laurieal

Shows for the second week

This is the way. Sure, I still need to work and do a pile of laundry, but not being jet lagged helps. Do yo have another TA planned? Perhaps we could race again, make it a 2 out of 3.

That party looked WILD (in the best way). I’m not much of a partier, but I would have gone because it looks like a true “you had to be there” moment. Feels cruel to take away an hour after that 😔

Aw, that would bum me out so much if they weren’t doing it in real time. I will just close my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears and choose to believe 😂

It’s funny how quickly lunch time rolls around when you wake up at teenager o’clock. I have dinner plans tonight, so I decided to have a bit of chili at El Loco Fresh. I may have gotten a bit enthusiastic with my portion size. It was just as good as the other day. I have brought two things on board that I think could be considered exotic. The first one you saw the other day at breakfast: my maple syrup. The other one you can see in the picture above: I brought some cardboard trays to carry food. They were very useful at Disney World when one of us was picking up some food for all three of us. Now they’re helpful on the ship when I have to carry my own food. It’s my first time bringing some, but they don’t take much space so I think I’ll bring them again next time. While I was having my lunch, people were lining up to play Pickleball on the sports court. My stepfather is really into Pickleball, so I sat close by to report on how they are running things. There was a pretty long line, I thought, but with 12 people playing at the same time I guess it’s not so bad. It seems like they were playing for periods of 10 minutes and then switching up players. Most players went back in line once their 10 minutes were over. After my lunch, I returned to my whale-spotting spot on deck 16. I haven’t seen any whales, yet, but I’ve seen a couple of dolphins. I got a Mango Lava Flow to make whale-spotting a bit more festive.

Good morning and happy Sunday, everyone! I don’t remember the last time I slept past 9:00. I was shocked this morning when I saw the time on my phone. I got ready quickly and decided to go down to the Promenade for my morning coffee. But then I realized that my SeaPass card was in my stateroom, so back to deck 6 I went. My cabin steward was in the area and he let me into my room. Royal Promenade, take 2. They were setting up for some sales. You may have noticed that I’m not a big shopper. I have not set wheel in any of the stores, yet. However, this morning they had something out that caught my eye. Food 👌 I’ll probably go in and see if they are selling individual rum cakes eventually. I don’t need three and I’m pretty sure even if I did I couldn’t fit three in my luggage. I went to the Café Promenade. Some of their sandwiches looked nice, but I think I prefer the options at the Park Café. Because I felt ambitious, I got a doughnut. Turns out that carrying an iced coffee AND a doughnut at the same time is not something I can do. If you saw me on deck 16 stuffing that doughnut into my mouth because I just couldn’t make it through the door without dropping it, I’m sorry. I swear I was raised right. And you know what? That doughnut was STALE! I felt insulted, I felt betrayed, I felt… Oh! Land!

Day 8 Compass

Hopefully I can catch a glimpse of you when we’re closer. Enjoy your day in Ponta Delgada!

Sounds like everyone made it up on where they needed to go. Excellent. Team Odyssey, were you there on time?

I originally had the comedy show booked for day 3. But then, when my day 2 Aqua 80 show got moved to day 3, I had to move my comedy reservation to the only evening without conflicts: day 13. I figure that on day 13 I’ll want to go to bed early to get ready for Valencia. With that in mind, I joined the standby line for the Comedy Club as soon as I exited the ice show. Everyone waiting in the standby line got in, plus some other people that arrived later. I enjoyed both comedians a lot and found myself laughing for most of the show. I’m also happy that I freed up my evening of day 13. After the show, I was feeling cruise-hungry (meaning I hadn’t eaten in almost 3 hours and I felt like chewing on something). I ended up running into the same couple from earlier (and yesterday) while I was on my way to Sorrento’s and I joined them for a while. How weird is it that some of the people I met I never see again. And then some people I run into all the time. Pizza with an elephant to end the evening.

