GenerationX

Thank you again so much for the book offer! We are doing dinner at LPC at 8:30. Would it work if we met in Martini Bar beforehand about 8pm ship time? Or afterwards around 10:30?

Scenes from my marriage this morning on Summit. After breakfast my husband and I took a walk around the shops to get some gifts for Gen Z then I was planning to have some tea and read solo in al Bacio while he spent some time in the casino. After I discovered the new luxury handbag shop though, Jeremy decided that he’d better join me and have a caramel macchiato and talk some sense into me.

Good morning from a rocking (literally) sea day on the Summit. I have pretty good sea legs so I’ve only had to tap into the Dramamine in my travel medical kit a handful of times in all my cruises. The way my chair is rocking in Blu this morning, I’m thinking today may be one of those days. First post of the day: A Back in Time Report on Night 2 in Bermuda… After our dinner in Blu we headed down to the pier for the the evening White Night Catamaran Sail excursion that we booked through Celebrity. Once again the catamaran picked us up right by the ship so no transfer buses, etc. If you’re planning to do the excursion, fyi it looks like people take the white night theme pretty seriously. I only saw 1 or 2 people who weren’t dressed in white. Because I knew I’d be on a boat in evening ocean breezes, I went for a white dress that had built in white boy shorts underneath to avoid a stiff wind accidentally showing my full GenX to all of Bermuda. On the sail out the crew gave us a little house tour of the mansions on the shores of the island and told us stories of some of the people who own them. Then we turned back towards the dockyards to watch the sun set next to the ship. After dark, they put on party music and turned on club lighting on the boat so that we could dance. Throughout the sail the onboard bar was open. Unlimited soft drinks, water, Rum swizzles and Prosecco were included in the excursion price. They did also have a full bar with other mixed drinks available for purchase in cash. We sailed for about 3 hours total and got back to the ship just as the 10pm Motown show was starting in the sky lounge. Unfortunately, most people had gotten to the lounge early to stake their claim to seats so by the time we got there there was nowhere left to sit. We decided to head back down and take advantage of their actually being seats open at the martini bar, then rejoin the party in the sky lounge after the show ended. I had one of my go to’s the French 75 martini and Jeremy tried the Lycheetini which he said was very good. Once the Motown show wrapped up, our house band Hey Mama played an awesome set. If you’re sailing with them on Summit, this band is not to be missed! They’re an all-women band from Brazil and the sets they’ve done onboard this week have had a diverse range of really good songs. Everything from James Brown to Shakira. I had the pleasure of chatting briefly with a couple of the ladies and addition to being very talented musicians, it seems like they’re very gracious and just gorgeous young women both inside and out. After the band finished in the sky lounge, we grabbed some late night pizza from the buffet to eat on our veranda before bedtime.

Yesterday during the day, we were supposed to go on a half day ocean kayaking eco tour, but the weather for the afternoon was looking like a decent amount of wind and drizzle out on the sea and Jeremy wasn’t feeling it. So we decided to stay onboard and relax and take advantage of a quieter ship. For lunch, we took Jim’s fabulous recommendation and got some small plates from the Aqua Spa Cafe that were delicious but also light and refreshing. The salmon salad and chicken salad were our favorites but the chilled soba noodles and spinach salad were also good. Portions are small but we knew we were having an early dinner before our evening excursion so didn’t want to fill up too much. For dinner we went to Blu right at 5:30 opening so that we could finish in time for our 7:15 pier excursion meet up. I think last night’s Blu menu was the weakest of the cruise but we had a wonderful waiter who helped us navigate and gave great recommendations on what was good and what to avoid. He also reminded us that we could also order Everyday items from the MDR menu. For starters, I had my favorite escargot from the MDR menu and Jeremy had the smoked trout mousse from the Aqua menu. My escargot was as delicious as always. Our server warned Jeremy about that smoked trout, but Poseidon forbid my husband ever listen to anybody once he’s made is mind up. Turned out, of course, that our server was right. That trout was big time disappointing. You couldn’t actually taste any trout or any smoke for that matter in the mousse. And the sweet potato cakes it was served on top of were over salted and extremely greasy. All such a shame because if done right it has the potential to be something really tasty. For mains Jeremy had the Blu roast chicken entree and I had the Blu bronzino clean eating special that our server recommended. Then we also took his recommendation to split the duck confit ravioli Blu entree. All of the mains were really good. I think that bronzino was even better than the one in Tuscan Grille. Perhaps in part due to the feta and pesto it was served with that really complimented the fish. We didn’t want to be over full for our excursion so we decided to skip dessert and just have a couple of espressos instead. I’ve got to wrap up writing and finish my poolside Gosling’s rum and Diet Coke cocktail (btw a very good rum from Bermuda, included in the premium beverage package) by the pool then I’m going to take a quick shower and meet Jeremy, who decided to stay in port a little longer looking for gifts, for a late last sushi lunch. Soon to come: a report on our sunset catamaran sail and last night’s late night fun!

