'Twas the Cruise During Christmas - Zuiderdam 2018

[fatcat04]

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

I am happy to verify that only your alcoholic beverages count toward your 15 beverage limit.  You're basically getting the Quench Package + 15 alcoholic beverages. I realize that the Beverage Package description I scanned and posted still says 15 total beverages, but in practice, they're only counting the alcohol.

Excellent! Thank you for that confirmation.

[57redbird]

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

On Time Delay from the MDR - Day 2's Dinner

 

Poohby Joe doesn't get to go to dinner, but out of respect for his fellow passengers, he maintains appropriate dress throughout the evening.

 

 

 

Michelle started with the Seafood Chowder. It's composed at the table, so there's Hot! Chowdah! Action!

 

 

 

 

Her father and I had chowder as our second courses.

 

Her dad had some sort of asparagus device. (I didn't get my menu copies yet, so I don't remember the dish exactly.)

 

 

I began with a Prosciutto & Caponata appetiizer.

 

 

Michelle ordered the Prime Rib for her main course.

 

 

I went Lamb Chops. (They did a nice little sear on top of the sous vide. A big improvement over a few years ago.)

 

 

My father-in-law selected Cornflake Crusted Hake, I surprisingly bold choice. I had him pegged for the prime rib.

 

 

Michelle had Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

 

 

I went with Blow Torch Puddin'. (I haven't had creme brulee in years.)

 

 

My DFIL went with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.  Nothing against the man, but that just doesn't rate a photo.

 

Agung made an origami-sg tulip for Michelle.

 

 

Everything was very good. I should really try to write more about it, but it's after 4:00 and this guy's not even reached drink one of his 15. This must be remedied.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2018 by 57redbird
wrong place

[57redbird]

I wish they offered plain creme brulee  --- not a fan of Grand Marnier.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Oh am I glad that we just finished dinner.  The food looks way better than it did a few years ago when we stopped eating in the main dining room.

[wdw1972]

So nice to see my friend Brian Bradley is on your cruise - he's the entertainer the night you've been in Aruba.  He's a funny guy, and does quite a bit of improv besides regular stand-up.  Definitely check him out, as he should be very funny!

 

Sue/WDW1972

[kazu]

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

Obligatory cabana sunset photo:

 

 

We're off to a pre- Lincoln Center nap. It's a Brahms program and we hope to be out until after the street lights go on tonight. 

 

Beuatiful shot!

[kazu]

5 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

I am happy to verify that only your alcoholic beverages count toward your 15 beverage limit.  You're basically getting the Quench Package + 15 alcoholic beverages. I realize that the Beverage Package description I scanned and posted still says 15 total beverages, but in practice, they're only counting the alcohol.

 

Thank you kindly for this key scientific research 😄 

 

Much appeciated.

[smitty34877]

Beautiful   shoes  on   your  DW  and   Mr. Pooby   matches! Thank   you   so   much   for   an   enjoyable   thread.

[Mr. Boston]

5 hours ago, POA1 said:

No one noticed the life ring in the Grand Turk intro post?  Or do you fear Oprah's minions?

 

I’m more afraid of the gentleman’s choice of skorts with matching kneesocks!

[erewhon]

Just found  your great review, thank you for taking us along on your cruise.

Lovely seeing the photos of the Atrium Christmas decorations , do you have photos of any of the other ship board decorations? 

Enjoy the remainder of your cruise.

 

[POA1]

Just now, erewhon said:

Just found  your great review, thank you for taking us along on your cruise.

Lovely seeing the photos of the Atrium Christmas decorations , do you have photos of any of the other ship board decorations? 

Enjoy the remainder of your cruise.

 

 

Photos are part of the plan for tomorrow. Watch this space for exciting and informative updates. 

[POA1]

8 hours ago, keeponcruising said:

Thank you!  And now if they would only raise the max price of the signature pkg to cover the La Marca Prosecco.  It shows as part of the pkg, but the price was listed as $10 on somewhere else.

 

Blues and sadness. There is no SBP eligible prosecco on the MDR wine list. However, there's a French Charmat available at $7/glass. (It's the NS comp wine. It's not going to win any awards, but it's okay.) I'll try to gather up the other lists in the coming days in case there's another sparkling choice. If there's a by-the-glass wine on a bar list, you can order it in the dining room.

 

We've noticed that there are differences in the wine lists among the various bars and the MDR. I'll try to straighten that out if I can. For example, I wanted a port to go with my cheese course tonight. There are none on the MDR list, but there's another list with 6 or 7 selections, several of which are SBP eligible.

[Copper10-8]

8 hours ago, POA1 said:

 

Both days were Jimmy Choo so far. The shot was Bailey's, Kahlua and Frangelico. I forget its name. It was layered though. 

