ColdCruise

“We had the same offer on our TAP flight, bid, didn't win. ”

This morning for breakfast, I had the steak and eggs. OMG - the MedRare 6 oz strip came I ordered came out juicy, even mingling with my egg. OTOH, it was well done, but … still juicy. I did send this back to be recooked and it came out the right temperature and still juicy. I think a thinner cut is harder to prepare, so IDK what’s going on. (We’re in a suite so can breakfast at Cagney’s)

I posted about our Latitudes Wines Around the World experience in post #59 in my V!va trip report (link below) There were so many people with sufficient “status” that Viva set up 2 wine tastings and changed the venue to a larger space in Commodore. Big change from last Sept Prima when it was full before people even boarded. Viva’s CruiseNext team (also the Latitudes team) has been very helpful, especially Rafael (my husband refers to him as Sinbad 🤩). He provided us the times for both the wine tasting and behind the scenes and mentioned they'd had to add extra times due to popularity and the number of Platinum and above (1000+) onboard. Make a beeline for the CruiseNext Desk after boarding unless you’re in suites or Haven, then let the concierge coordinate for you.

Just returned from breakfast and information about the US Customs (CBP) was in our “mailbox” Very early so should allow a decent amount if time for Black Friday shopping in St Thomas!

Today’s Freestyle hasn’t been loaded into the NCL app as of 0830, screen shots if the paper copy here (just not as neat as screen shots) And the promotions

welcome to Day 8, 23 Nov - Happy Thanksgiving from onboard NCL V!va Approaching St Thomas Winds at 5 knots temps in low 80s glass seas

Yes some invite shows up every day, ir so it seems. Today’s the “Grande Finale”, so maybe the invites will cease to appear and why are they so dang early? I think they’ve all been in the 1000 hour

It was there, very closely trimmed, hard to see with the searing. A decent stripe of marbling through the top third but the marbling was also contained tendon. Not prime grade, choice at best. The lack of fatty marbling and a generous fat cap as you pointed out contributed to the dryness. But the preparation is the key. They sear the meat then put it in an oven at around 400F. I think it’s also a convection oven (unconfirmed but based on my own experiments with convection). I don't think the searing is sufficient to keep the meat from loosing moisture in the oven. I mentioned use of a salamander but chef didn’t exactly confirm but there are lines in the steak. However in the behind the scenes tour through Onda’s kitchen the gleaming stainless steel equipment consisted of a flat griddle and a ridged one. The Onda executive chef said they use the salamander for their streak (Onda does 150 covers per night, average of 30 steaks per night). I think Cagney’s is using the ridged griddle to sear, this wouldn’t be as hot as the salamander (I used to work in a large hotel kitchen and worked the meat station).

I have to say Nelson Martins (GM) is by far the most available, and affable, person in that role that I’ve encountered. He tells a good story, is humorous, gives straight answers (or they seem straight) and is all over the Viva interacting with pax. In general I see more higher officers in Viva than I did in Prima. hope your dinner was enjoyable @JIMESOPUS

Tonight’s position, Day 7, 22 Nov, 1930 ships time

The whole issue with the steaks (and the wine) left me feeling hyper-critical and entitled. The waiter, chef and restaurant manager all came by to discuss the steak and offered to cook another. But after discussing the preparation method with the chef, I don’t think another steak would come out much differently and would just waste a good cut of meat. I felt bad enough leaving 8+ ounces of beef steak on my plate as it was. Hence the entitled part - wasting pricey food because it wasn’t prepared to my taste - it’s not how I normally roll. ☹️

Highlights of the meal? Potatoes and OMG cheesecake, a bite of which had me actually say “OMG” it was that good!

