abbydancer2003

Beyond Day 9 Sea Day 4 Jul 1 Today is our second pre port sea day, so we decided to sleep late and just go to the Elite Breakfast in the Grand Bistro. It was a little odd, in that the brought around a pastry tray, and they had the menu. Or original plan was to order the pastry plate and the fruit plate. They also had regular coffee. We got pastries, coffee and juice, and then nothing. Eventually a server took our order, so we just got fruit, and I got a bagel with cream cheese. No refills on coffee, so this is probably our first and last time there. Before moving on, I’ll try to reconstruct thoughts on the President’s cruise. We didn’t know it was the President’s cruise before we booked it. There were pluses, minuses and just things. The ship was decorated with a flower theme, and there were a few special events. We didn’t do all of them, but we did a couple. The “Conversation with Celebrity” was interesting, but not as interesting as it could have been, since most of the questions were either easy or something they weren’t answering. The Bimini beach event was good if you’re the sort of person who likes day passes at beaches. There honestly weren’t a lot of minuses. The biggest one was the night that her highness decided to eat in Luminae, and took our wait staff. So would we book one again? Yes, but only if it was one we wanted to book anyway. We wouldn’t book for the President’s cruise, but we also wouldn’t decide not to book if it was the Presidents cruise. We won’t be doing next years, because it’s Norway, and we’re doing that in August of this year. Now back to your regularly scheduled update. After breakfast, we went back to the room, but Frank was doing his thing so we went to the lounge. I decided that to work on the blog, I’d need coffee, and I wanted regular coffee. So I went to the buffet, and got two to-go cups of it and brought it back. Before lunch time I headed to the sundeck to do my morning exercises. The pool was busy. Several people having conversations, and a family with kids. Honestly, while I have nothing against children (I was one myself quite a while ago), I don’t know why they use the retreat pool. It’s tiny and I think they might have a better time splashing around in the bigger pool, and they might meet other kids. After pool it was lunch time. Before we headed to lunch there was an in room announcement from the captain. That’s usually worrisome, but this time it was just a weather announcement that we were missing the hurricane, but we’d have sea motion and wind until late evening. No additional itinerary changes. For lunch, wee headed to Luminae and today I had the bib lettuce salad and a grilled cheese sandwich. I decided to have rice pudding for dessert. I’ve been on X ships over 65 days so far this year, and the menus are getting old. After lunch we took it easy. I took care of some things, (I decided not to take a class during the summer this year), and relaxed. In the late afternoon, checkin for our 8/16 Norway opened. I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to access checkin while on a ship, but I thought I’d take a look. To my surprise, we have express passes and an arrival time of 12:30. I’ve never had an express pass until I completed all steps (except the photo). I asked the concierges, and they thought it was strange too. Of course we couldn’t access check in to change anything. Nor could I add the passes to my Apple wallet. After a drink in the lounge we went to dinner. I started with the Boulud corn soup with extra leeks (last time they didn’t put any in, so this was to guarantee they did) and no prawns. For my main, I had the short rib appetizer with baked potato and sautéed spinach and bok choy. It was very nice and small. I’ll have to remember that one. Before bringing dessert, they brought a small chocolate cake, and sang happy birthday. That was nice, but we did pass on eating the cake. (Soon after they brought a chocolate cake to another table and sang happy anniversary to them. We heard one of the staff asking what the next table for the cake is). I actually had the orange sponge dessert. After dinner we took a walk around the upper deck, and then went back to the room. Tomorrow is Aruba, and the first of our 3 port days.

