Changes in Latitudes (Sea Days 2 & 3)

 

November 7 Sea Day #2 

Today I switched up my breakfast to poached eggs on toast and the streak continued. Once again, we gathered our bags and headed to Two70 for the Alaska cruise presentation offered by the NextCruise staff. We made a few notes that will help us plan more effectively for our trip next July on Ovation of the Seas. 

Our reservations for The Book weren’t showing up in the Royal Caribbean app, so I spent a few minutes standing in line at Guest Services to get that sorted out, then had to go back to shuffle some of our dinner reservations. The app is a wonderful tool, in concept, but needs significant work to make it convenient and effective for guests. Some screens overload the user with information while others force you to dig a rabbit hole to figure out the information you want to see. I should be able to filter by time, venue, or type of event. (But what makes Karaoke entertainment and a dance class an activity?) I shouldn’t have to scroll through four of the same item in an hour just because it happens every 15 minutes. I should also see all of my reservations on “my” page instead of having to scroll through hours and hours of empty time to find my dinner or show reservations. I should be able to exclude those things that don’t interest me (Volleyball tournament? No thanks – let me filter it out, please.) 

My issue with our reservation is that I made one as soon as we got on board, but the app crashed in the middle of the process. A flag was set, somewhere, so I couldn’t make another reservation, but I couldn’t see our reservation, either – nor could I cancel it and start over. So, back to Guest Services to stand in line where they had to first cancel my "nonexistent" reservation before they could re-book a new reservation later in the week. The Quantum class ships have a spectacular reservations system when it comes to making multiple reservations in-person, or reviewing reservations, but changing them is a bit clunky.

We were booted from Two70 while they set up for The Book, so we relocated to Boleros, where we enjoyed a few frozen Mojitos before heading to the room to change for dinner. If you like a good Mojito then I strongly suggest you give the frozen variant a try. They are incredibly refreshing and well-balanced. Other bars will make them for you as well, but Boleros seems to have a more consistent supply of fresh mint leaves. I'm still searching the ship for a proper Mai Tai. So far they've been an assortment of overly-sweet juice-based concoctions that are better suited for inducing diabetic ketoacidosis than anything else. Rum, orange liqueur, orgeat, and fresh lime juice are all you need. No pineapple juice needed, and grenadine should be applied sparingly, not gratuitously! 

We enjoyed another good dinner in the dining room, thanks to our convivial service team. In our early cruising days on Celebrity dinner was often spectacular. For the last 15-20 years the food on most cruises has been good, with an occasional "great" and a rare "awful." I still drool over the seeded rolls (pepita, sunflower, sesame – I'm a fan of all) with butter, and enjoy trying new ingredients and dishes, but at the base level the cruise industry food lost the "wow" factor a long time ago.

Tony Tillman was scheduled in the Royal Theater this evening, and he is a consummate showman. His combination of singing, dancing, and comedy has a bit of something for everyone. I suggest sitting back and allowing yourself to take the show as it comes, without projecting expectations. He'll take you on a foot-tapping, belly-laughing, sing-along journey that you didn't know you needed. 

November 8 

Sea Day #3 

The poached egg streak was absolutely shattered today. This morning my “poached” eggs were “hard-boiled without a shell” – an absolute disappointment. Taking it as an opportunity to try something a bit different (I’ve never been a boiled egg eater, other than in the form of deviled eggs.) I gave them a try. A misguided try. I learned that hard-boiled yolks are just too dry for my taste. The flavor was acceptable, but the texture just isn’t something I can handle. 

The Royal Caribbean Fleet

This morning a fleet talk was scheduled, outlining the various classes of ships in the Royal Caribbean lineup, the varying features between classes, and the fundamental types of itineraries offered by each. There is a shift towards shorter itineraries (3-4 day) for the larger ships sailing from the “Big 3” Florida ports these days (specifically the Oasis class) with new ships (Icon class) making the “traditional” eastern and western seven day runs to the Caribbean. Quantum and Radiance ships appear to be covering the more unusual itineraries, with the Vision and Voyager classes servicing the regularly scheduled service from Gulf and East-coast ports. Freedom class ships appear to be popular for some European itineraries and filling niches on an as-needed basis. All if this is based on my extremely casual and highly unscientific analysis and may have no bearing on reality or be readily refuted by a more considered approach. 

As I was making notes, working on this blog, and scanning email I began having a few glitches with internet connectivity. The new VOOM system has been designed for the least-savvy users on board, and it serves them well. You connect with your device (a smartphone, more often than not) and away you go. If you have a multi-device plan you can share a code with another device to allow it to connect – but your primary device stays connected. Again, not an issue for most, but if you want to juggle multiple devices on the same account it can be annoying. 

Unless you go old-school and set up a username and PIN under the legacy system. This is still available, and it works well with minimal effort. The “secret” is that you must first connect using a browser, not the Royal app, and set up your account. As long as you remember to terminate your session by entering the proper URL before shutting down your device everything runs quite well. Shout out to Zak on the VOOM team for helping me sort this quickly. 

We had lunch in Giovanni’s, which was a first for us. They open up with garlic knots and sauce that would inspire you to disrespect your grandmother. Don’t over-indulge on these, because you’ll only regret it as you move through the meal. We shared a burrata appetizer, which was delectable, despite the sad state of the November tomatoes. There were a few nice cherry/grape tomatoes on the dish, but the larger tomato was more reminiscent of a pale hunk of watermelon than a tomato. But, for November, we didn’t expect too much in the first place. For entrees we shared pizzas. Their crust is thin (so you’re not going to stuff yourself with an abundance of baked dough) and the cheese and sauce are nicely balanced. I like more basil than what our pizza was dressed with, but it was still tasty. We also had the Mamma Italia, with prosciutto, arugula, tomatoes, parmesan, and mozzarella – drizzled with EVOO. The prosciutto was amazing, and there was ample arugula (I would prefer less, but it was easy enough to pick off a few leaves.) The tomatoes were (again) unimpressive, but didn’t detract from the pizza. The same crunchy, slightly charred crust made for one of the better pizzas I’ve ever eaten. Yes, Sorrentos has free pizza just a deck away that is “useful,” but if you want something special, I suggest giving strong consideration to pizza at Giovanni’s. Any comparison between the two isn’t reasonable, as they’re as different as the filet from Chops when compared to the hamburger in the Windjammer – they both have their place. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent lounging around with adult beverages, followed by another perfectly nice dinner in the main dining room – made better by our team of waiters, Surachai from Thailand and Steve (his actual name) from India. These two gentlemen haven’t missed a beat and are attentive without being overbearing. They tolerate my bad puns, dry wit, and sarcasm.

After dinner we enjoyed an excellent performance by The Diva of the Seas, Stephani Parker, in the Royal Theater. If you’re a fan of strong, soulful lyricists (think Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick) then this show is for you. I’ve seen all of the above in concert, and at any given time during Stephani’s performance I could close my eyes and be transported back in time and space to previous concerts. In the world of shipboard entertainers she ranks in the upper echelon.