M&JfromSDL

After sailaway we returned to our cabin to get ready for dinner. Dress code tonight was smart casual. I stuck to my signature button down and slacks. The Mrs. had a lovely black dress for the evening.

We started off at Vintages (of course!) where Jayesh suggested a lovely French Rose for the Mrs.

He even went so far as to prepare a small tapas plate to hold us over until dinner.

We had great tablemates at dinner tonight so no photos from dinner. We were too busy chatting!

After dinner we took to the casino for a quick try at Kitty Glitter then it was up to the Dog and Badger pub to grab a beer.

Tonight's beer of choice was Grolsch!

Off we go!

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I'm a bit of an aviation nerd so I enjoyed watching this American Airlines Boeing 737 come in for a landing at St. Kitts airport.

My sleeping beauty awoke from her nap feeling as good as new and joined me out by the pool for a turkey burger from the Windjammer and a virgin frozen drink. I stuck with a Pina Colada.

And what to my wondering aviation geek eyes had appeared, but one British Airways Boeing 777 on approach to St. Kitts.

So I ran to the forward part of Deck 12 and captured this video:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21203547@N07/16081238310/in/set-72157647943679013

Soon enough it was time to sail away.

January 7, 2015

St. Kitts

We began our morning by sleeping in a bit. As a matter of fact we were docked and folks were disembarking when we put our feet on the floor and made the trek up to the Windjammer.

For some reason we both didn't have much of an appetite. This was probably a precursor for the day as I think we stuck to fruit and a few light items.

Our plan was to walk into town and scout out a pharmacy for an essential item or two. Then jump in a cab and head to Cockleshell Beach.

It was hot in St. Kitts and not nearly as breezy as St. Maarten. My wife has an issue where her body has a difficult time regulating her core temperature and basically dehydrates itself as it tries to cool down. She has to be sure to stay well hydrated and avoid intense heat like Las Vegas, Arizona and the Caribbean...the three places we love to travel to. So we grabbed a large bottle of Evian from the Cafe Promenade, drank it and off we went.

We grabbed what we needed to in the downtown area and jumped in a cab. I could tell she wasn't feeling 100% but we figured an air conditioned car ride would help.

The cab ride over to Cockleshell was LONG. You climb large hills, drop a few hundred feet, climb another hill, lots of poorly maintained windy roads and add in the cement mixer we got stuck behind it took us nearly an hour to get there.

The island of St. Kitts is absolutely stunning. It reminded me of Hawaii. We eventually arrived at Cockleshell beach. There are 3 or 4 different restaurants offering food, libations and lounge chairs. We ended up at the Spice Mill restaurant. Note to readers: they take credit cards! Caribs were $4 a bottle and the chairs were $20 for 2 I believe.

Unfortunately, due to my wife not feeling well we never made it to the beach. I could tell as we got out of the cab that her body was not cooling itself down. She looked flush, dizzy and overheated. She tried to stick with the beach day even going to so far as changing into her swimsuit but it was quickly apparent that we needed to get her back to the ship, hydrated and in cooler air.

So off we went on another island tour. Luckily this time, the cab had great air conditioning and it took about 35 minutes to return to the port.

I made sure she drank more water, cooled down in the room and then tucked her in for a nap. I went and sat out by the pool and enjoyed the largely empty ship.

January 6, 2015 Cont.

St. Maarten

Again, tonight's main dining room dress code was "Casual / Tropical so I ended up wearing a Guayabera shirt and slacks.

Nothing inspired me tonight for dinner. My wife of course started with the escargot and I opted for a Caesar salad. I forget what the Mrs. ordered but I went with the broiled salmon. It was good, just nothing special. Didn't even garner a photo. lol

Dessert on the other hand, was very good!

But we had other priorities for the evening. We needed to score good seats for the Love and Marriage Show!

Mrs. M&JfromSDL insisted we try and be one of the couples on stage. Last time I volunteered to be apart of a show on a cruise ship I found myself dressed as Prince acting like an idiot on stage.

The couples were all very nice but the material was kind of tame and the show seemed to go on forever.

Once it was over we were ready to walk around and have some fun. Mrs. M&JfromSDL had her eye on a ring for sale on the Promenade so we went back and purchased it.

Afterwards, we made a pitstop at you guessed it...Sorrento's. I mean who can resist a hot slice of pizza at midnight while on vacation?

I haven't forgotten about you all! Another update is brewing! Work has been busy...

So Orient looked good? Did you find seaweed to be a problem? Several people have been reporting bad beach conditions. Thanks for all the info and recommendations!

 

 

Jess

There were no seaweed issues on Orient. It was a beautiful day!

Then it was Getaway's turn. Interestingly enough we came very close to booking this cruise instead of Indy.

Our turn!

By now it was time to head down to our cabin and get ready for dinner. Tonight's dress code was "Casual / Tropical." After a nice beach day that sounded perfect.

Only Tuesday? There's plenty of cruise left!

A better view of C2 from onboard Indy.