Oh yes! Nothing kills a buzz like being greeted by those tags on the bed. They should put a little box of those fancy chic night chocolates on top of the tags for every stateroom to help soften the blow!

Good morning from the Summit pool deck which, as our visit in Bermuda is coming to a close in a few hours, is starting to creep its way back up to sea day level of crowds. Our weather today has turned cloudy with spotty showers (to match my mood about the cruise entering its final days). I know I have an entire day yesterday to report on, so stay tuned for a string of catch up posts. Today we don’t have any plans other than running into port for maybe an hour or 2 to do some quick souvenir and rum shopping that we couldn’t do yesterday because the shops were closed for the Emancipation Day holiday. Then tonight will be our second evening chic night as we leave Bermuda.

Thank you Jim! Yes I can confirm the chef did come out and ask about allergies at the beginning. I agree it is probably a good idea to let the restaurant manager know in advance as well. That would give the chef more time to come up with good/creative options to accommodate.

Good morning from Bermuda Day 2! After another great breakfast in Blu we are spending the morning relaxing by the pool, which is much more chill than on the sea days, before this afternoon’s excursions. I had to do a bit of work this morning and the wifi was much improved compared to Equinox last month. My vpn connection never dropped and I was able to remote into my desktop at the office. I was also able to take a short (no video, because I was in a bikini drinking a vodka tonic) zoom call without any freezing issues. I woke up this morning still dreaming about that Veuve Clicquot dinner last night. I’ve done this dinner twice before: once last year on Summit and then on Edge in February. I think last night’s was the best of the 3 by a mile and I dare say it was near perfection! The event was held in the La Petit Chef space, which they closed for the evening to other guests so the kitchen and sommeliers were completely focused on our dinner. This also made it much easier to hear the awesome presentation made by the sommeliers. Gone was the yucky raw oyster first course from Edge and it was replaced with a much more crowd pleasing shrimp with a sweet and spicy chili sauce. The poached pear salad course that underwhelmed me the previous two times was fantastic this time. I think they changed up the recipe for the vinaigrette and it made a world of difference giving the pears and salad more flavor. The sea bass crudo and filet mignon were just as good as they were the two times before. And this time the sea bass was further blinged out with a nice little helping of caviar dolloped on top! Then came dessert. Oh the dessert. In my opinion the crudo and the dessert alone are worth the steep price of the dinner. Readers of my Edge review will recall how close I came to starting my own French Revolution upon finding that on Edge, the dessert course had been switched from the apricot soufflé to a pedestrian tiramisu. Last night the heavenly apricot soufflé was BAAACK! And with a scoop of rich vanilla gelato on the side for extra richness. As I was devouring the soufflé with extreme pleasure and delight, my husband, tongue well loosened by several glasses of Veuve, made an R-rated comment about the last time he’d seen a similar look on my face. Fortunately our table mates were in a fit of laughter about something else at the time and I think I was the only one who heard him…I swear I can’t take this man anywhere. 🤦🏾‍♀️ The wine and champagne pairings with the meal were perfect. Including what was probably the best Malbec I’ve ever tasted which was paired with the filet. The only hiccups were that while everyone in the group ordered the filet medium rare, Jeremy and I’s came out much more like medium. Fortunately the meat was so tender and the seasoning so good, the extra cook didn’t even come close to ruining it for us. Also, it seemed like they were having some A/V issues in the restaurant as the French background music for the Le Petit Chef show, and also some random crackling and scratching sounds, would occasionally blare out of the speakers in the restaurant during the meal. They didn’t give us a copy of the menu at the event, but Michael told us that an autographed copy will be delivered to our staterooms. Once I get it I’ll post a photo of that as well. Today we’ll be going on an ocean kayaking tour then come back to the ship for a quick dinner and shower then head out for a sunset champagne catamaran sail. Have a great Thirsty Thursday, friends!

