need2bespoiled

7 minutes ago, JMB27 said:

 

Oh, did you have trouble with the pics before?  I thought you'd always had them upright and therefore hope that didn't come out as a criticism, as I knew a lot of people had had trouble with them.  🙂  

No criticism at all.  Cruise Critic and pics were giving me fits!  I did the best that it allowed.  I wish I could go back and fix it 😞

Happy sailing,

Jenna

3 minutes ago, JMB27 said:

Glad you're back!  I don't understand the negativity by some, and I greatly appreciate your thread.  I'll be on my first Azamara cruise in 2.5 weeks (on Journey) and am soaking up as much info as possible, and you've been a great resource for that!  

 

Gorgeous pics above (and upright, even!).  Looking forward to the rest.

Since everything is now in the cloud, and on my computer, I now can post pictures properly.  I hope to be done before you leave 🙂

Happy sailling,
Jenna

Hi Honey, I'm home, well, not quite home and now that I've dealt with a few emergencies I had here in FL, I am going to try and get back to this, if some are interested, though clearly a few aren't, but i guess they can just unsubscribe? I have a perspective to share and will try and do that. I head home to Maine and snow tomorrow, very big yuck. I still don't have great internet but it is better than on the ship and I will try and "Chip" away at the next 11 days of cruising, because, well, that's why we're all here, right?

Where were we anyway?  The day after Gibraltar was a sea day, Thursday, 11th of November. The day started for me with a spin class, and then on to an engine room tour, off to the pool, progressive trivia, lunch at the Patio, more pool, massage, relax before dinner, eat myself into oblivion.  Is there a cruise where anyone goes hungry?  Pretty much how much of the cruise went, with only a few days to break up the excellent monotony that vacation for me should be, as I get my fair share of excitement when I am on the road working.

Here is the program for 11/9.


We had many wonderful sunrises off the aft deck.

Engine control room tour was on of the better ones I've been on. The chief engineer has been on Journey's ship for a while, but he opened these as R class ship years ago and was asked to come back for his knowledge after a few years on Celebrity.


How can you not enjoy this view?


I could even occasionally spy a great sunset.


We received notification that water on the entire ship would be off from 12:30-3:30a I believe.  Maybe the timing can be confirmed on the other thread?

The next day would bring Funchal, and another surprise tour by Dee.

Happy sailing,
Jenna

14 hours ago, summit011604 said:

Jenna, I just stumbled on your thread and got caught up.  Another great critique of yours that I have been waiting patiently for.  Your photos and descriptions are wonderful.  Did any of you have an opportunity to hold one of the apes?  I did and he was a hoot.  Enjoy the rest of your “Journey.”  😉

Paul

Thanks!

 

i’ve been enjoying our sea days and time with friends so I’m almost 2 weeks behind but I have lots of pics and stories to share, starting tomorrow as I get caught up on work and this log once I have “real” internet. 
 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

1 hour ago, Covepointcruiser said:

I am still eagerly waiting for the source (MD or FL) of the $12 Whispering Angel wine???

I know nothing about the white wine you are showing.

Seeing how there has been no Whispering Angel offered to me, and it’s a Rose as far as I can tell, not a bold full bodied red or oaky white that we drink. 

 

Here it is for 28 Canadian. Less than $22 USD at the first place that came up on Vivino. 
 

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna
 

 

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Is the interactive TV for food ordering not working on Journey?

 

Phil

 

1 hour ago, uktog said:

It is. That’s what we are using no problem 

it’s pretty limited. No discovery menu and what Dee wanted yesterday was chicken soup, ginger and cracker and some sea sickness medication.  All easily available with a quick call. None available by TV. 
 

Rob gave me an email address but even though I sent an email to the correct address they never received it. Heiki sent me an email so now they are receiving mine. Hopefully this helps. 
 

It’s still not easy when you change a dinner reservation 3 times in a day as friend join in or you’d like a latte delivered or maybe would like to see the menu for the evening in discoveries. Things a quick a quick call to our butler previously provided. 
 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

1 hour ago, uktog said:

I am not sure what floor you are on but our stateroom attendant has been in our corridor all afternoon and has just been relieved by her assistant. It’s hard for them they are losing well deserved downtime with extra shifts. 
Not sure what else they can do, they are flying experts to come onboard in Bermuda. 
Id ask to speak with Clifford or Heike re your balcony issue. 

I spoke with Heiki and the bird was removed and balcony cleaned.

 

When our furniture was set up that morning, how did they miss it? Why do we need to ask the hotel director or guest relations or a striped officier for this? 
 

Our friends on other floors have told me there are people in the hallways. This is from mid-day today and except morning when rooms are being cleaned and evening when turn down is done, this is what our hallway looked like. I “called” down the hallway and nothing. An Officier did cone to our door a bit later as they most of noticed on cameras but I already walked to Guest Relations and ordered room service. 
 

It’s frustrating, I understand it’s out of their control.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Here is the daily schedule for Malaga.  I forgot to post.

Here is the daily schedule for today, Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is a small island with not so much to do. Jen and Toni had been there multiple times so we knew we could get a cab / tour on walking off the ship.  We walked past the first few guides soliciting tours in the terminal and picked one outside the terminal. We negotiated for both a private tour with our guide Lester, so we didn't have to wait and to see the only runway in the world with an active road that crosses through the runway.  The cost was 45 Euro per person and the tour would last about 2 hours.

 

Seeing Gibraltar by a smaller car (van vs bus or taking the cable car) has some advantages in that you aren’t pushed to the edges of the rock faces by the cars as you go up and down on foot and it speeds things up a bit.  Our first stop was the runway (mostly to humor me).  

