Guy Gadwa

Day 5 - Sea Day (continued)
After finishing my cocktail, I wanted to get to lunch ahead of our 2:30 showing of We Will Rock You. I had told Cathy ahead of time that I wanted to have lunch at Izumi one day on the trip, and this was my last chance, so I went down to deck 5 while Cathy headed over to the Windjammer.
Since I was solo, I just asked for a seat at the sushi bar. That actually required a short wait, as all the seats there were taken along with the tables. They were doing a busy lunch business today. Fortunately, someone was just about done and I got seated in about five minutes, ten tops.
The meal was... OK. I have to agree with @ellcee, it wasn't bad by any stretch but it also wasn't amazing. She had already eaten there when we met up, and given her underwhelmed reaction to their ramen (which I had originally planned on getting), I decided to go with two sushi items instead -- the Tuna Wasabi appetizer that @Matt had written about in his own review a while back, and the DX Sushi Combo. To go with the meal, I had one of Izumi's signature cocktails, "She's a Geisha".
The cocktail was actually very good. It's a mix of sake and various berry juices, and it was really light and refreshing. The sake flavor was noticeable, but not overpowering, and it was clearly just the right amount for this beverage. I think the right to think of this, or any of Izumi's other signature cocktails (all of which have sake as the base) is a Japanese style wine cooler. But with good (rice-base) wine instead of the crap those store-bought mass-produced drinks have. And none of the sulfites for preservatives that in my case always give a monster headache.
The food part was good, overall, but the one area they fell short was the tuna. In both the Tuna Wasabi and my combo, the tuna was mild to the point of being flavorless. It was most noticeable in the tuna nigiri, where it's just the tuna and rice; I never use soy sauce with my sushi (I feel like it masks the fish flavors too much), so I could really pick up on how bland the tuna was. I've had a lot of tuna sushi and sashimi, along with seared ahi tuna, and there's always that distinctive flavor -- not the overwhelming one from the canned stuff that's often overcooked, but still distinctive and tells you you're eating tuna. This tuna was just there on the plate, and with the nigiri the dominant flavors were the rice and the bit of wasabi used to hold the fish on it.
With the appetizer and the spicy tuna roll that comes with the combo, the amount of jalapeño was overwhelming. I couldn't help feeling like they were trying to make up for the tuna's lack of flavor by putting in more jalapeño than should have been necessary. It stopped being a complement to the main ingredient and just took over.
What made this problem with the tuna such a standout factor was that the rest of my sushi was really good. The octopus, which I'm not the biggest fan of but will eat when it's part of what I ordered, was firm and had a solid chew but wasn't the least bit rubbery. The eel and salmon were both great, with rich flavor. And all the other fish were equally good. But the tuna was so off compared to the rest it was hard not to have it bring the rest of the meal down.
I skipped dessert, as I was figuring on having another cocktail while watching We Will Rock You, and just settled my bill. I still had about half of my "She's a Geisha" left, so I took it with me and wandered over to the Music Hall. There was a family at the pool table, with the husband and son playing, and they asked if I wanted to play the winner. I wasn't sure after my practice the other night if I'd offer them any real challenge, but the pool gods decided to smile on me for an hour or so.
For the most part, I played better than I have in years, although my first break was an absolute embarrassment to pool players everywhere and I had a couple other mishaps that couldn't remotely be blamed on the ship shifting suddenly. In spite of those blunders, I actually managed to win both games that I played, and both were nicely competitive. The husband and son both were great sports and we had some good conversation while playing, no one taking the games too seriously. Karaoke started in the stage area after my first game, and all through the second game I was happy to hear no bad singers. Everyone carried the tunes well enough, and I didn't really hear any blown notes or songs done horribly off key. The only one that was a bit of a letdown was the first singer, who performed "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. She did really well through the song until the final lines, where the song just got just a bit too high for her range and she was forced into her falsetto range.
Having finished my second game of pool, I saw that the Royal Theater's doors had opened to start seating for We Will Rock You. It was still almost 45 minutes to show time, but I wanted a good seat close to the stage. So I thanked my opponents for the good games, wished them a good rest of their trip, and headed down to Deck 4 where I took a seat and eagerly waited for what was going to be the headline show of the trip for me.

Following.  Congrats on your weight loss!!

Day 12 - Land Ho!
"Far,
We've been traveling far..."
Neil Diamond, "America"

Sometime around 3am I ventured to the port bridge wing to capture our arrival in Port Canaveral and to North America.  


