LIVE from the Emerald - 11/28/10 to 12/18/10

[lovevacadays]

I successfully completely suprised Judy with the Suite. Had her close her eyes and walked her down the hallway into the suite and then said 'Merry Christmas"!

 

She was completely surprised. Didn't have a clue and I've been keeping this to myself for months now.

 

We're on the ship, out to sea and rocking the night away. More later.

 

E'ya later!

 

That is so cool! What a great guyyou are. Enjoy your cruise and your suite.

[vickie_bernie]

how cool, now could you talk to my honey about surprising me like that! :p

[Colo Cruiser]

What a great surprise.

[macusr]

Amazed that you kept the "suite" surprise from Judy!

Looking forward to once again living vicariously through the live thread. We really enjoyed Emerald and the newer amenities (Int'l Cafe, Sanctuary, MUTS). It was our first mini-suite and we thought it was palacial so I can't imagine what the suite must be like!

[freetocruise]

We are getting on Emerald as you are getting off, so your "live" thread will be our countdown clock. In past Christmas cruises, we have done both itineraries in different years, unfortunately not back to back like you are doing. Looking forward to your observations.

[Woobstr112G]

I successfully completely suprised Judy with the Suite. Had her close her eyes and walked her down the hallway into the suite and then said 'Merry Christmas"!

 

She was completely surprised. Didn't have a clue and I've been keeping this to myself for months now.

 

We're on the ship, out to sea and rocking the night away. More later.

 

E'ya later!

 

That is such a cool surprise. Well done my friend.....:):):)

 

Bob

[ccrain]

11-28-10 Emerald Princess

 

Ok, now we are live!

 

Slept a little later this morning, but still anxious. This would be the day I spring the big surprise. A suite on the ship rather than our typical balcony cabin. A Christmas present just a few weeks early. And it was a rousing success. I told Judy that I had purchased something special for the cruise and had her close her eyes while I led her down the hallway. Opened the door, led her in and said “Merry Christmas”! Surprised her completely. Nice. I like doing that. Our first suite and an aft suite to boot. We’re lost in it. So many drawers, closets, cubby holes, we have way too much room and not enough stuff. Its great. This will be a fun cruise.

 

But I get ahead of myself. We followed our pre-cruise ritual. Repacking the suit cases, getting out the cleaning supplies, last minute shopping at Walgreens, answering some work emails (whoops, where did that come from!). A 10 minute van ride from the Hilton, 8 ships were in port including Allure with a load of travel agents, and we were dropping off our luggage at 11:10 AM. A brief wait in the Elite Lounge, then on to the desk, another brief wait at the top of the escalator and we were on the ship by noon. Pretty painless for sure. Since we’ve never been on the Emerald before we went exploring. Crown Grill is gorgeous. The wheelhouse more like the Coral and Island than the Grand. Explorers about the same. Club fusion a little more classier than our trip on the CP.

 

Our other pre-cruise ritual is burger, fries, pizza, a cold long island iced tea and other adult beverages. Nice, satisfying, decompressing and relaxing. Luggage arrived by the time we got back to the cabin, around 2pm. Unpacking was easy with all this room. Then we settled in to await muster drill. Caught a 2 minute cat nap. Muster was almost the same, except for the scanning of the cruise cards with a new handheld scanner. New way to do a quick roll call I guess.

 

Me on board, judy on board, check. Surprise a success. Check. Luggage arrived. Check. Time to chill. Menu tonight was Sailaway. Pretty much the same menu, but we didn’t make it to the dining room. Opted for a quick dance to Phoenix Rising in the Wheelhouse, the Welcome show in the theatre, a quick snack at the HC and then to bed early. Time to catch up on some sleep.

