I should have posted this late yesterday but we were unpacking. What an understatement! We ran out of drawer, shelf and hanger space and stowed the rest unpacked in suitcases under the bed. I guess I won't know if we overpacked until midway through the cruise but I get the feeling I did overpack!
The ship is exquisite. Modern and sleek with clean lines. From the time we boarded the ship the personnel have been extremely attentive. We were escorted to our suite and not allowed to carry anything ourselves. The young lady who escorted us carried everything for us. Computers, and camera. Within one hour of boarding our 8 suitcases were just outside our door. In our suite was a chilled bottle of champagne and flowers adorned the desk. Our room attendant Maritza brought us 3 kinds of soap to choose from during the trip. I couldn't decide so she gave us all 3 most fragrant soaps, poured our champagne and presented us with 2 small canapes. It took almost 1 1/2 hours to stow everything. I think we have more medications and over the counter items than CVS carries.
By then we were hungry and tried but found our way to one of the numerous dining rooms and had a fabulous dinner. We were told by a number of people we've met how wonderful the food it on board. They were right! I ordered Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad and a Filet Mignon with Black Peppercorn Sauce. Len had a delicious Baked Tomato Soup and a Filet as well. The color, taste and texture of the vegetables were perfectly done. Although we met other couples aboard, we chose to dine alone and being so tired called it quits by 9PM. On our way to the suite we passed the pool where they had a buffet of antipasti and desserts. Each of us picked up a dessert and headed to our room. We were in bed by 9:30 PM.
I was up by 5:30 AM and made my way to Deck 7 (one floor up - took the stairs) in search of coffee. By 6 AM other people were in the salon. I sat outside at the back of the ship and watched the spectacular sunrise. A little chilly. It is very smooth sailing, the ocean is extremely calm. I brought Len coffee and a muffin and by 7:30 AM were on our balcony enjoying the sun's rays.
We had breakfast at the back of the ship (Deck 7) outdoors and then Len went for a tour of the ship while I took a 45 minute tap dancing class. Needless to say I AM VERY OUT OF SHAPE!. Tomorrow Len and I will tackle line dancing classes (though I haven't told him yet.) Today we plan to relax in the sun by the pool and then dress formally (evening dress and tuxedo) for dinner tonight.
UPDATE JANUARY 6TH - I THOUGHT I LOST MY BEAUTIFUL RING I had gone to one of the public restrooms this morning and washed my hands and forgot to put back on my ring. It dawned on me about 4 hours later and I went back to the restroom to look. It was not there. There was a young man cleaning the sink and he helped me look but nothing. I was panicking! Talk about a rush headache! I went back to our suite thinking I left it on the counter in our bathroom but no luck. I went back up to the public restroom to search again. I was on our floor in front of our suite and asked Maritza if she had seen my ring inside. As I was asking her, a couple passed by and heard me. The woman said to me "Oh, I turned in a ring about 3 hours ago to the Purser." To make a long story short. It was my ring that the Purser had. COINCIDENCE? I don't know but this woman who found my ring just happened to be passing by at the right time! The ship is full of people. Whew!
FRIDAY - JANUARY 7th Came up on deck this morning to have a cigarette around 7 am. There are people here who diligently exercise every morning and they passed by the table where we were sitting quickly walking around and around this upper deck.
Feeling oddly a little out of place I mentioned to Len that perhaps we should exercise as well, so snuffing out my cigarette we proceeded to quickly walk 10 laps. Of course the ulterior motive is not to improve my lung function - but to assure that Len and I have more room in our tummy's for more of the delicious food they offer.
Key to this ship is the quality of food and service. Attentiveness by all the staff is visible- almost too much. Not 15 minutes goes by on deck that there is not a person who does not come by to offer drinks, snacks or blankets.
The food is unbelievable and available 24 hours a day- we had our first formal dinner last evening. Len in his tux and I in a new evening dress. I looked heavy but who's kidding who, I AM. Len had Chateaubriand and I had lobster. I could have eaten 3 portions but chose not to embarrass myself by asking for more.
There are things to do daily aboard and they make sure that you are entertained. This morning they had a guest chef who gave cooking demonstrations that revolved around the use of herbs an spices. Quite informative.
The color of the water has become royal blue almost Disneyish color and the seas are quite calm.
I have interview tomorrow with the hotel manager and have a list of questions that I will be asking. Len will be taking photos of the exquisite restaurant.
Thank goodness for Lester L. Jackson, inventor of ship stabilizers! Yesterday the seas became a rough - 8 to 10 foot swells. I can just imagine how bad it would be if there were none. I did take a pill and it helped, somewhat.
