We were up for our first sea day and if you know us you know that we were thrilled. We had a slow morning going and then ventured into our dining room for brunch. While there, Ginny texted that she got us seats at the wine tasting which was about to start so we hustled right over there. We were wanting to meet the sommeliers, so this was a good chance as they’d all be there.
The tasting was pretty good and we did indeed meet all 5 Somms on board and figure out where they are all stationed in the evenings. We have been sad about the wine list on this ship. Not only if there no wine bar- we miss you, Vines!, but the selection is pretty lacking especially by the glass. Usually you find different wines in different bars around the ship, but this is pretty standardized. That’s a bummer, too. I mean, we’re not letting it get us down…I’m just noting it.
From there, we cruised on into the art auction to meet the art team. This cruise is not too into actually bidding it seems. Pretty dead crowd. There isn’t a nice space for the auctions- it’s in the back of a restaurant so the lighting isn’t great and sometimes the art is directly behind a post and you can’t see it🤣
We took naps and then headed back out to listen to a little music and have a glass of wine before dinner. Easy and chill day- minus the seas, which were not chill! We were rocking and rolling for most of the day but thankfully, I didn’t get sea sick! Woot!
The next morning, we had an excursion with the whole Malbec crew in Crete. Unfortunately, Jerry hasn’t been getting around too well and this trip said no mobility devices so he and Sue had to cancel. The rest of us went to a working farm where they make olive oil, wine, and honey. It was a lovely spot and we had a snack of fresh veggies and bread and olive oil. We got to try their local appertif, which was strong! We met an awesome family- an aunt and her niece and nephew- who sat across from us at the table. We enjoyed talking to them. The olive oil was fresh and delicious!
From there, we traveled into town and went to a beautiful restaurant for a wine tasting. The sommelier talked us through 5 wines, which we really enjoyed. We grabbed the two whites to bring back onto the ship to share with Sue and Jerry since they missed it. We had a little time in town and it was so cute- tons of little shops and open air cafes. As always, I wished we had more time to visit them all. Diana had a frozen (Greek) yogurt and said it was delicious!
When we got back on the ship, we popped over to the Buffett and grabbed a sandwich to share. We realized we hadn’t eaten much! There is a small but stocked area of grab and go sandwiches and salads. Such a nice to have thing.
The Malbec crew all ended up in the private sun deck for sanctuary guests. There is a lovely wall of ivy with a bell. When you ring it, a small door opens and a white gloved hand appears with a glass of champagne! 🍾 everyone else was ready for dinner early, but our snack was messing us up! We decided to go anyway to be with the crew. We had a special surprise up our sleeves so this seemed like the right time.
Now you probably know that when we travel, we always bring a wine suitcase. It works really well and we’ve never had any trouble. This time we brought 12 bottles and when Jason went to open the suitcase to unpack it, we very quickly realized there was some broken glass. A very large scene then unfolded while we tried to get the suitcase out onto the patio, carefully pick up all the glass shards and pieces, wash all the non-broken bottles and get them put away, and figure out where the heck did all the wine go from the bottle that broke??? Also, why did it break? It’s never happened before. We realize that that one side of the suitcase wasn’t fully strapped down. Now the suitcase has already been through a lot on this trip as you know. It’s been loaded on and off of a gazillion planes it’s been in several countries. There’s a whole lot of opportunity for somebody who have opened it and then not properly re-secured it. The bummer is we don’t know who so there’s really no one to ask for reimbursement from. I also feel bad for whatever took the brunt of a full bottle of red wine leaking onto it. Cause the wine wasn’t still in the suitcase.
That said most of the rest of the bottles were fine. There was one however, that was cracked around the cork, and it looked like the cork itself was holding the whole thing together. So when we met the sommeliers earlier, Jason asked one of them if we brought this in if they would be able to help us pull the cork out and filter the wine in such a way that we could guarantee that nobody would be drinking glass shards. They said bring and we’ll try it.
So, we showed up at dinner with this precarious bottle of wine and we found Stefan the sommelier and sure enough he was able to uncork it and get it filtered. We, of course, gave him a small glass to try and he loved it and we knew from that moment on we would be best friends.🙌🤣🍷 welcome to Nicora, Stefan!
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