Pirates of the Caribbean on TV, glass of wine in hand. Okay, try 2 for...
Day 3, 1st day at sea!!!
Or....
AKA - I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!
1st at sea day we sleep in. Well, if you consider 8:30 sleeping in. And sadly, these days it is! Lots to do today and can't wait to get started. After we all got up and ready for the day I sent Bert and the kiddos upstairs for the kids to get breakfast because WE get to go to Palo for BRUNCH!!! I can't wait! I have heard so much about it and we weren't able to get ressies on-line so I was thrilled that I was able to get them once we got onboard. I am going to use some pix I found on Photobucket so you can see what we got to have there.
After ditching Bert & the kids.... I mean after sending my dear DH and much loved DS & DD upstairs for a nutritious breakfast to start the day, I ordered coffee from room service and sat down with my book (Castmember Confidential) and relaxed! I don't even know when the last time was that I got to have an uninterupted cup of coffee and today I had a whole pot!!
So, on the agenda for today:
Palo Brunch
Wine Tasting
Tea with the Mad Hatter
Bert gets back from taking the kids to Topsiders and then the kids clubs, we get dressed and ready to head to Palo. We get on the elevator, and who is on with us but Ricky Kalmon! Fun! We told him how much we enjoyed the show the night before and how disappointed the kids were that he would not hypnotise them. He said his kids ask him to all the time, but he won't do them either. Let me tell you, if I knew how to hypnotise people, my kids would be doing all the dishes and the laundry!
How do you NOT take advantage of that talent? I also asked him if people can fake it and fool him. He said not really as they will always do something to give themselves away.
By this time, we are on Deck 10! We go into Palo and give the Maitre'D our name (after waiting a bit for no apparent reason). He is nice enough, but a little on the snooty side... We get seated right by the window and have an awesome view of the sea from almost in the middle of the aft deck. Gorgeous day! Our server, whose name I totally cannot remember is from South Africa. We had a great time talking to her and learned some really interesting stuff about working on the ship and about South Africa:
Most staff work about 14 hours a day.
They
have to clock out at 15 hours 59 minutes (I think that is correct, might be 14 hours, 59 minutes)
They have different contracts, our server is on a 6 month contract so she works EVERY DAY for that 6 months and then get a couple of months off.
They share a cabin (usually with someone from their work area)
I asked how big the cabins are compared to our cat 10 cabin. She said probably about a fourth of that size!!
In South Africa if you are white (like our server is) it is almost impossible to get a job. Hence, she is working on a cruise ship.
So 1st we get a tour of the "buffet":
Seafood table: (aka: Bring me a chair, I will die a happy woman!)
There was a ton of great cold seafood on this table! Boiled shrimp were huge! Tons of my favorite, smoked salmon, also salmon mousse, scallop salad, crab claws, crab legs, shrimp shooters, caviar and there was a bunch of vegetables. There was grilled asparagus wrapped in procuitto and topped with hollandaise that was absolutely fantastic!! I had a BUNCH of that!! Also ate a ton of smoked salmon as it is a favorite. The crab claws look really cute, but WAY too much work for very little reward. The scallops looked great, but I just can't do cold scallops so I did not try that. Tried caviar for the 1st time. Personally, I just don't get it... It wasn't bad, just not great. Kind of blah to me... The salmon mousse was really good, the shrimp was fabulous and I ate way to much of all of it!
and the back side:
Breads & cheese:
Not a big bread person, but the cheese selection was wonderful. Brie, goat cheese, boursin cheese, cheddar and havarti and a bunch of sliced cheeses too.
Breakfasty breads & fruit: (aka: Home of Stollen Bread, both kinds)
Again, as I am not a big bread person, I didn't hit this table until dessert. After reading so much here about old stollen vs. new stollen, I had to try both! They are definitely 2 totally different animals... or, well, breads... I had both with fruit and whipped cream. The old stollen (which they have recently brought back due to popular demand) was very good! Really more of a cake than bread. The new stollen is more of an actual traditional stollen bread. I loved both, but can definitely see that the old stollen is more to the taste of an "American palate" than the new. Personally, I'll take either one...
Pizzas:
We had the grape & blue cheese pizza since I had seen so many raves about it. I was pretty good, but really not as good as I was expecting. Kind of disappointed there.
Hot breakfast dishes:
I did not try any of these, only because I saw the Saltimbocca and new I would never be able to do both! All of the eggs looked wonderful, and I will be trying those next time for sure!!
Hot lunch dishes:
I had the Saltimbocca which was very good, tender, flavorful. A tad salty, but I think this was mostly due to the procuitto used in the dish. Fab sauce! Bert had the chicken dish, but sadly, all I really remember about it was that it did taste good!
Dessert table: (aka: the evil table)
WOW!! If you are a big dessert fan, this is the place for you! Bert got about 5 different things. I got stollen bread for dessert. That vat of whipped cream was calling my name!
Okay, since I accidentally posted this before I was done, I will be doing this day in 2 installments!
)! I've never been so proud! 
- poor me! 
) but nothing like that! Especially considering how rude some people are! I think it just showed me how lucky we are here that we are able to get jobs in our country (okay, maybe not so much right now..) and not have to totally leave to work. Sudama (our head server) has 2 kids at home that he sees twice a year for a couple of months, but he can't get a job at home.
Tinkerbell123 put WAY TOO MUCH!
Couldn't find the OP from this, but whoever it was can certainly feel free to NOT read my TR! Pretty much totally ignoring that! 
