Grandeur of the Seas - Day 9 - St. Maarten (Part 2)

Today we joined up with our new group for the afternoon trivia. Bitty came rushing in announcing that she was here and ready for the Elvis trivia. Only problem was that the Elvis trivia was scheduled for 4:45PM and we were all here for the 4PM trivia. Bitty explained that she had thought it was actually 5PM, not 4PM and cursed herself for rushing back early from the beach when she didn't have to. Not sure who was then supposed to be doing 4PM trivia but she ran it now. We ended up with second place and they were so happy to be getting better scores with our help that one of the ladies, Diane, tried to bribe me with getting me into the Diamond lounge for coffee if I continued to play trivia with them. I of course politely laughed it off since I don't drink coffee and my suite cruise card also opened the Diamond lounge door. Not that we ever bothered to try and get free drinks during the Diamond happy hour there but we have on occasion popped in while in the nearby South Pacific Lounge to get a cup of water or juice.

After a quick visit to the cabin to change, we popped up to the Concierge Lounge where we said hello to Carlington and told him about the "special suite line" for room service being published in the Compass. He was totally surprised and offered to get us a different number but we assured him it wasn't necessary. It was advertised in today's Compass that at 5:30PM there would be a "up to 75% blowout clearance sale" in the shops so we headed down to see if that was the sale that would include the one shirt I wanted. They had several shirts discounted but they were only the generic ones that sit out in the shop all the time. Once again we were told, my shirt will only be available on day 11.

Tonight's dinner was in Giovanni's and unfortunately, despite only one other table in use for the bulk of our meal, our waiter tonight Karl wasn't as great in service as Johannes or Prashant. 

Mozzarella di Bufalo appetizer - loved the flavors themselves but I'd much rather see it in the form of cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls so it can be picked at and shared.

Rather than an entrée, I opted for ordering two pasta dishes and Karl mocked me for it. When I found both pastas to be a little tougher than they were the other nights and offered the real reason as to why I finished neither plate, Karl defended the food by pointing out how it's all homemade. I told him I knew that to be true because I took the pasta making class they offered on my first Grandeur sailing and he seemed impressed by that. 

Top - Tagliatelle Alla Carbonara, Bottom - Pasta Del Giorno (Pasta of the Day) Linguine with pesto and olive oil

When nothing else sounded enticing for dessert I chose the Panna Cotta and didn't like it either. Karl thought he'd help me like it better by telling me how it is made up of strawberries and Greek yogurt. Not sure how knowing what's in it would make me think it tastes better plus while it does have a cream base, I seriously doubt it's Greek yogurt.

Then they dedicated the other half of the restaurant to the dinner for all Pinnacle guests and several officers. We learned this was only something they do if they get enough Pinnacle members onboard. Once everyone arrived for that dinner, the noise level went up tenfold with toasts, speeches, and applause and of course a lot of the waitstaff was pulled to tend to them leaving their regular tables waiting. It felt like it took us about half as long to get someone to swipe our card so we could leave as it did to eat our entire meal. On our way out, we stopped to make a reservation for the Giovanni brunch which we now learned was only to be on the last sea day, not every sea day for the rest of the cruise like Carlington had thought. Deckster didn't show any reservation for us yet even though Carlington had said he'd made one. Dad asked if the brunch would include Giovanni's famous lasagna and Deckster said it would but also offered to have it made for Dad whenever he wanted as long as they had 24 hours notice. We had Deckster make our final dinner reservations for the rest of the cruise. 

We were planning to step right out of Giovanni's and sit in on Pub Night trivia but Bitty had started super early for some reason. I had hoped to use our unexpected free time to drop in on John & Katrina taping the morning show since they were open about doing it each night before at 8PM and encouraged people to stop by and say hi. Dad wanted to check out the return of Friendly Family Feud in the Centrum so his choice won out only for him to choose to bail a few minutes later. We next headed into the theater to see Alfred & Seymour as we both enjoy comedy performers and I especially enjoy improv comedy. The place was already getting crowded and I hope the powers that be see it as a sign of what types of entertainers cruisers want to see. Production shows and musical acts can be great too but it's nice to have a mix of everything. Alfred & Seymour had some pretty funny moments, especially when they messed with the people who came in late. Would have liked to see more improv and inclusion of the audience though.

