View of St Maarten

 

Yesterday we were in St Maarten. After mulling our options, we decided to stay on the ship and curate our own sea day. We started with breakfast in the Blu restaurant. I had eggs Benedict and Angie had a meat and cheese platter. The meats and cheeses were tasty. The Canadian bacon they used with the Benedict was extremely salty and the English muffins were not toasted very well so I just ate the poached eggs and spinach. That was a little disappointing. 

We grabbed smoothies at the spa and enjoyed some time in the Magic Carpet lounge that hangs over the side of the ship. 

After breakfast we headed to the thermal suite and used the steam rooms and heated loungers. Very relaxing!! 

After a few hours it was time for lunch. I had another big salad and they also had a great version of Dirty Rice with andouille sausage. That was very tasty.  

After lunch we headed to the Sunset Bar on Deck 15 aft. Since most of the guests were in port, we had the place to ourselves. It was a beautiful day in the sun. You'd get a bit warm but then a welcoming breeze would come to cool you off. 

 

After a couple of hours we headed back to the cabin to prepare to watch sailaway. Then we got ready for dinner. The sommelier in Blu has been providing some great recommendations. And tonight was no exception. Svitlana paired a Tempranillo with Angie's pork belly salad and their "house" Pinot Noir which is made by Kendall Jackson to pair with my ahi tuna. Yes!! I had tuna again!! It has been so good, especially since they are able to cook it rare. We also had a few starters including a red snapper and avocado ceviche, beet salad and fried shrimp. The seafood dishes have been so creative and tasty in the Blu restaurant. Angie had Rocky Road ice cream for dessert. I tried some "for science". And the sommelier also recommended two dessert wines to try. The Moscato was pleasantly less sweet than I was expecting. And how can you go wrong with a 20-year tawny port?  

 

We then got seats for a new Celebrity production show called "Feel The Funk". A trend I have seen the last year or so, is the cruise lines are shifting to producing shows that are more like mini-concerts. 

They aren't trying to tell a story, or condense a Broadway show into the normal 45 minutes time slot most cruise lines allocate. And I like the trend. Especially with a live orchestra as was the case for this show. Some very talented musicians. Normally you'll see the ship musicians using electronic tablets for their sheet music. But every single member of the seven piece orchestra didn't use them. They knew all the songs. Quite impressive. A very good crowd pleasing show. And I did "Feel The Funk". 

 

We then got seats at the Martini Bar and listened to a set for another band we had only seen while walking past one evening. The ship has three bands (including two all female bands), plus two guitarists as well as the show orchestra.

 

It was then time to check out the casino again!! Angie found her patriotic machine and again it came up big!! So many free games!! After trying a few other machines and not having much success, I also tried the patriotic machine and turned $20 into $140!! I guess we have found our machine.

 

After that we headed to the Eden Bar to say hello to our bartender friends and catch a set from the Eden Acoustic Experience. 

 

Today we are in St Lucia. We have a chocolate making excursion at Noon. We plan to use the thermal suite after some breakfast, have a quick lunch and then meet our tour outside on the pier.