abbydancer2003

My points showed up today, around lunch time in Fiji, which is the 16th. Right now, I can't see my point history at all, it stays on upcoming cruises. Might be because I'm on ships wifi. I have a spreadsheet with my points from each cruise, plus a field where I sum my current point count and all the cruises I have booked that I think I need to reach Zenith. With this, it's now enough that without any more power up or Go Green, I'll reach it on the cruise I think I will in a year. Clearly I need a life.

I don't have my power up yet, but I did get the points for the last cruise today (we're on the second leg of the b2b2b. Ended on the 9th, but we're on the other side of the dateline, so 8th in Miami. Crossed a threshold - now 3 digits to zenith.

We missed 3 ports last year on a Princess cruise thanks to Hurricane Lee. We got about 1/3 of our base fare back as FCC, plus 100.00 OBC. I used the FCC to pay for over half of my 7 day Sun Princess cruise in 2025.

Greetings from our new room, an aft corner sky suite. You'd think it would be a let down from a Royal Suite, but, other than missing the second half bath, we're very happy. Our butler is good, a little less proactive than in the Royal, but we're getting everything we ask for. We order coffee every morning and by the third day he has the set up ready to go, so it arrives quickly and hot. I do like having both a balcony and a window. Glen heard that we'll arrive around 3pm tomorrow. We have a tour for the full day, so I guess we'll walk around for a while. Once I finish my 3/27 live, I'll post some of my highlights here as well.

Great review - thanks. Maybe I'm missing something, but why didn't they just print a new one when, apparently, they had trouble finding them? (I'm not convinced they don't do that). Our turnaround was Tuesday and and we got our old cards today. And so far, this cruise has been nothing like what people booked. We missed first port due to leaving Sydney 15 hours late, and now we're turning around due to a medical emergency. 2 of 6 gone, 3 of 7 if you count Maui replaced with early arrival into Honolulu. Fun stuff.

I’m happy you made it in, and I hope your ride is better than ours. We’re on the Solstice and yes, we are missing the first port. We’re also sailing in 30 foot seas which may not sound like a lot but it is. I think we’ll see a lot of casual footwear at formal night. I was on the Majestic in 2022. It’s a great ship.

Here's the next day. Should I complete? Megatrip Day 16. Yorkie’s Knob (Cairns) Friday 2 Today is our second of two private tours on this cruise (4 ports, two ship/two private). It’s a tender port, and Ann and I have arranged that the Retreat Concierges will take all of us off. Ann and I agreed to meet at 8:15 inside the entrance to the Club, and we asked the rest to come at 8:30. We ordered a light breakfast in the room at 7, and Walter brought it soon after, and at 8:10 we were ready to go. I ran into two of our group outside the club, and brought them. Everyone was there by 8:30, so Mar took us out. We boarded the tender, but had to wait for it to fill, but by about 8:40 we were on our way. The tender ride here is close to 30 minutes, so we arrived at 9:10. Our tour is at 9:30, so all good. Dorinda contacted the company, and they had us wait at the entrance to a boat club. At 9:15, Chris, our guide arrived, and off we went to Cairns. (The r is silent). Apparently the two biggest industries are sugar and tourism. We passed sugar fields on the way in. Our first stop was the St. Margaret’s Cathedral. This church has, by far, the most interesting stained glass windows I’ve ever seen. The front two commemorate WW2. Here’s one. The story of creation is told along the walls, and it’s the scientific one. Some pictures. And the other entrance piece. If they interest you, you might want to see more info at their website. Following that, we drove and saw some of the sights. Because we were running a bit early, we stopped at the park at the lagoon. Curiously, there is a cruise dock in town for smaller ships, so I don’t know why we don’t tender to there. Maybe somebody knows? There were a number of birds there, and we saw this cute baby bird. Our next stop was the museum, which was a small museum about the history of Cairns. We were given an overview by a museum guide and we got some time to explore. They acknowledge and feature their indigenous population. Our next stop was the Botanical Gardens. We did not have time to see all of it, but Chris was very knowledgeable about it, and we saw lots of plants. We also saw the local turkey vulture. There are some very old banyan trees. Apparently they build around a host tree, and eventually the host dies. And of course there are chocolate trees (technically cocoa) And some wild ginger And no botanical garden would be complete without some flowering plants. After that, we headed to a nice cafe for some tea (coffee or soft drinks also available) and a scone. The scones were large and flavored with lemon and dates. We had one gluten free person in our group and they had a treat for him as well. Our next stop after that was a lookout over the city. There was a board there that listed all the hills in the distance. We had a great view of Cairns. Our ship is somewhere off to the left. Our final stop was a Palm Cove beach, a resort area on the ocean. It was about a 25 minute drive, and we had about 15-20 minutes there to use the restrooms and look at the water. Lots of restaurants and hotels there. I’m not sure it was worth the drive, but it was only about 20 minutes back to Yorkie’s Knob, and we arrived about an hour before the last tender. We were able to get on the next tender, which turned out to be a local larger boat. It was about thirty minutes back, and probably smoother then the ships tender, but there were a lot of people to unload, so it took almost another 30 minutes to get off. Because we hadn’t had lunch, I went to the lounge once on board and had some tea. Then back to the room to watch them hoist the last tender. That took quite a while as there was significant wind, and the crew in the tender could not connect with the ropes to hoist the boat. The rescue boat came out with a couple more people to help and they finally got it done. We changed for dinner and went to the lounge for a while, then dinner. I started with the glazed baby veggies, and it’s the only picture I got tonight. Dinner was uneventful, other than I forgot what I had, and we have another earlyish start tomorrow, so we called it a night.

