The groups first proper get together took place in the Purple Jazz Lounge at 7:00 last night and although I didn’t get to actually speak to everyone I can certainly now recognise them. It was a nice little social event organised by our hosts and the drinks were very plentiful and well received. Also present were two of MCS UK’s marketing team who mingled and chatted with us all and curious to know how we were getting on with everything.
At 8:30 we split into two groups for dinner, one half going to the Yacht Club Restaurant and the others which included ourselves going to the Tex Mex Restaurant. Both being arranged by our hosts and on the third night we will swap over so we all get to sample both dining venues.
So, the Tex Mex Restaurant is on deck 7 and as you would imagine is a Mexican style menu. It comes with a small cover charge of depending on how many courses you want. For example the starter course which they call the El Sombrero selection which is a choice of six taco based dishes and costs €4. The second course is called Santa Fe with a choice of 4 dishes. This course is priced at €8 but there is also the option to have a steak instead with prices ranging from €14 – €22. The dessert is then another level of payment with just three options for €4.
I opted for Quesadillas to start which with its light salsa sauce was very nice.
I followed this with a Chilli Con Carne which I had hoped would have been better. One of our table mates had Fajitas which looked to me to be the better option.
I finished off with a Blueberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Sauce which was very nice and light. Although our group consisted of around 20 people we had to dine in groups of four because they were unable to group the tables together as there were bolted to the floor. A shame as it would have been nice to have a bigger group but it was nice to get to know our table mates Pippa, Kernow and her husband a little better. Super company and fun to dine with. I know a few of the others stayed up much later into the evening but after our early start we retired for the evening.
Up at 7:00 this morning and took breakfast in the buffet which was relatively quiet as it’s a sea day, the reason for our early rise was because our hosts had arranged a behind the scenes tour of the theatre, the Yatch Club area and also the galley area. It was really interesting to see areas normally off limits to the general public.
The highlight of the tour for me was viewing the galley area and seeing the places where everything is stored, prepared and cooked. Really fascinating and made all the more fun by having to dress up in protective clothing to make sure we didn’t contaminate any thing.
The afternoon was ours to do as we pleased and tonight is Gala evening so we will be getting dressed up. The plan is also to do a show in the theatre before dinner.