Oct 19: Day 17: Sea Day

Today is our first of 6 sea days as we cross the Atlantic Ocean to relax after all the ports. We do laundry this morning, visit the casino, and go to the horse race.

Tonight Charlene has arranged a special reunion dinner at Sabatini’s restaurant, one of the two specialty restaurants onboard which has a premium charge. Sabatini’s is a classic Italian Restaurant where the food keeps coming for 3-4 hours! We met in Adagios bar for pre-dinner drinks. I had a talk with Charlene before the cruise about telling Sam we were all going to pay for our meals in Venice separately because, as anyone who has dined with them can attest, it is a struggle trying to pay for anything—same with Gladys! Well…. They got us! She said I didn’t tell her not to pay for meals on the ship, so they treated us all to this magical night!

Charlene had brought a gift bag for all of us. She had asked me to make photo place cards of our 07 group and they turned out to be a very nice memento. She had found a wine cork holder to place our name cards in.

A few months ago she asked all of us to email her a few of our favorite photos from our 2007 Emerald JETS (logo name) cruise and she used these photos to create an album for each of us. She found a jet shaped luggage tag to attach to the gift bag. She had also requested the ship’s photographer to come to the restaurant and take a group photo for us. She is so sweet and thoughtful! We have a wonderful meal and wait staff. I lost count on the number of courses after we reached 10! Tim and I selected lobster as our main course and it was delicious.

Group starting on left side and going around table: Tim, Ramah, Mary Kay, Bill, Donna, Charlene, Sam, Jim, Jane, Judy, Harry, and Joy

I didn't get pictures of all the food we had, but here is some of it:

Crabmeat, fried zucchini, calamari, baked cheese w/sun dried tomato

Ravioli w/black truffle and homemade pasta w/vegetables

Lobster

Scallops

Mixed seafood

Char had requested our dessert be served on the terrace out back. Much to our delight, our waiter put table cloths and candles on the tables before we were escorted outside. What a special night we had with old friends and Harry & Judi (Sam & Char’s friends with whom we shared the Venice apartment). They fit right in and it seems like we have known them for years. We started dinner at 7:30 and it was 11:00 when we finished dessert!

Brian A: You would love this!!!