 

Highlights of the cruise from the first patter that everyone wants to know:

 

Formal nights are 2nd day at sea and last day at sea prior to Princess Cays. Comedians are Billy Vader, John Mendoza and Rollin Jay Moore. Comedy magician is Justin Flom. Cruise Director is Tim Donovan, and Benji, from AUS, is his senior. There is NFL on MUTS, Sunday and Monday night. Despicable Me, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Salt, Inception, Other Guys, Dinner for Schmucks and Get Low are headline movies at night. Production shows are Boogie Shoes, I Got the Music, Motor City, What a Swell Party and Beatlemaniacs. They will have Princess Popstar, London Pub Night, Country and Western night, 50’s and 60’s night and 70’s disco night.

 

Captain is Giorgio Pomata, Maitre De is Nicola Furian. Ship’s clocks go ahead 1 hour on the first night.

 

Anyway, that’s all for now. Starting to nod off. As always, ask questions and I’ll try and get the answers.

 

See ya!

[rdsqrl]

Thanks for the update. Congratulations on pulling off the suite surprise! Sounds like you're going to have a fantastic cruise in your fancy digs. But what's with losing an hour sleep on the first night -- that's just cruel... Have a great first night aboard the Emerald.

[Colo Cruiser]

Capt Giorgio and MD Nicola are great assets to the Emerald.

[OnVacation11]

Thanks for the live.... we will be following you on the 18th ! Keep the Emerald in good shape !

[ccrain]

11-29-10 At Sea:

 

The suite is pretty incredible. We’ve walked through them before, but never thought we’d actually stay in one. The suite is basically two rooms wide. The diagrams on the Princess website don’t do it justice. It’s much roomier and has a much larger feel than the diagrams show. The refrigerator is bigger than a normal room as well. We could really get used to the suite life. Plenty of storage room, plenty of room in the bathrooms, the Jacuzzi tub even comes with bath salts. The shower doesn’t have that loving shower curtain either!

 

The balcony actually has two beams. One 18” beam near the port side that forms a little nook and protrudes into the balcony area. The second is a full beam that is about ¼ of the way from the starboard side and is pretty much centered in the balcony area. This makes the balcony a bit crowded since we have two full loungers, an end table, a round dining table and three dining chairs. There are two sliding doors into the balcony, one from the bedroom side of the suite and one from the living room side of the suite. One note of import is that the sliding doors can and will slam shut, engaging the lock enough to basically lock you out on the balcony. Happened to us during our power nap today. Aft cabins have almost zero wind on their balconies and it makes for a nice shaded, comfortable space with the sound of the wake providing the perfect white noise. I forget exactly what I was dreaming about, but it was pretty good when the door slammed shut. Good thing the other door was still unlocked, otherwise we would have been doing some interesting gymnastics.

 

Slept pretty good last night. Judy has to have the head of the bed raised for her Acid Reflux, so Carlos, our room steward, suggested using the life jackets. Great Idea! All three against the wall under the mattresses along with the round thingies raise the head almost perfectly. The added egg crate helps soften the bed a bit, and the extra pillows are a nice touch. It’s not a sleep number bed, but it will do quite nicely.

 

The perks are already spoiling us. Breakfast at Sabbatini’s was wonderful. I didn’t know whether to eat it or take a picture of it. (But I forgot the camera and I really don’t like to waste food, so it’s all gone now.) It was a beautiful, perfectly cooked poached egg in a glass brandy snifter type dish on top of rosemary hash browns (diced, not shredded) accompanied by a grilled ham steak. A latte, a cappuccino, orange juice, toast, wonderful marmalade, constant attention by a wonderfully smiling waitress, quiet, no mess, no fuss, no pushing, no clanking of dishes, no noise. This was great. Speaking of Sabbatini’s, and having been on all three Fincanteri Grands and the Caribbean Princess, I must admit I really like the layout of the Emerald. Sabbatini’s is on Deck 15 aft, next to Adagio’s and overlooking the back of the ship with nice views. No more watching people walk by on the Promenade. The light colored woods, the tile floors, the richly colored carpet just create a feel of a location that exudes luxury. We will be back for more breakfasts for sure.

