December 19, 2014: Sea Day 2

We were up right at 6 am with the arrival of morning coffee (I can get used to this). I had breakfast in the Lido and hit the casino for a while before my 9:15 am spa appointment. I was getting the special which included a body scrub, back & shoulder massage, facial and foot scrub.

Upon check-in I trade my ship’s card for a locker key. I was escorted to the changing room where my locker had a robe and slippers to put on.

When changed, I waited in the relaxation room which had comfortable furniture, fruit and water and completed a short form. Before I was done I was being called.

The masseuse gave me a lavender scented flower made from tissue which was a nice gesture. I was led to the treatment room where I changed into disposable underwear and laid down on the foil like material where I had a lavender scrub.The room has a shower in it where I rinsed off the scrub and then had the back, neck and shoulder massage which was so relaxing.

Before I knew it, I had to roll over for the facial. She gave me a foot massage while a masque dried before returning to wash it off and complete the facial. The 75 minute treatment was so nice and my skin is super soft after that! Unfortunately I had to get dressed and return to reality.

My brother had a haircut and raved about the experience to us so two thumbs up for the spa from our experiences.At some point my brother and I met with the future cruise consultant and purchased certificates for a future cruise. I want to sail for the holidays next year but will wait until prices drop.

My sister an I met in the Culinary Arts Center for the 11 am session where Chef Raj made Bahamian chowder and Cuban sloppy joes.

We had samples of the chowder and it was very tasty!

We then went to the room to get ready for the Mariner Society luncheon and meet up with our brother. We got to the dining room shortly after noon and there was no line.

We had our picture taken with the Captain and hotel director before finding seats.(Note: we were unable to find the picture in the photo gallery the next day which was disappointing.)

The menu is brief but tasty.

I had the crab and avocado timbale while the others had the chicken gumbo.

We had brief words from the cruise director and captain and a toast with as much champagne as we wanted.

All three of us had the braised brisket for entrees.

It was delicious and the strawberry dessert was as well.

I enjoyed that with the petit fours and coffee.

We were handed our tiles before leaving. It is presented nicely in a box with a certificate of authenticity.

Napping and reading took the rest of my afternoon until 3 pm tea. I wanted to hit tea time at least once! Today is the Indonesian tea and I was seated with a nice couple from St. Louis.

They are new to cruising and had many questions for me. There were sandwiches, scones, sweets and cakes. We had four choices of tea and I selected the spice flavor.

After tea, was time for happy hour. I had mojitos and my sister had her usual margaritas.

We then went to the room to get ready for dinner; formal night.

I failed to note our selections so am relying on pictures. There is…

Since I was not a fan of the dining room filet mignon I selected mushroom ravioli.

My sister selected the grilled pork chop with pineapple rum glaze.

My brother selected the lobster and filet mignon and even let me have some lobster. 🙂

The dessert menu was enticing as usual.

I went with the grand marnier souffle …

And my brother selected the upside down apple tartlet.

Dinner was delicious but we were very frustrated by the extremely slow service tonight. The problem were several tables came 30-45 minutes late. I felt sorry for the servers trying to get these people’s first course while we’re waiting to get the dessert menu but it wasn’t our fault either. The dining room manager should not have let them in for 5:30 seating at 6:15!

Since we were dining in the Pinnacle Grill the last night we thanked our waiter and assistant waiter for their good service and my brother gave them a little extra in addition to the automatic gratuities on the bill.

I walked around the promenade to get some steps in before going to the showroom for tonight’s entertainment. It was an enjoyable show and I really liked the integration of video into the production.

Afterwards I hit the sack since tomorrow’s another beach day.