The Frozen in Time ice show was really good! It’s all based on stories by Hans Christian Andersen and everyone around me seemed to like it a lot. For years I’ve been reading about the sand art guy here on Cruise Critic. I know people love him and I thought it sounded cool, but…sand? During an ice show? … ok I get it, now. That guy was amazing. I couldn’t believe what he was drawing in the sand.

They were having a Silent Party in the Boardwalk. I’ve never seen it held there, so I went to check it out. I can’t say it was very well attended, but those who were there seemed to have a nice time. I left when I got the notification that my reservation for the ice show was approaching. I had to cross the ship to get there, which I did on the Promenade. I took a small detour for a slice of pizza.

My pictures don’t do I justice and I don’t have a YouTube account to upload a video. It’s like the wake is angry.

After the Broadway Cabaret, I returned to my stateroom for some pre-dinner refreshing. One I emerged, all refreshed, I decided to take care of some business around the Promenade. The Shock Waves were back from their day off and were performing. First, I stopped at the Shore Excursions desk to inquire about a wheelchair accessible shuttle in Valencia. They confirmed that there will be one, so I purchased a round-trip for $25 USD. Then, I went to Guest Services to inquire about a wheelchair-accessible airport transfer in Barcelona. They said they had a vehicle with a lift, so I purchased one ticket for the 8:45 transfer for $30 USD. Feeling pleased with all the business I had taken care of, I went to the Schooner Bar hoping to find a seat. From up there, I had a good view of the Rising Tide Bar. Unfortunately, it looks like they only have bistro tables and those aren’t as fun. So. Schooner Bar. As a party of one who brings her own chair everything, I was feeling optimistic, but the place was packed. Luckily, the couple I’ve been running into since yesterday were there and they included me in their party. I had one of my favourites drinks from their new menu, the Irish Peach. If you enjoy that artificial peach taste, I think you’ll like this one. The Captain made an announcement to say there is a medical emergency and we are rushing to the Azores at full speed. We should be there around 7am. I can tell from the wake that we are absolutely flying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wake like that. Really hoping all goes well for everyone involved.

I forgot to mention earlier, but they were having another officers vs passengers volleyball game in the sports pool. It’s definitely more cloudy today and the pools aren’t as busy. It was mostly kids swimming while I was up there. I was excited for the Broadway Cabaret in the theatre featuring the singers from Cats. I loved it! There are some very talented people in that cast and it bodes well for Cats later in the cruise. I only wish bar service would stop once the show starts, because it’s pretty loud. I also wish people wouldn’t film while their flashlight is on and I wish no one would argue about where to sit during Suddenly Seymour. I know Cats is not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you get the opportunity to see that cast elsewhere, take it! They’re good!

Yes and as far as I can remember it’s always been the case on the eastbound transatlantic that’s I’ve donne (all RCI). My mother was on MSC a couple of weeks ago and they did it during the night. I quite like it during the day. I need to take it into account when I’m planning my meals, but I like feeling like I get a “normal” night of sleep. I imagine it must be better for the crew, too, to do it during the day. Bit strange to be ahead with Odyssey considering our detours to Bermuda. Hopefully we didn’t do any speeding 😳

It’s a good thing I went to Sorrento’s before I saw any of your pizza pics. Now tell me about those tentacles 🐙

