Saint John New Brunswick and the Night Prior

We are a little slow getting up today.  You see last night we were busy.  First it started with Multi Media Trivia with the theme being 60s and 70s music trivia.  We joined up with some ladies we met earlier Mark hosted.  He played a bit of a song and we had to name the song and the artist.  Wow we actually tied with another team and we were each given a bottle of sparkling wine.  We left it for the women to enjoy.

At 7:45 we had the Most Travelled Passenger Party. 

This is a party to honour the top 40 travellers on this voyage.  For this trip we are number 8 and 9 and we are happy to attend.  The Captain was surprised to see us and we posed for the picture, for which I will scan and put here when I get home. Oh and they had only one door open for the Most Travelled Party, remember last week I stated here that the queue was long and awkward to get in and looks like they have fixed it.  It ran much smoother this time.

Tonight we sit by ourselves and we both get a drink and then the appetizers start coming around.  This week we thought the tapas were much better than last week’s party.  Loved the goat cheese balls, the drumettes, and the sirloin.  Dana the CSD came by and we caught up with her.  Bernie even stopped and chatted with Captain Pomata for a bit and asked him about the Bay of Fundy and asked how difficult it was to sail it. 

Dana and Jasper

After the party we went to Sabatinis for dinner with a friend.  The meal was very good, I started with the calamari (which I couldn’t finish) and then had the lobster three ways.  It was done a bit differently and I enjoyed it more this time.  We had a few bottles of wine and Sicilian Kisses drink for dessert – yup my dessert is a martini drink.    Alberto came down and surprised us for a bit and we didn’t get back to our cabin until midnight!  And with the clocks going forward ouch!

So I am back to the morning of St. John and well a bit of a hangover!  Little sleep and it is overcast with a light drizzle and all I can think of is more sleep.  I didn’t go to breakfast I just took my time getting ready.  We wandered ashore around 10 am and walked to the mall to pick up a few things and then crossed the street to the dollar store and then wandered into the city market again.  Oh and went to the Starbucks in the mall too.  I am feeling a little bit more alive now. 

We decide to walk the boardwalk along the Harbour which is lovely and it has stopped raining.  It is rather cool and windy but I really enjoyed it.  As we make our way back towards Uptown we agree a bite to eat is in order and we enjoy a relaxing meal before walking a bit more.  This is a nice city.

We are back on board and I try to stay awake but I am so tired.  I crash and I sleep until 6 pm (2 hours)!  Guess I needed it.  Tonight is the Captain Circle Party.  Captain Pomata welcomed us as we came in and even hugged me!  Wow guess since we have sailed with him five times this year he feels comfortable with us.   We make our way to a seat near the back, we have learned we prefer these seats near the back cause it is away from people and we feel okay chatting throughout it and it doesn’t bother anyone.  A quick cocktail but no food for us even though the wait staff are trying to get us to take something we are good.  We chat with Dana again, and she joins us for awhile and she is a hoot.  I like her, and if she lived closer I know we would be friends.  One thing we noticed is they didn’t show the Royal Princess christening like they did last week.  Maybe they read my blog and how I didn’t enjoy it…. Anyways just glad they didn’t.

Down to the dining room for dinner.  Douw is waiting for us and we enjoy a lovely dinner with Remil and Jerwin serving us, I am going to miss these guys when I get home. 

We then head to the Princess Theater and watch the Born to Be Wild show.  Amazing again!  I took lots of pics will try and post some here now or at least when I get home this weekend. 

Corey the Deputy Cruise Director is a hoot - he got a hold of the camera and well he let out his artistic side

After the show we head down to say hi to Delmarie in Facets – she is happy to see us as she didn’t see us yesterday.  We catch up and a few other crew come in and chat and well lots of laughs were had.  Time for bed.  Halifax tomorrow.

Tuesday Evening

The Most Traveled Cocktail Party is this evening in Skywalkers at 7:30.  We arrive just after and there is quite a line up at the bottom of the walking sidewalk.  Someone is checking names from a master list and also calling out names.  This is quite odd, not sure why they don’t just take our invite and cross off the names one at a time then send us up the ramp to meet the Captain.  I know they need to make sure there is no bottle neck at the top but they could always wait before sending up the next couple.

I am not sure what number were are on the list but I know we are not near the top.  The third highest is around 900 days with the top being around 1300 days.  We are just over 300 days but we are definetly the youngest in the crowd.  Many people have been on for the last Baltic cruise then did the crossing and are doing the first Canada New England.  The couple we sit with from Adelaide Australia did exactly this.  A very nice couple to sit with and we enjoyed our time with them.

We did get a picture with the Captain.  It was nice to see Captain Pomata again, and he is now sporting a beard.  He looks very good with this beard.  

I like the cocktail parties personally.  We can order any type of drink we wish and we do and the wait staff come around with lovely tapas and there is a food station set up as well with other items.  But we didn’t indulge too much because we are dining at the Crown Grill tonight.  We meet Adam Gorst the Hotel General Manager and we are so wowed as he comes around serving crepes for everyone and I must say they are great too and a nice treat.  He even wanted to clear our plates but I wouldn’t let him.  He is much too high an officer to do that.  I actually told him I wasn’t finished and then when a bar staff came by I gave the plate to them.