Mega Trip Day 14 - Sea Day 6 - Thursday 2 Random ocean view to start the day We had the half hour change to get to “not Darwin” time, so slept late. After our usually morning coffee, we decided to go to the Captain’s Club breakfast in Tuscan. For the first time for me, the fruit, meat, and breads were a buffet at the entrance (my understanding is that they used to do this on all ships. I also don’t recall it on this ship in 2023. I had a bit of fruit, and then decided I wanted a bagel. No bagels on the buffet, so I was told to ask the waiter. He brought on with a lot of cream cheese. Since there’s cream cheese on the the buffet, next time I’ll have the waiter bring the bagel and get my own cream cheese. On the way back, I noticed that they’d posted the brand new menu and show for Le Petit Chef. We should have waited. We went back to the room, and noticed an interesting ship to the side. At 11:15 we had a bridge tour. We walked over a bit early, but Glen realized he’d left his cruise card in Tuscan, so he went back and I met the group in the elevator lobby. Glen arrived in time for the security check. As usually an officer explained how things worked on one of the side terminals. On Princess, they show you the main terminal and I have a picture of Glen in the captain’s chair. No matter, here we are enjoying it. After the tour it was lunch time, and today it was back to the first days lunch. Glen ordered the beet soup, and said it was more like a goulash and not much beet flavor. We both had the NY steak, and main dining’s strawberry shortcake for dessert. Next item of interest was trivia. Music today was 70’s and hard. I suspect we’ll do really well next cruise. Following that, I decided to tweak our specialty dining for the remainder or the cruise. I wanted to do a second Tuscan, a third Murano and the new LPC menu, that starts tomorrow. So I headed downstairs. First thing I wanted to do was confirm when the new LPC menu starts, as I absolutely only want to to do that. Arriving at the restaurant, there was no-one there, but a waiter came out of the crew door, so I asked him. (He was our tuscan waiter for breakfast, but now in LPC garb). He confirmed tomorrow and offered to tweak all my reservations. I decided to move Tuscan to tonight, LPC on the 6th, and Murano on the last night. We went to the lounge prior to our Tuscan dinner, and then headed over. We had the same server, and found out she’d had a great time with family in Bali. Her assistant brought oil and vinegar as the bread dip, which was a little surprising. He told us the basil had gone bad, and they hoped to get more in Sydney. They did give us some Rosemary and Thyme (fun fact: The song by Simon and Garfunkel has a lower vocal that’s a strong anti-war song. I learned this in the class I just finished). We split the antipasto plate to start. It’s really better to do when you have more people. I tried the filet mignon, as was recommended and it was really very good. For dessert I had their zabiglione strawberry shortcake (apparently theme of the day for me). It was very nice and light. Glen had tiramiso and said it was too sweet. As we were walking back to the room after dinner, I remembered that I’d asked Pradeep, our waiter if I could have the baked brie from Blu tonight and he’d arranged that. I felt bad for not showing up, so I went to Luminae to apologize. Everyone was very appreciative that I did that. Tomorrow starts our next round of port days, so early to bed.

