What the H . . . is a designated drinker? (Review – 5/15/11 Vision OTS Baltic Sea)

[nydiana]

This was a true honor. I was excited to receive the formal invitation for Dinner with our Captain Magne Johansen. My husband rents a Tux & I had my gown so we were all set for the special dinner. We went to the "Meet the Captain" party. I always enjoy hearing the Captain’s talk where he tells of new things coming to RCI. As Jon mentioned this party only had drinks. I thought in the past we have been served hors d’oeuvres. Perhaps I am confusing it with one of the other parties we get invited to each cruise (Welcome Back C&A Party and Top Tier Event.).

 

We then had to rush off to the meeting place in the Champaign Bar for our VIP dinner. While we waited to be escorted to the dinning room we chatted with the other lucky invitees. The served us complementary drinks. There was one other couple and two groups of ladies. They were all so nice. We enjoyed breakfast with some of them several times later that week. Then the Maitre d’ came an escorted us to the Captain’s table.

 

The table was set with a beautiful centerpiece of orchids. They had name place cards. I couldn’t believe it when I saw I was to be seated next to the Captain. The service was impeccable. They offered both red and wine with each course. They took a group photo. The waiter took our orders from a special menu. I had the “Captain’s Surf and Turf”. It was a very large Filet Mignon and broiled Shrimps with veggies and Béarnaise Sauce. The meat was so tender and delicious. The dessert was a pretty Almond crusted bowl with berries and ice cream. It was decorated with chocolate.

 

The Captain was so friendly. It was so easy chatting with him. He has a very interesting life story. We even had a conversation about our harrowing adventures on Brilliance of the Seas. He said there was a very comprehensive report written on that cruise that all the Captains read.

 

We were given a souvenir menu autographed by our Captain and the group table photo.

 

I am including some pictures, but I have never figured how to get more than the thumb print size. Sorry.

 

Diana

[Beachcruzer]

Enjoying your tale. Can't wait to hear more!:)

[truffles2]

I can't wait to find out what the "designated drinker' is:confused::eek:

[nydiana]

I can't wait to find out what the "designated drinker' is:confused::eek:

 

That happened on the last sea day so we have a ways to go. It was a special event with the Cruise Director Sol. So hold tight.

 

Diana

[nydiana]

Tallinn is one of those European cities that still retain much of their medieval character. The main attractions are also located fairly close together and relatively near the port. Accordingly we down loaded a suggested walking tour from the internet. Unfortunately, we left this paperwork on the ship as we disembarked. To save our poor knees, we decided to use the ship’s provided shuttle to town rather than walking.

 

I have to suggestions for RCCL at this juncture:

 

1) If you are going to provide a generalized street map of these towns in your daily planner, could you at least include a useful one? The maps they provide do not provided nearly enough detail for you to orient yourself if you are unfamiliar with the city. They also leave off so many streets that you cannot really tell the distance between the listed attractions.

 

2) If you are going to provide both a map of attractions and a shuttle service, would it not make sense to include the shuttle service pick up location as one of the marked locations?

 

After an hour of wandering the town, we stumbled along a tourist information office. Here I was able to get a complete street map. On this, we marked to intersection where the shuttle bus stop was located. (We had written the street names down, hoping we could ask directions to them later). Using the ship’s suggestions as a guide, we created our own walking tour of the old section of Tallinn. My one comment is this: Tallinn was a pleasant enough European city, but having been in both Rhodes and Valetta recently, I can say that those locations have similar charms and are just better laid out than Tallinn.

 

My DH Jon

[nydiana]

We hiked up Toompea Hill. You have a nice view of the town. We walked around the grounds of the Broque Toompea Castle which is now the Estonia Parliament. Across the street is the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevski Cathedral. This is a nice Cathedral but no pictures are allowed.

 

We make a habit of finding a local restaurant in each port and trying the local food. In Tallinn we found a nice restaurant, V. Tooma on the State Square. I had a good lamb dish with au gratin potatoes, a tomato and veggie side.

 

I am including some pictures of these places and my lunch.

 

That evening there was “Mission Blue classic song from Motown” which we skipped. They also had the Crown and Anchor Welcome back party. At this party they had mixed drinks, champagne, and appetizers. I always enjoy these parties. I like mixing with others that love cruising and dancing to the live music.

