scubacruiserx2

Love your review with wonderful pictures.

Thank you and they get better ! Practice makes perfect . ;)

I'm enjoying your review very much. Thank you for taking the time.

You're welcome , we're happy that you are enjoying it . :) :D

Dang it. Now I want to go back and repeat last year's 21 day visit to Australia on the Zaandam. Hmmm...

We've been twice and we hope to go again !

Some wonderful works of art with so much detail.

I hope to try to finish the Tate soon , but there are some very nice pieces there which we hate to miss . :cool:

Yes, it would be great if the other ships could get something like this or at least a bit more privacy. That said , they are all awesome in terms of the food, despite my feelings that X is slightly ahead, this may be down to the mood and atmosphere of the dinner as that helps the taste buds.:D

The different Chef's Tables remind us of our three kids , all different , but we love them all ! :) :D

I was initially surprised on the price for use of restroom. Could be another currency?

Very nice photo shot selections.

$300 Chilean Pesos = $ . 45 US . ;)

The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse is one of the must sees in the Tate .

It's based on the poem by ALFRED LORD TENNYSON . Here it's set to music and drama by Loreena McKennitt :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRIHzr3Pxhc

After entering the large 1840 room , there were a number of painting which drew our attention .

James Tissot - The Ball on Shipboard

Now , this is evening chic !

William Holman Hunt - PRB - The Awakening Conscience

William Logsdail - St. Martin's-in-the-Fields

Edward Matthew Ward - The South Sea Bubble

This last painting is from a friend of ours who was influenced by the PRB when he lived in England . It's of his wife Joan . Can you see the influence ?

Can you believe the asking price for a visit to the restrooms ?

Walking along the volcanic lakeshore we got another view of Osorno

Our next stop was the Saltos del Petrohue ( Petrohue waterfalls). It is a chute type waterfall from where the Petrohue River crosses a lava field. The lava field was created from the last eruption of Osorno in 1869.

There is a nice walk through the jungle to reach the falls.

Petrohue Falls

You can hear and see the power in this video clip.

We have done the Chef's table on several cruises now, on differing lines. I feel that X does it better in the style of service (showmanship and private room), the quality and I prefer the décor and the extras that go with the meal. We have been given 3 of the X cook books now, but have given the last two to some friends that we had met on the particular cruise as they are so large and heavy.

We also have enjoyed the Chef's Table on several cruise lines , and we do prefer the privacy of Celebrity and Carnival version . Princess had a nice , private room in their steakhouse which we would have preferred , but Princess has a lot invested in their Lumiere curtains of light concept . Here's their video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzrDugNB2MQ

The dinner on the balcony looks wonderful!! The balcony looks HUGE!! Was that an aft, which I know you guys like?

The aft balcony was huge , larger than the similar version on the Eclipse . We did the Balcony dinner on the first day at sea ( Formal night ) . We didn't see anyone else on their balconies as they were probably at dinner or the show . And the flower centerpiece lasted all week !! :) :D

I loved revisiting South America via your spectacular photos, Scubacruiserx2! Our 21 day Antarctica Holiday Cruise on the Zaandam was probably our best ever.

 

Thanks!

Karen

It was my favorite also Karen . El Calafate , and Torres del Paine were SPECTACULAR and we would love to go to see Antarctica also !

And Jesus washing Peter's feet ( there was a lot of glare on this one )

Going downstairs

On the way to the 1840 room

The Regal, next September!!! That's great...we will definitely do it!!

Super , we loved it but , it's pricey !

The Balcony dinner

and Crab Shack were both very affordable .

And Alfredo's Pizzeria is like an Italian version of the Bistro on 5 , but Free !

Rollatadi Melanzane

Veal filled pasta pockets

The Pizzeria overlooks this Atrium !

The Regal and the Eclipse are both great ships !!!

