cruzin4us

High tailed it out of dinner when a lady started coughing uncontrollably and blowing her nose. Maybe I’m paranoid but didn’t want to risk it. Now to figure out what to do next. Decisions decisions

So, I knew there were 3 kids in the room next to me, but I didn’t realize there was 4. Holy Guacamole what were their parents thinking? All under age 6. No judgement on bringing their kids but 6 people in one room. Poor room steward. Formal Night Dinner. Most are dressed in the formal side and many are dressed smart casual (me). The weather isn’t as nice as last night and there were no whales dancing for us. Bummer, cuz last night was magical. The menu looks good tonight, it was tough narrowing it down. Obviously, I didn’t narrow it down too well…..sigh Air Cured prosciutto - This was a keeper - nice portion of prosciutto. Kind of an egg soufflé (similar to the goat cheese soufflé but different) on top which was quite tasty and worked well with the prosciutto - yum Cajun-Style Crawfish Vol-Au-Vent - it wasn’t the prettiest dish but it was rich and quite good. The cream sauce, the crayfish and the puff pastry worked well. Ate it all except the shell of the crayfish. Came on a super hot plate. This was one dish that would not have tasted good it was cold. Another good one! Gnocchi del Patate con Crema di Funghi - Very rich and quite mushroom tasting (thus the word funghi). Definitely didn’t need to order this cuz I’m already getting full. It was good, not awesome but good. Could not finish it, I was running out of room (thank God for stretch pants) service got extremely slow between the pasta and the mai course (painfully slow). I’m not used to this in the MDR. The dining room is packed which I’m sure had something to do with it unless they are trying to catch lobsters off the back of the ship. They better hurry my belly is already full and I’m starting to yawn. Ok, food just got here! Lobster Tail (a La carte) - 1000% times better than what I experienced on the Ruby. It was succulent and perfectly cooked. No drawn butter was offered, but it looks and tasted like it was added before serving. I didn’t ask for any, it was great. I didn’t care for the crab cake. Chateaubriand of Beef Tenderloin - cooked just the way I like it. It was super tender and flavorful. Could have arrived a little hotter but I run the risk of it not being hot if I order this rare. Didn’t care for their Bernaise sauce, tasted odd to me. The meat didn’t need it anyway. Veggies were Al dente and tasty. Pineapple Flambé - just as good as it was a few nights ago. - no picture tonight It’s funny the things you hear when Dining. I overhead (not eavesdropping) a couple talking about wanting to read more scriptures while in the bath…..what? My ears perked up. Did I just hear that right???? Yup, they also don’t want to read anymore books with “swear or smutty” words. Only in the dining room…..I was thinking they probably wouldn’t want know I read smutty books in the bathtub. (Just checking to see if you are all reading this or just browsing food porn) True Story Food was all rich and very, very good tonight. They had to get a wheelbarrow to wheel me out. I’m sooooo full.

I know the mini suites do, not sure about others. Anyone else want to chime in?

The Pacific Ocean is a little rough this morning - lots of waves with white caps. caught a juggling act on the way to the dining room menu is in above post. Lunch - I ordered a weird combo for lunch. It’s a formal night so I didn’t want to overdo it James Beard French Toast (since I’ve never had it) - it came nice and hot. It was a little oily/greasy for me, but I ate it anyway. Part or my problem is I’m not a breakfast person. Vitello Tonnato which is veal carpaccio - well, this definitely wasn’t what I pictured in my head. Lol. The veal was covered by a pate looking sauce with a spider web design. It tasted better than I expected and I ate it all. Definitely didn’t pair well with French Toast but that’s on me. The tuna was a bit overpowering and I probably would have made this differently Left feeling stuffed. Heading upstairs to get some fresh air if I don’t get blown away by the wind

Well, there is a table outside the door in the cabin next to mine. It’s been there 2 days so I’m assuming they have Covid. No proof, just putting two and two together. I’ve not seen or heard of any other Covid cases onboard. Compared to my cruise in November, everyone seems to be healthy. In November everyone was coughing like crazy.

I take a snapshot of the menus in the morning and then post them with my food pics. One of 2 things happened. Either I grabbed the wrong photo when I uploaded them or the menu was different on the app than what was actually served that day. Not sure which happened

I’m not sure…..the only pool I attempted to get into was the Terrace pool and it was way too cold for me. I got up to my thighs and that was enough. Maybe someone else knows?

