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Z reviews Voyager! 13 Jan 2008

zantedeschia

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zantedeschia

zantedeschia

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A warning: this is going to be very long, very chatty and candid. It will take me several days to complete.

 

I'm back, bozos at work scheduled me to work yesterday, despite my submitting a request to have the day off. I'm suffering from mal du debarquement so that's slowing me down too, but I've been taking bonine to counter it. Anyhow.

 

I have Compasses, Ocean Adventure ones too and a few other informational bits of paper, I will be scanning those and posting as time permits.

 

This was my 7th cruise, my 6th on Royal, my first on a Voyager (Eagle) class ship. My first cruise as a Platinum Member! I took my son and daughter, was my son Jonathan's first cruise and my daughter Alex's 5th, 4th on Royal. We had a D1 balcony, located front starboard. Some people think it's an undesirable location but I picked it deliberately because I wanted to be up by the bridge. It was adequately roomy for 3 adults. Could have been more drawer space and we had six (!) life jackets in our room which I found superflous and annoying. We liked the metal balconys because they afforded a bit more privacy we thought.

 

Voyager is beautiful. Quite different layout from Vision class so it took me most of the week to learn the ship. Deck 3 has a dead end which I didn't like at all. You have to go up a level to get to the other side. Deck 2 may have been the same way but I didn't explore those decks.

 

My initial impression is that I really missed the glass and openness and airiness of Rhapsody and Splendour. That said, the Promenade is about the coolest thing I have ever seen on a cruise ship. It's amazing, whoever thought up the concept is brilliant. Jonathan was disappointed, he thought I had booked a promenade interior, I told him they were somewhat smaller than the D1 and it would have been a squeeze.

 

Anyhow. Onwards.

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zantedeschia

zantedeschia

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The bozos at work scheduled me to work 7 - 11pm the night before my cruise. How dare they interfere with my need to plan and pack! As it was, I stayed up all night fussing and fretting, catching a mere 2 hour nap before we left.

 

A close relative drove us down to Galveston, as I figured 2 round trips of gas even at $2.89/gal was less than 8 days of parking fees. We left around 10am, took the Beltway. Trip was uneventful. As we drove up, we could see the horns and Texas flags adorning the ship.

 

Arrival was a mess. People coming and going, cars jamming up, annoyed personnel directing people here, there, no you can't stop there gotta move your car. Grrrr. Got a platinum perk, express check-in! We became happy campers. Asked the agent what the big announcement was, he said he didn't know yet. Later found out it was: the largest cruise ship to sail out of Galveston is here! I was like DUH. I've known that for nearly 2 years. We checked in at 11:40, took 10 minutes. We were directed to our next platinum perk, a reserved area in front of the door where we were smooshed in with a bunch of other people, all the seats having already been taken. Then we were told the doors wouldn't open until 1:30, or another hour's wait. But hey, they were serving free champagne, so I had 4 glasses. They let us in at 1pm so we only waited half an hour.

 

Took a while to find our steward. His name was Lowell from Nicaragua. Asked him to make up our beds separate as while my son and I are close, he didn't want to get quite that cozy with me. I thought the room was more harmonious with the bed made up as a queen, but oh well.

 

I'm exhausted and stressed from last minute packing/getting no sleep. I figure this is what's making trivial things bug the $#!^ out of me (like the 2 people who come from behind me as I'm walking up to the purser's desk and cut in front of me) so I'm not making notes of them.

 

Go up to Portofino's to make reservations. They have no menus like everyone claims they do! Don't know what day to make it on, so I make it for tonight, which also happens to be Alex's birthday. She turns 19.

 

Voyager holds 3100 people. Is she crowded? Yes and no. Depends on where you are and what time of the day it was but sometimes areas were deserted yet other times they were packed. If the elevators were full, I'd walk around the corner and/or up the stairs to another elevator bank. Jonathan said one time he was on an elevator and it refused to open on Deck 5, but otherwise we didn't see any glitches. It was variable, sometimes one would go up to the elevators and be the only ones standing there but by the time the elevator came a couple minutes later, the alcove would be crowded. And sometimes said same people would fill the elevator even tho I'd been standing there longer, which is why I started avoiding crowded alcoves.

