November 17,2023 Serenity

When we began cruising, we’d occasionally hear other guests say “The ship is the destination” in answer to the question “Did you go ashore today?” and I’d be puzzled, because I’d want to see and experience e v e r y t i n g. Fast forward…here we are cruising in the Caribbean…and I totally get it. We have not left the ship since we boarded …and most likely won’t go ashore today. The other day, I preemptively canceled our snorkeling trip when I realized we’d have to be off the ship by 8:00 am…way too early for us old folk.
So here we are enjoying breakfast on the balcony, arriving at Montego Bay and Timmy begins playing Bobby Bloom’s “Montego Bay” … then he switches to Marley….and I’m in heaven.

We have a standing order with Roland: coffee, assorted pastries and an English muffin at 8:30. The waffle was a first day extravagance.
Approaching Montego Bay
We try to book port side cabins because I’m mesmerized by the activity.
💙
Tim, as we approach the port “Here’s your favorite”…yes! A container ship…I can watch them loading, or better yet, unloading… all day long. Maersk ships are my favorites ♥️ This is a TZINI…from Greece.

Anyway, we are slowly docking as we appear to be navigating very, very shallow waters. In stead of heading to the gym, I’m going to stay here on the balcony with my sweetheart, upload some photos from yesterday and count my blessings ♥️

This breakfast pic was taken yesterday in Georgetown, Grand Cayman…it was much sunnier yesterday.
…just like that, we segue to lunch…the sweet potato fries on Tim’s plate are mine. He grabbed them for me, because life/lunch can’t always be about vegetables.
With just over two hundred passengers on board, it sometimes feels like we have the ship all to ourselves 💙💙💙
Three other ships in port with us…Carnival Glory, Carnival Sunrise and Celebrity Reflection.
So my dessert mash up: Sticky toffee pudding, caramel sauce, pineapple and whipped cream. It was beyond yummy.
I leaned over the deck …vertigo be damned…and showed Tim this product of my efforts…
Tim:”You know I can remove that line”
Didn’t I say he was a genius with his editing app?
I told Timmy he should have worn his Johnny Cash shirt…whatever.
Palm Court before the 6:00 pm show… Tim choose an Amaretto Blossom, the drink of the day…it’s super, kind of like a Mai Tai…I went with a Lemon Drop martini. He’s the adventurous one in our family.

As we were waiting for the show to begin, we tasted each cocktail and thus began a discussion: Me, tasting the Amaretto: this is delicious! Tim: Yes, and a very low alcohol content! Me: Really? T: Yes…look it up! So because I have access to the Google machine, I look up both cocktails and discover this: Amaretto Blossom is 20% proof (or as the smarty pants* among us say: ABV is 20%) and about 260 calories. The Lemon Drop is 40 proof and 125 calories. Me to Timmy:I’m getting twice the alcohol for half the calories…I win! Timmy: Why must you be so competitive? Me: It’s in the Rogers genes….(If you’ve ever met anyone in my family…you know).

*Smarty pants=Timmy…. just sayin’

I popped out on deck just as the sun was disappearing.
Annette Manhuyod sang some wonderful Broadway songs…we loved her show. My iphone camera is not compatible with lighting in the Palm Court…. #purple
Question for you… why do the Sommeliers gravitate to our table? Ricardo and Zayne take such good care of us.
Here we also have Raphael, the sweetest, kindest, most professional of Head Waiters
Elvis and another wonderful Sommelier…Mariglen. Both of these beautiful humans are from Albania♥️
Mariglen took the time to explain the function of his “Taste de Vin”… very cool.
Kaylin and Elvis are such a delightful team…they complement each other beautifully.
Tuna and Bok Choy heaven
If I failed to take pics of our appetizers…the calories shouldn’t count.
Tim loved his Lamb Chops and salad. Yes…I did say salad and Tim in the same sentence.
Here you can see that the tuna was perfectly prepared.
My favorite dessert on a Crystal ship.
Icons in Concert was made more enjoyable with the addition of Giovanni on guitar
Robert Wallace working his magic on the audience

So yes, our Grand Cayman stop was perfick. I’m still out here on the balcony in Montego Bay, listening to Bob Marley with Timmy…the crew on TZINI are loading containers …the clouds are lifting, making way for some blue sky and I’m debating walking off the ship to get some steps in. Or…simply waiting for a bit and heading off to lunch.

Thanks for following along. ♥️