abbydancer2003

Yup, all three movies. All it took was sending them money. (Charter members of the fan club, ie people who joined before Fellowship came out, got it).

The second is DInner???? We're on American to PBI for our Caribbean cruise later this month, and the dinner choices look dreadful. (SFO to DFW and then DFW to PBI). I guess I should plan to eat in the airport.

We just got a Roku that we haven't set up yet (when my 4 years of recorded TV shows Tivo disk got corrupted), so maybe we'll go to streaming at some point. By the way, if you have the extended LOTR movies, I'm on the fan credits at the end.

We actually travel with a small DVD/Blue Ray player an HDMI cable and a couple of DVD wallets with all of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. I agree about the lack of decent movies on X. On our transatlantic we spent a lot of time watching MSNBC, so I brought the DVD player out of retirement. (Those three series are movies I can watch over and over).

Throw some early evening dancing in there, do the show then dinner, and you've got our cruise.

I was thinking that since I order the same things so much of the time, that it might be a good idea to have stock pictures. And of course, feel free to steal as many as you want. By the way, when are you going to adopt me and take me with you? 😁

Day 9 Sea Day 4 - NOT Punta Arenas Sunday 2 We woke up in time for breakfast, so decided to go. Today, I had my variant of Eggs Benedict (regular bacon instead of Canadian - sorry my Canadian friends). It was pretty good, and the eggs were mostly runny (my pet peeve is overcooked eggs in this). After that, we did what is now our morning routine. Go to Michaels, have a latte, play with laptop and pop in and out of the casino. A little later this morning, I met with Susan, one of my cruise critic friends. We had a quick drink in Cellar Masters and then I walked her up to the buffet and chatted with her and her husband. They live in New York, so hopefully we’ll see each other again. Then I went down to get Glen for lunch. We were seated quickly. I ordered Thai lemongrass soup, which tasted pretty much like tom yum Gai should. We also had butter but notice what’s not there? Eventually bread showed up. Everyone was moving slowly and carefully today because of the weather. For my main I had the Cobb salad without egg. I did have to take the raw onions off, so now I know to order without them. There’s been a cruise critic discussion of whether it should have lardons (thick bacon cubes) or regular bacon. This had lardons. For dessert I had the strawberry shortcake from the main dining menu. Not bad Glen had this pretty thing. We think it might be ricotta cheesecake. After that, we met Linda and Don to play our games. We went to the main dining room today, The tables were set for dinner, but we moved the settings. After we were done playing we moved them back, or rather started to when a staff member said he’d finish. After games, I went back to the casino, and ran into Melissa. It’s always fun watching how they play since that’s how they fund their cruising. We also met the in Michael’s for tea. They finally had a cucumber sandwich, which I think should be on every tea. We agreed to meet for dinner at 6:30, and headed back to the room to enjoy watching a movie and the ocean. It was very busy tonight and that’s why we usually eat late. Luminae on the the M class ship is smaller than on the S class, but the number of suites, while less, but not the same ratio as the number of suites. Today, I declined the beef carpaccio. Good, but I can only eat so much of it. I started with a baba ganush and hummus appetizer from Blu. It was good, but the baba was kind of greenish and looked more like avocado mash. It did however taste like like eggplant. For my entree, I had Chicken Kiev from the main dining. This led to a discussion of how to pronounce it. Until 2022, we all thought Kiev was two syllables, but apparent the city is one. Did the chicken change too? In any case it was good. For dessert, I had the hibiscus parfait. They do make pretty desserts here: Glen had chocolate Carmel: Earlier the captain had said that it could get rough because we’d have waves coming in from two different directions. The show was cancelled for tonight. After dinner we tried to find danceable music, but there was either a guitarist or the orchestra (which is more like a large band), so we gave up. I went over to the casino and had a nice chat with one of the cashiers, lost some money and then went back to the rom. We continued watching our movie and then bed. Tomorrow, more of the same.

Hi, I don't know who's getting off when - sorry. Alejandro was the cruise director. I don't know if he's staying on, as I'm sure part of why he's on this is he's South American and can do everything in two languages. He's funny, but not as much as he thinks he is. I didn't interact with the captain's club team. I think there were three of them. Sorry!

My goal now is to post through Valparaiso before you leave. I will finish in the next 10 days. And thanks!

I bid on sold out categories. I know the move up almost certainly won't happen, but it doesn't cost anything to bid. And sometimes there are last minute cancellations. I had to do one last year because my covid test didn't go negative by the time I would have had to leave home.

