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Escaping Without The Kid - A Trip Review of our 9/16/2017 Escape Western Cruise


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Flying out of GSO is definitely a breeze. It's so small but that is what makes it so easy. We were on this same cruise and unfortunately our flights from Charlotte were cancelled (details on my review) so we did the 14 hour drive from GSO NC. Great review so far. Can't wait to hear your perspective and about your upgrade.

 

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Your 4 year old is taking business trips? She's very impressive! ( lol. obviously a typo in 2nd paragraph....I'm not judging. I'm the typo queen! ). Loved this review! Can't wait for more !!

 

She actually did take a trip with DW once when I also had to go out of town on business when she was 3. DW's company has a daycare at their office and she just hung out there with other kids her age, had lunch each day with her mama and had a great time meeting all of DW's work friends.

 

My other problem is that my proof reading skills are terrible.

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Flying out of GSO is definitely a breeze. It's so small but that is what makes it so easy. We were on this same cruise and unfortunately our flights from Charlotte were cancelled (details on my review) so we did the 14 hour drive from GSO NC. Great review so far. Can't wait to hear your perspective and about your upgrade.

 

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That is a long ride from our neck of the woods and I feel for you with two young kids. We had debated if airports were closed on Thursday that we would drive half way Thursday night and the rest of the way Friday night with three 5 gallon gas cans in reserve, but we lucked out. I'm following your review as well and looking forward to reading it to see other people's perspectives on this cruise.

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Embarkation and Day 1

 

Our decision to turn in early was great. For the first time in four and a half years, we woke up at 9AM instead of 6:30 AM with someone yelling “Daddy I’m up and I’m ready to partay!” DW has this love of sleep and don’t get me wrong, I like it when I get 7-8 hours instead of my normal 5-6 and being in IT and having been oncall for many years, I’ve learned how to pull 36-hour straight shifts and work overnight and still make it to work ontime without issue. DW, on the other hand, does not function well without at least 8 hours of sleep per night and functions optimally with 10-11. DW never lets me sleep in either which I’ve pleaded my case that once a month, I’d like to sleep in until at least 8:30 or so, but that rarely happens, but on the Saturday before Father’s Day.

 

Small tangent here to the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami and I must say that I was happy with my choice and the price for what we received. The rooms were nicely sized, the bathroom was really nice, it was clean and the bell services people were top notch as well as the front desk. It’s a super short ride to the pier via Uber ($15 for an UberXL if your significant other packs like mine does) and has a great view and common area. We also ate breakfast at the buffet and it was good as well, a little pricey, but it is a hotel breakfast and I was on vacation so I just went with it. I highly recommend staying here as it is within walking distance to some of the downtown areas and also has a great view of the port.

 

Since I was up first, I jumped in the shower and got ready while DW snoozed a bit more. Being the nice husband I am when I wake her up, I did make her a cup of coffee (Keurig in the room) and gently woke her up, unlike what I normally do after trying to wake her up three times which is to entice our 55 lb furbaby to get a running start at the bed to catch a treat and jump on her. Normally, this is my last resort as I’ve either come in or had DD come in and try to wake her up. Anyway, she got up and we rolled up the mechanical shades and got to see all of the ships in port this morning, including the Escape all the way at the end.

 

As DW was getting ready, I got our luggage tags out and started writing on them the required information and putting them into the luggage tag holders and attaching them to our bags. I started to shift some of the stuff that we had in our carry-ons into the big suitcases so that we could condense the rest of our carry-on stuff into the other two bags and threw tags on them as well. By the time I was done, DW was ready to get something to eat so we went downstairs and ate at the restaurant and enjoyed not having to watch DD eat her pancakes with ketchup or eat the jelly out of the small plastic container with a spoon, which as much as I love her, just completely makes me question who’s kid she is because neither of myself or DW does this.

 

We finished breakfast, made copies of our passports and finished packing up our stuff in our room. It was around 11 AM or so when we called bell services to bring our bags down and DW and I headed down not long after that to check out and get our Uber. We’re on our way to the port and the driver is messing around with his phone and keeps asking what terminal. DW keeps telling him B as she can see me getting frustrated as I’ve already told him about four times which terminal we were in. At this point, he starts to make his way towards one of the other terminals and DW just sighs. He pulls up in front of one of the Carnival terminals and turns around asks, “This one right?’

