calicakes

2 hours ago, luckiest1cruise said:

@calicakes Do all the regular balcony rooms have fridges or do you have to request them?  I am impressed with all you brought from home!  Did you pack the American cheese and your iced coffee in coke bottles in your checked luggage or in your carry on?   We are on the 12/1 sailing and are flying into LA from Ontario, Canada, but we have a day in between where we can purchase food or non-alcoholic beverages to bring with us (as I have multiple dietary requirements).  I just don't know what I can bring successfully on board with me.  Thanks!

Yes, there is a fridge. be careful not to drink any of the items out of the fridge. If you have a drink package, they will still charge you. We drove to the port. I packed my ice coffee and food in my carry on. 

1 minute ago, arizonaperson said:

 Well it looks like a very cool machine. Didn’t know that they allowed that type of electrical product on the ship. I’ve never even heard of Temu.

 Thanks.

Its also on amazon for 50.00.  It took awhile to get the last piece of luggage.  Maybe they were trying to figure out what it was. 

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Mini-Washer-Underwear-Apartments/dp/B0C4953YFH/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=36JBQAPEXCT1W&keywords=portable%2Bwashing%2Bmachine&qid=1699822053&sprefix=portable%2Bwashing%2B%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

2 hours ago, Holida Gal said:

Do they supply the paddles for pickleball and arrange times? Or did Julie bring her own paddle?

They had a couple, but Julie did bring her own.  They had "Free play" times listed in the daily schedule.  

28 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

@calicakes

 You posted a picture of somebody wearing shorts on board in line for the main dining room. Was that breakfast or lunch? If it was ,it’s usually OK at that time. But I guess if it was dinner on the first day like another poster said maybe they just didn’t have any luggage yet 

It was dinner on the first night.  Apparently, its ok on the FIRST AND LAST night.  Although, we saw people wearing shorts and flip flops and they were NOT turned away. 

Just now, arizonaperson said:

@calicakes

 What an ingenious product -that washing machine that you to brought on board. Is it battery operated or electric? 

Its electric.  I bought it on Temu.  I paid about 12 bucks.  I waited until it dropped in price, they are now ranging from 25-35.  I know people knock Temu, but I've only had good luck.  I do NOT HAVE THE APP.  I only order from their website. 

On 11/2/2023 at 9:13 AM, SerraG said:

Veal Cannelloni - Hmm. I was influenced by the anti-veal campaign early in my youth and probably wouldn’t be able to order veal.  Love the sides (chestnuts are so good!) but this would be a “no” for me. 

FYI.  The Bolognese that was served in the MDR was a combination of beef and veal.  My wife would have ordered that if veal wasn't an ingredient. 

Wrapping up.

Service was amazing.  There was one time at the pool that we waited about 45 min for our beverages.   The last morning, I asked for a poached egg WHITE as I can't eat runny yolks.  That was super confusing for the crew member taking orders.  She said no, then said she'd ask the chef.  The chef ended up making it for me.  

Food quality was better than I expected.  The chicken I had on the first night was not dry, other chicken dishes were super dry.   My wife said the flank steak was probably the best steak she's had on a ship. 

I heard a lot of complaints regarding the shore excursions.  We didn't book any as they didn't appeal to us.  I think Celebrity should have provided a shuttle into Mazatlán.  

Our room was bigger than expected and our room attendant was good.  See on in February for our Great Barrier Reef cruise on Edge. 

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

I don’t book VV because of no drink package offered. That and short cruises.

Ok. You do you. We don't drink. With that being said, they gave us $300 towards a drink package. But we can use it for other things.

3 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

I'm not going to book a ship with substandard cabins just for the food.  I can get excellent food by going to local restaurants.  No need to book a cruise for that.

The cabin looked fine for 4 days. We booked a sea terrace.

We booked a 4 night on Valient lady for September. We booked because of the food.

Dinner last night. My chicken was dry. Julie had the fried pork chop. It was a special. Swung by the OV to get a pic of cheeses. There was much more variety at lunch. We skipped dessert. 

Lobster last night. There are 2 on my plate. I asked for the berries. 

1 hour ago, LaCal said:

Good to hear we’re not the only ones who bring our own crackers 

 

How was the French cheese?   Looking forward to your photos 

 

Thanks 

Ok. Not the best quality. Compte, blue, goat, bri and some American cheese.

We went to lunch at 12:30 in OV.  It took at least 10 min of walking around the find a seat.  It seemed like everyone is having lunch at the same time.  So crowded.  They were serving a lot of French Cheese,  Sadly, the only cracker they have is a saltine.  Shameful.  I did bring some crackers from home.  I made myself a cheese plate to have in the afternoon.  This is the FIRST time that goat cheese has shown up in OV.  Will post pics later. 

41 minutes ago, hcat said:

hope it is worth it..take a taxi or uber!

look forward to your next live from!

We have our own car. We drove to the port and parked a Doubletree.( park and stay package). 

Our next Live will be from Sydney, Edge Feb 2024.

1 hour ago, hcat said:

great blog.. thanks

glad you booked Galapagos..

 

safe travels home..maybe you can catch Rexs cafe (only bkfst and lunch)

Thanks.  We're off the ship at 8:30 and we have Global Entry so maybe we can get off in a short time and have breakfast there.  

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but did OV used to serve cottage cheese at breakfast?  If so, its no longer. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Really enjoyed following along on you journey.    Hope we get to meet one day.

Thank you.  Maybe you can talk Iian into Galapagos for 2025.  We booked for October.

4 hours ago, DianneLovesToCruise said:

Fun updates… thank you both! Other than tendering and getting some choppy water action, has your sailing been smooth?

Hi.  Yes, we're on the way back to LA and the waters are a bit choppy, but nothing too bad.  We're both wearing the seasickness patch behind the ear.   Its 70F, and windy.  I don't think we'll be able to lay out at the pool today. 

1 hour ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

Actually, they have also watered down the cocktail sauce for the shrimp appetizer in the MDR. 

omg, yes.  I wondered what they did to that sauce.  Its so thin now.  

MDR for dinner tonight.  It was Lobster night.  It was supposed to have been served with rice pilaf. the rice was NOT rice pilaf.  Julie gave me her lobster tail too and ordered the flank steak.  She said it was the best steak she's had on board.   There was also a Beef wellington special and a Duck A'larange special. They were not listed on the menu.  Pics will be added later.   I had creme brulee' and I asked for some berries on top.  They gave me a few strawberries.  I guess those are "special" since I haven't seen any berries anywhere else.  

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I hate to say it but I really like the Ocean Spray Canned -   You know the one where you cut both ends off and serve it with the ripples showing.   As they say you can take the Boy out of the country, but not the Country out of the Boy.

 

 

That is what my mom served every Thanksgiving.  LOL.  I'm sure back in the day, it wasn't made with high fructose corn syrup. 

@Jim_Iainhere’s the thing cranberries are naturally high in pectin. They puréed the crap out of it. I never even saw a many cranberries. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm rolling on the floor imagining you asking for a straw for your Cranberry Sauce.   How difficult it it to add a bit of pectin.   I had some once that was the opposite and was like eating cranberry gummy  bears.

Have you noticed any changes to the Menu.  Some are reporting they are starting to add back items to the menu.

I haven’t noticed any changes yet. Tonight is lobster night.

19 minutes ago, daydreamer16 said:

Can you share the name of the massage place?

Thanks

sand Bar. It’s about a 30 min walk from ship or a 6 dollar Uber. It’s on medrano beach. I booked online, paid in US money.