It was nice to see we had our same waiters that we enjoyed on the recent South Pacific cruise we did. Miduk and his two assistants took good care of us, actually remembering what we liked to order. Here is the hint of the day: when there are fresh berries available, and you like them, of course, order them daily. Once they are gone, it may be weeks before they come back. This applies to all of the fresh fruit, even, bananas, melons, and pineapple. All of that goes well with Greek yogurt, so we order that about every day. We have heard that there is no more fresh-squeezed orange juice. The juice we were served today was excellent, almost better than squeezed. We shall ask tomorrow if there has been a change here. By the way, the menu format was the same as on our last cruise. Food was great, as was the excellent service.
Our usual sea day morning pattern is taking a long walk on the lower promenade deck. Have we mentioned that we spotted new chair pads on the teak lounges on deck 3? Very much needed, and so much nicer-looking. Today we cut the walk short to attend the first Cruise Critic meeting in the Crow's Nest at 10am. The place was busting at the seams, mostly with folks we know. We have met some of the nicest people from attending these meetings. We have to give huge kudos to the group of people that have made these meetings possible. They have invested a lot of time and effort into communications online. They have also added some new activities which include a gift swap, a cabin crawl, and a possible casino group play. Some are gathering for a couple of cocktail parties, and of course, independent tour options. The only staff member to put in a few words was the future cruise consultant, Tina. She briefly mentioned that if anyone was thinking of booking the 2018 Grand Voyage, they needed to move quickly, since it is almost sold out. Guess the passengers have been waiting for an African itinerary for a change. We know we are.
We got in an hour of unpacking before we headed for lunch in the dining room. Barb met us at 12:30pm after attending the first trivia game in the Ocean Bar. Hope she has a good team, because she is usually a big winner, or close to it. She has teased us incessantly to join her, but trivia is not one of our strong suits. And that is our pool time quite often, and we can't do both.
It seemed like a miracle that by 6pm, we had finally come close to finishing the unpacking. It is incredible how much stuff you can store in these rooms. Even our four empty duffels, and three suitcases fit under the bed. There was enough space to store our down jackets, and three life vests. One of the smaller duffels acts as our drug store, holding all the extra toiletries we will need for 4 ½ months. A hanging shoe bag takes care of the rest of the small stuff. We use the wicker shoe basket to hold any overflow….things we need, but not that often. Finally, we always keep a list of what we began with, then follow up with what was left at the end. It does help over or under packing.
Thank goodness for the complimentary laundry and pressing. The clothes that got hopelessly wrinkled will be sent out for pressing in daily batches. Speaking of laundry, the bag we turned in this morning, was delivered to our room before dinner, all clean and neatly folded. How's that for service? Awesome, we say.
There is a new booklet in our room that has replaced the old pamphlets and room service menu. It is titled "Welcome" and includes everything you need to know while on the ship. It is referred to as "The Orange Book". The in-room dining menu is in this booklet, among other info. The breakfast menu has the usual offerings, but now includes three fancier entrees priced from $4.95 to $7.50. The all-day menu offers complimentary starters, sandwiches, entrees and desserts. There are two paninis, a bbq pulled pork sandwich, and a club sandwich. A "later" menu (11pm to 6am) offers a limited variety of the all-day menu, all free. There is a kid's menu with among other things, mac and cheese, pasta, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and peanut butter and jelly. Great idea. Some of the charged items are the Dive-In burgers, chicken breast, and hot dogs for $4.95 each. Finally, for an evening meal, you can order steak or lobster dinners from the Pinnacle Grill for $15 to $20.
Before we got ready for dinner, we were summoned to the front desk to get new room cards to replace the ones we got yesterday. Our color is silver with the President's Club logo on the lower right corner. We don't care what they look like, as long as they open our door, and scan us on and off the ship. We have been told that people buy those neck lanyards so they can show off their Mariner status or suite status. Silly, isn't it? And here we always thought these folks had no pockets and kept their key in a safe and secure place.
Everyone showed up for dinner tonight. We are so glad our new tablemates ended up liking our group. The conversation flowed from 8pm to 10:15pm. Once again, we were among the last to leave the dining room. Doesn't appear that anyone of us was going to attend the entertainment in the Queen's Lounge, Jon Courtenay – the piano, the comedy, the show. Sounds like a new act for this cruise.
We'll add the finishing touches to our room tomorrow, and we'll be DONE.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Just noticed that there are no more "good night" cards left on our bed every evening. A tiny cut-back we assume, but another change.
Captain Mercer, Mary Ann & Bill, Gerald B, and Henk M
The new teak lounge chair pads
Cruise Critic meeting
A few speeches were given
Cloudy skies and smooth seas
Oh boy, is this fun, or what?
The garden begins……….