 

Somewhere along here I decorated the door with many Happy Birthday bows, stickers and placards. I made the cards by cutting out the sides of a large gift bag.

 

Our captain was Gerry Larsson-Fedde, who was very visible and quite the character. He would tell Confucious Say jokes at the end of his noon reports, except he called them "Ancient Chinese Proverbs". Some of them off-color, I wonder if he knew he was telling dirty jokes? For example: Man who fart in church sit in own pew, well that one's obvious. Then this one: Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night. :eek:

 

For the muster drill, we were directed to deck 5, Cleopatra's Needle. By the time we got there, all the seats in our "area" were taken, so we sat down nearby but were shooed out because it wasn't "our" muster station. I ended up sitting on the floor.

 

I had blocked international service on both my kids' phones but left it on for mine. For a brief while I thought I might have forgotten because we all kept access for a good 2 hours after we left, but then theirs dropped and mine started reading "cellular at SEA", which is the cell tower on the ship.

 

Alex is glum and actually started weeping at dinner. I suggested she book a massage because that has improved her demeanour on previous cruises.

 

Out in the Gulf, the seas were getting a little rough, they're saying 8 to 12'. Both the kids are holding up fine so I don't give them any bonine. Speaking of which, I looked up the prescription dose of meclizine and it appears to be 50mg, so I've doubled my "land sickness" dose. :(

 

One thing I've liked about previous cruises is the crew has been especially gentle and accomodating with the passengers. Well, I was wandering around barefoot as I'm prone to do and got yelled at when I ventured into the dining room because he didn't want me stepping on broken glass. That's all well and good, but I did not need a stern admonishment. Another time I was peeking at the piles of unsorted luggage by the service elevators and someone yelled at me from down the hall. :mad:

 

There was no written tv movie schedule! We spent a lot of time chilling in our room watching tv so there'll be a lot of interjected notes on what movie was on at the time.

 

Dinner. Portofino's. By this time I was extremely fatigued and about to fall asleep and I wonder if it colored my opinion of dinner. I did not like it at all. Grated the service was superb and the atmosphere lovely. Pedro our waiter was outstanding. I was underwhelmed by the food. The carpaccio was nasty, I don't know what they did to it but it was mushy and tasteless and the oil drizzled over made it greasy and mushy and tasteless. I got the seafood skewer and I've seen pictures of it before where it included a full lobster tail. This was half or less of a lobster tail. On top of that, all the seafood was over-cooked, over-seasoned and previously frozen. Seafood needs a delicate touch and should be *fresh*. The mushroom pasta was good but very rich. The risotto was chewy, not creamy. Jonathan said his salad was "okay". Desserts were good. For $20 a head, it's not worth repeating.

 

We were all tired and we all went to bed early. Jonathan, my night owl, immediately adapted to ship time, getting up early and retiring early.

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Rockiesfan

Rockiesfan

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for the Compasses, especially the 15-17 Adventure Ocean one!! My oldest is in this age group for the first time, so we are very interested in getting a look at the activities.

 

Can't wait for the next installment - this must be what it felt like to read the old newspaper serials!

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zantedeschia

zantedeschia

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There has been rumor the live music was going away. Not to worry, there were plenty of live musicians on Voyager. They were pretty decent, with the exception of one violinist that played off-key.

 

The Viking Crown Lounge wasn't called the Viking Crown Lounge. It was divided up into 4 areas, High Notes Nightclub, and 19th Hole. On the other side Seven Hearts, the card room which was closed for the Diamond/Diamond+ event the one time I went to check it out. The area right next to it which was being used for the Diamond/Diamond+ concierge lounge.

 

For the first time ever, I am queasy on a cruise ship! I think it is not so much the rough seas but more attributable to my fatigue. I took a bonine which took about 3 hours to take effect.

 

Jonathan and I are up early, and we go up to the fitness center and do the Sunrise Stretch at 7:30. We get Shipshape Dollars! Contrary to what I had heard they had been phased out.

 

Went to breakfast and Alex is up by now and joins us. I go on my soymilk seeking mission and ask 2 or 3 people for it. Takes 4 or 5 minutes for someone to produce a glass. I wander by the table during this and Alex dryly comments, "You're after soymilk, aren't you?" (She knows me too well). There is no grapefruit! There is no grapefruit in the Windjammer all week and I know grapefruit is in season!

