Introduction

This is a blog of the Jazzbeaux cruise to Canada and New England from September 27 to October 15, 2017. We flew to Montreal and spent 3 nights there, then rented a car for a week and drove to the Mont-Megantic dark sky area and the Eastern Townships [in search of Inspector Gamache and Three Pines], then to Ile d’Orléans near Québec City. We boarded Crown Princess in Québec City; the cruise started with an overnight, then stopped at Saguenay, Charlottetown (PEI), Sydney (Cape Breton, NS), Halifax (NS), Saint John (NB), Bar Harbor (ME), Boston (MA) and brought us ‘home’ to Brooklyn. We had good weather almost all of the trip and the cruise made all the ports as scheduled [after the schedule change to ‘save the whales’ dropped Gaspé in favor of a sea day]

During the trip, Jazzbelle kept detailed notes and I [Jazzbeau] took lots of pictures. After returning home, I revised the notes to remove names [to protect the guilty, as they say…] and put it in my voice to avoid confusion. Jazzbelle became ‘DW’ in internet parlance [‘Dear Wife’].

In planning for this trip I used the following guidebooks:

• Frommer’s EasyGuide to Montreal and Quebec City [sic] – with two excellent walking tours for each
• Fodor’s Montréal & Québec City – for more detail about the places visited and for hotel and restaurant suggestions
• Fodor’s Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada
• Moon Atlantic Canada
• A Walk in the Park [Acadia’s Hiking Guide] – for the hike in Bar Harbor that didn’t happen [see below]
• and Tom’s Port Guides.

Wednesday September 27 / Mercredi 27 Septembre – Flying Off to … Montréal

Despite a delayed takeoff from LGA due to late flight attendants, we still arrived ahead of schedule at the Montréal airport. Took a taxi to Le St-Martin Hotel Particulier Centre Ville, and as we exited the cab the skies opened and monsoon-like rain enveloped us. It continued on and off through the evening.

During one of the breaks, we braved it and headed for the Métro where we purchased 3-day passes and took the subway to a bus stop for the #165 which took us within walking distance of L’Oratoire St-Joseph. Then we had to climb (99 steps) to reach the basilica—which was well worth the effort. It is the work of Brother André Besette. It is basically Italian Romanesque but quite austere. Our kind of worship space. Few distractions. Larger than life-size Stations of the Cross in white marble. Large wooden figures of the 12 Apostles. And we were blessed to hear the organist practicing with music emanating from 64’ pipes. My only regret is not seeing it in the daytime to get the effect of the stained glass windows.

We returned to our hotel and had a late dinner there in L’Aromate Bistro: Wagyu steak. Quite nice!

Our room faced the busy street which was fairly noisy but did not keep us from sleeping soundly. That ended for DW early in the morning when jackhammers, etc. began construction work on the sidewalks below.

Jeudi 28 Septembre – Montréal

We awoke to noise and sunshine but considerably colder weather. It was in the 80s when we landed and today’s temps would be in the high 50s. I grabbed a croissant and café au lait at Presse Café across the street and brought back fresh fruit and apple juice for DW.

We headed out to the Métro and from Place d’Armes we did Frommer’s Vieux-Montréal Walking Tour. We went into the Banque de Montréal to see the magnificent green marble columns, etc. We saw the Edifice New York Life, Edifice Aldred and Vieux Séminaire de St-Sulpice before springing for Basilique Notre-Dame. The décor here made up for the austerity of the Oratory. Busy, busy… Gold leaf everywhere.

We walked past the Vieux Palais de Justice (Old Courthouse), Place Vauquelin, Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), Chateau Ramezay and gardens, La Maison du Calvet. We visited Chapelle Nôtre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours where models of sailing ships with votive candles hung from the ceiling (gifts of fishermen and other mariners for rescue from danger). Down past it was Marché Bonsecours. Once the old marketplace, it is now filled with small shops and boutiques. We saw the Hôtel Rasco and walked up and down Place Jacques-Cartier. Next were the Vieille Douane and Centaur Theatre before a Polish lunch at Stash Café. DW had kielbasa and sauerkraut and I had pork croquettes with cole slaw. Nice change.

We next spent an hour and a half in Pointe-a-Callière (Museum of Archaeology and History)—very enlightening as we wandered through parts of the original sewers and foundations of Montreal.