Slept like a baby with gentle rocking of the ship. I like being in a foreword, Spent the morning helping Brian and Rowena get some of their clothing unpacked and set up for their clothing sale tomorrow. Had fun chatting and doing something productive 😁. Going to lunch in a bit because I skipped breakfast. Today has been relaxing as have all the other days. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this cruise from the moment I set foot on the ship. oh, the Maitre’D asked if I wanted to go to Sterling Steakhouse which there are going to hold in Sabatini’s. Up until now rumors were flying around that either the grill was broken or that they didn’t have enough staff to operate it. Either way, I have a reservation for the 19th and I’m looking forward to a nice steak. more later

asked a couple other bars about the Captain Morgan and the all sai they don’t have it.

Was able to see the biggest whale of the day breach near my dining room window. It was massive and putting on a show right next to my window. Boy was I lucky. Especially with the 500 people that all ran to the window. Not really, it was quite cute listening to the “ohhhhh, ahhhhhh” every time it breach. It must of breached 10-15 time’s giving us a show of our lifetime. Something, I’ll never forget. Dinner for Tonight Cocktail of Bay Scallops, Calamari and Black Mussels - served well chilled and it was nice. No complaints Poached Pear, Bleu Cheese Crumble (no pecans by choice) - This not my favorite. On of my pears was rock hard, the other was perfect. The Bleu Cheese and pears combo didn’t work for me. Roast Pork Tenderloin, Lavender Fig Butter - Sent this one back. It arrived hot but was tough as nails. Decided to order the Steak Diane instead Steak Diane - much, much better choice. Arrived super hot and cooked perfectly. Glad I sent the other one back. Meat was a little on the gristly side. What I thought was a pear was actually potatoes. Cute touch I didn’t eat all my dinner, so I indulged on 2 desserts: Pineapple Cheesecake with Midori Liqueur - Cutely decorated plate - it was like all Princesses cheesecakes, it’s light and not real dense. Didn’t taste much pineapple. Apricot Flambé - non remarkable tonight was not my favorite dinner and this would be a night if I was considering booking a Specialty Dinner, I’d do it. But then again, maybe it was best dinner ever thanks to the whales!

Platinum/Elite Happy Hour - Had a few different items from what I’ve seen before fried fish, steak tartare and some kind of potato curry ball along the some ice the standard items (veggies, fruit, cheese, bread sticks)

Today was a wonderful day, I’m not joking when I say I saw 100+ whales sitting on deck 15. They were spouting, tail flapping and I saw one massive one breach. I’ve cruised to Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico a lot and I’ve never seen this many whales in all the cruises combined. I was truly blessed today

I just asked out waiter on the Sun Deck and he checked on the rum and returned with a NO answer. I’ll check one of the inside bars later. Not all the bars have the same items

Right about the anchor, you hear every link of the chain and the room does rattle…a.lot! I’m an early bird so normally that wouldn’t have scared me. lesson learned on this cabin!

Today I headed to the buffet for lunch. Got there when they first opened. Again, it reminded me of why I don’t eat there. The food all looked pretty good but everything was lukewarm at best. I wasted a bunch of food which bugs me to no end. I did make a salad which saved the day. There are a variety of items to choose from and the romaine was nice and cold (and crisp). I piled on, eggs, carrots, squash seeds, Bleu cheese, chicken, raisins, corn, garbanzo beans, tortilla strips, sunflower seeds and bacon. There is probably more but I don’t recall. Salad bar was excellent. No more hot food for me from the buffet. On port days the MDR is closed for lunch.

Yay, I saw a whale!!! I’m one of those that is always a few seconds to late. I snapped only 1 pic but I managed to get the tail smacking the water. I ditched the idea of getting off the ship. As soon as I walked out in the sun my sunburned shoulders screamed at me. And, now I know I can see whales from the ship, I’m going to find some shade and go on whale watch.

Wow. I woke to a start today. Since I always book an aft cabin I was completely unaware of what the anchor sounded like when being dropped. I flew out of bed ran to the door and looked at the door. I swear I thought we’d hit something. Didn’t realize it was that noisy and would rock my room. The sun is just coming up and it should be a beautiful day in Lahaina. No sun bathing today. Still deciding if I want to Duke’s with credit card in tow so I can get me a Hula Pie and the more expensive Mai Tai that was on the menu. coffee first before I can make any life long decisions

