LE HAVRE, FRANCE (Casual Dress)
Shore excursions offered by Celebrity:
Paris Sightseeing / Lunch Cruise - Full Day, $185, including lunch on Seine
A Taste of Paris - Full Day, $98, on your own
D Day Landing Beaches - Full Day, $160, including lunch
Honfleur and Deauville - Half Day, $65
Fecamp and Etretat - Half Day, $70
Rouen - Half Day, $65
Tommie and I awoke early this morning to prepare for our early morning all day excursion to Paris. While eating breakfast we perused the daily program and were surprised to find that dinner for tonight was Open Seating and ONLY from 6:30-8:00PM. We thought this was strange because half the scheduled tours, plus our private one, weren't even due back until sometime after 7:00PM! Since we both dislike open seating, and because we feared there could be long waits for dinner if everyone arrived around the same time, we had our butler Rupesh obtain tonight's dinner menu and we placed our order. He will serve dinner in our cabin after we return, whenever we want.
The ship arrived on time at 7:00AM but for some reason it took almost an hour to obtain port clearance before passengers could disembark. Perhaps this, and the overcast and drizzly sky, was a precursor to the bad day many passengers were about to experience. We had an okay day in Paris, despite the inclement weather, and were not affected by the trucker's blockades that ended just two days ago. However traffic was still a nightmare and the city is so very crowded that one can get fatigued just elbowing through the crowds to see anything. We returned to the ship just after 7:30PM and happened to find Rupesh in our suite setting the table for dinner. Since all the Sky Suite dining tables were damaged when the ship was being outfitted (as we mentioned earlier), the butlers have the added task of continually setting up and taking down a card table whenever we eat anything in the cabin. Nonetheless, he makes it look elegant with a linen tablecloth and linen napkins folded just as you would find them in the dining room. We decided to have our dinner (the lunch we had in Paris was not very good) and everything was outstanding, with Rupesh's service far better than anything we have received in the dining room. He seemed to know just how long to wait between courses, and returned at perfect intervals to remove dishes and bring the next course. We enjoyed a bottle of wine that we purchased yesterday while in Zeebrugge with our meal, and then Rupesh suggested cappuccino coffee which he served with dessert.
After dinner we decided to go to a lounge for some dancing, and this is when we discovered the problems befallen our fellow passengers. A great majority of the tour busses arrived back after 8:00PM when the dining room was closed, and those guest had no place to go to eat! They had been told that the buffet would be open for those with late tours, but apparently NOT told that this buffet would not open until 10:00PM. Naturally, huge numbers of these people now called for room service at virtually the same time, simply overwhelming that department. Then later when all these affected passengers headed to the buffet, the lines were horrendous and of course there was no place to sit once they finally obtained some food. People were rightly very upset, but this proved to be simply the first in a continuing string of problems and occurrences that unfortunately characterized the rest of the cruise! The ship did depart on time at 10:00PM.
DAY AT SEA (Formal Dress)
This was a relaxing day at sea–there are not enough of these on this cruise–but one filled with Captain's Club activities nonetheless. After breakfast we headed to the Celebrity Theater for the Captain's Club cooking demonstration, and then decided we were way overdue for some exercise. We spent some time in the gym and then walked 2 miles around the jogging track on Deck 11. The latter was a challenge because it was a very windy day–with scattered clouds–and every time we rounded a particular area of the deck the wind would almost blow us off our feet - I guess it's a good thing we have already gained some weight on this cruise! Later on we went to the Captain's Club group photo session, and then entertained some friends in our suite for afternoon tea and pastries. Then it was off to the Captain's Club Repeater's Party, and finally dinner. Unfortunately, our dining room service was abhorrent again tonight, so after talking to the Maitre D' at length we left before dessert in order to catch the production show Pure Platinum in the Celebrity Theater.
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