OCSC Mike

Thanks, sounds like night 7 dessert then. We were rushing off to shows last night & I was getting pretty full anyway.

WJ had crab claws, crawfish, clams, mussels (all cold) and grilled shrimp last night (plus the Indian food). Butter chicken (my favorite Indian dish) Chicken 65 (this was really good too, had a bit of a spicy kick) No idea what these are & didn’t try them but there are some Indian experts here so I snapped a pic. Looked like funnel cake. Definitely looking forward to another Indian night to end the cruise. I might be full of seafood by then. And on that note… I’m gonna go hit WJ before it’s crowded. I’m cool with doing my own thing here & there but still unsure how I’d feel about a full solo cruise. Since I don’t gamble, I feel like I might get bored in between eating.

Backtracking… We really enjoyed the ice show. It was a bit more artistic with more technical skating than Wonder’s but had most of the same technology. Wonder’s is more upbeat with more recent music. So we really like them both, they’re just different. Apparently this cast is leaving in a week so it will be a new cast when we return next month. We also have reservations for it again tonight… just how the schedule worked out. I’m looking forward to seeing the aqua show a 2nd time more but I don’t mind seeing the ice show again tonight. Oh yeah, not sure what happened but we planned to listen to the Schooner Bar performer last night but something changed & he wasn’t there. Hopefully he’s not sick or something b/c we planned to hang out there some over the next few nights too.

Back in our spot in the Solarium… alone with some crew & the hippos. Wife is recording in the cabin. I’ll head to WJ for lobster in a little while.

And now we’re sitting in the boarding area b/c they’re running some sort of test onboard. Thought we were walking right back on. Oops, there we go.

Still waiting in line in the terminal. I underestimated the # of B2Bers. A crew member told my wife it’s over 100. We’re not going to have that alone time on the ship, oh well. At least we can go right back to our cabin. My wife might do her recording to get it done while I’m eating lobster. Will probably just chill in the Solarium after that. Not much to do before sailaway on embarkation day.

I’ll get back to last night at some point, btw. Good Indian (found a new item I liked) & some new seafood items. I’m sticking to mostly lobster at lunch today though. I’ve had shrimp 3 times in 4 days. Need to give ice show thoughts too (we enjoyed it but for different reasons than Wonder’s which we loved). Still waiting to be walked off & wife is working on voiceover stuff so that’s why I’m rambling away.

Dunno about that last part, lol. I definitely prefer lots of smaller portions though since I like trying all types of stuff… but those small bites add up. That’s one reason I like buffets, can grab a tiny scoop of all different items then decide what to go back for more of.

Probably more fun with B2B long cruises… someday… and I’ll gain 20 lbs.

Waiting in the MDR to be walked off. Decent number of B2Bers but it’s very organized. Walked in, saw the CL concierge who knows us now, gave our cabin #, they had everyone’s new sea passes in envelopes on a table, gave us our envelope, and that was that. I feel like it took longer a few years ago on Indy & someone came around with a tablet to check us in again. Lots more people showing up now.

OMG, the TV jingle is in the cabins too. Not possible to oversleep on disembarkation day on this ship unless you drank way too much the night before & were up late. Wife is up, she seems to be doing better, just wasn’t hungry (although she just had a chocolate croissant). She said she slept so-so, mattress is kinda hard but I like that, plus she’s a little congested (not sick, she just has congestion issues). She’s actually going to record a voice over audition from her phone here, lol. Deadline is Monday. Apparently VO actors do this when traveling. She’s going to make a tent or fort of some sort with the comforter for soundproofing. Headed to the MDR for turnaround in a bit.

It was very good. And I could eat a bag of the candied walnuts by themselves as a snack.

Wife was tired & didn’t want breakfast btw, that’s how I wound up wandering alone. Went to like 5 places. Really not that crazy. WJ was busy but not terrible. Solarium Bistro wasn’t open. It was on Wonder. I was gonna get a salmon omelet but WJ doesn’t have salmon at its omelet station, only SB. Wound up with lox & bagel in a very peaceful CP with my CL coffee earlier so I still got my salmon at least.