 

The part they call the Windjammer isn't like the Windjammer on Vision class ships. The part they call the Island Grill does look like what I would call the Windjammer. The Island Grill is neat cause at breakfast they do fried eggs, sunny side up and over easy, wish someone would teach them how to make eggs over medium (I requested an OM and got one OE).

 

We still haven't received the Crown & Anchor coupon booklets and Alex wants to use the spa discount coupon for a massage. We go by the purser's desk and are told we should have received them by now and makes a note to call housekeeping. When we get back to our room, they are there. Alex calls for her massage at 6 this evening, the phone is working today. It wasn't when they tried to call for room service yesterday.

 

I am completely turned around 180 degrees on this ship. I think it's partly because she was docked facing the opposite way from what I'm used to and partly because the Windjammer and the spa/fitness center are reversed from what I'm used to. I don't think Voyager is all that big until I go the wrong way and end up port aft and have to walk all the way back starboard forward -- queasy.

 

This is the first cruise I've been on with a large group or at least one that I know there's a large group, the KTDY 99.9 radio station group cruise from Louisiana. I don't feel much impact from them except for the LSU t-shirts and cajun door signs and the jokes about them the CD and comedians incorporate into their routines. I kid you not about the jokes.

 

I go back to the room and lay down, still not feeling well. Jonathan is exploring the ship and throwing himself into ship life, it's so cute. I send him off to get ice show tickets since I dont' think I'll be able to do it. He comes back with 3 tickets for the 7pm Wednesday show and a miniature golf score card. He's fascinated by my new camera so I let him take over picture taking duty. Alex is watching Blades of Glory.

 

I sleep till 1:30 and we go for lunch in the Windjammer. It was decent. I'm beginning to really like the Island Grill. In the offering is some tasty grilled fish and chicken. Alex tells me they're much stricter about alcohol this cruise and ask for your seapass if you don't look old enough to drink.

 

Back in my room, I'm still tired, and I lay around for the rest of the afternoon. Pirates of the Caribbean II is on, Alex is amused by this, she says Pirates I was playing our last cruise. Wild Hogs is playing in the screening room. Jonathan goes to check it out but says the visual quality in the theatre is lacking.

 

Sexy legs contest was today at 1pm. I wanted to catch it so I could get pointers for Scott (my bf) cause I want him to enter it on our next cruise. But I wasn't up to it, oh well.

 

Tonight is first formal night and the Captain's reception. Because Alex's formal was falling off her last cruise, I had it taken in. Unfortunately, she gained weight back since then and her formal is now too small! :( She's being moody and doesn't attend to the reception.

 

This part is confusing. We went down to Cleopatra's Needle where the Captain was taking pictures and they were serving free champagne (tho it looked like you had to pay for other drinks (I didn't ask, but I saw Seapasses on serving trays)). We waited and waited and waited but the Captain never showed up to give his address. It's close to dinnertime so we leave and there is the Captain talking in the Promenade! The confused comments about "I thought the reception was in the Promenade" now make sense. They were serving champagne out there too. Next time I'll know.

 

Alex shows up for dinner not formally dressed and we meet our tablemates for the first time. We are at a table for 10 with 3 (late 40s-early 50s) adult couples: Carol and Randy, Angela and John and Ken and Anna. Anna is from Mexico and is the typical vibrant Spanish type, very cute and bubbly. Two of the couples are from Houston, one from Dallas.

 

Now I don't know if it's because we didn't show the night before but the dynamic of the conversation is totally off. The three couples spend the evening talking among just themselves. It's worse than that, Randy has established himself as the alpha male and spends most of the time chatting with the two men. It doesn't bother me that much, possibly because I'm intrigued by Anna and Angela, but Alex is exceptionally annoyed by it. Jonathan jumps in and grabs snatches of conversation, but he's more social than I.

 

For dinner I had the orange carpaccio, the pear soup and the filet - had to ask for some horseradish. For dessert, the sugar free coconut cake. I thought the filet was a little dry, but everyone disagreed with me, thought it was wonderful! No complaints about any of the other food but they did not refill the water glasses or Alex's tea, even after requesting. Asking for a cocktail waiter yields equally non-results. They do produce wine, all three couples have purchased bottles of wine, at least one has bought a wine package.

