Another 3 Generations report: 8 day Eastern Liberty, Sept 13-21, 2014

[CruzinScotty]

Farewell Night Dessert Menu

 

 

 

The Pie a la mode today is Cherry

 

 

Carrot Cake

 

I was so looking forward to this new addition. I must say that for the two of us that tried it; it was disappointing. Two problems: the cake, while moist, didn't have enough flavor. In addition, I can't believe I am saying there is too much cream cheese icing; but there is. See, you CAN have too much of a good thing. LOL

 

 

Banana White-Chocolate Bread Pudding

 

This is what I thought replaced the Bitter and Blanc (and on cruises shorter than 8 nights, maybe it does). This was DEFINITELY the winner of the night. It was GREAT!

 

My room steward decided to go overboard the last few nights with room mates; and he saved them for me as well:

 

 

That's it for the food.

 

I apologize again for being a low-tech guy in a high-tech world. If you followed along, you hopefully saw all of the pictures. If not, you only saw the last couple days worth. I'll try to post a few more pics tomorrow - some repeats and some new ones.

[Buffettfan 225]

I tapped on a photo and it took me to photobucket that OP is using for hosting. It is slow to arrow back, but at least can see more of the food photos until then.

[Ehpride]

Thanks for the review! I love all the food pictures and now, I'm really looking forward to the American table menus.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bluehenfan]

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this trip review. I loved every bit of it. Food pictures were amazing as well as shots of ship and ports. I think it's wonderful you had 3 generations aboard. I've done this as well and it's a great way to make happy memories. One complaint.... I think I gained 5 pounds looking at your food porn !! LOL !!

Edited October 5, 2014 by bluehenfan

[Crusin Karen]

I apologize again for being a low-tech guy in a high-tech world. If you followed along, you hopefully saw all of the pictures. If not, you only saw the last couple days worth. I'll try to post a few more pics tomorrow - some repeats and some new ones.

You did an AWESOME job. I was one of the lucky ones who followed along, so I saw all the pictures from the get go. :) Just didn't know what happened when I "went back" to look them over :confused:(I was looking for the menu for the drink The Remedy) THANK YOU for putting this together and hope you and your family have lots more memories to share. Cruise on! BTW, does anyone know which ships have the new menus?

[CruzinScotty]

I tapped on a photo and it took me to photobucket that OP is using for hosting. It is slow to arrow back, but at least can see more of the food photos until then.

 

BTW, does anyone know which ships have the new menus?

 

Thanks for the positive comments!

 

Buffettfan, I'm glad that clicking on the old photos brings them up for others as well as myself. It is slower, but you can still see them.

 

Karen, The new Menu's are on the Liberty and the Glory. Then, it's on 2 Fantasy Class ships - I think it's the two "I" ones: Imagination and Inspiration.

 

I do hope to post a few more pics; hopefully today. If not in the next day or so to finish things off.

 

I had also mentioned a helpful hint in bringing duct tape and the fact I used it this trip. We had a piece of luggage that the handle/pull came off. I used the duct tape to put it back together so it could still be rolled instead of ackwardly carried.

 

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[Buffettfan 225]

Thanks for the positive comments!

 

Buffettfan, I'm glad that clicking on the old photos brings them up for others as well as myself. It is slower, but you can still see them.

 

 

I had also mentioned a helpful hint in bringing duct tape and the fact I used it this trip. We had a piece of luggage that the handle/pull came off. I used the duct tape to put it back together so it could still be rolled instead of ackwardly carried.

 

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Thank you -glad hint helped. Can you comments on lido deck desserts. I too love,love Pineapple upside down cake & crème brulee. My question is did you notice some of cakes not having a lot of flavor or lacking in sugar?

oh and yes duct tape comes in handy pre-cruise. We striped all sides of our suitcases in a bright color in about 10" size pieces. Helps when trying to find on luggage carousel, and fun if see it in a luggage bin while looking overside while embarkation going on, or if see it on a luggage cart in the hall :)

[momof3cruisers]

Great job! I have really enjoyed your review. It's really nice to see what the food items look like. There were a few that I thought I wouldn't order after all and a couple that looked better than expected.

[SHayesShip]

Thank You. I am taking my elderly Mom who has to use a wheelchair a large portion of time and it is difficult to make decisions to far ahead. Depending upon how she feels we can make a decision on the spot knowing there are other options at the pier.