How to use 5 vouchers in 5 minutes. The Powerade & Vitamin Water wasn’t on display but they obv have it in the fridge. Only catch was I kinda wanted the zero calorie waters (possibly for my wife) & got sugar & caffeine instead. The price was right though. The announcements are crazy. They play the jingle from the Utopia tv commercial at full volume. No wonder they get people off Utopia so quickly for turnaround.

Just waking up on turnaround day. Debating going to the CL or just using vouchers for something like iced coffee at Cafe Promenade since I can & we’re not using 10 vouchers in the next 2 hours. Not sure about breakfast either. Maybe something smallish since there’s another embarkation seafood lunch coming. I’ll see what my wife wants to do depending on when she wakes up.

That’s funny, haven’t seen one in a long time but I actually have seen a handful of Cirque shows (three in Vegas forever ago, old one at Disney, etc.) and I did enjoy most of them depending on the type of acrobatics/crazy stuff they were doing. If there’s more than just traditional singing and/or dancing I don’t need a story. I guess that’s why I don’t like shows like All In but I enjoy most ice and aqua shows. Skating, diving, slack line, high wire, special effects, etc. are unique & entertaining enough.

Agreed, even with seafood on a short Utopia (a few hours ago) dinner wasn’t crazy. There were a good number of people there but definitely not like breakfast/lunch at peak times.

You don’t want to know how often I checked for ours, lol. Significantly more than once/day. Going by my recent FB groups (and our own GTY in April), they’ve largely all been assigned at once. I’m sure there were exceptions but a ton of people always got theirs on the same exact day.

Comedians weren’t great. Got some time before the ice show. Mason Jar brunch… Deviled eggs (still one of my favorite items) Blueberry johnnycakes with pulled pork (I hadn’t ordered them in a while but I’m pretty sure they made them smaller which I actually liked b/c I’d rather order several smaller items) Peanut butter stuffed French toast (I always loved this, it was just very heavy, but something seemed different this time. Still good but too much chocolate inside or something). My wife decided to try the burger & tater tots but still got the chicken & mashed potatoes she normally does. She liked everything. Biscuits on the side. Gone Bananas (has always been my wife’s fav & they changed it a bit & she liked it even more) Bread pudding (I don’t remember candied walnuts before but they were really good) Cherry pie (had never tried it & it might be the only MJ item I’ve ever thought was awful. very weird filling, not like normal gooey cherry pie filling, almost like a thick gelatin.) My wife has always ordered savory stuff; we just stuck with brunch (except for the one dinner last cruise) b/c I liked the French toast so much & usually ordered the chicken n waffles. After this meal, I think we’re gonna cancel brunch for July & switch to dinner. With a D+ BOGO, dinner will only be a little more than 40% off brunch, we can order the same exact stuff except I’ll swap the French toast for the ribs I loved in April, & we’d rather have a big meal for dinner than lunch. My wife didn’t even really eat dinner tonight b/c she was full from brunch & was never going near seafood or Indian food anyway. Not loving the French toast anymore should work out for the best. I’m already looking forward to the ribs, lol.

Tried the MJ peach tea with just peach schnapps & I’m sticking with that version from now on. It tastes like regular peach tea just like Moonlights taste like regular blackberry lemonade. Obviously it’s a weak drink but it’s tasty & refreshing. If I want something strong I’ll order something else. Just sharing before shows start. Still way behind on food pics. Indian night + seafood on the last night in WJ was very good. I wish the seafood was on a different night since I like the Indian food so much but can’t have everything.

Will catch up on MJ & other stuff later or tomorrow. Dinner, adult comedy, ice show, and Schooner Bar are tonight’s plans. Turnaround day tomorrow.

Sure I do… then it passes.

Monkey Business from Pesky Parrot. I like it but @JohnK6404 was right; oddly lacking in banana.

Yes, I’m thinking day one. They always have plain, pepperoni, and veggie… then one more. So many black olives on the veggie & those are on the extremely short list of things I don’t like. Had some combo last night & today is carnivore (meat lovers). The other unique one was the Caribbean one that’s pineapple & something.

Great brunch as usual but some items seemed slightly different (most better, one not quite as good). Pics later & I think we’re going to switch brunch to dinner for next month.