If it’s Sunday, and we are at sea, then it must be Sunday Brunch Day. Even though we did have a light breakfast in the dining room this morning, we made it a point to attend our first brunch today. We went more out of curiosity to see what everyone has been talking about since the last brunch.
So we asked our waiter to hold our table for three, knowing Barb would come. Since we dined in the Pinnacle last night, we did not see Barb yesterday, or we would have known she was coming with Susie and Woody today. The brunch hours were from 11am to 1pm. Going at noontime was just right. The three of them arrived shortly after trivia (Barb’s team won today). So we moved to a larger table.
Anyway, the menu was labeled Sunday Brunch Sampler, indicating that the 3 course meal would be small servings. As soon as we sat down in the formal-covered chairs, freshly-squeezed orange juice was served in little old-fashioned milk bottles with straws. If we preferred, we could have ordered mimosas, two for the price of one plus $2. The bread bowl was filled with small pastries such as cinnamon rolls, mini muffins, and apple turnovers.
The first course was a platter with a shot glass full of muesli and berries, focaccia with cherry tomatoes and cheese, egg salad with a touch of smoked salmon on the top, and one shrimp/crab sushi, with a little pipette containing soy sauce. Never saw anything like this before. There was a tiny serving of caviar with chopped onion, which all of us donated to Barb, who adores it. Foie gras on a puff pastry and a tapa completed the cold sampler.
The main course was served on a similar rectangular plate. The egg benedict was one poached egg with a toast corner in a shooter glass. One sweet and sour tempura breaded shrimp was next, but the best was the little chicken cordon blue ball. The English breakfast cup held baked beans and a piece of banger (sausage). A slice of rolled roast beef had a smidgen of horseradish in the middle. Everyone liked the corned beef with spinach and potato quiche, about 2 inches in diameter. Finally there was a piece of waffle in a glass of berry compote.
The sweet ending sampler included chocolate cheesecake, the size of a 50 cent piece. Tropical fruit pavlova and no-sugar-added strawberry shortcake finished the meal. We all shared bits and pieces with each other, and that was the fun of it. Obviously a big hit, because the lower dining room was filled with customers.
The usual activities took place today. They included Barbara H’s talk on Albany, and America’s Test Kitchen with salad for dinner demos. Guests speakers Alan Wright and Kate Mead talked about contact with other worlds and Western Australia. We chose to watch a room movie, which was good. The name was Collateral Beauty, with twists and turns that we did not expect in the end.
We found out yesterday that the visa has been raised for Mozambique to $75. Since we have these visas already, they have taken us off of their list. A new visa has been required for Sri Lanka, and it will be charged to our account in the amount of $25 per person.
The Indonesian landing cards were fully filled out, except for signatures for all of us. These needed to be turned into the front desk today.
Finally, a survey for the 2020 Grand World Voyage was posted online. This can be accessed for everyone on their mobile devices or computers. Or you could use the ships computers by going to their free site. For those who do not have these phones or computers, we heard that they can request the info at the front desk. It was nice to have these possible itineraries printed out for us. Although we did get the link up this afternoon, by late afternoon, many folks still could not find it. We do have until February 28th to fill out the forms.
Barb and our tablemate Ken attended the Sunday SINGO at 7pm, the trivia-like game where you guess the lines of songs. Jamm, the new Piano Bar artist seems to be winning over this world cruise crowd. These folks were followers of Debby Bacon, so it is nice to hear the new fellow has filled the void, and doing it well, we heard.
We had a cocktail party with our travel agency and three hosts in the Explorer’s Lounge. Visiting with the new beverage manager, he said this crowd is a very unique and challenging one for him. Soon we were joined by the dance instructors Kirsten and Alex, who we know more from the pool deck. Today was the first day in weeks that we could have gone back to the pool and spent some time in the sun. Perhaps the sun will remain with us as we sail across the Great Australian Bight on the way towards Albany.
Dinnertime found all of us present. It seems as the days go by, we are having more fun every night, as the new guests are getting to know everyone better. We both ordered the English roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. Most all of us ordered the same entrée, and agreed that the side of horseradish was powerful enough to clear the sinuses, ears, and noses.
No need for us to attend the performance of Divalicious in the show lounge. The performers were two ladies from Adelaide that got on the ship the same time we did yesterday. We happened to be sitting in the atrium, deck five, when they were rehearsing. With the side doors of the Queen’s Lounge open, we could hear the entire practice of tonight’s show. Loud and clear. We do not know what the comic twist to their show will be, but Ken promised to tell us tomorrow after he attends the performance.
One more hour back on the clock tonight made everyone happy.
Bill & Mary Ann
The new menu for Sunday Brunch
Juice in special little jars
The cold sampler
The first course
The hot sampler or main course
Small servings
Dessert was pretty
Also pretty good
