Regal Review 11/20/16 Including Ultimate Ship Tour

[CRLess]

I tried to keep my “Live From” thread up to date, but got a little busy toward the end of the cruise. Now that we are back to normal at home, I thought I would start a new thread with my final thoughts as well as document our experience on The Ultimate Ship’s Tour (TUST as the staff call it) so the TUST review didn’t get lost in that thread. Some of this may be repetition from my “Live”, but I figured that a review is often more helpful than a “Live” thread, especially with the Caribbean season being so young (we were on voyage 2 of the season I think) and with so many new Princess cruisers joining the fold on Cruise Critic (CC). I will also throw in a few “Pro Tips” if I think they will help the first-time Princess cruiser.

 

We live less than an hour from the port and arrived around 10:45 or so. We looped around the entrance to Pier 2 and were directed to the luggage drop-off area. The stevedores were all busy, so I unloaded our two bags and handed them off to the closest one. To get into the parking garage, you have to get into the taxi line loading departing cruisers, since they block all exit lanes. Only after they get out of the way, can you head out to loop back into the parking garage.

 

Pro Tip: If you drive to the port, don’t necessarily get in the shortest taxi line to exit the luggage drop off area….assess the flow and get right behind the line that is moving. We have waited over 20 minutes in the past trying to get out of the parking garage waiting for a taxi to get out of the way.

 

Once you get your parking garage ticket, you head up the ramp to level two to begin the search for an open space. The parking gods were smiling upon us and we found a space at the top of the ramp, about 10 spaces from the elevator…score!

Once we got down to the main level, we were directed to the back of the Preferred Boarding line, which by then was pretty long. I would describe it as mass chaos as most people didn’t realize that there were two lines (Preferred and General boarding), and the Princess reps on the ground weren’t the most helpful, especially considering that there wasn’t “ropes” to differentiate the two lines. I grabbed one of the reps walking by and asked him for our Health Questionnaires so we could fill them out while we were waiting for the doors to open, and he came back shortly with them. The doors finally opened around 11:15 or so and we were through security in short order. We were directed to an unoccupied agent and had our cruise cards within minutes, and were up in the Elite/Suite boarding lounge by 11:25. Boarding started just before 11:45. All in all, the process was very efficient, but it seemed that we were in line outside of the terminal longer than I remember. I cannot speak to how long it took others to board, but there were two gangways open and it seemed as though everything was flowing normally.

 

Pro Tip: If you want to board as soon as possible, get to the port early and get in line. Boarding usually begins around 11:45 or so, with Elites/Suites first on one gangway, and handicapped on the second gangway. After that, it’s the preferreds and general boarding. First time Princess cruisers can be aboard before noon if they are there early enough.

 

We were able to go to our cabins immediately upon boarding, contrary to what has been said on the boards. We were in cabin M211, a mini-suite. We dropped our backpacks and carry-on off and went straight up to the Sanctuary to reserve chairs. Policy from ship to ship in the Princess fleet seems to vary, but we were able to reserve full day chairs for both sea days as well as Grand Cayman day. I was mistaken on the pricing in my “Live” thread, the seats were $40/day per person.

 

Pro Tip: Don’t dilly-dally going up to the Sanctuary if having a seat there is important to you. It is always our second stop, after dropping our carry-ons off in the cabin.

 

After taking care of this, we headed downstairs to deal with our Specialty dining arrangements for the week. We were traveling with a pretty large group of friends, so getting everything arranged was no easy task. However, Federico (the Maitre d’) and his staff handle everything perfectly. We made reservations for Sabatini’s for 10 on night 1, Winemaker’s Dinner for 12 on Montego Bay night, and Crown Grill for 15 on the last sea day (Saturday night). After all of that, I was able to put our names in for TUST. Once we had all of that taken care of, we headed over to Alfredo’s for our lunch.

