Moochi

@Ripheusand I look forward to your live review very much! In fact he actually asked me to create a Google calendar invite for "DaKahuna CC review" so he can look for the post lol. Please update us on Cellar Masters. I'm sure whoever takes over as the head bartender, will be wonderful and makes amazing drinks. Have a great journey!

Last night Husband and I were talking about the possibility of you meeting Marren on Millennium! Sorry if sounds creepy🤣. For some reason I thought you were sailing on 4/1 or 4/8. We even looked up if there’s any quick and cheap trip just to see her, but nothing fits in our schedule or budget. I might email to ask about her next contract.

‘cause the phone won’t wake them up that early if they are very hangover. Don’t ask how I know about it. I do not have related experience. 🤣🤣

My apologies for not making it clear. I was not questioning you about why you would taking kids out during school time. I was making a comment on what you said, pulling kids out of school adds more work to teachers who are already busy. Kids already have more than half a year of off school time, why do the parents choose to take them out for vacation during school time, and inconvenient school staff?

Don't hate me for saying this because I'm just an ignorant adult who's not a parent. Why do children need to take vacation when it's not during their vacation time? Don't they get winter break, summer break, spring break, and national holidays? Kids in my state go to school only 180 days a year. So there are 185 days to choose from to travel.

It is $13.99 at Whole Foods so the $85 onboard price is...very high. I'm impressed Apex has it though.

Somebody please call Uncle Roger! Hai-Yaa!

That doesn’t sound tasty at all. I think the only time I was not satisfied with their drink was when they served an iced spiked coffee in a paper cup. Had no issue with the drink but the paper cup. The texture and taste of room temperature paper, milky foam, and ice in my mouth at the same time was off putting.

I'm curious about what went wrong with that drink because I wasn't there when you had it. We tried every single alcoholic drink at Cafe Al Bacio on Millennium. Although I liked some more than others, none was bad.

Or pay for an extra luggage. My name is El Cheapo. Husband and I did something naughty one time. We worn pajamas to Luminae for breakfast and no one said anything. To be fair, it was disembarkation day, the morning of Christmas Eve, and our matching holiday pajamas were pretty cute and festive. We did wear (matching) closed toe shoes though. Would have worn slippers if they fit my husband's giant size 15 feet.

I've heard the same thing. Ladies with more seniority at my work told me, about 10 years ago, when we had a different Director, he would ask the ladies to wear closed toe shoes and tights with skirts. No jeans were allowed except on Fridays. Nowadays there's no dress code anymore in my office. I've seen people wearing beach dresses with flip flops and leggings with a top that's shorter than hip length. Dress codes are generally more relaxed than a decade ago. I think that's why X is doing chic nights instead of formal nights? Husband and I were looking at a cruise line that requires tux and bow tie for guys on formal nights. I was telling him the only item I have in my closet meets such dress code is my wedding gown.

He's 1.5 years younger... I think it's more behavior difference than age. He's excellent in many areas but has the typical symptoms of being a spoiled husband, such as not returning tools to where it was stored after using, leaving socks on the floor instead of inside of the hamper, leaving beer bottle caps in his pockets, etc, etc... Not forwarding the documents until I ask is just one of the symptoms lol. Back to OP's topic, we had to dispute a few charges while onboard. Sometimes X overcharges us, sometimes under. The crew members do make mistakes, or the information they provide can be inconsistent. Every time the charges get corrected, after we point it out, but it takes time to show up on the account. I don't see why X won't investigate OP's mini bar charge, even it happened after disenbakation.

I might sound like a broken record but if you are on Millie now please go see Marren in Cellar Masters before she goes on vacation in April. Cellar Masters on Millie is a full bar that serves beers (no draft), wine, liquor, and of course mixed drinks. Not sure if it was just a wine bar before, but it has been a full bar since we first got on Millie a year ago. I have never been on an S class ship but can share my observation about World Class Bar on Beyond and Cellar Masters on Millie. They both are very good when it comes to craft cocktails and all the bartenders at very talented. You can’t go wrong with either. WCB has a more “craft cocktail” style menu, while CM’s menu is heavier on wine and wine flights, with a smaller section of cocktails. Both bars are fully capable of making your preferred craft cocktails, as long as they have the ingredients. WCB has more limited ingredients, but they are equipped with 2 inch large ice cubes and smoking guns, that CM doesn’t have. CM has a much larger ingredient variety, most hidden in the fridge and cabinets under the bar, and can get ingredients from other bars on the ship when they are not super busy. So theoretically CM can make more drinks.

