Yesterday was our first sea day!! Started off by sitting out in the Carnevale outdoor lounge which is a special area for guests who have Terrazza cabins.
They had aaa r nice continental breakfast setup including fruit, yogurt, muffins, coffee and tea. Plus some delicious granola - really more nuts than granola. At 10 AM they came around with small bowls of frozen fruit. I just love frozen grapes!! They are like bite size popsicles and so refreshing on a hot day. I remember my grandmother being the first one to serve grapes like this back in the 1970's.
We then headed back to our cabin to enjoy our patio balcony. We definitely saw more ocean yesterday than our entire Queen Mary 2 seven night crossing that has so much fog!! Just a beautiful day. We stayed out there until it started getting a bit too sunny about 1PM. But that was perfect timing for our next activity. Angie had made reservations for a Teppanyaki lunch. This restaurant is on many Carnival ships but we had never tried it. So why not?
This is a speciality restaurant onboard the ship. At lunch it costs $35/person. It is a few dollars more for dinner but has the same menu for both meals.
We sat with two other couples so it wasn't as crowded as some "land" Teppanyaki experiences I've had. They started you with four starters. The first was "Spicy Tuna On The Rocks". Such tasty chunks of spicy tuna on a small leaf which was on tiny ice cubes. Along with a miso sauce. So tasty! Also had possibly the best pork belly I have ever had.
That was served on a seaweed salad. We also received a green salad with ginger/sesame dressing and a miso soup.
For mains, I went with the filet and shrimp combo. Ange had the filet and lobate combo. And of course we had a talented Teppanyaki chef Rolando from.the Phillipines who started making our vegetable and rice side dishes. Along with being very entertaining. He loved to sing karaoke and he included a song any chance he could. All the food was so tasty. I ordered my filet rare and it was prepared perfectly. So tender and flavorful, especially with the garlic, soy and miso sauce he prepared while cooking it. The shrimp were also perfectly cooked and so well seasoned.
For dessert they bring you out a Bento box of six desserts.
Starting from the top left and going clockwise it has green tea ice cream, pistachio cake, a yuzo drink with peach, chocolate covered strawberry, chocolate fudge bite and a creme brulee with rose water. All were tasty. The creme brulee with rose water was my favorite. The rose cut just enough of the sweetness and richness of the sweet custard. And it was the perfect size.
After this incredible lunch we watched a disco dance class and participated while we were seated. I wasn't quite ready to be "John Travolting" after that meal. It was nice that they encouraged everyone to join in. It was then time for a mandatory rest period. We headed back to the cabin and both took naps. If I had one travel tip to pass along that would be it. Make sure to rest and take naps as needed. I never used to like naps. But my dad was right. Sometimes you just need a little nap.
We got ready for dinner and headed to the atrium where they had a special toast from the captain and all the senior officers.
Then it was on to Frizzante. I had a barrel-aged Negroni and Angie had a Campari Spritz. Both very good. We headed to dinner and both had stuffed mushrooms as a starter and fettuccine Alfredo for a main. The "Alfredo" was closer to a mushroom sauce. Not a whole lot of cheese or butter. But it was very tasty and the noodles were properly cooked. No dessert.
After dinner we headed to see "Color My World" in the main theater. It was such a creative show. Imaginative special effects and design.
The theme of the show was that you create your own masterpiece. My favorite scene was when they rolled out a "canvas" (really a very large bedsheet) onto the stage. Each of the production cast had a different colored paint in a bucket and proceeded to add to the canvas with a brush, creating a unique "masterpiece". Had never seen anything like that before in a show.
After the show we then headed to the Gondola Lounge to see the rock band. They were a seven member band including an amazing saxophone and trumpet player. They had an amazing Motown set including crowd favorites from Stevie Wonder, Barry White and Tina Turner. You really can't do justice to any Motown music without a good horn section.
After their set we had wanted to see what was labeled in the program as a "Midnight Buffet". I was surprised to see that since those were removed by cruise lines many years ago because of food waste. The last one I was was probably back in 1998. They would have ice sculptures, all kinds of fruit carvings and massive. amounts of food. People would show up in droves. And they usually had a thirty minute "preview" period where it was "look don't touch" and you'd take pictures. I didn't want anything to eat but if it really was a midnight buffet with all the splendor of years gone by, I at least wanted some pictures. Sadly, it wasn't to be. The over the top buffet I expected was just an assortment of common snacks such as hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza and meatball sandwiches. I am sure it was very tasty. And very popular based on the 50+ people in line to sample. But not for us. We did get a soft serve "twist" in a cup before we headed back to the cabin. I am glad I took that nap, otherwise I wouldn't have made it to 11:30!
Today is another sea day. Probably will have our tea and breakfast again at Carnevale. At 11:30 there is a special sea day brunch in the Steakhouse for guests staying in Terazza cabins. We're excited to see what that is all about.
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