Rome – Transatlantic 2009 Day 15 – Atlantic Crossing Day 2
December 9, 2009
Yesterday was the 2nd day of our crossing. The weather has continued to hold nicely with at most 6 foot swells. We did run through a couple of rain showers, but the Captain explained those as necessary because of budget cuts and he need to clean the outside of the ship. It’s really nice to have a personable Captain instead of some of the old stodgies you get on some ships. The Captain said he expects the sea state to remain pretty much the same for the rest of the crossing. Woot – two crossings in a row with great weather!
I got the upper hand on my cold yesterday. Still a bit of head congestion and occasionally coughing but I am able to function and do things unlike the day before where I chose to take it easy and watch movies in the cabin, though it was very relaxing.
I spent most of the day yesterday at various vantage points around the ship just taking in the beauty of the ocean. I am kind of weird. I am quite content and happy on some sea days to just stare at the ocean. The mind wanders and clears itself. I like looking for various anomalies or variations in the ocean in the distance. I can just sit there and stare for hours on end. That’s pretty much impossible for Suzanne. She likes to be on the go. Just staring at the ocean is not her cup of tea. She would much rather be sitting with a group gabbing which does nothing for me.
Today was also a good day for ocean staring since Suzanne and her Cruise Critic friends had their cabin crawl. About 40 of them go around looking at the cabins of other Cruise Critic folks to see the different variations and options. As one of the view Family Ocean Veranda cabins on the ship, ours was on the list to be visited.
In the late afternoon, we had the Captain Clubs Celebration party. It’s a pretty good deal. They have free cocktails and food with some special entertainment. This cruise is kind of unique in that there are 1500 Captain Clubs members on the cruise. It turns out that they are pretty much equally divided between classic, select and elite. We are select members but actually make the elite level with this cruise. They gave a little award to the Captains Club members with the most cruises – a couple from Belgium who were on their 54th cruise with Celebrity! That’s living!
Prior to dinner our show tonight was a comedian, Glenn Hirsch. He was pretty good and also clean. He was perhaps not as good as the comedian we saw last year (Fred Klett) but still entertaining and enjoyable to see. The kids enjoyed him too.
After the comedian, it was time for the Celebrity Singing Star competition. That’s basically, the Celebrity version of American Idol. Based on folks singing at the various karaoke sessions, they picked four singers to compete in the Singing Star competition. Suzanne was one of the four singers selected to compete. The top two vote getters in the competition would move on to the overall Starring You competition that Celebrity does for various forms of talent. Each singer got to sing one song and then be judged by a panel like on Idol. The judging panel was comprised of two singers from the Solstice Singers and Dancers Broadway cast and one randomly selected passenger. Suzanne sang Girl in 14G and did a good performance. It was even good enough to earn her one of the top two spots in the competition (exact order wasn’t revealed) and advance to the Starring You finals. She was pretty excited.
Dinner was, well, very nice again. I opted for the prime rib. Suzanne had an orange roughy. Sean had penne pasta with prosciutto and tomatoes. Savannah had shrimp scampi. They were all very good.
After dinner, we retired to the cabin and watched a movie before turning in for the night around midnight. We once again, like every night on the crossing, had the benefit of gaining an extra hour. We wanted to be rested as tomorrow is our main wine event day. We have a Captain’s Club wine seminar just before lunch and then we have a riedel wine crystal seminar/tasting in the mid afternoon followed by a wine connoisseur dinner. That last one sounds really good. It’s a specially prepared dinner with specially selected wines matched up. I haven’t seen the final wine list, but the last one had some huge wines (ie Laffite Rothschild) on it that I normally wouldn’t get a chance to drink or even taste. The kids are on their own for dinner! We are excited.
Barcelona and Transatlantic Cruise 2008 – Day 7 – Malaga, Spain
December 2, 2008
Today was our first port of call on our 2008 transatlantic cruise. The port was Malaga, Spain, the birthplace of famed painter Picasso. The ship docked about 7:00 am, but due to our late bedtime the night before, we didn’t rise from our slumber until about 11:00 am.
It was a bit cold and windy outside and the primary point of interest for us, a Moorish castle, was closed on Monday, our day of call. So, we decided to forego going ashore and spend the day on the boat instead.
We grabbed a quick lunch of hamburgers and fries and folks pretty much went their own way. Sean and Savannah spent most of the day in the Fun Factory playing video games and board games with the counselors. There are only six kids on the cruise and only one is near their age.
I spent some time walking around the ship and enjoying the scenic Spanish countryside. I also spent a bit of time online catching up on stuff I have been missing while gone thus far. Suzanne hooked up with some of her Cruise Critic friends and enjoyed an afternoon of gab. In the late afternoon, Sean and I enjoyed an hour or so of Table Tennis. So it was quite a nice, leisurely, enjoyable day for us.
Right before our dinner service, was family karaoke night. Normally on a cruise a lot of the kids and their parents get together for karaoke. Tonight, it was just Suzanne, Savannah and Sean singing.
I am going to sound like a broken record, but we enjoyed another fabulous dinner. It was Escargot night, so Suzanne and the kids enjoyed the foul 
appetizer. It’s one of the kid’s favorite dishes on the cruise. Sean also couldn’t resist another shrimp cocktail – he plans to have one each night.
For the main course, the kids and I had a young roasted chicken while Suzanne opted for the crab and crawfish stuffed flounder. The chicken was very delicious and quite good. Suzanne said the fish was very good but could have been a bit hotter. Our waiter seemed a bit overloaded last night and running behind.
Our sommelier was also hopping and at one point was seen caring about a dozen bottles of wine. However, we have learned the secret of ordering wine on a cruise to ensure you are not waiting for the wine into the dinner service. Towards the end of the dinner service we actually order our wine for the next night. Then, it’s already sitting at the table waiting for us when we arrive for dinner. The maitre de even brings us the next night’s menu to use in ordering wine for the next night. It’s a very effective system. We always get in good with the sommelier too and enjoy good wine chats with him.
After dinner, it was off to the first karaoke night. Of course, we had to attend. It was actually quite a fun night. Suzanne sat off with her Cruise Critic friends and the kids and I sat at a perfect table front and center. There were a couple of good singers and the few just having fun. Suzanne sang three songs: Girl in 14G, I Dreamed a Dream and Memory. She received many cheers and congratulations from the well attended event. I think they have one or two more karaoke sessions and then the Celebrity Idol competition Starring You. During the karaoke sessions folks in attendance can vote for singers to be included in the competition. Suzanne is hoping to get chosen. Last cruise, she finished second due to a poor song choice (Bohemian Rhapsody) for the crowd.
After the karaoke competition, which finished up about 12:30 am, we somehow hooked up again with our new found English friends Roy and Jenny and moved to the Champagne Bar for a night cap. A couple of the professional entertainers and the cruise director were there again and a night cap turned into several. We finally headed up to bed at about 2:30 AM. The kids were with us the whole time and loved staying up late with the adults. They have been very well behaved. Roy has really enjoyed talking history with Sean too.
With tomorrow another sea day, we will likely be sleeping in late again.
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