abbydancer2003

Symphony/Apex Day 12 - Puerto Plata We arriving at 11, so we went to breakfast. I had fruit, a bagel and bacon. Usually after about a week and half on a ship I just have a slightly lighter breakfast. Glen had Eggs in Purgatory, and said it was basically a quail egg shatshuka. He seemed to like that one. After breakfast we went to the lounge. As we sailed in it was raining. Here’s the obligatory fort at sail in picture. We went back to the room to gather our stuff, and at about 10:55, we were docked, so we went up to lounge to be led out. Much easier than in San Juan. Carollyne took us down, and there was no line to get off. I followed the map she printed, and while the directions didn’t match verbiage, the map was accurate. We had to leave the port area. Here’s the map. It was about a 15 minute walk. Just after the gate, we found the correct people (the ticket said to look for their company name). They took us to a 20 person van, and we waited about 30 minutes for the rest of the people. There were supposed to be 14 people, but only 12 showed up. Normally the first stop on the tour is the cable car to the top of their mountain, but because it was still rainy, we decided to do that last. So first we went to the fort area. The fort is open for tours, but they take longer than we head. Our guide Tony gave us about 20 minutes to wander around. Also in this area there’s a performance bowl. There’s a monument there, but only muddy grass to get to it, so who it is will remain a mystery. We walked around the entire area, and then headed to the city center. The area was decorated for Xmas. We saw the former house of the prime minister. I think this was at one point the capital of the country. Now it’s used for music, theater and dance classes that are free for children. They even have a public library. I think they offer free classes there as well. Next stop was their umbrella street. We had 20 minutes there to wander. We split a cheese empanada, and bought two bags of local coffee. If you look towards the back of the picture, the far end of the street is actually an arbor with vines. It’s very pretty. After that, it was to what is the centerpiece of the tour, the only cable car in the Caribbean. On the way, we stopped and two people left the tour. Apparently there was more waling than they thought. We arrived at the Cable Car, technically a Gondola, and at the entrance there was a Caribbean band playing to welcome us. The plan was for us to take the cable car up, and drive down. There was a few minute wait for the car to come down (apparently there are two cars, one goes up while the other goes down. Here are some pictures from the ride. At the top, there’s a replica of Christ the Redeemer, a gift from Brazil. The building it’s on was used at one point for military purposes, although because it’s often cloudy there it wasn’t very useful. Now it houses gift shops. There are hiking trails from there. After wandering around, we drove to one of the trails with the park at the top of the cable car (Isabel del Torres, also the name of the mountain). We saw a typical external kitchen display with many medicinal plants, as well as coffee and cocoa. Once we ware back on the bus, Tony gave us a fruit juice or rum punch, made with local rum. I believe everyone opted for rum punch and it was good. Apparently rum is another one of their top crops. We then headed back to the ship, with a stop for Tony to buy each of us a very ripe banana. We were dropped at the gate, saving a few steps. If you go here on a private tour, the walk we did is the only ext from the pier area. We were back on the ship by about 4 pm, and after a stop in the room to drop our stuff and rest a bit, I went down to Al Baccio for a latte and pastries. I got a dulce de leech eclair and a lemon tartlet (that doesn’t do to go very well). I suppose that if I had a dedicated butler, he/she could have brought them, but that’s not something I’d typically do, normally I get them myself. So I can’t comment on what would have happened if I’d tried to get one. After watching a show on our Roku, and dressing for the second Evening Chic night, we went to the lounge around 7 for a drink before dinner. I had my first hot toddy. It wasn’t too bad. Since it was Evening Chic, the restaurant was crowded. We waited a bit for a table in one of the quieter areas. Yesterday, when the amuse bouche was a fish selection, Lia, our very good assistant waiter gave me some berries. I’d mentioned that on the Silhouette, they’d given me watermelon with balsamic, ie a single piece of watermelon with a balsamic drizzle. Apparently, I wasn’t specific enough, because I got a small bowl of watermelon pieces in balsamic vinegar. For an appetizer I had tomato soup from Blu. The Asiago Grill Cheese croutons were a little lacking, but other than that it was good. We both had the rack of lamb for our entree. I’ve had this a lot, and this time, it didn’t look quite as good, and I’m not sure why. Also, there were no sun chokes on the plate. I asked and Nino had the chef make some, and a bowl of them showed up as we we finishing. I think there was less salsa verde on these than usual as well. For dessert, we just split a creme brûlée, since nothing else appealed. Tomorrow is a sea day and the last full day of the cruise.

On E class, the restaurant is big and pretty noisy. I had no complaints about service though.

