Our two days at sea

Well we really did not do anything memorable, or at least I doubt it is all that exciting for most of you to read.

Both days started out with breakfast.  Have to say I love the fresh squeezed orange juice, which is $2.75 a glass but so darn yummy.  Note you get free orange juice but the fresh squeezed is a nominal fee and it is a big glass.  We are loving the breakfasts each morning.  The food is excellent, hot and presented beautifully.

We attend the Wake Show taping in Princess Live.  We get to meet the new Deputy Cruise Director Kelly from Australia.  She is lovely and very knowledgeable and it is hard to believe she just flew to Florida and then joined the Royal the next day.  It is seamless here performance and she shines.

Lisa of course is professional and makes everyone so comfortable.  I love how she asks all the guests about their first contract and how it they felt.  It gives us as passengers a glimpse into their lives as crew.

The meet and greet is at 10 am in Club 6, I thought it was 11 and showed up late but there were still some people there.  It was lovely to see Louise and Brian again.  We sailed with them a while ago.  Brian just retired and this is his trip to celebrate a well deserved vacation. 

Our afternoon is mixed with reading, sitting on the deck getting some sun, watching a movie and later in the afternoon we invite our neighbours over for a drink.  We met them the first day and they are lovely.  They haven’t cruised in a while but they are so excited to be on board.  Lynette and Dan feel like old friends now.  It is so enjoyable to see the cruising experience thru their eyes and why we still love to cruise.

They did share a funny story that I have to share here (I did ask them if it was okay to repeat it here).  At dinner they were sat beside a couple.  The woman did not seem to like a single thing that was brought to her.  And I mean everything, every course!  She made a face after each bite and of course the waiter notices this and makes every attempt to remedy the situation.  The Head Waiter comes over and is concerned about accommodating her.  The Head Waiter asks “what he can do for her”.  The husband pipes up and says “trust me there is nothing you can do!  She is the problem, not you”.  Oh my, I break out in hysterics when Lynette tells me this.  But then she said the husband later says to the waiter “I may need a new cabin now”. 

It is key to remember there are just some people you can never satisfy and obviously this woman is one of these people.  I think she would of found the ice to be too cold too.

Okay back to our day.  We want to head back to our table tonight.  We arrive just prior to 8 pm and we are happy to see our wait staff again.  But the whole area is noticeable busier.  Our waiter is busy but he still shines - Dragaisa is excellent.  We have a new Head Waiter now - Jorge who we remember from the Star and the Crown. 

Tonight we start with the chicharones (I am sorry can’t recall the spelling) they are sort of like chicken nuggets (but 100% better) with this spicy/sweet dipping sauce.  I have the corn and sweet potato chowder as my second.  For my entrée I get the Pad Thai.  I normally would of gotten the surf and turf but we have had beef two nights in a row so we both want something different.  I love the Pad Thai and again it doesn’t disappoint.

But as the dinner progresses we discuss the idea of giving up our dining reservation.  You see we have this table every night at 8 pm.  The Concerto dining room is great and is used for traditional early seating at 5:30 and then it is used for those that want standing reservations.  So there is a definite feel of traditional late seating too. 

We just don’t do traditional well.  We have been feeling a bit confined to a set time and restricted.  Sometimes we want to eat earlier, sometimes later, sometimes we meet up with friends and it goes late and we don’t want to be late for our table.  Also tonight’s meal was just too noisy and busy and we agree that we will give up this table for the rest of the voyage.

Also tonight is the German Buffet upstairs and we missed it last cruise and we are missing it again.  But we won’t miss it next voyage. 

Now we will just show up in the anytime dining room when we are hungry and ask for a table for two and I know they will take very good care of us.

For the second sea day we sleep in a bit and after breakfast we are relaxing down in Vines where we run into Brian and Louise and catch up with them.  We need to plan a dinner together with them. 

Tonight is the first formal night and again we are not doing formal but I did take pictures of the menu for the person who was curious so check out my facebook fan page for the pictures which I will post once I get home.

We are planning to have friends Sanja and Marty over to the cabin tonight for dinner and wine.  We will do room service and relax and have fun.  This is why we love to cruise!