Day 2 - Lunch and Afternoon Activities

Grandma Trudy woke up and we went to the Opus Dining Room for lunch.



I ordered Carrot Cumin Gazpacho for a starter. It was not bad, but it had a bit of a gritty texture and was reminiscent of watered down salad dressing.



Grandma Trudy and Sweet Pea's Crisp-Fried Mozzarella Sticks were some of the best we've ever had. They were hot and gooey with a thin and crisp crust. Yum!



However, Sweet Pea's entree of Orecchiette was one of the worst dishes of our entire cruise. It was inedibly dry. Now that I've just re-read the menu description, I suspect they left out several of the ingredients including the artichokes and tomato confit. Was the half a cherry tomato supposed to be the tomato confit?



I had Teriyaki Duck Breast with jasmine rice and shiitake mushrooms which was good, but there certainly weren't any shiitake mushrooms in it.



I am mildly irritated by inaccurate menu descriptions. This was a problem on our Disney cruises as well.  It is almost as if they try to fancy up the menu wording so much that they don't end up serving the meals that they have described.

Ross had the Cobb salad which was unremarkable.

The lunch service in the MDR was poor. The wait staff was rushed and inattentive. Our drink orders were not taken until halfway through the meal. When we asked our waiter about getting drinks, he said he would send someone, but no one arrived and we eventually had to flag someone down. The lack of drink service in the MDR is a much bigger problem than at the buffet because there is no bar for you to place your own order.

Sweet Pea didn't eat her pasta and requested that we we take her to the buffet for a plate of veggies after we left the dining room.




I'm glad we went because we met a wonderful English couple who we talked to for at least an hour. We talked about The Great British Baking Show, regional accents, health care policy and how they loved American's ability to unflinchingly complain about things that need complaining about rather than maintaining a dignified silence. One of the great joys of traveling is meeting new people and hearing their ideas.

After our chat, I went to the kid's club to play "Family Bingo" with Sweet Pea while Ross accompanied Grandma Trudy on a quest to buy walkie-talkies.




Disney ships have two "Wave" Phones in each room which allow guests to text and call each other. They also let the Kid's Club staff contact parents easily. They are wonderful and we really
missed them. Despite our assurances that she would be fine, Grandma Trudy was very concerned about Sweet Pea being in the Kid's Club without a way to contact us.




It turns out that walkie-talkies don't work well in a giant metal cage (such as a ship).




Ross lost his sun glasses so had to buy another pair in one of the onboard shops.



I worked a little bit on room organization. I love to bring an over-the-door shoe holder
to help contain the small essentials of cruise life such as our sunglasses, sunblock, bug spray, etc.





Unfortunately, the bathroom door was designed so that the over the door hangers did not fit. I tried using command hooks to hold
It up, but those did not stick.



Finally I found a solution by sticking a clothes hanger through a hole in the shoe holder and then hanging it on one of the built-in wall hooks.



We also use several magnets to hang up a bag for pens, highlighters and the daily activity guide.





Our room is now all set to be our home for the week! :)

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