ncklhaus Posted January 21, 2017 #1 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hey everyone. We returned from our cruise on Sunday, so I figured I should get this review started already. I've had a lot going on and I was having issues getting my pictures uploaded and ready, but I now have the first 3 days done. Please forgive me if I take a break here and there from posting. My father was just diagnosed today with either bone cancer that has spread to his lungs and liver, or lung cancer that has spread to his liver and bones. Either way, it's not good. My family just can't get a break. For those of you that know me, or read my other reviews you would know that this cruise was supposed to be a relaxing, recharge our batteries type of vacation. My Mother-in-law passed away in November from dementia. And I had recently undergone 2 more surgeries for my post breast cancer reconstruction (Build-A-Boob). The first reconstruction was right after our 14 day cruise in January 2016, and then the reconstruction ruptured and tore apart, so I had to have them redone in June 2016. You know I took advantage of it and had them made just a little bit bigger. :p So, we really needed this cruise to be relaxing and fun for all of us. Would that happen? Stick with me and you will find out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 21, 2017 Author #2 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Day One, Monday January 2nd 2017 Today was a bittersweet day as it would have been my Mother-in-law's birthday. Oh my goodness! I forgot to do the dailies. I have all of them, I just didn't upload them yet. I guess I will get to them tomorrow. We had also recently moved. We used to live in Valley Stream, NY and it was maybe 45 minutes to get to the pier in Manhattan. Now we live in Smithtown, NY around an hour further out on Long Island. So we had our car service arranged (we always use Groundlink) to pick us up at 9am. Over the last few days before we left, I went through our suitcases over and over to make sure we had everything we needed and we didn't overpack. Yep, I forgot something and we WAY overpacked, again. What did I forget to pack? I'll let you know when we get to that realization. It's pretty funny. Now. It wasn't then. Well, maybe a little. So anyway. The driver picks us up and we are making polite conversation with him. It's a very small world. He lives in the next town from us but he's moving to......Valley Stream. Into the same apartment complex we had just moved out of! What are the odds? The drive just flew by and before I knew it, we saw this: We didn't hit any traffic and we arrived at the pier around 10:15 or so. We unloaded our 6 bags, gave 4 of them to a porter and then through to security we go. No problems there and they send us down to the Haven waiting area to check in. Easy Peasy. Our friends were also on this cruise with us but they weren't Haven so we would have to meet up with them at some point. Wait. Who's this coming into the Haven area? It's our friends! Surprise! They got an upgrade and she didn't tell anyone. She even surprised her husband. Even bigger surprise. They are in the room next to us. Yay! Bonus. We are in 15104 and they are in 15106. In the waiting area they have snacks like cookies and finger sandwiches, plus juice, coffee, tea, and water. We had barely gotten settled in our seats when they started boarding us. It was 11:05. That's got to be one of the earliest I have heard of. They escort us on and some staff are waiting as we board, greeting us with big smiles and washy washy. They tell us to go up to 16 and meet in the Haven courtyard for a quick orientation and punch (alcohol free). No mini sliders this time. Anoop the Concierge gives his talk and says that the Haven restaurant will be open for lunch at 11:30. Our staterooms are not ready yet, but we can go put our carry ons in the rooms if we would like. We quickly ditched the non-rum punches for real drinks. I get a yummy bloody Mary and we bring our bags to our rooms. The room wasn't fully ready but it was close to done. On the living room table: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riclop Posted January 21, 2017 #3 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Thanks for starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 21, 2017 Author #4 Share Posted January 21, 2017 After quickly dumping our bags in the closets and locking our passports in the safe, we headed back up to the Haven Restaurant. The menu has changed a bit since our last cruise one year earlier. It did not change daily. This is the lunch menu. And the fleet wide Children's menu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 21, 2017 Author #5 Share Posted January 21, 2017 While we were figuring out what to order, our friends surprised us with these. Vibe passes. Nice. I ordered the Lobster Bisque. It was unbelievable. So good I could bathe in it. No, really. The Charcuterie platter Seafood Frito Misto And from the children's menu, the hot dog and fries. I'm not sure what this martini was but it was good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 21, 2017 Author #6 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Brie Burger Herbed Chicken Salmon with Lobster Sauce (mussels put to the side) Classic Cobb Salad To be continued tomorrow...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyboy Posted January 21, 2017 #7 Share Posted January 21, 2017 So sorry about your and your family's medical problems, and the passing of your MIL. Interesting review start with the nice food photos. Will be following along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris sea Posted January 21, 2017 #8 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hey everyone. We returned from our cruise on Sunday, so I figured I should get this review started already. I've had a lot going on and I was having issues getting my pictures uploaded and ready, but I now have the first 3 days done. Please forgive me if I take a break here and there from posting. My father was just diagnosed today with either bone cancer that has spread to his lungs and liver, or lung cancer that has spread to his liver and bones. Either way, it's not good. My family just can't get a break. For those of you that know