 

“Terminal B, is down there. That big ship at the end.”

 

“Are you sure? This is Terminal B.”

 

DW chimes in, “No, that’s an E. Terminal B is where we need to go.”

 

“Oh.”

 

He starts to pull away and after a few more minutes, we end up in front of Terminal B. DW and I hop out, he pops the hatch on the back and unloads the bags for the porter. The porter sees the luggage tags and smiles as he loads the bags on one of the luggage carts. As he comes back, he checks our papers and says, “You’re in the right spot kids. Enjoy your vacation!” and because of my father and the way he was with the people at the passenger ship terminal in NYC for all the years that he worked there, I tipped him well.

 

Off to the line outside security, which was moving pretty well. The woman at the door checked our documents and our passports and told us to go on through. Through security within about 5 minutes from entering the doors and I can see Jenn rushing off to the large line in the large room ahead. I had stopped at the Haven sign and watched her keep walking, making the turn to get in line. She figured out that I was not in tow anymore and turned around was giving me the, “Come on slow poke, we’re about to get on the ship” look and I just smiled back at her. DW had no idea what our new room actually was and she certainly had the look of “Hey stupid, it’s this way” on her face now. Finally, she starts making her way back to me and says

 

“Aren’t we supposed to get in that line up there?”

 

“Normally, we would. However, my oops is a little bigger than that I guess.”

 

There are a few looks that DW can give me to stop me stone cold in my tracks and this was one of them. I wish I could have taken a picture, but in hindsight, it would have never made it up here. It’s that work your significant other gives you that has a bit of confusion, a lot of concern and a tad bit (90%) of anger since I had kept something from her. One of the port agents walked up to me and asked, “Can I help you guys? Are you staying in the Haven?”

 

“My husband seems to think we are, but we have a mini-suite on Deck 10 and he seems to think we are staying in the Haven. What is the Haven by the way?”

 

“Let me see your cruise documents and we’ll see where you need to be. The Haven is a ship within a ship….” The agent looked at the documents and smiled as she was talking more to DW. At the end of which, she says, “You guys can come with me in here.”

 

DW now has what I call Bambi look on her face. She doesn’t get this way very often, more so since DD came into our lives with some of the things that she says or does. Rarely have I ever gotten the Bambi look since we’ve been together the past 9 years. So we walk into the Haven room and there are a few people in there. It’s about 11:45 or so and the agent takes our cruise documents and hands us the medical forms to fill out and tells us to wait until they call us. She also asks if we wanted anything to eat and drink and points over to the corner where there are drinks and some snacks, which was a nice touch. We filled out the forms and as we were finished, they called us up to the desk. We handed the woman our passports and a credit card and within a few minutes, we had keys and were ready to board.

 

The agent said that we were ready and one of the other agents grabbed another couple who was in the room with us and told us to follow her. With her sign in hand, we started walking back towards the big room with all of the port agents and the long line of people that had amassed but seemed to be moving quite well. We walked past everyone, through a place probably not meant for passengers and right to the escalators up to the second floor. Instead of winding through with the rest of the passengers, the agent opened up the ropes for us and took us to one of the guys waiting at the bottom of the gangway and told him to take us to the Haven.

Up the gangway, we walked and talked with the crew member, who told us that we would see him in the casino at the craps tables during the cruise if we fancied (which we did, a lot). I turned and looked back at DW and she had the Bambi with a smile look now as she had some idea of what was happening, but wasn’t completely sure.

 

As we walked onboard, I could see in her eyes that the tension of the past few months with family, work and life, in general, was starting to pass away. I could feel myself start to relax, but also could feel the excitement build up about being on a cruise ship. DW was getting that way too and I could tell. The first cruise we took together in 2008 was her first and I can remember how she was like a kid at Christmas with exploring and playing and doing everything she could. We were walked to an elevator and went straight up to Deck 17. We had pictures taken, which came out terrible, and were then escorted into the Haven to meet Adrian, the concierge.

 

We ordered some drinks and he came over to us and the other couple to explain to us what the Haven was, what was included and that if we needed anything, to let him or his staff know and they would do their best to accommodate our requests. He also informed us that our rooms were ready for us if we wanted to drop off our bags and invited us to dine up in the Haven Restaurant or Margaritaville. DW decided that she wanted to check out the room as we were also told that our rooms were ready as well and drop off the bags we had brought on board with us.

