Western Equinox tips/observations

[Chardonnay Char]

 From our March 9 cruise:

   Dinner package: So the cost of two dinners at Murano and one at Silk Harvest for two people would have been $270 -- $50 each at Murano and $35 each at Silk.  I bought a 3-dinner package for about $220, saving $50.

   Here is the deal: With a package, you cannot make reservations until you get on the ship.   They say you can make one first-or-second night reservation with a package, but I was not able to figure it out online.

   We boarded early and I immediately went to the reservations desk.  Night 1 for Murano was already booked during preferred dining hours.   I went for days I could get 6:30 or 7 p.m. reservations there – Tuesday and Friday, and opted for Silk on Night 1.

   My mistake:  Somehow I figured that Monday – a Sea Day – would be a Dress Up (whatever the new term is) night.  Wrong.  And the best MDR food comes on dress-up nights.  Dress-up Night No. 1 was on Tuesday. So we had reservations at Murano the night lamb chops were served in the MDR.

    Sunday night in the MDR was OK.  Monday night in the MDR the choices were not attractive, at least to me. So I opted for the Available Anytime strip steak.  Bad choice.  It was more like a generous breakfast steak.  Perhaps ½ inch thick.  I ordered it medium.  It is hard to cook a thin steak to medium.  I sent back the first one (well done) but accepted the second, which was medium well.  The flavoring – pats of herb butter – was good but honestly it was quite underwhelming. 

    Meanwhile, there were offers of 30 pct off at some of the other restaurants during the week.  So for a little more money (ie not buying a package but scheduling ahead)  our dining would have been more to my liking. 

 

 

   Outstanding rudeness Example No. 1: The best entertainment night was Tuesday, the Jersey Boys cover group.  We got to the theater late because that was Murano night.  It was pretty packed but in the back were three empty chairs – one marked for a handicapped person,  one for a “companion” and just a regular one.  My husband is 75 and has only one lung, so he can’t stand for long periods. Still, we waited to see if someone more visibly disabled walked in and needed the chairs.  Instead, at the last minute in walks a young couple with two boys. The mom and two boys plop down in the chairs. How convenient. The boys immediately pulled out their iphones and began playing games.  Fortunately they left after a couple of songs because it was obvious the boys were bored.

  Outstanding rudeness Example No. 2:  Smoking (including vaping) is only allowed in certain parts of the ship and most people observe that.  It most certainly is not allowed in the solarium.  But there was a woman vaping away – in the pool no less!  Holding her little nicotine device above the chest-high water. 

    The ship doctor:  Not the place you want to go on a cruise.  But Thursday night/Friday day I found myself with extreme abdominal/bladder pain.  So I reluctantly decided to head to the infirmary Friday before dinner.  A urine test showed I did have an infection.  The doctor was great. He listened, examined me, assured me I didn’t have an obstruction, and prescribed three drugs, including an antibiotic and a bladder numbing agent.  Within a few hours, I was pain free. What a relief!

    Final observation:  This was our ninth cruise, the first being in 1988. Cruisers are definitely getting older and more disabled.  More than a dozen electric carts.  A “Dialysis at Sea” room.  A couple of dogs too, one of which might actually have been a service dog. The other seemed more like an emotional-support pet, a little thing being carried around in a shoulder bag. This make me curious about what happens on sea days.