Tag Archives: cruises

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A little while ago, my dogs announced the mail…

And in the mail was a final bill for our upcoming Hebridean cruise.  In July, we paid a $1600 deposit.  We now have $4800 left to pay for our Spirit of Scotland cruise in mid March.

It’s funny, because we were just talking about the cruise last night.  It sounds like it’s very expensive, but we actually got a really good deal.  We took advantage of a sale being offered and, for some reason, it was cheaper to pay in pounds.  Also, when you sail on Hebridean, absolutely EVERYTHING is included, unless you buy something from the gift shop.  Once you pay your fare, that’s it.  They don’t even ask you for a credit card when you board.

Booze is included.  Excursions are included.  Entry fees to museums and parks are included.  There is no tipping at all.  Transportation is also included.  So yeah… it seems like a lot of money, but having sailed with them before, I know it’s worth it.  And there are only 49 or 50 people sailing at a time.

Still… for many years, the idea of us doing a cruise this expensive was out of the question.  It hurts to drop four figures on a vacation.  And I still need dental implant surgery.  So yeah…  ouch.

But this is so worth the money…  I can’t wait.  Scotland is one of my favorite places in the world.

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books

Reading up…

Since Bill and I don’t have any big vacations planned right now, I’ve been reading a book written by a travel writer.  Having grown up in the 80s, of course I knew him better as an actor.  Andrew McCarthy was adorable in the early 80s, with his sensitive, pensive persona.  Now he writes travel articles for National Geographic.

I think I found out about his book, The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down, on CNN in 2012.  I’ve had it on my Kindle for ages and just started reading it last week.  He’s a surprisingly good writer, the same way Rob Lowe is.  Actually, I think I like Andrew McCarthy’s writing more.  He seems less Hollywood… plus, he reminds me of one of my best friends.

One thing Andrew McCarthy wrote about that kind of interests me is a cruise down the Amazon on a somewhat new luxury ship.  Or, at least I think that’s the one he was on, based on his description of it.  I don’t remember him expressly identifying it.  It could have been this ship, too…  The book is not so much about Andrew’s travels as it is about how travel has changed him and his life.

I had read about Aqua Expeditions a couple of months ago and it seemed like a once in a lifetime experience that I would love.  Granted, getting to Iquitos is a bit of a challenge, plus you have to worry about things like malaria and mosquitos.  It still looks very interesting, though, and you can do a week or just a few days.  I think I would enjoy seeing howler monkeys and pink dolphins.  I don’t know when we’ll be able to do another amazing trip.  I hope it will be sooner rather than later, but realistically, we have to find Bill a good job and settle somewhere.  And then he needs vacation time, which will take some time to build up.

A year ago, I was sure we would stay in San Antonio.  Now I’m not so sure.  At this point, none of the jobs Bill has applied for are in Texas.  It’s very likely my next hotel stay will be on the way to yet another new city.

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Hebridean Island Cruises

Five star cruise ship food porn…

At the risk of sounding trite and using the now somewhat cliched term “food porn”, I am inspired to post about some of the fantastic food we’ve enjoyed on SeaDream I and Hebridean Princess.  These two ships are both five star all inclusive vessels.  For the most part, the food offered on them is outstanding.  SeaDream’s menu tends to be Asian influenced and includes raw items for those who are into raw food.  Hebridean’s menu is very traditional and British and not quite as extensive as SeaDream’s is.

I liked the food on both ships and have had the chance to tour the galleys on SeaDream I and Hebridean Princess.  I am amazed at what the culinary staff is able to do in such small quarters.  I especially enjoyed Hebridean’s kitchen staff, who tried to tell me a story about hunting haggis… to which I said, “Bollocks!”  They thought that was funny… or maybe I thought it was because I was high on scotch after trying haggis for the first time.

Anyway, I often wonder about the stories cruise ship employees pass around after their guests are safely out of earshot.  On luxury ships, I’m sure the standards are high and they run into their share of tough customers.  The beauty of luxury cruising is that there are fewer tough customers than what they would have on a large mainstream line like Carnival and Royal Caribbean.

So, without further ado… here’s a parade of food I have enjoyed on my five luxury voyages…

Minute steak on SeaDream I

Salad!  SeaDream I

Prime rib on SeaDream I

Looks like fish and risotto…

We were presented with this cake after dessert and chocolates… Never did really get to eat it.

Thai satay style lunch on SeaDream I.

Pasta on SeaDream I.

Dessert!

Eggs Benedict made with regular bacon instead of Canadian.  I requested that.

Smoked salmon scrambled eggs and caviar…

Not sure what that is… looks lovely, though.

Pear sorbet in a candy dish… Yes, the dish is made of sugar candy and is completely edible.

Hmmm…

This was part of the tasting menu.  I think it was filet.  Excellent beef!

Grand Marnier souffle!

Caviar and champagne…

This was the day of the Champagne and Caviar Splash… There was lots of food.

Dessert extravaganza!  The pastry chef insisted that I take that huge piece of sugar candy that was part of his display.

A nice simple dessert.

Raw food.  This was actually very good.

I think that was duck.

Raw panna cotta!