 

Pro Tip: Make your specialty dining arrangements and other special requests (TUST) a HIGH priority upon boarding. Call the DINE line ASAP or show up in person at the venues.

 

Pro Tip: If you are on the Royal or the Regal, have embarkation day lunch at Alfredo’s. It will be the least busy day for lunch there. After that, word spreads, and there is a line every day to eat.

 

Our luggage was in our cabin by 2:15, so we spent some time after lunch getting organized. Muster Drill was at 3:15, so we had to finish getting upacked by then to make sure we were prepared for sailaway once the drill was done. Our Muster Station was on Deck 7 outside one of the shops, with nowhere to sit, so just be forewarned if you are in the “200” level cabins.

 

Pro Tip: When the alarms sound for Muster Drill, take your time going to your Muster Station. They tend to load the Muster station with first in last out (FILO). If you show up later, you get Last in First Out (LIFO). For the Muster Drill, this is a good rule of thumb. If it was a real emergency, I would be down there as fast as I could!

 

Our group had pre-arranged to all meet at the Outrigger Bar in the Horizon Terrace (deck 16) for Sailaway. We had scheduled a “wave” via the webcam site and were the focus of attention of the webcam.

 

Pro Tip: On the Royal and Regal, the Horizon Terrace is a little-know area beyond the buffets that is sheltered from the sun, with awesome seating, and a bar that is not very busy. We ate breakfast out here most days, and also met here to play board/card games.

 

Dinner tonight was in Sabatini’s. Dining here is our tradition on the first night of the cruise (as is Crown Grill on the last night) since we do not care for the menus in the MDR (Welcome Aboard and Landfall dinners). Service tonight was good, but not standout. We both had the veal chop and were not overly impressed as we have been in the past. Both of us found our chops to be tougher than in the past, although the taste was delicious.

 

We skipped the Welcome Aboard Showtime starring Chris Moodie, The Regal Princess Singers and Dancers, and Comedian Doug Funk and called it an early night.

 

That’s all I have time for tonight. Hope to cover several more days tomorrow and be done by the end of the week. Things I will cover include TUTS, why we missed our port call in Montego Bay, an awesome private excursion in Cozumel, and other surprises we encountered along the way. In addition, our booking included the All-Inclusive Beverage Package (AIBP). so I will share our experiences with that. Also, I will do my best to answer any questions as they come along.

Edited November 30, 2016 by CRLess

[DENNICH]

 

Pro Tip: If you want to board as soon as possible, get to the port early and get in line. Boarding usually begins around 11:45 or so, with Elites/Suites first on one gangway, and handicapped on the second gangway. After that, it’s the preferreds and general boarding. First time Princess cruisers can be aboard before noon if they are there early enough.

 

.

 

Thanks so much for the review, Chris. What time did you get to the port? Did you manage to get on the Regal before noon then? I had been planning to go later to the port at around 1:00 PM for my Royal sailing to avoid the lines, but I may reconsider now. Thanks for any advice that you can give.

 

Denise

[riclop]

thanks for the review.

[mthomp5]

We were able to go to our cabins immediately upon boarding, contrary to what has been said on the boards. We were in cabin M211, a mini-suite.

 

Which elevators did you use to get to your cabin? We were on the same sailing and arrived at the port at 10:30am and were in the preferred line. When we got on board, a crew member told us that we could drop our bags in our room. But when we entered the mid ship elevators, crew members operating the elevators would not allow us to stop on the Riviera deck. They were only going to the Lido deck. We eventually ran into the assistant cruise director and she told us to take the forward elevators to go up to our rooms. We were able to do this and wished we had figured this out sooner so we didn't have to drag our carryon around with us.

 

We sailed on the Regal last year and encountered the same thing with not allowing us access to our floor until 1pm.

 

So I'm wondering if using elevators other than the mid ship elevators is the way to go.

[easyboy]

Those were nice tips. Will be following along your review.

[caribill]

What time did you get to the port?