I think I mentioned that I had booked my Giovanni dinner for night 1 when it was on sale for International Pizza Day. Well, I had also purchased a lunch because it was only 20$ CAD. That lunch was today. The restaurant was almost completely empty at 12:00 when I arrived, head bowed down in shame from my Game of Thrones trivia loss. By the time I left around 13:15 it had filled up quite a bit. I wanted to try all new things, so I started with a half portion of the Tagliatelle Carbonara. I enjoyed it a lot. The pancetta was salty, but the rest of the dish balanced it well. I don’t think I could choose which one I liked more between that and the risotto from the other night. Then, I had to try the filet. I’ve been reading on this boards that the filet at Giovanni’s is better than the one at Chops and my waiter said exactly the same thing. I’ve seen pictures of that filet drowning in sauce, so my recommendation would be to get the sauce on the side. I liked that I was able to control the sauce quantity. It was a very good filet and cooked just like I want it: barely. I’m not always in a “big lump of beef” mood, but I would definitely get this again. For dessert, I had the Tiramisu. It was excellent and I could definitely taste the booze. I couldn’t finish, but it wasn’t the Tiramisu’s fault. My waiter was amazing. First, when I asked him to recommend a red wine, he asked some questions about what I like and didn’t just grab the first bottle. Then, he kept refilling my glass because “you’re not driving, are you?” I am, indeed, driving. I’m always driving. But the ship is going into dry dock soon so I figure it’s fine if I run into a few walls. He ended up charging me only one of my Diamond vouchers, but I think it should have been at least three. He will definitely get a mention in the survey. Speaking of which, absolutely no one has mentioned the survey so far. Should I expect it closer to the cruise end or have they calmed down on mentioning the survey? It’s now almost 14:00, which means it’s almost 15:00 since we are losing another hour. There is a show I want to see at 16:00, so in the meantime I am back at my usual spot at the Lime & Coconut. It’s usually my blended cocktail spot, but today it’s my sobering up spot.

My day started in Central Park again. I didn’t want to eat breakfast, because I had lunch plans, but I had coffee because that doesn’t count and a doughnut because it had been ages since I had eaten one. And by ages I mean I didn’t have one yesterday. It’s cloudy today, but still a wonderful day to be kind of outside enjoying Central Park I was joined by the couple I met yesterday and we chatted until it was time for me to go to Spotlight Karaoke and see if my Game of Thrones knowledge could win me a highlighter. I joined someone I know from a previous cruise and our team did really well, but not well enough. We were one point away from the winners. Pretty sure the winning team included the hypnotist from last night and that somehow he could steal the answers straight from our brains. I call shenanigans.

Day 7 Compass

I thought I had spotted a plant for sure because I saw one of the volunteers before the show carrying what looked like a ship phone. In end the she didn’t even get picked to do the show, so I’m not sure if she was there in case he didn’t have enough « good » volunteers? Or maybe not a plant at all. What is real? Am I a plant? 👀

Very curious to see what a $29 popsicle looks like. Those boozy floats look very fun.

I didn’t really vibe with the activities for today. The only thing I had added to my calendar was the show in the theatre: hypnotist Marc Savard. I’m not into hypnotists. I’m also not into ventriloquists and I enjoyed that show a lot, so I decided to go see the hypnotist. The theatre felt full and there many people who went up on stage to volunteer (more people than chairs, actually). The first part of the show was him doing some hypnotism stuff and picking the « best » volunteers. In the end, I think he ended up with a dozen people. I liked some parts of the show. I thought it was pretty funny that he made someone dance or that someone was suddenly convinced that they were named something silly. But it made me uncomfortable that he made a lady be super repulsed by him. Even if it wasn’t real, her reaction felt real and her distress at his touch made me want to go up there and make him stop. I was also uncomfortable when one of the participants freaked out when he thought he was forced to confront what seemed to be a pretty serious fear or phobia. Again, the distress felt too real. I know one of the participants (if anyone saw the show, his name is E-I-E-I-O). Now I really want to run into him again to ask him how it felt when he was up there. I have many questions…

I’m so sorry you had to cancel your trip on the Oasis. I really love the Solarium; it’s particularly beautiful in the evening when the lighting is all pretty 😍 It’s been around 19/20 Celsius for the last few days. In the shade when it’s windy it gets chilly, even for me, but I was comfortable all day today in the sun with a light jacket. I know everyone always says that, but it’s true: bring layers. I’d be interested in knowing what you plan on doing in Madrid. I have plans to visit for the first time in the fall and I’ll start actively planning when I come back from this trip.

I think I am literally the only passenger in the Solarium outside the Bistro right now. It’s incredibly windy, but if you can make it to the middle without blowing away it’s so worth it. I’m enjoying a chocolate martini in the upper level as I watch the sky turning dark. It’s peaceful and so beautiful up here. Please don’t tell anyone.