Gluten Free Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce – Dairy Free Too

Posted on April 5, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Since I’ve started cruising frequently I’ve rather developed a fondness for bread pudding. It’s the sort of old-fashioned homestyle dessert I’d never really given a thought to until I started noticing it regularly on the ships. While fancy versions like Bitter & Blanc sometimes make an appearance in single serve bowls in the dining room, buffets often have more homey versions in serve yourself vats with warm pots of sauce on the side.

With two gluten (and dairy) free sisters and a gluten free sister-in-law as well, I end up doing quite a bit of gluten free cooking, often experimenting with turning regular recipes into a gluten free variety. Some experiments definitely work better than others. Ingredient proportions often need adjustments from regular recipes to get sauces to thicken or batters to set.

This recipe tastes just like regular bread pudding. Except that most recipes for bread pudding with vanilla sauce call for raisins. I don’t like cooked raisins so I tried other options instead. Chocolate chips work great if you can find some safe for the diets of whoever you are cooking for. Craisins are another option and of course there’s the traditional raisins. Use what you like that works with your diet. Or don’t add anything, that works too. Bread pudding tastes just fine on its own with no add-ins.

If either gluten or dairy is not a problem for you feel free to use regular bread or milk and butter or try this recipe. You can use any bread you like to make bread pudding. I’ve even used cupcakes from a failed gluten free pumpkin cupcake experiment for the bread – and they made way better bread pudding than they did cupcakes. (If using something sweet for the bread use a lot less sugar in the pudding.)

Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Gluten Free Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread Pudding Ingredients

5 eggs

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional regardless of add-in or lack thereof, recommended to omit if using chocolate chips)

2 cups almond or other non-dairy milk (regular milk is fine if dairy is not an issue)

3 tablespoons non-dairy butter substitute, melted (butter is fine if dairy is not an issue)

10 slices gluten-free bread, cut into cubes (If using regular bread use 8 or 9 depending on the size because regular bread loaves are almost always bigger than gluten free.) White or sourdough bread lets the pudding flavor come through more than the bread flavor.

1 cup chocolate chips or craisins or raisins or blueberries or whatever you like if you want an add-in

Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread Pudding Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (190 degrees C). Grease a large casserole dish or 2-quart baking pan.

Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl with whisk. Stir in sugars, cinnamon and almond milk. Slowly pour in melted butter substitute while briskly whisking. Stir in bread cubes until coated and then stir in add-in of choice until distributed throughout bread cubes.

Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour at 375 degrees. Check at half an hour and if the bread looks like it is getting too brown (or for moister pudding) cover for remainder of baking time. Serve warm with warm Vanilla Sauce.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Vanilla Sauce Ingredients

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (more or less is fine depending on how thick or thin you like your sauce.)

1 egg (If making a smaller portion of the pudding you can cut the sauce recipe down to half and still add the egg, any less just leave the egg out and the sauce still comes out fine.)

1 1/4 cups almond milk (regular milk if dairy is not an issue)

2 tablespoons non-dairy butter substitute (or butter)

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Gluten Free Dairy Free Vanilla Sauce Directions

Whisk brown sugar, egg, almond milk, and cornstarch together in heavy saucepan. Add butter substitute. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until butter substitute melts and blends with other ingredients and sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla until well blended. Serve warm over warm bread pudding.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in recipes | Tagged baking, bread pudding, cooking, dairy free, gluten free, gluten free bread pudding recipe, lactose free, photo, recipe, vanilla sauce | 4 Comments

Carnival Australia Dining Room Dinner Menus

Posted on April 3, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Legend in Hobart

The daily dining room dinner menus on Carnival Australia have some of the same things served on ships from Carnival America, but they have their differences as well. Starting with the wording – in America entree means the main meal, but in Australia entree means appetizer. As on Carnival America, there is always a lighter healthier option and a vegetarian option. We sailed on the Legend, but odds are these Australian menus also apply to the Spirit, which sails from Australia year-round.

