CGTNORMANDIE

On Divina…I actually overheard a man say his cruise was ruined. He didn’t like the oatmeal they served at breakfast! YIKES!

Great pictures! Thanks so much for posting your review Steff! CGT

Coulibiac Of Salmon. This was offered onboard Celebrity back in the days when they had the Grand Buffet once per cruise. It is basically a Salmon Wellington. A whole side of King Salmon sautéed with herbs and spices covered in a fish stock cream sauce and wrapped in puff pastry with egg wash and baked…out of this world. It is an intricate dish to prepare as you have to get the salmon sautéed rare so it does not overcook during the baking process. If done to perfection it is an excellent entree.

I might be “in dry dock” but I am well aware of the MSC pratfalls. Building a giant fleet of ships is no easy thing. Most of the problems at MSC seem to come from customer service. The above list of grievances is a good indicator of what to watch out for when booking.

Yes…but I’ve seen Borscht, Chicken Kiev and Kulibec of Salmon onboard ship and those are Russian-Slovak!

I’ll never understand the fascination with MacD’s burgers…fast food or not. To me they are uniformly horrible. I can get a far superior burger at one of our local pubs. Even Wendy’s and Burger King are better than MacD’s.

Hello Norboy, I still say you should get an offer on German EBay. I’ll bet those bottles are worth a lot!

Great story Richard. It just shows how romantic an era that was. All those ships oozed romance. My DW and I honeymooned on the Bremen and we’ll be married 52 years in October! We also crossed on the SS France and sailed to the Caribbean on the Leonardo DaVinci. Your aunt was right…she must have had really excellent taste. All those ships were so special…a totally different experience from today’s mega ships.

Just about every line is smart casual now except Cunard. With Cunard we would need to take along a third suitcase!

If you go at 2:30 PM you will miss lunch. 11:00 AM is always a good time…just in case there is a holdup Coast Guard inspection, etc. There are always those who get there early and clog up the line waiting so let them go first. The point is that you have paid for a premium service so you should be allowed to enjoy it from the moment you step into the YC tent. And that includes a flute of Prosecco and munching on a macaroon before you board the ship…LOL.

“We have read horrid reviews on the Seaside.” Thousands of happy pax cruise every week on Seaside and, as usual, a handful of bad reviews come to the forefront to scare new pax like yourselves. Pay them no attention and go and enjoy.

Hi Bea, I want to thank you for a highly informative and entertaining review. It means a lot to this sailor who is still stuck in dry dock for the past 5 years. Hopefully we’ll be out there before he year ends. Anyway…thanks Bea…you are one of a kind. CGT

Good old Coca Cola on ice…real Coke…not the diet or flavored stuff. A close second place would be a Raspberry Lime Ricky or a chocolate ice cream soda. The chocolate ice cream soda has about a third of the calories and cholesterol as a chocolate malted frappe.

Your loss…my gain.

Yes…even cheese goes with chutney. One of my favorites is chutney with cream cheese on a cracker. Makes a great snack or even an hors d’ouvre.

Times have changed. Dress code on. Princess is basically country club casual. You can dress in your formals but luggage restrictions on TAs make it difficult for men. Women can always get away with the cocktail dress or silk pants and fancy top. Some people do and some don’t and nobody seems to notice. Do not overpack!

Italian fennel sausage, mushrooms and onion…

Homemade chutney with lime pickle, yellow and dark raisins, chopped sweetened orange and lemon peel, etc. Goes on anything!

An egg cream is a couple ounces of syrup with a shot of cream topped off with seltzer water. The ratio is about 1/3 syrup and cream and 2/3 seltzer.

A medium rare burger does not make the grade. A medium burger is just right. Just a little ketchup and cheddar cheese. I always shake on a little garlic salt and pepper before cooking…charcoal grilled is my favorite. I prefer a lighter bun or even bread lightly grilled with butter.

That is also a German delicacy along with pickled lamb tongue. Both of these were some of my grandfather’s favorites!

Very good summation! You mention pate’ and fois gras…some of my favorites. I love starting a great dinner with pate’ with bread and butter. Then you mention liver and onions. I love calf’s liver or lamb liver with bacon and onions. How about another favorite…lambs kidneys. Agreed…Chit’lins and Boudin are disgusting! I must disagree with you on the Hershey Chocolate. It is an acquired taste. You see…Milton Hershey made his chocolate with soured milk. That’s what sets it apart from the rest just as Pennsylvania German Chocolate Cake is made with soured milk.

By golly I’m going to try the Bourbon in my nog! I love Bourbon. A well made Manhattan is my go-to high octane drink .

Norway was unique…one of a kind. I sailed on her in 1973 when she was the SS France and also in 1993 when she was the SS Norway.

Those mini suites were nice…floor to ceiling windows. We also sailed in one and had a ball. The service was top notch. I remember Room Service calling me when we first got onboard. They told me to call them if I needed anything at all. Every afternoon they would send a big shrimp cocktail if you wanted it. Those were the days.