We just got back from our first excursion in Bermuda! This was the Devil’s Island snorkeling expedition. Our boat was open air and picked us up right at the pier just across from the Summit so we didn’t have to worry about a ride in crowded vans. It was about a 20 minute sail out to the islands then we had about an hour and a half in the water. In addition to snorkeling the crew had kayaks and stand up paddleboards that they put in the water for people to use. I would say in terms of snorkeling quality this was one of the least exciting snorkels I’ve done this year. The water in many areas was extremely shallow (as in I’m 5’4 and it was below my knees when I stood up) and there weren’t a ton of fish or colorful reefs. The water was clean and a great temperature though and there was almost no current to fight. It would be a great snorkel for kids or those who aren’t strong swimmers. After snorkeling the boat took us out to see the shipwreck of the Vixen and threw some bait in the water so we could see all of the large fish that call the wreck home. The boat had complimentary ice water and soda available. Our excursion ticket included a free rum sizzle cocktail (Bermuda’s signature drink) and they had additional wine, spirits and beer available for purchase. The crew was very friendly and professional and happy to give recommendations of other great things to do and places to eat while on the island. After we got back to the ship we ran up to the buffet to look at a snack to tide us over till dinner tonight and for pre-dinner snack hours, the crew was back to serving guests! I think it’s time for a quick veranda nap then we’ll start getting ready for tonight’s big champagne dinner.

Good morning from Bermuda! I place the blame entirely on sommelier Michael for this morning’s 9:30am late wake up time and skipping my yoga (because I didn’t wanna risk putting my head below my heart just yet). When we got to Blu for dinner last night (will report soon), we decided to order a bottle of Veuve yellow label to celebrate. When Michael arrived at the table he wished me a happy birthday and presented something special from the cellar: a VINTAGE bottle for only $15 more than the price of the standard bottle. The champagne fully kicked in right around the end of the 80’s party in the sky lounge and after that, Patron (Jeremy) and Grey Goose (me) kept us going on the dance floor with our late night party friends until 2:30am. I am so glad I had the wits to book us an excursion today that doesn’t start till 1:15 in the afternoon. Plenty of time to pull ourselves together before going ashore. Today we’ll be doing the Devil’s Island snorkeling trip, then it’ll be back to the boat to prep for yet another champagne soaked evening at the Veuve Clicquot dinner!

No worries at all Joan! It was so nice to meet you today! Cheers!

Taking a step back in time to report on last night’s Blu dinner. We went to eat around 7:45 and were given a pager and an estimated 20 minute wait time. After about 15 minutes the pager went off. For appetizers, we had the crab bisque and macadamia crusted scallops and then we both ordered the lamb for main course and split an order of the truffle gnocchi. Somm Michael came right over after we’d viewed the menu and recommended a mild Chardonnay (he remembered from Equinox my aversion to oak!) to go with the bisque and a Shiraz to go with my lamb. We really enjoyed both appetizers but as you can see the scallop portion is just one small scallop. We were glad we’d ordered multiple mains. After doing so many cruises is such a short time, I’m pretty sure that on S and M class Celebrity serves the exact same lamb rack recipe for the MDR and Blu. Just with a somewhat lighter sauce on the side for Blu. I’m not gonna complain about that though, as it is really good lamb chops. The gnocchi wasn’t bad but also wasn’t as good as the gnocchi in Tuscan Grille. For dessert we split the apple crumble topped with perfectly softened vanilla ice cream. Even though the restaurant was very busy, we still had great service. I’ve just gotten dressed in my very understated birthday dinner ensemble and am off to the martini bar to have a cocktail while my husband gets ready. More to come tonight (that is if I don’t drink so much champagne that I can’t type straight)!

