Review of Carnival Ecstasy 5 Day Cruise 1/9/10 LONG

[Fighterone]

Nice job!;)

Love thy name! Thank you for the compliment!

 

I wish the CC website gave us the opportunity to correct the typos we miss: sorry Shelly, my San Antonio foodies' friend, you write (instead of white). I will be sending you this link and to all our other dinner companions after receiving such an outpour of love through all the wine that kept appearing in my two wine glasses...

 

The menu was personalized, with my full name, and on white statonery. The scan below gives the creases a bit of an antique look, thanks to my carelessness in folding it to fit in my little black purse... along with my S&S card, camera and peppermill, which I carry with me everywhere, one of my bad unbreakable habits.

 

 

I hope the chef wasn't too offended when I pulled out the McCormick peppermill to season some of the dishes. I had purchased a small (no more than 2" high by 3/4" diameter) portable copper peppermill on a layover in Ireland, during my third life as a "stewardess" in the 70s. I carried this unique and now unfindable gadget with me until one night on the Rhapsody, when I forgot it on the table. Ginag my cruise critic friend, was as upset as I was that evening, when I lost it. On the Conquest all dining tables had their own peppermills something I would like to see on all dining room tables everywhere. I guess these disappear quickly; too bad! I wonder why, though, some ships have them and some don't is it due to the classification or rating of the ship? Some of the waiters don't know how to regulate the size of the grind and some can't even tell when the mill is empty. This had been an embarrassing moment for our poor waiter Sunday evening. He kept turning that knob but nothing was coming out... and he kept asking if I had enough pepper. I finally asked him to let me see if I could help and with just one shake of the mill, determined that it had no peppercorns in it. That night had been elegant night. My purse was too small to hold my mill because I JUST had to wear my MIL's gorgeous little purse made entirely of turquoise Australian crystals. I probably will not wear it again since the thousands of little prongs that held the crystals grabbed on to every single part of the dress that touched it. Yes, I was being "vaniteuse" (had to pull out the dictionary here: vain, conceited, self-important (is the translation) and coquette . Thanks to the Jewelry Shop on the Promenade deck, I found a little black evening purse that holds all this necessary garb. Everything is $10.00 here and a lot of the items are well worth the price although I wouldn't expect a long life for most of those inexpensive purchases.

 

Back to my favorite, the FOOD: the dessert, Chef's Surprise, included a unique presentation of chocolate melting cake hidden under a ribbon of white and dark chocolate seasoned with a splash of coconut rhum and sprinkled with a few berries. I am describing it since it was stated as a surprise.

 

Second try on this upload: here goes the menu and the group!

 

Our little group of 12 was a medley of nice folks from different parts of the U.S.A. and everyone was "muy simpatico"; see for yourself below.

 

The next evening, we noticed another one of these meals for 12 happening in the library and wondered why the maître d’ had mentioned that this was a one time event during the cruise. We were told that some of the crew members were so impressed with this dinner that they requested a Chef's Table also and even paid for it.

 

 

Below is Chef Suresh giving us a detailed description of either the calamari or the roasted tomato and corn bisque. I forgot which; next time, I will need to carry my tape recorder too LOL.

 

Notice the sous-chef to his left. I forgot his name but he and I developed a silent bond through eye contact. After this memorable evening, he was all smiles everytime he saw me...wonder what I might have said or done to provoke this.

 

 

Dinner took almost four hours. I remembered to charge my camera when I went back to the stateroom "escorted" because tomorrow would be another fun "epicurean" day and I planned on taking lots of pictures provided I was able to focus.

 

 

GD, this one's for you; another memory of a fun evening, this daredevil was so brave. Too bad that the big gulp I took from your drink didn't help me remember how to skate. During my days in the convent ( school kid, not nun), I used to know how; I was so good at doing arabesques even! So much for those days...

 

 

All, these pictures were taken at the skating rink on the Voyager of the Seas, in 2008, when I decided to show off skating skills I thought I still had... Along with those permanently bruised body parts, my jewelry would never be the same after this.

 

 

[Meyer2]

More good info & pics.

[Fighterone]

More good info & pics.

 

Thanks Meyer! Working on it but am having a heck of a time uploading. My IT department, DH, is currently on the phone with his DS (sister) so I am stuck with my incompetence waiting to see what I did wrong. I am so thick sometimes.