Yup. Moniek was our server too. And she was great as well. She'd been our assistant waiter on the Summit back in 2021. I wonder if we actually met? (My mom passed away while we were on the cruise - that might be the most memorable thing about me).

Agree in general, but given the ship, this is the biggest show of the cruise, so parents are going to take the kids. They do have an adult comedy show, though.

Our experience in Luminae this spring was the same. Raphael was the Maitre'd and he had a major problem to deal with - one very loud group that he was getting a lot of complaints about. He did his best to keep them separate, but on Aruba night, the only place for us to sit was next to them, and coming back later was't possible since it was after 8:30. We decided to go to Blu. He walked us up there, handed us over to their Maitre'd and told us we could order from the Luminae menu. Our server also popped by to make sure we were getting good service.

I gather you're in 6145 or 6146? We have 6146 on the Connie, and on the Millenium in March of 2026. And we always had water supplied by our room steward. Head butler brought us coke and ginger-ale. No charge for any of it. Just for the red wine in Rooftop because there were no included reds available.

Got off yesterday. Sorry I can't ask. Actually, the only two seafood items were the fritter and the fish salad. When I book these, I usually put that I don't eat fish, and most of the time there is an alternative. It hasn't been a problem yet. This time, I forgot to mention it. And I will have all posts up by the 26th I think.

That was my experience on this trip as well.

Thanks for this. We're on our first Connie cruise next month. Which suite do you have? We spent 24 days on the Infinity in a sky suite, and loved it.

I just watched it in FLL airport, since we have 8 hours here. It was OK. I noticed on the Perfect Day part, they didn't exactly stress all the activities. Seems they were trying to convince us that even adults without kids along will like it.

Symphony/Apex Day 11 St. Thomas At 7:50 our room service coffee delivery arrived. We have a food tour at 10:00 this morning, and we’re supposed to arrive by 9:45. The ticket says it’s a 25 minute walk, but that’s from the Havenhearst(?) pier, but Celebrity uses Crown Bay, which is a 45 minute walk. Since it’s pretty hot here, we decide dto take a cab. Instead of a full breakfast, we went to the lounge for continental breakfast. I had two almond croissants, and it turns out they do have brewed coffee in the morning. Just after 9, we headed out. We walked through the terminal area to cab dispatch and, got in “truck cab”. We were dropped at exit point with everyone else in the downtown area. We asked where the fort was, and dispatcher said to left, but big red thing was right. We asked a vendor, she said it was the big red building (which is what I though). We bought a magnet from her and talked with her for a while. She was a lawyer but art is her thing. We talked about voting in USVI, and her kids who are in military. We were early, so it was nice speaking with her. We got to the fort early. We found 3 other people going (when Beth and I went,, just us. I guess this is high season). At 10:00 there was no guide, so I called the local number and got voicemail. However, one of the other three people was friendly with one of the employees (maybe the only employee, because she knows her from her hotel, so called her. She was almost there, and a few moments later Jane, our guide arrived. She started with a bit of the history of the Island. We saw their replica of the Liberty Bell, Apparently each state has one, and some other places. (I’ll have to see if American Samoa has one when I’m there in April). We also saw some statues and older buildings, and Jane gave us some more history of slave revolts, etc. Then it was on to the food part. First stop was E’s Garden teahouse. We were treated to a nice cold raspberry tea first. Next up was a salad plate with a fish salad and green salad with crackers. I didn’t eat the fish, although I did try it. Glen said it was good. We finished with ice cream handmade from soursop. It was yummy. Next stop was Gladys’. That was a stop when Beth and I did the tour in 2017, but they’d closed because of the hurricane after that. They’ve now reopened in a new location. Here we were treated to Callaloo soup, apparently made famous in a a Cosby episode, where he was trying to find a recipe, a cornmeal and okra mix to go into the soup to make a dumpling, and a conch fritter. There was also hot sauce. I enjoyed the soup and “dumpling” and tried the conch fritter. Glen said if I put the hot sauce on the fritter, I wouldn’t taste the conch. We also had a drink that was rum and cinnamon and some other stuff that we’ve both forgotten the name of. But it was good. Next stop was Pate’s for meat pies. We had a choice of beef, chicken, fish or cheese. Glen and I split a chicken one, and it was good. Our final stop was dessert. We went to St. John Brewers on the Waterfront, where we enjoyed rootbeer floats with rum. After chatting for a while, we all said our goodbyes. We were the only people from a cruise, everyone else was staying at resorts. I guess that’s the effect of the holiday season. Jane gave us instructions for getting a cab (walk to the Main Street and find the cab area. As we walked over a cab driver offered us a ride in his SUV cab. Because of the direction of the road, we had to go around onto a parallel street, but it was all good. He told us about getting the car, and how proud of it he was. Sadly, no-one else wanted to go the same way, and I don’t think he picked up a fare back. Once back on the ship, we went to Al Baccio for coffees. Then to the room and then to tea in the lounge. While in the room, I read the meeting instructions for our tour tomorrow, At the lounge, I asked Carollyne if she could print the map for me. She said they could so I ran down and emailed the PDF. It was hard to see in black and white, so she said she’d go downstairs, make a color printout for me, and deliver it to our room. Which she did. While watching sail-away (along with a drunk guy talking about his family left behind - note - NOT TRUE) from the lounge, I saw what looked like fun. And the required channel picture as we left St. Thomas After dressing for dinner, we went back up to the lounge and had a drink with new friends Harvey and Joanne. Soon their friends arrived and they went to dinner, apparently taking Glen’s drink with them, because it was gone after they left. He got another one, and took it with him to the show. This was Crystallize, and while not too much plot, it was pretty spectacular visually. Tonight we met our friends Bob and Cindy for dinner. We were first seated in a table in the main dining area, but that was too loud, so we moved back to one in the front alcove. I think I will, on all future E ships, ask for that area. I started with one of their new asparagus starters. I enjoyed it. <6435> Next I had their sirloin entree, and still more like a roast. I finished with the new blueberry mousse. It was pretty good. I think this was the yogurt ice-cream dessert, so I’ll probably ask to switch with a fruit sorbet in the future. . After dinner, we went back to the room, and I tried to watch the new Captains Club video. After 35 minutes of stop and start, all I learned was about St. Lucia, so I’ll watch in either the airport Saturday or home on Sunday. Thus ended St. Thomas day. Tomorrow is our last port and our only new port - Puerto Plata DR.