Carnival Australia Kid’s Menu

We took a 7 day cruise to Tasmania, which had a Mexican/Caribbean dress night with a Mexican fiesta menu. Since there’s a separate Caribbean menu I’m guessing the longer cruises have a specific Caribbean night.

Each night the menu has the every night side that never changes and the today side which is different each day. There’s also a children’s menu with things like hot dogs, chicken nuggets and peanut butter sandwiches. Children’s meals tend to come with chips and cookies, but you can ask the waiter to have those left off. The steamed vegetables on the kid’s menu looked so good when my grandkids had them every day that one day I ordered them for my entree. Yes adults can order off the kids menu, and kids can also order off the adult menu. Either way the portions are often too big. My 3-year-old grandson quite enjoyed salmon from the everyday side of the adult menu.

steamed vegetables from the kid’s menu

Sometimes the main-dish pasta will say also available as an entree. If you want it for the main, but their usual portions are too large for you, you can ask for it as a main in the entree size. You can have a lot of extra things if you ask, like a plate of sliced lemons for the water, a glass of milk, or even faster service.

One of the daily desserts is always free of sugar or sugar substitutes and sugar free ice cream is available upon request.

Dinner Menus

Carnival’s signature dessert – chocolate melting cake

Every Day Menu

entree: diced fresh melons with citrus and mint; fried vegetable spring rolls; market salad; caesar salad

main: grilled salmon fillet; spice wrapped grilled 200 grams flat iron steak; pan-seared chicken schnitzel; guinness mince (chuck steak) mushroom and cheese pie

For a $25 surcharge the daily menu also had main dish offerings from the pay-extra Nouveau restaurant – great seafood and premium aged beef; steamed whole main lobster; surf and turf (filet mignon and lobster tail;) grilled filet mignon; prime new york sirloin steak 400 grams (This was the only lobster offered this cruise. Apparently lobster is too expensive in Australia to serve to the masses on formal night like they do in America.)

dessert: warm chocolate melting cake; fresh tropical fruit plate; ice cream; sorbet; assorted cheeses

Daily Menus

Menus from Our Cruise

diced fresh melons with citrus and mint

Day 1

entree: tropical fruits; marinated salmon and candied tomato; fried prawns; heart of iceberg lettuce; tom kha gai (thai chicken soup;) gazpacho andalouse

main: grilled mahi mahi fillet; linguini with italian sausage, capsicums and mushrooms; cantonese sweet and sour prawns; chicken a la grecque; irish stew; mutter paneer with red onion kulcha (indian vegetarian dish)

dessert: vanilla creme brulee, black forest gateau, orange cake

valentine cake

Day 2

entree: prawn cocktail; carpaccio of fresh pear and citrus segments; prawns and redfish ceviche; minestrone milanese; roasted pumpkin soup

main: spaghetti carbonara; fresh from sydney’s fish market; grilled jumbo prawns; teriyaki glazed pork steak; roast beef au jus; aloo shimla mirch, khlumb matar dahi wale, rajmah raseela (potatoes and vegetables in yogurt sauce served with rice)

dessert: special heart shaped chocolate valentine cake (because it was valentine’s day)

spinach paneer kofta, sag fondue, kathal aloo ki sabzi (I didn’t like this one much, but my daughter loved the Indian dish she had on an earlier night of the cruise.)

Day 3

entree: chicken satay with peanut sauce; wild mushroom arancini; hand picked spring mix and cherry tomatoes; pumpkin and tomato bisque; asparagus vichyssiose

main: lasagne bolognese; chinese e fu noodle soup; turkey roast; pan roasted pangasius fillet on gazpacho juice; beef stroganoff; spinach paneer kofta, sag fondue, kathal aloo ki sabzi (spinach and cheese balls with jackfruit and potato stew)

dessert: chocolate raspberry and vanilla cream cake, old fashioned apple pie, pumpkin pie

