We had a total of 3 days at sea. The first two days,(Monday & Tuesday) were pretty lazy. We enjoyed hanging out on the sun decks and the ladies continued basking in the sun with their drinks of the day. There were quite a few activities taking place throughout the ship, but since we had seen most of them on our last cruise (they were basically the same things) we really spent more time being lazy and constantly grazing on the mass quantities of food. I do recommend participating or at least watching some of these activities if you’ve never seen them—they can be really entertaining!
We did attend the previous cruisers party on Tuesday where Lexie won a dinner for two at the Point (the reservations only supper club). More on that later. Naturally, we would be the only rednecks dressed in bathing suits and t-shirts at this party while everyone else looked halfway respectable. After several drinks of the day, though, who cares, right?
Onboard Entertainment
We really didn’t go to a lot of the evening shows. The girls checked out one of the Vegas shows and almost fell asleep, so they left early (I was surprised by that). However, we did see Phat Kat, the R-Rated comedian at midnight and he was very funny. We also saw the juggling act of some Mexican guy who was very talented. The best entertainer, in our opinion, was a ventriloquist named Marc Rubben. This guy was great and had us rolling. He does both family and adult rated shows, and both were hilarious. If you get a chance to see him, treat yourself. You can view his website at www.dummytalk.com to find out when he’ll be back onboard.
Steve Cassell was the Cruise Director and we found him to be a little “over the top”. Some seemed to enjoy him, but I think he tried too hard to be funny when he really wasn’t. Of course, we had John Heald a few years back and that set a very high standard that we’re accustomed to. Anyway, nothing we lost sleep over!
Yes, there is a large Tahiti themed casino onboard this ship. I should know b/c I spent a little time here. :) Actually, I won enough money playing blackjack to pay for the sail and sign account damage that we did while onboard, so that made it all worthwhile. Most of the dealers were very friendly (with the exception of one jerk) and they made it fun. One piece of advice here—if you’ve never played a certain game, ASK how to play before sitting down. In fact, take some free lessons that they offer before you play. It’s for your own good and the good of others at your table. End of soapbox speech.
Speaking of entertainment, the ladies made their own entertainment in Henri's disco.
Dining
Food is everywhere. It surrounds you and pulls you in and you have no control over it. We ate enough pizza to put Papa John’s out of business. That was my favorite, although you can’t miss the steak sandwiches from the grill and of course, the ice cream machines every 15 feet on the ship. Hey, you’re on vacation. Jump in, give it hell, and go back to the gym next week.
We always enjoy eating dinner at the main dining rooms at night. Our table was at the Renoir dining room at the 8:30 late seating. We like the late seating best because it gives us more time in port and we never miss any sail away’s. Plus, if you get hungry before then, there’s plenty of ‘appetizers’ around the ship.
The food in the dining room was great every night. If you see two or three entrees you like, order all of them. We did this several nights and my personal favorites where the filet and lobster. Excellent! If you can’t find something you like, you have a problem. If the food is not good, it’s your fault for not ordering something else. The waiters are happy to do it!
Our waiters, Janell from the Philippines and Leonardo from Panama were great. We also brought a bottle of wine to dinner almost every night and were never charged the $10 corkage fee. The smart waiters will let that slide, so feel free to bring some wine from home. Of course, they did their sing and dance routines most nights, and Lexie & Melissa enjoyed dancing along with them. All of this greatly contributed to the enjoyment of the cruise.
As for the Point, we did eat there on the second formal night since Lexie won the gift certificate. In a nutshell, we were disappointed. We had heard the food was so much better here than the dining rooms, but we disagreed. It was nice atmosphere and the presentation of the food was amazing, but not great in terms of quality. My suggestion is that if you really enjoy the food in your dining room, don’t spend the $50 on the Point. It wasn’t horrible, but just not worth the extra $$$.
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