One of the things I've always enjoyed doing, especially in the evenings is to take a moment and walk around the promenade deck outside. Sometimes when you're running around you can forget that you're on a ship out in the majestic ocean and it's nice to step outside and feel the natural elements around you. It turns out that it's also a great way to circumvent the snail pace of a large crowd exiting the theater after a show. We stepped outside from the doors right by the theater, walked along the outside deck in the super high winds until we came across our next door to go back inside. We came back inside just ahead of the crowd still shuffling their way through the casino.

We decided a snack was in order and popped up to the Park Cafe. Dad went with a hamburger while I tried the nachos again. Unfortunately, the nachos weren't as good today so I didn't eat much. 

As we sat in the solarium, the semi peace and quiet was interrupted by maintenance work being done on the pool. They had drained the pool and were first working in and around the far pool wall but then disappeared out of sight to work on the pool from underneath. It was so weird to hear the power tools and see the sparks emitted but you couldn't see the person working. Not sure what they did but the pool was back open and in full use the next morning.

Our 5 straight port days are now behind us and I was looking forward to three straight sea days.

Grandeur of the Seas - Day 6 - Antigua (Part 2)

Next stop was back to the cabin so we could dump our tour gear. Today's suite treat plate had us seeing double with a delivery of two identical plates. Why two? Your guess is as good as mine. Dad's theory is that they have a specific plate setup planned out for each given day and if any crew member elects to send your cabin a little something, you get whatever that day's setup is. There still was no note so I can't tell if this was a crew member gift or someone felt like we needed even more dessert.

At this point Dad was desperate for food so we headed straight to the Windjammer before they could close.

That's a steak facsimile under all the carbs. 

Down to 4PM trivia and shared Dad's bruising tale with Cori and Allan who urged Dad to file a report. We met a new friend named Brenda who wanted to try out trivia and that unfortunately meant some new friends from the other day couldn't join our team this time. When Jeff showed up to host the trivia, we called him over to tell him about Dad's bruises. Jeff cringed in sympathy (or perhaps in fear of getting in trouble) but instead of being apologetic or suggesting a visit to medical like you would expect, his response was "Well I have a bruise too on my back somehow" and then walked away to take his place by the piano for trivia.

We lost out on first place this afternoon by one point. The winning "Troublemakers" team vetoed receiving any prize so Jeff came over to give us highlighters as 2nd place. Cori asked that we get pens instead which Jeff was reluctant to do since he didn't have 1 for everybody in our group. Only half of us really wanted a pen so he gave 50% of us highlighters and the rest pens.

Next up to the Concierge Lounge for happy hour and got the usual smug looks. Really puts a damper on one of the few perks you get for the price of a suite on Grandeur. I drowned my sorrows about it in cheese cubes and questionable quiches.

Pancetta di Maiale appetizer. Basically slab of thick bacon under all that arugula.

We returned to the cabin just long enough to change clothes and then headed down to tonight's dinner reservation at Giovanni's. We were seated right away at the same table by the window and before I could blink our water glasses are getting filled. Who is so on the ball tonight I wonder and look up to see our fabulous ninja waiter Prashant from Izumi has come down to Giovanni's for us tonight. Our original waiter Johannes also stepped up when it came time to take our order but I spotted Prashant a few times literally hiding and peeking out from behind a partition waiting to see if we needed anything. Dad loved the extra attention but it was starting to border on creepy for me. Made me wonder if Prashant would pop up later in our cabin and hand me a new roll of toilet paper.

Melanzane Alla Parmigiana - my latest trying new food of baked eggplant. This was the only new food I tried and couldn't finish. They did offer to bring something else but I declined.

As a backup just in case, I'd also ordered the Gnocchi Al Gorgonzola which has always been good.