I just finished my birthday massage and am having some white peach ginger pear tea at Al Bacio. After breakfast in Blu, I did a 75 minute aromatherapy hot stone massage. My masseuse Lyn was very thorough and included a cellulite body brush treatment and oil essential oil scalp massage. It was incredibly relaxing and the perfect way to start my day. I think I’ll start trying to get my spa appointment times in the morning from now on. On my way down from the spa I passed through the once again completely full pool deck where a bumpin poolside Zumba class was in full swing. There were a few tables open for sit down at Al Bacio, but the line of people waiting to order to go drinks is all the way back into the shops area. I’ve noticed generally on this sailing, bars have been slammed and drink service has taken a while. I was chatting with one of the servers and he told me that the ship sailed full capacity of passengers, but short of bar staff. I remember thinking last night that it seemed like every bar I’ve been to really should have at least 1-2 more crew members to keep up with the level of demand I’m seeing. The crew who are here though really are trying their best to work at lightning speed and accommodate everyone and they’re remaining upbeat the whole time and apologizing for the delays. If you’re sailing soon, please remember to pack your best patience skills and remember that the crew who are here can’t help that they’re understaffed. Sadly I’ve seen a couple situations where people grumpy about their wait for a frozen cocktail have taken it out on their servers in a terrible way. My husband, who is not one to hold his tongue when he sees the crew being mistreated by other guests, almost got himself locked in the brig yesterday after seeing a man get right in the face of a much smaller young Filipino woman doing her best to keep up with poolside drink orders while wearing a KN95 in blazing sun and heat. After tea my husband is going to go try and get lucky in the casino again and I’m going to go see my buddy Genesis in Cellar Masters for a glass of Pinot Noir. It’s acceptability to start drinking red wine at noon on a Tuesday on your birthday, right?

Thank you! Jeremy actually had 2 of the Blu cocktails last night. The Garden Breezes and the Nightfall Elixir. I got a pic of the garden breezes but he drank the elixir so fast that I missed my chance! He said he liked both but preferred the Nightfall Elixir.

Good morning from and officially 40 year old Generation X! When I woke up this morning I could see that the wind, white caps and swells that had the Summit rolling all day yesterday have calmed to a flat ocean. Almost like Neptune himself doesn’t want anything to rock my boat on my birthday today. Then when I stepped out onto the veranda to do my yoga, I was greeted with a beautiful b-day rainbow! I always start each morning of my cruises taking a moment on the veranda to reflect on just how fortunate I am to have the means and opportunity to cruise and see the world beyond the shores of my home country. Today I’m also so grateful to have officially been blessed with another full year of life, health, loving family and wonderful friends. Speaking of wonderful friends, after dinner in Blu last night (full report to come) I had the tremendous pleasure of spending the final countdown to midnight and the official start of my big day drinking martinis and tearing up the sky lounge dance floor with FlorenceItaly and her husband! This lady is even more fabulous in person than she is on CC and Jeremy and I are very much looking forward to hanging out with them more the rest of the cruise. Well, I’m going to go toss some cold water on my husbands’s face to get him up, then start my birthday at sea. On the agenda: -Breakfast in Blu -Morning in the Spa -Lunch at Sushi on 5 -Food & Wine Pairing Workshop -Dinner in Blu -Martini Flights -A Great Big GenX Birthday Party in the Sky Lounge till the DJ Shuts Me Down! Have a great day everyone! I know I will!

Thank you! I’m looking for some wood to knock as I type this, but in my post-pandemic cruises I have been lucky enough not to have caught COVID onboard. I did, however, catch what we’re pretty sure was the omicron variant in mid-May. But we are also pretty sure that my daughter brought it home from school. An email went out saying that her class had an outbreak and when we had her tested she was positive (fortunately with just a runny nose for symptoms). About a week later, after testing negative a couple of times, I felt a bad stuffy nose and cough coming on and tested again and was positive. We were lucky that the quarantine period at home was harder for us than our symptoms!

All about our first sea day afternoon: After a morning on the crowded pool deck we decided we wanted to do buffet for lunch. We went in and washed our hands and made a scoping lap. The good news is there were many delicious looking lunch options. The completely depressing news for me is that the buffet was back to self service. 😭 Years pre-covid, right after watching a man at the breakfast buffet grab some bacon with his bare hands (because he didn’t want to wait for the person in front of him to finish with the tongs), then put his fingers in his mouth and suck the bacon grease off, then use his slobbery fingers to grab tongs and serve himself sausage links in the next tray, I decided that I would not risk eating any meals at the buffet until late in the cruise so that if my fellow passengers’ disgusting hygiene practices started an illness outbreak, I wouldn’t get sick till I was already home. My post-Covid cruises where kitchen staff have been serving gave me such a nice opportunity to enjoy the buffet more without hygiene anxiety. Once again, it was nice while it lasted. Seeing the buffet service situation, we doubled back to the mast grill instead to get a burger and a hot dog. People were so desperate for pool deck seating they had “reserved” the mast grill dining tables for pool lounging (as in several dining tables had no food in sight but were tipped with pool tote bags and had towels towel clipped to the chairs). So we took our lunch back down to eat on our veranda. After lunch I took a short nap while Jeremy went to the casino and won $250 on a penny slot machine. When I woke up, we went for afternoon coffee and tea at Al Bacio while listening to live acoustic guitar. Then we headed to Cellar Masters where sommelier Genesis gave me a fantastic $25 Italian wine flight experience. I especially liked the Italian Chardonnay which was nice and crisp and not at all oaky. Once I was the 3 glasses of wine in, I had enough liquid courage to take $50 and see if I could top Jeremy’s luck in the casino. My cash was gone in an hour and a half. Surprisingly, the casino was the LEAST crowded place I’ve been on the whole ship so far. There were maybe 20 passengers total there playing in the afternoon and, unlike everywhere else I’ve been on the ship so far, it was actually very easy to social distance. Time to start dressing for our first evening chic night!

