(Almost) Live from the Eurodam...Sailing 1/14/17

[WeLoveCruising]

Pre-Cruise

 

Living in Central Florida, we’re a 3-hour drive to Port Everglades. Since I’m the first person to show up at a work meeting, and the person who’s waiting at the airport gate at least an hour before any flight, I like to go in the night before. This time, for the second cruise in a row, we chose the Fort Lauderdale Ritz Carlton. It’s pricey – but as a frequent business traveler I cashed in some of my Marriott Rewards points for the stay. In that respect, it was only a few points more than Marriott Harbor Beach (which we also like, but cant compare to the Ritz). We had a wonderful dinner at Burlock Coast, the hotel restaurant, which has tables street side, facing the ocean. The warm weather and view of the beach did wonders to get us in the cruising mood. We even got to see the (Rotterdam?) sail away over cocktails.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 0: Embarkation and Settling In

 

Years ago I used to write a lot more, and read a lot more, on Embarkation – it was always a big deal. I can remember waiting in that crowded room for our boarding number to be called. I can remember boarding the ship without cabins being ready. I think a combination of HAL’s boarding procedures (which aren’t that new any more), our 4-star / Neptune priority status, and just good timing helped us sail right through. Really, we arrived at 1pm and were on the ship at maybe 1:15 at the latest. By the 3:15pm life boat drill, we had received and unpacked our luggage, found our retreat cabana, ate lunch, saw every public room, and had a glass of champagne in the Neptune lounge. It was that easy.

 

 

Wow, the ship looks great! Our stateroom reminds us more of a Westin than a HAL ship. Dark wood tones, the large screen TV, and the Elemis spa amenities are all really nice. In addition to the shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and shower gel that have always been here, I notice the following new things: eye gel, temple relaxation cream, lip balm, and bath oil.

 

I like the recent renovations. The Billboard area with dual pianos, really opens up that old piano bar and sports bar area. There are multiple more seats around both pianos than in the old piano bar. The Gallery Bar area seems like it will be used much more than Northern Lights ever was.

 

We booked dinner on our first night out at Tamarind. It was nearly empty. Our dinner started with a drink in the Tamarind Bar. We decided to buy the Elite drink package this cruise. It’s our first drink package. I know the break even point is 6-7-8 drinks depending on the price, and truth be told we barely drink that much a day. But I did this for a few reasons. First, when we don’t cruise, we like to go to an all-inclusive resort. There’s something to be said about not having to think about the price of everything we buy. It’s freeing. There’s something to be said about that freeing feeling, forcing you outside your comfort zone – when I pay $8 for a drink, I tend to default to the ones I know I like. With a package, I know I’ll try many more things. Even if we don’t do a package next time, I’m bound to discover new favorites, and eliminate others. That free feeling, and the experimentation, are worth something to me. While I know I risk paying more than if we just paid a la carte, it’s not that much more than our usual bar bill. And I chose Elite instead of the Signature package because we like wine with dinner. This gives us a lot more flexibility in choices. I'm looking forward to starting our meals with champagne (I know, sparkling wine), and then having a white, red, and even finishing with port or dessert wine. This isn't as easy to do with the Signature limit of $8 per drink.

 

Back to Tamarind, with our new drink package I tried a Sake Cruz in one of those two part martini glasses with the ice on the bottom. My husband had some frozen blue coconut thing (don’t judge). We both picked the right drink for us. My husband likes the sweet umbrella drinks (don’t judge), and I like the more boozy drinks. In fact I’ll drink an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, and he wont touch them. More than once (or dozens of times), cocktails waiters mix our drinks on delivery. In his defense, he does drink Scotch, and was thrilled to see McCallen 12 under $15 and therefore in our package.

 

Dinner at Tamarind was a definite A+ on service and ambience, however the food was hit or miss. The portions were huge. We both started with soup, and they came in a huge bowl that would have been a meal. I had the Indonesian Laska - a creamy, curry soup, and would have loved it as my entrée. My husband had the Thai chicken and rice which was also good. The second courses (Shanghai Ribs, and satay) were the misses. My ribs were almost inedible. They had a Chinese 5-spice flavor, which I usually like, but they were so bland and fatty I couldn’t eat them. The satays were average. At this point we were really full, I think it impacted the enjoyment of our entrees. I had the wasabi crusted filet, and hubby had duck. The filet was, in quality, somewhere between the MDR and the Pinnacle, closer to the MDR filet.. I should have waited and had it in the Pinnacle. Hubby liked his duck ok. We took dessert to go. Realizing they’re meant to be plated and eaten there, and don’t travel well, it wouldn’t be fair to judge them – but when we tore into them at 2am in our cabin, they were good 

 

Our nightly routine is to do several laps on the Promenade deck. Regardless of weather, wind, whatever – we will do as many laps as we can. It’s good exercise, and we just love being outside. It’s also quite romantic, as we’re typically the only ones out there.

