A day at sea was just what we needed today in order to get our room almost totally organized. After breakfast, we took our usual walk outside. Finally, the warmth and humidity are back. So far, it is tolerable, but soon, we will surely be complaining about the heat. We did expect to see some flying fish, but there were none. The only wildlife we spotted were a couple of boobys.
Something we noticed at breakfast in the dining room was that today was “Sunday at Sea Brunch Day”. At 11am, a special menu would be available for brunch items. They did this last year, but took it a step further this year with a few changes. Looking at the posted menu, we figured out that it was a fixed meal. Everything on the menu would be served to you. So it was actually little tastings of several different items. There were at least three starters, nine entrée servings, and three desserts. Guess you simply ate what you liked, and left the rest. Perhaps you could call these “little eats”, something that has been popping up in our local restaurants at home. Since we had eaten breakfast around 9am, brunch would be too early for us. Barb did go, and loved it. The next one they have, we will attend just to see what it was all about.
By the way, the fancy chair covers were put on last night after the late dinner. Presty said that they needed to do this today, because there would not be enough staff or time to do it before tomorrow night’s gala dinner. He added that we can eat breakfast and brunch in style. Last year, these chair covers were not used. The reason was that they got soiled too easily, and may carry bacteria. The bottom line really was that it would save a lot of labor by not using them. So with a few complaints from other folks we know, those covers came back last year, but later into the cruise.
Have we mentioned that we began getting a delivered New York Times Digest on our door every morning? And we did not even have to ask for it. In fact, it appears that everyone on our deck had papers outside. How about that….some of us spoke up after this service was discontinued last year, and they really listened. We also noticed a large stand in the Lido with the Canadian, Dutch, and German papers.
Lunch for us was in the Lido, where the sandwich gal made us ham and cheese croissant and one roast beef on a roll. Don’t know if these machines were here last year, but we did see lemonade and ice tea straight from the spickets.
Leta and Bill stopped to chat on their way to lunch. They mentioned that the Explorations Café was under-manned yesterday. Long lines put pressure on the single server, causing her to spill hot milk over her hand, burning herself. Eventually, a second server was added to help out. Leta also confirmed that someone on their deck got a letter telling them that they had to remove their door ornament. They are no longer allowed. The story we heard is that if it is flammable, it must be removed. Someone on our deck taped up a Valentine Day message, but it was gone in two days. This must be a Coast Guard requirement. However, the three balloons are still hanging next to someone’s door. They are much more annoying than a photo.
Another thing happened with the beverage perk for the Vista room guests. An order had been taken well before the cruise, but did not match what was chosen. We had gotten a call regarding our perk too. One of us ordered a bouquet of flowers, but it never arrived. They had a bottle of scotch to deliver instead. Nope, never ordered that. Later in the afternoon, someone knocked on our door, and there were the flowers. Bill had gotten a bottle of bourbon, but it was not his choice. Asking Nestor to switch it, a room service steward came by with what he wanted, and he swapped it out. We do expect a charge for the difference.
The internet service has worked OK so far. No complaints from us, but as we travel to some more remote areas, that might change. There was a blip with the app for the Navigator on your cell phone. It was not programmed properly, but they did promise to fix it. We can access this free site on our laptop computer. Mostly helpful when figuring out menus for the day.
One of the last things left to do was add that new foam pad to our bed. Thinking we would wait until the sheets were changed, we decided to tackle the job ourselves. Surely we can figure it out. There was only one small problem, and that was the size of the pad, marked queen, was a bit narrow on this mattress. All total, we found that it was short by about 8 inches. The actual size in inches was not provided with the pad, so we guessed that queen meant the same thing. If we did this again, we could have gone with the king size, then trimmed it to fit. Anyway, we got the bed back together, and hope it provides a better type of comfort and support.
Tonight was the first gala night and labeled Black and Gold. At 4:30 and 7pm, there was a Captain’s welcome aboard reception and Black and Gold Dinner. Normally, champagne (sparkling wine) is served, followed with staff introductions. For some reason, we never made it there. But then, we have done it so many times, we are sure having a cocktail in our room would work better.
An officer joined our table tonight. His name was George and he is the first engineer. A young fellow from Bulgaria, he seemed to enjoy the antics at our table. He admitted to us that he enjoys dressing up for a change, since all he ever wears are overalls. A nice fellow, he has a wife and a 4 year old son at home in Bulgaria. He keeps in touch daily via facetime.
Our dinner choice was the rack of veal, and the best choice on the menu. Totally good. They offered the usual surf and turf, but when they have veal, it Is always the best. Desserts for us were apple strudel and a soufflé, both small servings, just the way we like them these days.
Two more gifts were given to us this evening. They were keycard holders with a neck lanyard. Quite out of the ordinary to get three gifts in a row.
Tomorrow, we will be in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Many thanks for the info on the challah bread. Learn something new every day.
Two Moleskine journals were gifted last night
Every two weeks we can have wine, alcohol, assorted beverages, or flowers
Two keycard holders with a neck lanyard – gifts for tonight