Yes there are independent shore excursion operators waiting right at the exit of the cruise terminal. I took one of their excursions, it was a guided tour of the city, with stops for $20 per person, which you pay at the end of the excursion. I hadn't planned on doing an excursion in San Juan, but was glad I did this. It was totally worth it.

 

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[CruzinScotty]

I mentioned I would post some pics from my room and/or balcony. These may not all be from this location; but most are. There may be a few repeats here.

 

 

Port Canaveral

 

 

Grand Turk (this was during Sail Away)

 

 

San Juan

 

 

St. Thomas

 

 

Sint Maarten

 

A day at sea

 

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[CruzinScotty]

Thank you -glad hint helped. Can you comments on lido deck desserts. I too love,love Pineapple upside down cake & crème brulee. My question is did you notice some of cakes not having a lot of flavor or lacking in sugar?

 

I was going to post a few repeat pics, so I decided to start with the lunch buffet dessert pics I have.

 

My family noticed a HUGE improvement in the quality of the lunch desserts on the Lido. We had lunch on the lido 6 of 8 days (with 2 visits to the Sea Day Brunch).

 

Things to look out for: if a cake looks particularly dry, we knew from past experience to avoid those. There were many more moist looking cakes this year. Most creme/pudding/mouse items were usually good. I'll post one exception in my pics below.

 

Just try a few things each day; that's why the serving sizes are so small - you can have as many as you want!

 

So, here we go:

 

Embarkation Day: Strawberry Pops and Lemon Tart. Both are Superb!

 

I heard the previously dry chocolate cake this day was quite good.

 

 

This was Day 3, Grand Turk:

 

The Chocolate Pops and the Raspberry topped cake were both wonderful. This is the mouse exception I mentioned. It was a pear mouse. It lacked flavor completely.

 

 

This was Day 4, San Juan:

 

I kept asking if it was Black Forest Cake. With a limit in their language, both staff members cutting this cake just said, "Chocolate Cake" - but it was Black Forrest. The orange cake looked just a little dry; but it was flavorful. The chocolate cake with "lemon" (yellow) on it was also quite good. I tried this because I wasn't sure how lemon would go with chocolate. I'm still not sure, because I didn't taste any lemon. LOL I can't remember what the last cake was; but it was good. If I remember correctly, it was a cream cheese frosting, but it wasn't carrot cake. Now that I look closely, I think I'm seeing a pink cake on the side. This may have been a raspberry cake?

 

 

This is Day 5, St. Thomas:

 

I mentioned before how much I LOVED the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Third year in a row (and 2nd time it was St. Thomas on the Eastern). EXCELLENT every year. The Red Velvet cupcake was also good. I didn't mention the Toffee cake the first time. This was also a very pleasant surprise. It was very moist and flavorful.

 

 

This was Day 6, Sint Maarten:

 

I posted this before, but in my dash to get the food pics posted, didn't really talk about it.

 

The top cake is a very moist PEACH cake. Similar to the Pineapple Upside Down - if you like that, you'll like this.

 

The carrot cake cupcakes were also good; much better than the new Carrot Cake offered in the MDR.

 

And, the chocolate chip cookies. OH - THE - CHOCOLATE - CHIP - COOKIES! Thing 1/2 and others kept telling me how good these were. I waited this late in the cruise to try them. I'm glad I did - I would have had too many every day. LOL AND, these are on the lunch dessert bar every day.

 

In addition, I actually ordered chocolate chip cookies from Room Service because I had heard they were good. These appeared to be the same ones to me.

 

While we're on dessert, and speaking of Room Service, I had also heard how good the chocolate cake was from Room Service. I can now tell you it's GREAT!

 

 

Helpful Hint: If you've not used Room Service before - this is the ONE time on ship that you need CASH. PLEASE remember to tip the delivery persion $1-2 for this service.

 

Next, a few more desserts!

 

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[CruzinScotty]

I posted these Tea Time pics, but only think I only mentioned the macaroons:

 

 

This is a cream filled scone and another small muffin. Maybe orange? Both were good.

 

 

 

This must be from Tea the next day. I did Tea Time the last two sea days and know I didn't have this many choices either day. LOL

 

 

This is a Chocolate Coffee Cake and Apple Tart. Running out of superlatives! You can tell I like my sweets; both were GREAT!