Edited January 16, 2017 by WeLoveCruising

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 1 – Half Moon Cay

 

One of the Neptune Suite perks we most like is having breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. My husband had perfectly cooked Eggs Benedict, and I had pancakes. The service was so good, that we requested the same team for our dinner this evening. After breakfast, the first tender was promptly ready at 8:30 to bring people to HMC.

 

We rented the Yellow Cabana, which is #12. My husband and I both wish they would just refer to the cabanas by numbers vs color. It was difficult to book by color (do you mean violet or light purple or mauve?). This was the furthest we had ever been down the beach, and we liked it immensely – best cabana location we’ve had in recent memory – at least since the addition of all new buildings. In fact we took a further walk out past the Red Cabana (and rows of chairs), and it was almost like being in HMC 1998. We were the only ship there, and it wasn’t crowded at all. That made it especially weird when some young couple sat right outside our cabana with their boom box type radio. They turned up their own music, and if it wasn’t so funny we would have been more annoyed. The “music” was unlike any genre of music we’ve ever heard. My husband and I took turns making up the weird combination of sounds we thought it was. The winner was the soundtrack from Disney’s Haunted Mansion, combined with laser guns from Star Wars, a train whistle, and monks chanting at a funeral. It was 100% that odd. It lasted about an hour until they left for lunch and didn’t come back.

 

Speaking of lunch, I noticed the side salads greatly improved. I had a potato salad that was very fresh, I would have been happy to buy it at my local gourmet store. I also had a carrot raisin salad that was really good. Hubby had a cheeseburger and ribs.

 

There were also small changes to the cabana. A blackboard inside welcomed me by name (wondering if this helps prevent squatters?). And while we had the usual chips and salsa, fruit and veggies, we also got shrimp cocktail (two big shrimp each), and plantain chips with mango salsa. It also seemed like more people came by to check on us and offer refills more frequently than we were used to.

 

The water at HMC this time of year can be chilly, and it definitely was, but we had to go in at least once. I think lots of families have their silly traditions (at least that’s what I keep telling my husband), and when my son was small I started this thing of a family circle bounce on HMC. Our family would stand in a circle holding hands in the water, bouncing around in a circle. The first time we did that, my son had to be 5-6 years old and we had a blast. So much so, that we started a silly thing of doing it every single cruise….for the past 20 years. We lost my son in 2015, at age 26, to cancer. My husband and I had to get in that cold water and circle bounce. We did.

 

While the weather started out fantastic – sunny and warm, after lunch the clouds rolled in. We noted them packing things up, and around 2pm we had to make the judgement call of risking rain, or heading back. We had a number of electronics with us (iPad, phone, camera), and were far from the pier, so decided to play it safe. We will look forward to our next time.

 

Back on board, we decided to try our Retreat Cabana. We met our Cabana team, both so friendly and helpful. Brian ran down to get my husband a pizza from NY Pizza (and I have to say, much, much improved over the pizza we had on the Vista ships). This was a pizza you’d be thrilled to get in any Italian restaurant, it was that good. We’re looking forward to the rest of the week in the Cabana club.

 

Dinner tonight is at the Pinnacle….looking forward to it

[WeLoveCruising]

My clothes start going into my suitcase tomorrow.

 

DH are sailing on the Eurodam on 1/21-1/28. And yes, I agree that 7 nights are not enough! But I have worked around it by extending our vacation by flying down a few days early and staying a week later, renting a car and driving around FL/visiting friends and relatives.

 

Look forward to seeing your reports. We like to hang out in the Crows Nest...can you give us the bartender's name so we can walk in there on embarkation and greet him like we know him already?!

 

I think sometimes they rotate location from week to week, but if he's there you cant go wrong with Juvy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your review.

[WeLoveCruising]

And thank you all for the nice comments, and thanks for the great sail away photos!

 

There isn't an unlimited internet package, and I have to use lots of my minutes to keep up at my job. Please forgive any typos from my rushing, and delays in posting. I'm glad to answer any questions, if not onboard, definitely when we return.