 

In the post:

 

We live less than an hour from the port and arrived around 10:45 or so.

[Lucky TGO]

Thank you for all the tips. Nice to know.

Tony

[Hoosier-Cruiser]

We'll be sailing on the Regal for the first time in March. Using your review to get more excited (if that is even possible) for the trip. Thanks for the tips so far.

[Nashna]

We are sailing on the Regal in March and are looking for any information that will enhance our cruise experience. We sailed on Celebrity's Summit to Bermuda in August and it was almost impossible to get a lounge chair in the shade...without becoming a chair hog. To avoid our Summit experience, we are thinking of booking sea days in the Sanctuary. We were planning on booking a day or two when we first boarded. Then, making the decision to book the Sanctuary on a day to day basis. Is it possible to book the Sanctuary the morning of the day we wish to book? Did you witness anyone doing this? I have also read on CC that 1/2 day passes are available for $20.00. Did you witness anyone doing that?

 

Thank you for taking the time to write your Regal report. It is very much appreciated.

[windsurferfirst]

Thanks so much for the review, Chris. What time did you get to the port? Did you manage to get on the Regal before noon then? I had been planning to go later to the port at around 1:00 PM for my Royal sailing to avoid the lines, but I may reconsider now. Thanks for any advice that you can give.

 

Denise

 

Did you read the review? the answer to your questions are in the review.

[mybichon]

We were just off the Regal on Nov. 20th. One of the highlights of our cruise was the Winemaker's dinner. I would highly recommend it. There were six of us in a private area of the dining room. It was a special meal prepared by the chef with a different wine served with each course. The wines were unlimited throughout the meal. We had the head waiter as well as two assistants taking care of us. We also got to meet the chef. At $40 per person it was well worth it. As a side note we were very disappointed with our meal at Sabatini's but the food at the Crown Grill was excellent.

[CRLess]

Which elevators did you use to get to your cabin? We were on the same sailing and arrived at the port at 10:30am and were in the preferred line. When we got on board, a crew member told us that we could drop our bags in our room. But when we entered the mid ship elevators, crew members operating the elevators would not allow us to stop on the Riviera deck. They were only going to the Lido deck. We eventually ran into the assistant cruise director and she told us to take the forward elevators to go up to our rooms. We were able to do this and wished we had figured this out sooner so we didn't have to drag our carryon around with us.

 

We sailed on the Regal last year and encountered the same thing with not allowing us access to our floor until 1pm.

 

So I'm wondering if using elevators other than the mid ship elevators is the way to go.

 

We used the forward elevators almost exclusively since our room was forward of them.

[CRLess]

We were just off the Regal on Nov. 20th. One of the highlights of our cruise was the Winemaker's dinner. I would highly recommend it. There were six of us in a private area of the dining room. It was a special meal prepared by the chef with a different wine served with each course. The wines were unlimited throughout the meal. We had the head waiter as well as two assistants taking care of us. We also got to meet the chef. At $40 per person it was well worth it. As a side note we were very disappointed with our meal at Sabatini's but the food at the Crown Grill was excellent.

 

I will include a review of the Winemaker's Dinner as part of my future posts. This was the third time we have attended.

[mthomp5]

We used the forward elevators almost exclusively since our room was forward of them.

 

Thanks for the tip! I think that must be the way to go to get to your room early on embarkation day! Made a mental note for future sailings!

 

Can't wait to read your review on the Winemaker's Dinner!

[big al]

Our group had pre-arranged to all meet at the Outrigger Bar in the Horizon Terrace (deck 16) for Sailaway. We had scheduled a “wave” via the webcam site and were the focus of attention of the webcam.

 

 

Hi CRLess..great review so far! I will on the Regal 1/8/17 and have planned a Sailaway party in the Outriggers bar after the Muster drill..I was there last year on our Regal cruise and I thought it was very nice...how did your Sailaway party go there?

