TigerB (not at all) live from Iona (G404 - Portugal, Spain, and Canaries)

[TigerB]

7 hours ago, Cathygh said:

I suppose he could leave on a port day. He's always at the sailaways..

Well, not tomorrow! Lanzarote has just been cancelled 😕

[TigerB]

Day 3 - Monday 19th February - At Sea (Part 1 - Morning)

 

Me and our lass were up in time to get to Coral by 08:00 for our breakfast; the kids did their own thing.

We were shown to table number 682, a two-seater about 60cm from another two-seater. Other than initial pleasantries we didn't engage with our neighbours.  Our waiting team this morning were Edward and Emanuel.

We were amused by the amount of preserves we had...

That was at least twice as much as we had on our four-seater table the day before.

 

At the end of breakfast and have just enough room for a couple of doll's house croissants...

 

Afterwards, we milled around for a while before returning to the cabin. Everyone fancied Olive Grove for lunch; I booked it the night before so we wouldn't have the hassle of the virtual queue.  

 

I then attended the second talk by Julian Dismore, again in the Headliners theatre; that was at 11:30, and the title of today's talk was 'Showbiz Gossip From A TV Producer'.  It was another engaging, if a little bit cheesy, talk.

Not long before I attended I realised that, as the talk was about forty-five minutes in length, I would be pushing it to get to Olive Grove on time for our 12:15 reservation. So, I arranged for our lad to pick up his mother, and for them to go to the restaurant in time for the reservation; I would meet them there.

[Cathygh]

45 minutes ago, TigerB said:

Well, not tomorrow! Lanzarote has just been cancelled 😕

Do you know why?

[TigerB]

Day 3 - Monday 19th February - At Sea (Part 2 - Afternoon)

 

The talk finished at 12:10, so I didn't have to rush; it was only one deck up anyway.

When I arrived just after 12:15 none of my family members were there, either at the podium or inside. The restaurant host confirmed they had not checked in. I took the opportunity to quickly go to the toilet. When I returned they still hadn't arrived. At 12:25 the restaurant host said that she will seat me, otherwise the booking would time out. They arrived three minutes later. Their tardiness was our lad's fault, he was late getting to our cabin.

 

We were seated at a four-seater table, with two chairs and a bench seat, in the middle of the restaurant. Or waiting staff were Rohan and Isaac.

 

As a starter me and our lass shared this...

 

The kids shared this...

 

 

Mains:

 

Our lass and our daughter-in-law had this...

Our lass didn't have the garlic bread. She also said it wasn't as nice as when she'd had it previously.

 

Our son had this...

 

 

I had this...

 

Some focaccia for the table...

 

 

Desserts:

 

Our lass and our daughter-in-law had the Crema Catalana

 

Our lad wasn't sure what he wanted, and got it to a choice of two.  Isaac said he would get both, so he had these...

 

"Two desserts lad? You fat knacker", exclaimed his father, who promptly ordered this...

 

I thought that was a smashing meal, and our waiters were excellent, working really well as a partnership. I made a point of telling the restaurant manager that as we left.

 

The afternoon was a chilled affair, and I did some ironing.

[TigerB]

33 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Do you know why?

We're driving into a storm. 40mph just expected.

So, sea day tomorrow. 

Late morning arrival in Cadiz on Sunday, and an overnighter

Edited February 23 by TigerB

[StopTheWorld]

Living your blog and especially the food photos!

You said in an earlier post that you bought some gin in the duty free shop. Do they hold it for you until you disembark? Or can you take it to your cabin? Thanks ☺️ 

[P&O SUE]

Thanks for doing this Tiger B! I do enjoy your tales of you and your lass’s adventures.

I look forward to reading more.

[TigerB]

On 2/23/2024 at 10:59 PM, StopTheWorld said:

Living your blog and especially the food photos!

You said in an earlier post that you bought some gin in the duty free shop. Do they hold it for you until you disembark? Or can you take it to your cabin? Thanks ☺️ 

You generally get it back on the penultimate sea day. On this cruise they are available from when we leave Lisbon on the 28th.