[Herfnerd]

Loving your trip report- gives us a better idea of what to expect and answering some yes turns we have!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited January 16, 2017 by Herfnerd

[WendyG]

You really write very well, please let me know if you ever decide to write a book! [emoji4]

I keep looking forward to your next post as we are considering booking a Neptune suite on the Eurodam in March.

Does Holland have trivia games often? We're diehards!

 

Have a fabulous cruise and wishing you great weather in each port and smooth seas!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[wdw1972]

What a great live report! Reading the introductory stuff hit home for me - it's pretty much just what I would say, except that I've never been interested in the thermal loungers. Enjoy your Retreat Cabana! I have one booked in March and November on Eurodam - can't beat those things!

 

Sue/WDW1972

[erewhon]

Enjoying your reports, thank you.

[MisterBill99]

I had the wasabi crusted filet, and hubby had duck. The filet was, in quality, somewhere between the MDR and the Pinnacle, closer to the MDR filet.. I should have waited and had it in the Pinnacle. Hubby liked his duck ok.

Sorry to hear you did not enjoy Tamarind that much. I have a question about the duck. Was it a normal half duck with bones, or a duck breast? In POA1's thread, there was a picture of the menu screen outside the restaurant and I noticed it said duck breast and was a different preparation than what is listed on the Tamarind menus that I have seen posted in the past. I am a big fan of duck breast, especially if it's cooked properly (I don't want to get into that discussion in yet another thread). Thanks!

[3happykids!]

i enjoy reading your updates. Keep posting. i'm enjoying it!

[WeLoveCruising]

Pinnacle Grill

 

Ah, what’s there not to like about Pinnacle Grill? OK, I don’t necessarily like that we have to pay extra for it. We get 50% off with our 4-star Mariner status, so for us it’s an easy value. Over the years I have noticed some people in the camp of “it’s inconsistent, and the MDR food is decent and free. It’s not worth the extra money”. And I see another camp of people who say “it’s the best $35 steak dinner you’ll ever have”. I lean more to the latter than the former. I guess everyone needs to make their own decision if it’s worth it for them. After being too stuffed from Tamarind last night, we decided to order more conservatively. I had the Ceasar salad, followed by crab legs. The salad is tossed table side, so you can customize the dressing to Romaine to cheese to crouton ratio, and opt in or out of the anchovies. It is a classic Ceasar, no surprises, which I like. No one loves crab legs more than I do, and I wasn’t able to finish my portion. They split open the legs for you, and I counted 17, yes 17, halves of legs. And this was king crab (albeit smallish), and not snow crab. I skipped dessert, because truth be told there’s nothing I like more than crab legs, and if I had that plate as appetizer, entrée, and dessert I would have been perfectly happy. The little tray of truffles they bring at the end of the meal was just enough sweet ending for me. In terms of service, the wine steward did a good job of coordinating glasses with each course for us. We typically buy a bottle of wine, but with the elite package we’re enjoying a glass to go with each course, followed by port at the end.

[WeLoveCruising]

Sorry to hear you did not enjoy Tamarind that much. I have a question about the duck. Was it a normal half duck with bones, or a duck breast? In POA1's thread, there was a picture of the menu screen outside the restaurant and I noticed it said duck breast and was a different preparation than what is listed on the Tamarind menus that I have seen posted in the past. I am a big fan of duck breast, especially if it's cooked properly (I don't want to get into that discussion in yet another thread). Thanks!

 

I'm just about to update that we tried Tamarind again last night, and liked our choices much better.

 

On our first night, my husband had the duck that the menu referred to as "duck bulgogi". It was sliced duck breast, no bones. I may have a photo, I've taken many and will post when we return.

 

On our second night in Tamarind, he had Peking duck as an appetizer. The duck that came with that was shredded duck breast (to roll up in the pancake like wrappers).

Edited January 17, 2017 by WeLoveCruising

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 2: At Sea

 

Our second day was spent at sea, and we had absolutely gorgeous weather. Sunny and low 80’s, just the way I like it. We met several couples who are on week 2 of a back to back, and heard the weather last week was really bad – strong winds and rain. We were told this was the first day of sun in over 10 days. When we booked this cruise, we had to choose between going last week and this week, and feel lucky we went with this one.