Beyond Day 8 Sea day 3 June 30 Normally I make notes at the end of the day so that I can write the day. I managed to erase everything, so just some highlights. We did get up breakfast. After that we attended the naturalist talk on sea turtles. Her name is Justine Nadeau from Quebec. She was good, but not as good a Celia on Solstice. After that, up to the pool for exercises, and chilling with Glen. We eventually went to lunch, where I had the Bib Lettuce Salad, the Herbed chicken breast, and coffee Panna Cotta. It’s good without the chocolate sprinkles. During lunch the captain made an announcement that due to the Hurricane, we’re swapping Bonaire and Aruba, so Aruba on Tuesday and Bonaire on Thursday. So we’ll be going west to east instead of east to west. The problem is that we have a privately booked excursion in Bonaire. So I sent them an email from the restaurant. After lunch I went to the lounge to move my Rooftop Garden dinner reservation to Aruba night, since that’s the latest port, and I don’t love the Luminae menu. They did offer me a free phone call, which I said I’d use if necessary. Back at the room, I tried using Facebook messenger to them, but the response was an auto response to use WhatsApp. I did that, and they said they knew and we got it worked out. Once I finished that, I released that we were supposed to meet cruise critic friends in Al Baccio at 3. It was now 3:15 so I ran down and met them. Glen followed and we had a very nice chat until it was time to get dressed for Evening Chic and the Retreat Soiree. They did decided to go for pancakes in Aruba with us. On our way to the Soiree, Captain Leo was in the elevator with us. He consented to a picture, which Janelle took. We stayed at the lounge for a while. We did meet a couple of the housekeeping managers. Also the captain and the hotel director stopped by. All of them told us to contact them if we need anything. Really? The problem would have to be very big for me not to start with the retreat concierges, or other lower people. I’m just saying. We decided not to go see Stage Door again, but found that the Eden production cast was doing a show in the Club called The Jazz Joint at 7:45. We had some time, so I thought we’d go to the Magic Carpet for a drink. Nope, way too windy. Instead we went to Al Baccio, and then to the club. We waited a few minutes for them to open the doors, but got seats in the front. The show was high energy and fun. I got pulled on stage to watch the two male aerialists, and they gave me a rose, which is in the room. It was a fun show. By the time the show ended, it was time for my birthday dinner at Le Voyage. It’s very close, as the back wall of the Club is the back wall of Le Voyage. We were seated promptly and offered a complimentary glass of champagne. I don’t particularly like champagne but this was quite tasty. I believe it was Veuve Clicquot, which is pretty much well above our package. Oh well, it was good. We were also given asparagus wrapped in eggplant as a starter. Also very nice. Glen started with the roasted beet saiald, and I couldn’t decide between the onion tart and the beef tartare, so he gave me both. The onion tart wins. For mains, Glen tried the 5 spice duck Pithivier, which may mean in a sesame seed pastry. This time I had the chicken with morels mushrooms. It was good, but I think the filet is a better option. The little things on top are potatoes. For dessert, I went with the pineapple mille-feuille, which was very good. I think I had it last time. Glen got rather brave, and tried the Pavlova with vegan meringue. Apparently made with soy milk. He’s lactose intolerant, so has soy lattes a lot, so I guess it didn’t bother him. After dessert, there were baby Madelines and some chocolate and fruit squeres. Isn’t it cute? We tried to pack it up in the napkin, but the repacked it to a little bag. After dinner, they brought the check - for the full amount. Two problems. First, we had a dining package, and second, even if we didn’t, we’re elite + so we should get a small discount. They took the bill back, and brought another one back with the 20.00 per person upcharge, which is listed in the terms. They also put a tip on top of that, so 48.00 total. I guess we don’t get our discount on that. Once that was all fixed, we left. In the room there was a birthday card with flowers from our retreat team. IT was a very nice end to my birthday.

Nice. We're not b2b exactly. We do 7 day Norway on 8/16, then spend 4 days in England while the ship does 4 days in Brugges and Rotterdam (I think) then we get back on for 11 day Scandinavia. The 4 days just misses the amount of days for the small b2b discount.

Hi. I always enjoy your reviews, and we're heading to London on August 13 for 2 cruises on the X Apex which has some port overlap with you, so I'll be especially interested in this.

Thanks.

Fyi, I just spent quite a while doing my June 30 update and accidently pasted over it. Starting over, so probably not until tomorrow.