[TigerB]

Day 3 - Monday 19th February - At Sea (Part 3 - Evening)

 

It was celebration night and it had been arranged to meet at Tiger's Bar for cocktails before heading out.  The kids were late though, so we necked theirs before leaving the cabin. They were just coming around the corner as we left.  I had to return to the cabin though with my son, as he had experienced a fashion failure. He can save folk in fires, and can rewire a house but, at 28 years of age, he still hasn't grasped the half Windsor knot. Dad to the rescue!👔

 

On our way to Opal it appeared evident that a lot of folk were dressing up. It is nice to see small children in their dresses and tuxedos.

 

We were in the process of being shown to a four-seater against the window but, although we could get to it, when other folk were seated at nearby tables later on, our lass would have really struggled to get past in her chair. I told the escort it just would not do.

We were then seated at table number 148, a round four-seater not far from the podium. Our waiter was Jayan; we didn't see his assistant. I think they were doing as we have seen a couple of times before, splitting the section between them.

 

The Celebration Menu, according to Marco...

 

We had...

 

Amuse bouche...

 

 

Starters:

 

Me, our lass, and our daughter-in-law had this...

We all love pine nuts

 

Our lad had this slimy affair...

 

We all then had the pea soup...

I had the vegan version, of course 

 

Mains:

 

Our lass...

 

Me...

It would have been rude not to ask for two fillets 🫢

 

The kids...

 

There was an unwanted guest in our daughter-in-law's...

Yes, that is a hair!🤢

 

Our waiter wasn't around so I went to speak with one the Head Waiter. He came straight to the table, apologised and took it to the waiter's station, by which time Jayan had come back. The restaurant host showed him the offending article and took photos of it as Jayan came to our table. The poor lad couldn't apologise enough; I reassured him that it wasn't his fault, it's one of those things. He said he would get a fresh one immediately. The restaurant host returned and apologised again; he said he would get our daughter-in-law a glass of wine. That came after the fresh dish and, as she wasn't drinking, our lad had it. I wasn't sure what it was, he thought it was Cotes de Vinegre.🫢

I will have to remember to tell the kids, that towards the end of the cruise they should start practicing their sad compo faces, for when we go to the papers.😂

 

Desserts:

 

Our lass...

 

Our daughter-in-law...

 

Me and the lad...

I also had the cheese plate chaser!🐷🐯

 

Afterwards, Jayan put the chocolates on the table but he failed to bring the coffee. After about five minutes of waiting we sacked it off; we really weren't desperate for it as we still had wine to finish.

 

We made our way to the Crow's Nest for our free bubbly.

As we walked in, there was an old couple ahead of us.  She was wearing a cardigan; he was wearing one of those zip front jersey/knitted tops with the vinyl elbow patches, like you used to get in Greenwoods. I thought to myself, "This is going to be touch and go"!  They were intercepted by a waiter, who advised that there was a dress code, and if Sir wished to return with a jacket they would be welcomed back.

 

Talking of the dress code, this is what was in today's Horizon...

That the first time, since we have been sailing on Iona and Arvia, that it has included Sindhu.

 

It was about twenty minutes into our Crow's Nest visit, with it full with folk wearing their best bib and tucker, when the Chav Family Robinson stopped at the entrance, looked at the 'dress code' notice, and then just sauntered in anyway! Dad and very young son were wearing matching football shirts and shorts; I couldn't see clearly, so I'm not sure if their tattoos were matching too. Cue the sideways glances, the tuts, and the elbow nudges. I thought to myself, "Not a chance, fella"!  Sure enough, they walked to the other side of the bar and were turned right around again by one of the staff. As they passed us the patriarch was chuntering about them (P&O perhaps) being up their own aaarses.  Goodnight all, don't let the door hit you on your way out!🫢

 

Tonight's set in the 7/10 Club was 'Handwritten'. I've mentioned before that our lass isn't keen, so I'm usually a 'Billy'. Tonight though I had a hot date.....my lad.😂

The girls stayed in the atrium, drinking cocktails and chatting.

