This cruise is rapidly coming to an end, we have a sea day today and one more tomorrow before we arrive in Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday morning. That will be the day all of the disembarkation fun starts.
The weather has been great for the entire trip, the only real rain we have had was for the 30 minutes when we were walking back to the ship in St. Martin. Today was another sunny day, and the winds are still from the stern, as well as the waves, so it is a smooth ride.
I had my usual coffee and muffin down on Deck 1 while Stephanie slept if for a bit longer, but even she got up a little earlier than usual, she was already up and dressed by the time I got back to the cabin after finishing the blog post for yesterday. We had discussed doing a load of laundry this morning, and I checked the washers on the way back to the room, and a couple were available. Stephanie already had the laundry gathered up and she took them to the laundromat a few cabins down the hall.
While the clothes were washing, we went to buffet breakfast in the World Cafe. We stayed there until the wash was close to finishing, and headed back downstairs to be there when it was done.
We stayed in the cabin while some of the clothes dried for a short time before we could pull out the partially dried shirts and hang them up in the room. We had put our now almost dry rain soaked shoes out on the balcony in the direct sunshine first thing this morning and now they were completely dry, which was good because they were the shoes we wear the most.
We took some time to figure out which of the staff we would tip for the cruise. There were several bartenders that had really helped us out during the cruise, some more than others, so we made the determination of who we would tip and how much. We needed some change so we headed down to the guest relations on Deck 1 and got the bill denominations we needed to divide out the tip money. We brought that back up to the room and put it back in the safe.
Churning Up The Ocean
It was time to get out the rest of the clothes from the dryer, so we headed back to the laundromat to complete that task. Afterward, we decided to go ahead and walk some laps now that we had dry shoes, so we got into our exercise clothes and headed to Deck 2 to walk laps.
Resting After Walking Laps on Deck 2
It was a little tough since our legs were a little sore from our hurried walk back to the ship in St. Martin yesterday in the rain storm. We waked seven laps and that was enough for today.
We wanted to go to the bar in the World Cafe to give our tip to Milos, but he was not there this morning. There had been a safety drill and we knew he was involved in the drills when they occurred. We then headed to the Pool Bar to visit with Gore there, and Stephanie had him make her a Peach Bellini. He had not made her one yet on the cruise, so she had to instruct him on the proportions she liked. I had a Bloody Caesar with the Clamato juice. The actual bar area was full, so we sat at a nearby table and enjoyed watching the ocean go by.
There was a special lunch being served in the World Cafe, it was a Mexican Menu, and we though that would be great for our lunch today. We headed to the buffet, but unfortunately, we were very disappointed in the “Mexican” food. Obviously, the cooks onboard do not know how to make authentic Mexican food, at least the type of Mexican food we are used too.
It was way too difficult to get any tortilla chips, they just did not put a lot out, and they did not last long before they ran out. The salsa was just chopped tomatoes and onions, and was not very good. They did serve guacamole, but it contained giant chunks of avocado. I had to mash it with a fork, and cut it up with a knife before it was the correct consistency, or the consistency I liked. We also had to ask for sour cream. They served something they called a chili relleno, but it was really a piece of a yellow bell pepper with some type of “filling” on it.
There were a couple of things that were ok, but it was our second day in a row with disappointing Mexican food, dinner last night at the Chef’s Table and today at the special buffet for lunch. We heard that we have a French Chef, and I guess he does not know how to make good old fashioned Mexican food.
After lunch we just walked around a bit and after a while decided we would try to sit out by the main pool and get some sun. We headed back to the cabin to put on our swimsuits and apply sunscreen. We got to the pool area, and unfortunately, it was brutally hot. There were no clouds in the sky and there was hardly any breeze since the wind was blowing in the same direction as the ship was heading. We only lasted about 45 minutes before we had to go somewhere and find some shade.
We found some tables on the shady side of the ship at the stern and sat there and enjoyed a little breeze, but mostly the cooler shade. We played some cards, and I had a Amber Ale beer. We wanted to go back to the pool bar because Gore had told Stephanie he would make her a Pina Colada. We headed to the Pool Bar, but unfortunately, Gore was on break, so we headed back to the shady tables and played some more cards waiting for him to return.
