My Odyssey into Fat Pants: The Final Frontier. 11 nights. Star Class. NJ weather in January. Every girl’s dream. (1/5 – 1/16/25)

[Pooch]

6 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Batman and i agreed.

Mo5aic (yes, replace the S with a 5) was talented, but their song choices were for crud.

We prefer Lenny Kravitz to Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

But that's just us.

The 70 (80?) and older crowd loved them. Standing ovation territory. But Mosaic was younger than us. At least they knew to cater to their core audience, i guess. 

 

And there you go again!  Feeling like a dinosaur here,

[WAAAYTOOO]

7 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

Yeah weren’t they opening a pizza joint or something?  Or maybe I have the wrong person. 

Yeah...that's them

[Sweety]

15 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I only drink Mississippi Moonlights there (blackberry moonshine lemonade) b/c I don't do whiskey. Were you doing lemonade shots?

You sound like my husband. He keeps asking me, "When are we going back on Utopia?" I think he's going to hand over his credit card!!!!!!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

11 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Your toes shouldn't be hanging over the edge of your shoes. 

OMG!  That totally is something I just don’t understand when I see that!  I’m so glad you brought that to our attention….ughhh!      

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

29 minutes ago, Pooch said:

With finely diced onion & celery, chopped hard boiled egg, relish with provolone cheese on ciabatta bread.

Ok…yes to the finely diced onion and celery with tuna…yum.  The relish and hard boiled egg would work just fine mixed together as egg salad….but with tuna?  Hmmmmmmm  And for me anyway, cheese does not belong on tuna or egg salad but definitely with a fried egg sandwich!   
I know so many people love tuna melts…I just am not one of them  

But now that there’s been talk about the tuna sammies on this blog…I may become adventurous and try one while on Symphony in May?  

 

[Cactus527]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I think it was the family from SoCa (high desert) but I can’t think of their “handle” at the moment.  

Was that Almond Farmer?

[Jax]

32 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yeah...that's them

Right! I think @Rags1  I am pretty sure genie Shane surprised  @Lovetocruise2002 with a private show on OA but I think it was a pub singer. 

[SweetPea]

Would i do this cruise in January again?

That's debatable. 

Certainly this cruise had fortuitous timing, but as we're packing and our room looks like a hurricane, i hate that we packed for 2 seasons: Africa Hot and Winter. 

 

It's thank you note time. 

But in our quest to find our med bag, I found these. I wonder how well they will go over if i drop them off at guest services?

 

 

[Cactus527]

7 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

It's thank you note time.

I appreciate the reminder about this. I'm throwing a pack in my bag for next week right now. 

[Pooch]

3 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Ok…yes to the finely diced onion and celery with tuna…yum.  The relish and hard boiled egg would work just fine mixed together as egg salad….but with tuna?  Hmmmmmmm  And for me anyway, cheese does not belong on tuna or egg salad but definitely with a fried egg sandwich!   
I know so many people love tuna melts…I just am not one of them  

But now that there’s been talk about the tuna sammies on this blog…I may become adventurous and try one while on Symphony in May?  

 

My mother worked for years at a canteen in a VA hospital and the cook made it that way.  Try it!  1 egg per can of tuna.

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, Pooch said:

My mother worked for years at a canteen in a VA hospital and the cook made it that way.  Try it!  1 egg per can of tuna.

Sounds good to me (I know, what doesn't?) and I've definitely had cheese on a tuna sandwich/hoagie.

My picky wife, however, would call every single ingredient besides the tuna and mayo a "contaminant" and not touch it, lol. Her mom makes a separate small batch of plain tuna for her when we visit (she normally uses onion and whatever else).

[Jax]

31 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Would i do this cruise in January again?

That's debatable. 

Certainly this cruise had fortuitous timing, but as we're packing and our room looks like a hurricane, i hate that we packed for 2 seasons: Africa Hot and Winter. 

We felt the same after our 8 night on anthem out of NY in Dec 2019. Even though we knew we would be dealing with multiple seasons I didn’t love the colder sea days and winter clothing/coats take up so much room.  Because NYC was on our bucket list we did it once but I think it was a one and done.  

[Pooch]

Earl of Sanwich makes a terrific hot tuna melt!

[SweetPea]

We are having the most boring day here and Batman is down for the count since his cold is now in his chest.  It's cold. You can tell it's the last day. Everyone seems tired and not at 100%. We are about 85% packed. It's weird. This cruise seems to have flown by, yet dragged on at the same time. 