 

There are things I love about sea days, and things I don’t love so much. Best of all, I like the feeling of complete relaxation, not needing to be anywhere by any time…..sleeping in, and doing whatever it is we feel like doing. What I don’t like, is that there are 2,000 or so other people doing the same thing. When the ship’s at capacity, the Lido, the pool area...the crowd level all peaks. It makes it difficult, but not impossible, to find tables for lunch, or chairs by the pool. While the popular spots are crowded, the crowds tend to be in the same predictable places.…while certain areas can be packed, I guarantee I can find a spot somewhere less crowded. I just have to remind myself to eat at off-peak times, and where to go to find a quiet spot.

 

That being said, this week we have a real treat – a Retreat Cabana. Boy oh boy we are loving our Retreat Cabana. Ours overlooks the top of the Lido pool, vs the side as some do. By that, I mean we still are in the Retreat (vs Lido) section. Our cabana, Naples, faces the front of the ship vs the side. I would be happy with any of the cabanas in the Retreat section, there is no bad choice. We can sit in our cabana when we want some shade, and sit outside on the very comfortable loungers when we want sun. And we have two friendly Cabana guys bringing us drinks, food…whatever we want. The quality of the towels and robes is super. The only small change I would make….and this is small….is that the music they play is spa music (think new age spa stuff), vs…oh just about any other genre which is what I would prefer. I think they’re trying to create a sanctuary, a spa like retreat. I can deal with that (and use my iPod and earphones to listen to my cruise mix playlist, which is exactly what I did). Again, small issue and if others like the new agey spa stuff, I’ll take my Jimmy Buffett / Harry Belafonte / Michael Franti / mixed with the best summer songs of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s via my earphones.

 

We joke about our cabana, calling it our “Day Bed”. As in, “I think it’s time to leave our night bed for our day bed.” We’re having that kind of relaxing vacation, which is exactly what we wanted to do. I’m a bad person to ask about the activities (or ports for that matter), because going from my Night Bed to my Day Bed, catching up on my reading, and mixing in some meals, walks, and cocktails, is about all I have on my agenda for the week. We tend to think of our vacations in two different categories – touring and relaxing. For example, when we go to Rome, we tour. We’re up early and walk miles and miles to see things. When we do a Caribbean cruise, we relax and do just what we’re doing now. On a different cruise itinerary, for example South America or Europe, we’d be more in a tour mode. We’re in relax mode on a Caribbean cruise. Truth be told, we’ve done up to 14 nights without leaving the ship. I tell my husband that the sun is the same on the back of the boat as the beach on whatever island we’re visiting, and on the ship I have my Lido lunch, clean bathroom, and whatever I want. Remember, my perspective on this is having visited every place dozens of times. When we were young, I wanted to be first off the ship and last back on, soaking up every bit of what there was to do on the islands. Today, I feel very differently.

 

We returned to Tamarind for dinner. After our mixed review on the first night of the cruise…at least regarding the food….the service was always good. I have to say tonight was wonderful. I ordered differently, and probably just chose better. Thai Red Curry Chicken from the Fire section. They can tone down the spice, mine was mild but still carried a kick. It was delicious, and had tons of good quality white meat chicken, and lots of fresh snow peas, eggplant, peppers…it was so flavorful and fresh. I might have to have it again before the week ends.

 

I also had a “Snow Tiger” cocktail for dessert (thank you Elite beverage package, for giving me the courage to order outside my comfort zone). It was basically an adult chocolate milk, and there’s nothing wrong with that (smile).

 

After dinner we had some formal photos taken. On all the prior cruises we’ve done, I was the lady hiding from the photographer. I used to find them annoying and do whatever I could to avoid them. Something changed on our last cruise, my husband told me he really wanted some nice photos of us. We decided to seek out the photographers (the ones who do the portrait style photos on formal night, not the ones dressed as pirates wielding a fake sword in the dining room). We ended up buying the photo package last cruise, something I never thought I’d do. We’re having some portraits done on this cruise as well, and I’ll see how they turn out.

Edited January 17, 2017 by WeLoveCruising

[marysb]

Great report - thanks so much for sharing. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[marycruz]

Day 2: At Sea

 

Our second day was spent at sea, and we had absolutely gorgeous weather. Sunny and low 80’s, just the way I like it. We met several couples who are on week 2 of a back to back, and heard the weather last week was really bad – strong winds and rain. We were told this was the first day of sun in over 10 days. When we booked this cruise, we had to choose between going last week and this week, and feel lucky we went with this one.

