JLMoran

Hi @sarah954bear, welcome to the boards. Yes, I've done this twice now with calling Royal to purchase the deluxe package for myself, but just a refreshment package for my wife who cannot drink. The second time went much more smoothly than the first, it's clear the phone reservations staff are fully up to speed on this exception policy. I have not tried canceling the Refreshment Package online after buying it on the phone, as my wife has always wanted that package for her specialty coffees and mocktails, so I can't speak to whether that loophole that was mentioned still works.

Honestly, I don't have a clue. Based on the conversations you and I and @ellcee had, and based on some recent live blogs, I think it stays pretty similar. But I also remember @mpoole3 blogging that when he and several others who went on night one of their sailing followed up with a repeat visit a couple nights later, the chef deliberately changed the menu around so they weren't just having the same meal over again. No idea if they keep a database of how many people attending a given CT are repeat customers from sailings past so the chefs can prepare accordingly, but I'd doubt it. Modifications like what Mr. Poole experienced are probably isolated to specific sailings. I would guess that they might change it up once a year so that repeat cruisers don't feel like they're getting the same exact thing each time, but maybe it's tied to when the CK menu gets updated, given that I saw a few items from CK that I'd had at Chef's Table (albeit with slightly different preparations). Then again, maybe it goes in reverse and the chef's come up with a new CT menu each year or two, with the most popular items making their way to CK! ?

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.

Day 5 - Sea Day I was glad today was a sea day, because when we woke up the skies were completely overcast and it was threatening to rain at any time. Would definitely be a day to stay indoors and take advantage of Anthem's accommodations for inclement weather. Unfortunately, I had to take care of a couple of unexpected issues, like the sewer stink that flooded out of our bathroom this morning when we opened the door! Nothing like what @twangster had happen; this was only a stink and no sewage backlog. But good lord was it pungent in there! The other unexpected problem was that I found Royal had been charging me the daily gratuities, even though I had pre-paid them through my travel agent. With two of the days looking like I had been charged twice! Before dealing with that, we had to get down to breakfast before things closed. I wanted to change the venue this time, as I was a little tired of Cafe Two70, so we decided to go to the Main Dining Room. On Anthem, this meant going to the American Grille room, and it was a madhouse! The place was packed, and even though we had asked to be given a shared table so we could have some companions and conversation, we ended up seated at a two-top. Granted, the tables were really close-packed so we had no trouble talking to our neighbors. They were a very nice couple from Buffalo, NY, who were on their honeymoon. We talked about Bermuda and agreed it was gorgeous, and that we had to get back as soon as we could. We also talked about our experiences on this ship so far; it was interesting to get their point of view, as they had previously sailed only on Carnival and this was their first time on Royal. They said Anthem was definitely a good bit nicer than Carnival's ships, and that it definitely had better food and a nicer crowd (not nearly as many drunks as they tended to find on Carnival, and they liked that it wasn't such a constant party atmosphere). But, they felt Carnival had the edge on activities. For us, the food in the main dining room wasn't really any better than if we'd gone to the Windjammer, and it took a long time to both place our orders and then get our food. My pancakes were actually cold; not just room temp, but like they had been in the refrigerator and not quite reheated enough to reach room temp. On the other hand, my omelet was totally fine, probably because it was cooked to order. Cathy had the buffet, and felt it wasn't as good as the one on Freedom; fewer choices, and what was there also just on par as if we'd gone to Windjammer. I was able to get my fresh-squeezed OJ, at least, and it was as good as I remembered. So, with breakfast out of the way, it was time to go and visit Guest Services. For the sewage smell issue, the person I spoke with was very apologetic, and paged both our floor attendant and maintenance to check it out. He also looked up my reservation and said he had no record of my prepayment on the gratuities, but after showing him my invoice and confirmation email from my TA, he offered to remove the gratuities without any further action on my part. I still wanted to get to the bottom of this part, so I emailed Heather and asked her to look into it. While I was doing all of this, Cathy was at the logo store taking advantage of the two for $20 t-shirt sale. She scored a few more t-shirts, including one for me, and caught up with me just as I wrapped up with Guest Services. With that out of the way, we went back up to our cabin. Our floor attendant was already there and taking a look at the problem. He agreed there was a smell, and shortly after we arrived Allen, our cabin attendant, arrived. He checked and told us the problem was that the ship had run into some bad weather last night that had been tossing a ship a fair bit (which was surprising, because we never felt that once); all the movement caused some rooms to have the bathroom floor drain's trap clear out, allowing the sewage smell to come up through the now cleared pipes. He poured some water down the drain to re-fill the trap portion, and left to check on some other rooms. And then maintenance came by not half an hour later, to further follow up on the problem. The timing was good on that as I was just heading out for my iFly session. By this point, about 11 AM, it was actually raining, albeit lightly. So we stuck to the indoor paths as much as possible for getting to iFly, stopping at La Patisserie along the way so Cathy could get another latte. I should have asked her to just meet me there rather than waiting, because by the time we got to the checkin area my group had already been taken inside and my spot was given to someone on the standby line. There were no other openings for iFly that day, unless I wanted to wait around for my own shot at a standby slot, but I was OK with this. My feet were still sore from all the walking over the last two days, and I wasn't sure how they'd hold up being buffeted by the simulated winds inside the iFly chamber. Plus, the day was already feeling a bit rushed and it was good to have a chance to slow down. Since the weather wasn't great, we went down to the Solarium to just relax and enjoy a beverage or two. I got another Lava Flow, but I had to make do with another rum; somehow @twangster had teleported from Adventure of the Seas onto my ship and run off with all the remaining Kraken! ?