 

 

 

Next up we headed to the Pillars of Hercules and the viewpoint overlooking that harbor.  From this spot you can see three countries (Spain, Gibraltar and Tangiers Africa).

 

We also got our first glimpse of the famous monkeys.

Jen and I having a little fun.

 

 

From here it was up to the St Michael’s Caves and more monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there, it was up to where the monkeys were fed.

 

 

 

A great shot of Journey and Reflection for size comparison.

 

Then up again to the great siege tunnels.

 

 

A plane waiting to take off.

 

Hopefully this loads for everyone. I got a great clip of a plane taking off, and the sharp bank to the left it has to make to avoid Spanish airspace as well as the stopped traffic at the runway.

Another shot of the difference between Reflection and Journey.

From there we had Lester drop us off in town, so we could walk through town, do some shopping and then we strolled back to the ship.

 

 

A great day in Gibraltar.

The day didn’t end there, as we had a busy afternoon with the Discover + / Platinum cocktail that afternoon and the stateside chef’s tablet that night.  It was a low-key event, nice food and drinks and live background music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We purchased the Stateside Chef’s table as part of a package with all three Chef’s tablets.  Overall, we were disappointed in the food and wine offered.  Some dishes were ok, but one was totally inedible, and cold.

 

 

 

 

Here are the dishes.

Great northern seafood salad.  It was nicely plated and served with the Cline Viognier which is an ok wine.  The dish is solved cold.

Next up was the Southern Style Consume.  The broth was good, though not served hot.  Tepid would be the word to describe it.

 

The Caribbean lobster dish was ok.  Not a lot of lobster and over powered by the pineapple. 

 

Darlene enjoyed the Granite, I prefer mine smoother, which has been a them of all of them on board.  Tastes of course vary. I can't seem to find a picture.

Darlene has the poached Sole and Shrimp.  The sole was ok, though cold, the shrimp was so overcooked as to be completely inedible.  I tried it and actually spit it out it was so bad.

 

 

My veal was fine.  I didn’t need the sauce (not shown, was served on the side as I requested it that way) as I thought it was too strong and hid the flavor of the meat, which again was not served hot.

 

Jen really enjoyed the goat cheese ravioli. I thought it was unique.

The Dessert was beautiful.  I enjoyed the chocolate and other elements, though wish the “mouse” was lighter.  It was dense.

Our traveling crew.

Next up, sea day number 2. But first, since I am way behind, I want to add that we are enjoying our cruise.  We're meeting many great people and think there are a number of standouts among the staff.  There are also some misses which are unfortunate.  A few examples I'll highlight in future days include finding a bird on our balcony, no big deal, he left a little mess, but when we came back after a day ashore he was still there, but dead.  The mess he left or his body wasn't cleaned up or removed.  No guest phones are working and haven't been for almost 2 day and the earliest will be two more days.  It makes asking questions, using a butler or getting something like room service when you're in the cabin challenging.  We have quite a big swell currently, the ship is pitching and while it is fine for me it effects Dee who likes to have chicken soup delivered. Without a phone this simple task means me running to the guest relations desk or maybe finding someone in a hallway.  They stated they are putting more staff in the hallways but I have not found this to be the case.

Happy sailing,
Jenna

On 11/11/2019 at 1:42 PM, BBMacLaird said:

Hi need2bespoiled,

I'm enjoying your live cruise review. Glad you two are having fun! 

I enjoy your foodie fotos though some aren't opening for me...and I'm on land using wifi and a Mac laptop? But those that I can see look scrumptious! Thank you for taking the time out of your vacation to post!

Thanks!  I am having a hard time doing this efficiently.  We are in tech, develop our own code and websites but find between the internet speed and Cruise Critic, the interface is unforgiving. I am sorry some pics aren't loading.  I can't go back and edit or I would be happy to.  Maybe I can get special permission to fix some of the previous posts?

As far as wines go, I will try and get a picture of the list.  It is the same list, bottles and glasses all over the ship.  The nicest chardonnay for Dee is Kendall Jackson.  Regularly $12 a bottle at Sam's Club.  I'll look at the Cabs for me, but nothing was too interesting so we've been drinking bottles of Cabs and Pinot Noirs.  At the Italian Chef's table we had one wine we liked that we'll switch over too that was very good, but nothing even close for sale by the glass or comparable to the nicer wines we can get onboard Celebrity.
 

I do have a pic of every Insider.  Here was the first day, sea day I forgot to post above.

 

We arrived in Malaga to a beautiful sunrise.

 

This is a port that Darlene and I had never been to before but Toni and Jen had.  Toni didn’t join us on our tour, she had recently made contact with a friend she hadn’t seen in years that happened to be in Malaga so she went off with her friend.  Dee, Jen and I met our guide, David who Dee found on Tours by Locals, just outside the port doors at 9am and boarded our mini-bus for a ride to Ronda about 115 KM or so from Malaga.  He was in a hurry to get to the first few stops before the afternoon showers started but he prepared us by contacting Dee in advance and had us bring warmer clothes / layers and umbrellas. Jen and I really didn’t know what to expect, as is usually the case, Darlene completely planned this one, and it's not worth questioning the job she does on tours and this one like all didn't disappoint.

David was very interested in sharing information and history on the hour and fifteen minute drive to Ronda and knew the area very well.  Maybe a tad on the talkative side.

Our first stop was down an narrow winding road to a viewpoint below the city, just above the river overlooking the “new” bridge which is one of three that connect the city.

 

 

 

From there it was back into the van and up into one of the main squares, in a quiet part of town, outside of the touristy area. 
 