We caught a cab that took us as far up as cars are allowed on Mont-Royal, near Maison Smith. We then walked up and out to Chalet du Mont-Royal and farther up to the summit to see Le Croix du Mont-Royal, the highest point on the island of Montréal. We returned to the hotel via bus and Métro only to find that we couldn’t turn on most of our lights. It seems there was a power outage in the neighborhood. I asked for someone to fix our wall safe and he came right up [it needed a new battery].

We dined at Café Ferreira (a Portuguese restaurant two blocks away). DW had salmon and I had Corvina (a white fish that was new to me, very nice but very pricey as the day’s special!), both with chick pea salad and vegetables. We were served a very nice bread with olive oil that even our picky cousin would approve of. For dessert I ordered Portuguese custard cups (‘nata’) with rice pudding ice cream. Yum!

A few early observations by DW: there is very little graffiti, and there are very few dogs (we counted 10 in 48 hours). As far as fall foliage, it’s pretty dull. All signs are in French, but only some are bilingual; one hears both languages spoken.

Vendredi 29 Septembre – Montréal

Still sunny but cooler. They had no croissants at Presse Café, so I walked around the corner to Universel Dejeuner Grill, where the croissant (warmed) and café au lait were even better.

Off we went to do Frommer’s Downtown Montréal Walking Tour. No public transport for us! We walked to 1000 rue de la Gauchetière (‘Le 1000’), a modern skyscraper with a food court and ice skating rink on the main level. We then went a block to Basilique-Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde. Its styling is based on St. Peter’s in Rome. A young priest was leading the Rosary. Then he donned a stole and hurried to the Chapel of Exposition to return the Eucharist from the monstrance to the tabernacle.

Across the street was the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth and I. M. Pei’s Place Ville-Marie built in a cruciform design.

We visited the Cathedrale Christ Church (Anglican) where noon time Eucharist was being held. We poked into La Baie (the main Hudson Bay Co. department store) which looked like most department stores [Hudson Bay now owns several US stores including Saks and Lord & Taylor].

We strolled past blocks of McGill University, but ran out of time before we could visit the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

We walked back towards our hotel and grabbed lunch in Café Vasco da Gama where we both ordered chicken/chorizo burgers. Very nice!

We freshened up at the hotel, then took the Métro and walked to the waterfront for the 4:00 one-hour cruise on Le Bateau Mouche. There were fewer than 20 of us onboard. We got to see many familiar Montréal sights from a different perspective plus many exhibits from Expo ‘67 [the Montréal World’s Fair on an island in the harbor] – including the U.S. Pavilion geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller, and a giant sculpture by Alexander Calder. And we learned a lot about the river and its place in history and the current-day economy of the area.

We caught a bus back to the center of town and found SAQ (the government liquor store monopoly) where I bought wine for tomorrow night’s dinner [the auberge had warned it is BYOB].

Tonight we had the prix fixe dinner at L’Entrecôte Saint-Jean. Salad plus steak and fries. Richer than we thought!

Samedi 30 Septembre – Mont-Mégantic

Up early and packed to go by 9:30 … only… when I called Enterprise I was told that the car we had reserved hadn’t arrived, nor had they any others in stock. I spent the next 90 minutes calling the airport location and all other rental agencies in Montreal, only to get no answer or the one we didn’t want to hear, “We have no cars…” At 11:30 Enterprise finally had a vehicle for us, but said they were closing at noon. We checked out of the hotel, got a cab and arrived at an open but empty office. The clerk finally appeared and informed us they were prepping our car, a VW Jetta. They washed it and turned over the key to a car with an 1/8 tank of gas [and a slow leak in one tire – the gas issue was acknowledged but the tire came as an unwelcome surprise later in the trip]. Off to Esso for gas, and our trip could finally begin – or so we thought: fierce traffic leading to the bridge from the island of Montréal to the south held us up for 35 minutes. With all the delays, we missed our lunch spot and grabbed light fare at a rest stop Tim Horton’s [the donuts aren’t all they are cracked up to be], and we had no time to visit the summit observatory at Mont-Mégantic.

We arrived at Aux Berges de l’Aurore (our B&B) in Nôtre-Dame-des-Bois after 4:30 and learned that the included dinner had been moved up to 5:00 so that we could make the 7:00 dark sky show at Mont-Mégantic’s ASTROLab.