Never been on Oasis, so can't say for sure. A decent number of others here have done Chef's Table, though I'm not sure if any have done so on an Oasis class ship; hopefully one of them can give you a clearer idea on that front.

My wife and girls did their run in April of this year. It’s quite possible they just got some stricter staff and not all are that way, or as @twangster said they may have tightened up the rules this year. I didn’t see any indication of head mounts coming off or loose in the videos I saw, but I’ve never used a GoPro so I don’t know what options there are with that.

Yes, excursions frequently go on sale and are very easy to cancel and re-book. Sometimes you'll catch a sale price without even having an official sale going on. It definitely pays to check prices at least once a week.

One more vote from a native NJerseyan for no worries in September. My wife and I just sailed Anthem in mid-October. It was chilly the entire first day, but we were in shorts and t-shirts by mid-morning on the next day. Also, keep in mind that Anthem has both outdoor and indoor pools that are general admission, plus a large and fully enclosed Solarium area with a 3-tiered pool and four whirlpools; the Solarium is only for adults and teens 16 and over, and has its own dedicated bar. You can definitely enjoy sail-away from either indoor space on a cold day, the solarium in particular tends to be a very comfortable 75 or 80 degrees at all times. The indoor pool area can get some cold breezes as the doors leading to the outdoor pool open and close, but the Solarium has no such problems.

Definitely can't be handheld, even with a wrist strap to secure it. Staff requires all guests riding the zip line to have both hands free to grip the handle bar. My wife and girls all confirmed this when they came back from their time on it, after making sure to have wrist straps for their phones to use them one-handed. Most of the YouTube videos I've seen of the Dragon's Breath appear to have been done with a head mount.