YES!!!! Where can I buy this??? I NEED before my November cruise!

The pool deck is jam packed this morning. By the time we finished our Blu breakfast and made our way up, the only loungers we could find were one deck up by the solarium roof. I had to go to guest services this morning and they have signs up saying that the ship has sailed at full capacity and no upgrades are available. We’re going to relax and read for a while (btw here’s my book for this cruise, any other Below Deck mega fans following?) then figure out a lunch plan. Jeremy wants to spend some time in the afternoon in the casino, and while he’s doing that I’m thinking I may make my way to cellar masters for a wine flight and do some window shopping in the vintage handbag boutique.

Good morning from the open ocean! Jeremy is still down for the count so while I rehydrate on the veranda, a report on our first night on Summit: For dinner we took advantage of the first night specialty pre-booking discount and had Tuscan Grille. Service was a little slow, but the staff seemed to be doing the best they could and were very friendly and apologetic about wait times. I think the issue was that the Chef’s Table event was also being held in the back of the restaurant. From the looks of the plates and wine going out for that, it has to tie up quite a bit of the resources for the Tuscan kitchen crew and sommeliers. We didn’t mind a slower dinner (nothing to rush to on vacation after all), but felt a little bad for the staff who were clearly getting a workout in keeping up with everything. Speaking of workouts we ate our way to needing a good one! We started with calamari and the antipasti platter, then had Caesar salads then Jeremy had a filet mignon with a side of eggplant Parmesan and I had my favorite the ribeye with a side of the lobster rigatoni. For drinks I went with Italian wine while Jeremy kept his tequila streak going for the day and had an Italian Sour. The calamari was done perfectly. Super tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. I had sworn off the Caesar salad in Tuscan after many disappointments, but the table next to us got one and it looked so good I decided to give it another try. Finally it was done right! My ribeye was melt in your mouth tender, but a little under seasoned. A few grinds from the salt and pepper shakers on the table was all it needed though. That lobster rigatoni, this was my first time trying it and now it’s definitely going in my rotation! I wish there were a few more lobster chunks in it, but the lobster flavor in the sauce carried it. After desserts of fig gelato and limoncello cheesecake, we headed to the martini bar for an espresso martini pick me up and met a nice couple from Norway. Then we headed to Rendezvous Lounge to watch live band karaoke with our house band Hey Mama. After shutting down Rendezvous, we initially planned to head to bed, but then a couple we met on the dance floor invited us to join them in the sky lounge…readers of my prior reviews already know where this is heading. Yep. 2am. My margarita soaked husband and I. Covered in sweat from dancing. Stumbling arm in arm back to our stateroom across a rocking pool deck. When I did my yoga this morning, I felt every bit of my nearly 40 years in my lower back. Some pics of the fun below. Now I think I better go drag the mister out of bed so we can go get some Blu breakfast before it closes.