We're doing this next year on the Solstice, so I'll be following along as well. Safe travels!

I'm in. The Apex is now on my bucket list. Have fun.

Sucks. FYI, I was able to do it on the Infinity.

It happens if someone is accessing the reservation, and closes the window without exiting the reservation. It's supposed to clear after a few minutes, but I don't know that it always does.

I just read the entire thread, as I've been off CC for a while (cruise followed by Iguazu Falls). I'm glad you had fun, and thanks for the cucumber salad recipe. A favorite restaurant that's long gone was a Danish Deli and the owner made the best roast beef sandwich ever, and served it with a side of cucumber salad. It may be the same, or similar to yours. Now if I can just get DH to make it for me. Thanks again, and good for you for staying up to date. As you know, it's not my strong point.

Day 8 Ushuaia Saturday 2 Today was Ushuaia - this is our 3rd time here. We’d originally decided to do nothing except maybe walk around here but a few weeks ago, Larry and Lisa decided to do a Tours by Local walking tour of the city, and so we decided to join them, in order to see the city. On both previous visits we’d gone to the national park, the post office, lakes, etc, so seeing what’s in the city would be nice. We’d agreed to meet then at 8:30 to meet our guide. We had coffee but not really breakfast, which was fine. Here’s the view from the ship We left the ship just after 8:30 and arrived at the port entrance at about 8:50. No sign of guide yet, but there was a couple trying to rebound the ship with their luggage. Apparently they’d disembarked in Uruguay due to illness, but now they were better. The problem was there was no one from Celebrity there to help. Larry decided to head back to the ship and notify X. He came back just after 9 and still no guide. Glen went looking for her, and Larry called the TBL help line. Apparently she’d been able to get to the gangway, so Larry went back again, and they connected. We walked to a monument to the 50th anniversary of Ushuaia. Here, our guide, Paula, gave us an orientation. Ushuaia is a new city, founded in the late 1800’s. The weather doesn’t vary much there, and it never gets very warm. Ushuaia is also the capital of Tierra del Fuego Province (note that name Tierra del Fuego comes from the fires that early explorers saw. These were the fires of the natives. Next stop was a time capsule monument. It was placed underneath the monument in 1992 (500 years after Columbus - who never actually reached the continents of the Americas) and will be opened 500 years later. Apparently Philco was instrumental in this, so I I guess there is a laser disc with 1992 television shows. It does beg the question of how they will play it in 400+ years. We then walked around the town. Paula pointed out a bunch of Tim and wood early buildings such as this one. We also saw a government building with the provincial flag. It was a good day for the tour, since there was no wind, but hard to see the flag. Throughout the city you can see old buildings next to new ones. Also, there are a lot direction signs. Here’s an example: Note: The rest of the world calls the Malvinas the Falklands. To the victor belong the spoils as they say. And we saw this interesting building. May have been an old jail. Next stop was the former prison. Turns out that Ushuaia was originally founded as a prison colony. Currently it’s part of the military. There’s a memorial to the 3 oceans. Each dolphin represents an ocean, but not the 3 you’d think. It’s Atlantic, Pacific (which meet around here) and Indian. As far as I remember, the Indian Ocean is nowhere near here. There’s also a building that apparently is a replica of the beagle channel light house. We found a new building that’s going to be a hotel. They’ve left the old building. Walking along, I found some interesting things. Nintendo wall. Heart full of caps and ducks. It’s at a reality office. I have no idea what it’s for. We continued walking and took a looked at the mountains surrounding the town. Since Ushuaia is at sea level, they aren’t that high, but they are pretty. Next up, we stopped for coffee. I had a very large cookie that I shared. We also stopped at a pharmacy so Glen could get shaving cream. The advantages of a private tour for 4 people. Interesting sculpture. I think it’s part of the Falkland War memorial. We then arrived at the top of a hill and looked down at what used to be missionary housing. Now it’s Navy. And no visit to Ushuaia would be complete without a picture at the sign. (Not sure why it's upside down or how to fix it) After that, we said goodbye to our guide, and decided to head to a restaurant she recoomended called Chiko’s for lunch. Both couples each shared a spider crab in a cheese/butter sauce. Very rich and very good. Following that, we headed back to the ship. First we stopped at our room and then went to see Larry’s room, since they’re in aqua class. After that, we got a snack at the buffet, since the crab wasn’t a lot. Following that, I decided a better snack would be tea at Michaels. I ran into Bob and Melissa there, Glen joined us, and we had a nice tea. The captain had announced that glaciers would be on the starboard side of the ship, so Bob asked if they could come over, since they’re on the port. Of course. The captain, as we left Ushuaia mentioned bad weather and that Punta Arenas might be a no go. We were going through the Beagle Channel. Both Bob and Melissa and Don and Linda came over. We all took pictures And some mountains. Last time we were there, we saw a lot glaciers to the ground. Maybe they’re still there and it’s a time of day thing. We got a text from Bob saying dinner at 8:15, which was about when it would start getting dark. At 8:15 we left Linda and Don on the balcony still taking pictures and we headed to dinner. Tonights amuse bouche was a blue cheese macaroon in a blueberry sauce. It was surprisingly good. I started with a panzenella salad, which was really just a green salad with more croutons than usual. I ordered Vindavan salad with rice for my main, and it was pretty good. This trip, I’m doing more chicken dishes. For dessert, I had green apple with meringue and grape sorbet. Good, but forgot to take a picture. After dinner, we danced a bit, and then went back to the room and watched a movie. Tomorrow was supposed to be Puente Arenas, but now it’s a sea day.