Our room (one of four) was basic but it seemed we were sharing it with dozens of flies. [I informed the innkeeper in fractured Franglais (“our room has beaucoup de flies”) who took care of most of the interlopers while we were stargazing.]

Dinner was lovely. Cooked by the husband and served by his wife, she informed us that all of the vegetables were homegrown. We started with a tasty, herbed pea soup followed by a garden salad with their cukes and tomatoes atop lettuce served with their own dressing laced with their fresh garlic. The main course was curried chicken and rice with four veggies: carrots, snap peas, wax beans and zucchini with tarragon. Dessert arrived but we really wanted to wait on that. Swiss/German chocolate cake with coconut icing a la mode. We ate the ice cream and Madame saved the cake for our return.

We bundled up with many layers, as we knew it would be in the 30s. We drove down the road to the Mont-Mégantic visitor center and signed in for the Astronomy Evening. We walked to the ASTROLab auditorium following the star stenciled path, worried about the cloud cover overhead. We shared a booklet in English describing the highlights of the lecture and slide show [which were totally en française]. Guillaume seemed very knowledgeable and entertaining. After an hour we headed into the dark outside to view the night sky, and found that the clouds had all disappeared (leaving behind only the nearly-full moon to limit our view). As it is a UNESCO dark sky zone, lighting in the surrounding area must be kept to a minimum so that we can see all the stars that God showed Abraham in the Bible. Marvelous! There were three really big telescopes aimed at different points. Even without them we could see the Space Station move by, and zillions of stars. With them we could see Saturn, its rings and a couple of its moons, the Moon and its craters, star M13, and another barely visible one that looked very nebulous. Despite the cold, we stayed till the bitter end. I had planned this for DW since she had so enjoyed stargazing while we were in the Galapagos, and it was quite worth it.

Returning to the inn, Madame was in the parlor reading and ready to re-serve us our dessert along with hot beverages. We thanked her profusely.

 

Dimanche 1 Octobre – The Eastern Townships in search of Three Pines

We slept well and breakfast was not a disappointment. Monsieur made the lightest crêpes and served them with maple syrup and fresh fruit: kiwi, orange, pineapple, banana and strawberry. Plus their own raspberry yogurt as a starter, and OJ and coffee. We chatted with a couple from Auburn, Maine who had sat behind us at the star show.

We checked out and headed for 10:30 Mass en française at Saint-Pierre de la Patrie. There were about 30 of us in a chapel/sacristy. As Mass began the woman in front of us turned to me to say she could not understand the priest. I explained that I was English-speaking and couldn’t anyway. That must have gotten her thinking. She turned to look at us several times and then started questioning us after Mass about something I couldn’t possibly fathom. She then called over another parishioner who spoke English. She explained that there was to be a funeral tomorrow and wondered if we were relatives from NY who were there for it. Even though we said no, it was not the end of our conversation.

We finally got on the road and drove to North Hatley to begin our search for Three Pines [the mythical village in the Louise Penny mystery series featuring Inspector Gamache – the village is mythical but most of the buildings are based on real places in the Eastern Townships below Montréal near the Vermont border.] We visited the Épicier J. B. LeBaron [possibly the inspiration for the General Store – it is a very intriguing general store, but too modern and clean to remind me of the books] We popped into other shops and admired the view of the river, but soon left for Knowlton where we spent quite awhile at the Musée Historique du Comte de Brome and found the reproduction of the famous painting ‘Fair Day by Jane Neal’ [created for the CBC TV version of the novel Still Life]. We checked into Auberge Knowlton [aka the B&B]

We then headed for the Abbaye St-Benoit-du-Lac, the setting of A Beautiful Mystery. On the way we were on some dirt roads and we passed a llama farm. The adults were all woolly white and the one baby was dark brown. We noticed that with the cream colored cattle as well. Also in this area of small villages are many Christmas tree farms. Before long they will be harvested for an empty lot near you… We arrived at the Abbey where hundreds of people were exiting the grounds. [Turns out that day was one of the apple-picking days at the Benedictine monastery. Must be a good source of income for the monks] We easily found a parking space and entered the modern building and headed toward the church for the Gregorian Chant vespers sung by the monks. We were early so we visited the Eucharist chapel which seats only 6 and is as austere and compact as one could imagine—but what a sense of peace!

We sat in the front row for vespers. There must only be a couple of dozen monks left in this abbey and most will age out soon. I can’t imagine the future of this congregation. It was very impressive to hear them sing as one realizes that they live under a vow of silence. They can’t talk to one another but they can sing together to praise God!

