Last night's dinner in the Summit's alternate (and additional surcharge)
dining room was a culinary and social delight. I reserved two tables of six,
and we arrived to find two more tables of CruiseMates friends enjoying the
experience of the Normandie.
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Dinner in the Normandie is an event, not just a meal. When the staff realized
that the passengers at four of their tables were friends, everyone settled in
for some cross-table fun. As I got up to visit other tables, one of the
waiters would come right over and replace my napkin--crumpled neatly on the
table--with a new one. Thus the game began. I kept standing up and moving
away from the table, and each time I returned to a new, freshly rolled
napkin. We must have gone through a dozen napkins during dinner. I tried to
capture the changing of the napkins on the camera, but it didn't happen. The
staffers were just too fast and sneaky.
The dinner lasted more than three hours, but we had such a wonderful time, we
didn't notice the minutes passing. Food and service in the Normandie were
both superb--just as I had experienced on an earlier sailing in the
Millennium's Olympic restaurant.
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Friday morning we awoke in a partly cloudy (but hot) Kona, where I had booked
yet another golf game at the Waikoloa Beach Resort. It's about a half-hour
ride from the pier, but it has a very pretty layout. The "girls" used the
resort facilities while we golfed.
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After being absent for two nights, thanks to the shore-side Luau and then our
evening in the Normandie, we returned to the dining room that night. Our
service team, Ronald and Christian, seemed genuinely happy to have us back.
They and the other staffers we've encountered strike me as a very happy crew.
A friendly, relaxed atmosphere seems to prevail throughout the ship.
(Frankly, more relaxed and sociable than I recall from my previous Celebrity
cruises.) Personally, I prefer it this way.
I've enjoyed running into our CruiseMates group members as we move around the
ship. There's been lots of stopping for conversation, or just friendly waves
across a room, giving the ship a neighborhood feel.
Saturday morning we stopped in Hilo, where I had reserved a vehicle for a
drive to Volcanoes National Park. However, it was raining when we were to
head out, so we decided to pass on the road trip and just go into town for
some shopping. We later talked to people who went ahead with their scheduled
excursions, or helicopter tours, or bus trips, and despite the weather,
everyone seemed to have a great time.
As the ship left Hilo, it seemed there was a collective sigh. Everyone was
looking forward to the next five days at sea en route to Vancouver--ready to
relax, party and have fun. On this night the ship seemed livelier. Maybe
because for the first time since the cruise began, no one would have to wake
up early, other than the staff.
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To celebrate our first full day at sea, the CruiseMates gang got together
after lunch for some socializing and a group photo shot, wearing our "Get
Lei'd" T-shirts. I've never heard so many camera shutters clicking at the
same time, to capture the moment. As the group members stood on the stairway
in the Summit's atrium for the picture, they looked like a choir. I thought
it would be shame not to imitate one, and the Mooseman Tabernacle Choir was
born. We did a rousing rendition of the theme to Gilligan's Island. Needless
to say, this attracted a bit of attention.
This was really the Summit's first taste of the CruiseMates "Let's Get Lei'd"
group together in public. It appears Celebrity's image of reserved elegance
may be put in some jeopardy over the next few days.