these enchiladas look a bit strange, but tasted quite good

Day 4 – Mexican Fiesta Night

entree: baja taquito; grilled prawns glazed with tequilla; queso fundido; watermelon and rocket salad; chopped salad; sopa de lima (chicken soup;) beefy chilli

main: pescado a la talla (fish;) dos enchiladas; guava glazed bbq ribs; alambre de carne (steak skewers;) chilli rellenos

dessert: salted caramel tres leches cake; orange cream eclair; chocolate chipotle pudding (the chocolate chipotle pudding is excellent)

amaretto cake, yum

Day 5

entree: deepfried mozzarella sticks; prawn cocktail; prosciutto ruffles; diced australian navel oranges and greek olives; chestnut veloute (soup;) iced butternut squash and green mango soup

main: fetuccini with sauteed prawns; turkey tikka; chicken chow mein; sugar glazed pork loin with apples and prunes; roast crusted lamb rack; karari gobhi (cauliflower)

dessert: amaretto cake; baked alaska; baked cheesecake

pineapple sorbet tastes good any day of the cruise

Day 6

entree: thai beef salad; fire roasted chicken in sesame dressing; coconut prawns; spring mix and cherry tomato salad; thai prawn soup; iced watermelon soup

main: teriyaki salmon; pappardelle alla forestale (egg noodles in cream sauce with mushrooms;) turkey piccata; chinese broccoli and crispy pork; roast beef with yorkshire pudding; achari bhindi (vegetarian okra dish)

dessert: variations of strawberries (upsidedown strawberry cake, strawberry sorbet, strawberry and mascarpone cream;) tiramisu; tropical fruit lasagne

grilled chicken breast

Day 7

entree: prawn cocktail; grilled portabello mushroom and handpicked mesclun lettuce; escargots; rocket, mint and vegetable salad; white bean soup; iced melon soup

main: grilled chicken breast; grilled filet of mahi mahi; panko crusted jumbo prawns; pork belly and egg noodle soup; guinness braised lamb leg; vegetable jalfrezi, palak paneer bhurji, chana dal masala, pilaf rice (stewed potatoes, vegetables, homemade cheese)

dessert: grand mariner souffle’; cappuccino pie; apple pie

grand marnier souffle with orange vanilla sauce, mmmm

Samples of Menus For Longer Cruises

pescado a la talla from Mexican fiesta night

Caribbean Beach Night Menu

entree: stuffed roasted red capsicums (bell peppers;) sugar cane jerked chicken wings; coconut prawns; chicken soup with yucca, taro root and jamaican dumplings; black bean soup; heart of iceberg lettuce with tropical fruit

main: fish fillet escabeche; jerked pork roast; guava marinated grilled chicken breast; west indian lamb curry; caribbean pasta with shredded beef; dhalpourie roti (vegetable stew)

pork belly soup from day 7

Other

entree: green-lip mussels florentine; baked stuffed white mushrooms; baby prawn cocktail; parma ham and pear chutney; seafood chowder; chilled essence of fennel

main: penne marinara; lemongrass steamed fish fillet; chicken tangine; roast prime rib with au jus; grilled centre-cut pork chop; onion tart with japanese eggplants

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Australia, Carnival, Cruise Food, Legend, Shipboard Life | Tagged Carnival, Carnival Australia menus, cruise, cruise food, cruise ship menus, food, photos, travel | 10 Comments

Memories of a Cruise Ship Doctor Part 7 – Drunk and Disorderly

Posted on March 31, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Regents Ship

Serving as a cruise ship doctor with Regent Lines for four years gave Len Kreisler, MD enough stories for a chapter in his book ROLL THE DICE, PICK A DOC AND HOPE FOR THE Best. This story is an excerpt from that chapter.

Dr. Len Kreisler’s book

The Hotel Manager asked me to come down to his office for a meeting with the ship’s Security Officer.

