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LIVE - Couple's Blog from Quantum - Feb. 20, 2015

curryshake

By curryshake,
in Royal Caribbean International

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curryshake

curryshake

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Day 8 - At Sea

 

We're on our way back and are even with the south of Florida. The seas have been extremely calm and we are moving at over 23 knots.

 

Yesterday was a relaxing time at Labadee, Haiti. DH and I hadn't really planned on spending much time on the island, not having seen or read about anything in port that really caught our interest, but we did end up staying for two or three hours in Columbus Cove. We were able to make our way there without having to walk through the vending areas so many people have written about. There were many more shade trees than I had expected, and we soon had a couple of beach chairs beneath one that was near the water.

 

The water was fairly cool, but felt good in the bright tropical sun that was hot even in the morning hours. The beach in this area has soft sand and many people were snorkeling or floating on rafts. As more cruisers filed in, a local band began to play. We made use of the nearby bars, restrooms, and eventually dining facilities. The food was nothing great - just some mediocre hamburgers, hot dogs, bar-b-que with no sauce, sides, and desserts, but there's something fun and satisfying about eating a burger by the beach with a rum and Coke.

 

We stopped to check out the ziplining area on our way back to Quantum. It looked like fun, but we were more in the mood for relaxation.

 

Back on the ship, we sat in 270 and took in the lovely view of the island and spent a while talking to a couple that we've enjoyed speaking with several times on this trip. Haiti really is a stunningly beautiful island and Labadee is a fun place. We noticed that it was unusually warm in 270, a place that I always find to be chilly (and I've heard other women say the same), but we didn't think much of it. We then made our way to the Music Hall and played pool for a while. We could hear one of the crew members leading a game of bingo downstairs. The guy was hilarious and we laughed a lot at his antics.

 

We had 6:30 dinner reservations at the Chef's Table. Just before we left our room, the captain made an announcement. For the record, a captain should probably never start an announcement with the words, "ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid I have some bad news," especially when the ship is out at sea. It turns out that the ventilation system for the galley that services the four complimentary restaurants was out of order and they had to cancel all reservations for these venues until it could be repaired. He expressed the hope that they would be open again by 8:30. Wow. Our guess was that this was connected to the warmth we felt in 270 earlier in the day - it's aft along with all of those restaurants.

 

Thankfully, the Chef's Table is in Chops and wasn't affected. We made our way to dinner past all the cruisers who were unhappily trudging up to Windjammer for dinner. The Chef's Table is in a separate room inside Chops, and we were seated at the lovely table with seven other couples. It sounds a little insensitive to say now, but after a glass of champagne there was something of a jovial air in the room regarding our ability to eat our planned dinner. Our table mates reported having seen people rushing away from Windjammer with piles of hoarded food. At this point, the captain came on again and announced free drinks at all of the bars for all passengers. Someone told us that a cheer went up outside the restaurant and all over the ship. We joked about barricading the door to our dining room in the event of an uprising by angry, drunk, hungry cruisers with pitchforks and torches. I did leave at one point to use the restroom, and the Schooners bar was more than overflowing. I heard some cruisers say this morning that they replaced their dinners with cocktails. I'm sure it was an evening that won't soon be forgotten. The restaurants were all back on line by 9:00. We heard a rumor that they also changed all their menus because of complaints they've had about food, but I find that difficult to believe and haven't been able to confirm it.

 

Dinner at the Chef's Table was fun and delicious. Our dining companions were all good conversationalists with excellent senses of humor. Our host for the evening was the sommelier who is from Serbia. He shared a lot of interesting information about the wines he had paired with each course. One word of caution if you plan to attend this meal - the wine servings were quite large (3-4 ounces, as opposed to the more standard 2 ounces), so be sure to pace yourself or leave some of your wine unfinished. Everyone at the dinner did well with this aspect of the meal. The food portions were also rather large for having so many courses. Everyone expressed concern about not having enough room left toward the end, but the dishes were so good that it was difficult not to finish them. In all, there were six courses, plus an added amuse-bouche as a gift from the chef - something that's pretty typical for such meals. I will upload a photo of the menu soon. All of the dishes were quite good, but my favorites were the ravioli, the beef tenderloin, and the chocolate desserts. There were multiple rounds of applause when the chef visited us toward the end of the meal, and again for our sommelier. I highly recommend the experience to anyone who can get reservations.

