids struggle with them (they're bigger than the kids, actually, and hold up the line.
So by way of background, my sister and I decided a cruise would be just the thing while my nieces are in camp. She didn't want to come to the west coast a 3rd time in a month, so we selected a Celebrity cruise from Miami. It's her first cruise and my first time on Celebrity so we'll see how it goes. More tomorrow, unless the flight is interesting (I hope not!)
I'm at the airport waiting to board my flight in about 20 minutes. I now remember why I don't like traveling in August. Airport is crazy, and I don't understand parents who, when traveling with 2 children under 5, don't check their full size suitcases (22 inch) - instead, they have the kids struggle with them (they're bigger than the kids, actually, and hold up the line.
So by way of background, my sister and I decided a cruise would be just the thing while my nieces are in camp. She didn't want to come to the west coast a 3rd time in a month, so we selected a Celebrity cruise from Miami. It's her first cruise and my first time on Celebrity so we'll see how it goes. More tomorrow, unless the flight is interesting (I hope not!)
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