Several people would join me, the bridge wings were very popular.
We did a quick turn in the mid-port turning basin and backed into the slip for Terminal 1 that Oasis of the Seas uses as her home.


Captain Rob expertly brought us in and we gently made contact with the pier.

With that we had arrived.  
Our progress...

For the first time on this voyage we were pointing due East.


With our arrival complete I went back to bed.  I wasn't expected to meet Customs and Border Patrol until late morning so sleep seemed like a good idea.

Day 12 - continued...
Everyone on the ship was required to meet Customs and Border Patrol on this day.  They had to get the ship to 'zero count' meaning all guests had to be off before any guest was allowed back onboard.  
With over 2,200 crew they had to be cleared by CBP as well which for them began at 4am as soon as we arrived.  The crew were cleared early and first so that they could go in waves and get back to the ship to prepare our breakfast and do all the other things that the crew does.  
TV displays around the ship indicated when we were expected to debark.  Guests with excursions were to meet in the theater closer to the start of the process.  

Since my muster was G4 I had a couple of hours so I headed to the Solarium Bistro for a buffet breakfast.

The Bistro is much like the Windjammer for breakfast, self service with open seating.



There is an egg station where cooked to order eggs are prepared as you wait.







With the two story floor to ceiling windows the Solarium Bistro is a great alternative to the Windjammer for a buffet type meal.


That second story seating area is part of the Hooked specialty dining venue.

After breakfast I went down to deck 5 to have a look at the new terminal.

There is another new terminal that has just started construction.  If I recall this is for another cruise line.

That's Mariner of the Seas back down at terminal G.  She was using this new terminal for almost two weeks, testing it out and getting it ready for Symphony.

There were a number of loyal guests transferring from Symphony to Mariner as well as Serenade today.  Royal Caribbean very generously offered a free transfer for us and that was greatly appreciated.  We were instructed to had down to Studio B at 9:15am as our meeting place.  Luggage tag #75 were distributed to us (the last of the luggage tag zones).  I placed my bag outside of my cabin the night before as instructed.
Can you figure out what the mess is on the floor of Studio B?  It's the inflatable laser tag from the night before.


There were over 110 guests transferring to Mariner and Serenade today.

Mariner guest count was in the mid 80s and Serenade guest count around 30.
Sometime around 10:15am were led out to be scanned off the ship and down the gangway into the terminal.  We didn't get the full terminal experience but it certainly looked great and had that new building smell to it.

No customs processing here.  I found my bag and exited the terminal.
The pick up and drop off area is under cover of the building and it was pretty busy.  


There was a little confusion at this point with respect to where we were to find our shuttle bus.  

I found some fellow luggage tag 75 people and discovered they were also transferring to Serenade so we hung out as a group on the assumption there would be safety in numbers.  Eventually a Mariner bus was called and not long after another motor coach pulled up for Serenade.  Safely on board our bus we settled in for the short ride up to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.  

The transfer could have been a little better organized but it was free and greatly appreciated so I'm not complaining.  I checked Uber and Lyft and both were in the $45 range.  Loyalty does pay.  I don't think this is normally offered as a free service so if you are planning a side-to-side cruise I wouldn't count on this.
One last look at Symphony as we drove away in our bus.

Sometime around noon I was onboard Serenade using terminal 18 in Port Everglades.  
My 'office' here on Serenade as I finish with these last few posts.

Since I was up here and it was dark outside I thought I'd share another new feature that can be found on Symphony of the Seas.  Electronic vending machines.
I tried taking some photos mid-cruise but the glare from the outside light coming through the windows made picture taking pretty hard. 



While the machines are disabled when in port due to taxation and other retail regulations at any given port, these machines are generally available 24 hours a day when not in port.  That makes them a great alternative from the retail shops on board if you need something after hours.  
I know what you are thinking.  What kind of ungodly money do they charge in these vending machines?  Actually they are pretty reasonable.  I looked at an Over-The-Counter medication that was one of the more expensive items at $17.25.  The same item for the same size was $17.01 on Amazon (U.S.).  

