Bit of a Blog – Adventure of the Seas – Westbound Transatlantic – 4th November 2013

[breeezy]

Trying a different bed configuration this time :

 

Can you see what's on the menu?!

 

Yes indeedy.... not GF but I took one for the team....

 

 

 

 

Are those snails?????? Are they back???? I heard they were coming back!!

[breeezy]

Loving your blog Linda!! Thanks so much for putting up with the internet problems and taking us along on your cruise with you!

[cruizefam]

Your pictures are wonderful! I'm loving that lunch menu, tons of gluten free options!

 

So sorry you are being tempted, I feel for you, but stay strong, there are so many options! Ask your waiter or MD when you pre order for something special to look forward to - the gf chocolate bread is amazing! Also, if you want something you don't see, ask! Bananas Foster - gf of course - is a delicious substitute if they are willing. Also don't be afraid to ask for some fresh berries as a dessert... That is if you like that. Enjoy your day/evening!

 

Are you going to Potifinos for dinner any evening? Heads up, their steaks are soaked the night before in regular soy sauce, be careful. Also, they have gf soy sauce in the windjammer if you do the sushi, just ask & check for sure. (Not sure if they are still serving sushi right now, we would get a few pieces & wine and sit on our balcony, pre dinner apertf)

[Koohiichan]

Thanks for blogging! It is getting me excited for our next AOS this coming January. Love your tux by the way. Cute look!

 

Cheers,

 

Koohiichan

[Missus Makkem]

yes get your fresh berries while you can as they soon run out of them on Trans, likewise bananas.

Hard to reorder when in middle of Atlantic :eek:

[NorbertsNiece]

Are those snails?????? Are they back???? I heard they were coming back!!

 

Yes indeed ma'am.

 

So wish I could tell you about today right now but it's hard typing on my mobile! Still in Madeira so making most of European rates.

 

Today has had its highs (cable car to Monte) and lows (what do you mean there's no GF dessert?). Will write it all up and post tomorrow (a girl can hope right?) I've asked for anything chocolate for dessert tomorrow..... They were awesome though delivering sushi to the table much to my neighbour's amusement (on WJ plate) and eventually a GF dessert which hadnt existed previously! X

 

DD1 has a birthday tomorrow and I'm hoping to be able to call her.

[peteukmcr]

Love following along and I can see you're still in Funchal. Have a great next stage to the Caribbean.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited November 7, 2013 by peteukmcr

[NorbertsNiece]

GF lamb broth.... this was not good.... more salt in this than a daily allowance imo

 

 

 

GF Smoked chicken salad

 

 

GF Duck

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Not MY dessert :(

 

 

What I ended up with. ice-cream was not great if I'm honest.... I want to go back on Freedom....just for the desserts they plied me with!! Adventure has time to pick up its heels

 

 

Was trying to post this on Thursday, my days are now horribly confused. Captain just came on over the air.... he called this a 'boat'.... seriously..... am off to take pics of approaching land xxx The way I tell I’m still online is to log in to FB and when the chat screen disconnects I know I’m offline again!! OK. I’m offline. Again. Can’t get back. Heading out..

[NorbertsNiece]

Gym. Check.

Breakfasted on Deck 5…..not asked for Diamond status or Seapass card. I get a 2 up table to myself by the window….. bliss… it’s quiet and no-one to make conversation with…. I turn my chair to view the water. I’ve made a note which just says : heaven. I’m not alone for long though. Shrug. Couple from Germany who have brought their own bread with…..

Latin dance keep fit class. Bjorn (from Jamaica) is a hoot…. He’s wearing tiny little shorts this morning…. Not a lot left to the imagination…. he’s amazing…. The regime is full on, non stop. I last 20 minutes.

 

Head up to the Viking Lounge and manage to post some pics before I am irrevocably thrown off. I have various tactics for attempting to get back on line but this day they all fail. I carry my mobile with as I make notes during the days on it….. it bleeps….. ‘Welcome to Portugal’. I have a special Euro rate and use it.