 

 

 

From there we would walk the town, meeting up with our car later in the day.  Dee had subbed her toe very badly on a door stop that was just in front of the toilet in our bathroom at the Cotton House and her foot was still swollen and sore so she asked to find café after the first part of the walk and encouraged us to continue on and catch up later.  We made plans to meet up for lunch. David was often concerned about Dee, but when I called her later to ask to see if she wanted to join us, she was off shopping and wanted to walk town at her own pace.  Transatlantics provide an easy way to shop and get holiday gifts home, without dealing with airlines for those that live in the U.S.

As we walked town, Jen found a cat and was in her happy place when she coaxed it into her arms, it was fairly friendly.


We continued to walk town and were rewarded with previews of the cliffscapes (my word I guess).

 

 

 

Town is interesting with lots of options from caves and tunnels to shops.

 

Every town needs a water fountain

 

 

While the town has a touristy shopping center area with a mix of local shops, inexpensive souvenir shops it also has some galleries and local craftsman to supplement the amazing cliffscapes of this city built on the hill.  It was quite crowded with a number of Gate 1 travel groups you can see in some of the pics, among others walking through town. While it is quite a drive from Malaga, I thought it was well worth it and a good opportunity to see something different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About 12:30p the rain that we knew may be coming started to pick up so David, Jen and I did one more walk of another part of town and by the still in use bull fighting ring on our way to meet Dee for lunch.



David suggested Albacara,



The restaurant sits precariously overlooking the cliffs just a block away from the new bridge.  Lunch was excellent on their enclosed patio with heat lamps as it was cold and rainy.  We took our time with lunch as the rain was coming down hard.

We started with Fois (a theme here?) and artichoke starter than had ham and an lightly cooked egg.  Both we very good.

 

 

We asked if the traditionally cooked lamb was a stew and if it had olives because of the numerous olive trees in the area and were told yes, so Dee ordered the seared lamb. It was ok but she thought it was dry.

 

It turned out the traditional lamb dish was not a stew, had no olives and was excellent.  This was my choice.

 

Jennifer had the suckling pig traditionally prepared which she also loved.

 

We departed lunch as the rain stopped at 2:45p for a few stops in shops and agreed to meetup at 3:15p to head back to Malaga. On our way back we made one stop at a hill overlooking town and the large bull fighting ring in Malaga.  We could also spy on Journey down in the port.

We arrived back to the ship about 5pm to relax.  Lunch was large but Eric, the cruise director made an announcement that the chef brought fresh tomatoes, burrata and fish onboard which was being served in Windows (the buffet) with a live pasta station.  Dee was into this as she could have her meal prepared freshly as she wished.  On the way up, we could smell the garlic and onions in the stairway. The antipasti was EXCELLENT, as was the burrata.  We didn’t try the fish, we just weren’t that hungry but I did try a small plate of pasta. No pics from this relaxed dinner.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

3 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

If you believe the Celebrity wine list is better you should certainly stick with them!

We went to book another voyage in a suite and our first five were sold out!!   Folks that better appreciate Celebrity should stick with them and leave Azamara to us.    If you really enjoy a good wine list look at the one n QM2.    I believe it’s 35 pages or more long and all that is available is not in the list.    There is a copy on the Cunard Board so read and weep.    Wines included in the fare are not the best but are not much worse than Seabourn.    You do have to pay extra for the better wines and we pay for what we enjoy.

Wow. A little defensive?

 

We've been buying bottles and have no problem with that but selection is limited. Wines by the glass for purchase or with the ultimate package max out are about a $12 bottle of wine at home. They’re fine but; bleh. 
 

We’d love to try Cunard and will when the schedule and itinerary match up. We just expected more and are happy to pay for it. Our feeling is they don’t have room onboard for a lot of wine when they’re pouring 120 bottles of the daily. 
 

I’m simply sharing our experience. To each their own. 
 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

I am definitely behind.  We are 5 days into the cruise but given that I try and post pictures and the speed of the internet to get them posted, it has been a real challenge. I was able to get some photos transferred and prepped to upload while at stop for lunch yesterday in Funchal.  I am going to try and get caught up over the next sea day or two but I still have some pics from Funchal stuck on my phone.

 

Our first full day of the cruise was a much-needed sea day.  We had coffee delivered in the morning. D prefers decaf latte and I drink full test cappuccino.  We had both delivered in a full carafe before we woke with a few pastries.  Since most of the morning was gone by the time we enjoyed this luxury, we didn’t really have much else.  My first stop after catching up with a few work needs was up to trivia at 12:15.  I joined Toni and Jen on the Transatlantix.  After day 1 we we’re currently sitting in the middle of the pack in 6^th place our of 12.  Given the point structure and our expertise in convincing ourselves the correct answer is in fact, wrong, we figured we'd happily end up right there laughing all the way with our team mates.

Dee showed up as we finished scoring trivia, trying to remember the 4 houses of Harry Potter and then it was off to lunch at the Patio.  Dee has a thing about buffets in general and the patio has been quite nice for its location, variety and ability for Jen and I to grab a salad from the salad bar their or in at the buffet, add soup or try other items while we can also order the reasonably sized offerings of the patio if we choose.

 

I left lunch for a much-needed nail appointment, which was quite good. With all the moving around, packing and unpacking and luggage duties, I had done plenty of damage to the manicure I had before we left for Guyana almost 2 weeks ago. Prices in general are what would be expected.  It’s not the same as your typical land-based nail salon but very comparable to your typical land based spa and I though quite reasonable and a good way to chip away at our extensive on board credit.

 

From there it was back to our cabin and getting ready to head up to the LGBT gathering to meet some others on board.  We were definitely surprised when more than 30 people showed up, plus a couple of officers to host the party. Definitely a fun and friendly group.  Hi guys!