 

The décor is simply breathtaking around the entire ship. We walked through Crown Grill and it is more beautiful than the new Crown Grill on the Golden, and that was absolutely stunning. The dark woods make for an intimate setting that we will be visiting for dinner tonight. We really like the Club Fusion concept over the Vista Lounge. It’s just a more exciting vibe. The Wheelhouse is larger and very similar to the layout on the Island and the Coral. A much better setting and layout than the Wheelhouse on the three Fincanteri Grands.

 

The CC meet and greet was a great success in Skywalkers today. Tim Donovan showed up. We’ve sailed with Tim twice before. Our Grand cruise with him in April 2009 is still in our top 3 cruises of all time. This cruise holds much promise as well. Billy Vader was very funny last night during the welcome aboard show, Rollin Jay Moore will have an adult comedy night and there are only 31 minors on board. Only 5 teenagers. YEAH!

 

Our ballroom class held a special surprise. The Emerald has two dedicated ballroom instructors Ken and Merrily Knepper. We were apprehensive when we heard we would have “professional” ballroom instructors until Merrily said – ‘ the first rule is to have fun’. They are a wonderful couple and they attend the dance bands at night as well. Unlike the cruise staff or the entertainment dancers, who have other duties and responsibilities, these two can interact with us at night as well. This could prove very fun indeed.

 

More later - we have a pretty filled evening ahead!

[loribelle1]

I will be on the Dec. 8 cruise, and would love to know what movies are playing on MUTS now. Thanks!

[Cruzin Grandma]

I will be on the Dec. 8 cruise, and would love to know what movies are playing on MUTS now. Thanks!

 

 

See post #32 "There is NFL on MUTS, Sunday and Monday night. Despicable Me, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Salt, Inception, Other Guys, Dinner for Schmucks and Get Low are headline movies at night."

[bjs323x]

Great fun reading your posts...can't wait to join you on the 8th. Thanks for the updates.

[ccrain]

Later on the 29th…

 

Tim is proving to be a very good CD. Lots of entertainment choices, lots of dance venues, and pretty good comedians. Billy Vader last night was good. Justin Flom, comedian/magician was pretty good as well. His card tricks to music was a completely different take on close up magic and highly entertaining. We still, even though we watched carefully, figure out the flying table trick. It’s very good.

 

I really don’t like the layout of the new Patter. Entertainment choices were pretty easy to find, but in the new Patter you have to read the details. The old patter had the info several different ways, the most important, to me, was venue by venue. Now the time tables are where all the information is, although little boxed blurbs, like pop up ads, are around the perimeter and provide some additional information. I do like the guides on the back.

 

There were several dance venues tonight, the Wheelhouse with Phoenix Rising, the orchestra in Explorer’s, canned music in fusion and in Skywalkers. Skywalker’s remains the last indoor dance venue with smoking allowed and even with the smoking section over on one side far away from the dance venue, Judy could not be in there more than 5 minutes. Oh well.

 

We saw “What a Swell Party”. A new, for us, production show. Kind of ok until the last 10 minutes and then the choreography and the dancing really picked up and went well. We got there 30 minutes early and barely got a seat in the front rows.

 

Overall entertainment is far better than our last cruise on the Star. In fact, one of our tests is whether or not we have time to do it all. If we don’t, then it’s a pretty good cruise. As before when we sailed with Tim, he’s packed the schedule with all kinds of activities and we just can’t seem to do it all.

 

But the highlight of the evening was dinner at the Crown Grill. Judy had the shrimp with Pancetta bisque, which was quite good. I had the scallops and fau gras appetizer. I had to try the fau gras again, and I still don’t care for it. Must be an acquired taste. I had the grilled salad and it was very good. For the main course I had the rack of lamb and Judy had the filet. As usual, her filet was perfect. My rack was great, really really good, until I put their new mint sauce on it and it went to fantastic. The new mint sauce has just a hint of a mild vinegar and it really sent the lamb over the top. For dessert we both had the apple berry cobbler with ice cream. Wonderful. Very tasty. Well worth the $50 cover charge.