 

Chocolate Macaroons:

 

I mentioned before I liked these. I passed on this the first time; but they brought them around again. OK - twist my arm! They were GREAT!

 

 

So, I've posted pics of my desserts 5 of the 6 days from the Lido. You think I forgot about the CHOCOLATE EXTRAVAGANZA! Nope - here you go:

 

 

This isn't mine, but I can make out a vanilla milkshake, rice pudding, rum balls and some gel/jellied candies. I don't know what the cake is.

 

 

 

This was also not mine. I can only make out a chocolate milkshake. There's a whole lot of chocolate cakes on there. LOL

 

 

OK, this one IS mine:

 

My opinion on the Chocolate Extravaganza remains the same. I hate that it is the last day. We've all had so much food, I'm not sure if that causes me to lose my taste buds a bit. Or, maybe I'm spoiled by everything else and the "massive chocolate baking" that is done today just doesn't work as well for me.

 

Three years running, my favorite two things in the pic are NOT chocolate. LOL They are, the rice pudding *(next to the milk container) and the banana fritter (on the left).

 

This is my first year trying a chocolate milkshake; I didn't know they made them. They take chocolate ice cream and mix it with milk - so it's very dilute. Next time, I would have them add some chocolate syrup which they have there if you just wanted the ice cream by itself.

 

I didn't care for the rum ball, just my personal taste. The others were all OK. Maybe there are just too many of them for any to stand out.

 

But, it's always a fun event I never miss out on!

 

Next, a few more pics of the last few days.

 

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[LibraByTheSea]

I cant get the photos...any advice??????????

[CruzinScotty]

I cant get the photos...any advice??????????

 

Sorry, I've been having trouble with Photobucket.

 

Can you see any of the recent pictures? I think starting with post 165, they are coming thru.

 

I only have the free version of photobucket and used up my supply. On the early photos, I believe if you click where there should be a pic, it will pop up in a separate window.

 

If that works, it doesn't make for easy navigating. But, if you read along and want to click on an occasional picture; that might get you thru until post 165.

 

Hope this helps.

[Buffettfan 225]

I love that you took time to repeat dessert with commentary and fact the quality looks greatly improved. Didn't see an item that looked bad, I agree on the mouse type pies (cheesecake types) they seem to lack flavor intensity.

I am really glad this will be our thirteenth and concentrating on less port excursions and "empty ship" at lunch. (ours will be southern port intensive)

 

Since you answered dessert question :D so you recall on dinner lido buffet if they ever had Chocolate melting cake, escargot?

[Crusin Karen]

I love that you took time to repeat dessert with commentary and fact the quality looks greatly improved. Didn't see an item that looked bad, I agree on the mouse type pies (cheesecake types) they seem to lack flavor intensity.

I am really glad this will be our thirteenth and concentrating on less port excursions and "empty ship" at lunch. (ours will be southern port intensive)

 

Since you answered dessert question :D so you recall on dinner lido buffet if they ever had Chocolate melting cake, escargot?

NEVER EVER saw escargot at the lido buffet, but I did see CMC a few times.

OP, I agree with you about the chocolate extravaganza. I am glad they moved it to lunch; in the "olden days" they had it at midnight. Oh, you DO NOT want to go to bed after a day of fruity drinks, laying in the sun and tons of chocolate at midnight! :confused::eek::rolleyes::o Maybe they could move it to a sea day. Last day you are trying to figure out how to button your pants and shirt anyway, don't need the added aggravation of chocolate desserts! :rolleyes:

[CruzinScotty]

I love that you took time to repeat dessert with commentary and fact the quality looks greatly improved. Didn't see an item that looked bad, I agree on the mouse type pies (cheesecake types) they seem to lack flavor intensity.

I am really glad this will be our thirteenth and concentrating on less port excursions and "empty ship" at lunch. (ours will be southern port intensive)

 

Since you answered dessert question :D so you recall on dinner lido buffet if they ever had Chocolate melting cake, escargot?

 

After dinner, I was only in the buffet area of the Lido one night. Those are the pictures I posted where the main dishes were compared to the MDR that night. They also had salad, fruit and some desserts; but I didn't pay much attention to them (I really was just passing thru and snapped a few pics quite quickly). I didn't really notice any appetizers, and I definitely would have remembered if any of the desserts were similar to the MDR.

