We spent two luxurious days at sea, eating gourmet food, taking in comedians and Vegas-style shows, and walking along the Promenade watching the sea roll past with no land in sight.
As photographers, we were in Heaven! The blue of the ocean, the white of the caps of the waves, the blur of colors and activity on the ship– Dave captured image after image! And though we are wedding photographers based out of Western Pennsylvania and the greater Pittsburgh area, we were glad for a different perspective!
Lunch on the second day (our first day at sea) was different then lunch on the first day.. First of all, we went to the more formal dining room, where a wider selection of foods was offered. Secondly, there was a pianist playing the most lovely tunes while we ate. It was a musician’s dream come true. Good food, good music, and a overall feeling of elegance and class! While I am talking about the food, again, let me briefly describe all the ways you can eat on a cruise! I couldn’t get over how many times a day I was offered food… In fact, it seemed we planned our whole day around when we could eat! LOL.
There were two main dining places… The Mermaid Grille which was set up along the lines of a classy food court area, which different food stations. It was more casual dining, and was in a buffet style. The food varied from a salad bar, to a Panini station, hamburgers, chicken fingers, fries, Chinese food, and a pizza place (open 24 hours). The other dining location, was the dining room itself, called the Normandie Dining Hall. It was an elegant restaurant full of chandeliers, fine china, maitre and servers that pushed in your chair and put your napkin on your lap. The food was formal and delicious, as well as different. Offering selections like Bing Cherry soup (chilled), exotic cheese platters, and Rack of Lamb. Yum! There were actually two smaller restaurants (for an additional cost) to choose from as well- David’s (a steakhouse complete with a glass staircase leading to a extremely fancy restaurant with a view of the ocean) and the Captain’s Corner, a private restaurant for VIP guests only.
The fed us breakfast each day from 730-930 in the dining room, or we could choose the Mermaid’s Grille for more relaxed breakfast selection. Lunch was from 12-130 in the dining room and til 230 in the Mermaid’s Grille, and since Dave and I had the relaxed meal (and no set time for dinner), we were able to go to dinner anywhere from 6-930 PM.. And most evenings there was a Midnight Buffet also! To say the least, Dave and I were never hungry!
The second day at sea we had our Captain’s Dinner. What an experience! The food offered at dinner was amazing! Everywhere we looked we saw couples and families dressed to the nines. Men had tuxedos, women wore gowns… it was like the old-fashioned balls that the rich and famous attended! And I felt like a real grown up when I put on my hot red shoes with my little black dress.
One of the most unique (and costly!) things we encountered was the stations of “Studios” where photographers were waiting to take your picture, free of charge… (Of course if you want to BUY the pictures, well there’s a “small” fee for that!) Dave and I had our portraits taken in different settings and purchased a few. Even though we are photographers, we don’t really have a lot of formal portraits of the two of us. Our wedding pictures, but really, everything else has been a casual snapshot taken here or there with the iPhone!