 

Up next - Day One Continues and Jenn Loses Her Stuff….

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Day One Continues and Jenn Loses Her Stuff…

 

Thanks for the comments and sorry for the lack of pictures. I do have a bunch of pictures from the cruise of things Jenn and I did, but nothing really of the ship for the most part. I’m sorry for those of you who feel like this review isn’t good without pictures, but there will be some coming up.

 

As we are leaving the Haven, Jenn (I hate using DW and, to be honest, we’re both in the public eye a bunch anyway) has this giant smile on her face and I can see that her shoulders have slumped to the relaxed position finally. It was a good sight to see and it instantly put me in cruise mode. We walk over to the elevators and head down to deck 9. As I mentioned previously, we had been upgraded to an H7 through the bidding process but for Jenn she just assumed I had swapped cabins to another one for some reason. We made our way down the hallway towards the front of the ship where our suite awaited us. Jenn was still a little apprehensive about what I had did but I think she was finally beginning to trust me, which is good because after being married for almost 7 years and together for 10, I think it was about time she did.

 

9706 was our cabin number and it was at the end of the hallway on the starboard side of the ship or the right side. I put my key in the slot and it turned red after I pulled it out. I tried it again, and the same result.

 

“Are you sure this is our room? Did you not do something you were supposed to?”

 

“I see you’ve decided that after all these years you still don’t trust me.”

 

“Let me try.”

 

Jenn put her key in the door and sure enough, the lock lit green and clicked and we entered. All of the cruises that Jenn and I have been on, we’ve just had a standard balcony room and on occaision, we secured an AFT balcony on Freedom of the Seas which was also amazing. This was a first for both of us and we were both surprised when we walked into the living area of our front facing suite. I have to say, the suite was probably one of the nicest rooms I’ve stayed in on a cruise ship and I think it has spoiled us, as did the Haven. You walk into the room and there are a table and four chairs, already had some snacks on it too and would continue throughout the week. There was a couch, which I think folds out into a bed and a chair and table with TV. Nespresso machine and fridge were also there and we made good use of them as we are big water drinkers and had ordered a 12 pack of water for the cruise, which would definitely come in handy throughout the week on excursions and after long nights in the casino and Haven Bar.

 

Back to the room, on the right-hand side is an adjoining door to our neighbor’s cabin, who we would not see for the entire week but apparently did use it. To the left is the bedroom that has two nice sized closets, another TV and the front facing window which overlooks what I think was the crew outdoor area of the ship. It is a real king size bed, not two twins put together with the pad on top of it which is great because I tend to fall between the mattresses normally. There was plenty of storage space all throughout the cabin and we did not use all of it between the two of us. The lighting system is interesting with different levels and some blue floor mood lighting as well. The bathroom is great, with a nice size tub to soak in (no jets), a really nice size shower and dual sinks and separate water closet. I think this was what excited us the most, was the fact that the bathroom could fit more than one person comfortably and Jenn and I didn’t have the share a sink getting ready each night or morning. Now I’ve done a decent job describing the suite, let me put into words Jenn’s reaction as again, she’s never had anything but a balcony cabin:

 

“Oh my gosh!”

 

“Holy sh**”

 

“What the hell Gerald?”

 

“Oh my gosh!”

 

“This bathroom is amazing, I don’t have to share a sink with you!”

 

“Oh look, fancy shampoo and conditioner!”

 

“Holy sh**, the shower is a rainfall shower with multiple jets and a bench so I can actually shave my legs this cruise!

 

“Is that a Keurig? Oh my gosh, Nespresso machine. My coffee addiction will be okay!”

 

“How did you do this? I mean, how much is this costing us? Are we going to have to cancel Disney in November?”

 

“Oh my god, this bed is so comfortable. I mean, it’s not as good as ours at home, but this thing is amazing!”

 

There was a knock at the door and I told Jenn to go answer it as I was putting our cash, passports and some other documents into the safe. I could hear Jenn say hello and another man talking to her. I walk out of the bedroom and see our butler, Humbierto, talking with her. I quickly go back to the safe, where I put all of our cash and grabbed some cash for him to grease him up with the few requests that we had, such as distilled water which I had forgotten to call ahead for my CPAP, gummy bears, cookies, and sandwiches.