 

There are things I love about sea days, and things I don’t love so much. Best of all, I like the feeling of complete relaxation, not needing to be anywhere by any time…..sleeping in, and doing whatever it is we feel like doing. What I don’t like, is that there are 2,000 or so other people doing the same thing. When the ship’s at capacity, the Lido, the pool area...the crowd level all peaks. It makes it difficult, but not impossible, to find tables for lunch, or chairs by the pool. While the popular spots are crowded, the crowds tend to be in the same predictable places.…while certain areas can be packed, I guarantee I can find a spot somewhere less crowded. I just have to remind myself to eat at off-peak times, and where to go to find a quiet spot.

 

That being said, this week we have a real treat – a Retreat Cabana. Boy oh boy we are loving our Retreat Cabana. Ours overlooks the top of the Lido pool, vs the side as some do. By that, I mean we still are in the Retreat (vs Lido) section. Our cabana, Naples, faces the front of the ship vs the side. I would be happy with any of the cabanas in the Retreat section, there is no bad choice. We can sit in our cabana when we want some shade, and sit outside on the very comfortable loungers when we want sun. And we have two friendly Cabana guys bringing us drinks, food…whatever we want. The quality of the towels and robes is super. The only small change I would make….and this is small….is that the music they play is spa music (think new age spa stuff), vs…oh just about any other genre which is what I would prefer. I think they’re trying to create a sanctuary, a spa like retreat. I can deal with that (and use my iPod and earphones to listen to my cruise mix playlist, which is exactly what I did). Again, small issue and if others like the new agey spa stuff, I’ll take my Jimmy Buffett / Harry Belafonte / Michael Franti / mixed with the best summer songs of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s via my earphones.

 

We joke about our cabana, calling it our “Day Bed”. As in, “I think it’s time to leave our night bed for our day bed.” We’re having that kind of relaxing vacation, which is exactly what we wanted to do. I’m a bad person to ask about the activities (or ports for that matter), because going from my Night Bed to my Day Bed, catching up on my reading, and mixing in some meals, walks, and cocktails, is about all I have on my agenda for the week. We tend to think of our vacations in two different categories – touring and relaxing. For example, when we go to Rome, we tour. We’re up early and walk miles and miles to see things. When we do a Caribbean cruise, we relax and do just what we’re doing now. On a different cruise itinerary, for example South America or Europe, we’d be more in a tour mode. We’re in relax mode on a Caribbean cruise. Truth be told, we’ve done up to 14 nights without leaving the ship. I tell my husband that the sun is the same on the back of the boat as the beach on whatever island we’re visiting, and on the ship I have my Lido lunch, clean bathroom, and whatever I want. Remember, my perspective on this is having visited every place dozens of times. When we were young, I wanted to be first off the ship and last back on, soaking up every bit of what there was to do on the islands. Today, I feel very differently.

 

We returned to Tamarind for dinner. After our mixed review on the first night of the cruise…at least regarding the food….the service was always good. I have to say tonight was wonderful. I ordered differently, and probably just chose better. Thai Red Curry Chicken from the Fire section. They can tone down the spice, mine was mild but still carried a kick. It was delicious, and had tons of good quality white meat chicken, and lots of fresh snow peas, eggplant, peppers…it was so flavorful and fresh. I might have to have it again before the week ends.

 

I also had a “Snow Tiger” cocktail for dessert (thank you Elite beverage package, for giving me the courage to order outside my comfort zone). It was basically an adult chocolate milk, and there’s nothing wrong with that (smile).

 

After dinner we had some formal photos taken. On all the prior cruises we’ve done, I was the lady hiding from the photographer. I used to find them annoying and do whatever I could to avoid them. Something changed on our last cruise, my husband told me he really wanted some nice photos of us. We decided to seek out the photographers (the ones who do the portrait style photos on formal night, not the ones dressed as pirates wielding a fake sword in the dining room). We ended up buying the photo package last cruise, something I never thought I’d do. We’re having some portraits done on this cruise as well, and I’ll see how they turn out.

 

How is your suite verandah? Are there loungers out there?

[WeLoveCruising]

How is your suite verandah? Are there loungers out there?

 

Yes. Ouur verandah has a table and two chairs, as well as two lounge chairs. I like that the chairs a resin with a nice padded cushion, as opposed to the cheap strappy kind I've seen on other lines at times.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great review.

Glad to hear that they are getting the larger crab legs back in the Pinnacle.

When we were on the Eurodam 1 1/2 years ago, they were very tiny and the Pinnacle chef would not serve them for an entrée.

[marycruz]

Yes. Ouur verandah has a table and two chairs, as well as two lounge chairs. I like that the chairs a resin with a nice padded cushion, as opposed to the cheap strappy kind I've seen on other lines at times.

