Who's sleeping in my bed

yes I know it's me and the bear... but every night when we came back to our state room there was something new made of towels on our bed.



Everyone want's to know about our room. So we have the standard stateroom with a balcony we were on Deck 9 there was plenty of room it was very nice even the shower had plenty of room. Our room was located up towards the front of the ship right under the the helm. and when we were on the balcony of our room he could wave at us and we could wave at him...and we did on a regular basis.



so here are the lobsters, swans, bunny's stingrays, bats and hearts on our bed at the end of the day.

Food Wonderful Food 150 Central Park

I now understand how it is that people can go on a cruise one weight, still do a lot of walking and sightseeing and come home heaver than they started.


The Bear and I were discussing how great the specialty restaurants were and I said that all of the food was great it was just that Chops, 150 Central Park, Vintages and The Chefs Table were so amazingly fabulous that everything else paled by comparison.



So the first place we ate was 150 Central Park and yes you are looking at popcorn...carmel corn to be exact in my soup. Yes it was kind of weird for us to but then we tasted it and well who cared what it looked like because it was delicious.


But again I have gone out of order ... so here we are all dressed up and walking through Central Park on deck 8 when we
found 150 Central Park. The restaurant has warm rich interior and chairs that can create a very privet encounter even in the middle of the restaurant. We are created and offered a wine menu or the option of doing the chef's paring. This evening we did our choice and had a wonderful Ferari Carano Fume Blanc. So on our table was a covered dish that actually looked like a flower when I opened it we first thought it was salt and pepper but what we found out was that the miniature sour dough baguette was served with sweet cream butter and that these were actually 6 different salts from around the world each one having a distinctly different flavor. I was impressed enough with that part of the meal but then we had the soup Camembert and Lager with the popcorn crouton (still my favorite). Now this is a tasting menu which means that the Chef has created this and we get a taste of it all. It is actually wonderful because it is just enough to get the flavor and not to much that you feel full so you can go on to the next course (6 in total). By the time the evening was done we thought we had been fed the most wonderful meal and it couldn't get any better, boy were we wrong but more about that in the next post

Food Wonderful Food Chops

So here we are in Central Park again a little calypso music in the background, it is day 4 and we have been busy today.

We have finally gotten off the ship and spent the day touring St. Thomas (more about that in another blog).


It is time for another specialty dinner at The Chops Steakhouse and
I can't wait.

What a wonderful experience, we arrived at 7:30 to a quiet restaurant nestled in Central Park. You open the door and you are in a completely different world.

The first thing that hits you is the aroma ooohhhh so good. Then you are seated and they hand you a menu and you realize you are in trouble... way to many choices and each one looks better than the next.



The wait staff is no help if you can't decided and ask for a recommendation they tell it is all good and bring you both.



So now we move on to the main course and side dishes...again way to many decision but they are all good and yes the potato was that BIG.





Up to now each course is probably worth 2 laps of deck 5 (that will be explained in another post) but it was all delicious and we enjoyed it but now they brought the dessert menu and the waiter kept saying if you can't decide we will bring you both...I know he thought he was being helpful but I would be on deck 5 all night but it would be so worth it.

Food Wonderful Food Vintages

If you like to taste new and interesting wines (and we do) then Vintages (in Central Park) is a must. Not only is it a quaint warm and inviting area with over 150 different wines to taste it is also a Tappas bar. But what it really is, is just plain our favorite place on the ship after the chefs table. We actually went there on 3 different nights.

On Monday night we had some reds with some rustic hearty appetizers. My favorite is the cherry tomatoes mixed with some garlic ( how can it go wrong) basil, olive oil and tarragon and some toasted baguettes

then we came back on Wednesday for some of the whites... and we had some quecsos machengo along with them yes even Barry liked these whites.

on both Monday and Wednesday we just stopped for an appetizer before we went on the the main dinning room for dinner.

Which brings me to Friday when we just stayed at Vintages for the entire evening we started with some whites and then moved on to the reds and then it was Robert the Sommelier's choice. We also let him choose the tapas to go with each course it was a wonderful evening.

Food Wonderful Food ~ The Chefs Table

This is the meal that you always hear about and then when you are actually a part of it well it is everything you dream of.








On Wednesday we received a invitation in our state room from the chef inviting us to his table on Thursday the other dress up day. So a maximum of 10 couples (we were at the maximum) met in the library on deck 11 dinner would be held in the concierge lounge (a special area for those who are diamond members or have reserved a suite). The area was magnificent and the chandelier was quite unique. and that was the beginning of our experience each step of the way Maarten Smeets our Sous Chef would come come out and talk to us about the way he prepared the course, why he choose the ingredients and how we were suppose to eat it if there were any specific directions. Then Phillipe our Sommelier would tell us about the wine that was recommended and served with each course. it was an amazing meal and if you are ever offered a chance to
go you have to do it.

I want one

Day 2

Well we were suppose to go to Nassau today however Hurricane Tomas has put a kink in that plan so our our day two at sea starts now.


We are getting our sea legs, I am not quite sure what getting our sea legs are doing for us but we are swaying with the best of them and it is always interesting to take a step only to find that the floor is meeting your foot as you step down.

But we are learning a lot of things... I personally am learning to nap...I have never had so many little naps in one day. My favorite place to nap is the is stone chairs in the spa they are warm stone chairs and the are oooohhhh so wonderful.


Today we did a lot of walking we walked deck 15 where there are pools, deck 16 where there are adult pools, jacuizze, miniature golf course, basketball court, flow riders, and zip line. and deck 5 which has the lifeboats, evacuations floation devises and the walking track (2 laps is a mile) It is a really nice walk with all kind of cute statements to keep you walking.




So tonight is one of the two dress up nights, however instead of going to dinner in the regular area we went to 150 Central Park where the dinner was delicious.




We had a Camembert and Lager soup with Caramelized Popcorn as a crouton,,I know I know who would have put the together but they did and it was good.

The other really cool thing was the bread at the table it was San Francisco sourdough with sweet butter and then 6 different types of salt from all over the world. I like the pink Hawaiian salt best. And with that Day 2 has come to a close.

This is One BIG Ship

This is one BIG Ship!

You can read about everything that is on the ship but you cant really start to understand exactly how big it is until...

you are pulling up to it at the dock and see that it has a pier area all by itself, then you actuall see it, then you see how many people are getting on with you and then...

well you have to give Royal Caribbean credit because the embarkation was sooooo smooth! We had no idea that we were on board with 5200 other people.

We signed our papers , proved it was us, took a picture and then went down the gang plank. People with kids went to the left (where each family group was given walkie talkies and the kids were wrist banded according to their age group) we went to the right and then ..OMG!!! We found ourselves right in the middle of the promenade and that was truly amazing ...and we realized "We were not in Kansas anymore"

We found our cabin (more about that later) and then we went out and started to walk.... I have no idea where we went but we walked and walked and walked and walked a little more.

2 laps of deck 5 is a mile,

we found Central Park,

Boardwalk, the carousel,

we found the sports deck with miniature golf, zip line, flow riders, full basketball court, rock climbing walls and who knows what else.... but we will find it.