abbydancer2003

Today is turnaround day, the end of the President’s cruise and the start of a normal cruise, we hope. Since we are changing rooms, we do need to vacate by around 8, so we decided to go to breakfast. We’d done most of our packing last night, so it was a matter of packing up electronics and our toiletries and other last minute things into the suitcases. While doing that, I went to the balcony and watched luggage operations. Rudy did bring coffee which was nice while we were packing. We finished well before 8, so went to breakfast. I had a nice little cheese omelette, and Glen asked for banana pancakes. They have run out of bananas, so he got caramel sauce. Presumably, they will have them later today. We finished breakfast around 8:40, so we had about 1/2 hour until our meeting time in the Club. We went to the lounge to hang out until it was time to go. Once at the club, two of the concierges were there, handing out our new key envelopes. Apparently non suites met at Fine Cut or somewhere. We were told to use our old keys to get back on the ship. At about 9:30, we all followed Aveno to the gangway, and gave them our cards on the way out (Not sure exactly why they do this to b2bs only). We went to a waiting room in the terminal (not the suite area, just a room with chairs. Soon after the non suites joined us, and we sat with loose moose, who we had met on the Solstice. It was nice seeing them again. After about 10 minutes of waiting, we went to the luggage claim area and CBP stations. They use facial recognition, so that went quickly. We then continued through the terminal and onto the gangway where we used our new cards to get back on the ship. We were back on just after 10. We first headed to our new room. There was no sign on the door, but the door was ajar, so we figured it wasn’t ready for us. So we went back to the lounge, where there was just us and one other couple. No one else, including concierges. After about 15 minutes, one of the concierges arrived. I’d spent the waiting time figuring out my specialty dining, including my birthday dinner tomorrow night at La Voyage. Because I’d asked about it on the last cruise, I think I had one at 8 and one at 8:30. We left the one at 8:30. We also booked Fine Cut and Rooftop Garden. We did Eden on the last cruise. We have Fine Cut on the last night, which I usually won’t do, but I really don’t like the last night’s menu. At about noon, we went back to the room. Now it had the sign on saying they were preparing it, and we could drop our stuff. So we put our stuff in the safe, and I dropped my purse, and headed back to the lounge. We met Frank, our room steward on the way back. He shared that Edy (previous cruise) had shared that we liked extra towels and there would be four of each. Thank you Edy! Our luggage had arrived, but I’m not sure where it goes exactly. I’d always assumed directly room to room, but it wasn’t there when we checked at 10. At about 12:30 Glen left figuring the room was ready and he could take a nap. He didn’t come back so I assume he could do that. At 1 pm, I went dow to get him. We went to lunch and there were lots of jokes about being new, and how it works. Today’s lunch menu is the usual 2nd day menu. It does have my favorite dessert, but I’m sure many people were disappointed about no lobster roll. (I think it’s now on the last day). I had the broiled feta salad (they tell me the asparagus is broiled. OK) For my main I had the petit filet mignon, which was cooked pretty well and good. Usually on day 1 I have some Prosecco. They were out of that, too. After lunch we went back to the room and finally unpacked. It was pretty easy, since we didn’t have to think about where to put stuff - just back to where it was in the old room. We also met our butler Godfrey, and asked for coffee in the AM (we’ll call), and potato chips in the afternoon. After that I watched the men’s gymnastics trials, until there was an issue with peacock. (I confirmed that by watching something on Hulu). While watching we heard the Love Boat theme, it was the horn of the Enchanted Princess heading out. At some point during all this we sailed away. I watched it from the balcony. We had lots of boats around us. And somebody on shore who may be a Celebrity fan. We pretty much watched the gymnastics until time for a drink in the lounge and then dinner. Tonights dinner - the same menu as last night, including the amuse bouche. It was kind of funny. Since I’d had the steak last night, tonight we both tried the Tamarind Glazed Chicken. It was OK. Lots of Groundhog Day jokes. At lunch, we both asked for carrot cake for dessert at dinner, and it was provided. After that, called it a night. Cruise 2 is underway.