 

“My pleasure Mr. and Mrs. Gerald. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

 

Jenn and I had a butler on our honeymoon and it was the best experience ever. They were really helpful and took really good care of us. The phone was definitely an added plus for the honeymoon and I thought we would use it as he explained that we could call him anytime we needed anything from 8AM-8PM and after hours the on-call butler would respond to our needs. To be honest, I didn’t want to carry any phone, even my cell phone for this cruise, but I would lose that battle pretty quickly. Anyway, we thanked him and I handed him the “tip” since they are not part of the normal service charge package that everyone pays per day and he smiled and said, “Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Getrald! I look forward to serving you this week!”

 

As he was walking away, one of the luggage guys was arriving with three of our four bags that we had dropped at the porter. Ironically, we probably could have gotten by with two suitcases this week, but we had two carry-ons as well that we stored miscellaneous stuff in. We had the two carry-ons and one of the big suitcases so we decided to unpack those before heading up to lunch in the Haven dining room. With those bags unpacked and getting a little hungry, we decided to head up instead of waiting for the fourth bag, which I joked was probably in the naughty room because my wife had packed a hair contraption of some sort. Of course, as we are walking down the hall, we find out bag near the crew entrance with our butler saying, “I’m so sorry that this was delivered. I’ll get it down to your room right away.”

 

Back up to the Haven and I have to say, for the most part, while I’ve seen horrible comments about the elevators, we didn’t seem to have any major problems on our trip the whole week, even during the sea days. As we are walking in, we see other groups of people getting the talk about the Haven and we make our way up the stairs to the dining room, where we would meet the first crew member that we would come to love all cruise, Maria the Assistant Matire’D. All cruise, she was the most pleasant crew member we encountered all cruise. She even spent some time talking with us at some of the meals about her home and about our DD. We were seated by the window, which when looking at the port of Miami, gives you a wonderful view of the freight and container yard.

 

I ordered the Lobster Bisque and a Ceasar Salad with Salmon. Jenn ordered the Cobb Salad. There many different wait staff all week that served us in the Haven Dining room and they were all great. Jenn and I enjoy a good meal and tend to eat almost anything and try almost anything. There are only a few things that Jenn won’t eat and one or two that I won’t eat. For the rest of the review, I’ll rate my meals on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the best and the restaurants overall as well.

 

Lobster bisque - Maybe I’m spoiled because I eat this all the time at the Capital Grill and I find it to be one of the bst, but this one lacked the creaminess that I expect from a bisque. Rating - 3

 

Ceasar Salad w/Salmon - I did not get this actually. They thought I was ordering the Salmon entree, which was fine. My salmon came out cooked a little overcooked as I would have asked for it to be medium. But it was seasoned well and the vegetables and potatoes were nicely done as well. Rating - 3.5.

 

I had the espresso brownies and Jenn had some of them. I liked them, she’s picky about her sweets and thought they were bland. Rating 3.5

 

As we were finishing up lunch, they were making announcements for the muster drill and it was getting close to 3 PM. We made our way down to the lounge and grabbed our first of many cocktails before the muster drill. As we received our drinks, the announcements were made that all services would be shutting down and all crew needed to assemble. We made our way down to our muster station, which was O’Sheenans with our drinks in hand and grabbed a seat on deck 7. We had gotten there early enough so that we could sit and watch the atrium screen. As we sipped our drinks, muster drill carried on and most people, as normal did not pay attention. While most of us might have heard these announcements a few times in our lives, they are pretty important in the event the captain wants to sail close to an island and run the ship aground. Too soon?

 

Muster drill finished up and it was time for sail away. Jenn and I hadn’t really planned what we were going to do. Normally, we grab a few drinks and head back to the room to sit on the balcony and watch it. Here’s a pic of me and Jenn from the muster station for those of you itching for a picture:

 

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But this time, we decided to head up to the Haven sun deck (19) and watch from there. It was a great sail away and we made some new friends as we watched Miami head off in the distance. After sail away, we went back down to our suite and unpacked our final suitcase and decided to just sit on our tiny balcony and enjoy our bottle of champagne.