I'm just back from our first post retirement mega trip, and catching up. I always enjoy your reports, and my sister and I are on the Beyond early next year. I'm a little sad about the new D Boulund menu. The old dessert was my go to dessert when nothing else appealed, as I don't like chocolate.

Sorry for going AWOL. The days after the cruise were rockem sockem (did I just make up those spellings?) but I'm home, and will finish, before I start the next one in 2 weeks. Next post in a couple of hours.

For what it's worth. In 2021, Princess and Holland opened some lodges for land tours. We did that (cruise tour with just the tour part). The experience was great, and keeping the cruise, and doing the land tour with Princess lodges might give you a better overall experience. You may, though, have to do some extra hotel stays, and get yourself to Steward. There are transfers you can take, and Celebrity might have one from Anchorage.

Day 7 Sea day 3 - Friday 3/17 Today is mostly a sea day, although we’re supposed to get to Cape Horn around 5:30. We slept in a bit, still catching up from Puerto Madryn I guess. We decided to get breakfast at the buffet, since we’d missed the restaurants, including Tuscan continental. I had scrambled eggs, and had them put some cheese on it and a bagel with cream cheese that got very messy. We then did what’s becoming our morning routine, go to Michael’s club, sit in the high top tables near the window and drink lattes or tea and water. Today was an Al Bachio latte. Around 1;15 we went to lunch. For whatever reason, no wait today. I started with a favorite the baby heirloom tomato salad. I ended up having a hot dog with potato chips, and for dessert, I had an olive oil pudding with fruit, which tastes a lot better than it sounds. Following lunch, we met Linda and Don to play our usual games. I still haven’t won. Don thought that we’d have the better viewing of the lighthouse and monument from our balcony, so we invited them to join us. The captain’s announcement said that we’d get there around 6:30. And, since this was Friday, I figured I’d go to Friday night services first. The community board said they’d be in the Constellation lounge, but going in there it was a zoo, since it was packed with people waiting for Cape Horn. I asked, and was told it was on 3. Fortunately, a crew member told me that it was in a side room, part of the teen club. I went in and there were people, but no chairs, and no electronic candles. Bill and Brenda (we had dinner with them in BA) got everything organized and we did a quick service. After that, I went back to the room, to get ready for Cape Horn. We did get, around 6:15 a call from Don saying they had no view, so we invited them to our larger balcony. I ordered some coffee and cheese and crackers. We ended up, as the ship turned, switching between balconies. It was very cold but very enjoyable. Approach Lighthouse At about 7:40, Bob texted that they were ready for dinner. We joined them about 10 minutes later. I started with the spinach salad with warm bacon dressing from Blu. I think it has to be eaten in Blu since the dressing was cold by the time it got to me. Still good. Glen had the white balsamic glazed veggies. They looked pretty good. Nothing appealed on any of the menus, so we all pretty much had the steak from the anytime menu in main with bernaisse sauce. I did ask for it with the sides for the veal cheeks. (I have since learned that veal cheeks are not actually cheeks, but jowl meat so maybe I’ll have that next time.) For dessert, I had the Cherry Creameaux. Not sure what that was but it was good. As we left the restaurant, the party band was playing in the lounge, so we did a swing in the Luminae entrance. I think we entertained Krissimer, the lumina manager. From there, we went to the lounge and danced a couple more dances. The party band was playing so we did a couple to those, and then headed to the room to watch a movie and then bed.