From there it was off to Prime C to meet Toni and Jen.  Service at the restaurants has generally been good, reasonably paced though not overly refined. There are nice touches like offering dark napkins for those dressed in dark colors.  We’ve enjoyed some bottles of wines both chosen by us and the somelier though the list is not extensive.  Even with an upgraded package, we are disappointed by the variety and quality of wines on board.  We don't drink expensive wines at home but it is a nice splurge on vacation and Celebrity beats Azamara by a long shot in the wine department.

I started with the onion soup, which has a tasty broth, a few “mini muffins” (my description) and no cheese.  I then tried the wedge and chop chop salad. This is two different salads on one plate.  The chop chop side is a small preformed salad though not mostly lettuce.  Neither Jen or I liked their special dressing on the wedge and would just ask for a traditional preparation next time.  Jen enjoyed the chop chop salad, it wasn’t really to my liking.  For my main I had the 5oz filet (also offered in 7oz), while not overly appetizing in its visual appeal tasted very good. A small baked potato and tasty creamed spinach finished off my main course.  I definitely won’t go hungry.  For dessert I had the donuts with dipping sauces.  I really only tried the chocolate.  They were good but given they were fried would have preferred them to be lighter. I believe the up charge for Aqualina and Prime C is $30 but our cabin came with unlimited specialty dining.

 

I only have a few pics and fail in my early days on board in the food picture department.  I do (will) get better!

 

From Prime C we headed off to the guest performer show which was billed as “Piano Man”.  For some reason we expected a Billy Joel performance.  I am not sure where we went astray but the show is mostly classical music.  After enjoying a set in the Cabaret Lounge we headed up to the living room which is the name for the forward high up lounge where late night takes place, for the Motown dance party.  While it took a few songs to get the crowd on the dance floor, once it got going there were quite a few dancers and the night was quite fun though we didn’t stay out too late as the next morning we would be docking in Malaga and heading to Ronda.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

15 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Ask your butler about blankets - they have them on board and use them on cool White Nights.

Thanks for the tip! I think I saw some on a lounge chair somewhere.
Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

30 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

What do you think of your cabin?   It’s an exact match to our suite (different deck).   It has been too cold to use the nice balcony and there are no steamship blankets available.  We find the tile in the bathroom is too busy for our eyes and miss the storage space available in the bathroom of suites on other ships.   Do you also have only one full length mirror?    

We’re obviously very fortunate. So far the cruise is very nice but the cabin while it has plenty of storage is not overly functional. Challenges like lack of 120v outlets by the bed. 1 full length mirror, metal balcony enclosure as oppose to glass, no storage in the bathroom, very deep sofa, lots of plumping into each other with narrow paths around the bed, make our preference remain deck 6 aft on M-Class Celebrity ships. 
 

See you tonight 🙂
 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

FINALLY! We're to boarding and the ACTUAL Cruise!

 

Some posting on our roll call questioned where we were supposed to check in. Since I am a boater, I had already looked at where Journey was with a marine tracking app.

After my fiasco I wrote about above, we were in our cab and on the way.  We got a very nice, new cab.  We asked our cabby to confirm where to go and were brought right to the correct terminal (E) to board.  There was barely anyone there, so we dumped our considerable luggage and carried our wine in (the wouldn’t check it).  Darlene being the trouper that she is carried it up the elevator and into the checkin hall which was HUGE for this ship.  While she started the checkin process with the pier staff I walked over to an officer and asked him to take the wine and send it to our stateroom, they wouldn’t check it with our luggage.  He looked at my funny a few times so I walked over to where Dee put it down and asked him again. I really didn’t feel like carrying it onboard. He thought about it again and looked over and saw someone from housekeeping across the hall, asked him to come over and then instructed him to take it to the someone else in housekeeping to take to our room.  Success.

I walked over to Dee, who was having some issue because they couldn’t find our booking, even though Dee could see it on the sheet. I pulled out the boarding paperwork and we were walking through the maze of the gangway within a few more minutes.  Once boarded we were greeted by the head of housekeeping who told us our stateroom was ready and he would show us the way as the butler had our wine and was delivering it.  He asked to take my carry on bag which I gladly handed to him.  He almost fell over with how heavy I was, I don’t travel light. It had both D and my computers plus a spare battery and other gadgets.  The other had some shoes in it, plus a few other things.

The suite is very nice, about the size of a royal suite on Celebrity M Class but missing a few of the amenities. No Jacuzzi, smaller table, no walk in closet, but the bedroom area is bigger and there is plenty of storage.  No night light? What's up with that?  We like the location aft, always, and the intimate size of the ship.

 

 

 

 

it was a bit breezy out

 

 

 

 

 

After getting to our cabin, I was on a mission to head back to customs to get my VAT forms stamped as instructed earlier in the morning (again, read back for that saga).  I met up with Jen for the walk to terminal A where I was told I could have the VAT forms validated.  After a 20 minute walk, and waiting for almost 30 minutes for a custom officer I was told he could not stamp them because we weren’t leaving the EU.  We were both very patient and I asked for his card very nicely so I could quote the instructions if I had any issues, but was almost detained so Jen and I bailed out of there quickly.

 

We met D up at the patio (it was now past 2:30p for a quick light lunch. I had a small salad and part of the lamb burger.  Jen had a salad and Dee had feta burger.

 

After lunch it was unpacking time up until muster at 5pm.  From muster it was back to the cabin, finish unpacking, go over a few things with our butler (Ronald) and then we had to get ready for dinner at 8p where Dee decided we would dine at Aqualina.