This is not Costco or Walmart of the Seas so I wouldn't expect prices to compete with land prices on everything but they didn't appear to be very different compared to drug store prices for a few items I looked at.   
The electronics do appear to have a higher premium compared to Amazon but realistically it's not fair to compare prices coming off a European transatlantic cruise to pricing at Amazon.  Few retail stores in America are the same price as Amazon.  
Are these going to be the cheapest prices for any item?  Not likely but the machines were very popular on this sailing any time I dropped by to try to take some pictures.  When you consider there is no additional tax collected as there would be (or should be) on land it's not that bad.
There is also a free charging station where you can securely store your device using a PIN you create.
 

Day 13 - Miami and Debarking
Since I was up late with friends I slept as we arrived into Miami.
Our progress:

Cruise total, 4,701 nautical miles.


Still dark I ventured up to deck 16 to see what I could see.




True to his word, Captain Rob had delivered us to Miami.





A first look at the now complete new Crown of Miami terminal building.

Since I was up here already I zipped into the Windjammer for a final breakfast.

Hey Goodsmith.
Here's an actual photo of the Twangster at formal night in the MDR last week! 

Day 12 - Evening
Our last night on board.  Sigh...
Our progress so far:

With 4,551 nautical miles behind us we hug the coast just far enough out to be outside the territorial boundary.


Dinner tonight would be in Playmakers.  Since it's Thursday, football was on.

I had wanted to see what their wings are like so for $8 I ordered the hot wings.

They are pretty good and it's a great place to hang out and watch the game.

Shortly after I ate they announced a hot wing challenge.  The winner got this super sized beer dispenser delivered to their table.

Perfect for when the doctor or wife says you can have only one beer. 

While I'm back here I thought I take a few more pictures.

I'm not normally one to take pictures in a bathroom, but I wanted to show you some of the bathroom art:

Back in Playmakers for a last night of Jenga with friends.  Not bad on a moving ship doing 20 knots.


Ugh.  What a horrible thing to see.

Day 12 - Port Canaveral Sail Away
Our sail away was the highlight of the local news.  The largest cruise ship in the world coming to America was a big deal. 

With a water cannon salute we pulled away from the pier with news helicopters flying overhead and a blast of the ship's whistle.




A lot of people came out to see us off.


We slowly made our way back into the Atlantic for our final night on board this wonderful ship.


Looking back at Port Canaveral we had a beautiful sunset tonight to send us on our way to Miami. 

I am new to the blog but I wanted to provide some info on the ‘Crazy Ivans’ where the ship turned south and then west again.
We were on the same cruise and during a bridge tour we asked why the ship moved like that.  The officer said that because the wind from from the east at about 23 knots and the ship was moving about 21 knots they turn the ship like that to use the incinerator.  If not the ship would have ash rain down on the ship.  When the incineration is finished they would head back to the set course. 
There was also a turn for the Suite helideck party on Tuesday.  Bobby said that Captain Rob slowed and turned the ship so the Helipad would be more comfortable.  That said, it was probably the nicest Oasis class Helipad weather experience.

The U.S. Coast Guard performs routine and periodic inspections of all ships.  When a ship arrives from outside of the region or in the event of new ship arriving those inspections are more thorough.  Inspections today had begun.  The crew was also exercising a fire drill throughout the morning witnessed by the USCG inspectors.


My destination today was very close, Grills restaurant where local Florida members of the RCPeriscopers.live group were meeting those of us from Symphony.  Located right behind Terminal 1 it's a great location to get pictures of the ship as well.

With many guests already off the ship I took advantage of taking more photos with fewer people around.  





Our cruise director had been making periodic announcements including frequently that port officials had requested they hold guests to avoid over crowding the terminal.  At 11 am I headed down to join the queue waiting to debark.

Once inside the terminal I eventually reached a point where they separated Canadian and American guests into their own queue for Customs and Border Patrol officials.  Just before noon I was outside the terminal on my way next door to Grills.


They had life boats down exercising them.  All life boats are lowered and operated on a periodic basis.  

They were also touching up the paint getting ready for the grand debut in Miami.  Who knew there was a 'Baby' Symphony of the Seas?

A great time was had meeting other members of the RCPeriscopers.live group all of which were extremely jealous that they weren't guests on board Symphony.  It's always great to meet people and put internet usernames to faces.





After several rounds and some food it was time to get back on board.

No Pressure.  Lol.  

Thank you.  I feel like a new person.  This is from our family pictures, separated by one year.  Should have about another 50 lbs to go...
Also, you know it's time for vacation when you get a text from school saying "Your daughter has been tormenting one of the boys at school today, and decided to pull her pants down and shake her butt and him."  SMH.....