Mega trip. Day 13 Sea Day 5 Wednesday 2 We were up early today, since we went to bed early last night, thanks to the early start yesterday. We called Walter for coffee, and then went to breakfast. We both had omelettes, but I wasn’t very hungry so didn’t eat a lot. We decided to next go to the lounge, and spent an hour chatting with people. As usual, at around 11:20 we met Brenda and Robin for coffee and chatted with them until their lunch time. I really just wanted some soup but both main and Luminae had broccoli cheese, so we went to Sushi so I could have some Miso soup. I had that and tried the beef ramen slider. I ate most of both. Glen had the shrimp tempura Udon. The miso: The slider: Next up was rest and then trivia. The music trivia was Beach Boys, and our team knew several. One song threw us, “Disney Girls”. I knew it from the Art Garfunkel cover, but couldn’t come up with the title. We didn’t win, but did OK on general trivia. We went back to the room afterward to read - we do spend a lot of time in the room because it’s so nice and we can watch the ocean. Since tonight was Evening Chic, we decided to go to the show at 7, and let the butlers seat us. It was an Australian singer named Lisa Woodbrook, and she was pretty good. She did sing a variety of genres, but she did an upbeat version of one of my “should be banned forever” songs. - My Heart will Go On. (I wish this song would go on to obscurity.). Next stop was Luminae for dinner. I had tomato soup (I guess today is in fact soup day) and prime rib from main. It was pretty good, but I’m still not hungry, so I ate a little. After dinner, we called it a night.

I got to do Qsine once, with friends. I wish it was back, since LPC is never very full.