We took a different route back, hoping to avoid the dirt road construction zone, but this route was no better: the monastery really wants to be alone!

Dinner was in Le Relais Restaurant-Bistro at the Auberge Knowlton [aka the Bistro in the books] We had a very nice meal starting with sweet potato (and other veggies) soup. We both had Lake Brome duck breast and Caesar salad. I opted for regular fries and DW the sweet potato variety. A couple at another table engaged us in conversation and we soon realized they, too, were tracking Gamache sites. They were from Minnesota/Arizona [more snowbirds!] and had just come off a HAL cruise from Boston to Montreal. They stopped by our table to chat some more as they left. As the restaurant was closing, they left for their hotel and DW took a short walk in town.

Lundi 2 Octobre – Found Three Pines! Then Montmorency Falls

Another sunny, cool day! We walked to the Star Café across the river for an inexpensive but generous breakfast. DW had ham and eggs, and I had Eggs Benedict.

We checked out of the Auberge Knowlton and walked around town a bit. Popped into and took photos of Lake Brome Book Store [aka Livres Lac-Brome in the Penny books] It was a lovely shop with mostly selections in English and a small number in French. Outside in the nearby park was a plywood cutout of three green-painted evergreens labeled Three Pines. DW took my picture standing next to it – so I have really been to Three Pines! [That’s my story and I’m sticking to it – photos don’t lie!]

Having succeeded in our mission, DW drove us out of town [she generally does almost all the driving, save a few short periods when she needs a break, and I navigate] to the first gas station where we spent a dollar putting air in the squishy tire.

Then we headed to Chute-Montmorency [Montmorency Falls] During the quick ride in the cable car to the top DW had a short conversation with another passenger while I took photos. The two of us then walked out to the lookouts and up stairs to the bridge across the cascade. The waterfall is quite impressive (taller than – but not as wide as – Niagara] and it was lovely to look down at the rainbows that form and dance in the mist. We walked back to the manor house on the upper level and descended via the cable car to the bottom before walking out to toward the base of the falls. We only got part way when we were enveloped in the mist, so we and turned around. [There would have been little to see in all that mist, and no pictures!]

We then drove onto Ile d’Orléans and to our lodgings for the next two nights: Auberge La Goéliche in Ste-Pétronille on the extreme west end of the island. We had a large room and balcony with a great view across the water to Québec City. Lovely. Not Spartan at all like our previous two places. DW went for a walk before dinner at the Auberge. What a nice meal! I had scallops followed by guinea hen, and chocolate crème brûlée. DW had a pear/endive/bleu cheese salad, veal chop, and chocolate “mousse” with whipped cream, locally grown strawberries and shortbread. We slept well.

Mardi 3 Octobre – Ile d’Orléans

Sunny and in the low 60s today. We had breakfast in house: the mandatory yogurt [just as roasted tomato is included with every breakfast in England, we always received an unordered amuse bouche of yogurt at breakfast in Québec], then Eggs Benedict with potatoes and a green salad.

Today we explored Ile d’Orléans starting at the Information Office. [We wanted to buy the guided tour CD of the island, but were told that it was out of date and is going to be replaced by an App. Luckily we had the Fodor’s guidebook with good descriptions and maps.] The island is full of farms and orchards, and market stands dot the roadway offering fresh apples and strawberries already picked or the opportunity to pick your own. We let them do the work and bought a two-pound basket of berries. Delicious!

DW drove us counter-clockwise around the island loop road, stopping next back at the village where we are staying, Ste-Pétronille. We had driven by an unusual sculpture the day before, and now had the opportunity to see it up close. According to the sign it is called Links and is comprised of “pillars, ropes and sails flying in the wind [to commemorate] the stormy road that walks* met with the cobblestones of the island’s road [*The Road that walks: native american name for the St. Lawrence River]”

There was another sculpture on the grounds, In Sync, which is a collection of snow geese in flight and on the ground. [Apparently geese are valued in proportion to how reliably they migrate away – they have migrated to our area and never leave, so this sculpture left us unmoved!]

The next town was St-Laurent, where we stopped at La Forge à Pique-Assaut to see the artist-blacksmith, but the shop and exhibition area were locked up tight so we could only see a few works that had been placed outside.

