2019 World Cruise - Days 19 thru 23

When we left Los Angeles, we spent five days at sea in order to get to our next port of call, Honolulu, Hawaii. 

I decided instead of doing five separate posts, I would just show you some of the highlights of each day....


Monday 01.21.19 - Sea Day

I woke up earlier than Shelly and began organizing pics from the previous day, then started writing Day 7 of our 2018 road trip.

At lunch I had a "Philly Steak" sandwich. I'm not sure what they did differently, but today it was better than last time. The toasted bread was crunchy on the outside & fluffy on the inside. The meat was surprisingly tender. Creamy coleslaw & French fries were the perfect pairing to this stellar sandwich.

Philly Steak Sandwich on Toasted French Baguette
smothered onions and cheddar cheese melt, crisp fries

Of course I had to add some Louisiana hot sauce, for a little spicy kick.

Philly Steak Sandwich on Toasted French Baguette
smothered onions and cheddar cheese melt, crisp fries

Shelly had a terrific deconstructed salad, that paired perfectly with a vinaigrette dressing.

Chicken Cobb Salad
bacon, avocado, tomato and blue cheese crumbles on iceberg lettuce
French vinaigrette

After lunch, Shelly went to turn in her “Wake Show Trivia” answer, while I won $57 on a slot machine. At 2pm she went to learn to play the ukulele, while I went to argue with internet cafe staff about turning my internet off 2 hours early for the first segment. Then I returned to the room to continue working on the blog.

my heart

6:30pm Cabaret Showtime Starring instrumentalist Craig Richard. I thought he put on an excellent show up until his last song, a rendition of You Raise Me Up. I'm just tired of hearing this song.

At dinner, I made another great choice with the delectable flaky cod on top of diced chorizo. I loved it so much, I think I may try to recreate it at home. 

Roasted Cod with Bacon-Balsamic Dressing
over chorizo-spiked portobello mushroom and tomato ragout with parisienne potatoes

Shelly was impressed with her roasted tandoori chicken. She says, "Excellent dish, not spicy so I added jalapenos. The yogurt was so tasty I asked for more. I hope to get this again"

Roasted Tandoori Chicken
marinated in garam masala and yogurt, served with basmati rice and cucumber raita

Tuesday 01.22.19 - Sea Day

This was a sauce filled day of joy. At breakfast I topped my waffle and pancakes with some lovely ghost pepper & blueberry hot sauce from Bravado Spice Co.

At 12pm lunch in the Main Dining Room, I had one of my favorite apps, the crisp-fried calamari. It’s always a nice surprise when this is offered on the menu. The sweet marinara sauce was made better with one of the best hot sauces in my collection, Bravado Spice Co's Crimson Special Reserve. 

Crisp-Fried Calamari
with marinara dipping sauce and lemon

I also enjoyed a nice cup of Mexican Albondigas Soup. Today's offering was loaded with meatballs. Once again I kicked it up with Bravado Spice Co's Crimson Special Reserve. 

Mexican Albondigas Soup
beef broth with vegetables and meatballs

After inspecting the dinner buffet, we went to the 7:45pm 4th Formal Dinner. Originally we discussed it with our table mates, that since there was no lobster or escargot tonight, why get dressed up? Let's enjoy our vacation & eat at the buffet. Then Shelly noticed that there was going to be French onion soup on the menu, so she decided it was worth getting dressed up for dinner. I had to order a cup just to see what all the fuss was about. Maybe my wife was right, this was a damn nice cup of soup. I kept dipping my bread into the rich broth. It doesn’t hurt that I love onions.

To convince me how much she was committed to this soup, Shelly had TWO cups! She told me, "I was so discouraged by the buffet soup I NEEDED the two bowls to make me feel better. It's so good! This is my favorite broth as it is so deep in flavor it warms my soul."

French Onion Soup
baked with gruyère cheese crouton

Photos from Formal Night:

Wednesday 01.23.19 - Sea Day

11am Enrichment Lecture: The Power of Survival: Join Guest Entertainer Craig Richard and hear his true life climbing accident survival story as seen on TVs “Got Home Alive”.

Another interesting story from a guy that has WAY TOO much energy. Rock climbing, American Ninja Warrior, musician…calm down bro!

At 12pm Lunch in the Main Dining Room, I had a chimichanga with salsa cruda. It was so good, I ordered a second one. Sitting here writing this now, I want yet another one. The ground beef taco type filling was excellent!

Chimichanga with Salsa Cruda
crisp fried tortillas stuffed with spicy beef

My dessert was another dish that I had never heard of, Zuppa Inglese. For this cruise, I am on a mission to try as many new foods as possible. This dessert fit the bill perfectly. I even did a quick Google search to “see” what I was in for. Based on that search, what arrived was not what I expected. It was just a bowl of ice cream, that tasted no different than vanilla to me.

Zuppa Inglese Ice Cream

My avocado bacon cheeseburger at dinner was a thing of beauty! A juicy thick beef patty with hickory smoked bacon, cheddar cheese & sliced avocado on a toasted pretzel roll. I added honey mustard and a drizzle of ketchup to make a tremendous sandwich.

Princess Sirloin Beef Burger with Hickory Smoked Bacon Avocado and Aged Cheddar
ground fresh daily, cooked to order and served with gourmet fries

Thursday 01.24.19 - Sea Day

At lunch, Shelly ordered a matzah ball soup. To her surprise the dish was served with broth and vegetables only. There was no matzah balls! She asked the waiter to bring her a few. She was delighted when they returned with a whole cup full. She said the flavors were very pleasing. 

I had another opportunity to try a new dish. This time it was Italian capocollo with Waldorf salad. I mixed a little bit of the chives & salad into the meat, for a great bite. 

Naturally Aged Italian Coppa
with Waldorf salad

At dinner, we both had some pretty terrific surf & turf. Magnificent medium rare steak & 2 huge prawns, served with a Bearnaise sauce.

Surf and Turf
beef filet Mignon and jumbo shrimp with jus reduction, Bearnaise sauce, string beans, gratinated fennel and chateau potatoes

For dessert we both chose the same thing. The sacher torte was another new dish to me. After a quick Google search & knew I wanted to order it.

Sacher Torte
as created by Franz Sacher in 1932 for Fuerst Metternich

Friday 01.25.19 - Sea Day

For some reason I woke up at 5:30am. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I started working on my blog post covering day 11 of our 2018 road trip. I canceled my 8:30 - 9am Room service breakfast & we went to the buffet where I had dry biscuits with thick bacon gravy. It's not the best, but it sure fills you up. At least the sausage & scrambled eggs were good. Of course I had to add some Louisiana hot sauce to kick up the spice.

At lunch, Shelly had goulash with fork tender beef.

Hungarian Paprika Beef Goulash
seasoned with roasted pepper and served with spätzle

After lunch, I was hanging out on our balcony & the rain clouds looked photo worthy.

Finally at dinner we had a nice Argentinian steak. The gravy was so good that I sopped it all up with a roll.

Traditional Argentinian Asado
Oven Glazed Tender Succulent Beef with Mexican Rice, Refried Beans, and Bell Pepper Stew

We finished up dinner with an amazing panna cotta type dessert.

Argentinian Bonnetto
creme caramel custard with bitter sweet cocoa and amaretto cookies, orange flavored whipped cream

That concludes our 5 days at sea!  This is the first time I have had so many consecutive days at sea and I have to say overall it is enjoyable.  I like being able to completely relax and not have anything planned.  
Join me next time for Honolulu, Hawaii and checking off another state in our 50x50 plan.