 

Missed you at WW yesterday! I simply could not bring myself to staying. I am probably going to quit this program soon and move on to something else.

[Fighterone]

In the previous post, does it look like I posted 7 pictures? CC said I did. I count 5. They won't allow more than 6 per posts so here goes my 6th

 

Back to the Ecstasy!

Here is "Dragger", my little brother, our stateroom attendant's latest gift, this towel animal

Good night!

 

The Morning after the Chef's Table:

 

Oh no! What a wake-up call I had when I couldn't move! We had to be at the dock at 10:00 a.m. to meet the rest of the group who would partake in the cooking class. Thankfully DH let me recuperate for a little while.

 

I needed a quick fix though! This was going to be a long day since we were told we would need to be prepared to STAND for two long hours. I didn't think I could do it.

 

Thankfully my stomach of iron was starving for: chevre pizza, plain yogurt breakfast cake and prunes...Now, I am almost ready to face the day!

We are off the ship, at Punta Langosta! The photographers are numerous but not insistent. Beside us, is a Disney ship and the Seven Seas Mariner is closer to the dock. We hire a bicycle rickshaw or whatever you call these wonderful transportation devices made for those of us who have a hard time walking...

 

 

The area is very crowded and I have a few minutes to check out the new shops. One of these is a cramped hole in the wall, called the "farmacia", the drug store. It is almost impossible to enter and much less to stroll around to take a peek at what they have on the shelves. The place is poorly designed with the long line of tourists waiting to pay for their coca-cola and bag of chips...just like at home. I decide that I am going to be bold and make my way through. Nobody is budging though. Finally, someone who doesn't think I am trying to cut in line let's me through and I investigate the goodies with no intention of purchasing anything, due to the extremely long line and the cost of items. They have all kinds of drugs, suntan lotions, hair products.

 

I would recommend you just walk down a few blocks to the big supermarket and buy everything there. This place charged $22 for a tube of retin A .05% strength. The Chedraui sold it for $13.00 last year and the price written on the box was $229 pesos... a big difference. At the Chedraui, we love to get inexpensive souvenirs, gadjets we don't have at home like a double lime squeezer or some weird plastic glasses, hot sauces, mini cans of chipotle peppers, and we always stock up on our Margarita mixes here: lemon lime crystal lite, amaranth breakfast cookies and other goodies. We also love their tropical fruit flavored crystal lites, such as mango, goyava, pina colada, tamarindo and horchata. The local liquor/liqueurs are much more affordable here than at the dock too.

 

As we join the group who will be "cooking with us", four of them are laughing when they see me! We had met last night and had an almost four hour dinner together. I remembered, of course, but my mind was still a bit foggy. These were two very nice couples and we had a great time with them that day. After re-introductions and comments to DH about all the fun he missed, we proceed to the vans.

 

The walk is rather long from the pier to the bus and of course, I am the last one, walking along with one of the gals in charge of making sure we all get on the bus. I hear her say on her radio in Spanish that she is walking with a lady who walks "muy despacito" (very slowly)! I start laughing when she says this and embarrassed, she is surprised that I understood and asks where I am from. Well of course she speaks French.

 

Very nice gal! She doesn't want the group to have to wait so we can take the second van... I can't help but laugh and wonder why I am walking so slowly...is it the chef's table or my constant hip pain. I decide it's the hip pain!

 

I sit in front of the van with the driver, Bernardo, and we make conversation. Very friendly folks!

 

Since this tour is organized through the ship, the transportation is provided to and from...a good thing since it's $80. per person.

 

 

Side note:

Whenever you book your own tour, anywhere in Cozumel, you cannot arrange for the tour company to provide transportation because of the agreement with the cab union. I just tried to arrange for transportation when I booked a day at the Wyndham Cozumel, an adult only resort, through an independent company for the girls only cruise in May and they said they could not provide the transportation. I cannot mention this agency here, unfortunately, but here is what they wrote: Thank you for your reservation with our All Inclusive Day Pass at the Cozumel Wyndham Resort and Spa Due to port regulations, we cannot provide transportation to the club from your port. After you disembark from your ship, make your way to the taxi stand directly in front of the entrance of your cruise port. Have the taxi take you to the Wyndham Resort and Spa, and to the main lobby where you will check in. The cost of a taxi for up to 4 people is approximately $15usd total. This is very easy to arrange at the port and as well when you are ready to return to your port. The drive is 15mins.