 

Big Al

[CRLess]

Hi CRLess..great review so far! I will on the Regal 1/8/17 and have planned a Sailaway party in the Outriggers bar after the Muster drill..I was there last year on our Regal cruise and I thought it was very nice...how did your Sailaway party go there?

 

Big Al

 

Thanks...I hope to get a big chunk of the review done tonight. Outrigger is a good place to have sailaway since not many people know it's back there. Crowds were not an issue. The only thing I didn't like about sailaway back there is you cannot hear the horn playing the Love Boat theme. The horn is located way up front on the ship, so the sound you hear back in Outriggers is very muted.

[big al]

Thanks...I hope to get a big chunk of the review done tonight. Outrigger is a good place to have sailaway since not many people know it's back there. Crowds were not an issue. The only thing I didn't like about sailaway back there is you cannot hear the horn playing the Love Boat theme. The horn is located way up front on the ship, so the sound you hear back in Outriggers is very muted.

 

I agree, lol..I love to hear the Love Boat theme,too...looking forward to the rest of your review!!

 

Big Al

[gotta cruise again]

We had a CC sailaway on Regal on the port side, under the seawitch. Everyone just brought their own drink...went to a bar before/after. Anyway, we too were easily found by the 'wave cam' along with the side benefit of getting to hear the horn's Love Boat rendition.

 

DH did not know about the horn and he was thrilled--got tears in his eyes!!

 

When we're onboard Feb 2017, I think we'll go back up there again...even if just the two of us as it was a pretty good location.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review and tips!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Great review. Can't wait to hear why you missed the Port call at Montego Bay. I was on the Oasis of the Seas the same week you were on the Regal (you were in Cozumel the same lovely day we were ) and the day we called at Falmouth, Jamaica was very windy and we watched the Captain back the Oasis in to our berth very slowly & carefully!

 

 

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Edited November 30, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[CRLess]

When we originally booked this cruise it was under the Sip and Sail promotion, so both of us had the All-Inclusive Beverage Package (AIBP). I would say that I got my money’s worth on this cruise, but the jury is still out as to whether DW did. I’m guessing some days it paid for itself for her and others it did not. All in all, I think it was worth it for me, and would do it again. No drink that we encountered exceeded the $10 threshold. We had martinis in Crooners almost every night, 24K margaritas by the pool, and a few Hendrick’s and tonics each night.

 

Pro Tip: I am a big wine drinker and like my reds with dinner every night. None of the “by the glass” wines on the dining room menu appealed to me, so I ordered a bottle every night. With the AIBP, you are given a 40% discount on any bottle of wine under $100. When you take that savings into account, the package pays for itself (unless of course, you bring your own wine aboard and pay the corkage).

 

We were up rather early on Day 2, so we got dressed and went for a 2 mile walk up on deck 18. There were two Holland America ships accompanying us, as their private island (Half Moon Cay) is right next to Princess Cays (well, within a few miles). One of the features we really love about the Royal/Regal is the walking/jogging track on deck 18. On the Gem class of ships we use the promenade deck, but duck inside by the Princess Theater and then back out on the other side to avoid the steps up to the bow. On the Royal/Regal, there are no detours needed to get a nice walk in to burn off the prior day’s calories. The walking lane and the jogging lane are clearly marked along with arrows pointing the proper direction, so there is little confusion….little, as in most people get it. There are still a few “scofflaws” that either walk the wrong direction, or stroll 4 wide so nobody can get by. 7 laps around is a mile.

 

Pro Tip: The track seemed less busy between 7 and 8 AM, so go early to beat the crowds. This struck me as contrarian to what I would have thought.

