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dsa181920

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Everything posted by dsa181920

  1. Captain Pantaglotis - I think he goes by Captain Pantos cruise director is Alexander.
  2. Today we were in Isafjordur, Iceland. It was 46 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, and windy. No rain! We walked around this fishing port and then stopped at the Dokkan Burgghus to try some beer flights. This was a very small town with five cruise ships in port.
  3. Here are some more pictures of Reykjavik: Pipe Organ at the Church Views from the Church Tower
  4. We enjoyed our Food Tour. We met in the Center Hotel Plaza. Our guide took us to four places. The first one had lobster soup and pickled herring. The soup was really good and made from whey protein which is separated from the Icelandic yogurt instead of using a cream base. Our next stop was for the famous lamb hotdogs. Most of our group tried it with all of the condiments. I wasn't sure I would like it but it was very good. Next we went to a place which had lamb soup with a brown bread. Our last stop was a place where you could try the fermented shark and salted codfish. I did not try the fermented shark but many people in our group did. The guide gave instructions on the best way to eat it and then you take a shot of the liquor they serve with it. I chose to have a glass of Icelandic beer. We ended this stop with a dessert made from the Icelandic yogurt. The yogurt was on the bottom, then a layer similar to cheesecake but made from yogurt, and topped with blueberry sauce. The guide provided a lot of information about the history and culture of the city. Our guide at the hot dog stand. Lamb Soup Cod Dessert
  5. Yesterday, we were in Rejkavik, Iceland. It was in the 50's and rained lightly all day. We had a food tour booked for 11:30, so we explored the town for a couple of hours before the tour. It's about 1.8 miles from the port to the city center. Celebrity provides a complimentary shuttle bus from the port to the Harpa Concert Hall. We enjoyed visiting the Hallgrimskirkja. It's a beautiful modern church at the top of the hill. There was an organist playing the pipe organ. This organ has more than 5, 000 pipes. We purchased tickets to go to the bell tower. Tickets were about $10 a piece. The elevator goes to the 8th floor and then you walk up 3 flights of stairs. Beautiful views from this tower. The bells ring every 15 minutes. Found this sign while walking around and thought it was amusing. Statue of Leif Erickson
  6. I will try to find out. I haven’t spent any time around the outdoor pool because it’s been too cold and windy for me.
  7. I want a give a shout out to Elmer, the head bar tender, at Craft Social. This has been our favorite bar and Elmer has gone above and beyond. Eden Bat has been serving the Belle Glos Pinot Noir for $20. Craft Social does not have this wine on their menu,. When I asked Elmer about it, he went to Eden and got a bottle. He said it was a 10 dollar up charge. I told him it was on the Eden menu for $20 which is covered under the premium menu. Elmer went back to Eden and took a picture of the Eden menu in case his supervisor questioned it. Elmer is wonderful!
  8. This morning t was about 54 degrees F. My husband said he saw three people swimming laps in the outdoor pool. The Solarium is very busy and its hard to find a place to sit. My husband and I have passes to the Thermal Suite. Yesterday we went in the morning and it was very busy. Today we went around lunch time and it was not crowded and very relaxing. We waited to buy our Thermal Suite passes until we boarded the ship. Our last two cruises we have found they will give a substantial discount on embarkation day when they give you a tour of the spa. We saved about $100 on each pass this year. Last year we got the pass for about 50% of the price that had been showing online. Outdoor Pool this morning
  9. Yesterday it was windy and rainy. You really notice how many people are on the ship when everyone stays indoors. There was a big soccer game yesterday so they decided to open the theatre and show the game in there along with other places like Craft Social. The 7:30 show was moved to 2:00 to allow for this venue to be used. My sister and I tried to see the 2:00 show; however, every seat was taken. People were even trying to sit on the stairs of the theatre. We went back later to the 9:30 show. It was Take 3 Trio. They were three ladies who played the piano, violin, and cello. Lots of energy and talent. Last night the sun came out long enough for us to get a picture of sunset which was around 11:00 p.m.