 

Our waiter was Silvio from Romania and assistant waiter was Liu Jin from China, he said to call him "Jason". I called him Liu Jin. :)

 

We are now being told the seas are 7-12', earlier in the day they were saying they were 2-4' (I thought they were rougher than that at the time). We have spray hitting our balcony but I'm later told it's because we're near the front of the ship.

 

Alex is still being glum. This is ominous.

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robtx100

robtx100

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zan, thank you so much for posting the cruise compasses. I'm on the same itinerary next week. I enjoy reading them. I appreciate the organized way you are posting. I agree, some people at work can be bozos. Imagine, they expect me to concentrate at work this week with only 3 more days until vacation.

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zantedeschia

zantedeschia

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OMG, this is my 6th visit to Cozumel, Alex's 5th. All roads lead to Cozumel. Or cruises at least.

 

Jonathan has been disappointed the Peek-a-Boo bridge has been closed but this morning they open it. We go up and peek, kind of cool.

 

Coming in to dock, we see Carnival Victory and the Norwegian Jewel courtesy of the binoculars. Not too long after, Radiance docks next to us. There's another ship we don't get a good enough look at to identify, 5 in all this day.

 

My cell phone reads Telcel GSM. I have been using it, mostly to send and receive text messages (which I believe are .35 to send and .05 to receive). I'm expecting my phone bill to be maybe $100 to 120 higher than usual.

 

It's overcast and a little cool with a sporadic mist. The weather improves as the day passes.

 

At breakfast I wander around and ask a couple people for soymilk. A supervisor asks me what I'm seeking and I tell him, he tells me to sit down and someone will bring some. I end up with 3 glasses! I think the reason it takes so long the first day is they have to run to the dining room to get a box.

 

Bridge to Teribithia is playing in the Screening Room today (movies and times are listed in the Compasses).

 

For our excursion, I picked the catamaran sail, snorkel and beach break. The catamaran we were on was one of the Fury cats, of which there are 5 (I saw 4 that day, including ours). This excursion was okay. It wasn't bad, but I've been on a lot better excursions. Still, it was pretty enjoyable. We got (IMO) a way too long talk at the beginning after which we motored 5 minutes out to the snorkel spot, which had some nice fish. Alex wouldn't go in cause she thought the water would be cold but Jonathan and I did and the water was nice. We were offered 2 alcoholic drinks, some rather weak margaritas and Nationale beer which they claimed was better than Corona or Dos Equis (I didn't like it) and soft drinks as well. Btw, this was the first cruise where I actually remembered to bring my snorkel equipment.

 

After about 40 minutes of snorkeling they gathered us up and took us to a stretch of beach reserved for the Fury excursions. There I rented a waverunner for $60 for half an hour. Jonathan and Alex took turns and had way too much fun. The big disappointment of this excursion is we were on a cat but we didn't sail. We motored out and back. They put the sails up but it was just for show. The music they played was annoying party stuff like YMCA and the Macarena. The type of music they want people to get drunk and get out on deck and dance to. There was some of that however, I really didn't notice anyone aggressively drunk.

 

Back to the ship. It's Tuesday, but some elevator tags are still reading Monday.

 

Now what would a Z review be without some Drama??!!

 

And folks, there is drama-o-plenty!

 

This is the point where I thought both my review and my cruise came to a screeching halt. Not to go into details but if you haven't guessed, it involved my volatile daughter and probably emotional over-reaction on my part. But I was furious. How dare Alex ruin my vacation? I was so angry I returned her remaining two excursion tickets for a refund and I took her off my credit card on the seapass account. (The irony of this is they refunded her tickets back to her seapass when I had paid for them -- The cute thing is Jonathan hid one of the ice show tickets so I couldn't get rid of it.)

 

Anyhow.

 

My mood was destroyed. I wandered around the ship fuming and fighting back tears (peri-menopause is *really* annoying). I ignored Alex and refused to talk to anyone else, I must have been a real joy to encounter that day.

 

More irony, the show tonight was Los Pampas Gauchos, one Alex and I had missed on our cruise but I did catch it on my cruise with Scott. It was so good I wanted to see it again but Alex was nowhere to be found, and even in my agitated state, I regretted she was going to miss it again. There's the Artistry of Fluorescence, the drumming, the dancing, the whips. And the guy who runs the show is *hilarious*. Go see it if you haven't. *I almost didn't recognize the woman in the show cause she went from platinum blonde to brunette and around a B cup to a DD :eek: ).

