December 13, 2021 – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI – Mostly Sunny – 83F

It was indeed a bumpy night.

Because we are in port today, the Windows Café opens at 7:00 AM.  I was up there a little after opening and I decided to sit inside (it was already warm on the back deck) so I took the very first window seat by the coffee machines.  Very distant and with the best view of the sail in. St. Thomas is in the distance in this shot.

Breakfast is my favorite meal on ships and I really look forward to that first breakfast up in the buffet.  I found out pretty quickly that the breakfast process is a little different in the new world.  There is no self-service in the buffet, which makes sense.  I asked where the waffles were and I was told that they would make me one and deliver it to my seat.  The crew member takes the order, asks where you are sitting, then gives you a metal "centerpiece" that holds a card with your order number on in that you place on the table (like the Corner Bakery back home). I was dispensed some cottage cheese and preserves (which are now in tubes that resemble caulk tubes); the girl working the jams couldn’t get the stuff out of the tubes so she got help from one of the guys, who detached the tube from the dispenser and squeezed me some by hand.  I inquired about sour cream and that was also brought to me.  We are also not allowed to get our own coffee (I learned the hard way) so I asked for two cups of decaf with milk and they were brought to me piping hot.  I also tried their oatmeal, which was very good (they have a different kind of brown sugar on board but it works). While a little more complicated and a lot safer, the breakfast was delicious and monotonous as always.

Ellen went up after I got back and I joined her later for some more coffee and a little of their muesli, which I really liked (like a dessert version of oatmeal).   Breakfasts will work out on port days because of the earlier opening time, but on sea days, we will have to see, especially if I am presenting.

We found lots of open loungers on shady side Deck 5 so we spent the morning reading and checking emails.  We have regular phone service here so we can get texts.  Not much happening back home.  I am still reading “Better Off Dead” (60 percent read).  It is not the most exciting or complex Reacher book but it has the usual elements.  It does have a different feel to it perhaps due to the collaboration between the brothers Child.

While out on the deck, one of the largest yachts in the world, “KAOS”, pulled out to go somewhere.  It is 330 feet long and costs $300 million something the owner, a Walmart Walton, can afford.

Also here today is the Emerald Princess, docked in front of us.

We had lunch on the Windows Café aft deck.  I ordered the tuna and asparagus wrap again but this time it was “well done”.  It was excellent.  I also had a salad prepared from the salad bar and it was also great – the Ranch dressing being the key.  I washed it all down with a Stella.  Ellen had tuna and egg salad from the salad bar and a macaron for dessert.  I tried the cappuccino gelato but I didn’t like it.

After lunch, we were back on Deck 5, where I got terrific shots of the harbor, and the many yachts at anchor, as well as an amazing panoramic shot of Charlotte Amalie.

Ellen has a 3:00 PM appointment in the Spa on board (a first for us).  I am back in the room cooling off – it is a little warm out there.

We stayed in the room until dinner time at Discoveries. I had a very nice apricot sour before dinner. I had pre-ordered a vegetarian version of the French Onion Soup.  It was here but it took a long time to come to the table and that made the whole dinner a marathon. The Onion Soup tasted great but if it takes this long to get to the table, it might not be worth the trouble. We both ordered the Penne Pasta with cream cheese sauce and mushrooms plus two appetizers.  Ellen had a salad but the arugula was bitter, and I had the Satay with Rice – OK.  The pasta arrived at near 7 PM and it was quite al dente but OK.  We did not stay for dessert but instead went to the Mosaic Café for Lemon Meringue Tarts and coffee and tea.

The seas are smoother so the production show “Come Sail Away With Me” can now go on.  

The show was a travelogue (even using postcards to highlight the locations of the various musical numbers). Lisa Louise Wilson and Calvin Hudson are the lead singers. 

 

They both have good voices but sometimes, Lisa’s take on certain songs was unusual. The songs were all familiar e.g. “I Love Paris”. 