I think that's correct. My interpretation of what they did was they took us off once it was 0 count and then had us wait to do everything until it was authorized, and we could go right back on board. In Los Angeles in 2022, they waited for 0 count (except us) took us out, and then had us wait in the terminal until they could board us first. In Sydney, we got off as with everyone else but last, and we were told it would be a couple of hours before we could reboard. I heard it was less than that, but we went out to lunch with family, so reboarded around 3. In Hawaii, we were on an all day tour, and got back around 6. The muster stations had closed, and we're still waiting for the letter to tell us what to do. Maybe on the next one we'll go twice to make up for it.

Today is turnaround day, the end of the President’s cruise and the start of a normal cruise, we hope. Since we are changing rooms, we do need to vacate by around 8, so we decided to go to breakfast. We’d done most of our packing last night, so it was a matter of packing up electronics and our toiletries and other last minute things into the suitcases. While doing that, I went to the balcony and watched luggage operations. Rudy did bring coffee which was nice while we were packing. We finished well before 8, so went to breakfast. I had a nice little cheese omelette, and Glen asked for banana pancakes. They have run out of bananas, so he got caramel sauce. Presumably, they will have them later today. We finished breakfast around 8:40, so we had about 1/2 hour until our meeting time in the Club. We went to the lounge to hang out until it was time to go. Once at the club, two of the concierges were there, handing out our new key envelopes. Apparently non suites met at Fine Cut or somewhere. We were told to use our old keys to get back on the ship. At about 9:30, we all followed Aveno to the gangway, and gave them our cards on the way out (Not sure exactly why they do this to b2bs only). We went to a waiting room in the terminal (not the suite area, just a room with chairs. Soon after the non suites joined us, and we sat with loose moose, who we had met on the Solstice. It was nice seeing them again. After about 10 minutes of waiting, we went to the luggage claim area and CBP stations. They use facial recognition, so that went quickly. We then continued through the terminal and onto the gangway where we used our new cards to get back on the ship. We were back on just after 10. We first headed to our new room. There was no sign on the door, but the door was ajar, so we figured it wasn’t ready for us. So we went back to the lounge, where there was just us and one other couple. No one else, including concierges. After about 15 minutes, one of the concierges arrived. I’d spent the waiting time figuring out my specialty dining, including my birthday dinner tomorrow night at La Voyage. Because I’d asked about it on the last cruise, I think I had one at 8 and one at 8:30. We left the one at 8:30. We also booked Fine Cut and Rooftop Garden. We did Eden on the last cruise. We have Fine Cut on the last night, which I usually won’t do, but I really don’t like the last night’s menu. At about noon, we went back to the room. Now it had the sign on saying they were preparing it, and we could drop our stuff. So we put our stuff in the safe, and I dropped my purse, and headed back to the lounge. We met Frank, our room steward on the way back. He shared that Edy (previous cruise) had shared that we liked extra towels and there would be four of each. Thank you Edy! Our luggage had arrived, but I’m not sure where it goes exactly. I’d always assumed directly room to room, but it wasn’t there when we checked at 10. At about 12:30 Glen left figuring the room was ready and he could take a nap. He didn’t come back so I assume he could do that. At 1 pm, I went dow to get him. We went to lunch and there were lots of jokes about being new, and how it works. Today’s lunch menu is the usual 2nd day menu. It does have my favorite dessert, but I’m sure many people were disappointed about no lobster roll. (I think it’s now on the last day). I had the broiled feta salad (they tell me the asparagus is broiled. OK) For my main I had the petit filet mignon, which was cooked pretty well and good. Usually on day 1 I have some Prosecco. They were out of that, too. After lunch we went back to the room and finally unpacked. It was pretty easy, since we didn’t have to think about where to put stuff - just back to where it was in the old room. We also met our butler Godfrey, and asked for coffee in the AM (we’ll call), and potato chips in the afternoon. After that I watched the men’s gymnastics trials, until there was an issue with peacock. (I confirmed that by watching something on Hulu). While watching we heard the Love Boat theme, it was the horn of the Enchanted Princess heading out. At some point during all this we sailed away. I watched it from the balcony. We had lots of boats around us. And somebody on shore who may be a Celebrity fan. We pretty much watched the gymnastics until time for a drink in the lounge and then dinner. Tonights dinner - the same menu as last night, including the amuse bouche. It was kind of funny. Since I’d had the steak last night, tonight we both tried the Tamarind Glazed Chicken. It was OK. Lots of Groundhog Day jokes. At lunch, we both asked for carrot cake for dessert at dinner, and it was provided. After that, called it a night. Cruise 2 is underway.

