Views of San Juan

Yesterday we were headed to Old San Juan! Estimated arrival was 2:30 PM local time. We started our day with breakfast at the Eden Cafe. This is a quick service included restaurant with things like breakfast sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and yogurt parfaits. At 10 AM we had a Behind The Stage tour with the dance captain, the technical manager and the stage manager. Always interesting to learn more about how the shows come together. It's quite a complex operation, especially since guests continue to want more varied entertainment.  

Our lunch today was at the Retreat Pool Bar. They have a small snack menu. We ordered chicken Caesar salad and grilled chicken sandwiches. Both pretty good. The Caesar salad we had from room service was much better, having much more flavorful chicken. The sandwich was tasty but the meat to croissant ratio was way off. Still nice to have a lighter option available.  

After lunch Angie had work to catch up on so I went out adventuring (sometimes referred to as "untethered"). Ended up at the Sunset Bar (Deck 15 Aft) as the ship headed into port. Met lots of fun people who were telling me about the excursions they had planned. Angie joined me about 4:30. Soon after we headed back to the cabin to get ready for the evening. The main show was an Aretha Franklin tribute show for which we had no interested. The singer was also on the Reflection last week. We got all cleaned up and headed to the World Class Bar to chat with the bartenders. 

Dinner was at Luminae. We had Fennel Soup (with lobster!!!!), fettuccine with calamari, green asparagus, salmon sashimi and roasted chicken. The soups onboard have been phenomenal. They must use a brinoise to achieve the smoothness. Such a great balanced fennel flavor. The fettuccine was tasty but desperately needed a spicier sauce. And it included one of my pet peeves!! It had small shrimp with the tails still on. Those are so awkward to eat in a dish like this. Great for shrimp cocktail. Not for a pasta dish. No dessert. 

Today we arrived in Tortola at 8AM. No plans for any tours. We do plan on taking advantage of many people being off the ship so we can have our own "sea day". We expect to be up at the Retreat Pool. Tonight's dinner will be a special tasting menu at Daniel Boulud's Le Voyage. He is Celebrity's "celebrity" chef. We ate in one of his restaurants when we were in Bejing many years ago. We're both very excited to try the wine pairings. Especially since we saw that our favorite sommelier Adrian is on board. We have sailed with him a few times over the years. Most recently on the Apex in September 2021.