Infinity Day 6 - Sea Day 2 - Thursday 1 This was our second sea day, and because we were very tired last night we went to bed pretty early, We woke up in time for breakfast which would be our first in Luminae. We arrived a bit before 9 and I had a cheese omelette and side of bacon. There was a lot of bacon, and it was a little more cooked than I like it. Glen ordered the huevos rancheros, and said it was good, although it doesn’t actually have ranchero sauce. He however, knew that, having had it lots of times. Following breakfast, we headed to Michael’s club, after grabbing our laptops. I finished the reading for my class, and opened the assignment for the week. A lot of busy work. At about 12:30 we went back up to the room and dropped our laptops. We went down to Luminae, but it was very crowded, so we grabbed jackets and headed for the open decks. It was cold though, so we took the jackets back and went down and waited for lunch. Eventually we were seated. For a starter I had the chicken and beef satay from the main with chili sauce (I think true satay should have peanut sauce). The sauce reminded me of some of the sauces we get from Blue Apron. For my main, I had, also from the dining room, spaghetti bolognese. After I got it, Luana dropped off a spoon for twirling. I’ve never used one, so Glen tried to teach me. Epic fail. The spaghetti was pretty good though. I had a banana creme brûlée for dessert, also from the main dining. It was good, with bits of banana in it. After lunch, I made a brief stop in the casino, and then met Bob and Melissa for Alejandro’s talk on the pandemic, specifically about being the cruise director on the Eclipse, which had to spend an additional 15 days getting passengers to San Diego. It was entertaining, but could have been a bit tighter. Then I went back to the room to try to get the assignment for this week done. We also started watching Harry Potter 5. At 5pm there was a senior officer gathering so we got dress for that. I spent some time with Bob and Melissa talking to the associate hotel director. Glen did, on the way to dinner, shake hands with the captain. After that, we headed to dinner. The amuse bouche was a goat cheese puff. We all got beef Carpaccio. I had the beef bourgeon from the main dining and it was good. Glen had the short ribs with steam buns For dessert, I went with the Daniel Beloud dessert. It’s supposed to be topped with raspberries, but they don’t have them. Instead there are strawberries, which are pretty but not quite the same. After dinner we went back to Rendezvous and danced a little bit. I stopped by the casino, and then went back to the room to finish my homework assignment, and watch the rest of the movie. Tomorrow is a sea day with Cape Horn in the evening.

And I've now finished my class (rumors of no internet down here are greatly exaggerated), So onward. I'l try to do two posts a day. Infinity Day 5 - Puerto Madryn 1. Wednesday 15 Today was Puerto Madryn, our second time there. We’d bought a tour from Shore Excursion Group to go to peninsula Valdez to see wildlife. Before bed last night, I ordered room service for a pastry breakfast (coffee, juice pastries) to be delivered between 6:30 and 7. We wanted to be off the ship around 7, so by ordering for 6;30 to 7 I knew, based on what I’d seen on other Cruise critic threads, that it would show up sometime before 6:30. Sure enough, at 6:15 Maria arrived with our breakfast. We had the curtains open while docking, so we watched that, in the dark. We were ready to go, and able to get off the ship around 7:05, and walked the long walk down the pier. There was a long line for the shuttle, so we figured walking would be faster. We arrived around 7:20, and found the tour company. We were led to the 12 person van for our group and waited for 6 more to show up. Just before 8 we left. Apparently there were supposed to be two more, but they apparently weren’t coming. We had our driver Mario, and our guide Andrea. Andrea told us a little about Puerto Madryn (for example, Madryn is a Welsh word) and about how the Welsh settled here. peninsula Valdez is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land, and is a protected nature reserver. Near to where the peninsula starts, we stopped by the entrance, and Andrea paid for the tickets. She gave each of us our ticket in case we wanted them as a souvenir. (We’ll eventually toss them I think). First stop was the visitors center for bathroom and information. There was a whale skeleton there, among other displays. Next stop was an area for wildlife. We did stop periodically for animals, mostly the ubiquious guanaco (related to camels). The landscape was interesting. Here’s typical. The wildlife area had mostly sea lions, but not a lot of them. People reported penguins , so I took a picture but when I enlarged it I think they’re Comoran birds Apparently Andrea had been talking to other guides and they said there was good viewing at the northern tip of the peninsula. That, however involved an hour of driving on a gravel road. Eventually we reached that area. Greeting us in the parking lot was a small armadillo. We walked to the boardwalk and below were many sea lions: Among them was one or two elephant seals. You can see them below - they are the light colored ones. We observed them for a while, and I liked the small family walking along the beach. Once we were done viewing we headed back to the van for our provided lunch. They gave us a ham and cheese sandwich (I gave Glen my ham, since I don’t like it), a cereal bar, and a chocolate covered cookie. Since I don’t like chocolate, I traded mine for his cereal bar. As we were about to leave, Andrea said there were some Orcas in the water, but to be honest, I didn’t really see anything. We then got back into the van and drove back down the gravel road. I’m not sure I ever need to go back there again. To be fair, this is the very end of the season, so most animals have migrated away (I don’t know where they go), so not a lot of any of them. Also, if sea lions are the great draw, we can see those in San Francisco, as there’s a dock next to Pier 39 where they live all year. It took about 2 hours to drive back to to the pier. We said good bye to Andrea and did the long walk back. There were two gangways open, and there was a line for the one on deck 5, so we went to the short one for deck 3. We stopped off in the room for water, and then I went down to Michael’s for tea time, Bob & Melissa eventually arrived after their tour to Punto Tambo (we did that last time) and Glen eventually joined us. We chatted, and then agreed to a 6:30 dinner. I went up to the buffet, where the Susan & Ken (we met them in BA and had talked before the cruise), were having a snack. When they left to get ready for the show, I went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We left a little early to see who was playing in Rendezvous, and it was a solo guitarist, so we headed to Luminae and waited. It was a nice dinner. The amuse bouche was a very pretty beef carpaccio and cheese Napoleon. I started with a Melon and procutto salad, which was pretty much standard. For my main, I had the filet from Blue and it was quite good. For dessert, three of us had the vanilla baba., but Glen had the dulche de leche granache (wth chocolate) After dinner, we went to the Tango show,. It was a couple and the were very good. I then did a little casino, and then bed. Second sea day tomorrow.