Thanks all. MegaTrip - Day 12 - Darwin AS - Tuesday 2 Today is our second stop, Darwin Australia and 1/2 hour off of most places. Today we have one of 2 ship tours on this cruise, booked late because nothing was available on the Black Friday sale, and I couldn’t find any good private excursions. We chose to visit Litchfield National Park, which is famous for Waterfalls and Termite Mounds. It’s a ways away, and so our meet time was 7am. Nothing else will be that early. We set the alarm for 6, but managed to sleep through it. Fortunately the doorbell rang at 6:09 with Walter delivering our breakfast. I saw we were in Darwin. We had to be at the theater just before 7, so we got dressed, finished breakfast and headed down. We got our numbers and then sat at the theater for a bit until they got clearance around 7:20. They called groups 1 and 2, so we followed the crowd out where we waited until the gangway actually opened. We walked through the outside path to the terminal, where there was a very cursory bag inspection, and then onward to our bus number 2. We got seat in about the 7th row. Our guide was Derek, and his mike was not quite loud enough. Our first stop was at a gas station/cafe. I used the restrooms, and wandered around. There were lots of birds, I think they were white parrots. After that, we drove to Litchfield Park. It was about a 2 hour drive total. First stop was their famous termite mounds. We saw two different types, meaning different types of termites. There was an informational display all about termites. Wow! Apparently there are workers, and queens and children. Learn something new everyday. And the type of mounds vary by type of termite. These guys build cathedrals. You can't really see them in the picutes, but there are termites crawling all over them. After about a half hour there, we went to the first of our two waterfalls. There was a close viewing platform but Derek took us to a lower one with better views. I believe we were at Tolmer falls. And from a bit further away.. It was very pretty. The landscape is pretty interesting as well. Next stop was lunch. On the way there, I got somewhat overheated, which happens once in a while. I did manage to make it to lunch without passing out, though. Lunch was a buffet at an outdoor cafe. Apparently, though, the cook a limited amount of meat/fish because our guide started with “who likes chicken, counted and made the rest fish. Not exactly accurate but I don’t think it matters, since maybe some who like chicken also like fish. The buffet consisted of pasta and potato salad (the potato salad made me nervous since it was outdoors and the buffet was cooled by bottles of frozen water, not on ice. There was then chicken and fish, bread, and some watermelon. I had a few bites of chicken with some bottled bbq sauce but mostly had watermelon and water. After lunch we went to our second waterfall. Wangi Falls. It was the more impressive of the two. The falls are gorgeous. Following that, we started back to the port. We did do a stop at a hotel/gas station/cafe which has a crocodile out back, but it wasn’t visible (and I’ve seen them in the wild so it didn’t matter. They did have some gorgeous emus, thought. It took a little while to get back, and we stopped in town to drop off a couple who hated to explore the town. Derek did point out some things for us as we drove through town. We were dropped off around 3:30, and quickly made our way to the ship. Once on board, I rested for a while, and then watched sailing on the balcony. We had booked Le Petite Chef tonight, because I thought iit was a new menu. We were seated promptly at 8:30, and the staff was nice. However, when the show started, I realized it was the very first ever show, with a couple of menu tweaks. The meat course was filet mignon, and they could not cook it right in two trrys. The second was medium, which we could live with, so we ate it. Glen did like the little footprints on the plate of his ice cream sundae. They then told me there was a new menu and show on the last few days of the cruise. If we’d known that, we would have waited. The manager did tell me he’d give me a nice discount if we came back next cruise. After that, back to the room and collapse.

Weather was hot but dry today in Cairns. Nice to see you on CC!

We're probably closer, as we live in Mountain View, but our complex is in the Los Altos school district.

I just went. The only bikes I saw were gathered together against the wall in the studio. I took a picture of one, plus the schedule and the sign up sheets. I hope it helps.

The day (or within days) of the overturning of Prop 8, New York state made no fault divorce legal (prior you needed grounds - last state in the country with that). My sister, who had just gone through the world's most contentious divorce said "It's a great day - gays can get married and straights in New York can get divorced". Her NY divorce took 5 years, and I've never seen anyone so happy about a divorce.

Where is this? Just curious, as we've been away now for a couple of weeks.

Mega Trip day 9 - Sea Day 4 - Monday 2 So still working off jet lag and clock changes, we woke up at 9, or so we thought. The captain’s announcement came on at 9:15? Oops, clock went forward 30 minutes last night. I guess that’s to match Darwin time. Those wacky Aussies. So I manually set my phone to Darwin time, which now matches ship time. And I got my grade for the final I took in Singapore - Full credit except for the one Multiple choice. Yippee, for what it’s worth. We called Walter for our morning coffee, which he puts out with placemats and pastries. I guess it’s back to coffee table coffee next week. After breakfast and fully dressing, we called Walter to take us to the customs officers. Turns out he wasn’t necessary, since there were only two people there when we got there, and they were already getting their passports. We were quickly checked off, and I went to the lounge. Glen brought the passports back and put them in the safe (presumably, I haven’t looked) and then we met Robin and Brenda for our now regular morning coffee. Once they headed to lunch we wandered a bit and then went to lunch at Luminae. Today is the day I get a main dining lunch - cold blueberry soup, fried chicken and then key lime pie. My favorite pie. The fried chicken on this ship was the best I’ve had yet, and I let Pratip, our waiter know. As is usually after lunch now, I worked on the blog until it was time for trivia. While Glen shows up once in a while, we now have a team with Dorinda and husband Dale, and 2 or 3 gentlemen, one from Britain and one from US. Today was Beatles on the music, and we won that. We also won general trivia in part because I knew the 3 fairies in Sleeping Beauty. Next stop was the lounge, where I met Bill and his wife Linda from Cruise Critic. I do hope to talk to them more later in the cruise. In part I was there because Ann and I wanted to confirm with the concierges that they can take our Yorkies Knob group off as priority. It helps that most are elite. We talked to Ann and co for a bit, and then headed up to the room. Next stop was the production show, “Amade”, based, sort of on Mozart. Here are some pictures. Notice the costumes. I guess adding costuming on stage is part of it. One thing Celebrity does well is aerialists. They did something similar in Elysium years ago. After the show, we checked out the atrium for dance music, but the “dance” band is not very good, and doesn’t play danceable music. It is, however, loud, so we went upstairs to the sky lounge where from 8-9 they play recorder ballroom music. It wasn’t bad, and not quite elevator music so we danced some. We also ran into Dorinda and Dale there, who were a bit surprised to see us. After that, it was down to Luminae for dinner and then bed. Tomorrow is Darwin, and we have a very early tour.

