jam19872016

In line five minutes early for silent disco. Lined up past bonsai quickly reaching ocean plaza.

I really want to make it to silent disco tonight but that Sun today kicked my butt. I haven't been this tired all cruise. Gonna hang on as long as I can. Bring on the Christmas music!! Rocking around the Christmas 🎄 🎶

It was not offered on our six day. Only on 7 or 8 day cruises, I'm not sure which but I know on the last set of menus it was only an option on eight night cruises but the preparation was not as good as this one was.

Got a seat after a few minutes. Kortney Williams. Pretty funny. Already a line to the piano bar for the next show in 30 minutes. At Ocean Plaza now.

Sro at comedy but I'm here.

Fried shrimp are a roll over from the last menus. Usually a very nice dish. These were over fried, or sat waiting too long. Maybe because they were prepared and then sat waiting for the hostess to call anyone down. Either way they weren't great tonight. The jambalaya was very tasty. The flavor reminded me of the jambalaya I ate as a kid and it hit me in the nostalgia bone. I don't think I've experienced that exact flavor profile in a jambalaya since then. I would definitely get this again. It is a little spicy, as it should be, so I would not recommend it to someone who does not like a little heat. Beef wellington I was asking myself why I got this. It's not usually very good. Comes out very soggy. This was not soggy in the least and the flavors were wonderful. This was seriously the best beef wellington I've ever had. So tender, so flavorful. The sides were also well prepared and I enjoyed every bite. One thing I do need to take note of going forward, medium rare really means medium rare and I need to start ordering medium well when I don't have the option of medium. The veal schnitzel is the same dish (except maybe it wasn't a veal? I'm thinking it was a pork but I can't remember) that is on one of the extra menus they pull out on the journeys cruises but it is one of my favorites that you don't see too often so I enjoyed it. It was a massive portion but it was quite tasty. Finishing out the delightful meal was the hazelnut mousse which was a nice light option that I appreciated after the massive amount of food I had just consumed. This also feels like it may be the same dish that I enjoyed on the journey cruise called hazelnut peanut cake, but I cannot be certain. If so I am quite delighted because I remember saying I wish they would put this on the regular rotation of menus. Other than the shrimp, this was another great meal and there were a number of other items that I wanted to try that I had to pass on to avoid a food induced coma. Service was quick once I got in and I am happy with the team inside the dining room. The process of getting in needs some improvement. This is a Magic problem, not a problem with Carnival's process as it usually works quite well.

It was a very scenic walk and it was indeed a very beautiful day. It's too bad so many Eastern cruises stop at Grand Turk and Amber Cove far more often than St. Thomas but I understand they make way more money from those ports since they had such a large hand in developing them.

Hazelnut mousse 719

Beef wellington and veal schnitzel 702.

Fried shrimp and app portion of the jambalaya 645

Finally got in at 620. First in the group of side by side tables but got the same wait team as last night and they were pretty quick. And the dining room is empty still because they have not sat anyone in a while. Of course, who knows how many just got the page to come down so kitchen may get slammed. First time with this menu.

I'm learning that on this ship...under 10 minutes means nothing. It makes no sense because I'm sitting by the dining room and they are not seating anyone.

Dinner on the lido was being set up earlier.

Went ahead and checked in for dinner. 554 under 10 minute wait.

I would support pushing that more than the Oh crap button. Could probably get more admin support than a 💩 to push too 😆.

Alex Mel. Angels 🎶

Keeping an eye on the dinner timer situation. Not quite hungry but if jumps up like it did last night I want to go ahead and request a table.

Sunset in St.Thomas

-1.6 today although I am skeptical that's accurate. Having a hard time getting the scale to work with all the vibrations being at the back of the ship.

My favorite sunset pic that I've ever taken was in St. Thomas on my Mom's birthday from this very ship May 29, 2018. I don't know what I did that caused this lighting effect, but I thought it looked amazing. No chance of recreating it, but I am off to see what kind of sunset St. Thomas has to offer me today since sunset is at 4:43 today.

Seating along the way if you need a rest. And we are caught up.

Peek a boo, I see you! Taking a slightly different path back to the ship to get me closer to the boats in the harbor.

I've reached my ending point. Almost made it through downtown but it was time to turn back around. Frenchtown didn't appear to far away on the map, and after that Crown Bay which is where Royal Caribbean ships dock when visiting the island. Furthest views of the ships before I turned around. Walking back I stopped into the legislative office of the Virgin Islands. I was not sure if I was supposed to be hear, but the gates were open I went in. I was approached and told I was not allowed to be here. I can't remember his exact wording, but he said it was okay to take photos so I am not sure if he was saying being outside the building was ok as long as I did not go inside, or if he meant I had to take the pictures from outside the (open) fence. I apologized and moved on but I would have liked some more photos of the nice Christmas display they had on the lawn. There was also a peaceful demonstration taking place just outside the gate. They were not blocking traffic or the sidewalk and did not seem to be protesting the same cause as the signs were all over the place.

Looking back at the water, I don't need Google to tell me I am looking at something interesting. I've reached downtown.

Walking. Seems like less sailboats in the harbor than I remember, but still a gorgeous sight against the beautiful backdrop of the landscape. Getting close to downtown now. I thought this was interesting, I googled it back on the ship and it's an insurance office. Ooops.