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Day 4 - Bermuda (continued) The shuttle bus left Horseshoe Bay at 1:30, but we didn't get back to the Dockyard until almost 2:30 because of traffic and rain. With our all-aboard time at 4:30, we didn't have a lot of time to finish up our day. And we still needed to eat some lunch, we were both getting pretty hungry. Rather than burn a lot of time at any sit-down restaurant in the dockyard, we went back to the ship and just grabbed some small items at Cafe Promenade to take the edge of our hunger and let us get back off-ship ASAP. We headed back out to the dockyard with about an hour we could safely spend without risking being pier runners. Even with that decent amount of time, we were kind of hurried to get our shopping done. We ended up only making it to the craft market, where we got our traditional souvenir holiday ornament and a couple of prints, and one other store where we got some limited print coasters and a few t-shirts. After that, we made our way back to the ship, cutting it a little close as we boarded at 4:15, but not all pier runner territory. To our surprise, as we waited in the security line we heard one of the staff holler down from the card scanner area to the people at the entry booth that there were still over 250 passengers not yet on board! We looked back and there were nowhere near that many in line to board, so it was looking like there'd be at least a few pier runners today! I have no idea if that ended up being the case or not. Our room was on the opposite side from the dock, and all I wanted at that point was to enjoy my traditional sail-away margarita from our balcony and take in one last sight of Bermuda. We sailed away promptly at 5:00, so either everyone made it on board in time or there were some people (possibly happily) left behind. We had to get ready for dinner in CK, as we were eating a bit earlier to make the evening's showing of Spectra's Cabaret. As it happened, while this night wasn't formal night it was still the night when the kitchen pulled out almost all the stops. That's right, almost all the stops... This was a set of impossible choices. There was no way I could decide between salmon sashimi or the risotto, nor could I choose just scallops or lobster. So, I did what every enterprising cruiser does in this situations... I got 'em all! Sorry, escargots, but there is only so much room in this stomach and you got the short stick; considering Amar brought me a second lobster tail without prompting, I was glad I left them behind. Appetizers were paired, at Amar's recommendation, with the "Conundrum" blend from the "Adventurous Whites" section; yes, I actually had white wine and I enjoyed it! It was very dry, which I appreciated, and only a little fruity with a slightly spicy finish. With my entree's I also had white wine, this time the "Mer Soleil" Chardonnay; also very nice, and I have to say after having this and the Chardonnay served at Chef's Table back on Freedom that I do like that kind of white. I may have to pick up a couple of bottles for at home when I have meals that traditionally do get served with a white wine rather than a red. Cathy kept it far simpler than me, and just had her favorite Caesar Salad and the gnocchi. She said the gnocchi was very good, not too heavy and really good flavor. Then it was time for dessert. Cathy got the crunchy chocolate bar, which had her back in heaven again; we're all chocolate lovers, and she said that was a really good dessert. I had the Baked Alaska and, as usual on this sailing, an iced Bailey's and coffee. Here's the Baked Alaska. And lest I forget, our meal once again came with riddles! First was this one: "The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never uses it. The one who uses it, never sees it." I actually figured this one out after a very small hint from Amar, with confirmation that "it" was a real thing and not some metaphysical concept or the like. After this, we got another stick challenge – There are 12 sticks arranged into a square, like so: Moving exactly 3 sticks, change the four squares into three squares; you cannot double up any sticks, and you cannot have any sticks jutting out on their own. This one neither Cathy nor I was able to figure out; when Amar showed us the solution, I shook my head again. And the solution he showed isn't the only valid one; we showed this puzzle to our kids and my older daughter came up with a different solution that was still valid. And now, it was time for... We arrived a solid hour early, actually getting to Two70 as the first show was ending. This was good, as it gave us our pick of the available seats. Make note -- if you want to have a chance to see the cast up very close as they leave the main stage area in a couple of parts and walk around the perimeter, then find the third ring of seats, which are a set of tall couches and love seats. Cathy asked to sit here as her back was bothering her and she wanted something with a taller back than the other seating, and wow was it the perfect place to enjoy the show! I respected the "no photography" announcement, so I can't show you anything of the actual show, but both Cathy and I were very impressed. This was the kind of show we'd been waiting for, and it really was incredible how they blended the singing, dancing, aerialists, robot displays, and projection wall into one seamless whole. It's not Cirque du Soleil, as I had first imagined it to be. It's something all its own, and you really do have to see it to appreciate it. And if you sit where I indicated, you'll have two times that either the emcee, Spectra, or the full show cast walks past and you can fully appreciate the costuming and the performers' talents. Spectra actually took time on his pass-through to say hello and shake people's hands, including mine, which I thought was a very nice touch. When the show ended, we gave the cast a huge round of applause. And we were even more excited now at the prospect of seeing We Will Rock You the next day, as that show was supposed to be even better! Not wanting to go to bed quite yet, we decided to wander the ship a bit. There were some interesting chairs laid out in front of Wonderland and by the Music Hall, so we decided to have a goof and do our best Game of Thrones impressions. Cathy played Circe Lannister. I, on the other hand, was Ned Stark. After having our bit of fun, we went up to the pool deck and Solarium to see how they looked at night. The Solarium was surprisingly empty. We contemplated getting our bathing suits having a private dip in the Solarium's hot tubs, but didn't want to take yet another shower before bed when it would be really late; we figured we'd do that on our sea day tomorrow.. At this point, Cathy was ready to call it a night. I was still pumped up between my evening Bailey's coffee and Spectra, so I continued to wander for a while. I stopped off at Boleros and tried out a Royal Mojito; not at all bad, but not as good as the one I had in Old San Juan back in April. While I sipped my drink, I decided to finally pay a visit to the casino and see how the craps tables might treat me. Not nicely, as it turned out. As soon as I joined the table went cold, and I lost to 8 shooters in a row; I ended up leaving before I could even get a chance to be the shooter, having lost $40 in about 10 minutes. I saw the same thing happen towards the end of my trip on Freedom, and I'm starting to wonder if I make any table I join colder than a Polar Vortex hit in January. Just for grins, I put $10 into the one $1 Double Diamond slot machine they had, as that has been a somewhat reliable slots game for me. No luck here, either. Out $50 total, I cleared out of the casino and decided it was time for me to get to bed as well. Tonight's drink package tally: 2 cappuccinos 2 glasses of wine 3 cocktails Definitely ahead tonight, but still "making up" for yesterday's big shortfall.