If this were a summer cruise, i think it'd have a much different vibe. It's days like this, i miss the Haven and being in Haven proper, but at this point, we're just ready to get home. 

We got a message from my sister last night that she's concerned that Silas is being a little too lethargic so she called this morning to make him a vet appointment for 10:30 tomorrow morning, as that is all that was available. We should be home by 9:30, but not exactly what i wanted to do the second we got home. Maybe we will really change his name to Bentley ...

 

So I'll just post last night's dinner pics now. 

We wound up at Chops and i don't remember who but ... another handshake. Hmmph

 

It's obligatory to have the crispy goat cheese at least once. 

Batman had the shrimp cocktail and lmk that I'd be pushing my luck snapping a pic of that. 

I told our server i was going to do the spicy shrimp and he said not to, that he'd just bring us some of the shrimp to share. He talked me into the Ribeye instead. 

The ribeye was actually melt in your mouth and was an excellent suggestion. 

Batman wasn't hungry and just had the lobster bisque as his main course. 

I decided to drink my dessert. 

I went with the Haute & Steamy

It was nothing to write home about, but it wasn't terrible. 

That is Captain Marek in the background there, having dinner with that couple. 

[Cactus527]

I really hope your pet is okay! Fingers crossed that he just misses you.

[Ampurp85]

My brother always get the Haute & Steamy from Chop's and he said it taste different each time.

I hope Batman and Silas feel better.

[Cactus527]

I forgot to say: I love that salad from Chops so much. So excited to have it again!

[Pooch]

Because you keep posting the darn pictures (and I got pretty good deals), we are making our first foray into specialty dining in March.  We have Chops for boarding day lunch and dinner one night and Giovanni’s for lunch with @WAAAYTOOO and @JustMeJoeon day 9.

[InmyElement]

Oh man that Rib-eye looks great. I might have to reconsider chops after a disastrous filet last time..Welcome Back! it sucks right??

Hope you guys feel better and this cold weather really sucks...I miss Miami! Billy the waiter brought me in for some kind of chest bump man hug thing when we left...we always come away with some kind of hack/cough..Best part you don't have to go back to work..

Best wishes for Silas!!

[SweetPea]

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

Because you keep posting the darn pictures (and I got pretty good deals), we are making our first foray into specialty dining in March.  We have Chops for boarding day lunch and dinner one night and Giovanni’s for lunch with @WAAAYTOOO and @JustMeJoeon day 9.

Glad to be of assistance!

[Lovetocruise2002]

11 hours ago, Jax said:

Right! I think @Rags1  I am pretty sure genie Shane surprised  @Lovetocruise2002 with a private show on OA but I think it was a pub singer. 

Tied up with life…just caught up now

We love Mo5aic. We first saw them on Allure many years ago, then they showed up on the Icon Inaugural. 

It was @Rags1 who had them visit his RLS. We got the pub singer. Good memory @Jax

[WAAAYTOOO]

Thanks !  I couldn’t remember @Rags1

[SweetPea]

I'm so sorry this blog ended with such a fizzle. Not like us, but, you know, January.  New Jersey. Sea of farts. It happens. 

Batman rallied tonight, and we grabbed a drink at the pub to say goodbye to our friends. And then headed to the farewell comedy show. Batman was feeling a lot better, and though we weren't out for long, we figured if he exposed anyone briefly to what he had going on, they wouldn't get sick till they were comfortably home at least. We knew we wouldn't be ruining anyone's vacation at this point. 

If you're GenEx like me and Batman and you were beaten and don't remember why half the time ... you can relate. (1969 and 1972 here. We remember the beatings well, but hardly ever what for.). If you're also GenX, do you find it frustrating like we do that your parents treated you as an obligation when you were growing up, but now that you're an adult, they can't get enough of you? Maybe it's just us. It's hard to balance sometimes. 

Otherwise, it was the standard "people eat too much on cruises" comedic material. 

We decided we'd have Playmakers delivered to the room after the show because, you know, why not. We always do Italian on our last night of the cruise as a tradition, so this was a deviation. We honestly hadn't eaten all day, so this was welcomed.

 

Nachos with pulled pork.

 

 

I've never seen pics of these before. I liked them. Batman hates anything Buffalo flavored so doesn't count. 