An unmarried couple, traveling together, had been drinking quite heavily. The man was 10 to 15 years older than his traveling companion. The alcohol unleashed his mean streak. Neighbors complained of noise and suspected violence. The Security Officer took the battered, inebriated woman to a vacant lounge area. The couple had been noisy and disruptive from the beginning of the cruise, and it was getting progressively worse. The Security Officer was now concerned about serious harm to the woman. I suggested they keep the man in his cabin and bring the woman down to medical. I offered to sedate the man if he balked at confinement to his cabin.

The lady was in her late 50’s and very drunk. Her clothes looked like she’d been sleeping in them for several days. Her nylon stockings were full of tears, hair disheveled and she smelled like leftover saloon yuck. I came up with the following plan.

I offered to have the nurse clean her up and get her into an infirmary bed. I’d start an intravenous (she certainly needed fluids) and I’d periodically add enough valium to keep her sleepy for the rest of the voyage. I planned to let her wake up 4-5 hours before docking in New York. I suggested telling her male companion, if he asked, that she was resting in a private cabin…doctor’s orders. Both ship’s officers were concerned about their liability. I promised to cover everything in the medical record; i.e. document that we’d taken the necessary action to protect these two patients from harming each other, as well as ensuring the health and safety of other passengers.

We docked in New York at midnight, 12 hours late due to a boiler issue that also severely limited the availability of hot water. No one was allowed to leave the ship until clearance early the next morning except for a severely ill probable cancer patient who was whisked to a waiting ambulance on the deserted dock in the dead of night. New York City police stood guard on the pier.

I stopped the intravenous and valium on my sleeping beauty patient and sent her back to her beau around 2:00 AM. She looked ten years younger and radiant as she left the ship around 10:00 AM that morning; hand in hand with her sobered sugar daddy. They could have passed as poster people for a senior honeymoon cruise….lovers without a care in the world. He paid the $1200 medical bill in cash.

The nurse and I each got 10% of the $1200. I thanked the nurse for her help and she thanked me for helping her make the most money she’d ever made on a 10-day cruise. We earned it. (This trip started in a storm with about 120 calls for nausea and vomiting and only got worse from there. People tripping and falling at the lifeboat drill, a heart attack death, a fainting man, the dehydrated probable cancer patient, and finally the drunk abuser.)

door to the medical center on a modern ship

On one of my recent cruises, for the last couple days of the trip one cabin had a security guard posted outside the door 24 hours a day. The guards wouldn’t say why they were there, but it could have been a situation similar to the one above. Or someone under house arrest perhaps. Obviously they did not want that person to leave the room and did not trust them to stay in there on their own. The ships do have a brig so if anybody really did something awful they do have a place to put them.

Deception Pass

Posted on March 25, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Wilderness Adventurer at Deception Pass

On an Un-Cruise Adventures Washington Coastal Cruise, the Wilderness Adventurer sailed under the Deception Pass Bridge into a peaceful cove. Currents at Deception Pass can get a bit wild, so the captain had to time the coming and going under the bridge according to the tides and currents. The bridge was built in the 1930’s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Repainting the bridge in later decades cost more than building it did originally.

Heading toward the Deception Pass Bridge

Following a tasty breakfast on board anchored not far from the bridge, passengers grouped for the morning’s activities. Choices included a guided kayaking trip, an all-day hike in the forest, a morning jaunt on a forest trail, or a short nature walk on a paved path. We picked the medium-length hike, labeled as the Hoypus Forest Jaunt.

On a dry beach landing you go straight from boat to beach without getting wet feet

We landed on a beach at Hoypus Point in Deception Pass State Park. Quite the perfect spot for a landing as a couple stairs led from the beach to the trail.

stairs from the beach to the trail

Someone from a drier state commented on how they couldn’t believe how green everything is in Western Washington. That’s what plentiful rainfall will do. It’s not that far in miles from the Olympic rainforest where we hiked in a downpour the other day to Deception pass, but the difference in annual rainfall is distant. There are a lot of microclimates on and near the Olympic Peninsula. Where Hoodsport gets around 70-90 inches of rain, the much drier Deception Pass area on Whidbey Island only gets about 20-26, which is about half the amount of rain Seattle gets each year.

