Exploring the High Seas without the Magic- 9 Nights on RCI 8/4/11 Complete! 4/24!

[podsnel]

So we managed to squeeze in...

a Strawberry Pavlova – Crispy Meringue coated with fresh cream and topped with strawberry compote

Chocolate Cherry Cake – Classic flavor combination in cake; served with a dollop of kirsch cream
-

a savarin-

and both boys also got a dessert that Fan recommended to them, ice cream with a cookie AND a brownie AND some chocolate sauce-

I have to say, they didn't hate it too much!

Our entire meal was complete in less than an hour and a half- we were out of there before 10 pm. AMAZING!!!!! We felt very, very fortunate after this meal- I literally was ready to pack up Fan and bring her home with us- I absolutely adored her!

Oh! I forgot to mention the wine. We had pre-purchased our wine package(s). That's right- plural. There really was no reason to do this other than my husband's worries over a big bar tab at the end of 9 days if we didn't- we could just as easily have made this purchase once onboard. But going from Disney, where you can practically wheel in a kegger- well, not really, but they are very good about letting you bring wine and liquor aboard- to RCI where not even ONE bottle is allowed- well, he was looking to make sure we spent as little as possible, and the wine pkg saves about 25%. On Disney, they sell it by the day- 4 day pkg, 7 day pkg....on RCI, they sell it by the bottle. So I guess you could say we got the 17 day pkg for our 9 day cruise... What can I say? We wanted to have some in the cabin for our balcony, and we wanted to have some to share with our friends- so there ya go. ANyway, we had pretty good luck with the wine, we ended up really liking the selections from Rothschild- both the red and the white. Also the Pinot Grigio and sometimes the Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, and really liked the bubbly- it was Chateau St Michelle- anyway, on this night we had ordered two with dinner and one extra, then brought all three back to our cabin. Our assistant server, Dushko, was always VERY attentive with our wine. When we returned to 1688, our cabin was nicely made up for the boys-

But they didn't stay long because it was time to go to the arcade- the 12-14 year old club had an hour of free play and there was NO chance they were missing THAT! Pods & I, on the other hand, filled our wine glasses with our wine pkg wine, and headed out to OUR clubs...

And WOW, on the Explorer, there are SO MANY!!! First, there was a parade-

I LOVE a parade!

Next we went to check out the Crypt, which I thought was really cool when I took that tour the year before, and I wanted Pods to see it.

It was empty in there- and I can promise you, it NEVER was empty again for the rest of the cruise- we had alot of fun all week dancing in that dungeon!

We peeked into a couple of other venues, including the Connoisseur Lounge (a cigar lounge)-

And the Weekend Warrior (sports bar)-

Before we went up to our cabin to enjoy that glorious balcony and gaze at a million sparkling stars.....

Nighty night! See you soon for Sea Day #1!

 

[Mysteria]

Hi Myst! Happy Belated Birthday!! I'm so happy you found me!

Found you? I stalk your TR's!! Thanks for the happy bday.

Love that video of going underneath the vz. I just learned recently that if some ships don't make it out as scheduled and the tide rises they won't make it.

Did you get any strange looks ordering all that wine with one meal? Ship looks beautiful. they have a cigar bar! That just might convince Den that cruises are good.

 

[podsnel]

Found you? I stalk your TR's!! Thanks for the happy bday.

Love that video of going underneath the vz. I just learned recently that if some ships don't make it out as scheduled and the tide rises they won't make it.

Did you get any strange looks ordering all that wine with one meal? Ship looks beautiful. they have a cigar bar! That just might convince Den that cruises are good.

I have read that about the tides, too- but I think the Explorer and all the other ships have always been ok-

Yea, they have a cigar bar- it was very nice in there, if you smoke cigars!

 

[podsnel]

I woke first in the morning, at about 9am and went to grab some breakfast and coffee as well as Ice Show tickets for later in the week, since they were being distributed that morning and ONLY that morning. I also brought back a few donuts for the boys. Who were still sleeping. Very, very soundly. So once Pods was awake, he and I decided to go to the gym to work out. Well, can I just say that this gym was VERY different from the one on the Magic, in that it was PACKED!! It seems there were a lot of health conscious pax onboard- or maybe, like me, they had a fancy dress to put on tonight for Formal night and they wanted to get in as many stomach crunches as humanly possible before donning their evening wear. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our work out and went back to the cabin boys- who were just waking up. There was open skating at the rink today, so Timmy and I decided to go for it. Since he is 12, I had to stay with him while he skated- but that was no problem for me, because I wanted to skate, too. That's right- I skated with all the kids, while all the other adults in the rink sat in the stands reading books. Go Mom!

It was fun! But I think I was probably MUCH better the last time I skated, which was somewhere around 9th grade....