I think because they bought all the potential day passes or something like that. Kind of a catered event.

John, you are my people. And 3 days later, my knees are healing. I was surprised they weren't stiff from it. A little pain, but not much. Thanks. And Briton says hi. He speaks highly of you.

Beyond Day 6, Bimini Bahamas, June 28, 2024 Today was the the Captain’s Club Resort World buyout event. Last night, we got wristbands for our departure time from the ship (for the shuttle). We have Tangerine bands, whatever that means. We got up for breakfast, since our time was 9:30. I went light and fast with just a bagel with cream cheese. It was fine. We went down to deck 4 to go to the gangway, and while passing Al Baccio, I managed to trip on my shoe (I think they stick to the floor surface. A couple of people from Al Baccio and Daniel came and helped me up, gave me some water, and then I continued on. I did manage to bruise one knee and skin both, but not bad. We walked to the shuttle area. There’s not much at the dock area, so unless you want to keep walking, you should board a shuttle. On this cruise, the shuttle stopped at a shopping area and they told everyone without wristbands to get off. (I don’t quite know who that is, since all you had to do to be invited is to sign up for Captain’s Club - isn’t that everyone?). Also, there were lots of different wristbands on the shuttle, so I don’t know what that meant. We then continued on to Resort World’s beach area. There was a beach, two pools and some eating areas. We snagged a couple of chairs, and I went to the pool and did my therapy things and wandered in the water for a while. Following that, we sat in our chairs and read for a while. We then decided we were getting bored, so we went to the buffet they had set up. We looked at the menu, and it was pretty good. They did have a lot of options. Including steak and lasagna, but it was very hot so we decided we could go back to the ship and enjoy an air conditioned buffet there. We really aren’t beach people. We were not the only people heading back on the shuttle. I did get a picture of the beach part on the way out. At the shopping area stop on the way back, a group got in behind us and we had a nice chat about how all Caribbean Islands seem the same, and how many of us do the cruises just to be on the ship. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. Our next stop, once we walked back to the ship (they do have a shuttle to the end of the pier, was to drop our stuff and go to lunch. Today it was a French buffet, and so I had beef bourgeon and rice and it was yummy. The next thing after lunch (in the dead spots in the review I’m usually in the room working on this.) was to go to afternoon tea in the lounge. Our butler suggested we talk to the concierges about our room swap. Of course they knew about it. We ended up spending about an hour chatting with a couple who it turns out is a friend of a friend, and knew a lot of the same staff I do (they are of course Zenith). It was very pleasant. We eventually went back to the room, and I watched some of the gymnastics Olympic team trials. Today was the woman’s meet (and in this case there actually are some women competing, not just teens. In this case of the 7 gymnasts (including the 2 alternates) all but 2 are 20 or above, and Simone Biles is closer to 30 than 20. That’s like 100 in women’s gymnastic years. After that we went to dinner. Tonight I had their tomato soup, which is quite good and the grilled filet mignon. I decided to try the almond cake for dessert. Sorry I don’t have more on Bimini, there didn’t seem to be a lot there. I did see some shops and restaurants by where the shuttle stopped, and there seems to be lots of nice beaches. Tomorrows update (which I’m hoping to post tonight), will likely have some thoughts on the President’s cruise.