Nope, but the cabin is considered obstructed view, because the bridge is just above and forward. We'll be trying Eden on one of our cruises in August.

Symphony/Apex day 10 - Sint Maarten Tuesday 2 Before I get into breakfast, I did want to mention that so far, our every morning delivery of coffee has been working great. Today, we have our tour booked with our guide from back when Tony of Tony’s Taxi and Tours. For some reason, he had a conflict today, so he’s sending a friend. Since we arrive at 10 am, we went for breakfast. I started with a full fruit plate, but that was too much, and then had simple bacon and eggs. On the way to breakfast, I got a text from the people on the tour with us. Apparently his sea sickness has continued, so they were cancelling. The problem was that we hadn’t paid, and the cost was more than if it had just been us. (I wasn’t 100% sure I’d book it if it was just us). They said they weren’t willing to pay, which is a first for me, as usually most people will if they cancel. As we were docking I got a text from her that if we can leave after 10:15 (which was when I was planning to leave the ship) she’s joining us. Great. We agreed to meet in the Martini Bar around 10:15. Since, as mentioned Tony wasn’t available, we were getting his friend Curtis aka “The Man of the Land”. We were told to go to the taxi dispatch and ask for him. And that worked, they all know who he is. He arrived soon after, and we piled into his car. First stop was an overlook of the port area, We also noticed a lot of signs with people’s picture on them First he told us they were wanted posters, but actually there’s an election coming up. Next stop was Oyster Bay, and we observed hotels, and condos. The hotels across the bay look like they have great views. Here’s us in front. Next was stop at a gift stand by the side of the road, where they have iguanas hanging out. Iguanas are not native to Sint Maarten but now they’re common. At the gift shop they offer sticks with leaves to feed them. They do it for tips. Glen couldn’t resist. And yes, he did tip. Next stop was Orient Beach, which is the beach for both normal swimming and clothing optional beach time. Since we stopped at the clothing optional beach, I don’t have pictures. You’re welcome. (Actually there are signs saying no pictures. From the we went to Loterie Farm after crossing into the French side. It’s a jungle property in St. Martin that offers adventures such as swimming, hiking and ziplining. In our last visit I thought it was a hotel, because it has a registration desk, but that’s for activities. It also has a restaurant, so we stopped there and had appetizers. Glen had conch fritters and I had the only non seafood thing - vegetable gyozas. They were good. Next was a drive through the town of Marigot, the capital of French St. Martin. After that, we headed back to the the Dutch side, stopping a very cool border. The Dutch welcome sign. The French welcome sign. And Glen standing on the Dutch side. Notice the yellow line? That’s the border. I had fun for a couple of minutes jumping back and forth between countries. Up next was the obligatory ride to the airport. As we drove between the airport and the Maho beach (where people go under the landing planes, a commercial airliner was coming in. As it went right overhead, Curtis banged on the roof of the car. Apparently he actually scared a previous passenger with that. It was cool driving in under the plane, though. We also saw the area for cab dispatch. Beth (my sister) and I are planning to visit the bar on the side of the beach, and now we know how to get there and back. Our last stop before the ship was another overlook from the other side of the island. We saw a wild pig. Oh, and the view was also gorgeous. There was a monument you could climb up a hill to, but only Glen did it. Watching him come down, I’m gad I didn’t do it. Curtis next took us back. We enjoyed the tour, and saw a lot of the Island, but we agreed that while we enjoyed it, we probably won’t use Curtis again, as he did like to hear himself talk, and spent a lot of time talking about himself. So while we enjoyed our time with him, we won’t repeat it. Once back on the ship, I was a little bit hungry, so I went to the buffet. I got a latte at Al Baccio 2, and noticed they had afternoon tea selections. So I decided to go to the restored lounge for their tea, but I got there 8 minutes too late, so I went back to the room. And on the way back into the ship, I had to take a picture of this. The welcome signs to the restrooms are all over the ship. I don’t recall ever being welcomed to a restroom before. At that point I decided to go ahead and fill out the luggage valet form. I’ll check both our bags, so we only have to pay for one person (no airline fee) and we won’t risk being told that we can’t check the bags until 4 hours before our flight. We’ll try to check our little overnight bag, but if we can’t, we can take it as a carry on. We turned the form in at the lounge, and then went to the show. It was a singer, Leah Allyce Canli, who was certainly entertaining. After the show we went back to the lounge for a bit, and then went to dinner. None of the appetizers appealed, so I asked for the Normandie excluding baked brie. I was warned that it might not be hot and would take a while. Honestly, it may have taken a few minutes more, but it was hot. Perhaps not as hot as it would have been downstairs, but certainly hot enough. For mains, Glen had the Game Hen with Spaghetti Squash and Pepitas, and I had the same, but with chicken. They looked pretty much the same. I finished with the new Vacharin, and Glen had a new Raspberry mouse with Yuhzu. Both good. Thus ended our evening. St. Thomas and food tour tomorrow.