Gore finally came back to the Pool Bar and made Stephanie her Pina Colada, and I had another Amber Ale Beer. We talked with him for a while and gave him our tip as appreciation for his service on this cruise. We thanked him for saving us the partial bottle of Seagram’s VO earlier in the cruise, and for sending it to the Explorer’s Lounge so we could enjoy it there.
It was close to 5:00 PM, so we headed down to the cabin to shower and get dressed for dinner. We are eating with Angie, Tony, Shane and Julian again tonight, but this time in Manfredi’s. We were meeting at the Living Room Bar, so we headed down there at about 6:00 PM. We wanted to tip one of the bar tender’s there, Daniel, and needed to be there before 6:30 PM when he leaves to go on break. It was really crowded at the bar, and in the entire area. We were not really sure why it was that crowded, but we were able to get seats at the bar when one couple left. Angie and Tony were sitting with some other people nearby, and we did not want to break up their group. Plus, there were not any seats left where they were sitting anyway.
We were able to give Daniel his tip, but also learned he was having to get off the ship in Ft. Lauderdale because he only had two months remaining on his passport. There had apparently been some issue with Viking and his passport duration because they were flying him back to Peru for him to renew the passport, and then flying him back, hopefully to rejoin this ship, but that was not a certainty.
We looked at the wine list and ordered a red wine from Italy, made in the Sangiovese region. At about the same time as we were tasting it, Andrey, the Assistant Wine Steward came by and said it was a good wine and we should enjoy it. Unfortunately, since we had never tasted it, it seemed a little off. We should have had Andrey taste it to make sure it was good, but we did not. We asked Daniel to open a fresh bottle for us to just sample to compare to the one he had initially poured for us. The initial wine bottle was already open, and we know that if it sits in the bar for even a short time, it can start to go bad, especially in the hot Caribbean.
The new bottle was much better, and even Daniel agreed, and apologized for having given us the first bottle. We were just glad it was not the wine itself, just that open bottle. It was an awkward situation since we had no idea how the wine was really supposed to taste, but we also have experienced being served wine from open bottles on ships before that were not fresh.
In the meantime Angie and Tony had joined us at the bar, the other group they were with was going to dinner. Then there was an incidence with a rude man who was trying to order a drink at the bar. Tony had asked him if the seats were available for them to sit at, and he said yes, but was then not happy that Angie had apparently “blocked” his access to the bar to order his drink when she sat down. Some words were exchanged, but the situation resolved itself when the man finally got his drink and left. He could have just politely asked her to move over a little, not make some rude comment.
We waited a bit and Shane and Julian arrived at the bar, and so we all headed to dinner. It was a fun dinner and we enjoyed trying some different dishes from the ones Stephanie and I had ordered the previous two time we had eaten in Manfredi’s. The service was good, Stephanie had a veal with saltimbocca sauce on it. I ordered the special fish of the day, seared Sea Bass, and it was good, but really thin and it still had the skin on one side, which I do not like on fish. I had presumed it was going to be a nice thick piece of sea bass like we have had on ships before, but it was not, and I was a little disappointed. It was cooked well, and tasted good, but was just slightly larger that we have gotten from the buffet before, it should have been a larger serving for a specialty restaurant’s “special”.
The small serving of fish was not an issue for me having had enough food to eat, we had both ordered the fried calamari for an appetizer again, and I also ordered a side of risotto with my dinner. Stephanie and I also split of a side of the specialty pasta, a crab filled ravioli, which was really good.
Stephanie ordered a chocolate gelato for dessert and I had my Limoncello, OK, maybe two. Dinner had been good and we all had fun eating together.
Shane and Julian headed to the theater for the Captain’s Farewell, and we just went to the Living Room Bar to enjoy some piano music. It was funny because a little while later a few of the officers came by heading to eat at Manfredi’s, and soon afterward, the Captain came by and kidded us about not coming to his farewell, which he said was probably a good thing for us because we had missed his “boring” speech. We all had a good laugh with him and then he left to join the other officers for dinner.
We left the living Room Bar and headed up to the Explorer’s Lounge to visit with Gojko. No one was there at the bar and we had a good time talking with him. A short time later, the string duo came in to play, and that it is just not a good entertainment to have at that bar. We all left and headed back downstairs until they finished playing and then we all headed back for a couple more drinks before retiring for the night. It was midnight again, but we do gain our last hour of time back tonight.