 

We had 7 PM reservations for Moderno tonight and were looking forward to eating there based on many of the reviews that we had read over the past few months. Jenn was super excited about actually having room to get ready unlike we normally have when we get ready together on a cruise. Once we were ready, we headed back up to The Haven Lounge for pre-dinner drinks and to see if we could catch some college football. Unfortunately, there was no football on, but we had drinks and we settled in on one of the couches and just relaxed. This would become a common theme for us throughout the week, cocktails and relaxing.

 

Off to Moderno we would head and we were seated by one of the windows on the side of the “area” where Moderno inhabits. Our waiter brought us some water and we ordered drinks and then headed up to the salad/appetizer bar. Neither Jenn or I would take any pictures of our food this trip, which is a bit normal for us unless it’s something we are truly inspired to take a picture of. Anyway, after a few minutes, the Gauchos started to come around with meat on a stick as DD calls it. I ate a little bit of everything and Jenn ended up eating about two lambs worth of lamb chops, which are her favorite. After a few rounds of meat, we felt we had enough in stomachs to make it through the rest of the evening ahead of us and turned over our cards to red to stop the never-ending line of meat coming towards us.

 

Overall, I thought Moderno was good. I think the meat quality was probably about the same that you would find in some of the larger chains in the US but not as good as Fogo De Chao or Chima. The salad bar has some nice selections of cheeses and meats and I thought the caviar couscous salad was really good. I thought the lamb chops and the top sirloin were seasoned well and cooked to the temperature that they said it was. I thought the pork and chicken were overdone and that the filet, while flavorful when told it was medium or medium rare, came more medium well. Jenn had the flan for dessert and I did not have any and instead had another Caipirinha. I’d give Moderno a 3.5 rating overall, just short of having a 4 if some of the meats were not as overdone as they were. I’d definitely go back though as the service was amazing and Jenn fell in love with the lamb chops there. We did use one of our six dining package credits on this meal as well but felt that the cover charge would have been worth it for the meal we had.

 

After dinner, we took a stroll on Deck 8 around the ship. It was humid out with a decent breeze. On our Breakaway cruise, we spent the majority of our time hanging out on Deck 8 with my mom and just enjoying the views and fresh air. Once we had walked off a little of dinner, we headed to the casino to walk around and see how the tables were and it was pretty empty, which surprised me a little bit from our Breakaway cruise where I could barely get near the craps tables.

 

It was probably around 10 PM or so at this point and Jenn just looked at me.

 

“This could be the second best vacation ever.”

 

“Second?”

 

“St. Lucia was the best as it was our honeymoon. I mean, that place was gorgeous. But right now, this is running a close second.”

 

“Nightcap?”

 

“Yeah, let’s go back up to the Haven and chill for a bit”

 

As would become a customary end of our night, we would go to the Haven lounge, order a nightcap and head up to the Haven sundeck and just relax in a lounge chair with other Havenites (is that a word?).

 

Up next: Day 2 at Sea, Jenn’s Beer Escapade, and Travel Duckies

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Day 2: At Sea, Jenn’s Beer Escapade and Travel Duckies?

 

With the clocks being pushed back an hour, our 9 hours of sleep turned into 10 hours, which as Jenn would say, was not enough. First shot at using the Nespresso machine, success. Grabbed my tiny cup of coffee and headed out to the balcony to do some reading and relaxing while letting Jenn sleep in a bit. Since my cup of coffee lasted about 3 sips, I made a second one, well, actually third. I used up all of the pods I think except for one so that Jenn could have one. It was nice relaxing on the small balcony that we had and to actually read something other than a technical blog or white paper. About 9 AM, Jenn sauntered out in a Haven robe and slippers with a cup of coffee.

 

“I take it you drank all the other ones and left me the decaf?”

 

“Sorry, they don’t make very big cups of coffee. I’ll let the butler know to put more regular ones instead of decaf.”

 

We sipped our coffee and watched the sea go by.

 

There is nothing more peaceful to me than being on a cruise ship with nothing around and the sound of the ship cutting through the sea. This would change on our first port day and more on this later.