I think because they bought all the potential day passes or something like that. Kind of a catered event.

John, you are my people. And 3 days later, my knees are healing. I was surprised they weren't stiff from it. A little pain, but not much. Thanks. And Briton says hi. He speaks highly of you.

Beyond Day 6, Bimini Bahamas, June 28, 2024 Today was the the Captain’s Club Resort World buyout event. Last night, we got wristbands for our departure time from the ship (for the shuttle). We have Tangerine bands, whatever that means. We got up for breakfast, since our time was 9:30. I went light and fast with just a bagel with cream cheese. It was fine. We went down to deck 4 to go to the gangway, and while passing Al Baccio, I managed to trip on my shoe (I think they stick to the floor surface. A couple of people from Al Baccio and Daniel came and helped me up, gave me some water, and then I continued on. I did manage to bruise one knee and skin both, but not bad. We walked to the shuttle area. There’s not much at the dock area, so unless you want to keep walking, you should board a shuttle. On this cruise, the shuttle stopped at a shopping area and they told everyone without wristbands to get off. (I don’t quite know who that is, since all you had to do to be invited is to sign up for Captain’s Club - isn’t that everyone?). Also, there were lots of different wristbands on the shuttle, so I don’t know what that meant. We then continued on to Resort World’s beach area. There was a beach, two pools and some eating areas. We snagged a couple of chairs, and I went to the pool and did my therapy things and wandered in the water for a while. Following that, we sat in our chairs and read for a while. We then decided we were getting bored, so we went to the buffet they had set up. We looked at the menu, and it was pretty good. They did have a lot of options. Including steak and lasagna, but it was very hot so we decided we could go back to the ship and enjoy an air conditioned buffet there. We really aren’t beach people. We were not the only people heading back on the shuttle. I did get a picture of the beach part on the way out. At the shopping area stop on the way back, a group got in behind us and we had a nice chat about how all Caribbean Islands seem the same, and how many of us do the cruises just to be on the ship. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. Our next stop, once we walked back to the ship (they do have a shuttle to the end of the pier, was to drop our stuff and go to lunch. Today it was a French buffet, and so I had beef bourgeon and rice and it was yummy. The next thing after lunch (in the dead spots in the review I’m usually in the room working on this.) was to go to afternoon tea in the lounge. Our butler suggested we talk to the concierges about our room swap. Of course they knew about it. We ended up spending about an hour chatting with a couple who it turns out is a friend of a friend, and knew a lot of the same staff I do (they are of course Zenith). It was very pleasant. We eventually went back to the room, and I watched some of the gymnastics Olympic team trials. Today was the woman’s meet (and in this case there actually are some women competing, not just teens. In this case of the 7 gymnasts (including the 2 alternates) all but 2 are 20 or above, and Simone Biles is closer to 30 than 20. That’s like 100 in women’s gymnastic years. After that we went to dinner. Tonight I had their tomato soup, which is quite good and the grilled filet mignon. I decided to try the almond cake for dessert. Sorry I don’t have more on Bimini, there didn’t seem to be a lot there. I did see some shops and restaurants by where the shuttle stopped, and there seems to be lots of nice beaches. Tomorrows update (which I’m hoping to post tonight), will likely have some thoughts on the President’s cruise.

No but yesterday they did swap Aruba and Bonaire. So we're going west to east instead of east to west. I think the idea is to be west of the hurricane as it passes into the Windwards, and then be well south of it as we go east. That said, this may not be a smooth ride.