Back at the cabin, Tyler was STILL in bed! GET UP!! And I made it very, VERY clear to both of them that today they would be participating in whatever they could on the ship- starting with a scavenger hunt at 1:00. So they ran off to get lunch and hit Optix, while Pods & I decided to go check out the lunch in the dining room.

I had heard good things about something called a Tutti Salad, which is actually an elaborate salad bar where the attendants put whatever you want into a bowl, then chop it all up with a pizza cutter.

It was DIVINE. Four different lettuces, fresh mozzerella, creamiest feta EVER, shrimp, chicken, roasted peppers, thinly sliced prosciutto, kalamata olives, ripe tomatoes, grilled asparagus- so, so many choices.

Tutti sald is only offered on Sea Days- and we actually enjoyed it 3 out of 4 of our sea days on this trip- although its popularity grew MUCH stronger as the week went on- we practically had the place to ourselves that first afternoon out on the ocean.

We ate with a very nice family from Great Britain, it was nice to chat with someone new. I had to try dessert-

It was a raspberry ganache torte, I think, and yum yum, it was soooo good. Hey- I earned it! 1 hour of gym and 30 minutes of ice skating means I'm eating/drinking whatever I want!

There was just one downside to eating lunch in the MDR that day- we missed the belly flop contest. That our friend from home, Big Al, WON!!

Yea- that's right- he's the undisputed King of the High Seas- a 7 time Champ!! Apparently he made quite a splash-

Up next- more of our relaxing day at Sea-

 

[podsnel]

By the time we got up to the pools, all the seats were occupied-

We literally waked around for 15 or 20 minutes looking for somewhere to sit together! Of course, there were a LOT of chairs being "saved"...which is wrong- but bottom line, it's a chain reaction. Either save a chair, or spend the day standing while you read! We ran into the boys who were on the scavenger hunt- and who were having FUN, thanks to meeting a bunch of new friends.

Thank the good Lord.

We finally found 2 seats, and relaxed and enjoyed our day. Pods got in the solarium pool-

And I tried to, but OMG!!! It was FREEZING!!! And to think that I was worried an August cruise to the Caribbean would be unbareably hot- it really was not, it was perfect!

I went for a walk to find Phyllis & Al from home, and sat and had a good time chatting with them once I did find them. But I am SO SAD I missed that belly flop!! Eventually we decided to go back to our cabin and enjoy our Aft view and a nap-

Aahhhh...sooooo relaxing. Eventually we scooted down to CP for afternoon coffee and sammies. This one was one of my favorites, the sunflower seed mini bagel with brie cheese, although the tuna salad was good, too-

Time for showers and dressing up! Next!

 

[nenner1]

Slow down woman!

...are you trying to get this TR complete before the hurricane rolls in?

back with comments in a sec, have to figure out how I will quote about 10 pic filled posts!

 

[podsnel]

Slow down woman!

...are you trying to get this TR complete before the hurricane rolls in?

back with comments in a sec, have to figure out how I will quote about 10 pic filled posts!

It's better if I don't- once the PTA stuff starts back up, I'll be very slooooooooooow with my updates!

Have you been on the other TR? La Hacienda is up!

 

[podsnel]

One of my FAVORITE things to do on a cruise is dress up for formal night- the 9 night cruise has TWO!! All my men wear tuxedos (on the first night- we changed it down for the 2nd one) and I truly feel like a princess- it ROCKS!! We were smart a few years ago on our first DCL cruise, Pods bought a GORGEOUS Ralph Lauren tux on ebay, and we keep rplacing the boys tuxedos there, too- for $30 a pop. Anyway....there was a pretty sunset that night, so we took a couple of pics before making our grand entrance downstairs...

I LOVE men in black!

Up next- dinner with a MAGIC TRICK!

 

[nenner1]

It's better if I don't- once the PTA stuff starts back up, I'll be very slooooooooooow with my updates!

Have you been on the other TR? La Hacienda is up!

I've had it open all week but haven't Gotten to read it yet...i know what you mean..this week has been nuts with new school,savannahs (crazy) dance schedule, football, Sarahs dance, and making my packing list I have barely had time to breathe....but the weekend is within reach! Be safe up there!!

 

[rndmr2]

Holy crap!!! We just had an earthquake while I was writing that!! SO WEIRD!!! I've never felt that before!!! All my chandeliers were swayying or else I would have thought I was NUTS!

I just found your TR today and I am still reading but I had to respond to this before I got too far ahead. My friend lives in the Philly area and was visiting her mom and her mom's gentleman friend and he was saying "hey my chair is shaking" but nobody else felt anything, they thought it was strange but thought nothing else of it until they saw the news. Funny how my friend and her mom were in the same room and didn't feel anything...

