Rewind

Good morning from Bimini:

Went to Extra Virgin for dinner and had meatballs, a couple pasta dishes, and a couple desserts - couldn't actually tell you the names of them without looking them up. The pasta was very fresh and the desserts were good, but nothing really stood out. And I don't know if they were short a server and/or a bar staff person but our service was slower than other venues (not our server's fault, he was working hard). Do give you an idea of timing, we sat down just after 8pm and we're walking out at 9:50pm - just in time to make it to Duel Reality. Duel Reality was a great acrobatic show. It has a bit of a Romeo & Juliet / West Side Story thinly veiled storyline to it but really it is just about the acrobatic performances. We haven't seen a bad show yet.

Not much going on today as it is a sea day. We are just hanging out in our room relaxing, on deck chairs relaxing, and trying not to eat too much. The Galley did have a decent Chicken Tikka Masala at lunch.

I forgot to add these pics last night - we ate at Pink Agave again. The steak was ok (I think it was better the first time we had it) but the Filet at the Wake is much better in our opinion. Chocolate Tacos are still the best dessert at Pink Agave.

We didn't do a whole lot on Scarlet Night - we watched the opening in the Roundabout, went to see the Hostess sing the story in the Red Room, then wandered a bit before going back to briefly check out the dance party back in the Red Room. Our weather conditions had gotten bad enough that they moved the normal pool party into the Red Room. I was kinda looking forward to the dance number at the pool, but as it moved to the Red Room, it got crowded so we didn't stay.

It has been a lazy day. We hung out in our cabin for a good part of the day, relaxed in the hammock, had lunch in the galley, then found some loungers in a quiet spot on deck 7. When we got back to the cabin, we did have a small holiday present (which I won't post a pic until this weekend in case there are readers getting on board this Saturday). Scarlet Night begins in about a half hour.

Not much going on today for us. Today and tomorrow are sea days so we are just hanging around and being lazy. There were a few people hanging out at the pool at 9:00am but it wasn't crowded. We just did a quick breakfast up in the Galley; grabbed sandwiches from Hot Off The Press and a bento box of fruit. More to come later - tonight is Scarlet Night.

Went to the Untitled Dance Show Party Thing - I'll admit I'm not a dancer but I did try a few steps. Who can resist a party train. They do have a limited number of seats upstairs if you can't stand for long periods. They open those up just a couple minutes before the show starts. If you can though, it is a better experience being on the main floor.

We didn't have anything planned for San Juan as we have been here a handful of times already. We do like walking the path along the water next to the fort so we started there. We watched the new Celebrity Ascent pull into port while we were resting at the fort, then walked over to "The Walk of Presidents" in front of the Capital building. We then walked back into the main part of town, swung by Chocobar Cortes to pick up some chocolate for our nieces for X-mas, and then back to the ship. If you haven't been to Chocobar Cortes before, I highly recommend it - chocolate in EVERYTHING. Also if you are looking for a Pina Colada, have to stop by Barachinas. We were back on board by 3:30ish so we hung out on our balcony to watch Sky Princess and Carnival Mardi Gras depart. Then we hung around until sunset and headed back out to see the holiday lights down the Paseo de la Princesa. Walked back to the ship and past to the other side to grab a pick of Virgin's message to all, and then back on board again. We went up to the galley for dinner tonight. The burger place, diner and dash, bento boxes, and salad stations were open. I had the special turkey burger with an onion rings and the DW got a salad with chicken. A couple small desserts and then back to the room to rest before tonight's show.

Good Morning. We are sailing into San Juan today around 11:00am ship time (noon local). Went to Razzle Dazzle again for breakfast and got the Watermelon starter with the Razzle Dazzle breakfast. The main is just eggs, potatoes, an impossible patty, and some mushrooms. Everything was very tasty.

Went and saw the holiday version of the cabaret show in the Manor this evening. It is a non-ticketed event but you need to get there early and wait in line in the casino. Decently funny show with some fun holiday songs and great performances from both the Diva and the Hostess.

Dinner at the Wake tonight. We are not seafood people but the steaks are amazing. They come with a roasted head of garlic which is appreciated. Bread to start, wedge salad, filet with twice baked potatoes, and then we diverged on dessert with a baked Alaska and a chocolate hazelnut "The Wake". I got a bite in before remembering to get pics of the main course.