Enjoyed your blog & photos.  Thanks!!!

Thanks everyone! @lovetocruise2002 I unfortunately can only reprice about every 2 weeks or with a notice email (my day to day requirements make checking daily impossible, but hopefully I catch most of the biggest drops), but all yourr experience is surely informative! I wondered if re-pricing was possible after a change in status, so appreciate the suggestion about that too @melski94 !  All good information ???
Lynn
UPDATE Well I booked it! We are on the Adventure of the Seas in November next year in one of the two Oceanview Pandoramic Suites.  Major Beeze loves those big balcony’s, but decided he could skip having one this once for that amazing view. Worth a try for sure! And I will be checking the price @Lovetocruise2002 ??
Whoopsies - @Matt it would be wrong of me if I failed to also thank royalcaribbeanblog.com blogging for first alerting me to the fact that these two suites had been moved to Sky class as of Sept. (suites have been moving the opposite direction after all) - that played a huge role in our decision! ???????? <— my party for all of you ☀️

Day 11 - Last Sea Day
Sometime around 4:30pm I was in Central Park having a glass of wine when the sky caught my eye.  Have I mentioned I love Central park?

I saw the early signs of a sunset so I headed up to the Solarium.
The Solarium Bar is back open!


When sailing into the sunset the Solarium is a pretty great location to take it in.


I was joined by several sunset enthusiasts tonight.


It was really kind of special.  Our last sunset in the Atlantic before making Port Canaveral tomorrow for Symphony of the Seas first ever U.S. port of call.

@twangster Here Are Some Photo I Took Of Your Boat Docking In Port Canaveral. Hope You Enjoy 

With my artistic juices flowing (the wine in the Solarium Bistro at dinner was really good) I was inspired to take more night photos around the ship.


The Perfect Storm slides were still open.


Inspired by the color changes within the art in the Solarium that I saw during dinner in the Solarium Bistro I knew I had to try to capture it.








It really is pretty spectacular and something anyone who sails Symphony needs to experience.

Day 11 - Dinner
Dinner tonight would be in the Solarium Bistro.  It's a pretty great location for dinner and with the Solarium changes on Symphony it is a pretty awesome venue for dinner.
For those that want a short summary - come eat here.  Must. do.
The Solarium at dinner is by reservation but at no charge unless you want to enhance your dining experience with a special entree.
The 'menu' is offered outside on flat panel displays for your consideration.


Solarium Bistro is not a full sit down specialty dining venue.  You will be escorted to your table but you will not be presented a full menu to order from. 


With the Solarium right outside the floor to ceiling windows of the Bistro make it a pretty great dining location.


Instead of a dinner menu I was offered a wine list to start and informed that the Bistro is more of buffet of sorts.  A foodie buffet.

My waiter did mention some specials one of which caught my ear.  A filet for $12.  Like a land restaurant the nightly specials don't appear on the menu.   I decided I better try the filet.  For $12 it's all in the name of research.
Having ordered the filet special I was invited to eat from the buffet as if I had not ordered an extra cost item.  
The Bistro is a collection of small items that you are free to pick as many of one, or a selection of many,  as you see fit.  



 


There is also a pasta station where you can pick your ingredients and have them make a unique pasta entree.  



A salad station offers different types of salads to pick from.

My 'appetizer' tonight.  Mixed Salad, Chicken Kabob and Kofta.

By this point the sun had set and the beautiful art of the Solarium was illuminated with ever changing colors.  Quite mesmerizing to watch.  

Perhaps it was the wine, but it is a very unique and nice dining venue that really struck a chord with me.

Very quickly my filet arrived.

Cooked just as I requested and very good.  Yum.
Time for dessert.


O. M. G.  
I would have taken pictures of dessert but I found myself diving into the wonderful flavors.  The Baklava really was good.  So were the two other dessert items I managed to eat.  Three desserts?  I don't normally do that but they were so good.
I wish I had found the Solarium Bistro earlier in the cruise.  While I'm not a foodie by nature the Kofta and Chicken Kabobs were really good as an appetizer.  I would gladly pay the $12 for the filet again.  Dessert - just wow.  
Between the ambiance of the venue itself and the food offered it was a highlight meal of the cruise for me.