I started feeling less creepy when he started helping other tables too but then we had some delays as the restaurant got busier. We'd either have no one tending to our table for a while or they'd come just to take care of one step, i.e. take our used plates but not come back to take our dessert order. I finally had to signal to Johannes from across the room and he sent Prashant over to ask for our dessert order rather than wheel the cart over to our table. While Prashant was off getting our dessert, both Johannes and the manager Deckster stopped by to offer coffee. Sure, the one thing we didn't need we get double teamed in service.

 Towel animals had an aquatic theme tonight with a frog for me and a turtle for Dad.

Back to the cabin, we took the time to browse the next day's Compass schedule, charge batteries, and gather what we needed for our tour tomorrow in St. Lucia. We had originally considered heading back down to the theater to view the movie "Night School" but once we were in the cabin, we couldn't bring ourselves to head back out.

Grandeur of the Seas - Day 3 - Sea Day (Part 2)

Good to see that despite a mechanical dry dock a couple weeks before our cruise, the same piece of scotch tape is holding up the plate around the electronic elevator display as was there on our last Grandeur cruise in 2016.

After trivia, we made a quick jaunt up to the concierge lounge. This time we both asked for water expecting a nice glass of ice cold water to hit the spot. After a couple shocked looks from the bar waitress, she returned with cold sealed bottles of water. This was one of the things we'd considered upgrading to the next non alcoholic drink package for if only it wasn't twice the price of the soda package even on sale. We saved the bottles and refilled them to always have cold water to drink in the cabin. 

Spring rolls, grilled shrimp, and cheese cubes. The finger foods of champions!

We headed back to the cabin and enjoyed the perk of two showers to get ready for tonight's dinner at Giovanni's. My bathtub shower had a bit of trouble draining but by the time I showered again, both the tub drainage and our cloudy bathroom sink water had cleared up. While we had been out of the cabin, we had a second treat plate delivery, this time another chocolate covered strawberries. While odd to get two plates this day, we chalked it up to tonight being the rescheduled formal night.

Compared to last night's letdown at Izumi, tonight's dinner at Giovanni's was like night and day. Another evening of dining with very few other tables in use. Our waiter Johannes was great and told him about our bad time in Izumi when we heard him mention how he used to work there. He concurred that it definitely should have been better and took care of our next three nights of dinner reservations while we ate. 

Click here to see Giovanni's menu

In my quest to try new foods, I started my meal with the Grigliata Di Polpo - a fancy name for an appetizer of grilled octopus. Trying this made me nervous because all I could picture was those little suction cups "tasting" me back. While a little tough to chew, I was surprised to discover that the feeling of those suction cups wasn't so bad. It still grossed me out a little bit when one or two would pop off as I chewed.

I also ordered Insalata Di Rucola in case I found the octopus too nasty to eat more than a bite. This was a great simple salad.

As always, I had to make sure to try this cruise's Tagliatelle Alla Carbonara. Like Oasis, they left the poached egg on top to be broken by the diner whereas Princess will mix it all together as a sauce. This dish was good but I still think Princess wins, especially since they use spaghetti noodles and it's a little easier to enjoy the flavors when you're not having to fight through thick ribbon cut noodles like the tagliatelle. Save that for a stroganoff style dish where the meat can stand on its own.

Dad ordered the Filetto Di Manzo Rustico and while slightly undercooked, Johannes remedied it right away.

When it comes to dessert at Giovanni's, they still wheel over the cart so you can see your options and have it dished out right then. At this point, we've tried most every choice. This time I noticed that they've changed up the chocolate hazelnut cake into a load shaped chocolate cake with caramel and pistachios that they cut off a slice for you. Normally I don't go for things with nuts but decided this would be simple enough to pick out any nuts I'd find. Turns out the nuts were few and far between so I was able to eat most of the cake until I'd had my fill of rich chocolate. They also offered to drizzle more caramel or chocolate sauce overtop.

As we finished eating, Giovanni's manager Deckster came over to introduce himself. We shared with him how great tonight's meal and service was compared to last night. He was very interested in hearing about our trouble in Izumi and promised to speak to Izumi's manager about getting better service next time.