Toni, Jen Dee and I were promptly seated, maybe a few minutes early.  The restaurant is rather small.  Some tables down the port side and a few across the back until halfway across where Prime C starts.  I fail in my first meal report onboard as we have NO pictures The food was very good.  I am surprised how much everyone chose to try.  I had the tuna tartar which was good, a nightly special salad which I didn't enjoy, too much radicchio lettuce which was not in the description, and then I had the lobster and squid ink pasta.  All were very good to my taste.  From there we were pretty tired and called it a night, but Jen headed to the dance club up on deck 10 forward and reported it was quite busy.

 

Next up is a boring sea day report, followed by my report of Malaga, and our trip to Ronda.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

This board is giving me FITS trying to post this well, even when I edit it down and remove the pics, they come back. I am in technology for a living and this is ridiculous!

All of the amazing pictures from above, should have the following captions.

 

The little triangle is yummy goodness eaten in one bit.  Otherwise you'll have a runny mess on your fingers.  It tastes like a cross between chocolate, fois and hazelnuts and the dish is finished off with the mango. Both bites are needed for the flavor.

 

The next dish may look and taste like cheese but it basically air.

 

Grilled cheese sandwich? Nope, the dish below is stick to the top of your mouth, gazpacho. You sniff a glass with vinegar and that is what gives it the flavor.  If you don't sniff, it won't taste as it should.

 

The next dish had olives, so D go the dish below.  Each of the little balls was different, some were iced, some not.  It was basically a watermelon and feta salad.

 

The next dish is what they call Distrufor's "Gilda" (a snack of olive, anchovy and pepper). The fish is mackerel and was our least favorite dish or component. 

 

This is a crispy egg.  We were instructed to take a bit of the first top piece, and then pour the contents into the egg, eat the outer layer and then the egg.  It has a warm mushroom gelatin.  It was very yummy.

 

The next beautiful plate is deconstructed ceviche.  I guess the foamy thing in the middle was supposed to look like fish, but not sure.

 

The tweezers were given to us to eat the following dish, razor clams that were instantly cured in salt and then set overnight. The razor clams, which I sent back after having hard time waiving down a server.  My first batch was too gritty to eat, tasted like sand.

 

The dish in the video is pasta carbonara but the pasta is not pasta but gelatin, there is no ham, yet it is creamy goodness with al dente pasta that melts in your mouth. The little red circles is tomato polvoron, and was very pasty

 

The glass of green liquid is was a liquid salad.

 

Langoustine in “Suquet” & “Suquet” Cappuccino (lobster and what tasted like a potato and bisque) came next.

 

Corns (but not really, it's something else that tastes and looks like corn) with fois and was very tasty.

 

Next up was squab and fois gras bon bons and were like heaven in your mouth. They also LOOKED like beautiful chocolate, and almost tasted as sweet.

 

Next was a I guess the main? It's squab ("pigeon")

 

Next is the panadan before the green liquid was poured in, and was very, very tasty.

 

Cheesecake? It has to have a berry coulis, right? Looks like it is coming out of a pot.

 

These peppers aren't peppers, or at least i don't think so, they're filled with chocolate and melted in my mouth, with just a hint of pepper flavor to make them a tad savory.

 

This is tarta a la whiskey on leather.  The whisky is the clear gelatin ball on the right side.  The tarta is the ball on the left.

 

The last dish isn't cotton, well, some is, some is cotton candy with chocolate (and mint), and the best cotton candy I've every had. The menus and wine pairings finish off the images.  The wines were in general, VERY different but made complete sense when paired with the course they came with.  I think there were about 9 different wines.

 

Again, the meal is epic.  An amazing experience.  A few things that were tough.  While the portions are small, it is a LOT of food.  The room was hot.  They have to carefully control the temperature to keep the food from breaking.  It can be very delicate.  We had to go outside for air in the middle of the meal.  If I did it again, I would make a day of it and do it for lunch.  The meal at a relatively fast pace took well over 3 hours.  Starting at 1pm and doing this slowly, with breaks for lunch would be much better.  I'd go back and try the other menu, and while the wine pairings were additive to the experience, I probably wouldn't do them again.

 

My apologies again, not much I could do to fix the above post after cruise critic wouldn't let me edit it 😞

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Back to Monday night, the evening before we board for a play by play description of an epic meal.  Some videos are included and this may take time to load, especially if you are on board a ship.  If you're a foodie, definitely read on.

 

Somewhere along the way of planning for this adventure, Jen received a recommendation for the restaurant Disfrutar (meaning, to enjoy). This is not your average restaurant in any way. At the time we booked, we didn't know they had a Michelin star, but by the time we arrived Toni had found out they had two. Booking is done online, and must be confirmed when they send you an email three days in advance.  A credit card is required.

 

Service is attentive, from the time you arrive (we were the first to arrive, about 10 minutes before their 8pm opening, but were welcomed and provided a drink), provided a tour of the restaurant and introduced to the executive chef, you know this is going to be a different experience than what we've received elsewhere, even some of the best restaurants in the world, but in reality, it is the food that sets Disfrutar apart.

 

In a very short time the restaurant has become acclaimed.

 

The front dining room

 

Pastry kitchen

 

The primary open kitchen just getting going for the evening service.

 

The side prep line for "appetizers" (it is impossible to know what is an appetizers and a main course)

 

The main dining room

 

This IS molecular gastronomy, fully and completely.  You're given two choices for menus.  Classic is the recommendation for first time diners and seasonal for those who've returned, though the seasonal menu hasn't changed in 10 months.  You can choose 25 or 30 courses at 155 or 195 Euros 😮

 

We all chose the classic menu, and 25 courses, with the only dietary restriction being Dee despising olives. We all added the wine pairings for another 65 Euro.