I asked for it, but they forgot to give it to me. I'll try to remember at breakfast tomorrow, before we leave. If I don't, I'll be on the Connie in 3 weeks, so remind me then, or I'll try to remember.

Symphony/Apex Day 7 - switch day Saturday 2 Because this is switchover day, I’m doing this as my last update in the Symphony thread and the first in the Apex thread. So today we move from our first Royal Caribbean and Symphony of the Seas cruises to our first cruise on the Celebrity Apex. We woke up around 7. Breakfast closed at 8 and that would give us enough time to get ready to go, and do one last check of the room. Last night I had a bit of a worry as it said my air tag was in Fort Lauderdale. I don’t see how I could have left it in the hotel though, so we’ll see. After double-checking everything, we headed to breakfast. The restaurant was busy and the lounge was packed. I wasn’t quite sure how we’d know when to leave, but soon we heard an announcement for self assist and early luggage tags. I had Rice Krispies and bacon. I asked for banana with my cereal, and Rowella (the server) wasn’t sure they still had any. When it arrived, she said I did get the last one. After we were done, we stayed at the table drinking coffee, since there was nowhere in the lounge area to sit and breakfast was over. At one point, Glen went to the restroom, and I went to say goodbye to some people we’d met, and when we got back to the table, the coffee was gone. At about 9:10, our late luggage tag group was called. We headed down and joined the line to leave. It moved fast and we were soon in the terminal collecting our luggage and heading through customs. It was facial recognition, so very fast. Next stop, the transfer area. There were two.lines, one for Fort Lauderdale and one for Miami. I asked someone official and they had no idea what I was talking about. They couldn’t find our names, partly because I think they were looking at the end of the alphabet. No matter, they said they’d take us last, and told us to wait with the Miami people. (Note: When we used a transfer on Celebrity to get from Miami to Fort Lauderdale airport, we had the same issue that all buses went to the local airport). Eventually, I asked someone else, and he told me to wait by the buses. Then he asked a driver if they’d take us, and he said yes, so he had us drop our bags in front of the bus (to make sure they were at the front when we got dropped, He told us to board the bus in the front seat. So we waited. After about 20 minutes, the driver came on and said we were waiting for 10 people, two groups of 5. One had cleared customs and the other was still in. After another 10 minutes or so six people got on. Then the other guy said that we were waiting for 19 people. One of the official people said that the terminal was cleared, yet we still waited. One guy got off and talked to them, apparently we were waiting for the rest of their group. A few minutes later the driver asked him to call the other people. The person did, and reported the rest would take an Uber, so we were able to leave. I think all told it was 30-40 minutes. A Lfyt, if we were willing to wait 15 minutes, would have been around $8.00. If we ever do this again, we’ll get ourselves there. Fortunately terminal 25 was our first stop. We did notice a walkway along the route but it would have been a very uncomfortable walk. At the terminal, they directed the bus to the end of the drive, and they dropped us, and our luggage with a porter. Things went very smoothly from there, we entered the terminal, turned left for retreat, our boarding passes were checked, and we were escorted to an elevator. In the checkin area, we were checked in and boarded right away. And with that, I will call this done. I don't think I need to put all the details of the first day on the Apex here. My wrap up on Royal Caribbean. First, we did have a very nice cruise, and trying all the activities was fun. The staff was great and the food good. Wonderland was a hoot. While I wouldn't rule out Royal again, I don't anticipate booking it again, as the activities are not really how we like to spend cruises. We like sitting at coffee bars, and dancing. They had good bands, but no good dance floors. The best band usually played on a stage in the middle of the Royal Promenade, no floor there. Also, so many people that trivia (which we sometimes do) was difficult. Also, it usually didn't feel like we were on a ship, which I can't really articulate. Maybe it was because everything happened in the middle. That said, if our nieces ever have kids and we were to do a family cruise, we'd certainly consider it. And if they ever have an itinerary that we really want, I absolutely would book it. Never during December, though. On the whole it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it.