 

 

Thanks! We are going in March and will have a Neptune Suite on deck 6. I hope they have the same chairs/loungers there.

 

Hope you are having fun on your cruise.

[POA1]

Thanks! We are going in March and will have a Neptune Suite on deck 6. I hope they have the same chairs/loungers there.

 

Hope you are having fun on your cruise.

It'll be the same set up.

[marycruz]

It'll be the same set up.

 

Thanks! That is good to know.

[WeLoveCruising]

Great review.

Glad to hear that they are getting the larger crab legs back in the Pinnacle.

When we were on the Eurodam 1 1/2 years ago, they were very tiny and the Pinnacle chef would not serve them for an entrée.

 

Yes, that was definitely my prior experience as well. I told my husband when I ordered them, I was skeptical the menu said King Crab legs, because I had always gotten small snow crab. But no, they were big legs, and I had more than I could possibly eat.

[OceanTraveller4ever]

Will be on the Eurodam in 4 days for a 7 day cruise.

Finding your review very informative.

Thanks!

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 3: Grand Cayman

 

We decided to stay onboard today, which is our typical thing to do on a Caribbean cruise. We counted 6 big ships anchored at Grand Cayman with us today, and wondered how busy it was pier-side for tender service.

 

We spent the day in our retreat cabana, and are thrilled with our choice to book it. I noticed twice, two different people in the Neptune Lounge trying to book one and being told they were sold out for the week.

 

I should take a moment and talk about the Lido, which is where we’ve been having our lunch all week. As POA said in his post, had I not noticed they rebranded it “Marketplace”, I wouldn’t have noticed much of a difference. The other ships also have different lines for each station (Asian, pasta, sandwiches, etc). I noticed, though, an improvement in the food. Salads now are tossed to order, and served in big blue bowls. I had an Asian tossed salad yesterday with fresh seared tuna (the real kind, not canned), orange segments, bean sprouts, Romaine and spinach, and a bunch of other fresh stuff I cant remember. You could equally as easily make a Cobb salad (the menu suggested both my Asian and that), or a tossed garden salad with dozens of ingredients. The NY Pizza is much improved over what always tasted like frozen mass made pizza to me prior to this. The Dive-In appeared a year or two ago on HAL ships and is a big improvement over the old Terrace Grill. I had a hot dog a few days ago….which I do maybe every few years (?)..but wasn’t able to resist it when I saw it topped with sauerkraut, crispy onions, and bacon. I was glad to indulge.

 

We didn’t do any activities during the day, other than read and go for a few walks. I’m enjoying the drinks at the Explorations Café. This is a minor…minor…complaint. They went to a computerized menu on a TV monitor. The menu is supposed to self-scroll, but it’s so, so slow. Like slow enough that I could be in line with 2-3 people ahead of me, and it will never move off it’s current screen. Since it rotates through hot drinks, cold drinks, alcoholic drinks, etc, you really should get to see your category. I asked for a printed menu and they just point at the screen. I’m defaulting to my safe plain Latte as to not hold up the line, but I know there are more creative things available.

 

Dinner tonight was a highlight, a real treat. We both agree our meal at Le Cirque was among the best at sea we can remember….ever. The quality of the ingredients was top notch, from the lobster salad to the Chateaubriand (me), and lamb (hubby). We have a good pace going with the Pinnacle wine steward, who brings us glasses of wine to pair with our courses, each fitting in the $15 limit of our Elite Beverage package. It was a nice touch to come back to Le Cirque chocolates on our bed.

 

I wish I could post more on the entertainment. We catch glimpses of the shows and bands as we walk through the ship. We stopped in on BB King's a few times, which we've enjoyed on the Oosterdam as well last year. We talk about getting a table and seeing a whole show, which we hope to do still. The other venues - Lincoln Center Stage, Billboard online, are all well attended and look fun. I promise we're not the party poopers we seem to be with our bypassing all the great stuff! We're tired, it's been a rough few years between losing our son to cancer, relocating across states buying and selling a home, changing jobs, and a very busy work travel schedule. What I like about a cruise is you can have the experience you want....doing as much or as little as you want. This trip, we're doing the "little" end of the spectrum.

 

Tomorrow is Cozumel, the weather has been great, and we’re likely to spend the day in our retreat cabana again. Yup, vacation with little to nothing to do is exactly what we needed.

Edited January 18, 2017 by WeLoveCruising