No but yesterday they did swap Aruba and Bonaire. So we're going west to east instead of east to west. I think the idea is to be west of the hurricane as it passes into the Windwards, and then be well south of it as we go east. That said, this may not be a smooth ride.

Beyond Sea Day 2 June 27 We decided not to get up in time for breakfast, but we did want to go to the Conversation with Celebrity presentation in the theater. We had coffee and a pastry from Rudy, and then headed to the theater. It was pretty well attended, but not full. The panel was Captain Leo, Laura three names, the head of hotel, head of marine operations, and head of marketing (I forgot all their names). Shauna hosted. She started with some pre selected questions, mostly about XCel, which weren’t answered. Other questions were about moving a ship to the West Coast. Laura kept talking about needing a bigger fleet, which means no, since she’s seems somewhat committed to short Caribbean cruises. There were a couple of questions about the status match at Zenith, specifically about Zenith events. The answer was also punted as Laura just said things will be capacity controlled. Whatever that means. The question that never came up was about the removal of tips (and OBC for suites). I’d guess it was asked a lot in the presubmitted questions, but they probably don’t want to answer it. Again, I thought this was an an entire softball q&a. After that it was room and pool exercise time. The pool was crowded today (I was hoping noon would mean it wasn’t but I was wrong). Certainly more than the occupancy 12 listed on the rules sign. I decided that if all these drinking people could ignore the limit so could I, and I was only going in for about 5-10 minutes. After that, once again, I was the only person using the hot tub. For lunch after that, I had chilled minted pea soup, which I like, and my half Luminae burger. For dessert, I had their apricot basil, which is pretty much an apricot tart. After lunch, back to the room to work on the blog, etc. While doing the day I was doing, I wanted to check the daily to see if I’d done anything. I couldn’t find it, but I did find this: Keep in mind we boarded on the 23rd. I hope the people for this enjoyed their last full day. Around 3:15, I went to get a latte. There was a long line because I guess the cooking competition had just finished. Guess I missed it. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. During that time we did get the Roku set up, so at 6 I watched most of the US Men’s Gymnastics Olympic trials on Peacock. We watched until it was time to leave for our reservation at Eden. It was a lot more crowded than when my sister and I went in February. Maybe because this is only a 6 day cruise. Nova (wife of Rozi in Luminae, and my previous server) was our sever. I did learn that she and Rozi have been extended through August, and will be home in time for their daughter to start school in September. She told us what to order. We both had two appetizers. Glen started with the Crab Cake I had the Reuben Raclette, which I don’t see on the online menu. It’s some kind of meat, potatoes, and veggies covered with Raclette cheese. If I go again, I’d order it, but I’d ask them to leave off the chunks of meat and add more potatoes. It was really good. For our second starter, Glen had the Carabinero Shrimp. And I had the truffled risotto. Also really good, and Glen reported that both of his were very good. We both had the beef combo - Filet mignon and mini short rib Wellington, and liked it. For dessert, Glen had butterscotch cream brûlée, I had the lemon tart, which is what I think I had last time. Overall, it was very good, and the service great. Glen really enjoyed it, and we’d certainly consider it again. After a short walk, we headed back to the room, and I watched the rest of the men’s gymnastics. Tomorrow is our visit to Bimini, and the last full day of the cruise.

My plan is to use this thread for both cruises, today is day 7, I think and tomorrow will be day 8. And on yesterdays or todays, I'll try to post some final thoughts on doing a Presidents cruise. To elaborate on the music at the event. The band plays before the bartender starts. They'll do a song while the waiters are passing out the samples, and maybe play some low music while he's doing his thing (not always). They do a couple of songs afterwards, I think the number depends on when the venue is next needed. As far the pool goes, I'm doing some physical therapy exercises to strengthen my legs (while they figure out why I'm having problems) that take about 10 minutes to do. Honestly, the retreat pool isn't really big enough for much else.