 

Well its been a full day at sea, a full night of fun, food and entertainment, and now its 0100 in the morning and time to hit the sack.

 

Night all…

[Clutterlady]

Love the updates! Thank you so much, can't wait to hear more!

[SULLJO]

11-28-10 Emerald Princess

 

Ok, now we are live!

 

Slept a little later this morning, but still anxious. This would be the day I spring the big surprise. A suite on the ship rather than our typical balcony cabin. A Christmas present just a few weeks early. And it was a rousing success. I told Judy that I had purchased something special for the cruise and had her close her eyes while I led her down the hallway. Opened the door, led her in and said “Merry Christmas”! Surprised her completely. Nice. I like doing that. Our first suite and an aft suite to boot. We’re lost in it. So many drawers, closets, cubby holes, we have way too much room and not enough stuff. Its great. This will be a fun cruise.

 

But I get ahead of myself. We followed our pre-cruise ritual. Repacking the suit cases, getting out the cleaning supplies, last minute shopping at Walgreens, answering some work emails (whoops, where did that come from!). A 10 minute van ride from the Hilton, 8 ships were in port including Allure with a load of travel agents, and we were dropping off our luggage at 11:10 AM. A brief wait in the Elite Lounge, then on to the desk, another brief wait at the top of the escalator and we were on the ship by noon. Pretty painless for sure. Since we’ve never been on the Emerald before we went exploring. Crown Grill is gorgeous. The wheelhouse more like the Coral and Island than the Grand. Explorers about the same. Club fusion a little more classier than our trip on the CP.

 

Our other pre-cruise ritual is burger, fries, pizza, a cold long island iced tea and other adult beverages. Nice, satisfying, decompressing and relaxing. Luggage arrived by the time we got back to the cabin, around 2pm. Unpacking was easy with all this room. Then we settled in to await muster drill. Caught a 2 minute cat nap. Muster was almost the same, except for the scanning of the cruise cards with a new handheld scanner. New way to do a quick roll call I guess.

 

Me on board, judy on board, check. Surprise a success. Check. Luggage arrived. Check. Time to chill. Menu tonight was Sailaway. Pretty much the same menu, but we didn’t make it to the dining room. Opted for a quick dance to Phoenix Rising in the Wheelhouse, the Welcome show in the theatre, a quick snack at the HC and then to bed early. Time to catch up on some sleep.

 

Highlights of the cruise from the first patter that everyone wants to know:

 

Formal nights are 2nd day at sea and last day at sea prior to Princess Cays. Comedians are Billy Vader, John Mendoza and Rollin Jay Moore. Comedy magician is Justin Flom. Cruise Director is Tim Donovan, and Benji, from AUS, is his senior. There is NFL on MUTS, Sunday and Monday night. Despicable Me, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Salt, Inception, Other Guys, Dinner for Schmucks and Get Low are headline movies at night. Production shows are Boogie Shoes, I Got the Music, Motor City, What a Swell Party and Beatlemaniacs. They will have Princess Popstar, London Pub Night, Country and Western night, 50’s and 60’s night and 70’s disco night.

 

Captain is Giorgio Pomata, Maitre De is Nicola Furian. Ship’s clocks go ahead 1 hour on the first night.

 

Anyway, that’s all for now. Starting to nod off. As always, ask questions and I’ll try and get the answers.

 

See ya!

 

 

Just wondering if they had the cold lobster claws and shrimp embarkation day at the Horizon court buffet around 5 pm?

[macusr]

Another thread on the boards is reporting hearing from the Crown Princess CD re. repurposing of Skywalkers. Would be interested in whatever news you learn.

[ccrain]

Just wondering if they had the cold lobster claws and shrimp embarkation day at the Horizon court buffet around 5 pm?

 

By the time we went up to grab something to eat, they had closed Cafe Caribe.

[ccrain]

Another thread on the boards is reporting hearing from the Crown Princess CD re. repurposing of Skywalkers. Would be interested in whatever news you learn.

 

I will ask around...