Here's a link to the full review (with tons of photos) that I wrote after doing this on Freedom last April: I did it solo, even though I was traveling with my family, and it was a fantastic time. @ellcee was traveling solo on Anthem at the same time as my wife and I were, and she also had a great experience. She didn't do a full review, but this short-yet-perfect summary also gives you an idea of the experience as a solo traveler: As for whether it's "worth it" if you don't drink, I would still wholeheartedly say yes. The food alone is worth the price of admission, and you combine that with the great experience of the chef coming out and explaining all the courses, the people (well, barring something like what @Broons77 had to go through with a couple of passengers who were too far into their drink packages...), and the camaraderie, and it's really something you just have to experience at least once. Doing it for a birthday sounds like a great idea to me!

Following! Have a great trip, and safe travel to MCO!

You definitely need a taste for seafood, and enjoying sushi doesn't hurt as a couple of the appetizers do use raw tuna; but if you tell the waiter you're not a fan of sushi he / she will probably skip those appetizers. I re-checked the menu as I was writing it up last night and confirmed that while they have about 16 different appetizer options, they bring out just a sub-set of them based on both the size of your party and what you tell them are your likes and dislikes. I'm sure part of why Ilver brought out the smoked deviled eggs for us is because they were one of the few non-seafood options. The food is definitely nothing so far off the beaten path that you'll be shaking your head trying to figure out if anything is really edible. It's more that the meal is something of a spin on molecular gastronomy and "avant garde cuisine", so it's normal food that just looks weird. ?

When it's a single Set Sail pass that has the names of everyone in the party, then indeed you need everyone there at the same time before you can board. However, since you have individual SetSail passes for this upcoming sailing, each person can board whenever they arrive and there's no requirement for all people in a cabin to be there together. Just make sure each person has the necessary documentation along with their pass. I kind of remember asking about this when I sailed Freedom earlier this year, but in reverse, because so many people had mentioned having individual passes when they boarded and my sailing had a single pass for everyone.

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.

I did a little Googling on my lunch break, and I think what made the woman I spoke with give me a different story on the difficulty side of it was that I specifically commented that I was in the financial industry and IT. Based on what I read (mostly from the "Getting a Job in Bermuda Page" on bermuda-attractions.com, which I remember was the site I was using to learn about places like Crystal Caves and does seem to be a legit Bermuda-focused / possibly Bermuda-managed site), those jobs are in high demand and not as readily / frequently filled by Bermudians. Because Bermuda is a tax haven, a fair number of hedge funds and banking companies are set up there, and a lot of their employees are expats. I will say that she was probably off about the cost of a house, just based on what I read on that site, even what your tour guide said might have been on the low side! Seems just a two-bedroom apartment in Hamilton will run around $4,000 a month, and "only" $3,200 outside Hamilton, while renting a full house that's ocean-facing (not ocean-front!) and equipped with a pool and private garden runs over $15,000! ? And there's no 10-year "landed resident" status that I could find a reference to. If you're not Bermudian or married to a Bermudian, you cannot buy a house at all, full stop, unless you're someone very privileged. And even then, you can only buy a home already owned by another expat (which the site says is basically the top 5% of properties, at exorbitantly inflated prices).

Yup. @Matt blogged about in this article posted yesterday.

@Neaxan, realized I thanked @twangster but forgot to also thank you for your own live blog! This was really interesting seeing the same sailing narrated from two different perspectives at the same time, and definitely loved your photos documenting your own experience!

@twangster, am I wrong thinking you're already on Serenade and posting from there now? Thanks for yet another amazing live blog and photo safari of this latest adventure, and I'm already looking forward to seeing Serenade and this next experience you're kicking off!

I saw this as well, but what I saw was that Grandeur was moderately to a lot less if I was looking at inside or ocean view rooms, and then more than Anthem when I looked at balcony rooms. I assume this just comes down to available inventory, as Anthem has a metric ship-ton more balconies available than Grandeur, but relatively limited inside and OV availability.

Thanks for the review, @twangster! That's interesting that they have off-menu specials, and that filet was priced quite aggressively! Now I'm going to have to try the Solarium Bistro on Anthem when I'm back on her next year. We had skipped it this past time because we had dinner in CK each night, but since we won't have that option this time around it might be a nice way to mix it up a night or two.

Thanks for the additional pics of Hiro, @Neaxan! It's fun to see the literal different perspectives, along with the differences in what drew each photographer's eye and produced a "must capture!" reaction.

Nope, that threw me for a loop, too! It's a dry slide, and based on @twangster's photos it seems you go down using some kind of sack or cloth to sit on and put your feet in. Reminds me of the Giant Slide at Dutch Wonderland in PA. Fun Fact -- On one of the group cruises that sailed on Harmony, the gang doing the pub crawl used the Ultimate Abyss to get down to the next bar on the route! ?