Trail Sign

We hiked a loop around a forest trail. This area still has some massive old growth trees, which is defined as anything older than 200 years. Even old growth trees here don’t grow as big as in some other places because the islands are mainly rock.

old growth trees are not as big here as in some places

Stinging nettles lined both sides of the trail at the start of the hike, which definitely encourages people to stay on the trail to avoid getting stung. Further into the forest ferns and huckleberry bushes dominated the underbrush. It’s nice that ferns often grow near nettles because fern juice can ease the itching of an accidental nettle sting. The trees mainly consisted of douglas fir, spruce, and hemlock. They are all evergreens, but have differences in the bark and needles.

skunk cabbage

Eventually our trail joined up with the paved path to take us back to the beach. Little daisies grew alongside the path and in wetter areas we found skunk cabbage. Not all flowers smell sweet and skunk cabbage is aptly named. It mainly grows in swampy areas, but here was in a drainage ditch. The paved path ran along the water’s edge and in places offered a nice view of the bridge between the trees.

hiking through the woods on the Hoypus Trail

The paved path is actually an access road for park personnel. A truck came down the path and stopped before the narrower trail leading to the beach where we landed. A fisheries guy with rubber boots and a fish net walked along the beach parallel to the trail. When we arrived at the beach we saw him at the water’s edge dipping his net.

view of the bridge from the trail

A few curious people wandered down and found out he was a fish counter from the state fisheries department. Lots of tiny pink salmon fry bunched up near the gravelly beach there. They hatch in a nearby river and make their way into the salt water. Then they hang out near the beach for a few weeks to grow and mature before heading out to sea. They stay in the shallows because the things that want to eat them need a bit deeper water. One of the reasons natural growth areas with trees to shade the shallow water is so important to the survival of native fish runs.

banana slugs are native to the area

Deception Pass State Park is a very popular place, but it also sprawls out over 134 acres, mainly on Whidbey Island. It has a campground, picnic area, and 38 miles of hiking trails. We did not see many other park visitors on the trail we took so it seemed remote. Deception Pass was named by early explorers who initially thought they had found a bay by a peninsula rather than a pass by an island.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Shore Excursions, Un-Cruise Adventures, Washington, Wilderness Adventurer | Tagged Deception Pass, hike, photos, Puget Sound, State Parks, trail, UnCruise Adventures, Washington State | 12 Comments

How To Fold a Washcloth Mouse

Posted on March 19, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

How To Make a Washcloth Mouse

Washcloth Mouse

Supplies Needed to Fold a Washcloth Mouse

Washcloth

Eyes

Decorations (whiskers, tail)

How To Fold a Washcloth Mouse

fold washcloth in half diagonally

Lay washcloth flat. Fold in half diagonally.

fold corners across straight edge

Fold one corner to center of folded edge, followed by opposite corner.

fold straight edge over once

Fold over long edge.

fold washcloth into equal halves.

Fold washcloth in half with previous folds on the outside.

pull tips of the corners out from under the folded edge

Bring tips of each of the corners out from under the folded edge for ears.

hold mouse at center fold to keep it together while shaping ears

Shape the corner tips into ears.

the mouse would work better with a thinner washcloth

Fold top part down flush with sides.

use your fingers to shape the head and eye sockets

Secure with rubber band. Shape ears, face, and eye spaces as desired.

finished washcloth mouse with pipecleaner tail

Add eyes. If desired decorate with nose, whiskers and/or tail.

Towel Squirrel

You can also use this mouse as the head to make a towel squirrel.

