Christmas Vista: Day 6

By
Saint Greg

January 17, 2022

Good morning! Today is a sea day.

It looks like a nice day outside but I can’t go out on the secret deck because it’s too windy.

One of the downsides to this room is if the wind conditions are bad they’ll put a sign on the door saying you can’t go out on the forward decks. I would say it usually happens once or twice a week.

This is the view from my window.

I haven’t really loved any of my dinners in the dining room this cruise. Based on the schedule, 6pm looks like a good dinner time for me and it’s available at JiJi’s so I booked there again.

Here is the schedule of events for today.

Priority debarkation information has been delivered. I don’t have a flight to catch so I probably won’t use priority debarkation.

I can remember when I used to have luggage tags that were like, #28.

I was taking my sandwich plate up to the buffet but my steward caught me with it and took it from me. He said he had a place to put them.

I’m heading down to the coffee shop.

There is no line for coffee. People are actually using the stools today.

I have 15 minutes until brunch. Let’s check out the Havana bar.

At 8:15 I requested a table.

Apparently I’m not the only one. They opened the doors and a stampeding herd rushed in.

I got the Steak ‘N Eggs. Medium rare with scrambled eggs.

I also got a side of hash browns and bacon.

After breakfast I decided to head back up to the Havana bar to see if they were open for coffee yet. They are.

They have a fancy orange juice machine here as well. The juice is not included in the Cheers package.

It’s not my favorite coffee. It tastes like warm milk.

I headed down to the atrium for a bloody mary.

About halfway through that bloody mary I headed up to deck 11 by the sports square.

Some guy just told me I’m going the wrong way. How would he know where I’m going?

I’m heading up to deck 12 where the Sky Ride resides.

And the ropes course.

That’s enough activities for one day. Where’s the bar?

That’s the spa. I’m going down stairs.

The morning show is happening so I’m going to slip in the Liquid Lounge and check it out.

Hiding (not from you).

I was able to get my seat back at the bar.

I stepped up to the room and found my laundry had been delivered.

I’m switching to frozen drinks at the Red Frog Rum bar. I’ll start with a Pina Colada.

Blue Hawaiian.

One of the bartenders was asking me if I had internet service. I said yes I did. We had an internet outage last night and her plan expired at 1am. She didn’t want to pay for today if it wasn’t working.

She told me they have to pay $10/day for internet. She said it used to be $25/day. I Confirmed those numbers with another crewmember I know. But I found they also have the social media plan for $4/day. That’s still a lot of money for someone who lives here for six months.

This is a Caribbean Colada.

I’m switching to beer with a Thirsty Frog Red.

Since they aren’t having the blackjack tournaments, they’re giving all platinum and diamond members $25 in free play. I decided to head down to the casino to utilize my free play. This is a casino cruise and the tables are pretty full so I decided to try some slot play instead.

I haven’t played a slot machine since they got so fancy.

I would’ve thought this was worth more than $20. I think I could’ve cashed out at this point but I decided to keep going.

After losing my free play I moved next door to the sports bar for a toasted amber beer.

I ordered another beer at the sports bar and told the bartender I was gonna run to the bathroom real quick. I stopped at the door turned around and said “don’t let anyone take my seat.” He looks serious and says “Okay!”

He didn’t get the joke.

It’s getting warm out there.

I took my beer up to Guy’s BBQ for some lunch.

I haven’t had the ship BBQ in a couple years. It’s pretty good.

A guy just walked up and was standing next to me for a minute. Finally I looked up at him and he asks “Is the bar open?”

No, it’s not. I should’ve told him yes the bartender will be right back.

It’s time for the “Holiday Show” in the Liquid Lounge.

There were definitely a couple things missing from my December 2018 Dream and December 2019 Magic cruises.

Toward the end here they had a few crew members on stage with lights–like candles but lights on stage for silent night. On Dream and Magic there were more. They were in all of the audience rows on all levels. I’m sure that’s probably a COVID precaution not to have that many crew members out in the crowd.

On Dream and Magic they also had a video of the Grinch stealing things. He steals the roast beast when the chef isn’t looking and things like that. Then at the end the Grinch comes on stage and returns everything. This time there was no Grinch at all.

After the show I was talking to a friend for about an hour. Finally they kicked us out of the Liquid Lounge.

They haven’t had as many Christmas themed dreamscape graphics here as they did Halloween ones on the Panorama, but this is one of them.

I had 16 minutes until Alchemy opening. I went to the room, showered, changed, put out laundry, and headed to the alchemy.

I was able to snag the last seat at the bar and get one of Raunak’s berry drinks.

Raunak is singing “one more night.” He goes home on Saturday and he hasn’t hid his excitement at all.

A couple of walkups were standing next to me.

Guy asks girl “have you seen Back to the Future 3 lately?”

Girl says “no.”

Guy asks “Do I keep asking that a lot?”

Girl says “yes you do.”

A walk-up asks for a snack tray. Raunak brings one. He asks for another. I want to tell the guy the buffet is on deck 10.

Sitting near the end of the bar where the walk-ups come has entertainment value. Even more so on Dream class ships where the alchemy is in Ocean Plaza.

Lady next to me “It’s almost 6!” Husband “your watch is upside down.”

I gave my snacks to a walk-up and she is chowing down!

The lady who had my snacks “says thank you for letting me eat your nuts.” I’ll just leave it at that. There were a few more exchanges. She was really drunk.

Both of these restaurants share the same line so even though most of these people are going to the Italian restaurant, I have to wait in the long line.

Stretch there has to duck to get in.

This was my table the first two times I ate here in 2019.

Compliments of the chef.

It’s going to be hard for me not to order spring rolls every time I come here. They’re really good.

I went with the chili shrimp this time. They’re good. I think I liked the peppered beef better the other day. But these are very good.

I love piping hot rice.

This is the crepe dessert. This and the rose creme brulee I had last time are the two desserts I like here. If you want to see the wonton dessert, you can check that out towards the end of Panorama: Mazatlan. The wonton dessert doesn’t taste bad. It’s just difficult to deal with.

After dinner I headed down to the comedy club.

We’re at capacity.

Jason Blanchard

Passing by the sports bar I can see Thursday Night Football is on.

Passing through the atrium, Electric Violins are playing.

I’m in the Liquid Lounge now. This is one of my favorite playlist production shows. It’s called “America Rocks.”

I enjoy the shows that use the musical talent from the ship. This show uses the rock band that plays in Ocean Plaza. “Celestial Strings” uses the violin trio. If you’re on a ship that has “88 Keys,” it features the pianist from the Piano Bar.

After the show I headed to the comedy club to see Dana Moon. I got in 10 minutes before showtime. This is my first time to see a full show of hers. She didn’t do well in the late night showcase last night.

No problems multi-tasking with the premium WiFi and YouTubeTV.

Uh. Dana Moon?

She came out like a stripper rubbing on half of the people in the crowd. She even gave a couple lap dances. She’s in character calling herself Dirty Diana.

They started the show under the premise that Dana was sick which is believable in the COVID-19 era. So you’re trying to figure out is it her? Is it not her? Why is she acting like that?

Wow she bombed again. People were leaving. She didn’t get much applause. It was the worst reaction I’ve ever seen to a comedian on a cruise ship. And it’s not even close. Walking out you could hear people saying she wasn’t good.

The solo guitarist is in the atrium.

There goes “Dirty Diana.” Just sitting here I could hear people walking by talking about how bad she was. I’ve been to a lot of comedy shows and I’ve never seen anything like that.

I headed back to the comedy club to see Joe Lindley. He was much better.

After comedy I headed upstairs for the 80’s Rock n’ Glow party. They are doing a team competition. One side of the ship against the other side of the ship in singing and dancing contests.