Symphony/Apex Day 9 - San Juan - Monday 2 We started the day with breakfast in Luminae. On the way, up we ran into our head butler. I asked how we could get morning coffee, something we’d always received from our butler after calling. He said we could call room service, or he could arrange for it at the the same time every day. I decided to try that for 8:00 am every day. We’ll see how it goes. We were quickly seated in one of our regular tables (we have a few)Today I had the new peach cobbler French toast. It was pretty good. Glen however, tried the new potato waffle. He thought it was a miss. The cheese on it wasn’t melted, just a slice between two waffles. On the side were little bits of bacon with maple syrup. Looked like grease to him. They really need to bring regular waffles back. Hopefully by our next Edge class cruise in August. I then tried to reach the couple on the ship that we’re touring with in St. Maartin. They said they were having a late breakfast in the buffet, so we went there. We wandered around, but it was a little hard, since we’ve never met them in person. We did, however, run into Cindy and Bob, and agreed to have dinner with them on St. Thomas night. I then got a text from Lori that they were at the pool bar. So we headed there, found them and had a nice chat for a while. After the chat we thought about getting a drink on the Magic carpet, but no real seating, so we just walked through. We went back to the room for a bit after that, as I’m still trying to stay up with blogging and email. Next was lunch. We both started with the Bibb lettuce salad and I had the ravioli . For dessert, we both had the new pear poached in red wine sauce. It was very good. After that, we put on shorts, and went to the retreat sundeck to read. While we were there, a server came by offering mango sorbet. We then went back to the room to watch the sail in from both the bridge cam and the balcony. It turns out that from deck 10 the forward view is somewhat blocked by the bridge. Once we docked, we headed up to the lounge to get escorted down. That was amusing - we were able to get to deck 5 on the forward elevators with Eliya, but getting into an aft one was impossible, because they were all full. So we decided we could walk, and the stairs were jammed. Somehow she kept us all together, and led us around the (honestly not very long line) and walked us to the front. We were soon off the ship. Once on shore, first stop was Walgreens for some essentials. It’s right across the street from the pier. Next we walked around for a bit, and then tried to find a store to buy coffee in. We saw a Xmas display in a park that was very pretty. At the edge of the park we found a cute sign. We eventually found a store and were able to purchase some coffee. After that, we headed back to the ship. Once on board, we had some time until our reservation at the Rooftop Garden Grill, so we went to the lounge and chatted with Yulia for a bit. At 8, we headed to the restaurant. It wasn’t full, but there were several others there, including a large group that split up. We were next to the adults, and the kids were at a table a little bit far. It was fine. Before I get to the dinner, we tried to order wine. They had only two reds, both of which are now over the premium package. Elegance at 19.00 a glass, and one other cabernet. I ended up with a rose, since I don't really like cabernet that much. I thought, honestly, that since they couldn't provide a wine within package costs, they shouldn't charge for a wine that should never have been an upcharge in the first place. We started with the Vegetable Crudite. It was pretty good. Next course was salad - Glen had a caesar. Looks pretty standard, and the picture came out blurry (not sure why that’s happening with my new phone. I’ll work on it before my next cruise. I had the watermelon & Feta, which would have been very good, except their watermelons have lots of seeds. As you can see, I don’t like raw onions. About this time I got an ambiguous text from my sister about my nieces college graduation date “next year”. Did she mean next year as of today, or in two weeks. I was pretty sure she meant 25, as if it were 24, we would have plane and hotel reservations by now. We cleared it up to 2025. Fortunately , we will not be on a cruise at that time. For mains, Glen had the NY steak and I had the grilled filet mignon. It comes with roast potatoes, but I asked for baked instead. I also had the baked beans, and creamed corn. My steak was very good, Glen thought his was slightly under seasoned. For dessert, Glen had the Cookie (capitalization theirs) and I had cherry apple pie. Both were good. After dinner, we wandered around the upper decks for a bit, and saw San Juan at night. And we found this interesting piece of art. I think it looks better at night. After that, we called it a night as they say. Tomorrow, Sent Maartin and a tour.