Day 4 – Horseshoe Bay
Today was our laid-back day. No rush to get off the ship, only real plan is visiting Horseshoe Bay and trying to do some shopping at the craft market and other shops in the dockyard. We slept in a bit, and went down to Cafe Two70 for breakfast again. Barely made it before they closed at 9:30. They actually closed all the doors in and out while we and the other stragglers who squeaked in at the last moment got our food and coffees, opening the exit door only long enough to let someone into Two70 when they had their breakfast ready. We were still stuffed from the night before, and just had a light meal before heading out. I got an extra espresso shot in my morning cappuccino; I needed the extra caffeine.
That done, we headed over to the North Star to get in another ride and see the island from 300 feet up. There were only a couple of other people there, as expected, and we had no problem boarding from the standby line. The view was pretty impressive, and it drove home just how tiny the island is as we were able to see all the way to the far end.


After our ride, we left the ship and walked down the pier to where the private shuttles were lined up, ready to take passengers to Horseshoe Bay. At $7 per person, it's only a little more than taking the bus, and they have the advantage of running much more frequently and taking you all the way to the beach entrance.
We arrived around 11:00, and the main beach was fairly packed but not a madhouse. The chairs, loungers, and umbrellas available for rent could only be set up to about half way down the length of the beach, leaving a nice big stretch wide open. As we walked to the rental booth, we passed a small grotto with a very calm and shallow tide pool.

We rented just a single lounger, mostly so we'd have a place to put our towels and backpack and not lose them. We had it put as far down as we could go, which wasn't super-crowded yet. Then it was time to get our feet wet.



We hadn't brought our bathing suits with us, mainly because we didn't think we'd be staying that long. Well, after about five minutes of standing at the water's edge and letting the surf wash over our feet, Cathy decided that she didn't care that her bathing suit was back in our cabin. She had on enough clothes that even soaking wet, it wouldn't be at all indecent, and she just dove on into the ocean!
I couldn't really do the same, with my phone and camera lenses and a bunch of other stuff on me that I didn't want to leave lying on the lounger unattended, so I decided to wander down to the far end of the beach, where it looked like there was another grotto and maybe some good picture opportunities.


Off in the distance, I saw someone standing on top of a boulder in the middle of the bay.


I headed back to our lounger, not wanting to leave Cathy behind for too long, and while taking a couple more shots I managed to catch the person diving off the rock and into the water.


Cathy had gotten out of the water, and after drying off a bit more in the sun the two of us walked back to where I'd been so she could see that grotto. She got some good pictures of the surrounding cliffs, wading out into the water with my phone and getting some nice changes in view from what I could get while staying on land.


On the way back, I played around with climbing one of the rocks. Wade wasn't amused.

Cathy wanted to go back in the water for a bit, so just let the water wash over my feet again and got some video.
It was just about 1 when Cathy came back out, and we decided we should head back if we wanted any chance at shopping before our all-aboard time. On the way out, we stopped at the first grotto, and Cathy once again took my phone with her into the water to get another shot from up close.



We hopped back on the shuttle, and after a bit of a wait for it to fill up we were on our way back to the dockyard.

Day 3 – Wonderland and evening on the ship
Since we still had about an hour and a half before our reservation, Cathy went up to the thermal spa for a bit. I didn't think my really sore feet would do well resting on the hard lounger, or sitting in the sauna, so I stayed in the room and rested while Advil did its magic.
Now, before I get into the actual meal and experience of Wonderland, I want to go back a bit in time. You may remember me posting here a couple of weeks before my sail date with a question on whether I should just book the reservation online, or wait to see if a sale was offered on our day in port. I decided to book it online, and that ended up being a very good thing. I was of a really strong belief that with it being an overnight day in port, and people probably wanting to eat at venues off the ship, that all the specialty restaurants would be looking to fill tables and offering specials.
NOPE!
I had paid a visit to the reservations desk the morning of our sea day to check on whether they were in fact doing any specials or promotions for this day, and the woman there informed me that not only were they and all the other specialty restaurants not offering any kind of discount, they were in fact just about fully booked for the whole trip! So had I not booked in advance, I might not have even been able to get us a table there at the time we wanted!
So we arrive at our scheduled time and were seated immediately. Our server for the night, Ilver, came over and explained the way the restaurant worked, and I had a feeling this might not have been the best specialty restaurant to book for the two of us. Cathy isn't a fan of seafood at all. I knew the menu had a strong seafood focus, but I just figured that she could simply skip those parts and order a meat entree and just a couple of the appetizer options that would be more to her liking. For Cathy's part, she was looking more for the experience of it all and also the chance to try The World, and if the rest of her dinner was a little light that would have been OK.
Well, our waiter explained that the appetizer part of the menu was fixed for everyone, and he really couldn't leave anything out or make alterations. In addition, they normally served two fish entrees with one meat option. I was thinking I would have to apologize to him and say we had to leave, because no way was I going to have Cathy sit there not able to eat for over half the meal.
But then Ilver started to turn it around for us.
He didn't want Cathy to be sitting there and not able to eat while the appetizers were served, and he also didn't want us walking away disappointed. He asked if he could get Cathy a Caesar salad and a bowl of mushroom soup from Chops, right next door, to have during the appetizers; he hoped she would try at least a couple of the non-seafood items, like the tomato water or the Baby Vegetables in the Garden, but wanted her to have something she would enjoy. That was totally acceptable to her, so appetizers were squared away. And instead of the usual two fish and one meat, he would reverse it for us and do two meats with just one fish. She ordered the slow roasted chicken entree for herself, while I ordered the branzino in crispy bread; for the second meat, we decided to try the Terroir Beef to share.
Our appetizers came out, and I had every one of them (including Cathy's). I thought they were all great.
First, the Baby Vegetables in the Garden, with the smoked deviled eggs behind it.