 

Diana

[dirtgirl]

We even had a conversation about our harrowing adventures on Brilliance of the Seas. He said there was a very comprehensive report written on that cruise that all the Captains read.

 

Now that would be an interesting read!!!;)

[nydiana]

I'm enjoying your review. Not all JS's have a walk-in closet (which I use as a "dressing room" so I don't have to keep closing the drapes...wish they did. I love having a tub but I agree that the sides are so high it become dangerous entering and exiting:o

 

Thanks for the info. I have to say I never think to close the curtains. I was startled by a man on a moving scaffold going pass our balcony. This was the first time I have notice this happening.

 

Diana

[nydiana]

Now that would be an interesting read!!!;)

 

I would loved to have been a fly on the wall during Captain Eric's debriefing. ;) I too would like to read that report on the incident. I guess we will never know for sure if it should and could have been avoided. :eek: At least we know the crew worked very hard to return things back to normal as quickly as possible. :)

 

Diana

[nydiana]

Is it wetter under water if you’re there when it rains?

 

This was one of the major highlight cities of the trip. We had arranged a tour with a CC contingent for the day (thank you Karen for doing all of the work). We had been worried that there would be trouble disembarking, but neither the ship nor the Russian authorities caused any trouble in this regard. There were plenty of lines open at 7 AM to have passports stamped. The weather forecast was clear, so we left our umbrella on the ship - - big mistake. The rain started almost as soon as our bus made it form the port to the city. The first part of our tour consisted of photo stops at some major attractions (St Isaac’s, the sphinxes, the lighthouses, etc.) It rained through each of these stops. Part of my job involves appraising houses and farms. As part of that process I have to get out of my car to measure and photograph buildings, frequently doing so in the rain. Therefore, exiting a bus in the rain to photograph a building seemed perfectly normal to me. Next, we rode the subway for one stop. I am not really sure why we did this. It was just something that the tour organizer wanted to do.

 

Finally, we reached Katherine’s Palace. It was pouring. There was a long walk between the lot where the bus dropped us and the entrance. During this walk, we got drenched. Because it was raining so hard, the authorities decided to let everyone in the museum at once (instead of having them wander in the garden outside). This meant that it was a crowded madhouse. The palace itself is a wonder to behold. Each room is more ornately decorated than the next. The idea, I think was to overawe people with the wealth and power of the czar (actually a lot of it just comes across as gaudy). After a quick lunch, we spent most of the afternoon at the Hermitage museum. If you are an art lover, you could spend weeks in this museum. We finished the day at the Peter and Paul Cathedral. By European standards, this is not a very fancy cathedral, but it is the burial place of numerous czars.

 

There was an evening portion of the tour out of which we opted. Instead we returned to the ship. This proved to be no easy task. Whereas leaving the ship, there had been at least 10 passport lines open. Returning to the ship only three were open. Additionally, just as we reached the front of the line the worker in the booth whose line we were in slammed down a metal door and left. It took a good hour of standing in line to get through the port and re-board the ship. We changed out of our still damp clothes and went to theater where the entertainment – a Russian folk troupe was performing. Because the ship was scheduled in port until 11 PM, the ship had only scheduled one performance of this. It was literally standing room only. I had never remembered finding the theaters on vision class ship to be inadequate, but it did not have nearly the capacity for this show.

 

RCCL made one other odd decision on this day. Late seating dinner was 8:45 PM. The ship was scheduled to be in port until 11 PM (and probably 40% of the passengers were on tours that included evening activities). Yet RCCL decided to hold the quest on this night and to start it at 9:30 PM. Now I am not a big fan of the quest (seeing it once or twice is enough for me), but I acknowledge that it is a fairly popular RCCL activity. Why, in this case, would you schedule this activity on an evening where a large percentage of passengers are off the ship and schedule it at a time when late seating guests are unlikely to make it? After dinner, I wandered down to the lounge to see if they actually held it as advertised and I discovered that it was, indeed, in progress. The crowd seemed much smaller than it usually is for this event.

 

My DH Jon

[madra2112]

Thanks for the thread Diana and Jon, we did this exact itinerary last year, and I'm reliving it now. We had a similar experience getting back on board, but to be honest, I was happy enought that getting into St P was quicker than getting out. We were also blessed with the weather, it was beautiful all day.

