Main Dining Room and Sizzle!

We finally made it to the Main Dining Room for a meal (not just a tour) on Wednesday.  With a few hundred people arriving at the same time, it was a bit overwhelming.  We forgot our reservation card in our room, so the Maitre D helped us find out table.

Table 531 was on the ground floor (there are two floors to this dining room) and was a table for two, making it relatively quiet (tables ranged from 2-12).  I enjoyed watching the whole crazy process of dining on the ship - it made Ron kind of sleepy though.  There are two waiters and a bar person for all the sections, and they never stop moving!  We also both noticed that you could feel the ship`s movement and engines more in the dining room. 

Our waiter Jimmy, and his assistant Emmanuel were really happy to finally see us!  They introduced themselves, and Jimmy went through the menu for the evening, which he would do every night - telling us what he would go for.  

I started with a plate of crostini, and Ron with a veal carpaccio.  

The soups were...souper!  Ron had the duck consomme with wontons - Jimmy caught me trying a bite and nearly brought me one just for me.  I was quite content with my corn and chorizo selection though.

 

The theme of the evening must have been things wrapped in pork - I had the chicken wrapped in prosciuotto, and Ron had pork medallions wrapped in bacon.  I like the way these guys think!   Also delightful was the carrot flan on Ron`s plate.  Yummers!

Jimmy brought a tray of desserts to show us before we made our selection.  Ron had coconut creme caramel and I had a delightful mousse cake with pistachio cream.

After dinner, I mustered up a bit of energy and went to check out the Carribean Sizzle Party on the pool deck - this mostly consisted of the entertainment staff dancing, and trying to get others to do the same.  They also kept bringing around more food, the last thing I needed in that moment!

At Sea

Wednesday was our first day at sea, making the trip from Key West to Grand Cayman.  It was lovely heading south, it just kept getting warmer and sunnier.  I wasn't sure what we would do on a day at sea, but it turns out it was silly of me to worry, Celebrity makes sure you never run out of things to do!

The highlights are things we were interested in doing.  We went for breakfast in the buffet, where amazingly enough I didn't take any pictures.  I did consume something called breakfast pizza which featured scrambled eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese as toppings.  Yum.

We got to Wake up you Brain trivia next, in the swanky martini bar.  The questions were surprisingly difficult, and while we did fare well, we didn't win a pen.

From there we headed off for the Galley Tour entitled "Heartbeat of the Operation".  It was the largest group of people they'd ever had turn up for this, so I must not have been the only foodie on trip. Our sub group was led around by the executive chef himself, Claudio. 

Fun Facts learned on the Galley Tour:  

• There are 120 people who work in the kitchen staff. 
• The pastry station operates 24 hours a day to keep the sweets, bread and ice cream flowing. 
• The kitchen staff all wear different coloured neckerchiefs which indicate their skill and experience.  The colours seemed to match martial arts belts.  Someone with a yellow neckerchief may only be allowed to clean the kicthen.  
• The ship re-stocks every 9 days.  
• The only prepared items brought on the ship are french fries and ketchup.  Everything else is made on board (and let me tell you the salad dressings and ice creams sauces are to die for).  
• The ship is reviewed by US Public Health every 6 months.  
• The galley is actually two mirror galleys that each supply food for one side of the ship.  
• There are elevators in the galley.  
• There are lots of people on staff dedicated to one task - dough man, ice cream man, potato man...

It was a lot of fun to get to see where are the delightful food was coming from and to get to thank the staff in person for all their hard work keeping us so well fed!

 

We went back to the room and got so relaxed on the deck looking out at scenes like this that we didn't get to any of the other trivia events that day.

 

I did tragically drop a knitting needle down here.   Thankfully, I was able to replace it with a cuticle pusher I found in the nail care kit in the room!  I  highly recommend this if you ever need a replacement size 3 US double pointed needle.  I even used the emery board to smooth it out :) 

 

We had committed to getting some exercise every day on the trip, so we went to the fitness centre around 4:30.  It was great!  There was a towel service, and cold towels in a fridge, lots of machines and I think one of the best views on the whole ship.  I will be closing my eyes on the elliptical here in Ottawa having fond memories of the cruise ship gym! 

We had been watching the in ship TV channel and wanted to go meet the port and shopping guide (Lisa), and then maybe hit the comedy show for the evening.  We had so much fun talking to Lisa we never got to the show!  Lisa is from Vancouver, and her job on the ship is to help you shop in the ports (she found the job on craigslist - which is probably the best craiglist story ever).  She gave us guides and maps and coupons for our day in Grand Cayman.

Then we headed off for our first dinner in the main dining room!

Informal Night

After all that walking around in Key West, we were ready for some serious relaxing.  We hung out on the deck for a while, then headed up to the Aquaspa for a couple's massage.  Neither of us had had a massage before, so it was a fun thing to try, and a good way to recover from all the excitement of a port day.

This evening was the formal night on the ship - but we weren't up for suiting up - so we had Effren bring our meal to the room.  He brought us the full menu from the restaurant and we left him a note with our choices before we headed out for the massage.

