Breakaway to the Caribbean! Day 3

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Trip Report

Day 3 – At Sea Sunny, mid 80s

We again started the morning with room service. We indicated a delivery time of 8:30 – 9:00 but received a call at 8 to tell us that it was on the way. We received coffee for one person instead of two, and didn’t get the orange juice that we asked for. It just seemed a little odd, almost random in what we got (and when) compared to what we asked for. I thought maybe our order slip had gotten switched with a different room; but this was a trend that would continue throughout the cruise.

After getting ready for the day, we went up to Deck 15 and found Dale by the pool, sitting for a little while to ease into the day. This morning, there was a steel drum band on the pool stage.

While everybody chatted, I went into the Garden Café to try the potato pancakes on the buffet. They were labeled as hash browns, but they seemed more like a latke to me. They were a nice snack.

While Kathryn treated herself to a massage at the spa, Molly and I climbed up to Deck 16 and played the mini-golf course. The course was fun, but is in terrible physical condition. Lots of chipped or broken features, it badly needs repair. (But honestly, this was the only place on the ship that was not in very good condition.) Also, be warned, however, that going through the challenge on the hole does not guarantee to make the hole easier.

After that, I did the ropes course and I loved it. It was very fun. I waited about 15 minutes in line before starting up the course. But even when it’s crowded, there are enough different directions you can go that you’re not always bumping up against somebody in front of you. There is one “spur” of the course that actually extends out over the water, but unfortunately, it was closed due to wind when I was there. One other thing to be aware of is that they don’t allow you to take pictures with a camera or cell phone. The only photography or video that was allowed was a GoPro-type camera that is attached to your body.

We then found Kathryn, heard about her massage (which she loved) and the ever-present sales pitch to purchase the spa products (which she didn’t love). We walked back to Spice H2O on Deck 16 Aft. This is an adult-only sun deck. It’s nice, but was very crowded when we first got there. Also, there’s very little shade (it is, after all, a sun deck) if you need a break from the direct sun. However, there’s a great waterfall feature with bench seating and you can sit under or next to the waterfall with your feet in a shallow pool of water. We really enjoyed that.

Some NYC-theming on the way to Spice H2O:

For lunch, we decided to try O’Sheehans. O'Sheehans is a pub-food restaurant. The pub side has games (skee-ball, classic video games, bowling, pool table), while the restaurant side just has tables for diners and is a little quieter. We got a booth by a window, which was nice because it got us a little bit away from the noise of the Atrium. We tried the nachos as an appetizer. Honestly, they were terrible. The cheese sauce was runny, like melted butter. It just dripped off the chips. We didn’t finish them. But our meals were actually all pretty good. I had the steak fajitas, which were tasty and bit of a zing to them, but weren’t overly spicy. Kathryn enjoyed her Reuben and Molly liked her chicken wings (although she wasn’t crazy about the spinach dip).

We headed back to Deck 8 to relax and read on the Waterfront, but it was much more difficult to find a spot today. The word had definitely gotten out about what a nice relaxing area it is. But we did find three chairs and spent most of the afternoon there, overlooking the water. Gorgeous.

We had reservations for the 6:30 show of Rock of Ages, so we didn’t want to rush dinner before the show. Instead, we went to Shanghai again and just had some dumplings as a snack to tide us over. Then to the Breakaway Theater for the show.

I loved the music in this show, which is all done live. I liked the dancing, I even thought the story was pretty good. But this is NOT a family show. The opening scene starts with a woman simulating oral sex on a red-white-and-blue popsicle. The main character/narrator makes repeated references or uses props to indicate how well-endowed he is. I stayed for about a half hour, but it was kind of tough to watch with my 21-year-old daughter.

Now, to their credit, the staff and the cast give multiple blunt warnings about the nature of the show. They probably announced 5 times in the half hour prior to the start of the show that it was going to be raunchy, racy and raucous; and that parents should seriously consider taking their kids out of the theater. So nobody can say that we weren’t warned. But even with the warning, it was more than I expected. I would have loved to have watched the cast do the music and just forget the drama aspect of the show. That would have been perfect for me. I’m sure most of the people there loved it, but it wasn’t for me personally.

After the show, we decided on dinner at Taste. Taste is one of the three main complimentary restaurants and is located on Deck 6, just downstairs from the Manhattan Room. It’s also opposite from Savor, which is laid out almost exactly the same, with a slightly different décor. It definitely had a different feel from the Manhattan Room, as you would expect. Taste and Savor have no live music, they’re not as wide open as the Manhattan Room; and they feel a little more intimate. They are definitely quieter! Well, except for the large group at the table next to us. (Our server said they could hear them in the kitchen!) Additionally, the menus for all three of these complimentary restaurants serve the same menu each night.

My spring roll appetizer and Caesar salad were pretty average, but they were fine. My chicken parmesan was good. Just a little dry, because there wasn’t very much sauce, but it tasted very good. I was a little surprised that nobody offered me grated cheese to go with it. Molly’s steak with herb butter was very good. It was cooked medium, instead of rare as she ordered it, but the taste was still very good. Kathryn and Dale had the lamb shank on mashed potatoes. Both said it was very good, and the portion size wasn’t too huge. The desserts were unremarkable, and we just skipped them.

We finished dinner around 9:15, which unfortunately was too late to catch the Second City sketch show, so I went to Guest Services to ask about availability for the 11:00 show. When I got there, there was a performance by the Splash Academy kids in the Atrium. They were doing a little dance to “Let It Go”. It was very cute, and it was cool that they had the kids out of the Academy room to perform out in the ship. The 11:00 show was filled, and I didn’t feel like waiting in a stand-by line at 11, so we got some ice cream for dessert, went to a lounge for a couple drinks and just relaxed. There was nothing new scheduled for evening entertainment in the lounges. Just the guitar guy (with too much smoke) and the piano guy that was just ok. So after our drinks, we went back to the room and flipped on the TV. We happened to find some Looney Toons, which Molly had never seen before. So that was kind of fun.

But in general, TV on the ship is pretty poor. I know. You don’t go on a 9-night cruise to watch TV. But sometimes you just want to chill in the room. And if you’re hoping to catch something fun on TV, good luck. There’s one channel that shows a rotation of 4 or 5 network TV shows on a loop; one channel that shows a rotation of 4 or 5 movies; a sports channel that shows F1 Racing, rugby and soccer documentaries; then Fox News, BBC News, and MSNBC. The rest is ship programming about shopping, view from the bridge, etc. In other words, load up your iPad!

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