Beyond Sea Day 2 June 27 We decided not to get up in time for breakfast, but we did want to go to the Conversation with Celebrity presentation in the theater. We had coffee and a pastry from Rudy, and then headed to the theater. It was pretty well attended, but not full. The panel was Captain Leo, Laura three names, the head of hotel, head of marine operations, and head of marketing (I forgot all their names). Shauna hosted. She started with some pre selected questions, mostly about XCel, which weren’t answered. Other questions were about moving a ship to the West Coast. Laura kept talking about needing a bigger fleet, which means no, since she’s seems somewhat committed to short Caribbean cruises. There were a couple of questions about the status match at Zenith, specifically about Zenith events. The answer was also punted as Laura just said things will be capacity controlled. Whatever that means. The question that never came up was about the removal of tips (and OBC for suites). I’d guess it was asked a lot in the presubmitted questions, but they probably don’t want to answer it. Again, I thought this was an an entire softball q&a. After that it was room and pool exercise time. The pool was crowded today (I was hoping noon would mean it wasn’t but I was wrong). Certainly more than the occupancy 12 listed on the rules sign. I decided that if all these drinking people could ignore the limit so could I, and I was only going in for about 5-10 minutes. After that, once again, I was the only person using the hot tub. For lunch after that, I had chilled minted pea soup, which I like, and my half Luminae burger. For dessert, I had their apricot basil, which is pretty much an apricot tart. After lunch, back to the room to work on the blog, etc. While doing the day I was doing, I wanted to check the daily to see if I’d done anything. I couldn’t find it, but I did find this: Keep in mind we boarded on the 23rd. I hope the people for this enjoyed their last full day. Around 3:15, I went to get a latte. There was a long line because I guess the cooking competition had just finished. Guess I missed it. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. During that time we did get the Roku set up, so at 6 I watched most of the US Men’s Gymnastics Olympic trials on Peacock. We watched until it was time to leave for our reservation at Eden. It was a lot more crowded than when my sister and I went in February. Maybe because this is only a 6 day cruise. Nova (wife of Rozi in Luminae, and my previous server) was our sever. I did learn that she and Rozi have been extended through August, and will be home in time for their daughter to start school in September. She told us what to order. We both had two appetizers. Glen started with the Crab Cake I had the Reuben Raclette, which I don’t see on the online menu. It’s some kind of meat, potatoes, and veggies covered with Raclette cheese. If I go again, I’d order it, but I’d ask them to leave off the chunks of meat and add more potatoes. It was really good. For our second starter, Glen had the Carabinero Shrimp. And I had the truffled risotto. Also really good, and Glen reported that both of his were very good. We both had the beef combo - Filet mignon and mini short rib Wellington, and liked it. For dessert, Glen had butterscotch cream brûlée, I had the lemon tart, which is what I think I had last time. Overall, it was very good, and the service great. Glen really enjoyed it, and we’d certainly consider it again. After a short walk, we headed back to the room, and I watched the rest of the men’s gymnastics. Tomorrow is our visit to Bimini, and the last full day of the cruise.

My plan is to use this thread for both cruises, today is day 7, I think and tomorrow will be day 8. And on yesterdays or todays, I'll try to post some final thoughts on doing a Presidents cruise. To elaborate on the music at the event. The band plays before the bartender starts. They'll do a song while the waiters are passing out the samples, and maybe play some low music while he's doing his thing (not always). They do a couple of songs afterwards, I think the number depends on when the venue is next needed. As far the pool goes, I'm doing some physical therapy exercises to strengthen my legs (while they figure out why I'm having problems) that take about 10 minutes to do. Honestly, the retreat pool isn't really big enough for much else.