 

We finally got our act together and headed up to the Haven Restaurant for breakfast. For those of you reading this for the Haven information, if I don’t cover something please feel free to ask. The breakfast menu is a set menu each morning but has enough interesting choices that you can eat something different each day. There is also a buffet area with assorted fruits, yogurts, meats, cheeses, and pastries. I did make an effort to eat a bit healthier than normal, meaning I ate melon along with my pastries and meat. Jenn had ordered the classic eggs with bacon and house potatoes, I had a western omelet with hash browns and rye toast. First thing brought to us was a french press of coffee which was really good, I think better than the coffee that we would get down at Starbucks. Breakfast was good. I enjoyed the pastries and meat/melon on the buffet and thought my omelet was done well. Jenn’s eggs were a bit underdone for over-well and they brought her a fresh set of eggs right away, which was nice. Over well shouldn’t have a runny yolk and this almost looked like they were over easy more than over well. The yogurt parfait was really good too, which I had after finishing my omelet. Hard to grade breakfast, but overall, no issues other than Jenn’s eggs. 3.5 out of 5.

 

Jenn and I have this thing that we always play bingo on the ship at least one day of the cruise. As we had the Meet and Greet at 12 in DBH and it was close to the bingo time, we decided to head down and give it shot. We’ve never won at bingo anytime on any ship and this would turn out to be the same deal. At this point, it was a little after 12 PM so we headed over to the DBH for the Meet and Greet.

 

Having grown out of drinking mass market brews and getting heavily into craft brews, DBH was one of the places I was looking forward to hitting up a few times during the cruise. From reading TheDougOut’s reviews, I was excited to try some of the beers that I had not already had and it looked like a cool place to hang out as well. Jenn and I made our way in, put on our name tags and talked with some people and some of the crew. It was great to meet some new people and enjoyed some of the beer that was being served. Jenn enjoyed one of them in particular and asked the bartender what it was. She just shrugged at Jenn and said, “I’m just pouring whatever he tells me to pour” and points to the other bartender. The other bartender was off on the other side of the bar, but one of the nice Meet and Greet folks told me one of the beers was Presidente, which my wife promptly ordered.

 

“Since when are you drinking beer?”

 

Jenn gives me that look, “I liked that one a bunch, not the Dogbird Foot one”

 

“That’s Dogfish Head 90 minute.”

 

“Whatever, I’m going to enjoy a cold beer.”

 

Please note that the last cold beer my wife enjoyed was after she had our daughter and we had returned home with her after 2 weeks in the NICU.

 

We talked with another couple for a few minutes and then headed to the slot pull with the group. Overall, I think we all broke about even, maybe a little less. I went 0-3 in my slot pulls and I think Jenn might have won $4. Our luck on the slots would be horrible for most of the cruise except one night. It was nice to meet some more people who we would see throughout the rest of the cruise and on an excursion as well.

 

As a fantasy and general football junkie, I had told Jenn that if she wanted to just go chill and take a nap this afternoon, I would not feel slighted in the least and I would be back during halftime of the 4 PM game so that we could get ready for the Captain’s Cocktail party. Jenn told me to have fun and she’d see me back at the room around 5:30 PM.

 

Off I went back to DBH to have a few more beers and watch some football. I talked with a few of the people who were also watching the games and before I knew it, I was about 8 beers deep in true TheDougOut fashion and it was time for me to head back to the room. I’m not sure who the other bartender at the DBH was that day, but he was about as charming as a rock. Either way, this was my last time I would be in the DBH on the rest of the cruise, mainly because of the Haven lounge and bar becoming my favorite hangout the rest of the cruise, but also because of the staff there.

 

As I made my way to the stairs and started my way back down the hallway to our suite, I could see Jenn in the distance at the end getting ready to get her room key out. Two things I surmised from this. The first was the Jenn did not get a nap. The second was that Jenn did not get a nap! My fears were proven true as I entered the room and Jenn was laying face down on the bed, giggling uncontrollably.

 

“So what did you do today?”

 

“I drank a beer or two.”

 

“What else did you drink?”

 

“Well, I snuck in and got another Presidente, then I ended up having a few Heineken's and I think I had a Bud Light as well before I came back here. ”

 

Normally, if we had DD with us, I know she’d never get like this, but since we were DD-free this week, I kinda knew it was coming, just not when it was going to hit both of us. Jenn just giggled some more and then started snoring. As anyone with children will know, you master the art of getting ready in a few minutes and being ready to go. It was about 5:30 at this point and I decided to just let her get a nap in now before the Captain’s Cocktail party. I jumped in the shower and got ready so I was out of her way when she woke up. Around 6:45, I gave Jenn a gentle nudge and handed her a glass of tea that I had our butler bring down for us and she awoke and asked what time it was. I told her she had about 25 minutes to get ready so we could meet the Captain and she sprang up and started her routine. Both of us have gotten ready in 15 minutes or less including shower, formal wear and such for work and or a wedding a few times in our lives so this was not much different except that Jenn was still feeling the effects of her overserving herself that afternoon. Either way, she was determined to meet the Captain and be on her best behavior and she came through like a champion in the getting ready department once again. A cup of coffee also help clear some of the cobwebs that she had and she was ready at 7:10 to rollout to the cocktail party.

