Friday Evening At Sea

We head up to Skywalkers for around 6:15 to the Elite Lounge for some drinks.  Tonight it is Cosmos and peeled shrimp as the finger food.  It is relatively quiet in here tonight but they staff say it was busier earlier.  We chat with two women who are travelling, the one woman treated the other because of her birthday.  How sweet! 

We leave to head down to the Atrium for the Fiesta in there.  The balloons are all set up and the band Los Brilliantes is playing.  Lots and lots of people are dancing (way different than a few days ago on the Grand where you could barely get to the dance floor cause of the chairs/tables and people). 

The cruise staff are dancing and really getting people into it. The bar staff are walking around handing out the Norman Love Chocolate Pops – which the kids are really enjoying!  

The music is so great that you can’t even stand still you have to move.

We are meeting up with our friend Deidra for drinks and dinner tonight.  We meet up in the Wheelhouse Bar and I enjoy my first Bramble on board and it was yummy (although this ship puts sugar around the rim).  But I stopped at one, I have been drinking enough tonight.

We head to Donatello for dinner.  Remember last night in the Crown Grill?  We informed the Head Waiter there that we were to ask to see the Maitre D’ cause he wanted to come by and introduce himself.  Also the Head Waiter offered to make a reservation for us for the next day (we said we wanted Anytime Dining Room) and he said the Maitre D’ had a bottle of wine for us.  But when the Maitre D’ Giuseppe Castino arrived in the Crown Grill he went to the wrong table (the one beside us) to introduce himself thinking it was us?  The other couple had no idea who he was, and when Maitre D’ said you are dining in Donatello tomorrow they said “No we are dining in Crown Grill”. 

When we arrive in Donatello I state we have a reservation – the head waiter says “oh we have you down for the Crown Grill” we laugh and say no.  He quickly finds us a table and apologizes.  We know it isn’t his fault, we know that this all trickled down when the Maitre D’ went to the wrong table yesterday and no one corrected him.

We inform our waiter that we were told the Maitre D’ has a bottle of wine for us that it is under our folio number.  Guess what – they can’t find it, we fill them in on a bit of what happened.  I have a feeling the other couple (who are in the Crown Grill because the waiter thinks that they are us) are enjoying some lovely wine.  We finally do get some nice wine and I am thankful for it.  Sadly the Maitre D’ did not show up so we could not thank him in person.  But it is a bit of comedy of errors and I hope to run into the Giuseppe some time in the next few days to thank him personally.

Our meal was lovely.  The crew are dressed in the traditional Italian Night themed tops and they are making the pasta as an extra appetizer but the menu is not the normal Italian Night menu. 

I start with the pasta (which is cooked perfectly and just a bit of spice) and goes very well with the wine.  For my entrée I had the skirt steak with the chimichurri sauce and I really liked it.  I try to have that at least once on a trip and it is available on the always available side of the menu.

For dessert they are featuring one of the Norman Love Chocolate Desserts, and it is a hazelnut chocolate bar.  It looks too nice to eat and the bit of lemon curd along with each bite sends the taste buds into action.  Excellent!  I can’t wait to have it again. 

We are one of the last to leave the dining room, it has been lovely catching up with Deidra again. 

We are really wanting to see the comedian Carlos Oscar (who was Princess Cruises Entertainer of the Year in 2011).  His show is in the Vista Lounge in about 45 minutes (11:15 pm) so we decide to wander a bit and then relax in the lounge for about a half hour before the show starts – oh and of course we had a drink.

One thing we notice is a lot and I mean a lot of people have the all inclusive drink package on board this trip.  Almost all the kids have the Ultimate Drink Package. 

We saw Carlos a few years ago on a ship and just loved his show and we once again really loved his show, he seems to understand us and we can relate to everything he is saying.  

He has another show tomorrow and we will try and see him again. 

After the show it is just about midnight and we are done for the night.  We arrive and see our laundry that we put in just yesterday evening has come back already.  So even though we are not suppose to get next day service we are getting next day service and it is handy.

Tomorrow we are in Ensenada and we have a Ship’s Tour scheduled.