Jazzbo

You’re right, of course. If thawed and cooked properly, frozen fish and seafood should be good.

We had dinner at Blu. Larry enjoyed his Creamy Zucchini Coconut Soup and I loved the Mixed Greens Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing and grilled Vidalia onion. We both ordered the 4 ounce filet from the children’s menu (thank you @Jim_Iain). Both were cooked exactly as ordered (medium rare for me, rare for Larry). We enjoyed the wine suggested by the Sommelier (a Chilean Cabernet). We both had dessert from the classics choices: Apple Pie a la Mode for Larry and Crème Brûlée for me. We finished up the evening at Word Class Bar enjoying the drinks and the company.

Lunch in the Oceanview was much better. I made myself a salad at the salad bar. The salad greens were fresh and crisp. The carvery was roasted chicken, and the dark meat was tasty and not dry. After lunch we went to see Wedding Games. We had never been on any of our previous cruises. It dragged on for a bit too long but we had a few laughs. We stopped at the Martini Bar around 5:00 (those bartenders are some of the best entertainers on the ship), then went to see Top Gun Maverick in the theater at Celebrity Central.

We ended up having a very nice sea day yesterday. We wandered up the Sunset Bar where we found a spot that wasn’t too windy. I bundled up in a blanket and read my book and Larry spent his time on the phone.

But you couldn’t enjoy your supper that summer.

This morning we went to Captains Club breakfast in Tuscan. Larry loves smoked salmon, so he was happy. Maybe the Bloody Mary contributed to his mood. 😄 I had a strawberry smoothie, some fruit, and an almond croissant and I was also a happy camper. We decided this was our preferred breakfast venue. A lady sitting at the table next to us asked if we were disappointed with this cruise, and when I thought about for a minute, the answer is yes. The quality of the food and the preparation of it is not nearly as good as it has been in the past (even compared to our first post-shutdown 7-day Caribbean cruise on Equinox last August). Some areas still seem to be short-staffed, and the ship doesn’t have that feeling of a well-oiled machine. Don’t get me wrong, we have had some great service, and crew members who seem to be new are trying their best.

It sounds like you had the lack of taste and smell for quite a while. I hope you are fully recovered and back to refusing to eat cilantro! I had Omicron early this year, but I was lucky. I only had a sore throat and congestion for a few days, but the fatigue hung around for a couple of weeks.

And the view a few hours later.

The view from our balcony this morning.

Last night we had reservations for The Porch. It was a little chilly, so our server brought me a blanket. Larry ordered the charcuterie board, which was fine. I only had a bit of that because I didn’t want to spoil my appetite. I had the sweet corn soup with chorizo, peppers, and espalette. That was delicious. Larry asked if there was a lot of avocado on the romaine and avocado salad. The server told him it had a lot of avocado slices, so he ordered it. There were three small avocado slices, but the salad was good. We were both looking forward to the main event. We ordered the seafood tower ($15 extra). The chilled lobster tail was really good, but the rest of the seafood (shrimp, mussels, scallops, seafood salad) was dry and tasteless. The chef asked me why I wasn’t eating, and I told him. He was very apologetic and explained that all of their seafood was frozen and from the U.S.; they are not allowed to buy it in ports. He removed the extra charge for the seafood.

We didn’t do much yesterday. I went through the shops for a while but didn’t buy anything. I played slots for about half an hour and lost about $9. Not too bad. We had breakfast in Blu. We’ve been disappointed in the food on this cruise. My oatmeal tasted fine and had a creamy texture, but it was lukewarm. Larry ordered soft scrambled eggs, but they were dry. I can usually find something I like in Oceanview, but everything I tried (lamb skewers, Turkish beef stew, carvery roast pork) was so dry I couldn’t eat it. I tried the lemon chicken soup, but I discovered that what I thought was parsley was cilantro, which I detest (tastes like soap to me). I gave up and got some ice cream, which was delicious as always. Cafe Al Bacio has been good.

Thank you! I am feeling much better. I was happy to be out and about today after I was released from isolation this morning. The seas are up a bit today. Every once in a while I find myself walking almost sideways!

I haven’t noticed. Our stateroom has the same carpet (AQ). The bed is quite comfortable, so they may have replaced beds. I haven’t been around the ship that much because we had four port days in a row (and I was isolated to our stateroom yesterday).

That’s mostly what we did during our three days in Barcelona. And I probably ordered Jamón Ibérico de Bellota at least 3 times. The most expensive, but in this case, you really do get what you pay for. I hope I can go back to the imported jamón Serrano after we get back, because the good stuff is astronomical there! Hmmm…. Not exactly the same, but is this what happens once you sail in a suite?

And there was steak and lobster. It was delicious, but way too much food. I barely picked at my entree.

The Chef’s Market group met at 7:00 in the Ensemble lounge. That was confusing because we were supposed to meet in Cellar Masters. We were all left voicemails on our state room phones, but many didn’t get those. I was down at Shore Ex finding out Chef Kumar’s name (all 4 of them), and double-checked where we were supposed to meet, so we knew it had been switched from Cellar Masters. We had a glass of bubbly and went on the galley tour. I’m not sure why — we’ve done at least 3 or 4. I think we wanted to experience the Chef of the Many Names’ enthusiasm. Dinner was in Tuscan and it was a feast!