 

The first bite is a cross between a foam on a very thin wafer and needs to be carefully picked up and eaten in two bites.  It is described as a frozen passion fruit ladyfinger with rum.

 

These rose pedals have three bites.  First you take one of the clear balls in one rose petal, than the one that LOOKS like a raspberry, then the other clear ball.  The raspberry was actually frozen ice and the balls were gin and it all tasted like a lychee.

 

Next up are beats that come out of the "land".  This was basically frozen beat root.

(Video to be uploaded shortly)

This smoking pot of liquid is apple cider being boiled is instant smoked homeade cider.  they smoke some wood under a class and add it into the dish, all table side and the cider is made in just a few minutes in front of us, but it is served a course or two later.

 

To be continued, as I am having a hard time posting this in one post.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

I've been busy trying to catch up my other thread but we had no problems at all with embarkation. Between the signs, marine traffic, and the cabbie confirming where we were going, just by asking, we were brought right to the ship.  It was pretty obvious to us where the ship was.  Embarkation was basically a breeze though I do think Azamara should have staff curbside, before security and not rely solely on terminal contract staff.  We boarded about 12:30 or so and our cabin was ready when we boarded.

For our first Azamara cruise, service has been decent, the ship seems very empty compared to the larger ships, which is nice, but I wouldn't say for us, service or food is much better than what we experience on Celebrity, but we do sail in a suite so experience Luminae.  We've eaten so far in Prime C and Aqualina for dinner and tonight we tried the buffet which had a live pasta station.

I'll be posting daily schedules soon in my other thread with my complete trip review. I'm just a little behind :(

Happy sailing,

Jenna

7 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Saw you in Prime C last night, hope you enjoyed your dinner.   We both had the fillet and it was wonderful, not European beef.   Hubby enjoyed the Pumpkin Soup but the onion soup was not as good as I have had, but maybe I am thinking of Seabourn or Cunard.

Sides also received mixed reviews as the spinach was great but hubby would not repeat the spaetzle.    We will try Prime C again after we dine again at Aqualina.    Dover sole has been requested tonight.

 

7 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

We enjoy Prime C too.  Where does the beef come from ?  Not sure what" not European Beef" means.

I would like Aberdeen Angus from Scotland.

  
Covepointcruiser, it was good, some hits and misses.  I hope you enjoyed yours.  The fillet tasted better than it looked, that's for sure.  Even without an open flame they can prepare it well, even in a pan. Not sure why they bother with those sear marks.  It looked like Golden Corral to me, thankfully it tasted good.  I have no idea what European Beef means.  Why oh, why would they deep fry a crab cake? I enjoyed my spinach, but the potato (just a baked) was kind of sad.  We didn't head up to Aqualina tonight which we would have if we alternated.  We did enjoy it the first night of the cruise.

Tomorrow we have our first chef's table. While the food has been good, we still have this feeling like it is prepared early, mass prepared and not being prepared a la minute as it should. Maybe we're spoiled given the meals we've been having, but even on Celebrity in Luminae we were able to get freshly prepared meals.  I think the trick will be to order off menu more than not to make them prepare and cook food fresh.

Happy sailing,
Jenna

Dee and I met Toni and Esther for a continuation of our city tour at Hotel Casa Fuster and went up to the roof top bar (open to the public) for an overview of Barcelona from another vantage point and more history of the city.

We then strolled through Garcia.

And into a local market. Part of this market has been converted to a super market but part remains part of the traditional style.

Revellones mushrooms like the ones we had yesterday.

We had a personal tasting of some local hams.

From there we strolled to Casa Vicens‎, Gaudi's first commissioned house.

Toni in front of what is left of the original fence that surrounded the garden.

From there we wonder through Garcia, in and out of shops with the locals and ended up noontime in a square.

This is the back of a shop where you can sit and relax with a coffee

Sometimes I feel like all I do is EAT.  We've been known to eat our way through the places we visit. We had a very light lunch at a cafe in the square.  We knew we had an EPIC dinner coming.  More on that later. This is Dee's pumpkin quiche with a small salad.

This is my tomato and mozzarella panini.  This was HALF.

From there we wondered a bit more.

Our next stop was Aire Barcelona Ancient Baths.  Cameras are not allowed and I have no pictures. This is basically a nice spa with may options for pools and hot tubs including very hot, very cold, bubbles, salt, luke warm, etc that we were able to use in an ancient bath setting, plus a nice 60 minute massage. Cost is about $100 Euro for a 2+ hour experience.  Massages are not totally private so bath suites were left partially on, the biggest drawback but it was a very nice way to spend the afternoon.  We made one more stop on the way back to the hotel to pick up something I tried to buy in Paris but the boutique in Barcelona had my size. From there it was back to the hotel and prep for our last dinner before boarding Journey, and it was an EPIC one.

As I get caught up, it is 2200 ships time and I can feel the engines working and the ship vibrating in our aft cabin we are getting ready to leave Málaga bound for Gibraltar tomorrow. I expect to be caught up by tomorrow and get back to mostly live.

Happy sailing,
Jenna

 

 

 

 

 

Then to the "Magic" fountain. The fountain itself never had a show while we were there as we arrived late on Saturday and left on Tuesday but the fountains between the museum and magic fountain were going. It was very windy so we had to avoid getting wet when the water blew up or down. We asked Esther to let us walk down which we did and were picked up at the bottom on our way to the next stop. 



 

Before the wind

 

After the wind as we got wet




From there it was on to a couple of Goudi houses.









From there our quick Barcelona tour ended and it was on to lunch at L'amagat in Sant Quintí de Mediona, Barcelona, Spain on the way to the winery.  This was an EXCELLENT meal and we were very happy with the food.  Both lunch and the wine tasting were included in the tour.  it wasn't an inexpensive tour, but being all inclusive with meals wine, etc, it was well worth it.

First, lunch.  We started with local, in season Rovellones mushrooms, simply grilled with olive oil.
 

This is Fois with figs, we also had Fois with very lightly fried artichokes. Both were excellent.

Darlene had grilled lamb, maybe the best dish.

Toni had the wild boar stew

 

I had the grilled octopus

Jen had the duck.

Then it was on to the winery.  We arrived JUST as the tour was starting and joined about 8 other people for a tour of the vineyard and what sets this vineyard, as a bio-dynamic farm apart from traditional farm.  The best explanation I can share is from the film The Biggest Little Farm.  I highly recommend it for the story and cinematography.

Here are a number of pics from the Vineyard and winery which has been family run for at least three generations.

So much goodness in those barrels. French and american oak.

The old wine elevator

Lots of wine aging in the cellar.

Ready for us to taste away.

Dee wasn't feeling well, so she missed out, but we were definitely in our happy place.

O

I bought a few bottles of one wine I liked and a bottle of olive oil.

After this is what back to the Cotton House but not until close to 6pm.  Quite a long day.  We didn't go out, but simply had a very light room service meal.

The next day, Monday would be the last day before boarding the Journey, which I should be able to get posted shortly.

Happy sailing,
Jenna

Sorry about the awful photo posting issues. I tried to post via Tapatalk but that limits the pictures and then even when I tried to limit my post to nine it posted none. I then edited the post in a browser from my tablet and failed miserably. 

 

Second, thank you to those on the cruise who have said hello, as well as our trivia team, the middle of the road Transatlantix who are very good of convincing ourselves the correct answer is in fact, wrong. 

 

We woke later than normal on Sunday late as we had a late night the night before to meet our great guide Esther who Dee found on Tours by Locals, where we found many of our guides. We met her, Toni, and Jenn at our hotel, with her driver in a newer cab for our planned day starting with a quick two hour tour of the city. Our first stop was where Esther gave us an overview of the layout of the city and we could see some major points and get perspective. 
 

 

 

 

 

To be continued, time to get ready for dinner at Prime C

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

The Cotton House is a beautiful hotel. From the 8 story marbled spiraled staircase unique that it is suspended from the ceiling instead of built from the foundation up, to the back deck and small rooftop pool it is quite beautiful.
 

Here is a quick history:

 

Cotton House Hotel is housed in a listed landmark built in 1879 by Catalan architect Elies Rogent, at the height of the textile industry in Barcelona. The building later became the headquarters of the Catalan Association of Cotton Manufacturers (Fundación Textil Algodonera).

The renovation was done by the interior design studio of Lázaro Rosa-Violán, who also designed Hotel Praktik Bakery and Hotel Praktik Vinoteca.

Original elements such as the striking marble staircase and ceiling frescoes have been carefully conserved.

 

 

 

The room was quite small and the bathroom while beautiful was not overly functional. The small balcony overlooking the courtyard was nice and the AC worked well. The back deck off the restaurant where we had breakfast every morning was very nice with lots of greens. The Spanish breakfast with ham and lots of desserts was good. Eggs were an option on top of the free breakfast that comes with my Bonvoy status.

 

Service was adequate all be it a bit slow, especially at breakfast though a few staff did try very hard.

My big let down jumps ahead and was on departure yesterday when I went to the concierge which is basically a contract tour company providing the service. A side note, they offer small group tours that seemed to be very reasonably priced though we didn’t partake.

I went to the concierge looking for advice on how to send in VAT tax refunds for three large purchases. I was passed from one concierge to another who sent me on a walk to Plaza Catalonia (about 10 min) to the Planet Money and Global Blue desks to have my refunds validated but these offices simply buy tax refunds for a fee. I still needed to go to a customs office to have my forms stamped. This was totally a wild goose chase and really frustrated my with the hotel. The planet money office did let me know I could have the forms stamped at terminal A at the port. Unfortunately this was wrong as well (I walked with my friend Jen from the Journey at E down to A to do this, but after waiting for an official in the mess of an MSC ship boarding, all we got was a threat of being arrested. It turns out, that I should be able to get the forms validated in Madeira buts it’s a Sunday so who knows.

Next up, the quick Barcelona Tour, lunch and wine tour and tasting.

Happy sailing,
Jenna


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I am a few days behind and writing this from the ACTUAL Journey, at sea somewhere off the coast of Spain. It’s a tad bumpy, but not bad. I'm going to try and get updated this morning in a few posts but may have even more than my normal number of typos. 
 

First the flight from Marsielle to Barcelona via Lisbon on TAP was fine. The first flight on a regional jet had a choice of meals. I chose tortellini which was actually ravioli with hazelnuts and was very good for airline standards.  Dee chose veal. I won this “food decision battle”.
 

These flights were purchased with United Airlines mileage plus miles and this circuitous route was chosen due to the ability to get the very inexpensively with miles and not pay for bags. The only direct flights are on Vueling or AF and while the ticket prices are not much, with overweight bags they would have been VERY expensive. Train would have been an option, but without a high speed train and with the bridge between France and Spain closed for trains, we would have ended up on a bus, so we’re happy with the route we chose to get from France to Spain. 
 

 

 

The TAP lounge in Lisbon was nice enough with better food offerings than we get domestically in the U.S. as good as the better business class lounges in Europe.the beverage options were many.  Compared to Copa's signature lounge in Panama this was six star. 
 