 

What was more interesting during our time in the La Scala theatre is what occured before the show. Jonathan and I went down early, sat down right in the middle of the second row. Shortly after that, a couple came down and "saved" the 8 consecutive seats to the right of us. Shades of the run-in with the seat-savers I had on Rhapsody (if you didn't read that review, I really ticked off some people cause I sat down right in the middle of the row they were saving and refused to budge). I was still glowering and sitting next to a seat-saver didn't help my state of mind, and here this woman was trying to engage me in conversation. Took her 4 or 5 attempts but to her credit she succeeded as she turned out to be a charming and witty woman. The most amusing thing she said was how she had gone to Chichen Itza cause she had to have a picture taken in front of the temple of Tula cause that was also her name, and how often did people get to have a temple named after them?!

 

About this time, her husband leaned over and made a concerned comment about how some woman just got hostile because he was saving seats. I'm experiencing deja vu here. "Royal has a policy that doesn't allow saving of seats," I immediately respond. "Well, we've been doing it X days in a row, yadda yadda yadda."

 

HEL-LOOOOO! That Doesn't Make It Okay People!!! Honestly.

 

After the show, it's time to get ready for dinner. Jonathan decides he wants to try a different venue for dinner and Alex and I are still avoiding each other. This is the night that I thought all 3 of the other couples are going to be dining in Portofino's. Maybe because of my disquieted state of mine I decide to go down and dine alone but not change out of my very casual attire (danskin pants and t-shirt). Then I say some expression that I'm not allowed to say on CC and change into a yellow print rayon dress and head on down to the dining room. We're in the Carmen dining room, deck 3 at a table set for 9 on the left side by the window, about 3/4's of the way back.

 

To my surprise, John and Angela showed up, they were having dinner at Portofino's on Saturday! John and Angela are the first people of color that I've shared a table with. Angela is so light-complected she sunburned later in the week. She has one of those gracious Southern Belle type personalities, urbane and elegant. John is laid back and lets Angela do most of the talking. I'm not good by myself in social situations but we manage to have a pleasant meal. One of the things Angela mentions is she does not like breakfast in the dining room. I heartily recommend the Windjammer for breakfast, which she says she'll try.

 

At the table next to us, there are only two people, so it feels like Silvio and Liu Jin rush us through dinner even tho I don't think that was their intent. I had the crab & shrimp salad appetizer, the potato jalapeno soup and the cranberry-mango soup, all yummy. I wasn't in the mood for meat so I get the vegetarian entree, the asparagus-brie tart. It was actually a quiche and I wasn't in the mood for eggs, so I kind of picked at it. I'm always amazed how people see me eating a vegetarian dish and ask if I'm vegetarian when they've previously seen me eat meat! Dessert was a yummy "BBC" (Bailey's & Banana) creme brulee. I hate complaining but in addition to lack of water refills, the coffee was cold. :(

 

Now and again I'll read reviews where people complain about overindulgence of alcohol by other passengers. I haven't seen it, but I saw it twice in quick succession tonight.

 

Crossing the elevator lobby I passed by two obviously drunk men. They weren't obnoxious, but they were loud and a bit boisterous. Then turning down the hall, I was approached and passed by a rotund and extremely drunk man, he was happy drunk, and his equally rotund but considerably more sober wife guiding him down the passageway. Whew, I caught a strong whiff of alcohol as they went by.

 

It was now about 10:30pm and I arrived back at the room to find both kids already in bed. Alex looked miserable and of course that always tugs on my heart.

 

I have tomorrow and Friday off, so the next few installments should come faster.

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tray

tray

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Z....your review is so informative, witty and just pure pleasure to read! Thank you for taking the time to write all this down for those of us still anticipating our trip ahead!

 

Quick question: did you mention that you were posting compasses? You didn't already do that somewhere and I missed it, did I? My parents are going on the cruise this Sunday and I'm trying to put a little 'booklet' together for them with reminders of things to be sure to remember. And I've used your first 2 days of compasses which were extremely helpful. I've searched for the compasses other places, but I don't see any for this itinerary. Just thought I'd check.