Back from our excursion - all aboard is in another hour and fifteen minutes. The Cultural Getaway was a great excursion. It was about a 30 minute drive with narration out to our first stop at a cheese making facility. We got to glance at a few of the steps on how it is done and got a quick taste. From there we moved on to see how the people in the country live and how they grow a lot of their own fruits. We stopped by a house to see what living conditions are like and to get a taste of Dominican coffee. From there we went traveled to another community to get a taste of sugar cane juice and a sample of a sugar cane cake (small cookie). Then on to a place where they roll cigars from their tabaco crop. Finally back to the port - it took us close to 4 hours for the entire tour. The tour was on an open air type bus/van thing so if you want to hear the guide, don't sit in the back. We did a bit of quick shopping in the port, got back on board to get some pizza for lunch at the Pizza Place, up to the valley for a quick sweet treat of popsicles and a "Valiant Lady", and then back to the room to freshen up.

Good morning! We have arrived in Puerto Plata. This morning we had breakfast at Razzle Dazzle and had way too much food. Started with a Apple Cruffin, fruit plates, and then a Malted Waffle and the Fried Chicken Sandwich with eggs and bacon on the side. No dessert today but we will go back tomorrow and order less so we can fit dessert in. While we were eating, we pulled upto the pier. After breakfast, we were finally able to walk around the top decks to find it is quite toasty this morning (at least compared to what we are used to from Ohio at the moment). We have booked a Shore Thing today - Cultural Getaway and will be heading out in about a half hour.

We sailed out of Miami yesterday before the worst of it hit. By noon today the seas were pretty calm but we still had rain most of today. We should be in better weather the rest of the week. Went to Pink Agave for dinner tonight (and forgot to take pics (don't worry, we have a second reservation in a few days)). The guacamole needs a couple extra chips (which they will happily provide), the enchilada was super fresh, and then had the Steak and the Pibil as our mains and both were great (although I think the steak takes the win). Bread pudding and chocolate tacos for dessert. Then we went to "Around the World with the Diva" show. Great performance and comedy timing, although we wish the mic was a bit better adjusted as Carlos seems to have an amazing voice and the mic was just a bit to low at times. Also got to see a hint of what the Red Room can do (will see more later at Duel Reality). I will say I was really impressed with the audio system; one song you could feel the bass but it wasn't loud, the perfect balance. Puerto Plata tomorrow!

Turning the dimmer on turns on the ceiling lights to that %. Clicking ambient after that turns ambient to 100%. I'll keep trying but if it is this hard to do, it might not be worth it.

When I do that, it just turns them on to 100% or off. No option to dim them. The Ceiling light always remains inside the dimming wheel.

This is the "Lights" screen I have - I've been trying to change "Ceiling" to something else.

ANOTHER WARNING FOR TALL PEOPLE: It is possible to hit your head on doorways around the ship. And not just cabin doorways, I'm talking about major throughways. Specifically on deck 7 between the Roundabout and the Sip champaign lounge.

Couple cabin observations: The rooms have a slight angle to them. This is to give a bit extra room for the bed at one end in one room and opposite in the room next door. You don't notice it right away but you can tell there is more space between one corner of the bed and the wall than the other corner. The lighting is interesting - there is a slight wow factor when you first enter the room (curtains open, music plays, etc). There are plenty of light switches but they only turn lights on at 100% or off. The only way to dim lights is to use the tablet and even then only the main overhead lights can be dimmed. The ambient LED strip lights can be set to a "mood" but only preset moods and there is no customization. I wish you could control any light brightness from the tablet, but that is not the case. Cabin seating - lacking. There is one chair, one footstool, and the bed. I know original designs had the bed flip back and forth from a couch during the day, but they aren't doing that anymore and now there isn't any good place to sit more than one person. I think the best way to describe the standard stateroom is "Ikea Dorm Room" - it is decently modern with more storage than you think but looks kind of sparse. The bathroom: Overall the bathroom is small. You don't need to open the shower door to sit on the toilet, but just barely. The counter space is limited and there is next to no storage. There are a couple hooks on the inside of the door for hanging toiletry kits or if you don't need your stuff to be kept in the bathroom, there are shallow drawers inside the closet just outside the bathroom door. The shower itself is a bit larger than other ships I have been in on. Not much larger, but you can turn around and at least lift your arms a bit without hitting a wall every 5 seconds. WARNING FOR TALL PEOPLE - you can hit your head on the rainfall shower head. I would say if you are 6'3 or under that you are probably safe. I'll say something about the balcony once we can use it (rain all day yesterday, most of today, and they are cleaning it tomorrow).

Had breakfast / brunch in the Wake this morning. We had Steak & Eggs and the French Toast. Both were tasty but nothing over-the-moon.

Woke up a bit early and the ship isn't rocking as much. Figured I would give the network speed test another try.

We were going to try to make it to the PJ party tonight but we are about to pass out - ok we might have already passed out once or twice. We are sailing out under windy conditions. It is supposed to be rocky over night through tomorrow morning but the weather should clear up after that. I did a speed test for the Internet and it is slow at the moment ( I think that is based on the weather).