me, or read my other reviews you would know that this cruise was supposed to be a relaxing, recharge our batteries type of vacation. My Mother-in-law passed away in November from dementia. And I had recently undergone 2 more surgeries for my post breast cancer reconstruction (Build-A-Boob). The first reconstruction was right after our 14 day cruise in January 2016, and then the reconstruction ruptured and tore apart, so I had to have them redone in June 2016. You know I took advantage of it and had them made just a little bit bigger. :p So, we really needed this cruise to be relaxing and fun for all of us. Would that happen? Stick with me and you will find out! Welcome Back ! Really enjoyed your review last year. Look forward to following along again. Sending prayers for your Dad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinechgo Posted January 21, 2017 #9 Share Posted January 21, 2017 So sorry to hear the news. Loved your report so far. Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifforj2 Posted January 21, 2017 #10 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Sorry to hear about your father -from a fellow valley stream resident Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouChamp Posted January 21, 2017 #11 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Thank you for your review and my prayers for your Dad. 56 Cruises and Counting! Bon Voyage to my fellow CC's and smooth sailing. Planning a vacay is almost as much fun as the vacay itself!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookie848 Posted January 21, 2017 #12 Share Posted January 21, 2017 JoAnn, I can't wait to read your review...I loved last year's! So sorry it's been a tough year for you and that you didn't come home to better news. We really appreciate the effort you go through in order to do the review for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincicruisers Posted January 21, 2017 #13 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Yeah so excited to read about your trip. I re-read your other reviews which were very good. I am looking forward to your review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #14 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Thank you to everyone for all of the kind words. I really appreciate it. I went to see my dad today and he's in great spirits. I guess Morphine will do that to you. :D On with the review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #15 Share Posted January 22, 2017 After lunch, we went back to our room to unpack and we found the bottles of booze we had ordered were in the room along with the water we had ordered as well. Yes, we paid for 48 one litre bottles of Aquafina. Yes, we had the UBP and we paid extra to have bottles of booze in the room. We also found our free bottle of "Champagne" and our one free bottle of water. The bottle of wine was there as well but I didn't get a picture of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #16 Share Posted January 22, 2017 One of my favorite features of the Haven rooms is the doorbell. I don't know why. Whenever someone would ring it, we would say "Dong Ding". I know, it's actually ding dong, but if you've watched the TV show "Sam and Kat", you get it. It was a pretty rainy day for a sailaway, so after a painless muster drill in O'Sheehan's, we wasted some time and money and played some games. Melissa is a terrible driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #17 Share Posted January 22, 2017 We decided to brave the cold, wet weather and went up to the Haven courtyard and sun deck for the Champagne sailaway. I definitely took advantage of the Champagne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #18 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Here comes the Verrazano Bridge! That's the best picture I got of it. The rest were blurry. Like I said, I enjoyed the Champagne. Ha ha. Anyway, after the bridge, we've had enough of being cold and wet so we go back to the room to get changed into dry clothes. Look pretty flowers in our room. They would be the cause of some serious allergy eyes. Only after a few days did I realize it and we put them in Melissa's bathroom. And a fruit bowl and Godiva chocolates. The fruit bowl would be replenished often. My baby girl is growing up so fast! All dressed up and ready for dinner at the Raw Bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #19 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Sorry, some pictures are blurry. I think I took pictures of the menu again when we went back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #20 Share Posted January 22, 2017 We really have no self control when it comes to the Raw Bar. We sit down and our favorite crew member Sandy was there. Boy did he treat us well. We ordered a dozen oysters, tuna crudo, salmon crudo, and the Seafood Plateau. He gave us a lot more. Oysters (blurry) Chilled lobster Chilled shrimp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #21 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I think this is Salmon Crudo Melissa liked it. Now if you remember, Sandy had already given us lobster and shrimp so I figured that they had changed the way they delivered the Seafood Plateau. Nope. Here it comes now. OMG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncklhaus Posted January 22, 2017 Author #22 Share Posted January 22, 2017 And then the Tuna crudo Scallop Crudo Yellowtail crudo Limoncello And Petit fours for dessert It's always amazing at the Raw Bar. You can see why we like it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezo Posted January 22, 2017 #23 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Is all that raw bar food a la carte? Sent from my SGH-T889 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WashyWashyHappyHappy95 Posted January 22, 2017 #24 Share Posted January 22, 2017 looks like an expensive cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquishTheWhale Posted January 22, 2017 #25 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I think I could take a whole cruise on what you spent on extras on your first day :p Looks like you were having fun though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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