 

I do agree that was a strange night for Quest. On our cruise it was on Thursday night after Stockholm.

[nydiana]

We book the Ice Bar and Winter Wonderland excursion with RCI. My DH is one rarely says something is good. Everything is just “O.K.” Well, I want to point out after this excursion he said, ‘that was fun!” They limited you to only one hour there including time to get a snow mobile suit, put it on, explore winter park, take it off and return the suit.

 

We had a lot of fun in the time allowed. We toasted to Jon’s birthday with shots of Finnish Vodka in shot glasses made of ice. Jon took a dog sled ride and went tobogganing. They also had snowshoes and cross-country skiing. They also had Igloos with animal skins doors and ice sculpture and beds ;). Afterwards we took off the snowmobile suits and returned to the bus for a ride back to town.

 

The guide gave us info about living in Finland and some of the sight along the way. Then they dropped us off in the center of town for one hour of shopping. Jon and I both wished they had giving us the extra time at the winter park. They made a point of saying if you wanted to stay in town longer you could take the shuttle back, so those who wanted to shop could have, without wasting tour time.

 

In summary we both thought it was worth the price. We had a good time and it was something really different. I wanted to add a few pictures of the Winter Park but all but two fail.

 

Diana

[milndan]

I love reading your reviews Diana. I anxiously await the next "episode".

[Beachcruzer]

The Ice Bar sounds really interesting! I'd like to try that.:D:D:D

[nydiana]

This, being my birthday, we decided to splurge on the type of excursion that we never take. We went to the ice bar and winter wonderland fun park. It was a lot of fun. It probably would have been fun, even without the free vodka shots; however, they did not hurt. Being at an indoor attraction proved to be a good idea as there was a steady drizzle all day. The show that evening (which was the second formal night BTW) was a rat pack retrospective. The performers were entertaining enough, but what we noticed most was that the volume of the band was reasonable as compared to the volume of the singers. It was only now that we realized that the problem we had noticed on the first two nights was not a problem with the sound system, but an intentional decision by ship’s personnel.

 

My DH Jon

[nydiana]

The Ice Bar sounds really interesting! I'd like to try that.:D:D:D

 

Thanks we really enjoyed that day. I thought I had posted my DH's review for that day but I guess I had not. So I posted it tonight.

 

Diana

[nydiana]

I love reading your reviews Diana. I anxiously await the next "episode".

 

Hi Millie and Dan,

 

How are you two doing?

 

Most of this review is Jon's writing. I have been posting his review and signing it "My DH Jon". Jon also wrote most of the review on the Brilliance cruise. When I add my comments I just sign it "Diana".

 

Diana

[nydiana]

Do you have any good Bottles of Swedish Table Wine?

 

I have to admit, it has been many years since we cruised an itinerary which included four straight port days. By the time we got to Stockholm, we were fairly tired. This was made worse because I had trouble sleeping the night between Finland and Sweden. The good part was that I was up on deck at sunrise as we pulled into Stockholm. It is a beautiful trip. We decided (rightly as it turns out) that after the main palace and the cathedral (which are conveniently located close together) we would probably be wiped out. This proved to be a correct assessment. After these attractions and a local lunch, we were ready to head back to the ship. But first I had to make a futile search. There is one friend who we always bring back a bottle of wine local to wherever in the world we travel. Having not had the opportunity to look for a local wine up to this point in the trip, I thought I should try. After twenty minutes of searching, I found a fairly large wine/liquor store (Sven’s wine emporium?). My Inquiry about a bottle of Swedish wine merely provoked laughter on the part of the clerk. She thought that if I gave her a week, she might be able to special order something Finnish, but they did not carry anything like that on hand.

 

This was the night of the second and final production show. Once again the band’s volume was increased. Once again the volume failed to hide inadequate voices of the production crew. However, this show was followed by the 70’s party/show hosted by the entertainment staff, in the Centrum. This was fun and well worth the price of admission. Once again on this night, the late night activity (I think it was the finish the lyric game) started before our dinner seating could possibly finish. RCCL clearly needs to think about this scheduling.

