Sugar Magnolia

I am on a hunger strike until dinner.

That was indeed a costly lesson for them, but fortunately, were able to renew passport in time.

The free weights are still dropping over my head with a loud thunk at the thermal suite. Who’s brilliant idea was it to place the fitness center over the thermal suite? Is this an appropriate question to ask at tonight’s dinner with officers? Shall I share with them the hours of lamenting on Cruise Critic the inexplicable extinction of the towel animals, the disappointing disappearance of the hash browns, and the confusing cookie conversations as the beloved snack has become as illusive as the unicorn? Where does this end?

Wow, if they called code into the staterooms I did not hear a peep. Hoping some nice CC friend will remember to come get me if we abandon ship in the middle of the night.

I shall order the filet mignon next time as you so astutely pointed out, but shall keep the goose liver crapola out of spite. Several people raved about the duck on this sailing so I thought I would be sheep and ordered duck. It was not terrible. And don’t call me Shirley.

At the very least, I would love to meet our CC group for breakfast.

I spotted your table as well and that ubiquitous travel vest. I thought about planting myself at the table but thought perhaps that would be disrespectful to the officers...just in case they are at my table tomorrow evening. 😁

On every cruise at the first few solo meetings, the Platinum+ latitude members try to pair up with each other so that their two complimentary specialty dinings (two coupons per person) become four meals. I choose not to do this but instead, treat non-Platinum+ members and/or newish NCL cruisers to a specialty dining meal. The sharing of a meal is more important to me than the meal itself. Tonight I treated a new solo friend who is not yet Platinum to dinner at Le Bistro using my Platinum AmEx perk. As another Cruise Critic member has mentioned, no supplement is charged when dining at Le Bistro using this perk. We arrived at 5:50 for our 6:00 reservation and were seated right away. The perk entitles us to order 1 starter, 1 entree and 1 dessert. We started with the escargot and the endive salad with roquefort cheese, followed by the duck and lamb chops, finished with the fraisier and marquise au chocolat. The escargot lacked salt and something else I can't quite place my finger on. I am always hoping that the duck skin would be crispier, but was glad that the meat was not rubbery. My friend requested switching the lamb shank for another piece of lamb chop and enjoyed her meal. Desserts are usually very good at Le Bistro and did not disappoint. Service was brisk and we finished the meal before 7:15, so we met up with my posse for our regular 8:00 dinner reservations at Hudson's.

Perhaps we should keep this secret to ourselves and not sabotage our good find.

Though I have not yet dined at The Commodore, I found this to be true on the Viva.

Le Bistro is my least favorite but Platinum AmEx buys dinner for me and a buddy so I will try it again tonight. I like French food…just not Le Bistro. Stay tuned.

I shall lobby NCL HQ for some kind of commemoration, but I think it should be an outline of your body on the floor after your fall. Henry and I will discuss.

Sorry we missed you last night. Our gang did not arrive at the party until after 11:30 and once again, we shut down the Prima Club. Body clock still thinks I am in New York.

My six person posse tonight had reservations at Onda for 8:15 and again, there was no wait to be seated at that late hour. I know that there are many La Cucina fans but I am not one of them. I think Onda is exceptional and likely my favorite restaurant on the Prima. The dining package allows one to order 2 starters, 1 entree and 2 sides, whereas the Platinum+ vouchers allow 1 starter, 1 entree and 1 side. I knew that were would be plenty of food so I did not ask for an extra side. I find that most side dishes at the specialty restaurants range from not terrible to most definitely terrible. The standout starters were the macellaio pizza, calzone, beef carpaccio and braised octopus, except for one rubbery piece of octopus. The burrata and prosciutto were good but the tomatoes were oddly cold. The group enjoyed the short rib ravioli, lobster tagliatelle, veal milanese and tuna. The pappardelle bolognese was uninspiring. The best desserts were butterscotch budino and panna cotta. The tiramsu and chocolate cake were in second place. The cheesecake was inedible. The service was generally fine, but we felt rushed in between courses. One of my pet peeves is when the waiter moves someone's plate before the rest of the group has finished. Also, when some were still eating their starters, the waitstaff wanted to start clearing the plates even though there was still food on the plate. And the worst was when the waitstaff started to place new utensils for the main course in front of us while we were still finishing our starters. We were all baffled by this.

@graphicguy … While at the start of the pub crawl (special thanks to @Taxvp for coordinating) @Fogfog and @mking8288 mentioned that there is an active leak coming from the Local bar, so a crew member has been standing with a mop at the ready. And in case there are any nonbelievers… We have all been thinking of you.

Sorry I am unable to confirm either way. Hope you have a great cruise.

For dinner, the solo group now has a standing reservation at Hudson's for one table at 5:30 and one table for 8:00, each reservation under the names of two different solo members. As such, there is no wait for a table but we must be on time or else they will cancel the reservation. @mking8288 has the better experience about how long it might take to get a table without a reservation.

My seven person posse had reservations at Cagney's tonight at 8:30. At that late hour, we were seated right away. The waiter said that those using the dining package could order 2 starters, 1 entree and 2 sides, and those using Platinum+ vouchers could order 1 starter, 1 entree and 1 side. However, if we wanted to order something else (like another appetizer or another side) he could arrange for that. 😉 The shrimp cocktail, onion soup and Caesar salad, as usual, were very good. The tuna tartare was flavorless. Everyone enjoyed their filet mignon, prime rib and ribeye, all cooked at the right temperature. As I am quite obviously a snob, I always feel I could get a better steak at my local steakhouses. The truffle fries and truffle mashed potatoes were the standouts. The potatoes au gratin, on the other hand, was inedible. The table shared every dessert on the menu. The raspberry crème brûlée, seven layer chocolate cake and OMG caramel butterscotch cheesecake were the favorites, though the warm blueberry oatmeal crisp was a respectable runner-up with the apple pie in last place. Service was at a good pace and adequate though not exceptionally friendly. Perhaps everyone was tired by that late hour.

Pookie mentioned to me that she prefers the cooler climate. Will she be okay in Reykjavik?

You're always trying to one up me @schmoopie17.

I can confirm that at least one studio occupant on deck 13 has complained about the metal scraping noises from the ceiling.

....but no ports? That's the only reason I am breaking tradition and not booking the inaugural TA.

That all sounds so tempting though

I am on lucky deck 13. Would I miss anything if I skipped the Latitudes party tomorrow? Were there any special announcements?

Not surprisingly, there are no cookies to be found on the Prima, not even at the studio lounge this time. Any cookie sightings in the Haven? Or are you guys sworn to secrecy, lest there be class riots? I spoke to two crew members who were in the studio lounge at different times and kindly asked if we could have cookies in the lounge instead of pound cake every single day. The first member replied that he wasn’t in charge of the lounge, but he is aware that others have asked for cookies, that we should bring it up to the guy in charge, but that he would also mentioned the request to his boss. The second member replied that he was also aware of the cookies request, that he would bring it up to his boss, and that the reason cookies are not put out is because it is difficult to control the quality of the cookies. Another solo and I looked at each other and muttered under our breath: we don’t care…we’ll eat them regardless.