It's been good. If you look at my last comment on my last post, they managed to do something right that has never happened before. It would be nice to have dinner together one night. We're not doing any specialty after this cruise, for obvious reasons.

You got married on my 50th Birthday. Now I guess I'll know better how long you've been married that I'll know how long I have.

Megatrip day 8 - Sea day 3 - Sunday 2. We thought we might make breakfast today, but we missed that the clock went forward an hour (reminding me why I love Westbound TransAtlantics). So we called Walter for coffee (man, we are spoiled, we’ll miss him soon) and then decided to see what Michaels Club offers. Turns out we could get juice and espresso drinks. I asked Lucy, our outstanding bartender about regular coffee from Luminae, and she got me a cup. It was appreciated (on Constellation, they sent a full pot). When I went back to the room I saw Walter, and asked him about drinks and the mini bar on the sky suite. He told me the new bean counter president doesn’t want butlers to do it anymore. So, I will ask my new butler/room steward to empty the fridge, and will put my own drinks in it. (I might ask him if I can just pack up the 8 or 9 cokes we have, plus a couple of beers and the water and bring them. Walter was there to actually tell us that tomorrow, when we have to do Australian customs on the ship, to call him and he’ll take us up there to skip the line. After that it was time for our now regular coffee with Brenda and Robin. They go to the 10:30 talks in the theater, and then we get coffee. No snagged table, so we went down to cellar masters where it’s quiet. They went to lunch around 12:15, since they have to do customs this after and I went up there to check out the line. It went from the entrance to the sky conference center, past the sky lounge, and wrapped around to the door to the conference center. People told me it was about 30 minutes. I texted that to Brenda. Next stop was the casino. It’s finally open, since it was closed from Singapore through Bali (that’s gotta hurt). They have now, as mentioned, changed from the cashier vouchers, to the card at the machine. On newer casinos, you tap your card, here, you insert your card and download money. Until you’ve gambled 50% you can’t download more. I check, and all I can see when I got to my personal banker is my reward total. (Hint: Gamble more than I do to get a free cruise). Once I’ve bet 50% (10.00 on a 20.00 download) I can transfer again, and that’s where I usually cash out. So far, not so good - I’m above 10.00 but below winning. That’s all I’ve done so far. We went to lunch next. I had my modified Luminae burger, and it was good and done right. I spent the afternoon enjoying the ocean and working on the blog. (yes, there is an ocean out there) At 3:30 I went up for trivia, I did jet out at 4:30 because we had our cruise critic friends coming over at 4:30. It was small but nice. After that we dressed for dinner and headed to the lounge until our second dinner at Murano. We’re front loading our specialties, since we have to buy them after this, and we’ll have lots of repeat nights on the next two cruises. Glen started with the heirloom tomato salad. I started with what they called mushroom cappuccino, because they put a layer of milk foam on top. It was really good. We both had the rack of lamb which was excellent. For dessert, we both had the strawberry crepe And a close up. After that, it was time to call it a night and check email, and chatting with Jim about shipping a new router to him, but it won’t get there before he leaves. We’re having problems configuring ours. Before I go, one thing I forgot last night at dinner, That was the night Luminae has their beef sirloin, which is two slices of steak. Glen’s ordered it a few times, and it’s always been well done on the outside, and almost raw in the middle, and we’ve met several chefs because of that. We told our waiter this, and he took it as a challenge, and brought just the steak. This ship did it right, so Glen will probably order it next cruise.

