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4 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Wow!  10.15pm last night "Summer of Love" in Rolling Stone Lounge.  That could have been a great playlist.........did you go to the happening and hear some great music?

Yes that  is the show that we caught. It was really great. Sorry but I can’t remember the playlist to tell you what they sang. All but the last  song really fit the theme. 

2 hours ago, JackSledge said:

 

Thanks so much for chronicling our TA cruise!

I’m amazed you’ve had time to wade throw my wordy chronical 😀 

Day 7: Daily Program to follow. 

Fabulous sunny weather. Flat water. 
 

Coffee Chat with captain was interesting. 

One mile walk and steamer chair time underway. We just saw whales thanks to the Captain’s announcement. Too far for a photo.  😞 

Random Thoughts: 

Outstanding carrots on board. 
Name tags do not state home country. 
Crumbs are not swept off the table with the little tool in MDR (not important to me 😉)

A few days ago I asked the assistant MD if my  server could preset the table with coffee cup, cream etc. as I felt it would help the team out. ( We like coffee with dessert) I think she understood I was subtly saying service could be better. 
 

Service did get better after that. The preset does help  and she may have talked to them, hopefully in a nice way. So last night I gave a compliment via the Let Us Know feature about our server and his assistant. He thanked me for it tonight. 
 

Piano bar tonight was fun. Then caught a few songs with the band. They are so incredibly good. 

Oops. I forgot to screenshot the menus. 
 

Beet orange salad was good but very small. Also ordered the cheese plate as an appetizer because I wanted to smear Brie on that delicious bread. Tasted the crab cake and it was quite good. FYI I don’t like crab. 
 

The cornflake pollock was excellent!! Black Forest Cake  👍 

Berry Trifle was 100% better than the sad jello excuse for trifle I had on NCL last year. This isn’t important but the presentation didn’t fit the ambiance 

Brunch had a New England theme. I kept it light and had  fruit with goat cheese (so good!) and burrata salad. It wasn’t creamy in the middle. I also had two perfectly poached eggs. 
 

DH loved the blueberry pancakes. Steak and eggs were fine. 
 

Brunch took a long time so we missed Origin Story. 😢 Do they ever repeat it on a cruise? I’m only on the 14 day cruise. 
 

Daily promenade walk ✅

Quite windy but not too cold. HARD to open the doors to get out there. Pads were on the steamers. 
 

Gin tasting ctd:

Bloody Margaret. - I prefer Bloody Maria

Gin Fizz- refreshing, good for the pool when you don’t want something sticky sweet. Someone recommended I try it. Couldn’t get a Sloe Gin Fizz. They don’t carry sloe gin. I have no idea on the difference. 
 

Hung out in Crows Nest and actually painted a bit. 

Wanted to go to game time at Billboard but got too lazy. 

Brunch 

I forgot to screenshot the flyer with the unlimited laundry prices. 
 

We will send out a full bag around day 10. I had to send out a dress and sweater yesterday late morning. They came back that night. 

I forgot to mention that the PG bar is serving specialty coffees all day not just in the morning. It stays busy making them. 
 

Cute creamer jar came with room service coffee. 

Day 6:

The crab crostini got a thumbs up from DH

Mozzarella tomato salad was very good although the one earlier this week was slightly better. 
 

The lingcod and salmon both were winners. DH is so impressed with the salmon in general on HAL. 
 

He was somewhat disappointed with the coconut cream pie. Not enough coconut.

I got the rhubarb crisp and the Swiss roll just in case rhubarb was a flop again. The crisp tasted like rhubarb! You could tell the Swiss roll was no sugar added. 
 

I had my first big food disappointment. I made a special trip to the MDR for lunch just to have the strawberry rhubarb pie. The filling had ZERO flavor. It was so strange. There didn’t appear to be any strawberry and rhubarb is distinct and tangy normally. 
 

Swimming was fun because it was like a mini wave pool. There is not a chair hog problem per se. It’s just that people leave and forget to remove the towel and put it in the bin. 
 

After dinner we went to Rolling Stone Lounge. The band is so good. Dancing was a lot of fun!

@oakridger thanks for your input! I’m looking forward to PG! 

Day 5:

We are more than halfway across the ocean.  Mid to high 60s again. It’s great weather. Never any more than a mild rocking of the ship so far. We’re disappointed 😂. We like a little action. 
 

Found out there are only 1905 guests on board. I have  met a lot of solo cruisers. The only time things feel slightly crowded is lido meals but even that’s not bad.

Walked a mile again on the promenade. Now relaxing on the steamer chairs. Pads were back on them  today. 
 

My gin tasting continues. Had a martinez (not martini) from Ocean bar. I really like it too. It’s mellow! 
Those pretty little glasses seem to make the drinks taste better. 

Day 5:

We lost another hour

The chowder and salad were good. The prime rib was tender but what made the entree was  the sauce, horseradish mousse and the veggies. Pear crisp was fine. Our servers have 10 tables. That’s a lot. 
 

.The comedian was funny. 
 

On this ship a milkshake is not included in either beverage package based on what the bartender told my server. I know this is inconsistent across the line. 

I bought a bouquet.  I love it. There is a box to pack the vase when we leave. 

@KarefreeKaren Do you mean that you go to dinner around 8:15? The first show is at 7:30. 

We saw a ship! How exciting. 

Lido breakfast today due to time change. Getting a crepe was fun. 
Went to the coffee chat. Very interesting as the world cruise executive chef is still on board, the  new one taking over and the fleetwide executive chef as well. Our menu is somewhat specific to this journey as it’s a TA. It’s not the Caribbean menu or the one for Europe.  
 

North so far has been  rebroadcast. I hope they do it for the port talks. 

Although overall I prefer MSC’s lunch lido better, I have to say that the lido sandwiches here are the best I’ve ever had. So delicious. 

Husband will go to the Beatles matinee show band performance. I want to do something outside. It is in the mid sixties. Plus I’m a little weary of 50s/60s themed entertainment. Don’t get me wrong I love that music, but I’ve been listening to it my entire life. (Even in the womb 😆)Even with the demographics on this  cruise somewhat more recent themes would be good too. I was a teen in the 80s but thoroughly enjoy music from well into the 2010s. So teens from the 60s should like and know 70s-90s music. 

Random thoughts:

I love that HAL trusts us with the towels 😉 

There are very few guests on mobility scooters. Fewer than on my other recent cruises. 

6 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

It's a really nice ship.

Very. I haven’t heard how many are on board yet. It feels bigger than what  imagined following your blog though. (Not a complaint )

Day 4: