Tuesday, October 20 - At Sea

 Another glorious sea day.  No big surprises although I got a couple small surprises.  The first was in the elevator.  Gentlemen, here's some advice.  If you are alone in an elevator with a woman, do NOT suddenly step across the elevator and put your wrist in her face.  Actually, I don't recommend quickly stepping within inches of anyone on an otherwise empty elevator.  While saying nothing.  I was shocked and holding a pizza, otherwise I would have physically shoved the guy back.  It seems he was trying to get my opinion on cologne he'd just sprayed on his wrists.  After he moved too close and put his arm in my face, he explained. Then shoved his other arm in my face so I could smell it.   Drunk?  High?  Overly excited about buying cologne?  Creepy.  No pizza was harmed in the incident.

The second surprise was much more appreciated.  Virgin does short surveys on the app each day, asking for feedback about different aspects of the cruise.  I responded to the one about restaurants and said the same thing I've said here - I'm unlikely to cruise Virgin again because it is too hard to get dinner reservations.  Sailor services responded and said they'd help get me a reservation.  

Because my friends who have reservations added me to several of theirs, I just had a few nights left with no reservations.  Last night I had a reservation for the Test Kitchen so I asked for a reservation for tonight at Extra Virgin - the Italian restaurant I got into the other night because of my friends.  If not that, the Wake would be nice to try.  In two cruises, I've been unable to get a reservation there.

The prompt response was that they'd booked me for 5:30 pm. at The Wake for Wed.  I thanked them and assumed we were done.  Then I got a notice on the app that I had a new reservation for Tuesday night.  And, still had my 5:45 reservation for the Test Kitchen.

I wrote back, explaining the problem.  I didn't hear anything for a few hours and it was getting close to dinner time.  Then I got a response that I was still at the Test Kitchen for Tuesday (it is fairly easy to get reservations for the Test Kitchen and VERY easy to get them for Gunbae) AND Wednesday I have a 5:30 reservation for Extra Virgin.  

All's well that ends well.  I had a great dinner last night and chatted with nice people.  Tonight I'll be eating my favorite dish on the cruise so far at Extra Virgin.  I'm happy but here's my advice for the next person you try to help.  When you're trying to correct a problem, and cause another problem, apologize.  A simple "oops, sorry about that" would be great.  Going above and beyond (a free drink at dinner?) would show you care and research shows if you do great recovery you'll increase that customer's loyalty.  Yeah, helping companies fix stuff like this is what I used to do for a living so I'm sensitive.

Bottom line, I had a great day and I'm very excited about dinner tonight at Extra Virgin- thank you, VV!

Photos!

Looking aft - sunrise.

The Grounds Club, like a typical Starbucks, always has a line.  Mid-afternoon?  Morning?  Staff are always smiling and deliver a great decaf cappuccino every time.

And I get to enjoy a view of the sea while standing in line.  I'd forgotten how much standing in line there is on a cruise.

No, I'm NOT using fun t-shirts as a way to meet men.  That's just a bonus.  Meals on Wheels, Sitka, Alaska.

The Atlantic is not shrinking.  They just changed the view so the ship is shown in the middle of the Atlantic and Africa is off the map to the east.

I really like this chair.  Very low to the ground so I didn't sit in it and I have no idea where I'd put it but I like it.

The Pizza Place opens at noon.  They've got great seating options outside.

And, some tables inside.

I got the Pretty Fly for a White Pie - a white pizza.  Not the best pizza I've eaten but definitely tasty.  And 15 minutes from ordering to handing it to me.

Even if it was frozen pizza it would taste good while in the hammock with this view.  Mr. Kindle agrees.  BTW, I'll probably finish the stellar book I've been reading all this trip (it's long!)  "Cutting for Stone" is one of the best books I've read in a long time.  Last night I downloaded "Theo of Golden" which I've heard a couple of women on the ship rave about.  Mr. Kindle (this is version 5) and I have traveled together since 2010.  I enjoy holding a real book but Mr Kindle allows me to choose from dozens of books when traveling.  Plus, I can enjoy him in my dark cabin, or at night on the balcony.

I love the snacks - trail mix on the left from the Galley, and candy on the right from the Social Club.

I miss having a bedside table, with a drawer.  I can't be the only one who wants stuff near the bed but not in view.  VV provides the beach towels and blanket on the right.  I travel with my own lightweight down blanket - packs away to a tiny size, is surprisingly warm and is fabulous on planes, hotels and cabins on ships.  My first down blanket, which was a Christmas gift decades ago, has circumnavigated the globe with me several times.  It now lives in a duvet cover on my bed at home.  

We're cruising into the Sargasso Sea.  The only sea not bordered by land.  Instead, it is bordered by four different currents.  And, is part of a heavily traveled shipping route from Africa/Europe to North America.  That's some sargassum, floating seaweed.  

After the back and forth with Sailor Services, I ended up at the dinner I'd reserved in the Test Kitchen.  They have four different menus, offered over the course of the 14 day cruise.  On the right is the vegetarian menu.  You can switch, course by course, if you like, which is nice.  I had this menu on last year's cruise and loved it.  Loved it again this time.

I opted for the vegetarian Tomato/Olive app.  That's a sheet of "sugar" which was sweet and crispy and enhanced the sweetness of the tomatoes.  There was a basil emulsion, and bloody Mary "caviar".  I missed the "olives" but the whole thing was delicious.  Similar to the the app I had at Sorondongo in Las Palmas.  That one was better because it was being made by a chef for a diner with each tomato individually selected.  This was made for hundreds of diners.  And still delicious and impressive.  I've made "caviar", now I want to learn how to make this sugar layer.  This isn't exactly the same but would be fun to try.  I think I'd do the last step with the blow-dryer outdoors.

The lady from Indiana seated next to me got the vegetarian menu.  This was beet/cashew with beet foam and beet pasta filled with a spinach mixture.

My chilled salmon and cucumber dish came with smoke from apple wood chips.

The salmon was excellent and the cucumber was lightly marinated.  The yellow gel was lemon/lime.  The smoky flavor was a bonus.

My main was lamb which was marinated for 24 hours in a mixture of herbs/spices, including mint.  The veg was ratatouille, with eggplant, tomato and zucchini.  The black dots were an eggplant gel.

The vegetarian dessert that the lady next to me said was excellent.  It had mango and chia.

My dessert was what blew me away about this menu last year.  That's fresh strawberries, strawberry gel, a strawberry marshmallow, strawberry powder and whipped cream with white chocolate and wasabi.  We were instructed to mix it all together to get the combination of tastes and textures.

Roland, this photo is for you.  Yes, I'd have licked the plate if I was alone.  BTW, since trying this dessert last year, I've been making an easier version at home.  I make a strawberry Pavlova, with macerated berries in a plain meringue (store bought when I'm lazy) topped with whipped cream/Mascarpone cheese/wasabi.  So good.

My view from the balcony before bed.  I took this photo because I was surprised to see a couple of lights at sea.  At first I thought, "Oh, I wonder which country that is."  Then realized we're in the middle of a huge ocean and it had to be a ship/ships.  The next full moon is 10/26 and it has been really dark out.  Having said that, I was on the balcony (shocker!) about 5 a.m. one morning and the stars seemed to close and bright - the Big Dipper seemed to be hanging just over the balcony.  I took a photo of that and it looked very much like this photo.  Think I should enter it in a National Geographic photography contest?