A decent night’s sleep in a comfortable bed and the clocks an hour back, so a relaxing start. We headed out from Deck 9 to the Horizon Court buffet on deck 14, fully expecting to find seating an issue, but there was plenty of seating.
I was intrigued to see what changes had been made to buffet style eating, given that it is both highly popular with regular users and also highly criticised by those deeming it somewhere between ‘pigs at a trough’, to ‘a petri dish of nasties’.
We have always frequented the buffet for breakfasts, and nearly all lunches, an occasional dinner and also an occasional snack.
The main hot food was still ‘serve yourself’ and the cold food often ready portioned. I won’t list all the hot options just yet, but once again no ‘Canadian/English’ style bacon, just American, which means streaky, wafer thin and over cooked.
We were joined by Neville & Julie from Cruise Critic and caught up with them at morning trivia.
Needless to say we spotted a well-known group of regular ‘winners’ from past cruises. The session was run by Tamas, from Hungary and much to our surprise, we guessed the answer to the Hungarian question correctly.
Later, a wander up for lunch and sampled several dishes, including Adobe pork, roast chicken, filo fish, veges, a spring roll and then a ‘green’ soup. Missing these days is the free lemonade on tap.
We checked our stateroom account on the TV and sure enough, we’d been charged for the two coffee cards which should have been free, so off down to customer services and they printed out our account. Forewarned by Sandie and Dave, we also found a beverage charge from the dining room, which certainly wasn’t ours. The young lady on the desk soon corrected that, so our folio was back to zero.
We then went up to the central area on deck 14, the covered pool and relaxed and read. It was very peaceful as the pool was still empty.
Afternoon trivia, we were on our own and it was all sports. The last 5 questions were all on cricket umpiring. Overall, I think we got 11/22 which was pretty good. Needless to say, the smarty pants got 20 or 21
On our return to the cabin, there was a bunch of flowers and a personal note from Angus, which was a very nice touch and most unexpected.
Just before dinner, we just happened to catch Angus in the Atrium and were able to thank him for the flowers. Quite a chat and we managed to confirm that not only does he still like fruit cake, but prefers it with the marzipan and royal icing.
A call into the shop and we spied Whittaker’s chocolate (not that we needed any) and noted the price. At $11AUD a block, more than double what we’d pay in a NZ supermarket. So to our Aussie cruiser friends, buy your Whittakers ashore.
About 1900 passengers on board and the least crowded of any ship we have been on, partly, because they have added the International café onto deck 6, yet there is still a bar serving drinks and coffees on deck 5. In fact, deck six is now a main deck with more venues and extra eating, meeting and seating options and the casino is about a quarter of the size of the previous Sun class ships. There are more coffee outlets than on even the larger ships too, which is a very good move. Free soft serve ice cream is back and the paid for NZ ice cream gone. The covered pool in the centre of deck 14 is also a great addition from the earlier ships of this size.
At dinner, we just bowled up to the Bordeaux dining room again on deck 5 about 7pm, but we hadn’t pre-booked. No queue and no problem and put on a table of six – with Julie and Neville from ou Quiz team and Christchurch! (They know Col & Jude so hi from them…) The other couple were Geordies – from Auckland, so a Kiwi table. Another good night. Paula had the turkey which was beautiful and moist and I had two starters then the ‘surf and turf’. Not a thick filet but extremely tender and most enjoyable.
The theatre show was a husband and wife duo who were finalists on ‘Australia’s Got Talent’ albeit a while ago. Billed as Cameo Rascale, they had a mix of him throwing her around, juggling and balancing acts – not easy on a ship that was moving around a little. A very well-crafted show with some good effects. I gave them a 9/10.
On the way out of the theatre we spied Wolfgang and Danielle, so we decamped to the Wheelhouse bar for a catch up, where the singer/guitarist was far too loud for the half dozen people who were in there at that time of night. Fortunately, it was almost at the end of her set, so it wasn’t long before the room was quiet. We were the last to leave at 11:45pm – but the clocks back another hour, so really, it was only 10:45, but still past Wolfgang’s bed time.
Our first full day at sea since February 2020. So nice to be back. We are relaxing and enjoying this ship – a lot.
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