We finally got to meet Michael Glass the Food and Beverage Manager who Douw had been telling us about and invited him to join us for a drink in the Crown Grill later.  We also met Dana I the Customer Services Director and we really like her.  Her smile and her caring manner really shine thru.  She knows Johan and we giggle about our experiences with him.

Overall the party was very nice and the views spectacular something we have never experienced at other parties.  The officers get a chance to wander around and chat with many different people instead of sitting with just one officer at a luncheon.  The food is good too and I like the drinks more than just wine.  But a luncheon is nice too but my preference is the cocktail party.

We meet up in the Crown Grill for dinner at 9 and we are sat in a very nice booth at the end and enjoy a lovely bottle of Jack London, and after that a lovely bottle of wine that we got in port from South Africa. 

I ordered the Black and Blue Onion soup and it was good, not as hot as we are use to and not as flavourful as we are use to but still good.  In fact I didn’t even finish it because of this and to save room for the steak.  I ordered the filet mignon medium and it arrived perfectly cooked and so wonderfully seasoned on the outside.  I was able to also get a side of Bernaisse sauce too.  For our sides we got a variety of items, garlic fries, mashed potatoes, asparagus, spinach and also mushrooms.  They no longer offer scalloped potatoes or creamed corn.  The entrée was fabulous and I managed to eat most of my steak.  But had to save room for dessert.

Of course many of you already know me well enough to know I got the molten chocolate cake and we sprinkled some pink salt on it to bring out the flavours of the chocolate.  Yummy.  I am writing this a few days later and my mouth is watering just thinking of it.

Dining in the Crown Grill is an experience, a nice treat, great way to celebrate and trust me you don’t need a special occasion to dine here, just being on vacation is a good enough reason.

Bar Harbor

I wake to someone talking loudly in the hallway….. What time is it?  Why are they talking so loud?  Then I realize we have dropped anchor and it is the purser’s staff announcing that the tender service is now available.  Oh…. It is 7:15

We decide to head to the dining room for breakfast this morning and we had a lovely table right near the window and pancakes and sausage hit the spot.  The staff here are amazing… so attentive and patient. 

I will state that there was a bit of a queue to get a table but they moved it along very fast so patience is necessary but worth it.

We are not going ashore for a bit so we are down in the coffee bar enjoying a latte and a tea while we see so many grab tender tickets to go ashore.  We are meeting up with Delmarie to go ashore and enjoy a nice meal.  The sun is shining and the place looks beautiful.

Around 11 am they no longer require that you go to the dining room for tender tickets.  Although we don’t require tender tickets anyways cause of priority but we aren’t in any rush.  We only head ashore around noon.  The ride is quick and the weather is lovely, a light jacket is required as the winds can be cool.

When we get ashore we head to find lobster.  We walk up the main street to the Lobster Pound.  A nice simple restaurant that a local recommended.  We sit outside and order a drink and well some lobster.  Bernie gets a lobster roll dinner and I and Delmarie get a pound and a quarter whole lobster.  Marketprice for the lobster was $15 and then we added on the meal option for an additional $12 which included chowder, mussels, fries and corn on the cob and a piece of pie for dessert.  Oh my what a lot of food but I really dug into that lobster!  It was so good and so fresh. 

After the meal we are so full and we need to walk a bit.  We walk around the streets and pop into a few stores.  I ended up buying a tshirt that has the lobster with the sign that says “say no to pot”. 

We stroll along the water and then we are back on board around 4 pm.

Dinner tonight is the Crown Grill with a dear friend but it is going to be late around 9 pm as he can’t really get away until then.  But it works out great for us cause we have the Most Traveled Cocktail Party tonight at 7:30.  Yes it is a cocktail party as this is something Captain Pomata prefers and personally we do too.  We don’t know where we fall in the numbers as we have not even met the Captain Circle Host yet and I can’t be bother to wait for his desk hours.  We hear he is from Buenos Aries and Delmarie speaks highly of him so we will say hi soon, well tonight for sure.

Bernie is trying trivia this afternoon again.  Me I am just going to wander the ship.  Got some great pictures of the entire ship earlier today for my fan page.  Make sure to head there and check out the album when I get back.  Here is a link to my fan page.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cruising-Princess-Cruiseline-with-Vickie/240526055979098 

I sat in Vines for a bit and enjoyed two glasses of my wine that is stored at Vines and did some Sudoku puzzles and Bernie joined me after his trivia for which he said he did poorly at but met a lovely Mother Daughter from Ontario.

I am back in the cabin now.  Earlier in the voyage Bernie gave me some little pampering items and I am indulging in a deep moisturizing hair mask and a facial mask, trust me, no pictures of this will be put up here on this blog.  But the results may be later on tonight at dinner.