 

It’s a lovely sunny day. I head to decks 11/12 to catch us coming in to port….. Captain confirms we have cleared local authorities and we can debark….. he plays the Cavalry charge…. So funny!! As soon as we debark I jump on a shuttle bus and head in to town. I decide to go where my feet take me but initially I head towards the cable car. I am ashamed that my knowledge of Portuguese amounts to the one word for ‘thank you’, so whenever I ask a question it is prefaced by ‘Do you speak English?’ I find the cable car by another well known tactic…. Follow the tourists…. Not 100% successful but with one slight detour the system worked. The ride up was smooth and peaceful. Flying over the red tiled rooftops of the houses, some with immaculate gardens….. goats, dogs, cats living a mountainside life.

 

Sorry. Digress. TV is on. Big Bang Theory. In French!! The one with Will Wheaton and the bowling match…. Happy bunny here.

 

Back to the mountain. Not sunny at the top but still warm. I have lunch at a bar there…. Basic omelette, salad and chips. Nice cup of coffee. Less than 10 euros. The Botanical Gardens are right next door but I decide to take a stroll to where the ‘Basket Riders’ are. Basically….. tourists sit in a basket on skis….toboggans….. 2 men, dressed all in white with white boaters, ostensibly guide the toboggans 2km down the road…. And there’s no shortage of men or tourists prepared to take ride….

The roads down the mountain are hair pin bends…. I watch for a while as they disappear around the bend….. and decide to forego the pleasure. I take a stroll around for a while and am utterly charmed by the neighbourhood and verdant flora. Pics to follow.

 

I’ve just realised we are underway! I would have been out on deck as I usually am for All Aboard…. But am knackered and am in PJs already! Lol.

 

I am so in the moment it’s wonderful. I find a bus stop and get on…. Driver assures me he goes to Funchal. Less than 2 euros. Lovely ride down the mountain. We end up in town somewhere. At the end of the ride I continue to let my feet guide me…. I end up in the Cathedral which is a very unprepossessing building. There are decorations going up outside in the streets…. Not sure but Christmas already? I walk all the way back to the ship. I chat with others doing the same thing. Nearer the pier there are ‘Tuk Tuk’s for 8 euros but I continue to walk…. There’s a couple doing the walk with their canes…. If they can do the walk so can I.

 

I think I must have napped when I got back to the room…. Not quite sure…. One minute I was watching Lewis Hamilton driving a medium priced car on ‘Top Gear’ the next we’re half through a ballet programme.

 

I’d warned the dining room that I would be later than usual for dinner. Some people I’ve previously met are sat at the table eating and others new to meet are also eating. Really nice, dare I say it, much older, folks. I suggest to my waiter that as I’m well and truly done with the bread they have on offer (and I do ask about the savoury bites) how about tomorrow they bring me some sushi instead? My starter arrives…. And then a plate of sushi on a Windjammer plate!! (I do need to enquire about the soy sauce as someone mentioned it previously…. Completely slipped my mind….) I’m totally sushi-holic and yearn for some sashimi…..

 

So there I am feeling the love. Main course comes and goes. Am brought the dessert menu. Now you need to know that every day they bring me the main course menu for the next day, never the dessert menu. I ask for the Pineapple Upside Down Cake as it has the GF label alongside it. I also ask to skip the sugar – free ice cream and have whipped cream instead. Turns out they don’t have any GF Pineapple Upside Down Cake… it needs to be pre-ordered. My sweet tooth needs assuaging. They turn up with berries and ice cream. I’m almost mirroring my 2 year old GS now. Don’t want that. How about a fruit plate? No. BBB? No. I’ll have a decaff cappuccino please. And then…drum roll…. Head Waiter turns up with GF Pineapple Upside Down Cake. And whipped cream. He gets a very public hug.

 

Clocks go back an hour tonight.

 

PS I have a board on my door which is also stuck with magnets…..can’t miss it…..so why do I frequently walk past it? Answers on a postcard please.

 

Got kicked off as soon as I posted the previous replies.....

[cruizefam]

Linda,

 

Ask about the chocolate gluten free bread, they should be able to make it for you! While sailing on the Explorer last Nov, they made it for my daughter & I every meal -- it was like having dessert before the meal

 

Hope your sweet tooth gets satisfied soon! And yum on tge gf pineapple cake!!

[Missus Makkem]

Linda you must be the only person that looses weight on a cruise with the difficulties you are experiences.