The dancers performed a tango of sorts when Argentina was visited but in the India segment, I just didn’t understand why “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” represented the Subcontinent (I was expecting a Bollywood number).  

The finale consisted of “Wonderful World” sung by the two lead singers.  

The show only lasted about 40 minutes.  It was a pleasant and entertaining show.

Back to the room to read and settle down – seas are still choppy.

December 12, 2021 – At Sea – Atlantic Ocean – Mostly Sunny – 81F

My talk this morning, “DNA Testing: Cold Cases Solved”, is at 10 AM in the Theater.  This gives me a little more time but I still opted for Room Service.  I had two pancakes, two fried eggs, and decaf coffee.  Ellen had the lox, cream cheese, and bagel plate.  I was up early enough to catch a glimpse of a semi-friendly sea.

When I got to the theater at 9:45 AM, there was no one there.  The Insider did not have a blurb on this talk and there was no announcement the night before.  However, as the start time approached, a lot of passengers appeared.  Based on a capacity of about 400 passengers, I would say there were about 80 folks present.  It is hard to tell but there were a lot of people sitting in the front section and along the sides.  The talk went very well including the new section on the genealogy.  A few people shard positive feedback.  The talk finished right on time and I rushed to break down my stuff so the future cruise talk could start on time.

I spent a little time in the Mosaic Café catching up on this log and going over my next talk accompanied by a couple of mochas.  I was told by the barista that “mocha latte” is redundant – call it a decaf mocha because they all are “lattes”.  Anyhow, the drinks were good.

We had lunch in the Windows Café – I had the fish fingers (tilapia) and a salad with “American Dressing”.  I also tried the pizza which was OK (might have been a bit undercooked).  For some reason, pizza is not highlighted on the buffet (the pizzas are hidden in a cabinet near the carving station - very hard to see).  I had a Stella with the meal which improved everything.

From lunch, we went down to the Cabaret Theater to catch John Bressler’s Matinee Show.  He had a great crowd this afternoon.  He played a lot of our favorite songs including a few verses of “Hallelujah”.  He was funny again and the show was terrific.

Even though the open deck was windy, we spent most of the afternoon there reading and snoozing (me mostly).  As the afternoon wore on, the ship began to pick up pitch and roll.  Barf bags appeared on the stairway railings. 

Tonight was Mexican Night in the Windows Café – we could not find anything that would work for us so we went to Discoveries for dinner.  Before we sat down, we both ordered apricot sours – really liked it and will get it again.  We both had the salmon, which was delicious.  I had a baked potato and some creamed spinach with my fish.  A Cesar Salad started off the dinner.  I had the Strawberry Cheesecake for dessert.  A very tasty dinner.  Armando is our new waiter, and he is very good especially when it comes to modifying dishes to remove what we can't eat.  I asked Armando if the French Onion Soup on the menu could be make vegetarian and he said it could, but it would be available tomorrow.  

I also had a discussion with our waiter about the possibility of ordering the veggie version of their onion soup for tomorrow night.  He said he would set it up and all I had to do was to let them know when we came in tomorrow.  We’ll see how that works out.

While we were at dinner, CD Danny announced that the production show “Come Sail Away” would not be performed tonight because of the motion of the ship.  Instead, it would take place tomorrow and tomorrow’s show “Moving Through the Movies” would take place tonight.

It is hard to find a good club soda on board but our waiter in the Discoveries Bar found me some.  We got to our favorite seats in the theater (next to the spot operator) – we also chatted a bit with Tanya and I shared an update on my talk earlier in the day.

“Moving Through the Movies” involved CD Danny Turner singing songs from various movies – he gives a little background on the movie and the song and then scenes from that movie provide the background for his singing.  He started off with songs by Johnny Cash.

He did "Moon River" from "Breakfast at Tifanny's" and  

"Bring Him Home" from "Les Mis".

The show was Ok – it reminded me of what Steve F does with his Broadway Musical shows and lectures.

The ship was now really moving so we went to our room and the relative safety of our bed.

It’s going to be a long and bumpy night.

December 11, 2021 – At Sea, Atlantic Ocean – Partly Cloudy – 80F

Azamara Quest is really smoking to get to St Thomas on the third day of the cruise.   Here is the itinerary for this cruise.

I was up early enough to capture the sunrise from our cabin window.

The Windows Cafe Buffet does not open until 7:30 AM so that won’t work for me today and my 9:00 AM talk.  So I ordered room service with a delivery time of 6:30 AM.  The food came at 6:45 AM (within the window) and consisted of two waffles, cottage cheese, sour cream, and preserves (does that sound familiar) and French Toast for Ellen.  Because we are on such a small ship, the food was still warm when it arrived.  The room service breakfast was OK and I was on my way to the Cabaret Theater.

When I got to the theater for my first talk – “The CSI Phenomenon: Forensics on Television” – there was only one person in the seats.  Eventually, there were about 10 people for this first talk – 

expectations were very low for this because it was early on the first sea day of the cruise and people, including myself, are tired.  In any event, the small crowd seemed to like the talk.  We’ll just have to wait and see how things evolve.  I should mention that, unlike previous stints on Azamara, the speakers do get to use the full stage screen along with the two side screens.  There are some malfunctioning bulbs on the big screen but I can still see the cues.  The talk finished on time (45 minutes or less).  The next talk on shore excursions also had a very low turnout (usually a very popular talk).  Perhaps, the guests on this cruise are not the lecture going type.

With the exception of a 20 kts head wind, the open deck is wonderful and relatively empty.  We will most likely spend most of our time on Deck 5 (shady side) since open air is the best defense against COVID-19.

We had lunch in the Windows Café (Deck 9).  I ordered the spinach and seared tuna wrap and onion rings from the Patio.  It is one of my favorite items on Azamara but I forgot to mention that I wanted it well done.  It came raw and still wiggling so I didn’t each much of it.  I also had a salad from the crew-dispensed salad bar – the Ranch Dressing is really good (can even taste the buttermilk). In fact, guests cannot get anything on their own in the buffet - totally dispensed by crew.  It does move pretty fast, though.  I also ordered a Bloody Mary (too much vodka if you can believe that). 

After lunch, we were back on Deck 5.  I am continuing to read “Better than Dead” by the Child brothers.  I got it back from the library and plan to finish it on this cruise. 

Other ships are also heading out to the Caribbean - I captured one from the deck. Looked like a Carnival cruiser.

The Windows Dinner process has totally changed.  First off, there is no dinner buffet.  Now, each night has a theme and a limited number of dishes and sides associated with that theme.  Tonight, it was Chinese night and there were no items for us on the menu.  We also decided not to return to the Discoveries Restaurant tonight – just for a change in scenery.  So, our remaining choice was The Patio – a mini eatery just outside Windows by the pool.  I had the veggie lasagna and Ellen had the salmon.  They were OK.  We will need to plan our dinners better.

The Assistant Cruise Director, Tanya Roberts, was the Headliner tonight with her “A Few of my Favorite Things” show.  Tanya is a professionally trained operatic soprano and she has a wonderful voice and stage presence.  She put on very entertaining show.  She did some opera as well as some popular songs. She even put together a duet with her husband, Ned, who is a bass singer with the NY Met (via a fake zoom).  “Anything You Can do I Can Do Better” was a winner.  She also did “Whatever Lola Wants” from Damn Yankees, which was great.

After the show, we went to the room and called in a night.  Clocks moved forward one hour to put us on Atlantic Time.

Seas are smooth and the room is quiet.

December 10, 2021 – Miami FL – Mostly Sunny – 83F

The room was quiet all night long and the bed was very comfortable.  The fridge, which we had turned down, came on in the middle of the night and woke me up.  Went back to sleep so that helped.

Slept until about 5 AM – at 6:15 AM, I went down for breakfast (breakfast here is very early and short – 6 – 9 AM). The sun hadn't even come up yet (the picture below was taken out the window of the breakfast venue).