 

The flight from Lisbon to Barcelona was fine. Even in TAP Executive (business) class you get a basic economy seat without anyone in the middle seat, in row 1 as we had, that meant we couldn’t even raise the arm rests as they tray tab,es are built unto them. The benefits of Executive class were basically the free overweight bags, not waiting in the lines to checkin, enter the boarding gate, or lounge. While we didn’t eat anything in the lounge we weren’t really hungry. Dee passes on the meal completely and I took a few bites. There was no choice. It was lamb wrapped in pastry with spinach. 


 

We arrived at our hotel in Barcelona at 12:30a on Sunday. We chose the Autograph College cotton house for its history and central location. Unfortunately checkin did not go as well as we would have liked. When I added a third night to our reservation, Marriott was unable to change the previous 2 night reservation so they added a second one night reservation. When I checked in and was told both reservations were upgraded 2 levels I was supposed to be happy they were going to have us move rooms. That was not happening. We’ve moved around enough. I let the front desk agent know there were two option, find a room we could stay in, or we’d cancel the reservation and find another hotel. He said there was no connection between the two reservation but there were many I was able to provide. After about 10 or 15 minutes we were on our way to our room which turned out to be the same room they expected us to take as there were personal notes in the room. 
 

Next up, a review of the Cotton House, our quick tour of Barcelona on Sunday with a private guide followed by a lunch in the region north of Barcelona and a winery tour. 
 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

The entire goal of the trip to St Remy and  Hôtel et Restaurant de Tourrel was not the restaurant but a visit to Carrieres de Lumieres which is amazing! C’est manufique. You can see this exhibit in Paris but the setting and quality is not the same and the ceiling and floor is not included. 

 

This is a display of Vangoh’s work projected onto the cave walls, ceiling and floor with precision, and set to music. There is also an additional presentation of Japanese artwork that loops with I t.

 

We only spent about 90 minutes or so at Carrieres de Lumniere but it was well worth the effort. The show was great. We then had a leisurely drive through the countryside of Provence where we decided to stop in Aix- entire-Provence before our flight out of Marseille tonight.  Aix-en-Provence is a charming little town. We were very lucky to find parking without too much effort and wonder through town and the last 20 minutes or so of a beautiful farmers market before walking into a brassiere for a leisurely lunch and then wondering around town. 

 

From there it was off on the next stop of the our journey (but not THE Journey) and the airport in Marseille to get closer to the real Azamazing a Journey. 
 

all of the images and videos are below because it is MUCH faster to post them and I don’t think these need labels. 

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna 

 

Friday we had a leisurely breakfast before heading to the train. We took the TVG to Avignon  it instead of ending up at the Avignon TVG station we ended up at the local station. The EuropeCar van I rented was at the TVG station. Whoops. About an hour and a half later, and a taxi ride to the TVG station I had the car and picked Dee back up and our extensive luggage at the local Avignon station. We then drove around town a bit and found a brassiere for a quick bite while we waited for a Toni KSBelle I think who was meeting us in Avignon and heading to St Remy. We’ve known Toni since we met in 2013 on a N2B Celebrity Cruise starting in Istanbul and then on to Rome and Ft Lauderdale. We done long trips to Asia and visited in Maine and Florida. We enjoy traveling together and tour in compatible ways. 

 

After a 30 minute or so drive Google Maps had us in St Remy but we couldn’t find our hotel, Hôtel et Restaurant de Tourrel. After driving around St Remy town loop at least 6 times (literally) I finally parked the van and walked toward where it was suppose to be, seemingly the only way to get there was down a one way street the wrong way. I walked into the restaurant as was pointed to the front desk. I met the manager who walked back to the van with me and to retrieve Dee and Toni and guide us to the hotel. The only road (driveway) in was through what looked like a parking lot, the sign well back from the entrance, no wonder we missed it. 

 

The hotel is stunning beautiful. Designed and owned by an architect, I believe it is the smallest branded hotel in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel chain in the work with only 7 unique rooms. Our room included an original wall from the 17^thcentury.  We did not use points on the stay. I would say the cost is above average but not for a luxury or unique property and worth the stay. 
 

 

this wall is from the 17th century 

 

the rain shower is 5 meters tall and so large it is open, no door to the bathroom 

 

 

beautiful pool for such a small property

 

 

The stairway chandelier was built with antique organ pipes that have a lot of meaning to the history of the structure. 

 

 

We had already made a reservation when we booked the room for dinner in their Michelin starred restaurant. Dinner was very good, but not quite as refined as what we had in Paris at a significantly lower price 90-110 Euros for 4-5 courses (both fish and meat or just one of the two) from one of two tasting menus. Of course this doesn’t include all the extra courses they bring. They did ask us to choose from the same menu. Dee and Toni wanted the signature menu instead of the digestive menu but the signature menu had choices of red mullet and lamb, both of which I had had in the last two days so they were very flexible offering for me to choose a main course from the other menu when I couldn’t decide.

 

We started with two amuse bouche, the first sardines over I believe kale

 

 

The second was a bite that tasted like pizza. 

 

 

Then onto a grilled corn soup crunched lettuce

 

butternut squash soup mushrooms and bouillabaisse

 

 Seaweed butter poached shellfish with cream

 

Dee’s marginal phallic lamb

 

 

My meal (lamb)

 

 

Toni’s red mullet. 

 

Dessert was a chocolate and peanut butter with anise concoction

 

 

 

And finally the small sweet bites. 

 

 

Chef and GM of the hotel. As GM he was also one of two servers at this restaurant with just over 20 seats. 

 

 

Next up will be the reason for this trip to Provence and the South of France. 

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna