calicakes

We're in Katakolon( Olympia) Greece. We just arrived at 7:30am. Its a bit chilly as of now. We're not getting off the ship today, both of us have been here before.

I was surprised when I saw so many veggies with my halibut. The server even commented on that. When I ordered the crab cake app, I asked for the sauce on the side, since the description said " spicy peanut sauce". It was very mild though and that is coming from someone( me) who has zero spice tolerance. Julie is not a fan of sauces, but she did use the sauce that came with the filet. The descriptions are not accurate. For instance, Julie had a chocolate napoleon for dessert last night. That is typically sheets of puff pastry with a vanilla pastry cream. The dessert they called a napoleon, was nothing like a classic napoleon. I need to sign off from my laptop and sign back on with my phone. Being able to connect with only one device is annoying.

When was this? Julie has had 2 thus far.

Julie said the rib eye was very tough. She had filet again tonight, she said it was tender. I'll take her word for it since I don't eat beef.

The excursion today was not what I thought it would be. It was pretty windy when we got off the ship. We were met by a guide who took us in an airconditioned coach to Paleokastritsa Beach. We were met by small boats who took us into sea caves. I would have loved to go swimming off the boat, but the water was cold. The boat captain was wearing a sweatshirt. We had about 30 min to swim on the beach or walk around the tourist shops before we had to get back on the Bus. We were then taken to the Old Town Corfu. We only had about 30 min to "shop". It was super crowded, I wanted to go to a restaurant, but there wasn't enough time. The guide told us we could catch the shuttle back, but I was starving and just wanted to get back to the ship. I had no clue where the shuttle picked up. I did pick up some Greek spice, a small bottle of oil and a souvenir key chain for a friend. I bought another friend some kumquat marmalade and I bought some halva for myself.

Every night they have served soft rolls, crispy flatbread crackers, olive bread and baguette. The halibut I had last night was good. It was a touch bland( not seasoned). I used some of the béarnaise sauce. The filet mignon from the kids menu was good. I believe the mashed potatoes are actual potatoes and not instant. The fresh veggies have been very tasty( they are steamed). I'm not a fan of fish skin so when its presented skin side up, I usually flip it over and not eat it. The desserts have been really good. I bake ( and used to work as a pastry chef) and the desserts have been impressive. Much better than in Blu or at the regular buffet. I've never eaten a dinner at the MDR, so I can't compare those. The beet salad had a tasty dressing, but a minuscule amount of beets. The lobster salad was tasty, but so little lobster. When I saw " Macadamia white chocolate cake", I was expecting a piece of layer cake. LOL. I would have loved that. I love a good old fashioned cake. I had the gastric sleeve surgery 9yrs ago, so I still keep my portions small. I hate wasting food. I've asked for small portions. I did ask for a small amount of risotto, but it was still too much. From what I've eaten so far, I think the food is tastier than in Blu. All of our previous cruises on X have been in Aqua Class.

Hi. In hindsight, I wish we would have just taken the 10.00 round trip shuttle into town. We just cancelled the Dubrovnik excursion so we can take the shuttle and then take a taxi to the beach after a little walk around.

There seem to be a type of issue getting us unhooked from the pier. We are all out here watching.. There are lots of passengers cheering for them.

Afternoon canapés in our room. I thought we were getting cheese and crackers because that's what I asked for, but this is what we received.. I had to scrape off the caviar.

The waiter told me, but I think you're right.

Breakfast. BTW, I asked how many people were on board.approx 1850 passengers.

Thanks. I set an alarm for today so we can go to luminae before our excursion in Corfu"

Thanks for the tip. We did not pay any extra, we actually got money back from the December 2020 and September 2022 cruise we had booked.

Dinner. I had lobster salad. They didn't have hearts of palm. No biggie. I also had French onion soup it seems different to me. The onions were very finely diced and the soup was a little bit artificially thickened.. I did not want the Alaskan halibut as prepared on the menu, it was an Asian style. I asked for it simply grilled and mashed potatoes and vegetables. Julie had the ribbon she wanted it medium but it was more like well. Desserts were Mascarpone cheesecake and a chocolate palet. Desserts are very good. I'm curious why doesn't luminae show up on any of the schematics on the ship.

Our first port tomorrow is Corfu Greece. We had a lovely private excursion booked with 15 other people from our cruise roll call. That was canceled by the operator due to high winds and they didn’t feel they will be able to get us back to the ship on time. We were taking a Nautilis cruise with private barbecue lunch made by a chef, different beaches to swim and snorkel. Plan B was a beach swim and sail through the ship, using OBC. . That was also canceled. Plan C is now aCorfu town for shopping and eating and another beach swim. Fingers crossed that one won’t be canceled.

Thank u. I will ask her.

Afternoon cheese plate. I don't think saltines are a proper cracker to have with the cheese plate. I pulled out some crackers I had from our flight.

The pool is very crowded as expected on a sea day. They are very short staffed with bar tenders. They are not even scanning sea pass cards, or garnishing drinks. I've only seen 2 poolside servers as well.

Well we made it to lunch just in the Nick of time. I didn't change my watch ahead one hour and I kept thinking it was 1220 when it was actually 1:20. I had the beet salad and a small portion of the lobster bisque. For my main I had the butternut squash risotto. It tasted like macaroni and cheese. I could only eat a small amount. I asked for half a portion of everything. Julie had a chicken dish. I liked the chicken it was tender For dessert we shared the macadamia white chocolate cake. I was expecting something different but this was good.

I only made one request of our butler. I like bigger, slower to melt ice cubes. I brought this from home. I asked her to please fill it up, freeze it and bring it in the morning with some half-and-half from my coffee. She did say she couldn't do that. I asked her to please as the chef where the freezer is. She took the tray, it was brought back this morning. Unfortunately with the time change ahead one hour we overslept again and missed breakfast in Luminae. So bummed. We went to OV with what seemed like the entire ship. I had a nice conversation with an English couple who had a terrible experience at the main dining room last night. It was all service related. I had a light breakfast this morning.

He's very nice. I will relay your message. We had a nice chat last night about the possible changes to Michael's club.

I like iced coffee in the morning. I ordered some hot water to make aeropress coffee in the room. I'll let it cool overnight. Julie pressed it for me.

You are correct.

I'm posting pics from my phone. Sorry for the brevity of words. We are waiting for the game to start.

We finally met the Butler. Her name is Eli. We went to the Sunset bar for sail away. We had a nice dinner in Luminae.. . I had the Ginger crab cake, and black bass.. Julie had the kids filet and kids Caesar salad.