I had a small bowl of granola, two mini waffles, some scrambled eggs, a bite of a blueberry muffin, and two cups of coffee (no decaf available).  Ironically, we had gotten an email from the hotel indicating that they had discontinued their breakfast and everything was pre-wrapped "grab and go".  I called them and they said that wasn’t true and it wasn’t.  I found a table away from people and I thought the breakfast was pretty standard but OK.  Besides me, only one other person wore a mask at breakfast.  It's the Florida Freedom way.

Ellen went down for breakfast after I returned.  She liked the breakfast, as well.

Checkout is at Noon so we had plenty of time to relax before we have to vacate the room.  My receipt was emailed to me so all I have to do is drop off the card keys.  I should mention that the card keys also get you through the door connecting the pool and lobby and are needed to run the elevators.  You have to scan your card before the elevator will move.  Elevators here are a bit scary since very few people are wearing masks.  I've let people without masks go and wait for the next elevator (hoping that the droplets have dispersed by then).

The hotel does not offer a shuttle to the Port of Miami so at 11:45 AM, I called an Uber for a ride to the Port of Miami. Uber #1 did not find the hotel but Uber #2 did and we were off to the port.  The ride, which took us through a bit of traffic and downtown Miami, took about 30 minutes and cost $34.17 including the $4.45 tip (taxis ran about $50 not including tip).

Azamara Quest was at Pier J (the driver seemed to know that) and indeed it was.  We found the manifest and tagged our bags with Room 4014 and then passed through security, then to a testing area for a rapid COVID test (not BINAX but still administered by Eurofins). You received a number and when your number appeared on a large display monitor, you went to get your result.  The board wound up malfunctioning and numbers were called out.  If you passed, you got an Azamara sticker for your shirt 

and then we were allowed to proceed to check-in.  We checked in with the Pier Coordinator (or someone like that) and then waited in a group to be escorted individually to our room (I supposed that was some kind of COVID prevention protocol). Each set of guests made a stop in the Cabaret Lounge for the safety briefing - previously the lifeboat drill.  This briefing involved Danny, the CD, explaining the warning signal and then demonstrating how to put on a life jacket - the whole thing took about five minutes.  We were then taken to our cabin. The boarding process took a bit of time but it was a smooth operation.  Room 4014, our assigned cabin, is almost midships port side – near the Med Center. Our key cards were at the room and they both worked.

We were going to make reservations for the Discoveries Restaurant and then found out it was open seating.  We set up our internet and our special drink package with Guest Services and then met and spent some time with Tanya Roberts, the Assistant Cruise Director, who was very warm and welcoming.  The CD Office area on Deck 3 has been completely changed – additional staterooms have been added where their offices used to be.  The hallway with these new rooms is extremely narrow and only one person can walk the corridor at any one time.  

I stopped at the Mosaic Cafe and had the barista make me my signature Iced Mocha Decaf.  I used to add Latte at the end but he told that was not necessary because the drink already had milk in it.

We met the other speaker, Chuck Richardson and his wife (we have sailed with them before) and arranged to meet with Tanya at 5:30 PM to film a promo video for the lectures.  To fill out the staff – Johannes Tysse, Norwegian but now living in Charleston, SC, is our Captain (we have sailed with many times on Journey). He is probably my favorite Captain. The Cruise Director is Danny Turner, a Brit who we are sailing with for the first time.  We also ran into Justin, the Activity Manager, who was a little under the weather from his COVID booster.

We walked around the ship a bit to see what, if any, changes had been made by the new owners of the cruise line.  There have been some but we couldn't tell.  From there we went to Deck 9 After - technically the Sunset Bar - to get some wonderful pictures of Miami.  I also had a chance to try out my new drink card by ordering a beer.

Our bags made it to our room – Ellen put a lot of it away while I was filming the video. I am usually pretty anxious about the video but the banter with Tanya came easy and I think it was successful. 

The ship is not sailing full so there was no crowd in the Discoveries Bar adjacent to the restaurant.  I had my mojito and ordered an apricot sour for Ellen for our pre-dinner drinks (liked mine; maybe too much ETOH for Ellen).  We got a window seat in the Restaurant away from most people.  The service was a little slow and the noise level increased when two large parties appeared around us.  We both had the Sole with Tomato Sauce, I also had a Cesar Salad, and we both have mushroom Voule a Vent (always good).  I had mango cheesecake for dessert.  The experience was not as positive as we had hoped.  There are alternatives yet to explore.

We watched the sail away from our restaurant table.

The headliner tonight was John Bressler, pianist and vocalist.  

We had seen him some eight years ago on a Princess Ship.  He had a very small audience but put on a very nice show. He said he was a last-minute addition and since he was not listed as a guest entertainer in the info pamphlet, I’m guessing he was. He was funny and, even with his trademark Rod Stewart voice, sang some nice songs including one of his own songs, “A Dog, Comfortable Shoes, and You”.  Unlike the Celebrity Apex, CD Daniel did not announce any of the enrichment activities for the following day.

NOTE – The ship is sailing with 402 passengers (capacity is 710 and 480 crew nominally).  There are 292 Americans. 44 Brits, 33 Canadians, 17 Germans, and a smattering of folks from 8 other nations.

We went to the room after the show.  Still tired, and sleep deprived.  And I have a 9:00 AM Lecture tomorrow 

Azamara Quest – Caribbean Sunsets and Holiday Cruise – Round Trip Miami FL – 12/10/2021 – 1/7/2022

December 9, 2021 - Travel Day

Today, we are off to Miami FL where, tomorrow we are boarding Azamara Quest for a back to back cruise which includes both the Holidays and New Year’s Eve.  We did the New Year’s Eve Cruise a few years ago and the ship put on a fantastic evening.  Even with COVID, I am expecting that the celebration will be as grand. As a side note, we haven’t been on an Azamara Ship since 11/2017 when he did a crossing from Barcelona to FLL on the Quest.  There have been a lot of changes on Azamara since that voyage. In fact, there have been a lot of changes everywhere since then.

Our flight this morning, UAL1555, departs ORD at 10:45 PM so the taxi is scheduled for 8:00 AM; that might be a tad early but today we are not checking out bags (no status at United) and we might have to cross under the tarmac to get to our gate.  Also, we don’t know about traffic or how long the TSA Pre-Check lines are – we are factoring all of this into our schedule.

Our driver was right on time – the same guy that picked us up last time and just like last time, he was not wearing a mask.  That resulted in a smaller tip for him because Chicago does have an indoor mask mandate and that goes for transportation like cabs and Ubers. 

We broke the Wheeling/ORD land speed record by getting to Terminal 1 in just under 12 minutes.  So, in actually, our driver beat his own record.  Not a very helpful driver – he didn’t rush over to help me with the bags and at the airport did not help again.   

Terminal 1 wasn’t very crowded this morning.  We didn’t bother with printing any new boarding passes and just used the ones I printed at home.  There was literally no one in line at TSA PreCheck and our bags (full of all sorts of legal quantity liquids and gels) did not attract the scrutiny of the TSA folks.  We dragged our bags over to Concourse C (going underneath the tarmac) and to our gate, C19, the first gate next to the escalators.  We found seats next to the window so I could watch the planes come in.  There was already a plane at our gate and I thought it was ours (which according to the UAL app had come in from Jacksonville, FL).  After taking pictures, that plane pushed and was on its way somewhere.  Our plane arrived just a few minutes later and it pulled in – an Airbus A320.  Always good to see your aircraft at the gate. 

I wanted to get some coffee – I didn’t see any Mickey Ds down both ends of our concourse so I tried the mini-food court across from our gate.  They only had regular coffee and I wanted an iced mocha.  I did find one (for $5.53) at Brioche Doree (fancy, no?). My drink was OK but Ellen did not like her Green Tea Ginger hot tea. 