We passed vineyards and chocolatiers. Each of the six towns on the island has its own church, from which the town took its name. We went into the ones that were open, but most are in the same local style and aren’t very memorable.

In St-François there was an older islander who spoke only French but was able to make himself understood by speaking slowly, pointing to signs, etc. And we did our best to respond with our basic French – between the two of us we usually manage! That church had burned down in 1988 and was rebuilt with government funds [to continue to serve as a church – not like it would be in the US] The interior is now very basic [nothing like the over-decorated one of the past], but we found it very inviting – just like its native advocate.

We drove to the Observation Tower at the eastern end of the island and I climbed the 100 steps to take photos of the Laurentian Mountains and of the meeting of the salt and fresh water in the Saint Lawrence river.

In St-Pierre, we got into the old church and their crafts store, but the new church was not accessible.

Since it was only mid-afternoon, we put air in the front tire again and drove 85km to Baie-St-Paul [another Gamache site] That ride was not so pleasant as it wasn’t on a freeway and we had traffic lights and lots of road construction en route. We walked around the town and drove down to the quai where we strolled out to the end of the boardwalk. I took photos of Maison René Richard [Galerie Clarence Gagnon in The Long Way Home] – it was too creepy to go in! – and Auberge La Muse, which is nicer in reality than as described in the book.

The ride back to our auberge was a little easier as the construction vehicles had been taken off road for the day.

Tonight we dined at Le Moulin de St-Laurent in the village of St-Jean. DW had an unusual fruit/veggie salad to begin (broccoli, strawberries, shredded zucchini with sliced cornichons) and I had lamb sausage. I went on to enjoy bison filet, and DW had salmon. I finished off with the best crème brûlée ever and DW had a small dish of blackberry currants. [This should have been a foreboding of the cruise cuisine to follow, as the crème brûlée on board was the worst ever and there were no currants or berries of any kind!]

Mercredi 4 Octobre – Crown Princess and Québec City

Overcast this morning! Downstairs to breakfast. The mandatory yogurt, then waffle with a hint of maple syrup, a poached egg, ham, bit of salad and a base of baked beans. DW really likes baked beans – but not first thing in the morning [and not with a waffle at any time]

We packed up and were about to check out when I received a call to give a reference for one of my former coworkers who was up for a promotion. [He got it!] That held us up for 15 minutes, which saved us from a rain shower that passed over Ile d’Orléans.

We returned the car to Enterprise and advised them of the soft tire issue. We then took a cab to the port and the Crown Princess with its 3,000+ passengers [our largest ship so far – and probably ever] Although we were a bit early for our check-in time, our cabin was ready. We had a very nice cabin with a large aft-facing balcony. It certainly gives your legs a workout walking from the end of this large cruise ship to any other venue onboard. We had just missed the early closing of the dining room for lunch, so we went to the Horizon Court buffet and then headed out to explore Québec City.

We followed Frommer’s Lower Town (Vieux Québec: Basse-Ville & Vieux-Port) Walking Tour. Très charmant! We walked through Place-Royale after passing the Fresque des Québécois, a 4,665-square-foot trompe-l’oeil mural depicting 400 years of Québec history. We went into Eglise Nôtre-Dame-des-Victoires with its fortress-shaped altar. Hanging in the center over the pews is a large model of the transport ship Le Breze. We dodged rain showers as we headed to Maison Louis-Jolliet. He was the first European to view the Mississippi River. This house is the lower station of the funicular which takes passengers to Upper Town (Haute-Ville) – which we are saving for tomorrow. The narrow streets nearby are lined with shops. We walked back toward the river to see the Royal Battery surrounded by cannons. Suddenly the skies opened and our doorway shelter wasn’t water proof, so we headed back to the ship. Thunder and lightning soon began to accompany the heavy rain. DW opted for a short nap [that’s normally my job, so it is noteworthy here!]

We dined in the DaVinci dining room [one of three main dining rooms on this ship], and shared a table with a couple from Ann Arbor and 3 people from Cleveland. DW had shrimp/scallop cocktail with passion fruit dressing, split yellow pea soup, a Curtis Stone entrée of seafood stew, fudge cookie with chocolate sauce and ice cream. I had shrimp/sweet potato bisque, the Curtis Stone seafood stew, and “pina colada” ice cream. All the Curtis Stone offerings were delicious; other Princess items, especially the ice cream, were light on flavor.