June 26, Grand Cayman Our plan for the day was to get off the ship and go shopping to see if we can solve the pant problem here. We woke up in time for breakfast. I asked for some watermelon and one banana pancake. I got three pancakes. They were small at least and good. After breakfast, we went back to the room, gathered our stuff and went to the lounge. We were redirected to Fine Cut where Azeno and Janelle were running the tender operations. I guess I didn’t read the instructions we were given last night. We were soon on the tender. They used the local big boats, which is kind of too bad, because I am curious about using the Celebrity tenders and the Magic Carpet. Maybe in Norway this summer. One on shore, we tried to figure out where we could go. Apparently Glen had done some googling and found a mall that had a store that might have pants. So he asked a local how to get to Camana Bay shopping center. The lady was very helpful, and told us to walk about 2 blocks to the library and get a number 2 bus. We walked to the library and while we were debating where exactly to catch the bus, one pulled up. We got on, paid the 2.50 each for fare, and off we went. The bus stopped along the main road (along the water) to pick up some people going to the beach. After a drive, he stopped, told us to exit, cross the street and follow a foot path to the mall. It went up and over a hill or or a building, but we did eventually reach the mall. THere’s a small store called Tabs, but it is a clothing store. They did have a limited selection of long pants, so Glen got a pair. We decided that for the cruises, 1 pair is enough, since he’s wearing shorts during the days, and just needs them for dinner. We started the walk back, because the store said that the buses didn’t run there, only along the Main Street. Midway back, Glen realized that he left his hat at the store. He went back, and I took this picture. The sign you probably can’t read was a sign for the mall. Once back to the Main Street, we walked along until a bus came by. It was a different number, but he said he could take us to the port. So we got in. It left the Main Street before the port entrance, so I was a bit concerned, but eventually they stopped, and told us to walk one block and we’d be at the Main Street. We were, and about 4 blocks from the terminal. Next it was back to the ship. There were only a few going back now, so no wait to go on. The Carnival Paradise was also here, and their tender seemed very full. It was before noon, though so I’m not sure why. Once back on the ship, I decided to do my pool exercises. There were a few people there, but only me in the hot tub. I decided to try a shower there but it only, apparently came in one temperature, “cold”, So I went back to the room and showered. There was a minor crisis at my mom’s house, so I spent a few minutes dealing with that. Got resolved. After that, we went to lunch. Today was the British buffet (I do like that there are different cuisines every day), so I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. I also had a bit of both chicken and beef pie. I finished with a very small cone of strawberry soft serve. After lunch we went back to the room to do the usual, blog and exercise, but left a little before 5 to go to Music and Mixology. It was pretty much the same as always, but fun. The band was pretty good so we danced a little. Following that was a CruiseCritic party. One of their marketing people was on board, and he arranged it. It was very nice, and he got a lot of good feedback, but they had a band, and passed appetizers. I think the Club wasn’t the right venue, and passed appietizers didn’t really lead to mingling. We did get a Cruise Critic messenger bag, though. By then it was almost time for the show, so we went over to the theater. Glen likes the front row of deck 5, so we sat there. The show was Elements, and quite good. Here are some pictures. After the show we waited for the elevators to clear a bit, and walked up a deck to 6. No room in elevators, so we went to 7 and found one. We stopped at the room to drop the swag, and headed to Luminae. That was normal tonight, and we were with Jesus. I did tease him a bit about the VIPS,. Apparently they were in Eden tonight, (Good that we’re there tomorrow night). Jesus recommended the octopus and short ribs. I don’t like Octopus, but Glen does so he had it. It came while he was in the restroom so I took a picture. Agus, our usual assistant waiter, decided that they should give Glen a new one since he was in the restroom and took it away and replaced it. The replacement wasn’t quite as pretty. I started with the burrata cheese and we both had the short ribs. We also both had the Coconut Cremeux for dessert. I’m not quite sure what it is, but it was good. That was it for us for the night. Tomorrow is sea day 2. We did decide not to set an alarm for breakfast.

We got a move up to a Royal on the first of 3 b2bs earlier this year, then we went back to the sky suite. It's hard to say if anything in the restaurant was different, since the Matire'd changed, the host changed, and we moved from the front room to the back. One thing - when we did in suite parties, our sky suite butler said there'd be a charge for food. (There wasn't, actually). In the Royal they brought chicken skewers, shrimp, and a charcuterie plate. In the Sky, we just got the charcuterie, but we told them that was all we needed.

Haven't done, it but we did get the flyer.

The swag thing? A pouch to keep things dry I think.