 

The fact that you know the make and model of your wife's elegant footwear blows me away! Very impressive to this knuckle dragging, bottom dwelling neanderthal, dude 🤩

[POA1]

18 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

The fact that you know the make and model of your wife's elegant footwear blows me away! Very impressive to this knuckle dragging, bottom dwelling neanderthal, dude 🤩

 

It's really not that impressive when you get down to it. There's a whole shoes, bags and outfits planning routine and I get to hear about and (be blessed by?) the process before we travel. She's got a list of what she's wearing each day. It's been modified because we thought we were having gala night on Monday, but other than that, the order is intact. I, on the other hand, just keep rotating between two jackets and two pairs of dress slacks. Unless it's Gala Night. Then I put a tux into play.

Edited December 19, 2018 by POA1

[cranethie]

13 hours ago, kazu said:

 

We had those on the P'dam in May-June this year, Brian.

Those blue covers do get around - they were also used on the Noordam TP Sept - Oct of this year.  Lovely to look at but a pain to remove 😕

[ski ww]

As always, I enjoy reading your posts, great way to start my mornings. 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the pictures and info.

Glad Poohby Joe is enjoying his cruise.

Looking forward to more.

[POA1]

3 hours ago, cranethie said:

Those blue covers do get around - they were also used on the Noordam TP Sept - Oct of this year.  Lovely to look at but a pain to remove 😕

Mine came off pretty easily once I realized that it was both plastic snaps and velcro. 

[POA1]

3 hours ago, cranethie said:

Those blue cvers do get around - they were also used on the Noordam TP Sept - Oct of this year.  Lovely to look at but a pain to remove 😕

 

This seems to want to double post on my phone. Sorry 

 

Edited December 19, 2018 by POA1

[Krazy Kruizers]

I asked this before about the blue covers on the laundry when it comes back.

 

Are the covers reusable?  Or do you just throw them out?

[POA1]

Just now, Krazy Kruizers said:

I asked this before about the blue covers on the laundry when it comes back.

 

Are the covers reusable?  Or do you just throw them out?

 

They're a heavier vinyl or nylon, like a garment sleeve you might get from Saks 5th Avenue or other department store when you buy something.  Both the Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria return dry cleaning in something similar. However, theirs have a regular zipper from. These are alternating snaps and velcro. I'll take a photo next time one comes back so that you can see the fasteners. 

[POA1]

I should add that we left the sleeve on our bed with the basket that the folded items came in and our room stewards took it away. 

[POA1]

With the BB King All Stars having the night off, we had to search elsewhere for clean, bright entertainments* last night.  The Zuiderdam singers and dancers performed a production show, "1,000 Steps," a song and dance revue. Very good. If you like the cast shows, you'll be happy with them here.  We managed to catch the final show at Billboard Onboard. It's the all-request show and ran for almost a full 90 minutes, beginning at 10:45 PM.  I've read several reports that said that the piano players are limited to what they can play.  This is true with respect to the themed shows, but they're pretty much wide open in the all request segments.  The themed shows, like "British Invasion," have accompanying graphics that run on the in-room monitors and tell you when the song charted as well as other facts about the song or artist.

 

There are repeats during the all request segments, but that's because there will inevitably be requests for Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline."  Until we're allowed to beat and subdue the passengers who continually request these songs, we're going to hear them in the all-request shows.  You can request either a song or an artist.  The two performers, Brandon & Ian, said they know about 550 songs between them and that they'd be willing to go online in port to look up ones that they did not know or or to which they didn't have the music & lyrics.  Michelle and I put in some requests that we thought might be a little different. Both are requests got played. I asked for "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. (Not to pat myself on the back more than usual, but it's a great pick for a piano duo.)  Michelle did an artist request for The Carpenters and got "(They Long to Be) Close to You."  

 

* This term is from P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books.

[POA1]

If you watch your souvenir daily programs, look for EXC presentations. They take place in the room that is on the left hand side as you enter the Crow's Nest. There was a very informative presentation on Foods of the Caribbean that we only stumbled upon because DW was grabbing a cappuccino from the right-hand/coffee side of the Crow's Nest/Explorations Cafe bar. Later in the day there was a presentation by the chief engineer.  The EXC presentations are a huge step up from the old Caribbean port lectures which always seemed to involve "Tanzanite."

[POA1]

After years of not venturing beyond the port area in Grand Turk, we decided to take the 1.5 hour "Grand Turk Highlights" tour.  Sadly, much of the island was destroyed by back to back hurricanes, so there's really only about 45 minutes worth of highlights. My much anticipated visit to the Grand Turk Salt Museum will have to be placed on indefinite hold.