 

Thanks again....and enjoy your days off. I'll wait patiently for the next installment!!:D

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CrissyBarrows

CrissyBarrows

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OMG, this is my 6th visit to Cozumel, Alex's 5th. All roads lead to Cozumel. Or cruises at least.

 

Jonathan has been disappointed the Peek-a-Boo bridge has been closed but this morning they open it. We go up and peek, kind of cool.

 

Coming in to dock, we see Carnival Victory and the Norwegian Jewel courtesy of the binoculars. Not too long after, Radiance docks next to us. There's another ship we don't get a good enough look at to identify, 5 in all this day.

 

My cell phone reads Telcel GSM. I have been using it, mostly to send and receive text messages (which I believe are .35 to send and .05 to receive). I'm expecting my phone bill to be maybe $100 to 120 higher than usual.

 

It's overcast and a little cool with a sporadic mist. The weather improves as the day passes.

 

At breakfast I wander around and ask a couple people for soymilk. A supervisor asks me what I'm seeking and I tell him, he tells me to sit down and someone will bring some. I end up with 3 glasses! I think the reason it takes so long the first day is they have to run to the dining room to get a box.

 

Bridge to Teribithia is playing in the Screening Room today (movies and times are listed in the Compasses).

 

For our excursion, I picked the catamaran sail, snorkel and beach break. The catamaran we were on was one of the Fury cats, of which there are 5 (I saw 4 that day, including ours). This excursion was okay. It wasn't bad, but I've been on a lot better excursions. Still, it was pretty enjoyable. We got (IMO) a way too long talk at the beginning after which we motored 5 minutes out to the snorkel spot, which had some nice fish. Alex wouldn't go in cause she thought the water would be cold but Jonathan and I did and the water was nice. We were offered 2 alcoholic drinks, some rather weak margaritas and Nationale beer which they claimed was better than Corona or Dos Equis (I didn't like it) and soft drinks as well. Btw, this was the first cruise where I actually remembered to bring my snorkel equipment.

 

After about 40 minutes of snorkeling they gathered us up and took us to a stretch of beach reserved for the Fury excursions. There I rented a waverunner for $60 for half an hour. Jonathan and Alex took turns and had way too much fun. The big disappointment of this excursion is we were on a cat but we didn't sail. We motored out and back. They put the sails up but it was just for show. The music they played was annoying party stuff like YMCA and the Macarena. The type of music they want people to get drunk and get out on deck and dance to. There was some of that however, I really didn't notice anyone aggressively drunk.

 

Back to the ship. It's Tuesday, but some elevator tags are still reading Monday.

 

Now what would a Z review be without some Drama??!!

 

And folks, there is drama-o-plenty!

 

This is the point where I thought both my review and my cruise came to a screeching halt. Not to go into details but if you haven't guessed, it involved my volatile daughter and probably emotional over-reaction on my part. But I was furious. How dare Alex ruin my vacation? I was so angry I returned her remaining two excursion tickets for a refund and I took her off my credit card on the seapass account. (The irony of this is they refunded her tickets back to her seapass when I had paid for them -- The cute thing is Jonathan hid one of the ice show tickets so I couldn't get rid of it.)

 

Anyhow.

 

My mood was destroyed. I wandered around the ship fuming and fighting back tears (peri-menopause is *really* annoying). I ignored Alex and refused to talk to anyone else, I must have been a real joy to encounter that day.

 

More irony, the show tonight was Los Pampas Gauchos, one Alex and I had missed on our cruise but I did catch it on my cruise with Scott. It was so good I wanted to see it again but Alex was nowhere to be found, and even in my agitated state, I regretted she was going to miss it again. There's the Artistry of Fluorescence, the drumming, the dancing, the whips. And the guy who runs the show is *hilarious*. Go see it if you haven't. *I almost didn't recognize the woman in the show cause she went from platinum blonde to brunette and around a B cup to a DD :eek: ).