WOW.... we are tentatively booked on a Princess cruise for next September and if we go we will definitely participate in their version!!!:)

Which ship ? This was The Chef's Table Lumiere , found on the Regal and Royal . There is a similar albeit , smaller version on the other class ships which we also enjoyed ( Caribbean Princess ) . :) :D

Our first port after leaving Santiago was Puerto Montt . We had been here before and knew exactly what we wanted to do and see so we booked a private tour to accomplish as much as we could. The port requires a tender so we were down early to get tickets on the first tender and we were off .

We were in port from 8 am to 5 pm and we had a lot of ground to cover. We drove along Lago Llanquihue ( Lake Yan kee way) and made a brief stop at a store. We continued along route 225 with the goal of photographing Osorno Volcano without cloud cover. Along route 225 there were numerous stops for road construction. We made a scenic view stop just ahead of another private group. This was our first view of the volcano (complete with some animals on the tennis court).

The other group wanted to pose for pictures and so did the animals.

After entering Vicente Perez Rosales National Park , we requested a photo stop on the paved road as it looked as though we could do an end run around the clouds.

A little further on the paved road ended abruptly and a bus flew past us . It hit the dirt road and went airborne ! I thought that we would see a massive accident in front of us. We caught the bus a little further up the road when we stopped at Lagos Todos Los Santos . Everyone was OK and boarding a boat for a lake crossing at Petrohue.

We saw another view of the Volcano near the hotel and it looked as though the clouds were circling the summit.

Wow, wow, wow! one of our own favorite cruises on one of our most favorite ships. Your photos are capturing all the drama of this incredible itinerary. Thanks for the memories.

Thank you , mine too . And we hope to go back .

Thanks for the beautiful photos. Plan to do Buenos Aires to Fort Lauderdale in March 2018. Never too early to dream.

You're Welcome , the best is yet to come ! Would you consider a B2B or a stay ? We did stay after the trip and we are considering The 21 day cruise in December 2017 .

Really great pics and commentary.

 

Looking forward to more :)

 

Regarding your passport comment, we too turned them in for South America and have had to do so for certain European ports depending on the itinerary. It facilitates the ship's & passengers' clearance and makes it easier for you to get off as planned ;)

Catching up

More great reports and pictures.

We also had to turn in our passports for South America, Russia and many other European ports.

When we cruised the Baltic in June of this year on the Celebrity Eclipse , from Southampton , they did take our passports also . But it was only for 2 days ( 1 port ) . In fact , we were instructed to carry them in every port , after getting them back . In Germany and Russia they were stamped and entered into their data base . It was nice knowing that if any of our private tours had problems and if we missed the ship , we could meet it later . We did have Russian Visas attached to our passports and so we were cleared to stay there for at least 6 months , if we chose to .

In Chile and Argentina likewise , our visas were attached to our passports . The main difference was that it was 2 days and 1 port in Europe . In SA it was missing for all of the ports , except 1 , 12 days total !

That's a big difference !

I am SO jealous!!! We did the chef's dinner on our Reflection TA and it was such a disappointment. No tableside cooking, food was mediocre, and we didn't receive the cookbook either. While the menu was similar the pictures of your courses looked nothing like ours.... We had such high expectations for this dinner, but they were not met.....wish we had done it on Eclipse last year...obviously the staff knows better on that ship how to host this special evening!!!!

And we're jealous of the suite life !

We're sorry that your Chef's Table experience didn't live up to it's publicity . When you pay a premium price , you expect and deserve a premium experience ! We're also surprised that there would be such a difference between ships . Because we didn't do it on this trip , so we have no way of comparing it to the previous one .

However , we can compare it to the Regal Princess Chef's Table . You can read about it here , beginning at post # 435 :http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2320153&page=22

A few photos from the Princess version :

Princess had 5 appetizers in the galley !

Dining room service

Lobster Risotto

The Princess flame video :

The results . Roast Lamb Rack and Filet Mignon

Dessert # 1 of 3

A book was presented at dinner ( the ladies received roses ) .