And the prime rib : nice and pink but on the plate - dry au jus was thickened and didn’t add enough moisture

So dinner tonight…. Cagney’s with our Latitudes meal coupon with a bottle of wine. We usually reserve that for Cagney’s as they have a bigger wine list. i think this is the last steak dinner we’ll be having at Cagney’s. The meat didn't live ip to the hype nor was it as good as the filet’s at Onda and Le Bistro earlier this sailing. To be fair, I didn’t have another filet, but my 2nd preferred cut, ribeye (the marbling adds so much more flavor, the same as for ny favorite cut, porterhouse). So I'm not comparing exact cuts. On the other hand, I've probably had more steak 🥩 both filet and ribeye than average. anyways we ordered ribeye and prime rib, both medium-rare as we like a juicy but chewable steak. Both were dry, bone dry. The ribeye was beautiful to look at - seared outside nice a pink through out once cut … but barely a drop of moisture oozed onto the plate when cut through the middle (the pink on the plate is from trying to manipulate the cut)

I noticed that delta. Butler. Butler said it was an IT glitch and trust the TV.

I was surprised to hear 2 of the senior officers on V!va refer to Aqua as a Prima+ class, both occurred yesterday. I wonder if this is new corporate nomenclature getting pushed out to the fleet?

We had same issue before - DH had 3 account. PCC fixed it, then I booked another cruise last month and those duplicate accounts reappeared . Will lneed to re-fix it when we get back home from Viva TA.

@graphicguy and @cruiseny4life - totally agree! @asctony if. You’ve already planned out you FAS dining package, buy the 2 meal package BEFORE embarkation (price goes up IME). While we haven’t tried it, I’ve been seeing several people post that they’ve shared the dining package at some restos, ie use 1 package meal and the other person buy something small then share everything between the 2 people. Probably works best for small to average eaters. I find I can no longer eat 4 items at Cagneys without regretting it later. Used to be able to eat soup, salad, 1lb prime rib + steak house baked potato with room for dessert. Those nights are past……

Very disappointed - 2nd time NCL cancelled our attempted Canary Islands cruise out of Lisbon. This one had 3 different Canary Islands (usually it’s only 2 islands) and a unique Portuguese port I’ve never seen in an NCL itinerary before. And we got this with a double up CruiseNext 😫

Received the following letter from NCL last night:

Everyone has their own preference for entertainment. Game shows appeal because the viewer/audience can test their wits against the contestants or whatever. Similar to the very popular and at capacity Murder Mystery Viva put on in Onda today (disappointed we didn’t get there in time from the Deck & Engine Q&A to cop a seat! - 2nd offering BTW) or the very well attended and competitive Progressive Trivia the assistant cruise director has been hosting this sailing. I enjoyed the Price is Right on Prima, even though none of contestants at our showing had a clue about the game, so it was not well played (cultural and language disconnects ) I think NCL may have profited from that blooper and implemented the application process for Press Your Luck, since all the contestants were clued in yesterday and it was a good showing. Great audience participation, so I think NCL is to something i will say they put an effort into the stage setting for both shows. And, for my money & time, I’d rather see well presented game shows than the amateur hour talent shows on other cruise lines (eg Voice of the Sea) - for that, I’ll head to karaoke ! [EXCEPTION TO CREW TALENT SHOWS - they are fun & funny]

Hardly not sure who that might be

Suspect that’s rhetorical…. NCL & Fincanteri same design as Prima

There were several announcements in the Freestyle calling for people to apply as a participant. No charge AFAIK or heard of. I don’t recall ever seeing this show on TV, husband has. We saw it last night, theater was crowded with lots of audience participation and energy. Lots of fun! 3 participants selected for each show from those who applied. 3 rounds with elimination if they got 2 whammys final round could win up to 5K some options between rounds for selected audience to play for prizes Warning - we needed reservations but those on B2B said they were previously told they didn't need reservations and we caught short by the change. Get a reservation!

Left to right chief engineer from 🇬🇷 captain from 🇮🇹 general manager from 🇫🇷 see photo of officer’s names upstream. I know I’d misspell at least one name 🤣