Breakfast on Hebridean Princess.

Colorful!

Fish!

Smoked salmon and shrimp!

Eton mess… very yummy!

Lovely rice pudding with raspberry.

Looks too good to eat…

Mmmm…

Salmon and potatoes…

Beef and asparagus…

French toast!

Haggis.  It was not bad at all, especially when washed down with scotch.

Fish!

I think this was lamb.  Must have been Bill’s dinner.

Scallops!

Duck

Fish!

Gelatin with berries… 

A fruit and ice cream surprise…

Lemon pudding…

Ham…

Burritos! SeaDream style…

Chicken breast!

Strawberries and chocolate

I think I have the itch to book another cruise.  Unfortunately, I don’t want to do that until we know if Bill is going to have a job after June.  For now, I think I’ll have to gaze at all these photos and be inspired by the creativity of some very talented chefs.

Lobster on Hebridean!

Pork…

Pear…

This is making me hungry…

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Luxury

Pam Conover resigns from SeaDream…

Less than a month ago, I blogged about SeaDream Yacht Club’s turnover.  When I wrote that post, I was a little hesitant, since I am definitely no cruise line insider, nor am I even really a travel expert.  I just like to travel when I can and I like to write about my experiences.  I have cruised on SeaDream three times and mostly enjoyed each time.  However, as a Cruise Critic message board poster, I also regularly follow SeaDream’s forum and this morning, learned that Pam Conover, a highly regarded and much touted executive who joined SeaDream less than a year ago, has just decided to resign her position, effective December 4, 2013.

This is yet another worrying departure on the small, but much beloved, luxury cruise line.  Of course, I don’t know why she’s leaving.  For all I know, she could be resigning for personal reasons that have nothing to do with SeaDream’s apparent decline.  However, I do know that at least on Cruise Critic and among a couple of people I met onboard, there seems to be growing discontent with the product, mainly because of issues people have been having with kids on the ships.

SeaDream I is headed for Costa Rica this month.  I was really wanting to book one of the Costa Rica cruises, but our circumstances didn’t allow for that.  If we hadn’t had to move to Texas, perhaps we would have pulled the trigger.  Every time we move, it costs money and requires time to get settled.  As it is now, I’m not really feeling the urge to book anymore.  I do have the itch to travel, but not necessarily on SeaDream, and that is a big change from the past, when I couldn’t wait to book my next SeaDream voyage.

I will be watching to see what people say about the Costa Rica cruises.  Even if we never do a SeaDream cruise down there, I would like to go to that region at some point.  If my teeth keep giving me grief, I might even go down there for medical tourism purposes.

One magical memory, courtesy of SeaDream…

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Uncategorized

SeaDream’s turnover…

I probably shouldn’t blog about this because I’m definitely not “in the know”…

Over the past year or so, there has apparently been quite a bit of turnover at SeaDream Yacht Club.  The UK Director of Sales who worked for the company for years left in January of this year, as Pam Conover, former big wig for Seabourn took over.

On our cruise in May, there was a new cruise director named Nat Green aboard.  Bill and I got to meet him and really enjoyed him.  But then this morning, someone on Cruise Critic said Nat was “long gone”.  Our cruise was only a few months ago and Nat was new then, so it makes me wonder what happened if he’s really already “long gone”.  He seemed excited to be onboard and had told us about some big plans.  Other people who had met him seemed to like him a lot.  So if he left, I wonder why…

One of our favorite waiters “jumped ship” and moved on to Seabourn, while a few others now work for Azamara.

And then there’s been the complaining about kids on the ships as prices have gone downhill.  I don’t know what’s going on at SeaDream, but it’s troubling.  Bill and I have enjoyed all three cruises with them, regardless.  I sure hate to see such a nice cruise line go downhill.

As for our upcoming travel plans, they haven’t really been settled yet.  I think we’ll probably go to Europe again, though.  I don’t know where or exactly when.  Right now, we’re just trying to deal with all the government shutdown business and my dental woes.

Speaking of Seabourn, I would like to try them at some point… they definitely have nicer prices than SeaDream has.  On the other hand, I love SeaDream’s staff… those who haven’t jumped ship, that is.

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Luxury

Day 6 of our SeaDream cruise… Itea (Delphi) and the Corinth Canal…

Itea

Nat Green had told us that Itea had really beautiful, calm waters.  Sadly, the clouds were out on May 16th, which made it hard to see how beautiful the water really was.  SeaDream stopped in Itea, Greece, to let passengers who wanted to see Delphi take a tour.  Bill and I opted to just walk around the port for awhile.  I heard later that Delphi was a fairly strenuous stop that involved a lot of climbing stairs.

Itea didn’t seem like a very exciting town, though I did see what I would consider “stereotypical” Greek scenes.  There were orange trees and flowering bushes everywhere, and old men sat at cafes holding court, drinking coffee, and smoking.  Bill and I passed a butcher shop and I happened to see a pig’s head hanging in the window.  He didn’t notice until I said, “Oh my God!”

Orange you glad we’re in Greece?