The boys enjoyed a cocktail too. Two of these please, young man...

 

Another excellent show; right, time for bed😴

[mrsgoggins]

Loved the report, especially details of your sighting of 'Chav family Robinson' 😂. Just brilliant!

[TigerB]

LIVE POST ALERT!!

 

We have not long docked in Cadiz. We have the primo parking spot.

 

There are two Carnival ships in, but neither have passengers.

It's a lovely day here.

 

In his announcement, the DC said that the weather will take another turn tomorrow, with gusts of 35 knots at 4am. Therefore, if they hadn't taken the decision to miss Lanzarote, and had intended to dock here tomorrow as scheduled, we wouldn't have been able to do so.  Cue much back slapping and high fives on the bridge!😂

[waddle]

Good on the staff in the Crow’s Nest enforcing the dress code. Pointless having one if it just gets ignored 

[Windsurfboy]

Love your description of the interlopers in crows nest.

 

Glad to see dress code being enforced.  Personally I  don't think football shirts are appropriate anywhere in a cruise ship after 6pm

[Angel57]

Am loving your posts TigerB.

I was delighted to read that they are being stricter with the dress code in certain areas on a formal night.  There’s always a few that enjoy being rebellious….

[Selbourne]

Great report and very amusing as always. The photo of the amuse bouche reminded me that we had them (well, tiny little drinks rather than proper amuse bouche) on all formal nights on Britannia, Iona and Ventura, but haven’t had them once on Aurora. Odd when you’d think that Aurora would be the more formal ship. Also, the formal night dress codes doesn’t apply in any of the speciality restaurants on Aurora, including Sindhu. 

[TigerB]

Another Live Entry...

 

As it was our lass's BIG birthday we went to Epicurean for breakfast with the kids. The cover charge of £8.50 each was really good value, and the fayre was excellent.

 

 

 

Nowt special there though; I always have caviar on my Eggs Royale at home😉

 

This photo isn't that clear, so the item that looks like slurry is actually a minute steak.😉

 

At the end, I asked for a croissant, thinking it will be a decent size, not like the doll's house ones they serve on the MDRs.

I was wrong...

😂

[Eddie99]

Have a lovely day Mrs Tiger

That was a nice start!

 

[Angel57]

Happy birthday Mrs TigerB. That Epicurean breakfast looks lovely.

 

[TigerB]

3 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Have a lovely day Mrs Tiger

That was a nice start!

 

 She said, thank you ❤️

[TigerB]

5 minutes ago, Angel57 said:

Happy birthday Mrs TigerB. That Epicurean breakfast looks lovely.

 

It was lovely 😋

I can't see us being in a suite anytime soon, so we have said we will do it at least once each cruise. It will probably work out cheaper than buying to different items at a Keel & Cow breakfast 

[TigerB]

Another quick live post...

 

It's been a blessing that we have been in a port on our lass's birthday, and Cadiz is a nice port to be in too.

 

 

She decided not to wear the t-shirt at breakfast, concerned that folk may mistake the word 'flocking' for another word, a word that she never ever uses!🫢😂

[TigerB]

When we got back to our cabin this afternoon there was a knock on the door...

 

 

After he set everything down, she said to him, "Are you going to sing to me, lad"?  I'm quite sure he intended to anyway, but this is what she was treated to...

 

 

Absolutely fantastic and hilarious, especially the second verse, what with us being God fearing folk and all!🫢

 

 

[Peanut006]

Looks like Mrs TigerB is having lots of fabulous birthday treats, Happy Birthday to you, hope you have had a lovely day 🎂🍰🥂

 

Michelle

[Ardennais]

How lovely! I’m really enjoying your posts. 

[jh1809]

I suppose I'm a wimp, but if I found a hair in my food I think I'd just remove it and carry on.