Wow 6 pages already. I want to be you when I grow up. Also this sounds like a fabulous itinerary. I'd love to do it with you. Oh wait, I am. We'll figure out what to do with my live once I finish in Sydney. ' Off to start writing the Sunday entry where I answer the buring question "what about the casino".

Mega Trip - Day 7 Bali - Saturday 2 Today is Bali, our first port stop of four. We’re joining two other couples on a tour with a guide. The content is flexible, and it doesn’t include lunch or admissions, but it was very inexpensive (23.00 per couple) so that’s fine. I have about 100.00 in Indonesian money (over 2M rupia) which will cover our admissions, etc and probably the others as well. Our meeting time was the passport bar at 8:30. We decided to get up at 7:15 and we put the hang tag out for breakfast of coffee, orange juice, fruit and pastries at 7:30 - 8:00. Walter arrived at about 7:50 with everything. By then we were mostly ready, so we enjoyed our breakfast and headed to the passport bar. We arrived a little before 8:30 and headed out. At the bottom of the gangway, some Balinaise dancers I guess were posed. The required sign was there, too. We met our guide, Pong just outside the gate, and went to his very comfortable van. Our first stop was to be a coffee plantation for a taste and tour. Bali’s big coffee thing is Luwok Coffee. It’s coffee that’s been harvested from the droppings of a small animal called a palm civet cat (thanks, wikipedia). The animal eats the coffee cherry and the undigested inner part is harvested, cleaned and brewed. It’s considered one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Pong let us know that there was free coffee and tea tasting, but if we wanted to try the luwok, there would a charge of 45,000 rupee. (That’s just under 3.00 US - you can’t get a run of the mill coffee at home for much less). It took about 90 minutes to get there, as it was both a ways away, and traffic in Bali is terrible. Once we arrived, he turned us over to one of their employees, who guided through a jungle walkway, explaining about the various plants, etc that they grow for their teas and coffees. We also saw a civet cat. Apparently they borrow these each day, and release them each night, so different ones every day. They are not mistreated, as they’re nocturnal. I also saw trays of spices, and someone roasting beans. They also do the grinding with a very large stick. Glen said our neighbors would probably object if we did that. After the tour, we were seated at a picnic table and they brought out samples of many teas and coffee, including one they call Bali coffee - no digestive tracts involved. Glen and I split a Luwok coffee. I couldn’t really tell the flavors, because I don’t like black coffee, but it didn’t seem that much better. We did enjoy most of the teas and flavored coffees. Once we were done with tasting we went to the gift shop. All of us bought a little something. We got a box of tea and a small bag of Bali Coffee. The Luwok was about 100.00 for a small bag if I read the price tag correctly. We then got back in the van for about 30 minutes to the Monkey Forest. This is a Monkey Sanctuary in Ubad Bali. We parked, and walked to the very nice visitors center. They have posted “guidelines” about staying away from the monkeys, not feeding them, etc. After we paid the entrance fee (about 6.00 and change each) Pong took us through the forest. Here are some of the residents: They are all over, as apparently being fed regularly and being safe have great appeal. And they pretty much ignore humans. The sanctuary provides them with all amenities, including a swimming pool. They like to jump off the branch into the water. The sanctuary also hosts a very old Banyan tree. And, no sanctuary would be complete without a temple. Apparently it is a working temple, so we could only look from the gate. After the sanctuary we drove to lunch. Along the way everywhere are these religious hangings. Bali is mostly Hindu. Our restaurant was on a small cliff overlooking a working rice paddy. Just below the restaurant was a terrace, which was good for pictures. There are also swings over the paddy and from the restaurant, we could see a zipline. After lunch it was too late to really see anything else, because traffic is so bad, it would take about 90 minutes to get back to the port. There are religious statues all over Bali in the middle of intersections. You can see the top of this one from the car. We got back to the port around 4:30, and once on board we headed to Michaels club. We ran into Ann and company so we talked to them until they went to dinner. After that it was back to our room to watch sailaway. We saw more of the Island as we left. Tonights dinner was at Luminae., and I ordered from Main mostly. I had an eggplant brochette which was pretty good, and flank steak. The steak was good, but their idea of Lyonniase potatoes and mine didn’t match - there were just thin slices, but they were good. For dessert I had the hibiscus parfait from Luminae. It was an early day today, so we called it a night after dinner. Two more sea days starting tomorrow.