[ccrain]

11-30-10 At Sea:

 

Boy was it hard to get up this morning. Still getting used to the bed and pillows, and our normal bedtime is 8pm at home. Staying up till 1am is just not our normal style. Slept with the balcony door open. Fresh air, the sounds of the ocean, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Temperatures have been perfect. 70’s to 80’s. Nice breeze, not too hot, not too cold. Very comfortable. The A/C works quite well in our suite. On cold, it would freeze us out.

 

Sabbatini’s was our breakfast stop. Their poached eggs are simply perfect. The eggs benedict just absolutely wonderful. Judy had the Belgium waffle with real maple syrup and real whipped cream and fresh strawberries and real butter. Latte’s, mocha’s and cappacino’s are included in the breakfast. Wonderful service, personable and impeccable, with that touch of elegance that really makes you feel special. A very nice start to the day.

 

We were treated to a tour of the Thermal suite in preparation for using it tomorrow while everyone gets off in St Kitts. I think a nice swim followed by a visit to the thermal suite is in order. There are five of the heated stone benches, a “dry” sauna, a steam bath and an aromatherapy steam room. Unlike the ones near the front pool, these are coed, so I don’t have to do this on my own. Never been in a steam room before, only saw them in movies. They also have the Rasul couples room, not included in the suite perks. We will try the steam rooms first. The couples room may have to wait until the next cruise, or the one after that!

 

Foxtrot was the dance in ballroom class today. Ken and Merrily are very nice teachers. Funny, not too serious and they want to make sure everyone has a good time. A good turnout. Basic forward, quarter turn, promenade and swing step were the four steps taught today. As I always say, guys, you can buy them diamonds and you can take them to the dinner, but if you really want to make your wife smile, take her dancing. I guarantee you will make her very happy…

 

The patter is absolutely chock a block full of stuff to do today. Movies constantly on MUTS. Trivia, different trivia like majority rules and cruise long speed trivia, every couple of hours, crochet, shuffle board, napkin folding, line dance, ceramics, lectures, Texas Hold Em tournament, culinary demo, pub lunch in the wheelhouse, pool games, bridge, golf, jewelry sale, clearance sale in the dining room, bingo, just a lot of stuff going on.

 

The crowds. Yes, the super grands have the extra deck and yes the corridors get very busy. It’s not helped by the photographers that block areas on formal night either. Venues fill up rapidly. At peak times the Promenade deck is stuffed with people. But it’s only temporary. Fincanteri and Princess did an excellent job in laying out the Emerald and her sisters, the Crown and Ruby. Some crowding is to be expected on any ship at peak times, they key is to make sure its not crowded all the time. Things calm down after a while when everyone finds their own little nook and there are a lot of them on the ship. Overall, its really not that bad.

 

Lunch was at Vines, and yes, you have to buy a beverage to get free sushi or Tapas. Not bad stuff. We did a white flight while Judy stocked up on sushi for lunch. Line dancing was fun in the Piazza, but way too many people and too little room. Miko was sick yesterday, but was back today to teach a couple of line dances. They also had an acrobat in the Piazza the last couple of days and we caught her show waiting for line dancing. Li Liu does some amazing things while balancing 6 spinning plates on sticks, 3 in each hand.

 

This was our first night in the dining room. As a suite guest, you call up the dine line, or wait until they call you, make your request, any time, any type of table, and then just show up. We walked up to the desk and was immediately seated. Dinner was the Caribbean menu tonight. Pretty good stuff, although the Fettuccini Alfredo is not up to Judy’s standards. She was spoiled on the Golden last year with some fantastic fettuccine and she’s been searching for its equivalent every since – this had good flavor, just not as good and not sauced as well as it should – some of the pasta was dry. The highlight for Judy was the split pea soup. The highlight for me were the lamb shanks and the shrimp and scallop appetizer. Yeah, I know, I had lamb last night at Crown Grill, but I just couldn’t pass up lamb shanks. And it was really good. Melt in your mouth fall off the bone tender. The lentils, potatoes and roasted eggplant that came with it were also great in the stew/sauce that the lamb was cooked in. Not gamey at all. A real highlight of the meal.