My BIL felt it at their house, too, they live in Grove City, PA (about an hour from Pittsburgh)

Seems like you are having a nice trip so far, I have been on the Explorer before, we went to Bermuda in 08, it is a nice ship. We had one of those cabins with a window overlooking the Royal Promenade, which was kind of neat.

Well I will go back and finish reading...

 

[podsnel]

I've had it open all week but haven't Gotten to read it yet...i know what you mean..this week has been nuts with new school,savannahs (crazy) dance schedule, football, Sarahs dance, and making my packing list I have barely had time to breathe....but the weekend is within reach! Be safe up there!!

We have battened down our hatches, but I don't know how much it will help- we have really, REALLY tall trees on our property, and I'm a little afraid of what they might do. But it is what it is, right? Thanks for the good wishes!

I just found your TR today and I am still reading but I had to respond to this before I got too far ahead. My friend lives in the Philly area and was visiting her mom and her mom's gentleman friend and he was saying "hey my chair is shaking" but nobody else felt anything, they thought it was strange but thought nothing else of it until they saw the news. Funny how my friend and her mom were in the same room and didn't feel anything...

Hi!! It was crazy, wasn't it?

My BIL felt it at their house, too, they live in Grove City, PA (about an hour from Pittsburgh)

Seems like you are having a nice trip so far, I have been on the Explorer before, we went to Bermuda in 08, it is a nice ship. We had one of those cabins with a window overlooking the Royal Promenade, which was kind of neat.

Well I will go back and finish reading...

You had a cool cabin! I love how they change the time of day on the Promenade- I bet that was a very good thing in that cabin. We did an inside cabin on Norwegian Dawn once, and we were freaked by it- we could never tell if it was the middle of the night or the middle of the day in there! It was only a 2 night cruise- I'm not sure how I would be doing it for longer than that. But the cabin you had would DEFINITELY work!

 

[podsnel]

For dinner #2, we were again offered many bread choices- I tried savory bites- which I had read about as something people love, but- I don't get it?

We were all having Escargot Bourguignonne for our app-

it was delicious- Pods & Tyler also had lobster bisque, sorry I didn't take a pic! Ty loved it, Pods didn't. Ty also got a smoothie-

Our friends from home came in to dinner- they were seated right near us, so we always saw them at dinner which was so nice. Phyllis is a camera NUT, and she took about 6 pics of us when they went by. By the end we were just laughing at her-

A few minutes later, I went over to harass her family, too

From where we were sitting, we could see the Captain's table-

FWIW, this captain had more personality in his pinky than the captain we've met on another cruiseline .....

To be cont'd...

 

[podsnel]

Fan was busily taking care of all of us-

Isn't she adorable?

For dinner, three of us chose Roasted Duck – A black currant sauce and sweet red cabbage complement the richness of the duck, while golden brown potato croquettes add texture. Tim ordered his without the cabbage, and Fan once again took care of him.

Tyler had Shrimp Ravioli – Bits of shrimp in pasta pillow, served in a creamy coconut-lim lobster sauce, atop wilted spinach and garnished with fried leeks

Pods & I also shared one. I really liked my duck, but was not crazy about the ravioli because of the lobster flavor in the sauce- it tasted like fish stock, and I just don't like that. But Tyler thought it was yummy!! Timmy was really happy to hear you could pick up the duck with your hands, even in a tuxedo-

We really liked this wine-

See the cute purse behind my wine? I bought it earlier that day for $10 in one of the onboard shops. They had soooo many things in that store for $10, and now I really wish I would have picked up a couple more bags in other colors- at home those bags are sooo pricy!! I did also get a new straw hat- and it was $10, too.

The boys looked very debonaire and sauve, doncha think?

For dessert, they went with the same thing as the night before (but this time it had hidden bananas in it- Timmy was NOT a fan!)

Pods & I got Bittersweet Chocolate Souffle – With each bite, this warm delicacy melts on the tongue to release a hint of lightly bittersweet chocolate served with espresso custard

Yummmm....

Fan came over and did a magic trick-

YIKES!!!! I thought for SURE it was going to dump all over Tim, but he stayed dry! Way to go, Fan!

The boys took off, and we warned them NOT to leave a crime scene back in the cabin....for ONCE, (as in the one and only time) they were neat. Back in the cabin, we had a new friend-

And a minimal mess-

Pods & I changed into comfier clothes (personally, I would have stayed in that dress all night, but the shoes? They had to GO!), poured ourselves some wine and went down to Maharajas to watch karaoke-

There were some VERY talented people singing in there! Afterwards, we called it an early night- because tomorrow, we would be in Bermuda, and this was the port I couldn't WAIT to explore!! Before shutting off the lights, however, I DID remember to place a room service breakfast order by hanging the filled out menu on our door.

Thanks for reading!