Time for sailway party. I was ready for one of my favorite frozen drinks, a frozen mojito! Mrs. M&JFromSDL tried her hand at a Mango Mojito which she enjoyed as well.

We took position at the rear of the ship to watch Jewel sail away.

Soon enough it was time to return to the ship. We took the water taxi back to the cruise terminal. The fee was nominal and they sold $2 Caribs on board.

There was an absolutely smashing yacht tied up when we arrived. From a quick Google search I believe C2 is owned by Ronald Perelman, owner of Revlon Group.

Barefoot turned out to be a great lunch spot. The service was friendly and we enjoyed our lunch. We started off with conch fritters and split an order of goat curry. The fritters were mostly fritter and not much conch, but were still good. The goat curry was awesome. As were the Carib!

After lunch we set out on foot to explore the downtown area. The last time were were here the heat was oppressive and we were short on time so we ran back to the ship. This time the weather was quite pleasant so we walked around for a bit. There are a ton of duty-free and jewelry stores around. I was on a hunt for a couple of Cuban cigars but the Mrs. was looking for perfume replenishment.

Keeping in mind all of the ships in port we returned to Downtown around mid-afternoon and beat most of the traffic.

I will have to remember this place for the next visit... ;)

We returned to the port area, grabbed a great lunch and did some shopping. Our cab driver recommended a place called Barefoot for lunch. We parked at a counter overlooking the street. It afforded a great view of the harbor and offered up excellent people watching.

Before setting out for our planned beach day we jammed up to the Windjammer for a little breakfast. We docked and cleared fairly early on in the morning and did not have to be back on the ship until 5:30pm, so we weren't in too much of a rush to get off the ship.

After breakfast we returned to our cabin to grab our beach bag and head out. My wife asked me if she should pack beach towels to which I replied, no we will rent chairs and a towel on the beach. On our way to the gangway I stopped at the ATM only to learn my card had been locked due to unauthorized charges. In a flurry of excitement we set out for Orient and planned to use my wife's card there if we need to. No big deal.

Famous last words...

Folks, let me be the first to tell you. There is not a single ATM machine anywhere on Orient Beach. Very few places take credit cards and the folks renting the chairs generally want cash.

So... off we went on a 30 minute taxi ride to a gas station somewhere near the French/dutch border so I can extract some $$$ for our beach day.

We avoided disaster and I escaped without too many daggers from the Mrs. and we enjoyed a lovely day on Orient Beach. The weather was warm and breezy which made for an easy day for the Mrs. as she is very sensitive to heat.

January 6, 2015

St. Maarten

One of my favorite things to do on a cruise is wake up early and watch the ship dock. I am fascinated by the Captain's parking skills and the morning light is almost always perfect. This morning was no exception. It was a busy morning with 5 cruise ships in port.

NCL Getaway

Disney Fantasy

Indy

Jewel of the Seas

In that short amount of time they managed to take all of the 70's decorations down.

After an action packed day, it was off to bed. We had big plans for St. Martin in the morning.

The 70's party was great! Lots of great music and the performers wore interesting costumes which you can't see in my photos because of the Casino Royale sign.

After the parade we took a walk and landed in the Schooner Bar. The Pianist was an awesome guy! Every night, whether we were walking by or sat and listened he had the crowd in stitches.

My better half was in the mood to sing, so we tried the DIY karaoke booth outside of the On-Air Lounge.

On our way up to our nightly pizza binge I had to take a selfie outside of Vintages. "Vintages (probably the best place on Indy." We would have to agree.

January 5, 2014 (Cont)

At Sea

Our overall impressions of Giovanni's Table were mixed. Our service was a little slow. We like a long dinner experience especially with the quantity of food involved. There were a couple of times we were waiting on water, drinks and lastly the check. We've eaten at Giovanni's on Allure and Freedom and had great experiences so we'll chalk this one up to an off night.

We stopped at one of the interactive TV's to see what was going on.

We were at dinner during the Headliner's show which featured Resurrection - A Journey Tribute Band. On our walk back to our cabin from dinner we could hear them in the theatre. They sounded pretty spot on! But we had a 70's party to attend and we wanted to grab seats at Vintages to watch.

But first a walk through the Cupcake Cupboard. The "Special" looked awesome but I had no room in my belly for sweets after Giovanni's.

My wife started off with the Carpaccio and I enjoyed the Scallop appetizer.

The restaurant was empty so there was no shame in my game when it came to food photos.

We split a 2nd course of Risotto. It was very good!

My wife ordered a Lemon Drop Martini which she absolutely loved! I stuck to wine.

Our main courses were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. I ordered the lamb, my wife ordered the veal. My lamb was so good! I don't think I've ever had a bad lamb dish on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Her entree just wasn't that good. It lacked flavor, the veal was tough. The menu had a great description of the entree. It sounded so exciting. Stuffed veal, truffle sauce, etc. But in the end it was flat.