The "dirt" in the baby vegetables dish, which is hidden by the dressing that was poured over it, is actually finely grated pumpernickel bread. I had been wondering what they used for that, and thought it was actually very clever. The dish itself was very good, and I was surprised that Cathy didn't want to try it since it had no seafood. But she had her Ceasar salad and was fine with that.
Next up, the Liquid Lobster. Just a single bite of lobster tail in broth on a giant spoon. The lobster was very tender and not at all overcooked, and had good flavor.

Next we have the tomato water (in the test tubes), the crispy crab cones, and shrimp kataifi. Cathy tried the tomato water and didn't care for it. For me, it was exactly what it said on the tin but hardly anything special; it didn't even really strike me as the palate cleanser our waiter said it was meant to be. The crab cones and shrimp kataifi were both excellent.

While I was going through these last appetizers, Ilver brought out the mushroom soup. Cathy had a couple of spoonfuls and commented that while she's not a big fan of mushrooms, that was a really good soup! She didn't finish it, but did enjoy what she had and reassured Ilver that she was just saving room for her entree and the dessert she knew was coming.  @WAAAYTOOO, you have another believer in this soup from Chops!
So now it was time for our entrees. My branzino was very good, and I liked the presentation that basically hid the fish underneath the bread part, sized just right to cover the filet and the rice that it lay on. It was only my second time having branzino, the first being at Chef's Table, and I actually liked this preparation more!

Cathy's roasted chicken was also really good, and she liked the vegetables and mashed potatoes that it was served with.

And then, there was the Terroir Beef...

My picture was taken after Ilver had already prepared it for us to eat, so you can't see how it just slid right off that bone with no effort, and looked so incredibly tender. I slid my fork in, took a bite...
The texture and taste was like my mom's beef stew.
Exactly like it.
And I HATED my mom's beef stew!
This dish was bringing back every awful memory of being a kid and forced to choke it down in front of her because there was no plan B.
I apologized profusely to liver and let him know that it wasn't any failing on his part, this was just a dish that brought back memories in the way that food does, with not one of those memories being good. Cathy also didn't care for it, so basically the entire dish was left on the serving plate. I was kind of ready to just call it a meal, get dessert and chalk this one up to bad judgement on my part, but Ilver wasn't done trying to make this a meal we'd remember in a good way.
So how do you fix a bad meat experience? By getting a dish from the place that does nothing but good meat -- Chops! And not just any dish, either; Ilver got each of us a filet mignon, cooked to our preference. Quite honestly, I would have been OK without this after eating appetizers for two people along with my fish entree, but Ilver insisted that we get the full value of the meal we'd paid for. So a few minutes later, we had two filets laid out before us. Sorry, no picture of this.
Cathy was in heaven, and said it was just as good as the filet we'd had in CK on our first night. She fully agreed with @ellcee's statement that it was the best filet she'd had. I didn't think it was quite that good, as my piece tasted like it had a little too much salt thrown on, but it was definitely good. I was starting to feel really stuffed at that point, and knowing we still had dessert coming I chose to leave about a third of it on the plate.
And now it was time for the desserts. Again, no picture; food coma was setting in and it seems I forgot to take one. But we had three desserts served to us: Forbidden Apple, which is mostly a raspberry mousse and doesn't actually have apple in it; a mini-popsicle of key lime ice cream; and The World. This was what Cathy had been waiting all night for, especially after I had raved about it when I got to have it at Chef's Table back on Freedom. It was just as good this time around as it was then, and Cathy was right back in heaven.
While we were enjoying all this decadence, Ilver asked if we wanted any coffee or anything to go with it. I asked for a lactose-free cappuccino, thinking that if they had that milk in the Windjammer as well as the coffee places, it must be available ship-wide. Well, Ilver let me know he'd run down to La Patisserie to get it for me; before I could tell him not to bother, and I didn't want to make even more of a bother of myself, he was gone. Ten minutes later he came back with my beverage in hand. I was really impressed by his drive to give us a good experience and good meal, and simultaneously felt like a heel for causing him to run down to deck 4 to get that for me.
The meal finished up, and I left Ilver a sizable tip for the way he went above and beyond. I also asked him for the exact spelling of his name so that I could be sure to note him in my post-cruise survey. God knows he earned that!
 
