We enjoyed a 2 course meal last night at Waterside. I should comment that while I don't like the new taller chairs there otherwise the recent revamp was positive except for all the added 2 tops that are inches apart along the windows. Before we boarded I had read another cruiser's comments onboard that they like sitting alone just the 2 of them dining and conversing. She commented that previously there favorite tables were 2 tops by windows but not now. With the 2 tops so closely packed in rows by the windows that the people at the next 2 tables over treated those spots like a 6 top and engaged them in conversation. She commented that the best 2 tops in Waterside now were along the rail in the center section. I honestly couldn't imagine it when I read it online, but I get it now. The last 2 nights we have been fortunate enough to be given those center section railside 2 tops and they are great and private. From there we could observed the configuration and passenger behavior she was describing. Yesterday at lunch we were assigned a window 2 top but it was almost all the way to the rear of the restaurant and had a big space before larger tables inside and no one sat there. So, we've been lucky so far with our seating assignments. Crystal Serenity had "fixed seating" the last time we were onboard and the implementation of "open seating" is a huge positive. We both really enjoyed our quick meal at our private table. Clay had rack of lamb and I had a filet well done with Bearnaise.
We both had a flourless chocolate hazelnut souffle a la mode. We got Ricardo as our wine sommelier. I haven't been drinking very much because I've been taking huge amounts of meclizine to cope with the ship's motion and have been headachy already. But Clay has still been having beer and/or wine. Ricardo was our sommelier on the 2006 Regent Voyager WC! It was funny catching up with him. It turned out he was also on this ship during our 2016 NWP cruise and because of that fixed dining we were in opposite rear corners of the restaurant and never saw each other during that month-long sailing. Serenity doesn't hold a huge number of passengers but it is a bigger ship than you'd think. Since we ate so quickly, we didn't got straight back to the cabin. The only night we'd had turndown service so far was the Gala evening. The 2nd night our stewardess missed us, she popped out of the cabin next door and bemoaned the fact that we'd have been next to be done. Too late I said after Clay entered our cabin and set the Do Not Disturb button on. She promised she'd do our cabin first the next night and we voluntarily returned later than before. We went to Bistro and I drank 2 cups of mint tea. It might be that mint tea is a diuretic!
When we got back to the cabin last night we found what WC Hostess Stacey wrote was her 2nd letter to us regarding scheduling Casual dress portraits today with the photographer for the 2019 WC Photo Album. Now we are opting out of most of their camp-like events but this was the 1st time I remembering seeing or hearing anything like this. The good news was that near the bottom of the page was a bold faced sentence that said if we didn't want to participate to dial 0 and say so ASAP. I did PDQ. No photos!
So when the Captain announced that he expected calmer seas by Friday, we assumed it would just slowly improve. He didn't imply it would be much worse before it improved. It did get much worse. Some time around 1:30am it got substantially rougher. Drawers opened, the electric toothbrush fell off the bathroom shelf and as a bonus, the green tea kicked my kidneys into overdrive.
We went up to Marketplace for breakfast today anyway since it is not the weekend. For reasons that are a mystery, Bistro does not put out cups of yogurt until after 9am. I suppose you could get a cup of yogurt and coffee only at Waterside, but all that waitservice for that seems like overkill. Since the stewardesses were not in the halls when we headed out close to 8am, we knew even if our started with our cabin that we couldn't get back in it until after 9am. We have been killing that wait time in Palm Court listening to back to back yoga lessons with the Captain's 9am announcements as a break. Today neither of us could face that deck 12 forward pitching, so we went back to Bistro hoping lower and central would help. It did but man was it noisy! Between phone conversations and actual conversations and cutlery clatter when the Captain's 9am announcement started they just talked louder over him. We had to get up and go all the way back to the rear entrance of Hollywood Theater to hear him. By that time, he'd finished talking about past and present sailing conditions and was predicting the future. He said that by tonight he expected the swells to have diminished to the 18 to 10 foot range. So we didn't hear what they were last night or now, we know that he thinks they were/are over 18 feet. In good news, the sun is shining and the temperature is close to 70 F. So, while they can't keep water in the swimming pool for the past 2 days, it could be worse.
Clay has gone to the gym. I am in the cabin typing this up. We had plans to go to the 2:30 pm movie again today but if it stays this rough I don't think I'll feel up to it. We have Magic Castle at Sea tickets for 4:30. We have dinner reservations at Silk for 6pm. We have an invitation from Bob & Tom, our Signature TA network hosts onboard to a 7pm cocktail party that we may or may not attend. We'll see. Clay read the menus for today online and thinks we should try again for Silk at lunch. If we manage it that will mean an all Chinese day but that is OK. We'll see.
We went up to Silk at noon with books to make sure we got seats today for lunch. Sitting there for an hour waiting for the 1pm opening, it was clear why we didn't find seats at 1:03pm the other day. By 12:59pm every 2 top was taken and perhaps every table of any size. Bar service was available at all the tables starting shortly after noon. By 12:30pm many of the tables had people eating at them with food they brought from Trident or Marketplace. That coupled with the beverage service meant by 1pm when Silk waiters started taking orders all the tables were already taken. Having had lunch there, now we know we don't need to go back unless we want to try a pizza. I can't explain but Silk's chinese restaurant served pizza, spaghetti and a reuben sandwich at lunch. We shared a dim sum order of the worst bao buns we've ever eaten. Clay had a chinese chicken salad and I had chicken chow mein. We finished up with a scoop each from Ben & Jerry's. We were seated by the bar and watched as Bruce McGill walked up and ordered some very complicated mixed drink that got set on fire! I thought I had seen him a few days ago and decided it had to be someone who just looked like him. No, it was him, he gave a talk at 11am today about his 52 years in Hollywood.
After spending over an hour up on deck 12, we may have decided to go to the 2:30 pm popcorn movie. It is "The Leisure Seeker". We'll have a busy rest of the day if we go. I'd like to see it though.
So we went to the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it even though it had a predictably sad ending. Straight from the theater to Pulse Nightclub at the end of the hall for Magic Castle. We had a magician named Francis Menotti and his assistant Lindsey Noel. I won't give away any tricks since this was his first show of the cruise. I managed to get the last front row seat after we tried and failed to sit on the high stools at the back. I was afraid of getting bucked off that stool more than being up front. It ended up putting me in the hot seat for the first/last trick. I hate magic but it was a fun show.
We have time to change for dinner at Silk now as the 4:30 show ended around 5 and dinner is at 6pm. I will assume that nothing else newsworthy happens the rest of the evening and post this now.
Oh, right, last thing. We turn the clocks back 1 more hour tonight. Fingers crossed the seas calm down overnight!
Little Bob hits the road
Little Bob hits the road