With our evening delivery of the next day's Compass, tonight we had a flier advertising the Loads of Savings Wash and Fold Laundry Special. Everything one could stick in the provided bag would be washed and returned within 24 hours for the cost of $24.99. The chart to fill out with the bag's contents only lists pajamas, socks, shorts, swimwear, t-shirts, and underwear so it doesn't look like they'd be willing to wash anything you brought for formal nights in this promotion. I also find it silly that they advertise this as "Arrive home with a suitcase full of clean, folded laundry" yet they offered it on the 3rd day of a 12 day cruise.

After a quick jaunt to the cabin where we took the time to go over tomorrow's newly delivered Compass, we headed down to the packed Centrum to check out the Rock the Room game show hosted by Mark and DJ Marius. Mark set up a chair in the middle of the Centrum and to play the game, you had to be the first to run and sit in the chair to earn the chance to answer his question. His questions were all song clip related but they varied in what he wanted to know. Most required naming the song but some required naming the singer and a couple called for answering about a movie or TV show where the song was used. Several of the songs I was able to recognize but not know/remember the answer to the question. Lots of near collisions and hilarity as one lady tried to dance her way up to the chair only to lose out to someone who simply ran up. The one time a country song was played, I was the only one to bother jumping up so I earned myself a keychain. Now if only it didn't have to be Achy Breaky Heart which they only had on hand for use in line dancing sessions but that's another diatribe for another day. The next chance for a song I stood a chance at getting right, Mark asked for the name of the music competition show won by this next artist. Posting news for a TV fan site comes in handy in the rarest moments because my brain went right to the list of the most popular winners. Something in my head just said "He's going to play Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood" so as soon as those first few notes from Kelly's song started, I ran for the chair. Another woman ran up at the same time and she hesitated just enough for me to go low and slip into the chair as she was going high ending up half on the arm of the chair and half on my lap. Mark gave me the chance to answer first being the true butt in the chair and had her stay in case I was wrong. I got it right with American Idol and tried to give the other lady my 2nd winning keychain of the game. She turned me down saying she won something already and I couldn't find any other takers. We sat there through the rest of the game enjoying watching everyone else run for the chair. I was finally able to hand off both keychains to the ladies who'd agreed to share seats with us.

Carrying on the fun, we moved on to South Pacific Lounge for the Famous Places visual trivia. While we waited for it to start, we noticed several people come in talking about dancing and how the floor would be for them etc. I was beginning to wonder if this was the most popular trivia topic ever given the turnout when Katrina came in to announce that they'd made a mistake in the Compass listing both the trivia and the ballroom dancing music hour to be held at 9PM in this lounge. Never occurred to either of us to even notice what was listed in the "Music and Dancing" box at the bottom of the Compass until one of the dancers pointed it out to us. The dancers were disappointed but Katrina promised to move the ballroom music hour to tomorrow night and to tell the current Centrum band to throw in a ballroom number or two. We had chosen seats in the front row knowing this was a visual trivia and Katrina joked with us about being in the same spot as when she ran into us this morning. The bulk of the crowd left upon learning there was to be no dancing so when we tied with another team for first place, Jeff gave us all highlighters and keychains. Passed through the crowd enjoying piano music in the Schooner bar and passed off my newly won highlighter to the same young family we'd given keychains to after the 4PM trivia. 

Over to the theater to enjoy the first night's comedian Gary Couette performing a late night (as in 10:15PM for this crowd) adults only comedy show. He was much funnier than his act the first night. We decided afterwards to return to the Park Café for a snack and it turns out so did 100 of our now closest friends. I sent Dad off to hold a table while I joined a line already about 25 people deep. By the time I got up to the front, the line snaked throughout the rest of the Solarium. So many people asked for nachos that the young man behind the counter assumed I wanted some as well. Instead I asked for enough pizza slices for both Dad and I and looped myself back around to the table we'd thankfully snagged beforehand. Dad then got up to get drinks from the dispensers and had to wait in a line about 8 people deep for that! Was there some sort of subliminal messaging in the comic's show tonight? "You will laugh at my jokes and then have this deep seated desire for nachos! Ha Ha Ha!" 

We retired to the quiet privacy of our cabin and settled in to bed.