In February I understand that we will be traveling through Hobart Sea somewhere off Australia and the waters on it are extremely rough. Hope I have enough pill for that part of the trip.
Had a nice interview with the Executive Chef and the Restaurant Manager. Good ammunition for the article.
The weather has gotten warmer as we head south. I guess I did not read the literature from the ship well enough and thought there was 5 days at sea. Well there are 8 days at sea. We are about half way though on the first part of the voyage today. From LA to our first port is more than 3,000 miles!
We've seen one other ship out here. Lots of flying fish the size of hummingbirds. We could not believe that there are birds out here in the middle of nowhere. Northern Gannets (spelling may be wrong) One of the officers on the ship said that they can fly for more than 200 miles at a time and sleep on the ocean at night. I guess the ship's passing stirs up the water and the birds just hang out and wait dinner.
Last night we had a special dinner with the staff all dressed in their white uniforms and others who are taking the whole world cruise. There are a number of people who will disembark at various ports along the way. The dinner was 7 courses long with 3 different wines!
We startled the Captain by asking if they had an LRAD system on board. In November 2005, pirates attacked the cruise ship Seabourn Spirit off the coast of Somalia. The pirates were in a small boat, but they had machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The cruise ship, on the other hand, had a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD). Many media outlets credited the LRAD with warning off the pirates, leaving the Seabourn Spirit unscathed. Some of the coverage was pretty dramatic. News stories described the LRAD as a sonic weapon that fired a beam of sound at the pirates and drove them away. (Made them blind, nauseous and headaches.
The Captain said he himself was trained on how to use the system but assured us that they have ongoing intelligence information to warn him if there is any danger in these waters. At least he knows how the fire the weapon if needed,
Now who would ask such a questions but us!
Food of course is great and we still jog around the upper deck but I can only do 10 - Len is up to 15. Trying to eat healthy however it is hard to do since desserts are delicious and plentiful.
It is not yet 8 AM and am going to wake Len up! The bed is really really comfortable.
I'm absolutely loving your blog. Only you can make me feel like I'm right there with you.....wish I was! Keep it coming I can't wait until the next update.
I should have posted this late yesterday but we were unpacking. What an understatement! We ran out of drawer, shelf and hanger space and stowed the rest unpacked in suitcases under the bed. I guess I won't know if we overpacked until midway through the cruise but I get the feeling I did overpack!
ReplyDeleteThe ship is exquisite. Modern and sleek with clean lines. From the time we boarded the ship the personnel have been extremely attentive. We were escorted to our suite and not allowed to carry anything ourselves. The young lady who escorted us carried everything for us. Computers, and camera. Within one hour of boarding our 8 suitcases were just outside our door.
In our suite was a chilled bottle of champagne and flowers adorned the desk. Our room attendant Maritza brought us 3 kinds of soap to choose from during the trip. I couldn't decide so she gave us all 3 most fragrant soaps, poured our champagne and presented us with 2 small canapes.
It took almost 1 1/2 hours to stow everything. I think we have more medications and over the counter items than CVS carries.
By then we were hungry and tried but found our way to one of the numerous dining rooms and had a fabulous dinner.
We were told by a number of people we've met how wonderful the food it on board. They were right!
I ordered Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad and a Filet Mignon with Black Peppercorn Sauce. Len had a delicious Baked Tomato Soup and a Filet as well. The color, taste and texture of the vegetables were perfectly done.
Although we met other couples aboard, we chose to dine alone and being so tired called it quits by 9PM.
On our way to the suite we passed the pool where they had a buffet of antipasti and desserts. Each of us picked up a dessert and headed to our room. We were in bed by 9:30 PM.
I was up by 5:30 AM and made my way to Deck 7 (one floor up - took the stairs) in search of coffee. By 6 AM other people were in the salon. I sat outside at the back of the ship and watched the spectacular sunrise. A little chilly. It is very smooth sailing, the ocean is extremely calm. I brought Len coffee and a muffin and by 7:30 AM were on our balcony enjoying the sun's rays.
We had breakfast at the back of the ship (Deck 7) outdoors and then Len went for a tour of the ship while I took a 45 minute tap dancing class. Needless to say I AM VERY OUT OF SHAPE!. Tomorrow Len and I will tackle line dancing classes (though I haven't told him yet.) Today we plan to relax in the sun by the pool and then dress formally (evening dress and tuxedo) for dinner tonight.
UPDATE
ReplyDeleteJANUARY 6TH - I THOUGHT I LOST MY BEAUTIFUL RING
I had gone to one of the public restrooms this morning and washed my hands and forgot to put back on my ring.
