Dreamer68

Joining this thread as well. My cuisine of choice depends on why I'm eating. 🙄🤷‍♀️😂 On date nights with DH, or girls' nite out, I'm generally about adventure and exploring what I do not normally serve at home or something that is prep-intensive that I do not have patience nor time for. Lamb is generally on my list (nobody at home likes it) and I try to leave room for dessert. I am blessed to live in a city of culinary delights so I'm spoiled for choice.

When I'm feeling down or blah, nothing is better than something that reminds me of my mom's home cooking. So, anything along the South East Asian traditions would be my choice on those days. A sizzling ginger scallion Chinese beef dish or a warm meat curry over basmati rice or fluffy naan or a simple pork/ scallop rice congee would perk me right up. That plus fried bananas...with or without a dollop of vanilla ice cream on the side. 🙂

On 9/7/2023 at 1:08 PM, lenquixote66 said:

peanut butter

This one made me smile. You'd have peanut butter on a pizza but not sausage or mushroom? 🙂 Indeed, as the French say, "à chacun son goût" (to each, their own taste 🙂😋). Really nice to read what others enjoy on this thread.

In general, I enjoy a good thin-crust pepperoni pizza. Or a quattro formaggi with Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago cheeses. A few months ago, I had a transit in Chicago and tried a deep dish pizza and my tastebuds were not persuaded to switch alliance from thin-crust to deep dish. Over the years though, I've realized I crave some vegetables on my pizza. This came from an unplanned stacking of a piece of ultra meaty pizza (pepperoni, bacon, sausage) atop a deluxe vegetarian slice (onions, tomatoes, green peppers, green and black olives, mushrooms, grilled zucchinis and artichokes) resulting in a messy open-style calzone that had a great explosion of flavours.😋

These days, I enjoy experimenting and have enjoyed pesto, chicken and artichokes as toppings for my last 2 pizzas. I'm looking forward to returning to Rome next spring after a 3-decade absence to try the pizzas there. Perhaps my more mature palate will appreciate a good Margherita pizza now more than I did as teen. 😉

On 9/9/2023 at 2:41 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I have never tasted lobster.

Considering how widely you have cruised/ travelled, I did not expect to discover this of you. Especially considering up till recently, lobster was complimentary, and also part of the final sea day menu of most cruises I know. Why have you never tasted lobster, @lenquixote66?

I love lobster! My love affair with it began as a student travelling through Shediac, Canada, trying lobster for the first time in a place known as the "lobster capital of the world." I've enjoyed this crustacean simply boiled with some garlic butter, or as part of an overstuffed lobster roll in Eastern Canada and the US, or most recently as part of Chuck Hughes's menu item of Lobster Poutine in his Montreal restaurant, Garde Manger. Hughes' Lobster Poutine "reigned supreme" over Iron Chef Bobby Flay some years ago. Or when I'm visiting friends and family in South East Asia, it's so satisfying to have lobster and other seafood cooked in 101 ways or more, from steamed to stir fries, cooked in curries, fried with salted egg, etc etc. Yum-oh!!

Sadly though, lobster is not part of our normal day-to-day budget and so I'm intentional where I choose to have it. Incidentally, I enjoyed the lobster I had on the Apex in January 2023 before the Celebrity cuts rolled in. 😋

Wow. Every Friday, endeavouring to try a different ethnic restaurant, from 1972 to 1997....I would be very interested to know an approximate number you have tried! I'd also be interested to know which ones you enjoyed or stood out to you and why.

If I lump the cuisines that I've tried by country, the number is not as vast as the different ethnic cuisines within the one country. E.g. I can have tried Chinese cuisines but within that, I've enjoyed Cantonese, Szechuan or today, I had Yunnan's famous "Across the Bridge Noodles". Or in Malaysia, I've had Malay, Chinese, and Indian cuisine as well as a bunch of other mixes like Mamak cuisine (Tamil Muslims), or Peranakan / Nyonya which is a delicious blend of Chinese, Malay, Indonesian flavours. My Tripadvisor travel map show over 160 cities pinned as having visited. This might explain my round shape. 🤦‍♀️

On 8/26/2023 at 3:20 PM, TLCOhio said:

While in Canada last week, we loved our time there last week.  Below are a few more to prove and share the "Joy" of Canada, its people, history, character.    

Terry @TLCOhio, the Canadian Montrealer in me is thrilled to see how much you have enjoyed your visit to Quebec City. Thanks for appreciating and sharing bits of   history, architecture, nature, and yes, food porn from this French part of North America. 😍

What a lovely decade-old thread that I chanced upon! It's been a while since I brought out my DSLR to play, what with the convenience of phone cameras. I was checking around for discussions about the pros and cons of bringing a DSLR along on a cruise/ trip...and voila...all the photo on this thread made me smile. Thanks @pierces for this thread and the weekly photos one. They made me revisit my photo folders. I also wondered how I can carve out time again for a weekly photo walk with my camera and perhaps participate in your weekly photo offering. 