Buffalo chicken crunch roll 

I wanted the onion rings, but i seriously only eat one or two. Batman hates onion rings. So Batman ordered the double burger which he wanted and gave me the onion ring on top. Of note, Playmakers only serves burgers medium well. This was fine, but typically get our burgers medium at home. 

 

We're meeting our driver at 8am tmw and so Rafa is meeting us here to escort us down at 7:45am. Luggage is already out. What was once the best part of Star Class is no longer. Our luggage was due out by 11pm. Whatever. I'm sure we could've gotten an extension, but the Haven offers you midnight to 1am without asking. The luggage escort both at embarkation and debarkation was a major selling point of Star Class. No longer. Now I'd argue that the Haven has better embarkation and disembarkation procedures. Especially disembarkation where you're taken down a crew elevator discretely and you're not blatantly cutting lines. 

Tomorrow we officially begin our lives as full-fledged retirees. What's next? Who cares, as long as it's fun!

 

 

 

 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

4 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Tomorrow we officially begin our lives as full-fledged retirees. What's next? Who cares, as long as it's fun!

Wishing you the best moving forward in your retirement!  Enjoy all moments, they’re yours for the taking!

Thanks for a great live blog…keep them coming!

 

[Curt From Canada]

IT’s CRUISE DAY!!! 

Oooops … that would another Live Blog Site

@SweetPea … thanks for taking us along AND all the helpful hints for Maria and I. 
 

Curt from Canada

[Pooch]

Always a joy to live vicariously through you and this was no exception (well except for the “old” digs).  Give yourself time to ease into retirement.  We found the beginning ok as it felt like an extended vacation.  Then there were projects we never had time for to keep us busy.  Couple months down the road it started to get sketchy.  So my advice is make sure you have a BIG cruise booked for two months from now!!!

[OCSC Mike]

9 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Batman was feeling a lot better

Glad to hear he rallied for the last night.

9 hours ago, SweetPea said:

GenEx. Millennial.

I've been using the term Xennial b/c we're a little stuck in between... though I think we're closer to GenX.

9 hours ago, SweetPea said:

it was the standard "people eat too much on cruises" comedic material

Those are the comedians we hate. If you have to tell 1-2 cruise jokes before your own stuff, fine, but if that's the main topic... not funny the 100th time.

9 hours ago, SweetPea said:

We decided we'd have Playmakers delivered to the room

Sorry you broke tradition but can't go wrong with Playmakers in my book. @AshleyDillo loves the buffalo chicken roll, I believe. Never tried them but they look good.

Safe travels home and GL going forward with the retirement. Obvious guy says just cruise more.

[SweetPea]

We are meeting Rafa in 5 min to debark.

 

Most importantly...

 

HAPPY EMBARKATION DAY to @Curt From Canada

 

Have fun dancing your cruise away!

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

We are meeting Rafa in 5 min to debark.

Hope it goes smoothly and safe drive home. Hope the weather isn't too bad.

[LandstromCruise]

Glad you’re both feeling better and hope the cat is ok 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Can’t believe it’s over already !  Safe trip home.

[lovetheplaya]

Thanks for sharing your adventures!  Sorry it ended like a sea of farts! Safe travels home.

[SweetPea]

Thanks everyone! We are home already. 

Probably wasn't the best idea to get a brand new puppy on disembarkation day, but here we are. 

We've done dumber things!

Back later to wrap up!

 

 

[Ampurp85]

I'm glad your home and Batman is feeling better.

This has been such a long trip I had forgotten about the adorable new puppy .  I hope Silas is well and takes to him.

[Sweety]

Thank you for your lively blog. The food pictures were awesome. Have fun with your retirement. I can't wait.

[Cactus527]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I've been using the term Xennial b/c we're a little stuck in between... though I think we're closer to GenX

I'm a Xennial too! My girls rolled their eyes when I told them that - "you can't just make up an era." Um...I didn't.

@SweetPea safe travels home!

[MaryS]

Thanks for another entertaining live blog.  I can always count on your blogs to make me laugh.  Good luck with your adorable new puppy and retirement.  

[lovetheplaya]

1 hour ago, Cactus527 said:

I'm a Xennial too! My girls rolled their eyes when I told them that - "you can't just make up an era." Um...I didn't.

haha, Xennial here too! What a life we've lived

[Lovetocruise2002]

Wow! That went by way too fast! Glad you and Batman are on the mend. And most importantly, Happy Retirement!!!!!!! I am still so jealous!

[GatorCruiser]

#GenXforlife