[Hampshire Rose]

Hi Linda

 

Loving the blog. Hope the weather is kind to you.

 

Geraldine:):)

[Costafox]

Loving your blog Linda, hope that the weather settles down and you get a calm crossing. We did a TA on the Adventure in 2011 from Malaga - San Juan and had a blast.

[NorbertsNiece]

I watched a lovely film on the TV last night : Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Reece Witherspoon. Missed the beginning but it kept me engaged. Didn’t sleep too well; each time I woke I told myself to go back to sleep so that by the time I decided to get up it was around 830am!

 

There hadn’t been a breakfast show yesterday and I tuned in in time to witness Drew and Cuddy reading out the requests from the box. I’d asked about ‘Alice the Kangaroo’. Drew read it out. Cuddy burst out laughing and mentioned this was something to do with Navigator. They then moved on to other matters whilst I had a gym v breakfast discussion in my head. Breakfast won. Sat with others this time and was given some GF muffins which I took away with me. We saw a rainbow.

 

I go to Latin dance fitness class with Bjorn. Again I don’t last very long. I’m on Deck 4 and can hear live music from somewhere. But where is a mystery. I head up to deck 11 as I want to call DD1 for her birthday. There’s a waiter playing the guitar accompanied by a colleague banging on the side of a wooden case or something…. I think he also plays in the Deck 3 MDR during 1st sitting. Certainly waking people up as they head in to breakfast.

 

Get my call in to the UK to hear GS1 having a temper tantrum. Life goes on! I head to the Viking Crown to post yesterday’s blog and get kicked off after a few minutes yet again.

 

Flash mob dance rehearsal 1. Bjorn again… this time he’s wearing entertainment staff uniform as opposed to his shorts…. He’s incredibly humorous and fun to be around. We spend half an hour learning some of the routine. Not quite sure when this will be performed…. Maybe before Quest….

 

Captain’s midday report prefaced by the song from ‘Singin’ in the rain’… ‘Good mornin’, good mornin’, We’ve worked the whole night through, Good mornin’, good mornin’ to you’! He then assures us that the extra hour we have gained will not be charged to our Seapass Account! He thinks we are on course….

 

I go to Guest Services about my probs with the internet. Have been offered credit.

 

There’s no Jewish Sabbath provision tonight in the Compass…. I like the ritual… on each RCCL cruise I’ve been on there has been something laid on. One of the Guest Services staff assures me it will be in Windjammer at 515pm. When I ask how will people know he says those who want to know will ask. Sigh. Cuddy is running a ‘Build a boat’ competition and is hanging around the Gravity Bar. He explains the story of ‘Alice the Kangaroo’ and the trouble he got in to over it…. Perhaps the person who asked me to ask him can share the story!!! Sorry am not on line whilst typing up and can’t remember who brought her up. He makes a call and assures me that the Sabbath service will be laid on in the conference centre as usual. I put a note on the Guest Services board. Hopefully I won’t be alone as I usually am at these…..

 

Lunch time. Solos meet. This time we meet at the Lobby Bar and go en masse where a section of the MDR has been put aside for us. I order a wrap that can made available GF and it looks delicious when it arrives. I tuck in and sure enough it is yummy. I even went as far as to say to my neighbours that this is one of the best things I’ve eaten so far….. the reason why becomes clear about 3 mouthfuls in when it is whisked away from me. It’s not GF. Had I been Celiac or more seriously GI this could have been a disaster. Whilst I don’t lose the plot in front of my co-diners I leave the table and have very quiet strong words with the Head Waiter. She wants me to go the medical facility. I explain I am intolerant not allergic and if I do suffer side effects I have meds with me. I end up with a Tutti Salad and I order lunch for tomorrow from the menu. The HW can’t do enough for me and they provide me with a dessert…. It’s the fruit crumble that’s on the menu without the crumble topping. When I get back to my room there’s an invite to a Diamond lunch buffet tomorrow…. I go back to the MDR which is now closed but the HW is still there and I let her know and ask her to let THEM know. Wonder how that turns out…..