This is our last full day, and we decided to go to breakfast. Once again I had French toast and bacon. This time, there were no hash browns with it. Which is fine. After breakfast, I decided that I did want to try the zip line, so we went back to the room for me to remove my jewelry and put my hair back. When we got there, I noticed we still didn’t have the new luggage tags, so I went back to the lounge to talk to the concierge. She said she’d contact the stewards to have them delivered. After that - it was time to do the zipline. When I got there,there was no line, but there were a couple of people ahead of me to try it. I did it. It was fun but only about 6-7 seconds, so not worth doing a second time. We thought we’d then try the climbing wall, but it was closed. So we headed to the Park Cafe in Central Park for a cup of coffee. It got rather muggy, so we finished our coffee and left. Also took a picture of the entire bubble installation at the elevator bank. I dropped Glen off and found Christina (online friend) at her rented Castita, and chatted with her and her daughter for a while. She got it at great price on the Good Friday sale. She likes it because she can leave her stuff during lunch. After chatting for a while, I went back and we went to lunch. I asked for the kids menu (this was the first repeating menu and it wasn’t too appealing the second time). Sivu gave to me and asked if I also wanted the crayons to color the picture in. I declined. I started with a wedge salad with tomato dressing. The blue cheese yesterday was better, but this was fine. Then I had the kids spaghetti and meat sauce and finished with another slice of key lime pie. After lunch, I filled out our luggage tags, and then went to the smoke free casino to cash out part of my OBC. I put in 40, and won 5.00 so I cashed out. I was able to get cash for it, even though the app said you couldn’t cash out OBC on slots. At around 3:50, we decided to go to Harry Potter trivia. We got there 5 minutes early and it was standing room only and not a lot of that. That’s kind of a failure on RC’s part, the venue was clearly not big enough for it. So instead, we went to the rock climbing wall. Only one was open, and there was a bit of a wait. It wasn’t too bad. Glen got about 1/2 up, and, let’s just leave it at I didn’t get very far. To reward ourselves for trying, we got finally stopped for soft serve ice cream. It was meh. So we wandered around the upper decks for a while. I then went back to the casino to use up the rest of my OBC, but I was apparently locked out. I have no idea how long the lock out would be, so I decided I’d buy something after the show. (I have since, on X learned that you have to spend 50% before you cash out or get locked out). We had reservations for Flight: Dare to Dream (production show) at 7. So we dressed for dinner and went to the lounge for a bit and then to the show. I didn’t love the storyline, but the effects were amazing. They actually flew the plane around the audience (yes, on wires, but pretty impressive). After the show, I went to the shop on the Boardwalk and bought flip flops and then to the candy store for some caramels. The shop has the self serve candy around, like a Jelly Belly display or any candy store that sells by weight, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the candy out. I asked for help and it turns out he just opens it from the top. Went back to the room to pack, and our room stewards left us a thank you note. After we finished the major part of our packing we went to our reservation at Wonderland. They seated us in a table in a corner, but it was quiet, and that was fine. The menu is presented in a picture frame with invisible ink. You paint it to see it. And a shot of the restaurant. Our waiter came over, and really all we ordered was mains and drinks. While waiting for our drinks he brought us the crab cones. It was crab in the middle with an avocado puree on top and a dab of wasabi on the bottom. Good, but the flavors aren’t really mixed. Glen said he’d pull ribbons of both wasabi and avocado along the sides of the cone before putting the crab in. Next our pre dinner drinks arrived. I got the Cheshire Cosmo, which is very sweet, as they pour it through cotton candy. Glen got the smoke rings. I have no idea what’s in it. Smoke is dissipating by this time. Next up was a deconstructed caprese salad and birds nests which is a wheat nest with deviled eggs. There was also potted shrimp and a lobster bite. Next time I’ll tell them only fish is the cone. They finished the appetizer course with wonton soup. Glen decided he doesn’t love pour over soup, because it doesn’t give the flavors a chance to meld. Our waiter recommended short rib, but I’m getting tired of it, so I had the “chicken and the egg”. The egg was cauliflower puree with butternut squash. The chicken was very good. Glen did have the short rib. We weren’t given a choice on dessert. The big mushroom was meringue and white chocolate mouse. The little ones, I’m not sure of but they had pepper in them and it was a mango sorbet. We were also given the world chocolate bomb, which Glen ate. Final shot of the restaurant entrance. It was fun and I’d go back, but I’d probably get more specific on shellfish next time (like only one). After that we finished packing and went to bed. Up early tomorrow to vacate the room. Next post will go on both RC and Celebrity.

