Live from EJ1 - Miami to Barbados 8/3 (or 3/8 if you insist) >

[Beamafar]

3 minutes ago, Noggins said:

… there were custard tarts in Crema! (anyone who knows me knows I have particular weakness for a custard tart.)

 

 

You and ‘Lionel Hardcastle’  🤣

[Noggins]

20 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

You and ‘Lionel Hardcastle’  🤣

I'm not sure how to take that.... I am a Geoffrey Palmer fan but more Butterflies oriented (for reasons that maybe obvious....).

I daresay the tarts back then were of the 'Bartons the Baker' variant rather than the genuine Belem variety we enjoyed today.

[Noggins]

If you are expecting a groundhog day of repeats tonight then you're going to be surprised - we were....

 

The first two 'surprises' related to last night.

Firstly, as we walked through Crema (coffee bar) we glanced down into the once again full Atrium bar. Then we noticed waiter service being offered in Crema. Now there's an idea!

But we had already decided on the lounge on 11. Two others were there enjoying Justine playing the piano. Why are these forward facing lounges always dead in the evenings?!

 

 

The second surprise occured on our way to the lounge. We bumped into Michael. Before I finished my sentence 'about last night ' he said 'i know what you're going to say' And he did and he agreed it was unacceptable and promised it would not happen again on this ship. And I'm happy to take him at his word.

 

On our way to dinner we passed through the conservatory pool area where the film (second ever, apparently) was in progress. Business was thin but the neat thing was that the cordless 'silent disco' headsets were in use. Great idea.

 

 

I think that will have to do for tonight. Dinner and tonight's show comment and photos to follow in the morning.

 

💤😴

[Noggins]

Last night part 2.

 

We have only ever eaten in a ships 'buffet' on a cruise when said space converts into a different concept in the evening (eg Silversea or old Crystal). We just aren't buffet people.

But due to the unchanging menus we felt we had to give it a go.

The first surprise was to see just how busy it was - there's quite a 'buffet' crowd on here, all of whom could, I'm sure, have been accommodated in the restaurants. It takes a while to visit all the stations and we were satisfied that there were plenty of good looking options for us. 

We found a good table outside, out of the breeze and decided sushi would be our starter. We were told they would make us fresh items and they were soon delivered to us.

It was then that our lack of attention to detail dealt us a blow. You can see that we've spent quite a while on various things (and I've been careful to avoid disclosing our drink count...🥂). Factor in our desire to limit the gap between end of dinner and start of the late show and I think you can see where this is heading....

Yes, as we are eating our sushi our waiter came out to say ' if you want anything else from the buffet this evening please go now as it is closing '!!

So our leisurely dinner plan turned into a rushed one with, eventually, cold food and melted ice cream. But absolutely only ourselves to blame.

 

 

 

If I were to suggest any changes I would add 30 minutes to the opening hours, add table lights (they are all over the ship) and dim the main lights for the evening. Perhaps also introduce table cloths - as you can see we didn't even have a place mat. 

 

Then the show, which was the best attended show we've been to. I think there are a lot of us here of the Carol King generation. Same band, same Lydia but a very well executed show. If Lydia, heaven forbid, ever had a sore throat you feel entertainment might grind to a halt! (The comedian's second shot overlapped timing wise so we'll need others to report whether that was a success - or not)

 

[Noggins]

Good morning from St Lucia.

How about this for a view from your terrace / balcony / thingy...

 

[English Tim]

Maybe when when we go, if I do a post such as yours, they might change the champagne.

[Noggins]

1 hour ago, English Tim said:

Maybe when when we go, if I do a post such as yours, they might change the champagne.

🧐

[Noggins]

I fully expected a shady table with a view like this to be 'reserved for influencers / instergrammers' only. As I've no idea what either of those things even are I would have been ineligible.

 

 

Such a setting justified a little bit of over indulgence (imho)

 

 

[PrivateIdaho]

The Pastéis de Nata are addictive. We loved sitting outside for lunch and breakfast. Unfortunately it always seemed service out there was an afterthought. Placements would be nice. 

[maggie.1008]

We love dining outside when we cruise. We live in a warm climate and dine outside often. 
As we will be cruising in Hawaii I hope to enjoy a lovely lunch outside with attentive service. 
Thanks for a smashing review, Cheers 🥂 

[Noggins]

Soufreire, small town in the shadow of the Pitons.

We had the tenders in use again. It's not a bad service operated but they haven't quite mastered the knack of having one departing the ship whilst the other departs the dock. As is often the case the helmsmen give the impression of having their very first day at the controls - but perhaps these bathtub shaped vessels are tricky to manoeuvre. Obviously they're shiny and new.

 

 

And maybe the designers had flipped through a Riva brochure when they settled on the interior looks? 😎

 

 

The town was a sleepy little place caught in a bit of a time warp with probably insufficient share of the tourist dollar. Fine for those of us walking round taking photos but maybe not so fine if the vagaries of life's lottery required you to scrape a living there.

 

 

 

 

 

Those that took tours will have different tales to tell.

