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4 Night Key West & Bahamas Cruise

Morning Trivia

Every day for us was a 'day at sea' since we were not planning on leaving the ship in Nassau either, but this was a true sea day. We had breakfast in the buffet this morning after dining in Cosmpolitan the day before and then relaxed in the Solarium more before the morning trivia. We did okay in General Knowledge with Janie getting most of the answers, although they served up a softball for J. R. by asking where his company, Nokia was founded.

Wine Tasting and Seafood Lunch

We had a complimentary wine tasting in the morning in Qsine. The tasting was informative, although we questioned a couple of the comments, particular when the sommelier said there was no difference between red and white wine glasses which contradicts Celebrity's own Comparative Wine Tasting seminar where they show how different glass shapes impact the taste of the wine.

After wine tasting, we had our seafood lunch in Tuscan Grill. The food was very good, especially the steak Janie had but we had been hoping for a little more from a seafood lunch than just lobster thermidor and coconut shrimp. For the price, there should have been crab legs or crab claws as well.

Mixology

We had to run from lunch to Mixology and when we got there, we were turned away because we did not have our card invitation, which has never been an issue at any activity. For the wine tasting, we just had to provide our room number and they looked it up. We think that because we arrived right at the start, they had given away our seats to someone else who showed up without a reservation. J. R. raced up to the room and returned with the card and they set up a place for us at the low table. Just another example of lack of communication across departments on this ship. But the seminar was fun and we made two drinks which we enjoyed, although we were surprised the martini bar could only muster up two muddlers for a large group, which delayed the seminar. Also, they needed a 'closed for private event' sign because the bartenders had to keep stopping to tell people who walked up that the bar was closed and some of these people were not happy about it. The event could have been held in Sky Lounge instead where no one just wanders in.

Recipes

Cucumber Collinstini

Ingredients
One to two slices of cucumber
Six pieces of mint leaf
3 oz. Ketel One vodka
1.5 oz. Cointreau
1.5 oz. sweet and sour mix
2 drops bitters
1-1/2 scoops of ice.
Preparation
Add the cucumbers to a shaker and muddle thoroughly. Add the mint leaves and smack them three times with muddler. Add the alcohol, sweet and sour, bitters and ice and shake well. Strain through mesh strainer into a martini glass.
Notes
Can use Ketel One Cucumber vodka, if available. Can substitute Cointreau with Triple Sec. Sweet and sour mix is 1 part lime juice, 1 part lemon juice, mixed with 1 part simple syrup.

Spicy Passion

Ingredients
Three jalapeno rings, including seeds and membrane
Six pieces of mint leaf
3 oz. Ketel One vodka
Peach puree
1/2 shot lime juice
1-1/2 scoops of ice.
Preparation
Add the jalapenos to a shaker and muddle thoroughly. Add the mint leaves and smack them three times with muddler. Add the alcohol, peach puree, lime juice and ice and shake well. Strain through mesh strainer into a martini glass.
Notes
Could be made with tequila, gin or good rum. Peach puree can be made by peeling three peaches and removing the pits and blending them with a tablespoon of water. Original recipe called for passion fruit puree but the bar did not have any.

Dinner

We had a few more drinks at the martini bar after the Mixology class so we skipped out on the Aretha Franklin show in favor of a brief nap in the room before dinner. Service was much improved tonight with the maitre'd taking drink orders instead of the sommelier.

We went to the ABBA sing-along after dinner but really weren't feeling the vibe as much as did when we did it on the Apex so we just sat and had a drink and listened to the music. We hung around for a while and listened to the DJ and then headed to bed.