Nope, Coastal Kitchen. Sorry.

Finally had a chance to read through this. On the Summit, I swap the desk chair for a balcony chair. That fits under the desk. Noce review. Were the mozzarella sticks from main dining? I don't recall seeing them on the Luminae menu.

I can now say, with some certainty, that Celebrity's Starlink is NOT good enough to watch this video. I gave up until the weekend (either Saturday with my 8ish hours at the airport, or Sunday at home) because after 30 minutes, all I knew about was living in St. Lucia.

After dinner tonight, I'll see if I can watch it on the Apex. Dinner's in 8 minutes. I got the email while watching the show. All they now need to offer is rought 1450 more in the next week for me to be Zenith on my next cruise.

Apex Sunday December 17 This is our first full day on the Apex, and it’s a sea day as we head to San Juan. The ride as been rather rough, and our room is just behind the bridge and one deck down, so we fell all of it. In spite of the fact that we moved the clocks forward, we decided to go to Luminae for breakfast this morning. We made it with time to spare, and were seated at the same table we were at last night. The breakfast menu has changed a little bit. Glen and I both had new items. I tried the baked oatmeal. It was good, but it’s pretty dense. Baked oatmeal is one of my sister’s go to dishes, and she wins. Her’s is lighter, and less cakey. It tasted OK, but I don’t know if I’ll order it again. Glen ordered Iberico Ham EVOO, with tomato over sourdough toast. He didn’t love it either. After breakfast, we decided go to Al Baccio for a while. We were able to find a table by the window and enjoyed lattes while listening to the captain telling us that we won’t be arriving in San Juan until 5:00pm (supposed to be 3:00pm). Apparently we left an hour late (Sky Princess left at least 8 hours late), and there’s been a lot of weather. Alt least they didn’t cancel it. After a while we headed back to the room to set up our router and Roku. We were able to connect everything. On the way, I noticed our room is on the sign for the hallway. We were able to set everything up, except we could not get our remote for the TV (needed it to switch the source) to do anything but change the channel and volume. I couldn’t find the thread that had it, so we called the head butler to get IT there. (He did say we could call him). While I was explaining the issue, he arrived at the door, and told us how to do it on their remote. After he left, we put it on the network, and watched a Chicago Fire episode before lunch, mostly because we could. At this point, I was sipping ginger ale pretty constantly, as in high seas sometimes I get a bit queasy. After the show we went to Lumenae for lunch. We both started with the broiled feta salad. I still have no idea what’s broiled in it. For my main I had my modified Luminae burger (halved horizontally, to make a 1/4 pound burger. They did it it right, but it had bacon on it, which I don’t recall before. And I finished with my favorite white chocolate mousse. Looking out the window, the waves look like cotton candy. After lunch, we thought it might be fun to go to Eden to read. Got there and it was mostly closed for a rehearsal of some sort. So since there were no good seats, we went to the martini bar and read for a while. I took a brief trip to the casino, and played 40.00. I was up 3.00 after the fourth spin, so I cashed out. I tried to add money, but appeared to be locked out. I took my ticket to the cashier and she explained that if I cashed it, I’d be locked out for the rest of the cruise. As been reported, you have to spend 50% of what you put in to continue. I thanked her, and left with my ticket. I’ll go back later tonight or tomorrow to play to 20.00. Eventually we went back to the room- I do enjoy watching the water and working on my posts. The balcony is a good thing for us. Tonight was the retreat lounge officers Meet and Greet. We talked to some new friends from online, and some nice people at the same seating area once the officers left, and then Carollyn, one of the concierges about her experience working at Costa during the Concordia incident until we eventually ended up at dinner. Tonight’s amuse bouche was a burrata and tomato treat that was quite good. For my started, I tried the Jerusalem artichoke (aka sunchoke), soup, leaving the prosciutto off. It was actually pretty good. (It was no recommendation on a previous cruise). Glen had the beef tartare. Also looked good. For my entree, I asked for the ribeye dinner, but with the 4oz felt mignon instead. Glen had the actually ribeye and it was much closer to a ribeye than previously. It was cut like a ribeye, just thicker. For dessert, I decided to try the “carrot celebration”. What we are looking at is pureed carrot on the bottom, some cream cheese and then a carrot foam. There were also dried carrots, and dots of chocolate. The foam and cream cheese were decent, but the rest was a miss. I don’t know what they were thinking. We went back to the room, watched a bit of TV and called it a night. We didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night.