  10. Cobh - Deck of Cards Houses Service for dinner has gotten better as the cruise continues. We had Anytime Dining and the first night we ate in Tuscan. It seemed to be a new crew trying to work together and service was not good. The second night we went to Cosmopolitan and had a wonderful serving team. We were able to change our dining to the fixed Early Dining so we could keep this table. Dinner pictures for Day 3: Smoked Ham and Split Pea Soup French Onion Soup Shrimp Cocktail Salmon Pappardelle Con Fungi Beef Sirloin En Croute
  11. We enjoyed our tour of the Midleton Distillery. Quite a few people chose this tour. We had three buses. The tour started with an overview of Cork. We arrived at Midleton Distillery around 11:00. Our tour of the distillery started at 12:20 so we had time to shop, have a drink, or grab a bite in the cafe. There was mist as we walked through the grounds of the distillery. Our guide called it "wet air". The walking tour took about an hour. After learning about the history of the distillery and the process used to make the product, we were given three types of whiskey to try and compare. The tour ended with a complimentary drink make with one of the whiskeys. We returned to Cobh and met my sister and brother-in-law at a pub. There is a Titanic Museum in Cobh; however, the first available ticket was for 5:30 which was too late for us. Midleton Distillery - Copper Pot
  12. Today we are in Cobh, Ireland. It is 59 degrees Fahrenheit. It was raining when we arrived but has stopped for the moment. My sister and brother-in-law are going to the Blarney Castle. I’ve been there before so we are going to Cork to tour Jameson Distillery. Hoping to have some time to explore Cobh when we return.
  13. Several of the bars have other options than the items listed on the menu. Same thing with MDR. There are no Cabernets listed on MDR menu that are 20 or under. However, when I asked the sommelier if he had one that was covered by the premium package, he brought out Decoy.
  14. Breakfast at the Pig-in-the-Wall Hotel Replica of 14th Century Ships Near Our Hotel
  15. We went to the Craft Social bar. Excellent service. Elmer is the bar tender. He is great at remembering names and preferences for drinks. My husband drinks bourbon and they have a decent selection at this bar. There are some not covered by the premium package but he has been satisfied with the ones that are covered. Elmer will make the smoked old fashioned drinks. This has also been the best bar for red wine. They do have a Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon that is not on the menu. It is covered under the premium package. The Celebrity Elegance is no longer covered on the package. This bar also has two ports that are covered on the premium package. We had the classic package with our booking. We kept our eye on prices and were able to upgrade for $6.99 a day about six months before the cruise.
  16. We were able to drop off our carry- on luggage in our room and pick up our sea passes. We completed our muster drill and the used some of our OBC to have lunch at Le Grand Bistro. We try to avoid crowds in the buffet on embarkation day. Lunch was good. Service was great.
  17. Obviously I am not doing a good job of keeping up with this “live report” I will post pictures from Southampton and the ship later. We had a short taxi ride from our hotel to the port. Boarding was very organized. Port employees directed us where to sit . They filled each row of seats instead of letting people to choose where to sit. Suite passengers had an area to the side. Suite passengers were taken aboard first and then the went row by row to board the rest of the passengers. They had several boarding ramps. It seemed more organized and efficient than some of our boardings in south Florida.
  18. We are planning to do a food tasting tour in Reykjavik. We also have boos the Diamond Circle tour in Akureyei.
  19. We met up with three couples tonight from our roll call group.. One of the couples made the arrangements at the HarBar at the Harbour Hotel. It was rooftop bar. Everyone was very nice. We plan to meet up at Eden on the second day.
  20. My husband and I had planned to stay at This hotel back in 2020 but never made it here due to the pandemic. We booked it for this vacation as soon as we booked our cruise. My sister waited too long and it was booked up.
  21. We explored Southampton while waiting for our room to be ready. We walked the old city walls and toured the Tudor House and Gardens. We ate lunch at the Dancing Man Brewery. We ordered beer flights and appetizers. The server let us try the different beers before choosing the ones for our flights. It was a nice way to cool down after our walk around the old part of the city. We met a group of people who were sailing on the Norwegian Dawn around the British Isles. They ship was leaving on Wednesday. They were very nice people and were from the same state as my sister. We had dinner at the White Star Tavern. After dinner, we walked around again and then enjoyed wine on the patio at our hotel. Lunch at the Dancing Man Brewery.
  22. We arrived in London about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. We used Blackberry Cars to transport us to Southampton. We were very pleased with the service and would definitely use them again. Y husband and I are staying the Pig-in-the Wall, and my sister and her husband are staying at the White Star Tavern. We were dropped off first. We were not able to check-in until later in the day, but the hotel let us store our luggage. The Pig-in-the-Wall is a small hotel with 12 rooms close to the port. This hotel is built into the old city walls. View from the hotel patio - Carnival cruise ship leaving the port Tuesday afternoon.
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