 

This morning we had breakfast at American Icon for the first time. It took a while to be seated (it was around 8:30) and service was fairly slow, but it was the best breakfast we've had on the ship. And yes, they had eggs benedict on the menu, but we didn't have them so I can't comment on how good they are.

 

DH is making reservations for us to go to a Caymus wine tasting later today at Vintages, provided the wines they'll be providing aren't all ones we're had already. If that turns out to be the case some of our dinner companions last night told us that Michael's offers wonderful flights of a variety of liquors and that the bartender there was quite helpful in making the experience an enjoyable one.

 

Also this afternoon, we plan on attending a talk that the captain is giving in 270 entitled Secrets of Ship Navigation. Then this evening we have reservations for Sonic Odyssey. All in all, the activities on the return trip seem more appealing to us than the ones on the way to the Caribbean, but we have not had any shortage of things to do or ways to relax on this vacation.

Edited by curryshake
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curryshake

curryshake

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DH and I have been talking, and we've decided to open our own cruise line that will be geared toward geeks like ourselves. All the shopping venues will be overhauled to sell useful items, such as comic books, animation cels, and action figures. Instead of formal nights, there will be cosplay nights with various themes. The crew will all don Star Trek uniforms, with the exception of security who will wear superhero costumes. And speed will be reported in terms of warp units rather than knots. Also, there will be a Mos Eisley cantina and a Restaurant at the End of the Universe that serves steak.

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Host Faith

Host Faith

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DH and I have been talking, and we've decided to open our own cruise line that will be geared toward geeks like ourselves. All the shopping venues will be overhauled to sell useful items, such as comic books, animation cels, and action figures. Instead of formal nights, there will be cosplay nights with various themes. The crew will all don Star Trek uniforms, with the exception of security who will wear superhero costumes. And speed will be reported in terms of warp units rather than knots. Also, there will be a Mos Eisley cantina and a Restaurant at the End of the Universe that serves steak.

 

LOL! My husband would LOVE that! Sign us up! :):p

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DM_KidAtHeart

DM_KidAtHeart

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DH and I have been talking, and we've decided to open our own cruise line that will be geared toward geeks like ourselves. All the shopping venues will be overhauled to sell useful items, such as comic books, animation cels, and action figures. Instead of formal nights, there will be cosplay nights with various themes. The crew will all don Star Trek uniforms, with the exception of security who will wear superhero costumes. And speed will be reported in terms of warp units rather than knots. Also, there will be a Mos Eisley cantina and a Restaurant at the End of the Universe that serves steak.

 

 

Love it!!!!

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curryshake

curryshake

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Earlier this morning, I could feel a palpable shift in the collective conscience of the passengers as everyone simultaneously realized that we are rapidly returning to Jack Frost's domain. It seems as though everyone on the ship is outside on a chair or in a pool, soaking in the rays of warmth while they still can. There is a veil of white haze stretching across our path to the north. I have named it the "wall of cold" and can't help but imagine that the sun will vanish and temperatures will plummet when we hit that barrier.

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ftn807

ftn807

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We're waiting in Two70 for Captain Henrik Loft Sorensen to start his talk, 'The Secrets of Dealing with Passengers'. Wait, that's tomorrow. Today it's 'The Secrets of Ship Navigation '. I'm fairly sure most of the people think he's going to talk about finding your way around the ship, as I've heard a lot of whispered talk about 'finally finding out what this "starboard" thing is all about', and the guy we've repeatedly seen wandering around the passageways looking rather confused at all hours of the day seemed ebullient, muttering 'maybe I'll finally find my stateroom' over and over.

 

50d146e283fda8cc8d12c1a55ffa5fc8.jpg

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cruiselife4me

cruiselife4me

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We're enjoying a nice lunch in the Windjammer at the moment. The turkey paninis were yummy. DW is hunting down some cookies for us now. 'Best oatmeal cookies in the universe', says she. And I agree. We also felt obliged to try the lemon slice and chocolate sensation desserts, as they were looking neglected. You can't say we're not kind people.

 

YOU ARE SO KIND....lmao! Great review you two. Loving every minute from subzero Michigan.

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curryshake

curryshake

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At the trivia game there was a team of young chemical engineers who didn't know that a substance made up of only one kind of atom is an element. Then we saw a mom berating her young son because he only made one piece of art while he was in the children's area, "this is UNACCEPTABLE!" I've lost all faith in humanity.

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