We had the champagne that came with our room chilled for the occassion, and I started with the pomegranate scented fruit salad.

 

Ron went with the smoked salmon appy.

I was aiming for the lightest possible meal that day (I was still getting used to the life of cruise excess), so I went with the chilled tangerine and apple soup. 

Ron had the chef's suggestion lamb, and I went with chilean sea bass.

 

 

For dessert, I tried the no-sugar added option - phyllo, lemon cream and berries.  The food on the ship had quite a bit of 70s flair, so Ron got to try Cherries Jubilee, a little melty from the room-service approach, but still tasty I hear. 

A lovely way to get to enjoy even more time in our sweet suite. 

Key West

Key West was super awesome.  Its a very colourful place with lots of artists and people on cool bikes.  It also has an awesome story about seceeding from the US. 

As I noted, the sunrise was really spectacular.  It cleared off, then clouded over around lunchtime, just when Ron and I were getting over warm.

After breakfast on the deck, Ron and I headed into town.  The first thing I found was a yarn store!  I knew this was going to be a good town.

We wandered down the street toward the lighthouse, and saw some cool stuff like this amazing theater. 

While I mailed postcards, Ron took pictures of the chickens at the Post Office.  There were roosters all over the place here, just hanging out. 

 
Eventually we made it to the lighthouse and it was worth the $10 dollar fee for the climb for these views.  The top one is of the Hemingway house, and of course a beauty shot back to the ship.

I didn't like the staircase down from the lighthouse very much - so I was pretty happy when I made it back to solid ground. 

We stopped at the Blonde Giraffe for our mandatory Key Lime Pie fix.  Eaten on a Key Lime Bench.

 

 After more shopping around we also had some conch fritters, as it seemed like the right thing to do.  And, of course those came with a Key Lime Aioli.

And our last stop was at Peppers of Key West, which is a hot sauce tasting bar.  They bring you a bowl of tostitos, and then start dosing out little cups of the many many hot sauces.  We tried maybe 15 or 20 of them including one that was 30% banana (amazing!), one with avocado, several chipotle ones and of course one that had key lime.  We bought a case of sauces for home use.

We got back to the ship and our butler Effren had helpfully left us some tea time treats.  We learned the next day that he would stop by every afternoon with a cart of crustless sandwiches, treats and tea.  We stopped eating lunch so we could enjoy it more thoroughly.  (Sandwich highlights included: veal and melon, strawberry and cheese, brie and grape).  

Then we waved good bye to Key West and set off for a day at sea.

Murano

As suite passengers we were invited to a complimentary dinner at Murano on the first night of the cruise (usually there is a $35/person fee for this smaller, fancier restaurant).  We couldn't have had a better kick off to our cruise experience!

This is probably a good place to explain that I made myself official food-o-grapher of this trip, so there are a lot of pictures of meals.  Feel free to skip them if you think this is boring...but I thought my foodie friends would be interested. 

There was an amuse bouche - hummus, pita and an aromatized oil. 

I couldn't resist this goat cheese souffle for starters.  It came with a parmesan cream and a tomato-y and pesto-y sauce, and that crazy puff pastry crown. 

Ron tried sweetbreads, having just discussed them with his Dad before we left. 

This salad was incredible.  Heirloom tomatoes, apples and then that amazing homemade buffalo mozzarella with an olive tapenade.  I can't say enough good things about that cheese. 

Ron tried the mushroom cappuccino which came with mushroom ice cream.  I tried both, and they were delicious.  The mushroom ice cream was both sweet and savory.

I had the surf and turf - filet mignon and a lobster tail.  The waiter took the lobster out of its shell tableside.  Earlier, across the restaurant from us something was being flambe'ed tableside that made about a 6 foot flame.  Lots of interesting things to watch in this restaurant.  Those potatoes are about 90% butter I believe.

Ron just had the surf. 

When they asked us to order dessert at the beginning of the meal because they were that complicated, I thought it was for show.  Then this came out.  And I was soooooo glad they had enough time to make it all.  Loose memory indicates those were: mint sorbet (carmel corn on top), raspberry and creme, chocolate mousse, strawberry poached in wine, apple cake and something kind of custardy.  They were all winners, but that strawberry one was the most interesting. 

 

This was all finished off with a tray of petit fours.  We also could have had a cheese course (there was a cart they brought to the table), but that's less than ideal for Ron and believe me, we were plenty full. 

All in all, this was an awesome meal.  I'm so glad they invited us down, because I might have been reluctant to try it, but I'm so glad we got that experience.  If you are cruising I would recommend the specialty restaurant for any special event, or when you want a quieter atmosphere than the main dining room. 

Sail Away!

Monday was embarkation and sailaway!  Huzzah!  This is the first picture we took on the ship.  Note the sizeable lifeboat above my head. 

We couldn't access our rooms till 1, but that didn't stop me from starting my knitting project (the first sock was completed today). 

Then we got to our crazy awesome room!

 

Ron and I celebrated sail away with canapes on our deck.