 

My DH Jon

[nydiana]

The morning of the final day was spent buying pictures, souvenirs and otherwise tying up loose ends (i.e. using those free spins in the casino that you find in the coupon book and that always produce exactly 1 key chain in winnings). Our wrap up left is around the Centrum for the towel folding demo. It was amusing, as always. Following the towel folding was the cake decorating demo. I should point out that for the last 10 years or so we have decorated cakes together as a hobby (and occasionally sold one). So, we were moderately interested in the professional’s methods. As part of the demo, three people were to decorate – Mark (I think his name was Mark, the chef), Sol (the cruise director), and Alma (an audience volunteer from Puerto Rico). The dessert itself was a black forest cake which had kirshwasser in the recipe. If you are unfamiliar with kirshwasser, it is a clear flavored liquor about 35% alcohol. Part of the gag was for Mark and Sol to propose toasts at regular intervals. I am fairly certain that that their bottle contained water, while only Alma’s had liquor. After one taste, poor Alma refused to play the drinking game anymore. Accordingly, Mark called for a “volunteer” to be “designated drinker.” I was the lucky volunteer. After about a half a bottle of alcohol, the cake and I were finished. As DW put it, “His mother would be so proud …” :rolleyes:

 

The final show of the cruise featured Sol and one of the Ship’s singers performing a duet. We learned, to our surprise, that Sol had the by far the best singing voice among anyone employed by the ship. After that and the obligatory magic act (I think there is one during every cruise), came the parade of nations. We learned something new and interesting during the parade. Before the parade, RCCL hands out small flags with the RCCL logo to anyone who wants them. We discovered that if, during the parade, you wave your flag you will cause amusement among the marching crew members.

 

Sometime during this day we heard vague rumors about a new volcano eruption in Iceland and reminders about what happened last year when Icelandic volcanoes erupted …:eek:

 

My DH Jon

[wrp96]

After one taste, poor Alma refused to play the drinking game anymore. Accordingly, Mark called for a “volunteer” to be “designated drinker.” I was the lucky volunteer. After about a half a bottle of alcohol, the cake and I were finished. As DW put it, “His mother would be so proud …” :rolleyes:

 

 

It was very kind of your husband to volunteer to be the designated drinker.;)

[nydiana]

It was very kind of your husband to volunteer to be the designated drinker.;)

 

We were sitting in the front row. I think Jon was the only man up front. They had Jon stand up on the stage behind the decorating activities. Every few minutes the Chef stopped to have another toast. If you could have seen the look on my husbands face with each toast. The drink was very strong and I don't think he like the taste. :p CD Sol was clowning around. It was all good fun. We all laughed.

 

Diana

[wrp96]

We were sitting in the front row. I think Jon was the only man up front. They had Jon stand up on the stage behind the decorating activities. Every few minutes the Chef stopped to have another toast. If you could have seen the look on my husbands face with each toast. The drink was very strong and I don't think he like the taste. :p CD Sol was clowning around. It was all good fun. We all laughed.

 

Diana

 

 

You guys sound like great sports. Hope I get to sail with you one day.

[dirtgirl]

I am hesitant to think of the effect those shots would have on me - I'm half Jon's size! :eek: But it sure sounds like fun!! :D

[nydiana]

You guys sound like great sports. Hope I get to sail with you one day.

 

Thanks we go with the flow and love meeting all the friendly cruisers and staff. I think the people you interact with make the vacation.

 

Hope to meet you someday. :) We are looking at our next cruise in Sept or Oct 2012. Quebec or the Greek Isles looks interesting to us.

 

Unfortunately, our Governor says he is going ahead with 9,800 state worker layoffs. :mad: That would devastate the Capital district of NY. My DH does not have much seniority so he is at risk. :eek: So we are holding tight to see if the other shoe drops.

 

Diana

[temple1]

We were sitting in the front row. I think Jon was the only man up front. They had Jon stand up on the stage behind the decorating activities. Every few minutes the Chef stopped to have another toast. If you could have seen the look on my husbands face with each toast. The drink was very strong and I don't think he like the taste. :p CD Sol was clowning around. It was all good fun. We all laughed.

 

Diana

 

I'll have to remember the cake decorating for our next cruise, but I'm not too keen on the kirshwaaser. :o

 

We did the cooking class at Play Mia in Cozumel a few years ago and the chef had his assistant keep us well lubricated with mixed drinks and regular shots of tequila! :eek:

 

Great review - sounds like a wonderful cruise.