Sharing some pics of our AQ class stateroom 9080. Last time I was on Summit I was in a suite so this is my first time seeing a fully revolutionized lower level stateroom. I feel the same way about it as I did the revolutionized suite. There are some big pluses but also some pains. I really like the design and color scheme. The love seat is much more comfortable and user friendly than that weird faux leather covered bench/couch thing. Plus the smaller couch and and table give them room much more open floor space, making in-room yoga/workouts more feasible. There are bedside charge ports on one side of the bed and (hallelujah) a full body mirror inside the closet door. As far as my gripes, they’re relatively minor but space related. In the bathroom, those huge bottles of provided shampoo, conditioner and body wash take up the entire shelf inside the shower. There’s no space for any of your personal toiletries. I ended up taking the bottles out and storing them under the sink so I had some place to put my shampoo and razor. The closet situation is also rough for a girl like me. If you pack long dresses, the closet has several shelves at the bottom that cuts off the hanging area length and I had to bunch up the bottoms to get them in. Hopefully for evening chic nights I can just hang my gowns in the bathroom while Jeremy and I shower to steam the wrInkles out. I do have free pressing of 2 items as an Elite perk, but if I send them out, I still won’t have anywhere to hang them when I get them back where they won’t have to be bunched up and wrinkled again. Pre-cruise I received an email inviting Aqua class guests to request items from a list of exercise equipment to be placed in your room for use during the cruise. I was pleased to see that the weights set I request was waiting for me. We also had two yoga mats in carrying cases in the closet. Jeremy quickly informed me that he would not be using his. After we finish unpacking we’ll talk a little nap and then start getting ready for tonight’s Tuscan Grille dinner.

Ugh how very frustrating! I will be so glad when the day comes when all of these COVID jumping hoops are over with.

A little while ago on our way to check out the pool deck, we stopped by the specialty dinning desk to see if they might know about availability for the the Veuve Clicquot dinner. The desk attendant ran into oceanview to grab a sommelier to sign me up. I was delighted when he brought back Genesis, my fabulous somm in Luminae on Summit in October. She remembered me too and we both squealed with excitement on seeing each other and gave big hugs. As we were catching up, out of the corner of my eye I saw another somm walk up and then heard “Miss Charla! Good to see you!” Turns out it was Michael my somm from Equinox in November! Jeremy just stood there with crossed arms and a furrowed brow as we all chatted then as we were walking away, he turned to me and said “Does every sommelier in the fleet know you now??? Just how much wine have you been drinking on all these cruises you’ve been doing without me???? No wait, don’t answer that, pretty sure I don’t even want to know.” 🤣 Sharing some info on the wine events offered on our sailing as well as the captains club event schedule. I was very amused to see that apparently my loyalty status doesn’t carry over to Jeremy. So they left a list of events for Elite for me as well as for his lower Select status (his sea pass also shows him as Select). He was less amused by all this than I was. I have a feeling it’s soon going to get much harder to convince him to let me cruise without him. LOL

Hello from the Summit! After a 45 minute, $70 Uber XL drive through to New Jersey we arrived at the Cape Liberty cruise port and got our first views of the ship. Embarkation at Cape Liberty was somewhat different from Port Everglades. The attendant at the entrance to the building didn’t check our assigned boarding time or even ask to see our xpress passes, passport, covid test, vaccine cards etc. In fact, whereas at PE I get asked to see these things 2-4 different times before stepping onboard, no one ever asked to see our passports or vaccine card. The attendant who checked us in just quickly reviewed our test results. She asked us if we completed the Bermuda travel authorization but when I started to pull my travel file out of my tote bag, she said “oh I don’t need to see it, I just have to ask if you did it.” That was $80 well spent… The lack of paperwork checks did make the process go quickly. We were on the ship within 10 minutes of dropping off our bags. We just finished a massive lunch at Sushi on 5 washed down with an Asian Pear for Jeremy and a Kobe Highball for me and are enjoying our first martinis of the cruise. At around 1pm the announcement was made that cabins are ready, so we may get to unpack before sail away. Cheers from Cape Liberty!

It’s a beautiful morning to go on a cruise! Happy embarkation day to everyone sailing with us and happy National Tequila Day to all! My mezcal loving husband is looking forward to celebrating onboard shortly. I just finished a few last minute work projects while sipping a coffee that Jeremy brought me. Another Beekman hotel perk: each morning the concierge desk has complimentary coffee service. And not your basic pump dispensed carafes of regular and decaf. It’s a full menu including espresso and lattes. The caffeine was much needed after our dinner last night at River Cafe. I’m not in the habit of spending half a mortgage payment on dinner, but the place was definitely worth it! I’ll post some food pics later (the restaurant was kind of dark so I need to play with photo lighting) but everything we had was outstanding. I especially enjoyed the soft shell crab and lobster. The restaurant is right next to the Brooklyn Bridge and we had a beautiful view of the Manhattan night skyline while we dined. The service was everything I expected from a Michelin star dining experience and the live pianist just added to the ambiance. Pics of last night’s dinner wardrobe and soon-to-be happy cruisers below. Once my better half had finished packing, we’ll check out of the hotel and head to the cruise port. Next time you hear from me we’ll be on the Summit!