We walked by one coffee shop that smelled absolutely heavenly.  I was tempted to go inside for a cup of coffee, but instead, we went to a gift shop where several SeaDream passengers appeared to be on a shopping spree.  At this point in the trip, I was being pretty restrained about shopping.  I did see some beautiful plates and tiles that I coveted, but somehow I managed to stop myself from buying them… in Itea, at least.

These beautiful bushes were everywhere.

 

Pig head!

The proprietors of the gift shop were pretty funny, though.  As a few of the SeaDream ladies picked out pieces of silver jewelry, one of the store’s owners said, “God bless America.  You can stay here all day!”

The postcards in Itea were very interesting.  I’m not sure what Bill is reacting to…

On the tender back to the yacht…

I left the store with a Greek cookbook, two compact discs, and a little icon to go in my shadow box at home.  My shopping urge temporarily satisfied, we went back to the ship where we lazed around in the hot tub and the TOY Bar until it was time to pass through the Corinth Canal.  Job kept me supplied with mimosas and Manuel kept me in stitches with stories about life as a bartender on SeaDream I.

Getting ready to party through the Corinth Canal!

I must say, SeaDream made going through the canal pretty special.  They put out plenty of hors d’oeuvres and passed around small glasses of ouzo as we made our way through.  There was live music at the front of the yacht.  Some folks were smart enough to go to deck five, which was a lot less crowded than the TOY Bar was.  If your goal is to get great pictures and see a lot, I would recommend not hanging out near the TOY Bar.  As for Bill and me, we had a great time listening to the music, toasting with ouzo, and getting to know some of the people we had met in the piano bar the night before.

Me and Bill and a new friend!

 
 

That evening was the degustation menu dinner.  We did ours with a wine pairing and Pablo the sommelier explained the different wines he paired with each course.  We had the marvelous Jose waiting on us; he is one of my favorite SeaDream personalities because he has a beautiful, genuine smile and seems intent on making his guests happy.  When Jose noticed me not eating the foie gras, he took the liberty of bringing me a salad from the alternate menu which was much more to my liking.

Dinner and wine pairing begin…

A sweet ending…

The piano bar was fun on Thursday night, especially when the whole bar joined me in a rousing rendition of “Thank You For The Music” by ABBA.

 George at the piano

 

Cats!

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anecdotes

Middle aged guts…

I remember in my early 20s, enthusiastically making a Mexican beef casserole for my parents.  It had been a popular meal when I worked at a church camp as the cook.  Kids and adults alike loved it, even though it mostly consisted of noodles, tomatoes, salsa, chips, and cheese.  My mom took one look at it, wrinkled her nose, and said, “Is that spicy?  Because your dad and I both get really bad heartburn.”

I didn’t really think of the casserole as spicy.  The kids at the summer camp had loved it and, I reasoned, if it was really spicy, they would have hated it.  Two decades later, I totally understand why my mom hesitated to taste the casserole.  I, too, get horrible heartburn if I eat or drink the wrong things.  Last night, my husband made quesadillas because we had an avocado that needed to be eaten.  I drank a few beers and sampled some lovely Armenian brandy I just got yesterday.  I fell asleep at about 11:00 or so…

At 1:30am, I woke up with a start, my guts on fire with acid reflux.  I’ve endured my share of reflux, but last night’s was particularly bad.  I got up and took a Pepcid-AC.  Oddly enough, I bought my first box of that stuff for my dearly deceased beagle, Flea, who had some problems with reflux.  It works well for dogs.  A few years later, I was taking it myself.  It works pretty fast; usually within a half an hour, I’m okay again.  But when I get heartburn in the middle of the night, that can be a very unpleasant half hour.

I remember during our first cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas, I got a scorching case of indigestion in the middle of the night.  It was so bad, I was moaning.  I only had one antacid with me.  I took it and it did the trick, but then I was afraid I’d get really bad heartburn again.  I think we were in Denmark at the time.  Royal Caribbean, for all its many perks on its ships, didn’t have a small drug store.  They had all kinds of merchandise for people to buy, but no basic over the counter drugs.  And, of course, SeaDream has nothing at all that would help me if I get heartburn on our cruise.  You better believe I’m stocking up for our upcoming trip.

Now that I think about it, I had both a headache and an upset stomach when we got off the plane in Amsterdam a few months ago.  I ended up having to find a pharmacy in the airport and came away with Dutch drugs.

I really need to improve my diet.  I’ve been working on it.  I quit drinking diet soda, which is a big deal because I was an addict!  I try not to buy sweets, except for high quality chocolate, which tends to be dark because my husband prefers dark (I like milk).  I need to stop drinking so much, because I think that has a lot to do with my tummy troubles.  Besides, drinking is fattening…

But I do enjoy drinking and I like the way it makes me feel.  And it’s something that my husband and I do together.  I lead a boring life and alcohol seems to make it less boring.  I don’t know why.  If I socked away the money I spend on booze, we could probably travel more often and in better style… or at least make headway into eventually buying our own house.  On the other hand, I don’t even know if I want to buy a house.  It’s a big commitment and I’ll be really old by the time it’s paid off.

I dunno.  Anyway, it’s already Wednesday…  On Sunday, we’re outta here.

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