 

After dinner, things get real busy. 7:30 starts ballroom dancing in explorer’s with the orchestra, then 8:30 is a comedian in the theatre, dancing starts back up at 9:15, then the 50’s sock hop at 9:45, a repeat of the comedian at 10:30, with Justin Flom back in explorers at 8:30 and 10:30. A real packed schedule for sure.

 

So after careful consideration we did the dancing in explorer’s to the Emerald Princess Orchestra – this is a great band. The other night they were playing a rhumba and mixed in the theme to the brady bunch as part of the song. We also Cha Chaed to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. A band with a great musical attitude for sure. Then we did the sock hop in Club Fusion. That was fun. Good music with Icon, we have three great dance bands – Phoenix Rising and Icon, along with the Orchestra – and Fusion has the largest dance floor on the ship. They had the Elvis contest, hand jive, several swings, the twist. If you would like to dress up, just bring your poodle skirt, leather jacket or letterman’s sweater and you can fit right in.

 

After 50’s night we hustled up to the 1030 comedian’s show. John Mendoza. He’s a crowd interaction comedian and with the 1030 crowd it was slow. BTW, the 1030 show was not full at all. The 830one was SRO, but if you wait until the 1030 show, you are good to go for the most part. John had some good bits, some good lines and interactions with the audience. Not a total flop.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like a great day.

[ILgirl]

We are just off the Emerald on 11/28 and are reliving the cruise through your posts. Thanks for taking the time and effort. One venue that we visited each night was Adagio for a pre dinner cocktail. Ron Coleman is the piano player and is terrific. He also loves taking requests. Hope you continue to enjoy a great cruise!

[SULLJO]

By the time we went up to grab something to eat, they had closed Cafe Caribe.

 

Thanks for the "live"...really enjoying it and can't wait to meet all of you on the Dec 8th sailing. I will have to make sure I stop after our groups M&G. The Emerald didn't have the Sail a way seafood when we sailed at the end of August.

 

Wishing you a great day and can't wait to read the report. Joyce

[ccrain]

12-1-10 St Kitts:

 

This morning we awoke early - yelling, thrusting, bumping, grinding - docking makes a lot of noise after all! The Grand was right behind us. So it was up to Sabattinis for breakfast. This is a really nice suite perk and a good example of how Princess keeps changing to add more value for their cruisers. They didn’t have to do this. Suites sell very well on all ships. That’s why the suite upgrade is so rare. But having a nice quiet place to have breakfast is just so cool! We’ve had great service so far. From Sabbatini’s to the Crown Grill, to the cruise staff to the bar staff to Carlos our room steward. Everyone has been great!

 

I find that passengers, for the most part, are far more obnoxious and rude than any crew member I have ever met. I ran into my first chair poacher today. I understand the issue with chair hogs, but why do people feel that because you aren’t actually laying in the chair at the time they show up, they can just move your shoes, robe, cruise card and towel to another lounger while you are in the hot tub 10 feet away. Sort of ranks up there with the starving people waiting impatiently in the anytime dining line rushing the opening of the door like zombies in Left for Dead swarming a car whose alarm has just gone off! Well, you just had to be there…

 

I found out today I am not a thermal suite kind of guy. Good thing I didn’t have to pay for it! We did our 16 times around the jogging track up on Deck 19. Yep, there is a deck 19 with the track, the miniature golf course and the sports court and the view from up there is not to be missed. Great photo spot. Then we did the swim against the current pool – it is not part of the Sanctuary on the Emerald, then a hot tub – during which my lounge chair got poached – so we tried out the thermal suites.