Congratulations for reaching Elite+! Thank you for this comment. I had no idea Celebrity sends a final invoice. They only communicate with my husband, although they've got my phone number and email address. Very annoying. I'm the one reconciles our accounts and my dearest husband never thought about forwarding me the final invoice, knowing Celebrity does not communicate with me.

Lucky you didn't get reported for hijacking the post. CC police is everywhere lol....

OP please come back for food and drinks reviews after Day 3! 🤣🤣I have been dying to hear about your professional opinions.

Celebrity doesn’t care how full or how big the glass is right? 🤣🤣🤣

I don’t think Tuscan Grille is very hard to book so it shouldn’t be a problem to move the reservation.

Brilliant! Next time (probably next year since I missed the Pappy lottery and the chance of selling the bottle for another cruise), I will ask for the lobster salad as a side dish to another entree. During our December Millie sailing, the lobster roll was offered on the last sea day so that might be part of the Luminae menu change.

Nope. The lovely server insisted that we both needed double lobsters. Maybe my husband did but not me. That’s why I only had room for gelato instead of the entire dessert.

I made a mistake by buying a semi automatic machine without finding a way to testing the ease of use before paying. I thought it would be a huge step up from Nespresso. I forgot one thing, espresso making is an art, or maybe metaphysics. I thought I would have so much fun by controlling different grind size, dosage, how I tamp, water temperature, pulling time, so I can get the optimal results. Nah it’s not that easy. Even if I got a great cup of espresso one time, it’s hard to replicate every step in the process. Just like bread making. I can use the exact recipe and brand of flour, but it’s hard to control the indoor temperature and humidity, and the active level of yeast as a home baker, so it’s hard to bake the exact same loaf of break I did three months ago. Took the topic too far. Anyways, I know my next coffee maker will be an automatic one that makes an excellent americano with one push button. Maybe when I get the next promotion. 😉

I know you are a tree expert but I know more about orchids hee hee. These are dendrobium orchids to be more specific, or den when I don't know how to spell the word...

I do want to upgrade my Breville barista express at some point but not ready to drop $4,700, yet. Or, I should say, would I rather having another week in the retreat, or an awesome coffee machine that I can enjoy for years? 🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for the info about the means. Just ordered a bag on Amazon. They have disappeared from my Costco. I remember it was more forgiving for my inconsistent shots and the coffee was not sour at all. Very beginner friendly.

First day back to work. I had a hard time rolling out of the bed this morning, although we have already done spring forward when arriving St Maarten almost a week ago. My Americano doesn’t taste as good as in Retreat Lounge. Wonder what coffee beans they use. I’m making Korean style hot tofu soup for lunch. While waiting for the soup to finish cooking, I would like to review the new Daniel Boulud signature dishes on Luminae dinner menu. The chilled corn soup appetizer is not as good as I hoped. The toppings are great, but the chilled corn soup part is lacking flavor. It doesn’t taste like the fruity fresh sweet corn, or the sticky glutinous corn. I don’t have refined taste to tell what it really is, although it doesn’t taste bad, just not enough corn flavor. The duck leg confit “char sui” entree is pretty tasty. The duck meat isn’t juicy or silky, is more firm yet tender, with a little bit chew, but doesn’t get stuck between teeth. The skin is a bit too rich though. The flavor is similar to char sui but could use less sugar and more salt for more balance. If you like the pork char sui from local Cantonese joint, I think you would enjoy this dish. But if you are not a big fan of sweeter sauce on meat, you might want to pass. I did not get the dessert as I wanted try the almond cake.

She will love that place! After many failed attempt to find someone who can cut my very thick hair "correctly" and not in DC (nobody wants to drive in DC), I always had to go back to Ozuki Salon.