Barcelona and Transatlantic Cruise 2008 – Day 8 – Day at Sea
December 3, 2008
Today we enjoyed another day at sea after having visited Malagal, Spain yesterday. During the night, the seas picked up a bit. At the noon time update, the Captain reported that we would be experiencing a sea state with about 10 – 12 foot swells. The ship did a fair bit of moving, but we enjoyed the day.
Having stayed up late again the night before, it was 10:00 before we arose for the day. The kids headed to the Fun Factory for some more kid time, while Suzanne and I relaxed in one of the lounges chit chatting and watching the ocean go by.
As usual and actually required, we enjoyed another family lunch together around 1:00 pm. While we let the kids spend pretty much as much time as they want on days at sea in the Fun Factory, we still require that they eat their meals with us and the spend the evenings with us too. It’s a policy that has worked out well for us. We’ve seen some families that essentially drop their kids off at the Fun Factory and pick them up at the end of the cruise. That’s not our idea of a family vacation.
In the afternoon, Suzanne and I attended an Around the World Wine Tasting. It was a special event with the cellar master and his sommeliers where they had 12 wines from around the World available for tasting. We enjoyed the event with our English friends Roy and Jennifer that we have met on the ship. We tasted some good wines and some not so good wines. It was interesting to ask our sommelier after the event what he thought about the wines and compare notes. It was refreshing to hear what he thought were the bad wines. He didn’t pull any punches either. I would say in all our cruising on Celebrity, he has been our favorite/best sommelier.
The kids spent some time in the afternoon working on a couple of the school projects that they needed to be working on for missing two weeks of school. They might get to miss some school for the cruise, but they don’t get a free ride. I figure we have maybe one more year where we can take them out of school if needed for a cruise. When Sean hits high school, we will have to match our cruise schedule to the school schedule.
The evening entertainment was supposed to be one of the song and dance production numbers from the Celebrity Singers and Dancers, but due to the unpredictability of the current sea state, the show was postponed. Instead, Jack Walker, the singer from the second night gave another performance. On the way into the theater, the Cruise Director joked to Suzanne that they almost called her to see if she could do a show. The staff and the other passengers were still complementing her on her singing at the karaoke show the night before.
Broken Record Alert! Dinner was again fabulous. Savannah opted for the vegetable penne pasta while the rest of us enjoyed a Veal Cordon Blue. Actually, Suzanne wasn’t nearly as impressed as I was. She thought it was a bit mass produced (which all food on a ship kind of is). Sean and I both thought it was wonderful, so not sure what we saw differently. Dessert was tiramisu which we all enjoyed except for Suzanne who went with her standard mixed berries for dessert. That is one way she tries not to put on a bunch of weight on a cruise – she foregoes the dessert on most nights – definitely more will power than I.
After dinner, we headed straight for the cabin to get to bed at a decent hour for a change. In addition, we gained an extra hour of sleep due to a time change during the night. Tomorrow we will make a port of call at the island of Madera, Portugal. We will be visiting the capital city of Funchal and have some tourist activities planned.
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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