 

I attend a Creative Writing class this afternoon…. Really interesting exercises in groups….Our initial exercise is using the lyrics to James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’ to imagine a story that could be created from those words…… we have homework….. mine is to write something that develops the phrase : ‘He’d never noticed a door there before’…… fancy taking that on Not sure when the next session is.

 

I miss the Line Dancing class this afternoon. Down the corridor from me is a couple with a little 2 year old girl who is being nappy trained. They have found out today that the Adventure Ocean outdoor water play zone will be closed for the duration of the cruise. The mother and I have chatted in the corridor previously and it seems she can open up to me and explain her frustration at having nowhere to go to play with the 2 year old. She has just spent time with head of Guest Services who have offered her free babysitting and a room upgrade. I’ve never travelled with children; I have a chat with one of the Loyalty Ambassadors subsequently who informs me that the toddler wouldn’t have been allowed in the water area anyway in a nappy. The family will likely debark at St Kitts and head for a beach vacation. Seems people need to research the holidays first methinks.

 

The Friday night Sabbath meeting is a great success. There are 8 people there when I get there…. Some have seen my note others have enquired of Guest Services. All Brits. Lovely people and I stay for some time and chat. RCI have done away with electric candles and now have battery operated ones.

 

I have the most fun tonight at dinner. One lady I’ve sat with before, the others are all strangers. We sit and laugh for 2 and a half hours! One of the men manages 2 main courses and another 2 desserts…. I’ve been served even more sushi now on a MDR plate…. I reject the Soy sauce and sure enough when someone fetches the bottle it’s Kikoman and has wheat in it. I’d asked for anything chocolate for dessert when asked last night and am presented with a Pot au Chocolat which isn’t bad at all. The news of my lunch time experience has obviously spread and the MTD Head is very conciliatory.

 

I decide to attend the Headliner show…. An Elton John Tribute Act. I manage half an hour. I keep wanting to hang on in there to see what role the deep pink boa that is lying across the piano is going to play but after he cracks a joke about his husband David Furness I have enough and leave. I also get the feeling that the Gluten I ‘enjoyed’ at lunch time is causing up a little revolution of its own.

[breeezy]

I am loving traveling along with you and can't wait to get on Allure in 8 days!! It would only be better if you and all my other pink friends were joining me!!

 

What is a Tuk Tuk? I saw it in one of your posts.

 

Sorry you are having such a time with all your gluten free items. You would think by now they would have figured that out fleet wide. There are many with that type of need. I had a tour of the kitchen while on Freedom and saw a STACK of white sheets on the counter. Upon further investigation I realized they were all for special need food requests .... and there were A LOT of them.

 

I found that the bread was the same everyday for the whole two weeks that I was on Freedom in October.... not GF bread, regular bread. It was really quite disappointing. I got tired of the bread choices really quickly. I liked it better when there were different bread choices each day.

[Missus Makkem]

Linda, the Alice story is a bit long and boring for those not involved, enough to say Cuddy and Keiron Buffery got bored on a Navigator TA and had fun with an inflatable Kangaroo used to promote the little Alice wine bottles.

She was in the Windjammer and got kidnapped.

There followed days of searching, she was seen riding the lifts, a group of Canadian mounties joined in to mount a rescue , and she was seen under the Captains table, where some droppings were discovered.

Cuddy will know who told you about her as he and Keiron were seen on their breakfast show sampling said droppings and saying well the sure aint Koala.

[They were actualy cocoa pops but please dont let on.:cool:]

[NancyIL]

Linda, thanks for posting the link to your blog on Facebook. I'm really enjoying your cruise report, and hope the rest of your trip will be fabulous!

[skiiergirl]

The Captain sounds fun. Any idea when he goes on vacation?

[Missus Makkem]

The Captain sounds fun. Any idea when he goes on vacation?

 

He is the best Captain ever and is on AOS til the New Year I think, know he will be Captain when we return on TA in spring.

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2013 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

Heating up spices prior to cooking with them :

 

 

NOT GF :

 

 

I get :

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

NOT GF Paratha :

 

 

How to make kebabs :

 

 

 

It was all yummy.... and the desserts especially so!!

 

 

This one isn't GF

 

[MrFunInTheSun]

Oh my goodness. All that food looks so good. :)

[suizas]

love your live post! susan