 

After exercise, we grabbed breakfast in the Horizon Court. We typically only use the buffet on a ship to grab a quick breakfast. The buffet on the Regal (and Royal) is nothing short of spectacular in terms a variety and efficiency. The choices at breakfast are simply staggering. The usual items you would expect at breakfast are always available, but many things change on a daily basis. As an example, every day there is the usual breakfast sausage and one other sausage, ranging from Polish to Italian to Chorizo to Andouille to English Bangers. On the last sea day, there was one half of one buffet line dedicated to everything chocolate…waffles, pastries, pancakes, even oatmeal! The Bistro portion of the buffet tends to be the lighter items, although it also has the usual suspects. Items in this section for breakfast include a daily quiche, a daily frittata, and egg sandwiches among other things. Hands down, the Regal/Royal have what I consider to be the best buffet at sea.

 

Pro Tip: Before you commit to anything for breakfast at the buffet, stroll through every line and then grab a plate. On most mornings, I ordered an omelet, and then used the plate it came on to add my sides.

 

Our goal at Princess Cays was simple today…go ashore and try out the Food Trucks. We have been to Princess Cays more times than I want to count. Within the last year or so, they have added food trucks to the food options on the island, rather than the usual BBQ options at the buffet. When we were here in the Spring on the Emerald, we went ashore for the same reason, but the food trucks never opened. There are three food trucks (OK, they are really modified Polaris ATVs) to the right side of the bridge over the harbor, and either one or two to the left. The ones on the left were hot dogs and sausages, and the ones on the right were street tacos, jerk chicken and wraps. I only tried the food on the right side. The street taco was the best, followed by the jerk chicken, and the wraps. In reality, the wraps were soggy and not good at all. The jerk chicken was only semi-authentic, but that was OK because I was going to get the real deal in two days in Montego Bay (or so I thought….). Tacos are hard to screw up so they were good.

 

We walked around both sides of the bridge and had several cocktails, including the requisite Kalik (the official beer of the Bahamas) and then headed back to the ship. There were signs at all bars and carts that served drinks that indicated that the government of the Bahamas was imposing a 7.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) on all purchases. I posted this on my Live thread, but it appears that if you have the AIBP, it did not apply since we had no surcharges on our bill from Princess Cays. As a small editorial comment, I spoke with one of the locals on Princess Cays, and Princess is down to about 6 visits a month from the fleet cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale. Last year, nearly every itinerary short of the Panama Canal cruises stopped here. I wonder if they are sending a message to the government of the Bahamas by limiting port calls here…or has Carnival Corp tried to capture more revenue by using Amber Cove on the Eastern itineraries and Costa Maya on the Western ones? I suspect it may be a combination of both.

 

Pro Tip: The right side of the bridge is the least crowded side of the complex. You will have the easiest time getting a lounge chair on this side of the complex, although most of the shops and activities are on the left side of the bridge.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon around the Retreat Pool reading our books and sipping cocktails. We met our group for pre-dinner cocktails at Crooners and then had dinner in the Concerto Dining Room. After dinner we attended the show in the Princess Theater; Award Winning Comedian and Improvisor Doug Funk. We love attending the comedian shows on Princess, especially those on the Gem Class ships that are held in Explorers Lounge. This show however, left a lot to be desired. We actually walked out after 15-20 minutes…and we weren’t the only ones. In all my years of cruising with Princess, this was the worst comedy show we ever saw. I made note of this in my post-cruise survey.

[CRLess]

Great review. Can't wait to hear why you missed the Port call at Montego Bay. I was on the Oasis of the Seas the same week you were on the Regal (you were in Cozumel the same lovely day we were ) and the day we called at Falmouth, Jamaica was very windy and we watched the Captain back the Oasis in to our berth very slowly & carefully!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I will include that in the TUST portion of the review, as Capt Perrin spent about 20 minutes explaining that to us while we were on the bridge. When you hear his explanation, it makes total sense.

[ILCruzr]

Thanks for you review! I am sailing on the Regal in 10 days! And I cannot wait. This is my first Princess cruise, so I am learning all about what princess has to offer.