 

I have heard rumor though elsewhere on CC, that occasionally, they do put out some WCMC.

 

I guess it's just the luck of the draw.

 

 

 

NEVER EVER saw escargot at the lido buffet, but I did see CMC a few times.

OP, I agree with you about the chocolate extravaganza. I am glad they moved it to lunch; in the "olden days" they had it at midnight. Oh, you DO NOT want to go to bed after a day of fruity drinks, laying in the sun and tons of chocolate at midnight! :confused::eek::rolleyes::o Maybe they could move it to a sea day. Last day you are trying to figure out how to button your pants and shirt anyway, don't need the added aggravation of chocolate desserts! :rolleyes:

 

I remember the "olden days" Midnight Buffets. They were beautiful too look at, but it was to late to eat a lot.

 

I like the sea day idea for the Chocolate Extravaganza. On a lot of cruises, the last day is a sea day. Maybe they should move it to the FIRST sea day of a cruise. That gets my vote.

 

I think I have room for a few more pics that will show. Those will be coming soon.

 

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[CruzinScotty]

I saw another thread about this. I had planned on mentioning it. But when I had the photo problems, my dialog of the last few days went by the side to make sure I didn't run out of space again to get photos posted.

 

 

So, the evening we left Sint Maarten, I was in the photo area looking at pictures and the lights went out. I was not with anyone in my group.

 

Emergency power came on in 30 seconds. All power in this part of the ship came back in 3 minutes.

 

EC was in the casino; he said they were fine, but could tell from the Atrium forward, the power had gone out.

 

A photo gallery crew member said something similar had happened 3 weeks/cruises prior. He also said the electricity grid is up/down on the ship as opposed to by decks.

 

So, as I saw family members, I asked them, "Where were you when the lights went out". The first response was, "what in the world are you talking about." LOL

 

Several people didn't notice a thing. One niece said the TV froze and the water pressure was low. I'm guessing the satellites and water are based in the front of the ship?

 

So, I'm just sharing my version of what happened that night.

 

I will also say that I was in a public area that overlooked the Atrium. There was absolutely no sense of panic; which is a very good thing!

 

 

More pics coming soon.

 

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Edited October 6, 2014 by CruzinScotty

[blarko]

I saw another thread about this. I had planned on mentioning it. But when I had the photo problems, my dialog of the last few days went by the side to make sure I didn't run out of space again to get photos posted.

 

 

So, the evening we left Sint Maarten, I was in the photo area looking at pictures and the lights went out. I was not with anyone in my group.

 

Emergency power came on in 30 seconds. All power in this part of the ship came back in 3 minutes.

 

EC was in the casino; he said they were fine, but could tell from the Atrium forward, the power had gone out.

 

A photo gallery crew member said something similar had happened 3 weeks/cruises prior. He also said the electricity grid is up/down on the ship as opposed to by decks.

 

So, as I saw family members, I asked them, "Where were you when the lights went out". The first response was, "what in the world are you talking about." LOL

 

Several people didn't notice a thing. One niece said the TV froze and the water pressure was low. I'm guessing the satellites and water are based in the front of the ship?

 

So, I'm just sharing my version of what happened that night.

 

I will also say that I was in a public area that overlooked the Atrium. There was absolutely no sense of panic; which is a very good thing!

 

 

More pics coming soon.

 

.

 

I wondered if you were going to mention this. I had just gotten into one of the atrium elevators when the power went out. I was in there with a young couple and the young man immediately pushed the doors back open as soon the power went off, and we all got out. Like you said, there was no panic whatsoever and the power was restored very quickly, although there were crew members stationed at the elevators, not letting anyone on for a few minutes after the full power was restored. Talked to some folks we had met earlier in the cruise, that had been in the casino when this occurred, and like you also mentioned, they had no clue what we were even talking about, as the outage did not affect the casino at all.

 

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[CruzinScotty]

I wondered if you were going to mention this. I had just gotten into one of the atrium elevators when the power went out. I was in there with a young couple and the young man immediately pushed the doors back open as soon the power went off, and we all got out. Like you said, there was no panic whatsoever and the power was restored very quickly, although there were crew members stationed at the elevators, not letting anyone on for a few minutes after the full power was restored. Talked to some folks we had met earlier in the cruise, that had been in the casino when this occurred, and like you also mentioned, they had no clue what we were even talking about, as the outage did not affect the casino at all.