 

Comfortably ensconced on the stone chair, actually tile, I anxiously awaited nirvana, and waited, and waited. After about 10 minutes I asked Judy when I could expect the ethereal plane of existence to open up and elevate my consciousness. I got shushed. After 15 minutes she grudgingly led me into the aromatherapy room where I began to sweat tremendously, but she assured me it was fragrant sweat and it was good for me. She began taking deep breaths, then coughing, claiming it “was a good cough”. I was having none of the deep breathing this liquid air so I held on for a few more minutes while the sweat began pouring off of me, the ceiling started dripping hot water on me, the walls began closing in and I couldn’t hardly breathe. Nope, not for me. So let’s try the “dry” heat sauna. At least it was cooler until I sat down! Holy smokes! You could have cooked an egg on the heated benches. Geez, I wanted relaxation, not being cooked like a turkey in an oven! At that point it was abandon ship and back to the air conditioning of the suite and a nice cool shower. Much better. But now I know where to go heat up leftovers after dinner!

 

We tried the HC for lunch. Not very much variety on the menu, and plastic wrapped sandwiches. I’ve noticed a substantial reduction in lunch choices, especially on port days, over the past couple of years. It’s not a really bad thing. You won’t go hungry, but I do miss the themed lunches that some ships put on.

 

I tried watching dinner for schmucks in the Princess theater this afternoon. Just could not get past the painful writing to actually see the dinner. A nap sounded much more inviting and as it turned out, much more refreshing for sure.

 

We got notice last night we are in on Friday’s chef’s table. Hoorah! Typically the culinary highlight of the cruise. Can’t wait.

 

Tonight is a full night with Captain’s Circle, over 2000 members on board, in Club Fusion at 730, country night at 930, and London Pub Night at 1045. We won’t make it to the Motor City production show tonight – it’s one of our favorites and I hope they repeat it later.

 

MUTS, as I’ve said before, is being far better utilized than our last cruise. The wake show in the morning, then 3-4 movies until the featured movie in the evening. Princess commercials in between showing, which at least are better than blank screens or those screensavers we watched on the star over and over and over again in February.

 

Once again I can’t say enough about how Tim is running the entertainment on this ship compared to the last ship. Like night and day. We actually got bored on the Star for several nights. We’re now back to not being able to do it all and that’s the way we like it. Three good dance bands, good dance venues, and no hour long canned music “Ballroom” dancing programs yet. Fusion and Skywalkers is canned music, but its good quality DJed music, not simply stick in the CD and hit play.

 

Dinner was a Princess dinner that featured one of my favorites Coq Au Vin – chicken in a heavy burgundy wine sauce. We started by sharing the braised oxtail over rotelle pasta. MMMM good. Judy has the grilled calamari sans the fennel salad. I had the hearty black bean chowder. The calamari was very good and the baby squid on the plate was even better than the steaks. The chowder was just ok. Not my favorite. Judy ordered the Grilled Beef Fillets and I ordered the Coq Au Vin. Her beef was perfectly cooked and tasty, my Coq Au Vin, while not the best I’ve ever had on a ship, was pretty tasty. Dark meat would have been better, but the chicken was moist and tender.

 

Because Captain’s Circle was held on a non-formal night, we decided to go and score some free drinks. Ok, some free flavored ice water. No new news on the new ships. No tidbits of information. Most traveled passengers were all over 700 days at sea. Over 2000 CC members with 190+ elites. Ah well there goes our invite to the most travelled party.

 

After Captain’s Circle, we danced at the country and western show. The crowd started small, Motor City must attracted a big audience, but picked up. Line dances, some slow dances, the bang, bang game, but no tush push. Darn! BTW, it was pick on Aleesia night, one of the cruise staff. She also ended up being the target on London Pub Night.

 

London pub night was a hoot. Tim throws one of the best London pub nights with lots of audience participation, edgy humor, old corny jokes, skits and the like, but still a lot of fun. With over 60% of the audience probably already seeing a pub night, they do need to start changing it up a bit to keep it fresh. Although the golfer was new to us, it’s usually a tennis player. They also had drink specials in fusion. $2.99 for Singapore slings, Long Islands, some beers and other drinks. So we stocked up, watched the show, staggered back to the room and hit the sack.

 

Another great day of cruising…