 

Since we have been to a few of the beaches where the ships organize excursions, and have found these to be rather crowded most of the time, and at least one mediocre in both service and food, I thought it would be nice to try a resort that cannot be booked through the ship, next time, and that accepts only 30 couples per day.

 

Back to review:

A very nice van awaits us and we are off to Playa Mia for our all inclusive cooking class and beach break. We are greeted with smiles and asked to wait under the tent. I give up my vow never to drink again and order a bloody Mary. No sooner had I started on it that the waiter brings ME another one. Chere, one of the gals who was at the chef's table the night before asks why everyone wants to give alcohol... Hum! Food for thought...

 

We waited a little while for Luis, the chef, to come and greet us. We didn't know it then, but everyone sitting under that tent would be joining us in the cooking class. It was sunny, now, and this being the first speck of sun I saw, I wanted to go to the beach and wait there, and catch a few of those very scarce rays while we waited. They really should offer this option since we waited a good 30 minutes, at least.

 

The photo here indicates where the restaurant and bar are where we were asked to wait are. This is a smart idea, considering the hurricanes that have pounded on Coz...guess a pack-up and go tent is the way to go to avoid anymore destruction. Its ceiling is high enough to allow for a little breeze...when there is some.

 

 

I put my time to good use since I had heard some bad reports about the buffet at Playa Mia...some said it came "con moscas"...with flies, I decided to check out it's appeal for the folks who go for the all inclusive Playa Mia beach break.

 

We could have eaten something from the buffet, since the cooking class included everything. This is a good tip to remember for the guy who takes the class and doesn't like his own cooking, since we all got to eat what we fixed. Of course, all the men that I sat with claimed that this was the best meal they had eaten when they ate their masterpiece. That was too cute, coming from those retired executives who have probably never spent a minute in the kitchen, cooking anything.

 

Not bad at all! The buffet was diversified with a lot of nice fruit...even papaya, some "chips" or "chip's" a few salads with a selection of dressing in humongous bowls, some typical mexican beans and other hot dishes which are not shown here. They even had fried chicken.

 

Not sure if the first dish is cochinita pibil...a Yucatecan dish of pulled pork cooked in achiote and other goodies...

 

Finally our star chef shows up: Chef Luis! He looks just as "simpatico" as described on other threads. We are escorted to our work station on the first floor of a pink stucco building and offered more drinks! Time for a Margarita... and more bottled water, pretty please!

 

The restrooms are impeccable and of course has a permanent attendant who appreciates a few pesos... another reason to carry them. They are not big on American change for restroom tipping.

 

We write our names on our fluorescent pink name tags and paste them on our chef's hat, put on the apron with the pretty embroidered multicolered logo of Playa Mia. After it was all over, we got to keep the hat but not the apron which is for sale in their store. I didn't get a chance to check out the store...gotta save something for the next time!

 

Chef Luis is fully attired with a small microphone; he teaches us (many of us are in our 60s) how to wash our hands correctly and believe it or not, some of us might have learned something that day, including me. I had never thought of it: do you do this? Always pull out the paper that you will use to dry your hands from the non-automatic roll (those that have a knob, BEFORE washing hands because that knob is dirty). As we all sang Happy Birthday to you, to make sure we scrubbed for those mandatory 20 seconds, we all enjoyed sounding like a bunch of idiots. Chef Luis then passed the popular gel like disinfectant, a product my hairdresser claims is responsible for the fact that our nails don't grow so well anymore.

 

This is a BIG class! I counted over 30 people.I asked Luis how often he teaches and he told me that he works six days a week and conducts three classes a day sometimes. Of course, the class after us was very small. At one point, his boss walked in, a handsome man in a pink shirt to check the place out, I guess.

 

Notice the waiter walking around. Luis had an assistant chef and a couple of waiters who passed out the necessary tools to make our gourmet meal a success. They turned the gas on and off, as needed, at each station and at one point,Chef Luis came by and unlocked one of the sliding glass doors to ...refresh the air. After all, with over 30 chefs, the place was bound to get a bit smokey.

[Fighterone]

Here is another view of the classroom, well lit, and well equipped.