It’s amazing how hungry you get after sitting in the sun. Got to dinner at 5:20 and walked right to my table. I couldn’t decide what to order tonight so I crossed my fingers and I’m hoping I made the right choice. I wanted the veal scaloppine but I was afraid to order it after Sabatini’s being like shoe leather. opted for the following: Steamed Green Asparagus - I thought I should eat some veggies since I’ve been lacking in this dept lately. It justifies my next order. Probably backfired because there was lots of crispy bacon and some caramelized onions. Asparagus cooked perfectly. Bacon kind of overpowered the dish. The onions left a really overpowering taste in my mouth for a long time. But I ate it all anyway. It was good, but I’d order the shrimp x2 next time. Coconut shrimp with Pineapple Cocktail Sauce - Really good and the pineapple cocktail sauce was delicious, had a pineapple/horseradish flavor - could have ordered for a main course and I’d have been happy Ravioli de Ricotta con Crema do Nici - This comes with a walnut cream sauce so I was hesitant to order it seeing as I’m allergic to walnuts. Not deathly allergic but they usually make my mouth raw like eating too many strawberries or too much dark chocolate (that’s the best way I can describe it). Anyway, the walnuts didn’t bother me in the sauce and I picked off the walnuts from the top. Arrived nice and hot and cooked Al dente. Really rich and good. Macadamia & Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi - not sure why I ordered this since I had the same thing at Duke’s earlier. - Well it wasn’t Duke’s, it was actually moister but the crust was much more soggy. It was served hot and has an excellent flavor. Veggies cooked perfectly again Cherries Jubilee - I always except it to be the same….small cherries with half melted vanilla ice cream. Ok, there can be a difference. The cherries were massive and the vanilla ice cream wasn’t melted. Best I’ve had in a long time!

Yup, it’s very humbling and it happens so quickly. I don’t remember when, just woke up one day and WHAM, I became old. My mind doesn’t feel old, I think I’m still young at heart but dang, my body doesn’t cooperate like it used to. That is one of the nice things about cruising, it really is nice for us the older we get. I remember looking at excursions and I always picked the ones that were listed as strenuous. Then one day I thought maybe “moderate” might be more realistic. Now “easy” is looking more and more appealing 😁

I was so grateful to remember I had a cold beer in the fridge. Downed that quickly I was so hot. Decided to go watch the Charger game on the big screen on deck 15. Found an empty lounge char in the full sun. Lasted about 10 min. My front side was starting to tell me to get out of the sun. Kauai was beautifully today and super hot on deck with no breeze. Ordered a dirty banana and hightailed it out of the sun. Glad I got off the ship today even though I didn’t do a whole lot. Gonna head back to my room and find the aloe Vera. We set sail at 5:00 and will be in Maui tomorrow.

After lunch and my Mai Tai I headed down to the beach. Not really expecting to lie in the sun, I saw Rowena and she asked me if I would like to join her. About 20 things popped in my head all at once as to why I shouldn’t. Oh God, will I be able to even get on the ground? Will I be able to get up? I slowly took out my beach towel and flapped it expertly in the breeze (some things you never forget) and it was perfectly laid out on the sand. Now for the tricky part (so I thought). Taking off my shorts without holding on to the wall. It’s funny how the older you get, you just take things like walls for granted. Ok, mission accomplished. Now to lie down gracefully on my towel. Heck, I forgot I just had a second knee replacement and I don’t do the ground anymore. Crap, now what? I just started to kneel and my knees just laughed and I pretty much face planted on to my towel. Lord, I hope no one watched that. Laid in the sun for a while realizing I was not going to flip over on the towel fit for my 5 year old granddaughter. The inevitable had to happen, I eventually had to get up…..I’d have rather walked on hot coals in a fire. Not sure if you know what a stink bug is, but it’s a black shiny beetle that sticks it’s butt in the air (google it). Well, that was me trying to get up only my backside is very white. I hope to h…l no one got that on film. You know those videos of women trying to get out of a floaty in a pool or the lake? Yup, me in a nutshell. By now, I’m hot, sweaty and covered in sand. What the heck was I thinking? Do you guys have any idea how nice that recliner was at the Terrace Pool? I gathered up my stuff and walked back after thanking Rowena for letting me join her. The walk back to the ship isn’t extremely far unless it’s hot, humid and you got sand in your bathing suit and in between your toes rubbing against the flip flops. My the time I got back to my room I was hating everything about sand. Finally starting to cool off after taking a cool shower Think my beach days are over unless I have a chair and an umbrella 😎

This isn’t the ships Mai Tai that’s for sure. Wandered into Duke’s and ordered a Mai Tai and Mac Nut & Herb Crusted Mahi Mahi. Only brought $48 with me and I squeaked by with just enough plus a tip. Didn’t bring by credit card because I really didn’t plan on buying anything. Wish I would have because I could have polished off 10 Mai Tai’s no problem. Fish was good and hit the spot

Well, I got off the ship and walked towards Anchor Cove and stopped at the park which was shaded by palm trees and had lots of chickens roaming around. It was peaceful and a perfect place to veg for a while. Just saw a mother hen with some baby chicks, maybe just a few days old. It’s the little things that make me smile

Good Morning from Kauai. As usual I have no plan and I’m making one until I get my quad shot Flat White Coffee. First Things first. Feel asleep before we left Honolulu and woke up as we were pulling into Nawiliwili. It looks like another beautiful day!