June 25,, day 3 Sea day 1 Our first of two sea days, so we decided to go for breakfast. I still wish that sea day breakfasts went until 9:30, but they don’t, so up at 8, coffee at 8;15. Breakfast today was was eggs for both of us. After breakfast, back to the room, but Edy was doing his thing, so we went to Al Baccio. We were talking to a nice family next to us, and I noticed over at the bar a supervisor, who looked like Daniel (our good friend who we met on the Summit back in 2021). We’re friends on Facebook, etc and have kept in touch with over the years. Beth and I saw him on this ship in February, but at my last contact with him, he indicated he was starting his vacation before the previous cruise. I kept thinking it looks like Daniel (apologies to Elton John), but I wasn’t sure. So I decided to go to the restroom and check on my way. And sure enough, they’d decided to keep him through this cruise. So that was great! He came over to where we were sitting and we had a nice conversation with him. I was very happy to have them meet. After that we went back to the room so I could go do my pool exercises (this happens right before lunch every day). After my 5 or so minutes in the pool, I went to one of the hot tubs for about 10 minutes. Nobody else is using them, so that was nice. The clocks went back an hour last night, and somehow my math got off, as we went to lunch at 1:15, or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when they were still admitting people at 2:00. Yup, turns out I went at 12:15. After lunch both Glen and I went up to the Retreat Sundeck to do some reading. We also went to afternoon tea in the lounge. After changing for Evening Chic, we went to the lounge again, for the Officers Soiree. This time the captain and some of the officers were outside the lounge greeting the guests. That was nice, actually and an improvement from last few times when a couple of people showed up late, and stood by the entrance inside talking to each other. No sign of Celebrity President Laura “let’s be Royal Caribbean” though. We sat with another couple and enjoyed conversation and several appetizers. When they left, we joined another couple who had been on our megatrip with us. We stayed there until it was time to go to the show. Tonight’s show is Captain Kirk’s Rock Show. Apparently, he’s Captain of the Reflection and also a rocker in his deepest dreams (I guess he’s not running the Reflection tonight). So they let him do a Rock Show. We arrived at the theater for our reserved seating and Rudy wasn’t there, so Pratip, our butler from the Summit escorted us. That was nice. Once again a long intro by Shauna and President Laura “RC Rules”. It was a lot of fun, and he did a lot of hard rock (not entirely). Among the highlights were were Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Child of Mine. He also played the drums when making Shauna do “Best Days of my Life”. I hope she doesn’t quit her day job, as she’s decent as a cruise director, not so much as a singer. She said she was mortified. I felt her pain. The only issue was because of the long introduction, it was 8:50 when he got to his encore song. So we left during that and got to the elevator while I could. We arrived at dinner a little before 9. One of the front desk staff escorted us, and tried to seat us at the benches that backs up to the crew area. I pointed out that Jesus is our waiter, and he’s in the front, but they guy said that he was serving the Presidents party and that section was blocked off. (Maybe she’s afraid to hear with suite patrons think of her changes). I asked if we could have a window table, and he was able to accommodate that. Our server was Tyrone, and the service was good. Soon after we sat down, I noticed the Presidential party leaving, oh well. I decided to start with the beef tartare, which I haven’t had in a while, and then I tried the lamb loin. That was quite good, and not that different in taste from a rack. I did the marscapone cheesecake for dessert, since I didn’t feel like removing the actual carrots from the carrot celebration. When Janice, the headwaiter came by, I told her that I didn’t mind the change in service team for the night, but I wasn’t happy that it wasn’t sprung on us as we walked to the table. She agreed7, and apologized. It would have made a big difference in how I felt. (Jesus did stop by after the foo foo people left). That pretty much ended our sea day. Going back to the room for the night, we had this. Apparently you get swag for port days. We’ll see later about Bimini.

May 17th. 8 nights. Wee're going there this summer, so won't go back next year, and I'm not convinced that I care about the President's cruise. Maybe Alaska next time they do it. And thanks to all who suggested stores. Tomorrow, probably, you'll find out we did get a pair in Grand Cayman, so he'll be able to wash the pants he's been wearing since we left San Francisco. Current plan for Fort Lauderdale is to just flip around and stay on the ship.

