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Mark got the jerk chicken and liked it. It looked really good. (But he didn’t even offer me a bite so I’m taking his word for it.) I had the pork chop with fig Demi-glacé. A tiny bit dry, but overall a good flavor.

Mark had the yellow split-pea soup. He said is was good, but the flavor was a lot milder than he was expecting. I had the beef satay with peanut sauce and it was fantastic. Mark had the Caesar salad and I opted for the field greens with spring onion and cabbage slaw.

Tonight’s MDR menu

We had a great (!) dining room experience tonight. Our nightly reservation is at 7 pm but before tonight we’ve waited 20-30 minutes to be seated. We arrived at 6:50 pm and waited less than two minutes. We really liked our table and our service team so I spoke to the restaurant manager and requested that table for the rest of the cruise. We said we’d be willing to change times if that would help, but he said 7 pm would work fine.

Great weather today. Warm, but with a nice breeze. Thanks!

After the train, it was on to the catamaran for a 30 minute boat ride back to the ship. Here they served unlimited rum punch, Carib beer, and assorted other drinks. We turned the corner and saw the Ruby come in to view. It was a long day. We arrived back at the pier to reboard Ruby a little before the all aboard time of 5:30 pm.

Today’s tour was St. Kitts Scenic Railway and Coastal Cruise. We met at the end of the pier at 12:15 pm and then boarded a small bus which took us to the train boarding station. You could opt to sit in the open air car up too or the air conditioned parlor car below. Mark was feeling overheated so we decided to play it safe with the lower level. Once the train got underway, they served complimentary drinks. Mark just got an ice water but I opted for a mango daiquiri. The train ride was nice, but only “scenic” in just a few places. But we enjoyed it overall and felt it was very relaxing.

Day 4 - St. Kitts

And now I’m wondering if you can die from eating too much. Service was great and Sabatini’s is a large, brightly-lit restaurant with lots of seating. I was pleasantly surprised and we are thinking we might go back again later this cruise.

And of course we did! Panna Cotta And Rocher

And you might wonder if we had room for dessert after all that food.

Lasagna for Mark And Ossobuco for me.

Mark opted for the Lobster Tortelloni And I tried the Linguini alla Carbonara (this was a little salty, but I chalked that up to the pancetta).

They start everyone off with the arancini and some fresh bread (still warm). We ordered salumi e formaggi misti. Fritto Misto alla Veneziana And our waiter brought Chef’s Version Panzanella

Tonight was our first formal night and we had dinner in Sabatini’s. First off. It was great. We waited two minutes to be seated and that was because they wanted to check to see if there was a table by the window. There was. 😁

International Cafe has a nice selection of sandwiches and pastries all afternoon.

While we were in line on night two, a couple behind us had come down to Michaelangelo from DaVinci saying it wasn’t any better. I haven’t heard about Botticelli though. It’s kind of tucked away so maybe it’s better? Not sure though.

Yes. It seems like lengthy wait times and slow service. We’ve enjoyed most of what we’ve ordered, but it feels like the dining room rhythm is “off.” We’ve been requesting a table for two. I’ve noticed that when we are seated, they will wait until they fill up the other two tops around us before they begin taking orders. We sat with our menus for 20 minutes the first night, and then they took orders from six tables all in a row along the bench seat. Once you finished a course, they didn’t bring the next one until they cleared ALL the plates. We requested a table for two, but with the way they are serving, we may as well be sharing a table for twelve. We haven’t let this affect our enjoyment of our cruise as I’m still finding a lot of positives, but the dining situation would definitely be something I would consider before booking the Ruby again. I am still hoping things get ironed out as the cruise progresses though!

We’ve been to St. Kitts a few times, but we’ve never done the train. So this time we are doing the train ride and coastal cruise. Last time we were there we took a catamaran to Nevis for snorkeling and lunch on the beach. It was a long day, but that was a great time.

Our tour was with Beyond the Beach! We’ve used them several times in the past and have had really great experiences. The food tour was really the only tour left to try. It’s okay though. This is really just supposed to be a nice relaxing cruise for us, so it will be fine not to have excursions in every port. I just love a good food tour so hopefully we’ll be able to do it next visit!

Got a call from our tour operator in Martinique. Apparently the day we are docked in Martinique is a national holiday (marking the end of WWII) so a lot of businesses will be closed. They canceled our tour (since it was a downtown walking food tour) and gave us the option to reschedule to one of their other tour options. We’ve already done both of the other options offered, so we may just get off the ship and walk around. Or may take the ferry to one of the beaches. We’ll see how we feel. I’m a little bummed because I was looking forward to this one, but I’m sure we’ll find something else to do.

So as I said before, we are dining in Sabatini’s tonight. I wanted to go ahead and post the MDR menu so I don’t forget.

I really like the Adagio Lounge (deck 15 aft) for a quiet place to relax during the day. The bar is not open until later, but we took our coffee up this morning and loved the peaceful atmosphere.

Not only are they using the shameful glasses, but last night they served my Grgich Hills Merlot in a glass that had obviously just come out of the dishwasher. The stem was still hot when they set the glass on the table. 😑 Mmmmm…warm Merlot. I sent it back as the wine was already tasting a little “off” from the heat. But I shouldn’t have had to do that. Who thinks it’s okay to serve wine poured into a hot glass? Lol!

The cigar lounge attached to the casino is definitely an arcade now. I have asked about cigar smoking and the crew member said you need to use designated outdoor smoking areas. I am going to ask at guest services to find out if there is a specific cigar smoking area.