 

[knewton64]

Glad you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your photos.

I have to say that the decor looks rather drab, and even industrial compared to the Disney Dream. Just compare the hallway shown with one from DCL...where even the hallways on the lowest decks are appointed just as nice as the ones on deck ten.

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

My 1st reaction to seeing the interior was the same but.....after a while it kinda grew on me. Just different I guess since I am so used to seeing the DCL interior.

Slow down woman!

...are you trying to get this TR complete before the hurricane rolls in?

back with comments in a sec, have to figure out how I will quote about 10 pic filled posts!

I KKNNOOWW!! Hmmmm....mabey she's hurrin' so she can hide the mon-kee in prep for the hurricane.



ok - lovin yer tr. Esp the kids having that "CANT WE PPLLZE GO 2 THE CLUBS?!" look (early on in your tr).


Oh and dddoooonnnnn''ttttt get me started on the concept of wine cuz I am entering in that world starting next month when I am in Hawaii.
I may even be asking ya a few ?'s about wine over these next few months as I get prepped for an eventual adventure into Napa Valley.



BE SAFE DRING THIS DANG HURRICANE PLZe.


T.T.F.N. & P.L.C.

 

[tinkmom2]

All I have to say is yum! I am dieting and drewl is running down my chin

 

[podsnel]

After a thoroughly restful evening in our comfy bed (I LOVED the sheets and the pillows- I actually ordered the pillows when I got home I liked them so much) and the gentle rocking of the ship- well, it was very, VERY hard to get out of that bed every day. But when I heard the engines sounding different, I just had to stumble out to get my first ever view of Bermuda.

Lookin a bit cloudy this mornin!! So...I went back to bed until we received our wake-up call from Room Service. I LOVED room service on RCI- for one thing, it provided a wake-up call. 10 minutes before they knocked on the door, they called to tell you they were coming. AWESOME. For another thing, you could order an actual breakfast- not just continental- and their scrambled eggs did not taste like watery crap- another BIG bonus! So I had ordered fruit plates, yogurt, pastries, coffee, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, OJ & milk. Our breakfast arrived just as we docked at King's Wharf-

Doesn't it look so inviting?

Pods and I ate, and then the boys got out of bed and had at it-

Some pics of King's Wharf-

We had been cleared, and we could see the first passengers getting onto a ferry-

See you later, verandah- we've got an island to explore!

 

[podsnel]

My 1st reaction to seeing the interior was the same but.....after a while it kinda grew on me. Just different I guess since I am so used to seeing the DCL interior.

I can honestly say that the cabin decor NEVER grew on me- it felt sooooo 1982, aqua and pink... YUCK! Disney wins HANDS DOWN as far as ship beauty goes.

But I wouldn't mind checking out Celebrity Silhouette- that looks really nice, very sophisticated.


I KKNNOOWW!! Hmmmm....mabey she's hurrin' so she can hide the mon-kee in prep for the hurricane.

Monkey? What monkey?

ok - lovin yer tr. Esp the kids having that "CANT WE PPLLZE GO 2 THE CLUBS?!" look (early on in your tr).

Thanks!

Oh and dddoooonnnnn''ttttt get me started on the concept of wine cuz I am entering in that world starting next month when I am in Hawaii.
I may even be asking ya a few ?'s about wine over these next few months as I get prepped for an eventual adventure into Napa Valley.

I'll be happy to help- but I'm not that knowledgable when it comes to CA wines- I'm better at Italians.

BE SAFE DRING THIS DANG HURRICANE PLZe.

Thanks! We have battoned down the hatches as best as we can!


T.T.F.N. & P.L.C.

All I have to say is yum! I am dieting and drewl is running down my chin

Sorry!! I actually made sure to take alot of food porn because it was EXTREMELY hard to find any food pics before our cruise. Sooo not DIS-like!

 

[stevenpensacola]

You need to give a food porn warning for us folks trying to shed a few lbs...

At least the iPad screen is now clean.

Are you referring to the "terminator captain"?

All I ask is he knows how to drive the boat...

 

[MEK]

I have to say I am really intrigued by the whole cruising out of NYC idea. Plus this looks like you are off to a fabulous trip.

The pools looks a tad crowded, but since you can escape to that wonderful aft balcony - WOW! And breakfast on the balcony - it looks perfect!

All the food looks delish and all the shops, bars, ect look like so much fun.

Bermuda looks super cool. I was there years and years ago, but I don't remember I think except the dark rum!

Really enjoying this TR. Need to figure out exactly where it is on the boards.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I am so loving that veranda, I don't think that I would ever leave the room!

I, to, really like the formal nights aboard ship. So many don't to dress up & I loved the chance of getting the sons in suits for once.

Tyler looks like he is thinking, "Bond, James Bond".