With all of that food we barely had room for desert. I saw someone order a cannoli with orange zest on it. I wanted to try a bite so I convinced my wife that we should order one and split it. We requested 2 double espresso's as well.

The cannoli was everything and more. I'm from North Jersey. I've had cannoli from all over NY and from my favorite Mike's Pastries in Boston. This was pretty darn good.

At some point in the day we checked the flat screen monitors for tonight's dinner menu. NOTHING jumped out at us. So we decided tonight would be the perfect night to check out Giovanni's Table.

We easily scored an 8pm reservation. We arrived a few minutes early and took a walk through the Windjammer before being seated. Everyone talks about the Sushi bar but I have to say, it all looked like Costco sushi. All of it appeared to be made with Krab.

Deserts and other menu items looked nice!

Soon enough our table at Giovanni's as ready and we sat down.

Despite being a room off set from the Windjammer the room is beautiful.

We sat down and were quickly offered a wonderful bread basket as well as as olive oil and balsamic.

DAY 3

Monday, January 5, 2015

At Sea

As I said in my earlier post we got a great night's sleep. With a little wind at our sails we headed up to the gym for a quick workout to help burn off yesterday's calories.

Our original plan for Sunday was to do our typical Sunday morning brunch but at sea. The Meet and Mingle sort of threw a wrench in our plans. So we rescheduled for Monday. Brunching is a sport for us. And anyone can brunch on a Sunday morning, but few can savor the awesome combination of breakfast, lunch and a sweet cocktail before noon on a Monday.

So after our workout we jumped over to the Windjammer.

And of course, I forgot the camera in the room. So no photos of our lovely breakfast, fresh orange juice from the Jumex juice machine and the glass of Domaine Chandon we used to try and make mimosas with.

We intended to sit by the pool after brunch but the cool air and wind got in the way. My wife is sensitive to temperature extremes and changes so we ended up down at Vintages for a card game.

So we sat and Vintages, enjoyed some great wine and played a couple rounds of Phase 10.

We proclaimed this bench at Vintages ours.

View of the Promenade interior staterooms. We can confirm from the outside looking in that they lack an element of privacy when the curtains are open. Ahem.

The Mrs. kicked my butt.

Jayesh fixed us up a neat little tapas plate. It was clear after eating this though, that we needed something more substantial in our bellies.

AWESOME spot for people watching on the Promenade!

After a cocktail or 3 it was off the Sorrento's for a late night snack. On a sober night the pizza at Sorrento's is pretty iffy. But after a few drinks, on a boat, on vacation, after midnight it's probably the best pizza in the world.

Stuffed Porter died and went to heaven as does his in-real-life version whenever there's food around.

He's a good boy and knows he's not supposed to drink. ;)

After Sorrento's we retired to our cabin and slept the night away. We both agreed it was one of our best nights of sleep.

It's time I introduce you to our travelmate, Stuffed Porter.

You see... my wife is bit of a cat lady and gets homesick for our fur babies when we travel.

Meet Porter, our 15lb. fat Black Cat.

A few years ago someone found a Beenie Baby version of a pudgy black cat that reminded us of our fat hairy black cat. So now we carry this beenie baby with us whenever we travel. We've lovingly nicknamed him Stuffed Porter.

When we returned to our cabin to change, our cabin attendant created a really cool towel animal and introduced Stuffed Porter to him.

After changing we were off to explore the nightlife on the ship.

We really aren't into the shows. We're more into the casino and for my cat loving wife, Kitty Glitter is our pick.

I got bored of the slots and decided to drag the Mrs. over a video BlackJack machine.

Sunday, January 4th (Cont.)

After a couple glasses of wine at Vintages we took a walk over to the Main Dining room. We didn't make a dining room reservation the entire week and never waited for a table.

We were seated with a nice family from Southern VA and a mom and her son from NY. Nice people. Great conversation.

Tonight's menu was Saffron. Not a favorite of mine but it's formal night and we love the main dining room experience on formal nights.

We started out with Escargot and the Bay Scallop Gratin.

For main courses I had the Beef tenderloin and my wife had the Shrimp Ravioli. Sorry no pics.

Carved Filet of Beef Tenderloin

Morel-crimini mushroom sauce and creamy

whipped potatoes

Shrimp Ravioli

Wilted spinach, creamy thyme and corn with

a lobster sauce

Both items were pretty lackluster. I was a little disappointed with the food on this cruise. I'm not sure if our palates have matured since our first cruise when we were 25, the food quality has gone down or it's the same repeated menus time-after-time. Probably a combination of the 3.

My desert was good though.

Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé

Light, bittersweet chocolate dessert with

espresso sauce

After dinner we headed over to the Champagne Bar for another glass of Moet and Chandon.

At this point in the night, we had tons of energy but I was tired of being in my tux. I was cognizant of it picking up a smoky smell if we spent time in the casino so we returned to our cabin to change.

I've sailed Allure, Freedom and Indy. Freedom class wins hands down for us. Check out the review of my recent 8-day on Indy.