Symphony/Apex Day 5, Sea Day We decided again to get up for breakfast, forgetting that on a sea day we have until 9:30. I tried a cheese omelette this morning. It was big. Their sides of bacon, however are quite good. We’d received our luggage tags last night, and we had Suites/Pinnacles (looks just like Suites/Zenith on X). However I was told that we should be able to get a transfer to terminal 25. So I went back and asked Jennie about it. She called someone and said that we could go on an airport shuttle, and asked to be dropped off. She gave us group 25. I asked what time it was, and she said 8:00. I asked if there was a later shuttle, because I want to arrive as late as possible, since I’m sure checkin won’t be open when we get there, and I’d rather wait on this ship than outside terminal 25. She moved us to 48 at 9:00. Next we decided to play mini golf. On our way down, we saw the gingerbread display on the landing of deck 16. We watched them put it up last night. The mini golf course was amusing and we had a lot of bad shots. The wind din’t usually help, although once it moved my ball closer to the hole. We ended up tied. Next up, I decided to try the zip line. I got in line, but they told me I’d need to remove watch, Fitbit, necklace earrings, so I decided to skip it today. Tomorrow, maybe I’ll remove everything and try it. Following that we headed to the lounge for a coffee, and soon after we got there, there was announcement from the captain. You know when he starts with apologizing for going into the cabins, it’s not good news. And sure enough, tomorrow will be another sea day, as we’re skipping Nassau due to weather. Oh well. At about 12:40 we decided to go to lunch. I had a chilled strawberry soup, and then we both had the truffled grill cheese sandwich with fries and salad. This is what we got. Apparently the salad is in the cheese sandwich. We’ve noticed that sometimes their food is a bit of a creative departure from the menu descriptions. For dessert, we split a rum soaked banana cake. It was good, although some bites were a little too rum soaked. There was an almond brittle with it that was quite good. We wanted to take a walk on the outside promenade after lunch. To get there, we decided to take the Ultimate Abyss slide down to 6 as it was faster than waiting for the elevator. There was no line, so it actually worked well. After a complete circle of the ship, we headed back to the room, and got ready for the second formal night (called dress your best - I guess they can’t repeat a dress code except the first and last night). At 5pm we were planning to meet with friends we met online. We decided meet each other at Vintages at 5. We found each other easily and had a nice time talking for about 45 minutes. During that time it rained. Yes it rained in the middle of the ship. The bar is in the Central Park neighborhood, which is open to the sky. They do have umbrellas at either end of the neighborhood to use to walk across while it’s raining. During our meeting we did use our free drink vouchers, We waked a little after that and then headed to the room. Our laundry was back! Our new luggage tags were not there yet. I’ll ask if they’re not there after room servicing tomorrow morning. And a not good picture of the ticket, as promised. About 8:20 we headed to the restaurant. It’s going to be our last dinner in Coastal Kitchen, since we have specialty tomorrow. It was very busy. I think because it’s the last formal and it has lobster. While waiting, we took a peak at the dining room menu. It was really more for curiosity, because we’d missed our set dining time by about 1/2 hour. They did have lobster, but not rack of lamb. Interestingly the lobster that was a main entree was the same lobster as the upcharge lobster every day (including today). The wait wasn’t all that long, and we were seated at one of our regular tables. In a rare event, Glen and I had exactly the same meal - a wedge salad and rack of lamb. Best meal of the cruise so far. While they did have Baked Alaska on the menu, I don’t eat chocolate, so we both finished with creme brûlée. The wedge: And the lamb: After dessert we headed back to the room for the night. Tomorrow is the last full day of this cruise.

I usually don't get dining packages, as on a 7-10 day cruise, I prefer to do one specialty only. However, with my sister on the Beyond we have a 3 night, because Luminae on the E class has limited off menu options. I'm modifying a lot of things.

oops! Glad you enjoyed it.