 

What was more interesting during our time in the La Scala theatre is what occured before the show. Jonathan and I went down early, sat down right in the middle of the second row. Shortly after that, a couple came down and "saved" the 8 consecutive seats to the right of us. Shades of the run-in with the seat-savers I had on Rhapsody (if you didn't read that review, I really ticked off some people cause I sat down right in the middle of the row they were saving and refused to budge). I was still glowering and sitting next to a seat-saver didn't help my state of mind, and here this woman was trying to engage me in conversation. Took her 4 or 5 attempts but to her credit she succeeded as she turned out to be a charming and witty woman. The most amusing thing she said was how she had gone to Chichen Itza cause she had to have a picture taken in front of the temple of Tula cause that was also her name, and how often did people get to have a temple named after them?!

 

About this time, her husband leaned over and made a concerned comment about how some woman just got hostile because he was saving seats. I'm experiencing deja vu here. "Royal has a policy that doesn't allow saving of seats," I immediately respond. "Well, we've been doing it X days in a row, yadda yadda yadda."

 

HEL-LOOOOO! That Doesn't Make It Okay People!!! Honestly.

 

After the show, it's time to get ready for dinner. Jonathan decides he wants to try a different venue for dinner and Alex and I are still avoiding each other. This is the night that I thought all 3 of the other couples are going to be dining in Portofino's. Maybe because of my disquieted state of mine I decide to go down and dine alone but not change out of my very casual attire (danskin pants and t-shirt). Then I say some expression that I'm not allowed to say on CC and change into a yellow print rayon dress and head on down to the dining room. We're in the Carmen dining room, deck 3 at a table set for 9 on the left side by the window, about 3/4's of the way back.

 

To my surprise, John and Angela showed up, they were having dinner at Portofino's on Saturday! John and Angela are the first people of color that I've shared a table with. Angela is so light-complected she sunburned later in the week. She has one of those gracious Southern Belle type personalities, urbane and elegant. John is laid back and lets Angela do most of the talking. I'm not good by myself in social situations but we manage to have a pleasant meal. One of the things Angela mentions is she does not like breakfast in the dining room. I heartily recommend the Windjammer for breakfast, which she says she'll try.

 

At the table next to us, there are only two people, so it feels like Silvio and Liu Jin rush us through dinner even tho I don't think that was their intent. I had the crab & shrimp salad appetizer, the potato jalapeno soup and the cranberry-mango soup, all yummy. I wasn't in the mood for meat so I get the vegetarian entree, the asparagus-brie tart. It was actually a quiche and I wasn't in the mood for eggs, so I kind of picked at it. I'm always amazed how people see me eating a vegetarian dish and ask if I'm vegetarian when they've previously seen me eat meat! Dessert was a yummy "BBC" (Bailey's & Banana) creme brulee. I hate complaining but in addition to lack of water refills, the coffee was cold. :(

 

Now and again I'll read reviews where people complain about overindulgence of alcohol by other passengers. I haven't seen it, but I saw it twice in quick succession tonight.

 

Crossing the elevator lobby I passed by two obviously drunk men. They weren't obnoxious, but they were loud and a bit boisterous. Then turning down the hall, I was approached and passed by a rotund and extremely drunk man, he was happy drunk, and his equally rotund but considerably more sober wife guiding him down the passageway. Whew, I caught a strong whiff of alcohol as they went by.

 

It was now about 10:30pm and I arrived back at the room to find both kids already in bed. Alex looked miserable and of course that always tugs on my heart.

 

I have tomorrow and Friday off, so the next few installments should come faster.

 

 

I am really enjoying reading your review! I too order vegetarian entrees sometimes as well. Did you have the eggplant mozzarella tower, I thought it was fantastic! Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise!!!

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Rancher Dave

Rancher Dave

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I went on the same catamaran tour in Cozumel and honestly it was terrible, the snorkeling was no more than a swim with a mask as it was not on a reef as advertised, and like you say no sailing...next time in Cozumel I will likely just shop and save snorkeling and diving for when I go to Australia or Fiji where I really like the reef.

 

Sounds like you had a tough day during the Cozumel port day...with your DD being however older teens get....my DD is 7 so I have a few years before I face those challenges.

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zantedeschia

zantedeschia

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Quick question: did you mention that you were posting compasses? You didn't already do that somewhere and I missed it, did I?

Yes, I'm posting them as patience permits. They're a PITA to scan, then I have to transfer the files from my Windows box to my Unix box and then from that machine to the machine that has my local web server. So it takes me a while. I might do all the Compasses and do the Ocean Adventure stuff later, if that'll help.

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