 

I have heard about the buffet and having sailed on Carnival and Royal, the buffet is nothing special. So, I am excited to hear how awesome the buffet on the Regal is. What items do they serve at lunch and dinner? I am really excited to try alfredos.

 

Looking forward to seeing more of your review!

[CRLess]

We (meaning DW) slept in a little later this morning, so I went up to deck 18 to get my walk in while she kept counting sheep. Today was our first sea day so we had a full day in the Sanctuary booked. After my solo walk, I went downstairs to find DW stirring. We enjoyed our daily buffet breakfast in our little private enclave known as the Horizon Terrace, which still has not been discovered by most. In the morning, the Outrigger Bar serves a wide variety of Bloody Mary’s, some of which I would have never dreamed up…I neglected to take a picture of the Bloody Mary menu, but now regret it. Some of them included whiskeys and scotches. By day, they also have a specialty margarita menu.

 

Pro Tip: The Horizon Terrace is located on Deck 16 aft of the Horizon Court. You need to go through two sets of automatic doors to get there but it is worth it. It was never crowded during our cruise, and we never had a problem finding a table to eat our breakfast al fresco!

 

We literally spent the entire day up in our chairs in the Sanctuary, although I had to depart for an hour or so to attend the Super Tuscan Wine Tasting at 11:30 AM in the Allegro Dining Room. Maitre d’ Federico was the host along with his Asst MD and a Head Waiter. We were served a welcome Prosecco while we waited for everyone to assemble, which I found to be quite smooth (and I am not a fan of bubbles). Our first course was a smoked duck breast served with an Ammiraglia Syrah (couldn’t find US pricing on it). It was a great pairing, but the wine was not a favorite. The second course was a chicken and polenta served with an Il Borro ($45 on Wine Search). Third course was a mini lasagna served with a Guado al Tasso Bolgheri ($95 at Total Wine) The fourth course was a beef tenderloin slice served with a Luce Della Vite Toscana, one of my favorite wines that Princess serves ($95 at Total Wine). The fifth and final course was a balsamic glazed lamb lollipop paired with a Antinori Solaia ($250 at Total Wine). The lamb chop and the wine are both huge winners in my book. The lamb was “melt in your mouth” and the wine was as smooth as any I have had. For the $40/pp Princess charges for this, I found it to be a great value, especially if you are a foodie/wine guy like I am.

 

Pro Tip: On the Regal/Royal, they offer three wine tasting opportunities…the Grapevine wine tasting ($9.50/pp but free if Elite), the Maitre d’s Wine Tasting ($25) and the Super Tuscan ($40). The Super Tuscan is the only one with quality food pairings. The others just have crackers and cheese, although there are some good wines served at the MD’s tasting. For what you get (wines and Appies) the Super Tuscan is the best value in my opinion.

 

After the Super Tuscan Tasting, I headed back up to our little private piece of paradise…the Sanctuary. We alternated between cocktails, napping, reading, napping, tea time, cocktails and napping. On a funny note, one of my traveling companions that also attend the wine tasting was in the Sanctuary. He and I were telling our brides about the wine tasting and got “shushed” by one of the Serenity Stewards for being too loud…and we were only talking at normal conversation level! We both laughed it off, but retreated to our chairs like scolded kids.

 

Tonight was the first formal night, so we headed back to the cabin to cool down and get ready. As was our norm, I made a few trips up to the Mermaid’s Tail bar to grab a glass of chardonnay for DW and a Hendricks for me. On a side note, this was the first cruise since we achieved Elite status that I didn’t use our complimentary mini bar set up. I ended up giving what we didn’t use to our friends that were doing a B2B….I didn’t need a coffee card, or anything else I could have traded it in for. It was nice having a cabin so close to a bar (a short walk down the hall, and up one flight of stairs, out the doors and voila…a bar!) when we were having “Happy Hour” in our room. As I was returning from one of my trips to the Mermaid’s Tail, a room service guy was following me with canapés, right to our room. Now we had cocktails and canapés as we got ready!