I am still undecided if I will take my camera with me when we cruise the Mediterranean next spring on the Equinox. I did not have it with me when we were on the Apex in Jan. 23 for the Caribbean (did not miss it) but I had it on the Summit in 2016 for Bermuda (glad I had it).

Here is a piece of the Berlin Wall, located now in my home city of Montreal. I had spent the day with a friend exploring the art and architecture of our metro (subway) system and we surfaced at each station to walk around the neighbourhoods to piece together the fabulous jigsaw puzzle that we are. We only managed to cover half the network in two 10-hour days. This piece of history is located at our World Trade Center building downtown. Poignant memories of historical events as I think of some the words I just posted...

56 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

Your confidence in my ability is much appreciated. However, since international phone use has been discussed to some extent on just about every board on Cruise Critic it might be best to reference a couple I have found to be beneficial.  Here are two...a thread and a board.

 

On the Viking Ocean board:  Cheapest way to use your smartphone internationally

 

The Cruising Technology board

Thanks for the links! 

10 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

 

Lew, if you'd be willing I think it would be a big help to start a new thread and give a tutorial, or sorts, and answer questions about eSIMs.  With the upcoming change for regional train tickets purchased on line requiring connection in order to be validated, this will be an ongoing and growing issue for travelers.

If a new thread is possible to add to this one, I'd definitely bring my curiosity there too and follow it! 🙏 Thank you!!

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Regarding the "tap and go" payment option on credit cards, it is worth it -- if you don't already have a card with this feature -- to request one from your credit card provider. They are very quick and useful.

 

The symbol might be on the front or back of your card and looks like this (rather than the wi-fi symbol you showed, which is a bit different):

 

 

My Capital One Visa is the one I use most when traveling. They have the tap & go feature, no foreign exchange fee, and they also have a nifty feature you can enable that automatically texts you whenever the card is used. I like having this feature because I can confirm the purchase was mine and it would potentially alert me of any fraud; however if you aren't planning on using data and roaming it may be less useful for you.

 

I just checked my credit card and it has the icon for this use! I'll call the company to get more info on how I can use this in Europe if I don't have roaming possibilities. The new Asian phone number and SIM caused a disconnect a few days into my trip there and my card was frozen by my bank due to fraud  concerns so I'll be mindful about options. Thanks lots @cruisemom42!!!

1 hour ago, -Lew- said:

 

My recommendation would be to purchase a SIM card or eSIM for use in Europe.  If your phone is a newer model, an eSIM is the way to go.

 

Check out the eSIM database here.

OMG, thanks!!! What a load of info to relish! I've bookmarked the site! 😍🤓 I have a humble 4-year old Motorola phone. Not sure if an eSIM is possible but I'll read up on the link you have included. If I have further questions about the SIMs, is it okay for me to message you @-Lew-?

MASSIVE thanks for starting this post @cruisemom42 and all the contributors adding your knowledge to help us Rome newbies have a good idea of the lay of the land before arriving.

I've noticed references to Google maps and tap+go payment options (I'm checking if my MC has that symbol ). This concerns me lots as I do not have data on my Canadian phone and roaming fees are not in our budget. When I was in Asia in this spring, it was very reasonable to buy a local SIM card with data for my few weeks' stay but what are connectivity options available so I can take care of myself "live" while there...or do I need to revert to the old ways of robust map-poring, note-making preparations for any travel adventure for Rome (and our other stops)? Our last cruise was on the Apex in January 2023 in the Caribbean and we survived getting free WiFi at various locations (yay, American coffee houses!) to complement detailed plans I had already drawn up for stops where we were doing our own thing.

DH and I are happy to try all forms of public transportation (maybe not so much the buses). 😉

On 8/31/2023 at 4:31 PM, erby2283 said:

I just wanted to say I love the title of your post - not that you're a dummy at all - but it just made me laugh out loud. 

Same! Thanks so much for the LOL moment every time I check back in with this thread @LDL1220 I'll be in Rome in May 2024, first time back since backpacking through Europe as a university student  decades ago...so, I'm updating my info on this port reading this forum and following your journey closely to prepare for mine. 😉
 

PS - I too have found that Vatican tickets have not been released for my stop in the spring. So, I will set a reminder to check once a week. 

2 hours ago, JackE said:

It’s our reward after Thanksgiving with the family. 🤪

🤣😂🤣 All the best at Thanksgiving! 

