Cruise Day #2, “Date Night”

This evening we had an early dinner at Cagney’s, which is one of the Jade’s specialty restaurants (surcharge: $20 per person). Libby started with a colossal shrimp cocktail, tomato and Vidalia onion salad, veal chop w/ baked potato entrée, and New York-style cheesecake with a strawberry Grand Marnier sauce. I supped on a jumbo lump crab cake, the same tomato and onion salad, a 10oz filet mignon w/ Cagney’s fries (covered in minced, sautéed garlic and sprinkled with white truffle oil), and a Kailua coffee crème brule. Most of the dishes were good. Libby especially liked her shrimp cocktail and veal chop. I was fond of the crab cake (I have only rarely had better). The steak was good, but I live in city chock-a-block with fantastic steakhouses (including the award-winning Bern’s Steakhouse – so “great” wasn’t likely in the cards for Cagney’s). My Kailua-based dessert, however, was sublimely delicious. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend it. Along with dinner, I ordered a bottle of Chateau Mont Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It was a rather pleasing Rhone blend of most likely Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre (GSM) varietals that seemed suitable for the trip (as I’ve decided to limit myself to only “old world” wines on our journey). I finished less than half of the bottle. At the end of the meal, our waiter tagged and sealed the bottle. He will send it back to the cellar, and I shall enjoy the remainder at tomorrow night’s dinner.

After dinner, we want to the early show called “A Night with Lawrence Robinson.” The show consisted of numerous operatic and popular solos for a tenor. He was accompanied by the Jade Orchestra. The ship’s daily itinerary billed Robinson as being “on track to become the biggest Opera Star in Britain.” I have no idea whether or not that’s an accurate characterization, but Libby and I were both suitably impressed with his vocal talents. And, while I’m certainly not a musical expert, Libby has a fairly keen sense of talent (or lack thereof) on that front. In short, he was much better than even the “good” vocal talent we’ve experienced on past cruises.

We returned to our cabin early and enjoyed the sunset (at 10:15ish) while I wrote up today’s posts.