The menu was the same as what Lisa posted a while back: huaraches, grouper Veracruz style, and rice pudding.

 

Our work stations were set up for 4 and each one included a gas grill and 2 gas burners for 4, 2 pans, 2 tortilla presses, authentic and home made, an area for our drinks, seasonings and equipment appeared as needed.

 

We had fun decorating our plates. There were 3 types of decorating bottles:

Plain cream, to splatter our huaraches which consisted of masa harina flattened out and grilled with beans, chorizo and lettuce

 

Here is the finished appetizer:

 

One jar contained food coloring, flour and water to decorate the outside of the main entree plate, a fresh piece of grouper that we seared until the edges turned white, turned over and cooked for a minute in vegetable oil then placed in a piece of foil lined with a piece of banana leaf and seasoned with wine, olives tomatoes and peppers.

 

The other was the dessert decoration which consisted of grenadine, rum and strawberry jam which decorated the plate for the rice pudding that we cooked and lined with a tower of 3 cookies. The finished product didn't look that great. The swans looked more like sea worms!

 

But what fun we had!

[Fighterone]

The rice pudding was placed in the fridge, the fish cooked in a slow oven and I forget what happened to the huaraches but we all went up the stairs to the dining room to eat what we had prepared. Chef Luis hustled back and forth between his third class of the day and us.

 

Luis stood on a chair to announce that if we didn't like the meal, we should complain to the chef, ourselves, since we had cooked it.

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He also did a quick promo on his homemade habanero salsa ($7.) and his jalapeño and green pepper jam ($8.) . The salsa was served with the meal.

 

 

We enjoyed our "mero estilo Veracruz". Very few opted to replace the grouper for the chicken which Luis jokingly misquoted as iguana meat.

 

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Fun day, not quite over yet! We head for the beach with a nice glass of Mexican wine...I am fussy about the wine I drink; this was good! I should have taken a picture of that bottle.

 

 

I always wear the bathing suit under the street clothes so on with the bathing cap, the nose clip and the goggles and in I go for a nice long swim.

 

There were quite a few fish in one particular area where a big piece of concrete had been dropped.

 

For the first time ever, we didn't bring the snorkel gear and the swimway; it wouldn't have been worth. With the goggles I could see the bottom well.

 

 

Here is a memory of that day: with the frame, the cost was $20. and without the frame, $12. Chef Luis takes a picture with each couple; there are different styles of frames and we really liked this one.

 

Luis said that they are putting together a website and may have his salsa online...waiting to hear from him.

 

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We definitely recommend this excursion, even if you are not into cooking. Chef Luis is entertaining, witty and a polyglot who also speaks French and German.

 

He reminded me of the GOs at Club Med, those entertainers who have so much personality.

 

 

The work stations and the rooms are spotless and the staff is extremely attentive to all our needs. The waiters in yellow shirts deserve a big "THANK YOU" for the care they gave us.

 

I wish this class was also available through independent agencies or directly with Playa Mia.

 

 

Since all the ships seem to stop in Coz, and we like to try something different everytime, we are running out of ideas.

 

Josephine's class is another option. She has an extensive website and takes you to the market to buy what you will be cooking.

 

In 2004, for my birthday, we had reserved a day at the pool and outdoor kitchen of a private home in Dzul-Ha and enjoyed snorkeling and watching the Fury Catamaran tour from the shore and had wonderful deep fried snapper with Martin and his chef. He is unfortunately no longer around.

 

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[Fighterone]

We returned to the dock and stopped at Casa Cofradia (punta langosta), a unique liquor store worth it

for someone who likes to sample different flavors of tequila and see unique looking bottles. casacofradia.com is the site.

I puchased a sampler of 3-100 ml bottles of once letras, a tequila infused with hibiscus, coffee and pomegranate, very unique flavors.

We hired a 2 seater bicycle to return to the ship and stood in line with a bunch of fun folks for a

good while until they opened up another gangway to since it was about getting very close to

departure time and there was no way we would leave on time with everyone waiting in line.

 

We went through checkpoint and nobody asked me about my tequila samplers, possibly because the

bottles were so small. In Progreso, I was asked to give my Ixtabentun to the 'liquor police"

and they held it until after dinner, the night before the arrival.