Love. This. Thread! Thanks, OP! My first contribution is to celebrate the ease of check-in on embarkation day. We were on the Apex in January 2023, right after the Christmas and New Year sailings. Yes, chosen specifically to avoid a full ship. From the time we entered the terminal building at Fort Lauderdale to the time we stepped onto the ship, it was 10 minutes! We encountered professional, seamless, smiley (mostly) service. We had picked an 11:30 am time slot.

It was also a thrill to know our cabin was available immediately and we were able to explore the gorgeous ship easily without lugging anything clunky... 🥰

Special appreciation for free WiFi in the terminal building as someone traveling from overseas without phone and data service in the USA. YES, people like me exist. 🙂 That free WiFi allowed me to access my app and other documents easily although I'm old school and had everything printed as a back-up and on debarkation day, gave me a chance to double-check transportation and routing details to explore FLL for the day before our evening flight back to Canada. 

Thanks for review! I am looking forward to reading more as I have just booked the reverse itinerary for May 2024, from Barcelona to Rome on the Solstice-class Equinox. 🤗

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 The only one I really had to take time with was the three words to describe Celebrity.  Disappointing was the first word I used. 

If I had seen the whole survey in entirety before I got to that page for the 3 words, I would have chosen a couple of those words differently. 😔

On 8/30/2023 at 10:45 PM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Celebrity is such a rip off for laundry.(amongst many other things)

 

HAL offer unlimited wash/fold service for $7/day ($9/day in some destinations) for all occupants in the cabin. That’s unlimited laundry on a 7 night Caribbean cruise for $49!  They provide generous CLOTH bags to send the clothes out and they either come back hung in a garment bag or in a wicker basket wrapped in tissue with a gold HAL logo sticker seal, and ALWAYS with a hand written than you note from the laundry team.

 

Princess have self serve washers/dryers on all their ships for a reasonable fee and complimentary use irons/boards. Elite members get unlimited wash/fold laundry by the bag service as a loyalty perk. 

I remember doing 1load of laundry at the self-service machines on my first cruise ever, the Westerdam with HAL. Altogether, it was no more than 4 or 5 bucks in coins/ tokens. Surprisingly, I rather appreciated the Opti n of doing my own laundry whilst on vacation. 

PS - $16 for one load is the best price I've seen on Celebrity. Thanks @Condogirl. If this is available on the Equinox next spring, I'll probably take it. 

On 8/30/2023 at 8:46 PM, kwokpot said:

Someone said it asked about WHOM you travel with and what kind of activities you enjoy doing. So from the questions you can surmise Celebrity is going to start targeting a totally new demographic, which is in line with what we are seeing and what has been said. 

Yep!! Unfortunately, at least two-thirds of the survey was getting to know me and my interest, not about my latest experiences on Celebrity. 😞 I did my best to emphasize importance on value (MDR+ship facilities & service, inclusions) over just destinations and how many parties, bars, and lounges I can go to onboard. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3 hours ago, nikel said:

Rack of Lamb

Decent Prime Rib

Kids Filet Mignon

Sea Bass

Sushi in buffet

Cheesecake

Chocolate Cake

 

That was my diet for the whole cruise, don't know what I'll eat now !!

My daughter hasn't forgiven me for not telling her about late afternoon sushi on the Summit till Day 4 of the cruise. I said she should've read the Summit Dailies which I reminded my teens to do every evening. She was 16 then, old enough to be independent. Yeah, that was 2016. She's still carrying a grudge. 🤷‍♀️ 🤣 Son will be sad to hear his nightly cheesecake is no longer available at the MDR. 

@cruisestitch, do you know how I can delete my thread coz of duplication? I looked for delete options for topics and I didn't see any. Thanks!!

Just got mine. Very interested in responding! 

21 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Current thread on this

 

 

I was looking for this topic and didn't see @lv2cruisgrl's post. Arrgh! I was trying to avoid duplicating something. D'oh (Homer Simpson facepalm!) .

I think for this survey, I'm gonna remove some layers of my Canadian politeness and get more pointed. 🤓

Hi! I got really excited to see this in my inbox today! I was on the Apex in January just before the new cuts arrived. I filled out a survey at the end of my cruise and am happy to have another chance to give my feedback. Anyone else got this email? 

On 8/19/2023 at 11:08 AM, paulh84 said:

Maybe bringing back a smear of sauce or droplets along plate rim like it’s 1999 will make it taste better!

LOL!!! Personally, I think a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs, an edible flower here or there, a microgreen sprout or two and yes, a smear or droplets of sauce does wonders with the brain! There are published research articles about this being true or at least the perception of how the food taste can be based on how the food is plated!! Check this out.

On 7/14/2023 at 11:53 PM, kaymoz said:

Hello to KKB -- Just wondering how things went with your MSC cruise to Europe back in late April

?

 

Yep! "Enquiring minds wish to know" 😂 I am still wary about trying MSC....the deals seem "too good to be true".... How was MSC in April? Thanks!