It was just about time for the late showing of this evening's headliner act, The Las Vegas Tenors. I seemed to recall hearing of them before, maybe here, and wanted to catch this show. Cathy came along, but after the first couple of songs decided to call it a night as she was pretty wiped out from our day on shore. I stayed through the show, and for the second time I was disappointed in Royal's choice of entertainment. While the trio are all good singers, their music selections were almost all from artists before my time and I just felt like this was an act geared for an older crowd than my age bracket. I did like their Spanish rendition of Nights in White Satin, and they had a couple of other numbers from newer artists that I enjoyed, but they were too few and too far between for me to really enjoy the show as much as I'd wanted to.
I decided after the show to swing by Vintages, as I'd barely made use of my drink package outside of two cappuccinos. The night's disappointments continued, as I found a wine menu with less than a third of what was offered at the Vintages on Freedom. I got a glass of La Volte, a wine I'd enjoyed on Freedom, and after a short while I took my glass with me and wandered over to Brass and Bock Pub, where there was a better crowd to people watch along with the musician performing there. I settled in at a table with my wine, and slowly finished it off while I wrote up this day's notes. After that I called it a night, a little after midnight.
 
The couple of issues we've had on the ship notwithstanding, and believe me that they were unquestionably small potatoes, Cathy and I already agree that we absolutely have to come back here, even if we have to do it in an inside cabin.

Day 9 - Galley Tour
A benefit of being Diamond Plus is a free galley tour.  Today a Sous Chef would be conducting the tour.

We meet one of the cooks who is responsible to make bread.  Lots of it.  





Meat cooking station.

Pickup station where wait staff retrieve food once it is ready to go.

Dishwashing

This particular tour was one of many they had to do because of the large numbers of Diamond Plus on board.  It was a little rushed and we were in the way in the galley during a busy time.  Consequently it's probably a good thing it was short.

Day 9 - Misc.
Splash away Bay

Perfect Storm rules and limits

They've finished placing the glass on the new Solarium Bar cover.  My guess is the next step is to caulk or otherwise fill the gaps between each glass panel otherwise it won't be watertight.  The bar remains closed.

From my balcony I saw some Aqua Theater cast rehearsing.  That's promising, hopefully the aqua shows will be a go tonight.

If any body doesn't think swinging around in the air isn't a workout, think again.

Mid day progress...
For a ship with a published maximum speed of 22 knots, we're flying at 23 knots.

Must be a good tail wind, the highest I saw so far was 23.1 knots.
Our target destination is getting closer.

Day 9 - Lunch
Johnny Rockets
Since I'm staying in a boardwalk balcony cabin, one free meal at Johnny Rockets is included for up to four guests.
Onion rings and fries

Smokehouse Burger

Soda is included (since a boardwalk balcony also includes the soda package) but their milkshakes are not.  Absolutely stuffed I skipped dessert.  

Given that it's a sea day I worked much of the day.  A periscope notification told me some of the RCPeriscopers and Royal Caribbean Blog readers were starting their Yeti Pub Crawl.  Then they were sliding down the Ultimate Abyss.  Not long after they were below my cabin in Playmakers.  Soon enough they did the Carousel.  All in their bathrobes.
@Big Dawg Ron

@cookingyo and Mrs. Cookingyo







What happens on Symphony of the Seas stays on the internet.