We rarely do ship excursions, but I was behind the eight ball on this one because I was working some long hours in the weeks before we left for Barcelona. Plus — OBC. We were signed up for the ship’s excursion to Cordoba from Malaga, and we would have done that regardless because of the distance. Unfortunately, we had to cancel. I had some GI issues overnight and called medical early this morning. Negative for COVID, but required to isolate for 24 hours (I suppose that’s to make sure it’s not Noro).

I remembered my husband and the other gentleman sitting in the window sill at the market, so I decided to go back. My husband wanted to go with me, but I knew I could get back there on my own much faster. Manuel insisted on coming with me, which was great, because I have forgotten most of the Spanish I used to speak fluently. We zoomed to the market, and before we were even up the steps, there was Santiago, the lemonade maker talking excitedly and really fast (so I couldn’t follow it). Santiago told Manuel that the Celebrity chef wit the very long name had it! An older man who worked in the fruit stall across from the lemonade stall had found it and showed it to Santiago, who was convinced it belonged to one of us in the group (the Seapass just may have been a clue. Chef Muthuk (first of his 4 names) was still in the market, so Santiago had given it to him to take it back to the ship. Manuel told me it would be in Guest Relations because that is the protocol. We made it back to the restaurant in a few minutes to give the good news. Some of the passengers had already started walking back, but another couple and we wanted to take a taxi. The tour guide (I think his name is Diego) got us a taxi and we were back to the pier in no time. Because Larry did not have any ID, a nice young police officer walked to the Celebrity gangway, where Celebrity security could identify Larry by his photo, full name, and date of birth. The next stop was Guest Relations to retrieve the phone, and then we collapsed in our stateroom!

From the market, we walked to the restaurant where we had the included lunch the restaurant had two large tables set up for our group. Our Celebrity chef, Muthuk Kumar Balak Rissman, stayed at the market shopping for our feast that evening. At the restaurant, the chef prepared a seafood paella for our group, with our tour guide translating. The restaurant was very accommodating to those with food allergies. The servers brought us toasted bread slices with a fresh tomato sauce, plates of Jamón Serrano, small salads, and ensaladilla Rusa, like a potato salad with the addition of carrots, peas, and some tuna. They also put bottles of water and pitchers of beer on the tables. There was some sangria, but not at our end of the table. Then they served the paella (and other dishes for those allergic to shellfish) along with homemade allí olli (garlic aioli). I did not care for the paella. The fish was dry and the shrimp and mussels were overcooked. I did enjoy the one clam I had on my plate, and the rice was nicely flavored. I sat between my husband and Manuel, and enjoyed chatting with Manuel. He has only been with Celebrity for 3 months, but has worked for other lines. He speaks 5 languages! They had just started serving a special layered after dinner drink when my husband realized his phone (with Seapass, credit cards, etc.) was missing from his pocket!

We did Chef’s Market Discovery yesterday in Cartagena. The excursion description noted there would be approximately 1 1/2 miles of walking on uneven pavement and some steps. There were only a few steps into the market, but there was also a ramp. It felt like it might have been 1 1/4 miles from the ship at the pier to the market, and it was difficult for some of the passengers (including my husband). We went straight to the market, stopping (standing) a few times for the guide to tell us some history or point out some beautiful buildings. Manuel from Celebrity Shore Ex accompanied us and brought up the rear. Manuel reminded our young (and fit) guide that there were some passengers having problems keeping up. Once we got to the market, it was still mostly standing, except for a few minutes when we were able to sit at a few tables to sample some delicious local cheese. We stopped at a spice stall, where the proprietor gave us each a tin of paprika. We had the choice of sweet or hot paprika, so we got one of each. Another stall where we stopped, was the lemonade stall. The proprietor and maker of the lemonade was very animated, and fun to listen to (translated by our guide). Santiago, the lemonade maker, gave us all a small serving of homemade lemonade with some Licor 43 added to it, except for those who didn’t want alcohol. The lemonade was icy, cold and delicious with almost the texture of a granita. We also sampled olives from the olive stall, and had a few minutes to walk around the market on our own. My husband and another gentleman took the opportunity to sit on a windowsill. More to come…

We flew the new Premium Economy. Similar to domestic first class. 2—2—2 configuration, wider seats with more leg room. Seat back reclines farther and there is a foot rest. The food was surprisingly okay.

Sipping horchata was a nostalgic taste memory for me. There’s also a photo of the closed market.

Yesterday we took the bus into Valencia. The port is a working port, so walking is not practical (plus it’s quite a distance from town). 10 euros each round trip. We were looking forward to the market, but yesterday was a holiday (All Saints Day), so it was closed. We still enjoyed the old part

Between wi-fi issues and CC login problems, I have some catching up to do! We’ve just been given clearance to leave the ship. Today we are doing Chef’s Market Discoveries. Looking forward to it!

Check in was a breeze yesterday. Very well organized. We were docked behind the Mein Schiff Herz, originally the Celebrity Mercury. I took a few photos of menus on board.