 

We took a nap and got ready

for dinner. We were in luck again as the hostess gave us a table for 2 but this time, very close

to the kitchen. It didn't matter to us.

 

The wait staff was just as efficient as usual and we enjoyed spending quite a long time

with a bar waitress from Peru who told us a bit about ship life and the fact that she had to purchase

her own ticket to fly home something she simply could not afford on the salary and tips she made.

 

DH had lobster bisque ( no photo), and chateaubriand,

 

and I enjoyed the onion soup, and lamb chops.

 

 

Our waiters danced! Not so sure they like to do this and wish it wasn't mandatory...

[GHarkness]

Our waiters danced! Not so sure they like to do this and wish it wasn't mandatory...

 

Well, you can tell the ones that really like it and the ones that don't. We had a cute girl on the Conquest that - let me tell you, she LIKED it! Either that, or she should have won an Oscar for pretending. :D

 

But I agree, they shouldn't be forced to do it if they don't like it. You can also tell the ones that are just going through the motions. I figure they do enough already....dancing isn't required to make me happy.

[Fighterone]

We enjoyed the cappucino pie, a great tasting frozen coffee pie

 

Grand Marnier Soufflé

 

A beautiful presentation of the poire williams but unfortunately so cold that and tasteless.

 

Then DH enjoyed a nice Porto...don't have a clue what he ordered but it was good.

 

Good Night!

 

We had decorated our stateroom door with all kinds of fish and some vacation stickers of

palm trees, sandals, bathing suits but when they started disappearing, I brought these

litte sunglasses in and placed them on the little guy!

[Fighterone]

Well, you can tell the ones that really like it and the ones that don't. We had a cute girl on the Conquest that - let me tell you, she LIKED it! Either that, or she should have won an Oscar for pretending. :D

But I agree, they shouldn't be forced to do it if they don't like it. You can also tell the ones that are just going through the motions. I figure they do enough already....dancing isn't required to make me happy.

Exactly! They work so hard!

I brought it up here because I am reading Cruise Confidential and the author mentions how much he disliked it.

[GHarkness]

 

I brought it up here because I am reading Cruise Confidential and the author mentions how much he disliked it.

 

 

A very entertaining book - I enjoyed it a lot! As I recall, he basically refused to dance, but he was in a much better position than most of the waitstaff...he was American.

[Fighterone]

At the Rolls Royce cafe, they offer a free cappucino if you purchase an insulated mug for $8.95 +15% gratuity.

 

When we got home, I noticed one of them was leaking. I removed the rubber bottom...no wonder!

It was pretty much a pile of rust... Probably won't be getting those again.

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to go back to the Mongolian Grill, for lunch but the line was so long, I opted for the buffet instead.

Today the Taste of Nations was American day! Mistake:

perch was tasteless, stuffed potatoes were overcooked and I wouldn't say stuffed... the fried chicken was overfried and

cooked in oil that had been used a few too many times. The onion, bread and cheese were stale.

I decided to leave this meal for the fish and go for what I wanted and waited in line for a good 15 minutes at the Mongolian Grill. My buddy Negara, the cook, waved at me as I patiently waited.

A lady with one crutch cut in front of everyone.

This also happened at dinner one night (this one didn't have a crutch) as we were waiting to enter the dining room!!!

I said something to DH in French...the woman's husband must have understood because he politely

asked us to go ahead and scolded the wife with a nasty tone in his voice.

I filled a couple of bowls full of noodles and veggies and asked for calamari and the Thai barbecue seasoning, this time.

I took it all back to the room for us to share. DH was a bit under the weather and spent most of the day in the room.

The Thai barbecue seasoning is not as spicy as the Szechuan. In went the green Tabasco sauce which I had packed

for Bloody Marys I had now tried two of the three choices, the other being black bean...next time.

Don't remember if I mentioned this but DH had remarked that Carnival should adopt a different system for these wonderful fresh prepared wok meals!

I guess we are just not the patient type.

 

That afternoon, I went to the Metro(polis) bar,

the place was pretty packed. I sat with a couple of folks and played the trivia game,

"Want to Feel Like a Millionaire" and "Survey Says"... not very good results: I got 43 out of 75 right.

 

I wandered the ship alone looking for a place to sit and read my "Cruise Confidential" book...

first book that has sustained my interest in a long time, thank you for such a great insight into

life on board for some members of the crew, Mr. Bruns.

 

At 3:30 I went to the Neon bar

and called DH on the "walkie talkie" and asked him if he wanted to come and join me for tea,

something we had never done on a ship before.

 

 

Walkie Talkies are essential to us since we spend a lot of time apart and it makes it easy to

find each other. We have had these little devices now for several years now.

Unfortunately, last May, we burned out the charger when we plugged it into an unidentified

220 volt plug in a hotel in Mexico. The only way this system works is if the devices are turned on

from the minute you both get up until the minute you both go to bed. We even take them ashore and

have used them to find each other on the streets in the Cayman Islands, and in grocery stores.

 

Back to tea time: this doesn't last very long so I wouldn't get there too late. I had the cucumber triangle sandwiches,

the smoked salmon canapes and a couple of bites of the sweets.

 

 

 

[Chelseaprincess]

 

Interesting that you moved as an anglo to a very French speaking town. Just curious to know where you are from originally. I left Quebec during the days of Rene Levesque and the first referendum to separate La Belle Province from the rest of the country. When I married an anglo, in 1973, some colleagues had some rather unfortunate words for me. If you happen to go to Les Anciens Canadiens restaurant, have a drink for me! I miss the ragout, tourtiere and cretons. Yesterday, I was talking to a gal who works for the airport system, and when she found out I was from Quebec, she said that she tells everyone that they should experience this beautiful city. She mentioned that she could still taste the duck in maple syrup that she had at that restaurant.

 

 

To answer your question, I should tell you that English is not my first language either. I moved to Canada from Central Europe. We actually live 15 minutes away form Ottawa, in Quebec (as they say, on the other side of the river) quite a long way from Quebec city.

I speak two Slavic languages. English was the third language I learned (or at least tried to, practice might make perfect one day:)). And when I moved to Quebec, I decided to take French lessons. It was my fifth language at that time. Now I am taking Spanish lessons to help me get along on many Spanish speaking Caribbean islands.

I believe that learning languages opens doors to other cultures, widens your horizons and helps you in so many different ways, ne c’est pas? And the French cuisine here with its Quebecois twist is just amazing! It took me three years to taste bacon with maple syrup, but now it’s the only way to eat it! I am not a big fan of cretons, but love tourtière, especially for Christmas.

Chelsea

[Chelseaprincess]

Hi there again,

I just love your stories and pictures that go with them!

Believe or not, my DH insists we bring walky-talkies with us on the cruise also. I found them quite helpful, but hate carrying mine all the time. BTW, to avoid problems with the charger, DH uses batteries sometimes. But you should remember not to put them on the charger if the batteries are inside.

And thanks for the picture of you skating on an RCL ship. Yesterday we went skating on the Rideau Canal and had to have a beaver tail of course! Maybe one day I will try practice my skating skills on the cruise ship also (a girl can dream, right?)

Merci encore! Chelsea

[Fighterone]

To answer your question, I should tell you that English is not my first language either. I moved to Canada from Central Europe. We actually live 15 minutes away form Ottawa, in Quebec (as they say, on the other side of the river) quite a long way from Quebec city.

I speak two Slavic languages. English was the third language I learned (or at least tried to, practice might make perfect one day:)). And when I moved to Quebec, I decided to take French lessons. It was my fifth language at that time. Now I am taking Spanish lessons to help me get along on many Spanish speaking Caribbean islands.

I believe that learning languages opens doors to other cultures, widens your horizons and helps you in so many different ways, ne c’est pas? And the French cuisine here with its Quebecois twist is just amazing! It took me three years to taste bacon with maple syrup, but now it’s the only way to eat it! I am not a big fan of cretons, but love tourtière, especially for Christmas.

Chelsea

 

I went to Hull and Ottawa once, oh! memories of the 70s.

I work with a gal from Serbia. She is young, gorgeous and a genius. I wish I could communicate with her in her language but I gave up trying to learn anything but Latin based "idiomas" many years ago when I decided I was going to learn Russian and couldn't get past the alphabet. I agree, it all opens a lot of avenues to other cultures. The best thing I did was learn to count then, learn the food terms in a couple of foreign languages so at least, I can count currency and purchase food...LOL

Yep, unique food in Quebec! After your post, I took out a nice block of frozen cretons I made a while back and have been eating it on toast for breakfast.

Review is almost over! Bummer!!! Hope to finish next weekend. It takes me an eternity to correct, resize, upload and post each photo and like Lambknuckles says, I do it out of selfishness because it is fun to relive a cruise.

[Lovharvey]

We were on the Ectasy last March and really enjoyed Progresso. I had also read the post about it being a dump and wasn't sure what we were in for, but, we enjoyed it. We rode the Double Decker bus first and were able to see quite a bit of the town. We also walked down to the beach and went back to Los Curos(sp). It was run by a guy from the Dallas area. At least I think he was from Dallas. We also had the kids come around trying to sell all kinds of things, but, a polite no and they went on their way, not like other places where they hound you. We had a couple of "Ritas" and some chips. We are so used to what we get here, we weren't sure we wanted to try anything. After we got home, I looked up the place that we had the drinks at because I thought I remembered the name and sure enough, they are all over the place. We even have one in Tomball. It would be nice if Progresso stays just the way it is, but, I am sure that it won't. I can't wait until we have a chance to go back. Enjoying your review very much. I also read Mark's review of the Pride because we had cruised on her when she was in Long Beach and enjoyed our cruise on her very much.

[Meyer2]

Thanks for more good review & pictures.

[Fighterone]

Hi there again,

I just love your stories and pictures that go with them!

Believe or not, my DH insists we bring walky-talkies with us on the cruise also. I found them quite helpful, but hate carrying mine all the time. BTW, to avoid problems with the charger, DH uses batteries sometimes. But you should remember not to put them on the charger if the batteries are inside.

And thanks for the picture of you skating on an RCL ship. Yesterday we went skating on the Rideau Canal and had to have a beaver tail of course! Maybe one day I will try practice my skating skills on the cruise ship also (a girl can dream, right?)

Merci encore! Chelsea

 

Walkie talkies are a must, especially when I am on deck and DH is in the room and I need something from the cabin! It can save a lot of time and aggravation too. We have a rather fun set that has many channels so we don't get interference from other cruisers. They work fine on disposable batteries and don't use too much juice as long as we don't speak on them too long so this last cruise, the batteries lasted for the entire 5 days.

Of course you will practice those skating skills on a ship! I wish I had been able to practice my skating skills, that night but evidently, those were from another life. In any case, my cruising buddy had fun watching the entertainment! You haven't seen all the pictures...

Just keep skating. I am so old now that I wonder if I can still ski...

[Fighterone]

We were on the Ectasy last March and really enjoyed Progresso. I had also read the post about it being a dump and wasn't sure what we were in for, but, we enjoyed it. We rode the Double Decker bus first and were able to see quite a bit of the town. We also walked down to the beach and went back to Los Curos(sp). It was run by a guy from the Dallas area. At least I think he was from Dallas. We also had the kids come around trying to sell all kinds of things, but, a polite no and they went on their way, not like other places where they hound you. We had a couple of "Ritas" and some chips. We are so used to what we get here, we weren't sure we wanted to try anything. After we got home, I looked up the place that we had the drinks at because I thought I remembered the name and sure enough, they are all over the place. We even have one in Tomball. It would be nice if Progresso stays just the way it is, but, I am sure that it won't. I can't wait until we have a chance to go back. Enjoying your review very much. I also read Mark's review of the Pride because we had cruised on her when she was in Long Beach and enjoyed our cruise on her very much.

 

Thank you Lov!

I am happy to hear that you enjoyed Progreso and we agree that it should never change. It is unfortunate that it gets such a bad wrap.

I am not sure I know which restaurant you are talking about that is also in Tomball. I don't get out much, here in Houston, LOL...

Falckor, Mark is the reason I thought I'd write this after enjoying his review so much, I wonder, if he ever finish it.

[Fighterone]

Thanks for more good review & pictures.

 

Hi Meyer:

Thank you!

I think I am gaining weight just from posting those photos.:(

Have you been surfing this wonderful website? I bet you can't wait for October 17th to come on!

I will tell you this much: once you and DH have boarded, after you pop open the bubbly, head for Sur Mer and have a sampler of what they offer. I wish I had!