June 24, Day 2 Coco Cay Today is port stop 1, “Perfect Day in Coco Cay”. Whatever. Not being beach people, this was not a factor in booking this cruise, but I’ll admit I was curious. We woke up at 8 to see we’d arrived. Here’s Coco Cay from our room We had Rudy bring us coffee, he’s of the drop it off and wish us a good day set (Some butlers pour and set up the tray, others drop and go). After coffee and preparing laundry, it was time for breakfast. We got a somewhat better table, on the other side of the corridor. We both had French toast, his with the peach cobbler, mine plain. After breakfast, we gathered our stuff (towels, sunscreen) and headed out. We were there with the Wonder of the Seas, so probably between 8-9 thousand people there, roughly. We waled around the island for a bit. WE crossed a bridge, and here’s a picture of the two ships that are there today. Wonder is an Oasis ship. We continued walking and settled on some no charge beach chairs. I believe it was Chill Island, assuming it is the free one. We found some chairs towards the back of the area, and parked ourselves for about 20 minutes. It was starting to rain, and we’d now seen “Perfect Day at Coco Cay”, so we headed back to the ship. My physical therapist has given me some exercises to do in the pool, so this seemed like a good time to go to the retreat pool. There were a few other people there, but I got them done quickly. After some time in the room (I mostly do email and this), we headed to the buffet for lunch. Glen thought Luminae would be open, but I thought it wouldn’t since this was a port day. Today was the Spanish buffet, so I had salad and some sliced beef, since the Spanish stuff wasn't appealing. While we were eating, Alan, our sommelier, stopped by. He said that while in Coco Cay, Luminae is open for lunch. Oh well. (I guess it’s because Coco Cay does have limited dining options). After lunch, I worked on the blog until tea time in the lounge. I did see Briton, the suite manager (our concierge on Silhouette 2022), and had a nice talk with him, and I also say Pratip, our butler from the Summit in 2023, and our last dedicated butler before they took them away. I also asked the concierges about Go Green (confirmed we have it) and if there was any way to use one of our 4 dining package dinners on this cruise. There’s really not, but Briton figured out a way to fudge it. (Hopefully it will work). I watched the sail away from the lounge. I went back to the room to change for the evening, and then back up to the lounge for a drink. At a little after 7 we went to the theater to see the show. It was Stage Door, which is a show about musicals. It started with an introduction with the cruise director (Shauna) the captain (Leo) and his staff, and finally the President (Laura), That took about 20 minutes. So show started about 7:50. They started segments with interviews with performers. In one case, it was Marisha Wallace from Dream Girls, and at the middle of the song, she came out from backstage and sang with the performers. Apparently she’s the special guest performer tomorrow on the sea day. Part of the Presidents cruise stuff. Because of this, it was about 8:50 when the show ended. We had 10 minutes to get to dinner, and the front elevators were packed. So we thought we’d try the back. Also packed, so we went up 3 flights. On 7 there was one emptying, so we took it to 14, walked across to the front stairs and took the stairs to 16. Made it at about 5 minutes to 9. Dinner was nice. We both started with the Kale salad with watermelon and feta, although I substituted romaine, since I don’t like Kale. Jesus also gave us the short rib appetizer to try. For mains, we had the New York strip steak. It was good. Jesus also brought a sample of the veal Cannelloni. I’ve had it before and it’s pretty good. I finished with the Citrus, Orange Blossom sponge. After dinner, we called it a night. That’s the thing with eating late. A little walk and then back to the room. Before I go, a bit of housekeeping. First, for today, we got some swag for the beach day today. I guess because it’s the Presidents cruise. Inside Also, I promised the information about activities. Here’s the perk page and the CC activities pages. They’re in the President’s cruise booklet, I’m sure next week they’ll be back to the card. Let me know if I’m missing something.

The President, Laura three names, and a lot of big wigs sail on it. There are special events throughout and some things that are not so good (it will be in tomorrows update). There is some swag. We booked without knowing that, but lots of people book for it. Next year Norway. We go this year, so not even slightly tempted. @DaKahuna. They're renovating the top to floors right now. Iasked if they were taking out the lounge - guy didn't know. I tend to think they will. We'll be back for one night in January between our Sun Princess and Ascent cruises, so we'll find out. (Night before first cruise we're at the W since it's near where friends are staying.