 

We met our group at Crooners for martinis and then had dinner at our same tables in the Concerto Dining Room. I ordered a bottle of Pine Ridge Cabernet for the table (40% off!) which a few of us red drinkers enjoyed. Everyone at the table, except for me, ordered the Tournedos of Beef as their main course. I opted for the lamb. The show tonight was Bravo, one of three production shows offered this week, but we opted to skip it (not production show people) and headed back up to Crooners for a nightcap. After a few drinks, we called it a night to get an early start on our day in Montego Bay (or so we thought!).

[CRLess]

I was up at the crack of 6 AM this morning, partially due to being north of 50, but moreso due to it being well past my normal wake-up time. I quietly made my way out onto the balcony to see where we were, to discover we were already on our approach into Montego Bay. The pilot boat had already dropped off the harbor pilot, and was slowly idling just off our starboard side. I figured it was a great opportunity to see how the Jamaican Port Authority would welcome a new ship on its first ever port call to their harbor…not just the first port call, but the largest cruise ship to EVER stop there. The wind was howling, but I never thought it would matter, since at the end of the long channel was a semi-protected harbor. I went back inside to change into my walking clothes and then proceeded up to deck 18 to begin my walk. As I got up there, I noticed that the ship made a U-Turn and the Pilot Boat had pulled alongside. We were headed back out to sea. About 15 minutes later, Captain Perrin came over the PA to let us know that we would be missing Montego Bay due to unsafe conditions. At first I was bummed that there would be no jerk chicken in my future….but then I remembered it was Jamaica, a country that Princess dropped a few years back for many reasons, the least of which was the constant harassment of the locals to buy ganja... Having been to Jamaica many times, it is not exactly my favorite place on earth…I just wanted to go to Scotchies and have some jerk food.

 

After I finished my walk, I headed back to the cabin to check in on DW. She was still sleeping, so I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the balcony and filmed the seas. Captain Perrin had pointed the ship down sea to keep us comfortable, but it was still a sight to see. I fish offshore a lot here in South FL, so know sea conditions. Today was one of those “Deadliest Catch kind of days, and as George Costanza once said “The seas were angry that day my friend, like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli”.

 

 

As it turns out, our missed port stop was a blessing in disguise for us. DW woke up not feeling well and ultimately never left the cabin until dinner time. Being the sympathetic husband that I am, I too stayed in the cabin and caught up on some old Love Boat episodes, and took a few naps of my own. Watching the Love Boat is a lot like watching any show from the 70’s…the plot is somewhat predictable, yet you can’t stop watching. Kind of like... did you ever see the episode of Gilligan’s Island where they almost got off the island but (insert name here) screwed up and they missed their chance? Or, did you ever see the episode of Three’s Company where there was a huge misunderstanding and (insert name here) thought they were the object of (insert name here)’s affection? Well, in the few episodes I watched today, Captain Stubing fell in love (wow, what a surprise), Gopher and Doc were competing for a woman’s attention, and Isaac was the voice of reason and philosophical with a few passengers. Oh, those were the days of cruising…

Tonight was our Winemaker’s Dinner. We had booked this for 12 people to celebrate our friends (Bernie and Kat) 50th Anniversary and also a 35th Anniversary of other friends (Joe and Pat). We were instructed to meet at 6:45 in the International Café, and once everyone was assembled, we were escorted into the “Wine Cellar” in the Symphony Dining Room. We were greeted by our staff for the night, and provided with a “welcome” cocktail that consisted of watermelon syrup, apple vodka, and prosecco.

 

https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/120108720578/full/122392395457

 

It was sweet, yet quite tasty.

The first course (a bonus course) was an ahi tuna poke with a caviar topping paired with our white wine for the night, an Anthilia Donnafugata.

 

https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/120108720578/full/122392393747

Edited December 2, 2016 by CRLess