American Cruise Lines - Day 5 - Beaufort, N.C. (Part 2)

While I could have attended today's art class with a theme of making gift tags at 2PM because we chose not to go on our tour, I opted not to in favor of relaxing in the cabin. Today was also the first time Ali started including "Movies in your cabin" on the schedule because she would set up the ACL themed TV channel to show certain movies. Today's feature was the 1955 movie "To Catch A Thief" starring Grace Kelly and Cary (or Gary as Ali wrote) Grant. I did notice another day that the movie on the schedule was still playing on that channel later in the evening so I'm guessing once it's put in the system, it just runs on a loop. Despite always being close to shore, our cabin TV would pick up New York based local stations. Threw us a couple times to be half listening to the TV and hear them say it snowed today when we're looking out the window at cold but sunny skies. We soon learned that shows like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy air at the same time in NY as here at home but on ABC so we'd end up watching them between dinner and evening plans. Even though we'd randomly lose signal to several national channels during the trip, we watched a lot of crime drama and Friends reruns since TBS, TNT, and USA Network were the easiest to find something to watch on throughout the day. A few times we ended up watching shows live on the broadcast networks that we'd set to record at home in the evenings because we were already back in our cabins with nothing else to do.

While we didn't think much of needing sunscreen, the further south we sailed, the more bugs we noticed. At times stepping out onto our balcony was like trying to play a life size game of Frogger except the cars you were trying to avoid were gnats and mosquitos. Several times I'd step out to get some air or grab a photo only to jump back in when the bugs would try to come inside the room. I did hear one of the stewards talking about using a vacuum to try and get rid of the bugs on another cruiser's balcony after they'd asked if something could be done. Thankfully a couple ports later, the bug population seemed to go back into hibernation or the crew found a remedy to make our balconies usable again.

Dad headed down to hear Rachel's talk in the Chesapeake Lounge on The Late Great Lord Proprietors while I stayed in the cabin. As I started getting ready for the Cocktail Hour and dinner, I noticed a great looking sunset out the window. It was the perfect moment to capture as the sun disappeared behind the cliffside as fast as I was snapping photos.

Plenty of artichoke left over when it was time to prepare snacks for cocktail hour:

It's always good for a chuckle when I see a cruise menu item listed as Maryland Crab Cakes. It's a fancy nicer way of saying from frozen patties. I must say though seeing Maryland Walnut Cake on tonight's dessert choices was a first. Though the mention of "Apple-woo" bacon in the Organic Spinach Salad sounded intriguing. Yes, I'm that nerd that delights in finding typos in books. 

The Lobster Cake appetizer with Mixed Greens, Saffron Mayo, and Roasted Red Peppers:

How could I resist a Crab Stuffed Beef Tenderloin:

Reminded me of a Beef Wellington where instead of pastry it was the tenderloin encasing the crab. 

Dad decided to try the Maryland Walnut Cake for dessert but said he couldn't tell there had been any walnuts in it. I pointed out the tiny chopped up walnut pieces that had been sprinkled on the top for garnish.

I normally love cheesecake but am not a big fan of apple or caramel and mentioned that to Andre, our waiter tonight. He offered to get me a plain cheesecake and I thought that sounded delightful. He started rattling off other toppings he could add instead and begged me to let him play around because he loved decorating desserts. I told him no nuts or berries and he brought me out this beautiful personalized plate of plain cheesecake with chocolate drizzle:

It was perfect and delicious and my tablemates were impressed that Andre had brought out a special cheesecake just for me. One of them did order the regular caramel apple cheesecake and it turned out to be a piece of plain cheesecake that they'd added a couple slices of cooked apple on top with a drizzle of caramel sauce for decoration. Lifting off the apple topping would have given me a plain cheesecake anyway but the gesture was much appreciated. 

Tonight was another performance by Tim Sells but this time the theme was "Music Through the Ages." He joked about overlapping with some of Robert and Stephanie's song choices and encouraged couples to get up and dance.

Feel free to comment below if you spot yourself in these dancing photos or if you're in the cruise protection program and need your photo removed:

Back in the cabin for the night we discovered a new Eagle Society themed present of one hat. A while back I noticed that I was accruing a collection of cruise line branded baseball caps mostly because they were trivia prizes or for participating in an onboard activity so it was cool to still get one from ACL. We noticed at the next week's Eagle Society cocktail party that they had a bin with tons of extra hats so if we really wanted a second one, it was there for the asking. One gentleman who'd come in for the regular cocktail party right afterwards asked about being able to take a hat from the bin. By then we had a more hands on housekeeping manager on board and when she asked if he was an Eagle Society member, he dropped the hat like a hot potato and left. If he'd have pressed the issue, I have no doubt she would have let him take one.