The plane was scheduled to board at 10:15 AM but at about 9:45 AM, the desk agent said that every seat in the plane was taken and said she was looking for volunteers to check their overhead bags for free.  Well, I was first in line and our two bags were checked.  I don’t think very many passengers took her up on the deal as she made the announcement several times.  No matter, our bags were tagged and on their way to Miami.  That really simplified things as now I only had my computer bag to deal with.

From the lounge I could tell that the pilot and copilot (a woman) were both wearing masks in the cockpit.  That seems smart considering how difficult it is to distance in the cockpit.

We started boarding 15 minutes early; we were in Group 4 (next to last) – the boarding was pretty orderly and I did find a place in an overhead bin to stash my bag.  We are in exit row seats 20C and 20D – aisle across.  I did not have a big person who overlapped their seat next to me – a good thing.  However, he chatted with his mother the whole flight and I was trying to catch a quick cat nap. It took a long time to board all 200 plus passengers and some last minute maneuvering to find a place for some bags that weren’t checked.

Mask compliance at the airport and on the plane was good.  I heard one flight attendant ask a passenger to pull up his mask over his nose. 

The pilot asked the flight attendants to stay in their seats on the climb as incoming flights had experience chop.  The plane pushed on time and took forever to find the active runway and get in line.  The takeoff was actually pretty smooth and in a few minutes we were above the clouds and into the blue.  For a while, the plane was skimming the cloud top so there were a few bumps, no big deal.

We had brought along bagels with lox and cream cheese and I had one with two cups of coffee (Illy) and a glass of orange juice.  All good.

The UAL App has a very good flight tracking system and so I could see the route and progress.  The flight, fairly smooth, took about 2 hours and 40 minutes with our plane arriving at the gate about six minutes early.

We made the long walk to the baggage claim area and our bags were one of the first ones to hit the carousel.  We went to the “Hotel Shuttle” pickup location and called the hotel – the shuttle, we were told, was on its way.  What we didn’t know was that the hotel was a good 30-40 minutes away and that traffic would make that an even longer ride.  The shuttle did finally arrive and took us and a mother and child to the hotel.

The Residence Inn Miami Airport West Doral is indeed quite a way from MIA.  We checked in and took our bags to the room, 410.  The room, while close to the elevator is on a different wall so we don’t hear any elevator noise.  The room is a studio with a separate sleeping area with a mini-king bed, a separate kitchenette, separate sitting area, closets, and a spacious bathroom.  

The hotel was built in 2015 and is still in good shape.  One could live in this place – in New York, this studio would be in the range of $2000 a month. The room also gave us a nice view of the surrounding area including aircraft approaching MIA.

We had originally planned to find a nice Kosher restaurant but after looking online for a while, realized that that wasn’t going to work.  Instead, we took the hotel shuttle to “Downtown Doral” because we were told by the desk that it was a nice section of town with a lot of good restaurants.  The shuttle battled nasty traffic and got us to the restaurant area.  We walked the entire area and checked out the restaurants – we found one that had some nice offerings but they had no more outside tables and no one was wearing masks at the tight indoor tables.  There were also parties going on in the place and the noise was too much. The area also had some very nice holiday decorations including a menorah and Chanukah display in one of the alleyways. Here are some shots of the things we saw on our walk.

We wound up at Giardino’s Gourmet Salad Restaurant.  We shared the “Mama Mia” salad (romaine, shaved almonds, red bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and spicy peanut salad dressing (instead of the standard Chianti Vinaigrette).  

The staff was nice and eating outside (it was in the low 80s still) was great.  The owner came out and asked us if we needed more water and then offered us some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (on the house).  The salad (more that I would eat at an all you could eat place) and the cookies were great.  It was a nice evening.  I submitted a 5 Star Google Review for the restaurant.

I called an Uber to get us home ($7.02 – including a “booking charge” – a pandemic construct).  We were back in five minutes.  We sat outside off the pool area until someone decided to smoke so we headed back to our room.

We read and lounged for a while before calling it a very long day.

The room is very comfortable and quiet – hope it stays quiet all night long.