It dawned on me about 4 hours later and I went back to the restroom to look. It was not there. There was a young man cleaning the sink and he helped me look but nothing. I was panicking! Talk about a rush headache!
I went back to our suite thinking I left it on the counter in our bathroom but no luck. I went back up to the public restroom to search again.
I was on our floor in front of our suite and asked Maritza if she had seen my ring inside. As I was asking her, a couple passed by and heard me. The woman said to me "Oh, I turned in a ring about 3 hours ago to the Purser."
To make a long story short. It was my ring that the Purser had.
COINCIDENCE? I don't know but this woman who found my ring just happened to be passing by at the right time! The ship is full of people. Whew!
FRIDAY - JANUARY 7th
ReplyDeleteCame up on deck this morning to have a cigarette around 7 am. There are people here who diligently exercise every morning and they passed by the table where we were sitting quickly walking around and around this upper deck.
Feeling oddly a little out of place I mentioned to Len that perhaps we should exercise as well, so snuffing out my cigarette we proceeded to quickly walk 10 laps.
Of course the ulterior motive is not to improve my lung function - but to assure that Len and I have more room in our tummy's for more of the delicious food they offer.
Key to this ship is the quality of food and service. Attentiveness by all the staff is visible- almost too much. Not 15 minutes goes by on deck that there is not a person who does not come by to offer drinks, snacks or blankets.
The food is unbelievable and available 24 hours a day- we had our first formal dinner last evening.
Len in his tux and I in a new evening dress. I looked heavy but who's kidding who, I AM.
Len had Chateaubriand and I had lobster. I could have eaten 3 portions but chose not to embarrass
myself by asking for more.
There are things to do daily aboard and they make sure that you are entertained. This morning they had a guest chef who gave cooking demonstrations that revolved around the use of herbs an spices. Quite informative.
The color of the water has become royal blue almost Disneyish color and the seas are quite calm.
I have interview tomorrow with the hotel manager and have a list of questions that I will be asking. Len
will be taking photos of the exquisite restaurant.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePhotos of Len and I formally dressed
ReplyDeleteHere is Len
ReplyDeleteWell I guess I'll have almost 3 months to figure out how to put pictures on the blog
ReplyDeleteSo much for adding photos for now.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for Lester L. Jackson, inventor of ship stabilizers! Yesterday the seas became a rough - 8 to 10 foot swells. I can just imagine how bad it would be if there were none. I did take a pill and it helped, somewhat.
In February I understand that we will be traveling through Hobart Sea somewhere off Australia and the waters on it are extremely rough. Hope I have enough pill for that part of the trip.
Had a nice interview with the Executive Chef and the Restaurant Manager. Good ammunition for the article.
The weather has gotten warmer as we head south. I guess I did not read the literature from the ship well enough and thought there was 5 days at sea. Well there are 8 days at sea. We are about half way though on the first part of the voyage today. From LA to our first port is more than 3,000 miles!
We've seen one other ship out here. Lots of flying fish the size of hummingbirds. We could not believe that there are birds out here in the middle of nowhere. Northern Gannets (spelling may be wrong) One of the officers on the ship said that they can fly for more than 200 miles at a time and sleep on the ocean at night. I guess the ship's passing stirs up the water and the birds just hang out and wait dinner.
Last night we had a special dinner with the staff all dressed in their white uniforms and others who are taking the whole world cruise. There are a number of people who will disembark at various ports along the way. The dinner was 7 courses long with 3 different wines!
We startled the Captain by asking if they had an LRAD system on board.
In November 2005, pirates attacked the cruise ship Seabourn Spirit off the coast of Somalia. The pirates were in a small boat, but they had machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The cruise ship, on the other hand, had a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD).
Many media outlets credited the LRAD with warning off the pirates, leaving the Seabourn Spirit unscathed. Some of the coverage was pretty dramatic. News stories described the LRAD as a sonic weapon that fired a beam of sound at the pirates and drove them away. (Made them blind, nauseous and headaches.
The Captain said he himself was trained on how to use the system but assured us that they have ongoing intelligence information to warn him if there is any danger in these waters. At least he knows how the fire the weapon if needed,
Now who would ask such a questions but us!
Food of course is great and we still jog around the upper deck but I can only do 10 - Len is up to 15.
Trying to eat healthy however it is hard to do since desserts are delicious and plentiful.
It is not yet 8 AM and am going to wake Len up! The bed is really really comfortable.
I'm absolutely loving your blog. Only you can make me feel like I'm right there with you.....wish I was! Keep it coming I can't wait until the next update.
ReplyDelete