Making this a separate topic so as not to clutter up goings on with a whole bunch of photo posts over the next week.
Since I work for RCI, they pay most of the expense for me to go on one cruise of up to seven nights, and @familyjules was able to come for just the cost of taxes and fees. Still expensive thanks to transportation costs etc, but this seems like the only opportunity we’ll be able to afford something like this in the foreseeable future.
Since we can’t access our stateroom until 1 o’clock, we’ve just got our carryons with us. The problem is that “stuck at port while everybody boards” is probably also the best time to hit the pool and waterslides, so we have to take them one at a time while the other person sits with our stuff. Currently waiting for Julie to get back, and high-volume island music is now playing, which you may not realize is low key a constant dread of mine. Checked the app, and sure enough: “Poolside Hits with Resident DJ” continues for the next hour and a half.
I recommend ordering escargot with dinner. It doesn’t have to be instead of something else–you can order as many things as you want. You may end up wanting to get it with every meal thereafter.
(This is not a joke. You really should try it if you never have unless you’re totally averse. How often do you have the chance?)
I think Julie plans to order escargot. I’ll give it a try when she does.
Tonight we have reservations at “Wonderland”, a specialty restaurant that has an experimental menu based on Lewis Carroll through some kind of “elements” theme. We watched this video to find out what we’re getting ourselves into, and it really underscored what a very specific subculture cruise enthusiasts constitute:
Yes, I plan to order some escargot for exactly that reason. When am I likely to have the chance again, and I’m curious enough to give it a go. And if i don’t like it, I’m not really out anything and can get something else.
There are these hanging dragons in between the elevators above Boardwalk, and every time I see them, I just think: guts. Bowels. That’s an artistic rendering of intestines. I am going to have to photograph them next chance I get.
Wonderland: Imaginative Cuisine was more than just a novelty. We did a chef’s selection of appetizers as recommended, plus our own entree choices, cocktails, and a dessert surprise. Twenty years ago, I would not have been prepared for a dinner including ingredients such as bone marrow with lobster meat and caviar. I had the branzino over basmati rice, and it was the highlight of my meal. Julie took a couple of photos while we were in the restaurant, but we weren’t trying to become influencers, so most of the dishes were not subject to camera work.
Now, we’re just relaxing in the Central Park while waiting for our first showtime. (Central Park and Broadway: seems like they’re trying to be a real Wet Apple out here.)