Infinity Day 4 - Sea Day 1 Tuesday 3/14 We didn’t have anything in the morning, so we slept in a bit. At around 9:15 we called Maria to get some coffee, juice and pastries. She arrived with that, plus the laundry that was supposed to arrive last night. After enjoying our breakfast, we headed to Michaels club. We sat at the table in the bar area to look out the window. We had lattes and talked to the staff. The person manning the bar was from Brazil, but gave us a recommendation for lunch in Ushuaia. I started working on the new week of class material. (Course stuff drops on Tuesday). At about 1, we went up and dropped our laptops and went to lunch. It’s the first sea day lunch, so in honor of it, I asked for my half Luminae burger. Our server for lunch was Chelsey and once she understood it was cut in half crosswise, to make a quarter pound burger, she said it would happen. We both started with the broiled feta and asparagus salad. I’m not exactly sure what is broiled on that, but it’s still good. Next Chelsey came back with my half burger. She said it took seven tries to explain it to them and if we see a chef with a black eye, we know why. Here it For dessert, I had the white chocolate mousse. It’s very good. After lunch, I decided to to start working on this weeks assignments, since I wanted to get everything done before we hit Cape Horn, as the IT manager on the Solstice had told me that there wasn’t good coverage “at the end of the world”. I also needed some lectures printed, so I sent those of to the concierges as well. Around 3pm, we’d agreed to meet Linda and Don to play Splendor. We met them by their room, which is 2 decks up from ours, and on the other side. We found a table in the buffet, and played. Glen won. We then taught them Flux, and they liked it, so we played a couple of rounds. After playing for a while, we went back to the room to dress, and get ready for dinner. It was our first of two evening chic nights, so we dressed up and went down and danced for a bit. We also went to the 7pm show, It was a South American singer, (Salvatore Hasard) who was good, but because he did the show in both English and Spanish, it got tedious. We left a little before it ended, and stopped by the room for a bit. We went to dinner just before 8pm. I had a spinach salad, and I’m not sure if it was from Blu or Main dining. For my main, I had the lamb chops. They were boneless, but good with mint jelly (let’s be honest, lamb chops are simply a mint jelly delivery system. For dessert, I had a buttermilk Panna Cotta with grape jello, fruit and kiwi compote. Here’s what it looks like Glen had ricotta cheesecake and it’s pretty, so here it is . After dinner we went back to the room and finished Goblet of Fire. We have a very early day tomorrow, so bed was early.

We’re in a sky suite. I was told it was for all guests.

I've been told that you directly tip your room steward (and butler if you have one) this way, but for dining stuff, it goes into the pool. I sometimes tip butler and room steward through the account and cash for the dining team.