Pork Chop....

So Good!!!!

 

The Spaniard

St. Maarten..Heaven on Earth...

As beautiful as all our destinations were the "Crem de la Crem" was for me St Maarten. In all my travels I only knew of one other place so beautiful and that was Napa Vally. I've always described Napa as a place God created making it haven on earth. I've finally found another place that fits that description....St Maarten 

 

 

 This port was destroyed years ago due to a hurricane. Realizing that this port was such a life line for everyone they invested heavily to create a port like no other. This port now can dock 6-8 cruise liner at once....yes at once!!!! I'm talking mammoth vessels. They not only created a place to dock but also a boardwalk and beaches within walking distance of the ships. Very smart, keep all 14,000 people very close to spend

their cash....great job and outstanding planning.

 

This place to me was clearly heaven on earth and I can only hope that everyone embraces it as much as I did. The beaches were perfect, the water was amazing, the people were so nice and once you sit in the beach chair you need to remember that the ship leaves at 5p....I say this because when you are surrounded by beauty and feel like your in heaven it's difficult to leave....bring your camera and your cash. Enjoy Gods gift to us.

 

 

The Spaniard

Formal Dinner night, Crusin style

This was formal night which included the Captain joining us for dinner. 

The great part about eating on a cruise is that their is no check so

feel free to eat up. As foodies we have to try everything and

reaching over the table into someone else's plate is a

very common practice. We asked to get two lobsters tails for the table so

we could all have a taste. The waiter doing everything he could do

to ensure we all enjoyed ourselves brought us all a

lobster tail as another course.....

 

 

Double Baked Blue Cheese Souffle, Broiled Caribbean Lobster Tail, very good....full of texture and flavor.

 

 Lamb Chops Provencal & the Beef Wellington, OMG good....when we noticed the Beef Wellington on the menu we all thought the same thing, it's going to be very difficult to prepare this dish for 1000 people. It would either be tough, dry or overcooked....I was so happy to see it came out spot on. The Beef Wellington was perfect, hat's off to the Chef and his team. It was moist, hot and cooked just right.  

 The Spaniard

Ship Activities

 

When we arrived in St.Maarten it was so impressive to see five cruise ships docked and unloading 14,000. We where about to invade this beautiful Island and provide a huge bust to their city and people. It was a clear and wonderful day with temperatures reaching 85 degrees.

 

 

As I enjoyed my coffee on the top deck I was reviewing our

daily life activity highlights. It's incredible to see just how much

planning goes into creating a daily activity for 2100 people. My hats

off to our cruise director Alex and his team.

  

Activities start @ 6a and rap up @ 1230a,

from stretching in the morning, music trivia, tour de cycle,

zumba classes, wine & tapas tasting, lounge acts, photos with the ships Captain, pool side massages, table tennis tournaments, family bingo,

lotto drawing's and so much more....truly something to do around

the clock if you wish to or you can just sit around the pool

and enjoy a refreshing beverage.....

The Spaniard

Shore Excursions, St. Lucia

We had made arrangement to take a tour with Mr. John Batista, he had

come highly recommended by a friend of our.

 

After we docked we headed out and upward into the mountain

and as any true tour guide JB never stopped talking telling us all about St. Lucia and just how happy the whole town gets when any boat docks into their port. Their whole town depends and can only thrive on tourism.

 

It was starting to become difficult to listen to him because going up this beautiful mountain we experienced many twist and turns.....it got scary after a while but JB just keep on talking and I never meet anyone how could

talk so much and still keep all his attention on the road to ensure

we didn't go over the cliff....



I love JB smile, he clearly loves his job and it shows. His #1

concern was to ensure we were all having fun.

There were 12 us in the van and since we didn't know the other couples we all remained calm & well behaved but that all changed very quick. 

 

JB is holding a banana plant in his hand, the tree only grows once

and then dies offering itself back to the earth for another tree to

grow from it. The baby banana were so small and they take 6-9 month to fully mature. I've never seen them from birth, pretty cool. 

This is the man everyone needs to stay away from.....no just kidding, JB had not only our van but had four other ones touring St. Lucia and this man was in charge of all the refreshments......he would follow us around going from van to van providing libations. After 1/2 dozen visits from our Director of Libations and his secret rum punch everyone in the van was feeling no pain and most of the ladies started showing their "wild side"....it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend taking a tour with Mr. JB.

 

 

The Spaniard



Dinner time!!!

I always tell my clients that good food serve badly is just bad food but

bad food served well is good food....my point is unless the food

is really crap a great server can sell any item and make it seem good....

and that's what a truly good servers do. 

 

Traditional Caprese Salad

Grilled Rib Eye w/ hash brown potatoes, brussels sprouts

and a blue cheese topping on the meat.

 

It was a perfect MR and not chewy at all.

The brussels sprouts were just blanched and needed flavor.

Cabernet Braised lamb Shank, Yummy.....it was very good and I've

never had it served w/ cannelloni beans before....I loved it!!!

 

Our food was very good but our service was great and that made the meal.

 

The Spaniard

Crusin with good eats....

 I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to "crusin food", I've

heard the food is OK and that's it's just a big banquet with

slice and go food. They couldn't have been more wrong.....

 

  From Frog Legs to Beef Short Ribs, Seafood Risotto & Beef Wellington...

yes beef wellington on a banquet and so much more....

Below is a Carpaccio and a Duck. The carpaccio was very

tender and with a small touch of arugula and parmesan cheese

that gave it the delightful touch it needed.

I look forward to posting more photos of our wonderful

dining experiences.....

The Spaniard

All Aboard!!!!

Day #1, as you approach the ship from the airport you start to realize that ship in the distance is yours and once you arrive at the port and truly see just how mammoth the ship is.

 

Our ship had 2171 passengers and 900 crew on board. The weather

was 84 degrees and just perfect.

 

 

After going through the process of checking in and getting your seapass, your seapass is just like your room card, you don't use cash on board

so everything get charged directly to your room. make sure you sign for everything and keep your receipts. When you are checking in you

will fill out the regular paperwork providing ID and credit card. It;s a

quick and painless process. I highly recommend getting the beverage package when filling out the paperwork. It cost $44 dollars a day and that includes a 15% grat as well. 

The reason I recommend getting it is really simple, if you are
going to drink two Pina Coladas by the pool, two glasses of
wine @ dinner, two cocktails at the Martini bar after dinner
or at the show it going to cost you $9 to $14 dollars per
beverage and you are also going to be buying for sodas, $2.

You are on vacation, relax and enjoy

and the last thing you need to be doing is counting or restricting

your beverage consumption. The package pays for itself if you have

35 drinks on board. I myself had well over the 35 drinks......

 

Tomorrow I'm going to be posting all the ships offering's and
our first dinning experience....



The Spaniard