Edited March 16 by Noggins
Spelling

[CJANDH]

7 hours ago, Noggins said:

(The comedian's second shot overlapped timing wise so we'll need others to report whether that was a success - or not)

We spoke to Entertainment Manager Michael after the show and he told us that the comedian had been scheduled as the main act but because of his poor performance  in the first show he was cancelled and replaced at the last minute by the Carole King show. He said Lydia was having some voice problems from too much exposure (poor girl). He said that he gave the comedian a last chance to redeem himself with the "alternate" show in the Astern Lounge. A good executive decision in my view.

[CJANDH]

This is the second day in a row where we have tendered. I have no problem with that. However, when at anchor the captain continuously uses the thrusters to keep the ship in position. This is very noisy, particularly at the aft of the ship. Other  cruises I have experienced anchor and allow the ship to swing around with the current/wind. The result is a nice quiet and peaceful ship to enjoy with a slowly changing view. On Explora I  there is constant noise and vibration. A big negative for me.

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 hour ago, CJANDH said:

This is the second day in a row where we have tendered. I have no problem with that. However, when at anchor the captain continuously uses the thrusters to keep the ship in position. This is very noisy, particularly at the aft of the ship. Other  cruises I have experienced anchor and allow the ship to swing around with the current/wind. The result is a nice quiet and peaceful ship to enjoy with a slowly changing view. On Explora I  there is constant noise and vibration. A big negative for me.

Anchors are EXTREMELY destructive to reefs and the ocean floor.

 

All the latest generation ships have avoided their use for years.

 

It’s not the Captain per se - it’s an automated gps based system.

Edited March 16 by Dr. Cocktail

[Noggins]

2 hours ago, CJANDH said:

This is the second day in a row where we have tendered. I have no problem with that. However, when at anchor the captain continuously uses the thrusters to keep the ship in position. This is very noisy, particularly at the aft of the ship. Other  cruises I have experienced anchor and allow the ship to swing around with the current/wind. The result is a nice quiet and peaceful ship to enjoy with a slowly changing view. On Explora I  there is constant noise and vibration. A big negative for me.

Tendering means you're in a less mainstream destination. Usually. And I like that.

The downside of swinging at anchor is that you are constantly chasing the shade. On balance I'll take the computer deciding when the thrusters need to cut in. To be honest I was more surprised that they used the anchor as I suspect the ship is entirely capable of maintaining a set position without any anchor.

[Noggins]

What fortunate lives we live to experience this. (And we don't even have to ask for the champers - it just arrives.....)

 

 

 

 

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, Noggins said:

What fortunate lives we live to experience this. (And we don't even have to ask for the champers - it just arrives.....)

 

❤️
 

(I wish there was a ‘heart’ emoji along with the ‘Like’, ‘Haha’ and ‘Thank you’ ones). 

[CJANDH]

1 hour ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

All the latest generation ships have avoided their use for years.

 

It’s not the Captain per se - it’s an automated gps based system.

Thanks for that info. Makes sense and clearly that was what was happening. I don't agree that all of the latest ships avoid anchors routinely. I have been on several in the past year that have anchored. Maybe it depends on the location and the nature of the sea bed. I am all for protecting the ocean bed. But I still don't like the noise associated with doing it (selfish, I know.)

[Noggins]

1 hour ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Anchors are EXTREMELY destructive to reefs and the ocean floor.

 

All the latest generation ships have avoided their use for years.

 

It’s not the Captain per se - it’s an automated gps based system.

That's odd, I didn't see your response there when I posted mine little later. Looks like our thinking was very similar.

[Noggins]

 

 

 

[Beamafar]

@Noggins Would very much appreciate if you named the movies that were shown on the big screen. I’ve tried to see them named on your posted ‘dailies’ but failed to.

[Dr. Cocktail]

4 hours ago, Noggins said:

That's odd, I didn't see your response there when I posted mine little later. Looks like our thinking was very similar.

Same! 🤔🤔🤔

[Noggins]

4 hours ago, Beamafar said:

@Noggins Would very much appreciate if you named the movies that were shown on the big screen. I’ve tried to see them named on your posted ‘dailies’ but failed to.

Just one on this cruise - Grand Tourismo. 

[Jayayeff]

Hi Adrian,

 

I have just spent an hour or so of my Sunday morning reading this ‘live’ review of your current ‘journey’ whilst enjoying a nice hot cup of tea (made with boiling water and almost the last of the tea I brought back from my trip to Kenya last summer - the lengths we Brits will go to for our tea!!!).   As always, your posts are honest, informative and entertaining - so much so that Boris, who I am currently dog-sitting, must be wondering why I keep laughing out loud as I read. I hope you both enjoy the remainder of your cruise and have a safe and uneventful journey (that word seems to have taken on a life of it’s own since EJ came to be) back to the UK.  Although I still haven’t returned to cruising post pandemic I look forward to our travel paths crossing again someday.  Enjoy the Big Birthday celebrations - I’m a wee bit ahead of you and it’ll be the same dreaded big ‘number’, but plus a smaller one for me next week!!!!   🥳🥳
 

Anne…

[CJANDH]

What a rude awakening this morning. We arrived at our tender station early and instead of cruising around a bit, the thrusters were turned on a 6:05 am and have been running continuously since then.

 

We are in a Cocoon Residence at the aft of the ship on deck 6, right over the rear thrusters. Believe me it is like living right in the engine room. Noise and vibration is awful. At the price we are paying I would have thought we might be entitled to a full nights sleep.