June 26, Grand Cayman Our plan for the day was to get off the ship and go shopping to see if we can solve the pant problem here. We woke up in time for breakfast. I asked for some watermelon and one banana pancake. I got three pancakes. They were small at least and good. After breakfast, we went back to the room, gathered our stuff and went to the lounge. We were redirected to Fine Cut where Azeno and Janelle were running the tender operations. I guess I didn’t read the instructions we were given last night. We were soon on the tender. They used the local big boats, which is kind of too bad, because I am curious about using the Celebrity tenders and the Magic Carpet. Maybe in Norway this summer. One on shore, we tried to figure out where we could go. Apparently Glen had done some googling and found a mall that had a store that might have pants. So he asked a local how to get to Camana Bay shopping center. The lady was very helpful, and told us to walk about 2 blocks to the library and get a number 2 bus. We walked to the library and while we were debating where exactly to catch the bus, one pulled up. We got on, paid the 2.50 each for fare, and off we went. The bus stopped along the main road (along the water) to pick up some people going to the beach. After a drive, he stopped, told us to exit, cross the street and follow a foot path to the mall. It went up and over a hill or or a building, but we did eventually reach the mall. THere’s a small store called Tabs, but it is a clothing store. They did have a limited selection of long pants, so Glen got a pair. We decided that for the cruises, 1 pair is enough, since he’s wearing shorts during the days, and just needs them for dinner. We started the walk back, because the store said that the buses didn’t run there, only along the Main Street. Midway back, Glen realized that he left his hat at the store. He went back, and I took this picture. The sign you probably can’t read was a sign for the mall. Once back to the Main Street, we walked along until a bus came by. It was a different number, but he said he could take us to the port. So we got in. It left the Main Street before the port entrance, so I was a bit concerned, but eventually they stopped, and told us to walk one block and we’d be at the Main Street. We were, and about 4 blocks from the terminal. Next it was back to the ship. There were only a few going back now, so no wait to go on. The Carnival Paradise was also here, and their tender seemed very full. It was before noon, though so I’m not sure why. Once back on the ship, I decided to do my pool exercises. There were a few people there, but only me in the hot tub. I decided to try a shower there but it only, apparently came in one temperature, “cold”, So I went back to the room and showered. There was a minor crisis at my mom’s house, so I spent a few minutes dealing with that. Got resolved. After that, we went to lunch. Today was the British buffet (I do like that there are different cuisines every day), so I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. I also had a bit of both chicken and beef pie. I finished with a very small cone of strawberry soft serve. After lunch we went back to the room to do the usual, blog and exercise, but left a little before 5 to go to Music and Mixology. It was pretty much the same as always, but fun. The band was pretty good so we danced a little. Following that was a CruiseCritic party. One of their marketing people was on board, and he arranged it. It was very nice, and he got a lot of good feedback, but they had a band, and passed appetizers. I think the Club wasn’t the right venue, and passed appietizers didn’t really lead to mingling. We did get a Cruise Critic messenger bag, though. By then it was almost time for the show, so we went over to the theater. Glen likes the front row of deck 5, so we sat there. The show was Elements, and quite good. Here are some pictures. After the show we waited for the elevators to clear a bit, and walked up a deck to 6. No room in elevators, so we went to 7 and found one. We stopped at the room to drop the swag, and headed to Luminae. That was normal tonight, and we were with Jesus. I did tease him a bit about the VIPS,. Apparently they were in Eden tonight, (Good that we’re there tomorrow night). Jesus recommended the octopus and short ribs. I don’t like Octopus, but Glen does so he had it. It came while he was in the restroom so I took a picture. Agus, our usual assistant waiter, decided that they should give Glen a new one since he was in the restroom and took it away and replaced it. The replacement wasn’t quite as pretty. I started with the burrata cheese and we both had the short ribs. We also both had the Coconut Cremeux for dessert. I’m not quite sure what it is, but it was good. That was it for us for the night. Tomorrow is sea day 2. We did decide not to set an alarm for breakfast.