Yes, love conquers all.;)

I got to see it in action when our DD visited yesterday . She wanted to learn how to bake Pat's banana bread for her fourth anniversary , and of course , the photo albums came out while the bread was baking . In addition to photos , we found her birth announcement - from 30 years ago ! :eek:

Wow , is she getting old ! ;)

With a good night of sleep and a day at sea I got up early for coffee and to take a camera for a walk. I had purchased a new camera a month earlier and I wanted to get comfortable with it and the ship.

Crow's nest

Explorations lounge

Rotterdam dining

I love this painting in the Library

Karla and Juan were teaching the Tango in the Crow's Nest

In the morning we attended a creative photo editing in the Digital Workshop with Evan. We really like this feature with Holland America. Latter in the day we had our Cruise Critic meet and greet in the Crow's Nest . There we got an answer to a question that I have always had , " Where do Australians vacation " ? There were over 100 Aussies on our cruise. There were also many Germans , Japanese , and Russians . Of course mostly Americans and Canadians . Missing were the large number of that we had seen on our previous cruise to South America .

This was the today ON LOCATION for Sunday. We were really looking forward to Puerto Montt on Monday as it was a high point of ous previous trip to SA. I hopes of catching a clear photo of Osorno Volcano and a lunch at our favorite restaurant in South America. Next: Trouble on the horizon.

Sounds good, although my wife hates the smell of vegemite so there is none in this house.:(

 

I miss it so much, but have made the ultimate sacrifice for our marriage.;)

The things we do for love ! ;)

Interesting history here :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Raphaelite_Brotherhood

First up : John Everett Millais

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA (/ˈmɪleɪ/; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.[1]

A child prodigy, at the age of eleven Millais became the youngest student to enter the Royal Academy Schools. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded at his family home in London, at 83 Gower Street (now number 7). Millais became the most famous exponent of the style, his painting Christ in the House of His Parents (1850) generating considerable controversy.

Wikipedia

Mariana is an 1851 oil-on-wood painting by John Everett Millais. The image is based on the solitary Mariana from William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, written between 1601 and 1606. In the play, Mariana was to be married, but was rejected when her dowry was lost in a shipwreck. The painting is regarded as an example of Millais' "precision, attention to detail, and stellar ability as a colorist".[1]

wikipedia

Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed between 1851 and 1852. It is held in the Tate Britain in London. It depicts Ophelia, a character from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in Denmark.

wikipedia

In 1850, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood became the subject of controversy after the exhibition of Millais' painting Christ in the House of His Parents was considered to be blasphemous by many reviewers, notably Charles Dickens.[6] Dickens considered Millais' Mary to be ugly.[7] Millais had used his sister-in-law, Mary Hodgkinson, as the model for Mary in his painting. The brotherhood's medievalism was attacked as backward-looking and its extreme devotion to detail was condemned as ugly and jarring to the eye.[8] According to Dickens, Millais made the Holy Family look like alcoholics and slum-dwellers, adopting contorted and absurd "medieval" poses.

wikipedia

And even the frame was a work of art !

She is nearly 4 months so should be onto having some solids soonish.

Do you think that Celebrity should develop a Chef's Table for the little Aussie celebrities on the Solstice? Perhaps hamburger with beetroot , Vegemite toast and Pavlova for dessert ! :) :D

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It was time for the main course and the majority of the dinners choose steak . It was flambeed table side by Chef Paul as this video clip shows :

Expertly prepared as you like it

And , of course we choose different desserts ! Her's - Tuscan panna cotta

And His - Floating island

And , but of course , we shared ! The Ice wine from Niagara Falls making an interesting pairing .

And finally , our dining companions . The meal had ended - but the friendships had just begun .

P.S.

About a week later , we received a present from Chef Paul . An over sized , beautiful book ( junkie old tape measure not included ) !

Great Pun, I sure will, have taken quite a few already.:D

A great photo op is when they first try new foods = priceless !!