We had been warned that the Princess Theater fills up early for shows, so we made a point to arrive early for Migrations, a folkloric collection of French Canadian dances, music and songs by local artists. It was very entertaining! But apparently the Princess regulars were less interested, as the theater never filled up this night.

DW walked the corridors for her post-prandial exercise, and ordered room service for the next morning.

Jeudi 5 Octobre – Québec City

DW ate breakfast on the balcony and could watch people below walking and jogging. I did not like the coffee at Horizon Court [this was a surprise, because on our previous Princess cruises it had been OK] and after getting some French toast and sausage there, I went down to the International Café and bought a Coffee Card and got a croissant. I had been spoiled in Montréal with their great croissants and café au lait. The Princess croissants were OK at best – they kept them in a warming oven, but after a while this made them tough and crunchy. And they don’t offer ‘café au lait’ at all – they gave me a latte, which isn’t quite the same; finally I settled on Cappuccino which everybody knows how to make…

Better weather today, so we set out on Frommer’s Upper Town (Vieux Québec: Haute-Ville) Walking Tour. We took the funicular for $3/each to Terrasse Dufferin where the famous castle-like Château Frontenac hotel is located. Great photo ops from that elevation! We saw a number of street musicians not only trying to collect tips but sell their CDs [sorry, but your voice over a canned accompaniment is called ‘karaoke’ and doesn’t make it to my CD collection…] A cannon went off, but it was only marking the noon hour, not an American invasion… We continued exploring, walking up and down the hills but nowhere near the summit yet. We went into the Basilique Nôtre-Dame where DW put the names of several people into the prayer request basket. We also entered the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity which was pretty austere. Near City Hall were lots of autumn and Halloween decorations. Seems they celebrate from early October till mid November. Fresh pumpkins everywhere! And several pirate ships and pirate scarecrows.

We then went into the Chapelle des Ursulines. There is also the old convent, school and museum. We meandered up the hill to the Old Gate and into the Citadel complex. We went to the Hôtel du Parlement but it had barricades as it is under reconstruction. The park in front is the site of the Winter Carnival. The 1885 Armory was also being reconstructed after a disastrous fire in 2008. What a handsome structure with its copper roof!

Lunch time brought us to Chez Ashton, known for the best poutine in Quebec. We shared a bébé portion, and a dozen bites was more than enough for DW and the rest was plenty for me! [The fries were very fresh and very good, and gravy was actually a nice addition, but I was expecting melted cheddar – who knew that cheese curds squeak when you bite them, and have no flavor??? And I fear that Little Miss Muffet’s whey was even worse! I wouldn’t have been waiting around when the spider arrived…]

We then went back to the Armory to take photos before going onto the Plains of Abraham, Jardin Jeanne D’Arc [decked out in Pirate gear, as was the public restroom opposite], Martello Tower #2 [we could just barely make out Martello Tower #1 on the opposite side of a construction site, so didn’t risk trying to find it – even for the Gamache connection]

As they had rerouted the city bus we intended to take, we walked back to the ship. [We did 7 miles that day. Hard walking between the cobblestones and hills!] We took advantage of the free Wi-Fi in the cruise terminal and then had a huge line of returning passengers to contend with. Sailaway was delayed due to the number of returning tour buses.

As soon as we embarked, it was time for the muster drill. Then we darted up to the 16th deck for a sailaway get-together with some of the role call members. [Our Roll Call had decided against an official Meet and Greet, which I think was a mistake as the turnout for this was sparse and people drifted away quite early]

Dinner was in the Crown Grill. We both had goat cheese salad with beets and fresh tomatoes. DW also had giant prawn appetizer, and sea bass and prawns for dinner. Lovely! I had rack of lamb – perfectly cooked. And I ordered a bottle of Amarone [I have enjoyed this wine on all three of our Princess cruises; it’s not cheap, but the onboard markup is reasonable and because it’s not cheap it hangs around long enough to be nicely mature – but you have to watch the vintages, as the waiters really know nothing about wine (see below)] For dessert DW had molten lava cake and double chocolate ice cream while I had the chef’s special, chocolate peanut butter bar.

We had lots of photos taken as we were nicely dressed and photographers stopped us. [We had a coupon from our TA for a free photo, so we couldn’t do our usual duck-and-ignore routine]

We went to the comedy show with Miguel Washington. Funny and clean!