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

 

It was strange for me because I was going to meet my family in the Venetian and got delayed. I never met up with them, so I didn't see anyone I knew until the next day. When the first response was "what are you talking about"; that's the first time I realized it was just part of the ship. I went to the Venetian where the Bingo was delayed due to the rebooting of the computers.

 

Cory even mentioned the outage before the Stevie Wonder Tribute. That's another reason I believed it was the entire ship. I'm glad it wasn't, but on the other thread, it looks like there's been 3 separate incidents in 5-6 weeks now. I sure hope they are getting to the bottom of this....

 

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[CruzinScotty]

Coming up, some FUN at sea!

[CruzinScotty]

ARRRRGH!!!! Friday, September 19th be INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!!

 

Aye, ye must be on ye best beh'vior lest ye be forced to walk da plank!

 

We be done with our lootin' and plunderin'; we go back to the land o' the Fountain o' Youth wher we be splittin' our booty and headin' to our respective lair's. AAAAAAAAAARGH! :D

 

AYE, I be said in da way back o' the beginin' (where be the pictures bandit hid them thar early photos ;) ); that I be had a "dark" picture taken in the Venetian dat you'd be seeing.

 

 

ARRGH! I can only do the Pirate speak for so long. LOL

 

 

So, after the lights went out and came back up; AND they finally got the Bingo computer working - they had a game where I expected to find some family members. Welllllll, I DID find a different maraudering family member who was getting ready a few hours early:

 

 

Pirate Trent was trying to set the mood for the next day.

 

I heard about Pirate Day just a few days before our departure. I didn't have time to really think about it other than to pack a Jimmy Buffet t-shirt with they lyrics to "Pirate looks at 40" that has a pirate on the back of the shirt.

 

There were some activities this day, which included a Trivia contest and some Lido Deck contest they altered to give a Pirate theme too. I wasn't there, so I don't quite remember what it was.

 

In addition, Cory dressed up like a Pirate for the Cruise Director Morning Show. Carnival had provided him with some corny pirate jokes. He could only get thru a few of them - they must have been bought with some bum pirate booty. ;)

 

He tried a couple different Pirate get-ups. Some people in the audience had some accessories they were willing to share with him. Here's one of Cory's Pirate looks:

 

 

Coming up: TWO - ONE OF A KIND PHOTOS with our PIRATE Cruise Director

[CruzinScotty]

So, Cory "Jolly Rogers", our Pirate Cruise Director, was having a contest all week long. If you took a selfie with him, and showed it to him the last day of the cruise; you got a prize. The prized ended up being a Carnival medalion on the red/white/blue lanyard.

 

I did this earlier in the week. Ma decided she wanted to join the fun. She had never taken a selfie before and needed a little help. I noticed people with "selfie extenders" that I'd never seen before. Cory was gracious enough to let "me" be the extender.

 

So, Ma got her selfie. But, how many selfies do you take that get photo-bombed? Here's Ma, Cory and two of his staff. I could see what they were doing and made sure they made the shot:

 

 

 

Here's another ONE of a kind picture. Before The Morning Show started, Cory was putting on his pirate gear. They had a patch for him, but with his glasses; it just didn't work. He gave it to a young girl when The Morning Show started. I asked Cory later (when I got my selfie medalion) if he had worn another patch that day. He said no. I knew I was the only one to get a picture of him with the patch.

 

So, here it is:

 

 

 

Well, I'm probably out of pics again, so I guess it's best to end here.

 

What better way to end than the way we began; so here's one final pic:

 

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

 

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[MaryAnn261]

I only got thru part of your review... can't wait to read the rest. Thanks for sharing.

[CruzinScotty]

Hey, everyone!

When I was posting this review, I started having trouble with my pictures on Photobucket. A lot of them disappeared.

I ended up deleting the 3 days of Fun Times that I had posted.

Somehow, over time - all of the pictures are back!

So, it may seem strange to see a review from September if you started reading this for the first time just now. LOL But, if you did and don't like the suspense of waiting for more to be posted - you don't have to because it's already done!

Or, if you jumped in at the end and didn't see the beginning - it's there now. :)

And, if you have any questions; I'll try my best to answer them.