Erin does the afternoon trivia. She's good, but spends a little too much time between questions, but that could be just me. Mar told me yesterday our sky suite butler is Dino. I saw him once. We'll see how it goes. There are two butlers for sky, and prior to butler gate there were 3. I guess they'll see how it works out. And Water has starboard, and Bart I guess has port. And Bill is correct on things. See you soonl

Mega Trip - Sea Day 2 - Friday 1 We woke up in time for breakfast today, since we’re still a little jet lagged and time is still wonky. Today I ordered scrambled eggs with cheese, shared fruit and bacon, and hashbrowns. I got the eggs, and a total of two strips of bacon. Not enough to share and the hashbrowns weren’t there. We got more bacon, and that was fine. From there, we headed to the lounge to drop off our confirmations for the Bali Tourist tax, as the concierges had asked for them. We’re all still fiddling with our OBC, so they played with that for a while. I got a text from Brenda that the were done in the theater, so we met for coffee in Al Baccio. I was able to snag a table, and while I was there, I noticed my OBC was back. We talked until lunch time, For lunch we went to Luminae. I started with Mushroom soup from main dining (quite good actually), and then had the herbed chicken breast, which was surprisingly good. (First time) I have no idea what the risotto like thing is but it was good. For dessert, I had the poached pear. Glen had the cafe latte panna cotta, which had some chocolate on top. I tried it and it was good, so maybe I’ll get it next time if they can remove the chocolate. After lunch, we went back to the room. I got a call from Dorinda about trivia, so I said I’d meet them upstairs for 3:30 music and then general. Walter showed up with some surprises. First, a try of sweets. <6986> Glen ate one by the time I took the pictures. Also these: Apparently in the Penthouse Suite they’re monogrammed, not so much in the Royal. At 3:25 I headed up and found Dorinda and husband, as well as one of the couples we’re going to Bali with. We did decently on music, and Glen joined us for general, where we also did Ok. After that, it was back to the room for our next gathering. Ann, and her entourage, most of whom I’d met on our Silhouette transatlantic came by. Walter brought some shrimp, chicken skewers and cheese and meat; we opened a bottle of champagne and it was very nice. They stayed until their dinner time and a good time was had by all. We dressed for dinner, and headed to Michaels club for a drink. Tonight we have a reservation at Tuscan Grill, so at 8:30 we headed down. We did get a window table, for whatever that’s worth at 8:30 at night. Our server was named Les, she’s from Bali and shared that she’s excited to see her family, especially her niece tomorrow. I had a Caesar salad to start and then the Ribeye with a side of Spaghetti cacao e Pepe - cheese and pepper. The steak was great - I but the spaghetti was a little too garlicky. We ended up skipping dessert. We’ll have it next time. We headed to the room after that, as we have an early start tomorrow.

I'll do what I can. Especially since I should go to the gym occasionally.