[Fighterone]

This morning, after breakfast, we had an interesting conversation with a waiter from Jakarta. He started talking to us when he saw my pen and notepad and asked if I was a writer. He had been with Carnival most of his life. He said he hardly spoke to anyone. He despised rich people and God punished them by giving them heart attacks. He also mentioned that he called home often and slept well when he got good news from his family or not at all when the news was bad. While in port during refurbishing, he had received good pay, $35. a day as a firefighter. Ship life must have taken its toll on him.

 

After tea, I waited around until the sushi bar opened up and enjoyed a few pieces with and tried some togarashi sauce with slivers of sliced cucumber. Good sauce!

 

With just two rolling bags each, we will be doing self-debarkation; it’s time to pack and get ready for dinner! We are cruising light, this time. We have finally learned that we don’t need five suitcases and a hanging bag. I also started using space bags, a great invention, if you don’t mind wrinkled clothes and are willing to wait until the last minute to suck the air out of them, then unpack and hang the minute the bags arrive to the stateroom.

 

Fortunately, on Carnival, we have the luxury of those irons and ironing boards in the laundry rooms, something I love to have the option of using, until I become platinum, hopefully by the end of this year…hint hint. On the tenth cruise, I will get free laundry; what a great privilege.

 

Why is it that I can’t fit everything into the carry-on and into the duffel bag, especially since I no longer have the 12 pack of water, the 46 oz. of V8, the 12 pack of soda, the 3 liter box of wine and the rum runners are all empty?

 

What a waste of time to have to pack!

 

I fill out the customs declaration and put it back in the safe with our passports and other valuables. Safes are so handy, something NCL didn’t have on the NCL Sea, which caused us a painful wait in a cashier line. I can’t imagine traveling without having a safe in the room.

 

Almost everything has been shoved into the bags; DH does his own packing and unpacking.

 

Now I think I am ready for “the last supper”. I had a nice big ice chest and will probably wind up using it as my purse when we get off.

 

We still have a bottle of bubbly Chandon that we were allowed to carry on board. I decided to take it home and we opened it for my 60th.

 

Dinner time:

 

Tonight, we get to sit at a different table for 2. It is in the middle, right before the waiter's station. How interesting to watch them work. They have such a small space to put those big heavy trays and they help each other.

 

DH had the crab cake...I didn't care for it at all; fishy taste!

 

For the main course, DH had salmon in dill mousseline

 

Well, the salmon mousseline from this cruise will not upload; here is the same dish from Ecstasy 2008 cruise. The only difference is the potatoes then are now zucchini! Will try again later...

e

 

I had the veal parmigiana! OK food, pretty presentation

 

 

Notice how all the sides are similar on many of these dishes.

 

For dessert here came the baked Alaska for DH.

 

This dish used to have a sponge cake around the napolitain ice cream from an old photo I have.

 

I enjoyed the amaretto chocoloate cake but again, it was in the very cold refrigerator until served. I don't care that much for very cold desserts. Better for the waisline because then, I don't eat as much of it! You can always tell from the photo and almost feel how cold the first bite will be when you look at the glaze and thawed flecks of frost on the plate

 

It doesn't matter if the food is cold or if it's lukewarm; being on a ship and being served like royalty is wonderful and I am so very thankful to the chefs, and the tireless wait staff/crew for their wonderful friendly service.

 

There is something special about the waiters on a ship. It is so very different than eating in a restaurant. What is it? Can a waiter say: "I quit! I want to go home tomorrow and end my contract".

 

 

I haven't finished reading THE book yet but judging from what Brian "Love Bruns" wrote, I guess they can because Brian Bruns was the only American to complete a full contract. How tough it must be!

[Fighterone]

Time to finish this review with the debarkation, a non event. We did the self assist and were informed on that morning's capers that CBP would close down the lobby area on the Empress deck until the ship was cleared. We were the first deck to go and were off and at the pier at 0900.

Ready to do it again and hope the weather and the captain are nicer next time!

[douglinc@msn.com]

Enjoyed your review, we will be on the Conquest 3-7. I agree with you about Progresso, it's a pretty neat place.

 

Doug

[Fighterone]

Enjoyed your review, we will be on the Conquest 3-7. I agree with you about Progresso, it's a pretty neat place.

 

Doug

 

Thank you

Hope you write a review about your Conquest cruise when you get back, in March.

[cruiser fanatic]

Dominico Cilento was our captain on the Fantasy he was okay.