 

Up to the Haven we went and on our way in grabbed a glass of wine. We walked into the Courtyard and said hello to some of our friends that we had made and started talking with them. Captain Niklas Persson was the master of the ship for this voyage and we waited while he was talking to another couple. Unfortunately, it was close to 7:30 when we finally got to talk with him which is the end of the party, but he actually stayed for a few minutes more and talked with Jenn and I. In past experiences of meeting the captain when I was younger, I remember the captains being much older, in the late 50s/early 60s. My father knew many of the ones that we sailed with when I was a kid and I had met many of them as well, both on the ship at parties and also off the ship as well. I have to say that Captain Persson was very charming and he talked with us for almost 10 minutes, about my father and his work with the cruise industry for 52 years as an engineer and port engineer later in his career. We talked about his family and their love of skiing back home in Europe and met his parents as well. Surprisingly, Jenn was just as charming and we appreciated him taking some extra time to talk with us.

 

We did not have dinner plans so we made our way up to the Haven dining room and were promptly seated. Here is our meal:

 

Jenn: Caesar salad, seared scallops on gnocchi romaine

Me: Slow Roasted Pork Belly, Prime Rib with baked potato and veggies

 

Jenn raved about her entree, saying it was some of the best-cooked scallops that she’s had in a long time.

 

My prime rib was really good and I’m guessing it came from Cagney’s, giving it a 4 out of 5. The Pork Belly was a bit cold in the center but was very tasty. 3 out of 5, would have been a 4 if it was cooked fully.

 

I don’t normally eat baked potatoes, but I did get it fully loaded. I had a few bites of it and kept working on the prime rib as it was a decent sized cut. In my concentration on making sure I got every last bit of beef, I had hardly noticed that Jenn had stolen the baked potato from my plate and was eating it.

 

While we are pretty decent wine drinkers, I did not drink too much on this trip except at dinner. I have to say that I really did enjoy the North to South Red Blend that is made for NCL. I felt it had a good balance and it was included by the glass on the beverage package. I had a few glasses with dinner this night and Jenn decided to take out some guests for dinner. Our TA, whom we are also friends with, had sent us travel duckies. She likes it when we post pictures on Facebook from the cruise, ports, vacation, etc. with the ducks and it works as a great promotional thing for her for her business. Anyway, the duckies got their time with us at dinner, which I think might have been a first for them in the Haven restaurant while we waited for dessert.

 

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Dessert for me was the chocolate cake (3.5 out of 5) and Jenn had some pistachio thingy, which she said was okay. I like the cake, but I’m not a huge chocolate guy, but Jenn managed to finish that off as well.

 

We headed downstairs to the lounge, grabbed two Old Fashions decided that we would call it a night to prepare for our first port day in Roatan. I had never been to Roatan before but had actually visited the mainland of Honduras when I was a kid on another cruise. Jenn had never been there either.

 

Up next: Day 3 at Roatan and What Jenn Wants for Christmas

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So glad you're back!!! Am enjoying your review and your style of writing!! :-)
Thanks. Hopefully I'll be able to do more this week. Work has been quite a trip right now and it has been hard to keep writing. Hopefully I'll get most of it done and posted.

 

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

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The flu has struck our household the past two weeks and while I Escaped unscaithed, little could be said of my DD and Jenn who ended up getting the worst of it. I've had to play nurse and chief cuddler for my two sick people. Alas, it has not given me a lot of free time lately to write as much as I have crammed in my head, however, the next installment will be along shortly and hopefully more will be coming sooner. Everyone is on the mend and the makers of Lysol have thanked me for my sizable investment in spray clans and cleaners.

 

Note to all those who think it's a joke: get a flu shot, it is what had saved me from getting what they got (as they had not gotten theirs yet).

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