If you would like to know how to fold other towel animals, please visit My Cruise Stories Towel Animal Page.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Towel Animals | Tagged cruise ship towel animals, instructions, photos, towel mouse, video, washcloth folding, washcloth mouse | 7 Comments

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Posted on March 17, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

chocolate chip bread pudding topped with toasted croutons and vanilla sauce

One of the most popular recipes on my blog is Carnival Cruise’s Bitter & Blanc Brioche Bread Pudding. While no doubt it is delicious, it is also difficult and time consuming to make. This is my own recipe for Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, which if made with a white bread (especially if you can find brioche) it tastes a lot like the bitter and blanc. This recipe is very easy to make. Brioche is not readily available where I live so I use sourdough and it comes out quite nice. Top with the optional croutons to make it more like the bitter and blanc if desired. If you want to make gluten and dairy free bread pudding, try this recipe.

Black and White bread pudding

This recipe stands up well on its own and doesn’t have to taste anything like the bitter and blanc in order to taste good. By using half white bread and half dark bread I’ve made a variation I call Black and White bread pudding. For that I used sourdough and sweet dark bread, but any good white and dark breads would work. Use good bread when making bread pudding because the pudding is only as good as the bread used to make it.

I use the bigger dark chocolate chips called dark chocolate morsels, but you could also use regular sized dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Serve bread pudding warm topped with warm vanilla sauce.

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding Ingredients

3 eggs

dark chocolate morsels

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

6 slices bread, cubed

3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels

Bread Pudding Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Grease casserole dish or baking pan.

Beat eggs with whisk in mixing bowl. Stir in sugars and milk. Slowly pour in melted butter while whisking constantly. Stir bread cubes in with spoon until thoroughly coated with egg mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels and pour into prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes in 375 degree oven. Serve warm with vanilla sauce. If using optional croutons, top with croutons before adding the vanilla sauce. Makes 6-8 servings.

Vanilla Sauce

Vanilla Sauce Ingredients

2/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

Vanilla Sauce Directions

Whisk milk, sugar, cornstarch and egg together in saucepan. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm over warm bread pudding.

Optional Croutons

top the bread pudding with the croutons before adding vanilla sauce

To make the optional toasted bread croutons, cut bread into desired crouton size pieces. Roll each crouton in sugar and spread them out on a pan. Bake at 250 degrees (F) for 25 minutes or until bread is dry, turning once. Broil until toasted lightly then flip over and broil other side. Top individual servings of bread pudding with a few croutons before adding the vanilla sauce.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in recipes | Tagged baking, bread pudding, comfort food, dessert, photos, recipe | 10 Comments

Beer Guzzling Pigs of St. Croix

Posted on March 13, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Carnival Splendor in St. Croix

When the Carnival Splendor stopped at St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, we took one of the random taxi tours often available near cruise ship piers. This tour had a stop at a bar with a very unique attraction. On a narrow country road winding uphill through the rainforest, our driver pulled over at a small unassuming local bar with a sign that said Mt. Pellier Hut Domino Club. Here, he said, they had pigs that guzzle beer. Only it was too early in the day and they had no pigs available to perform at the time. The guide mentioned the possibility of stopping back by later.

gecko on the sign in front of the bar

He proceeded to take us on a tour around the island. After visiting a number of places we stopped at a rum distillery, which costs $7 to get in and includes a couple of drinks. Nobody in the van seemed particularly interested in the distillery tour so our guide offered to take anyone who did not wish to participate back to the ship while the others went on the tour. John, Tina, Justin, and I were the only ones who did not get right back in the van. When informed that Justin (who is 12) could not take the tour he went back with the folks. The 3 of us stayed not because we cared about the distillery tour, but because we really wanted to see pigs drink beer. We hoped he would take us back to the first stop once he returned from dropping the rest of the people off back at the ship.

Mt Pellier Hut bar sign

The driver left and we paid for the distillery tour which we thought we would take while waiting for our driver to return. After collecting the money they said a tour had just started and it would be awhile before the next one began. They said people sometimes just collect their drinks and opt out of the tour. You could not, however, have drinks while waiting for the tour because you could not go on the tour after having drinks.

waiting area at the rum factory

As more time passed we all decided we were not going to have enough time left to see the pigs if we took the distillery tour. Since we would rather see the pigs than take the tour we got our drinks (mine virgin) and waited for the guide to return. The next tour started just a few minutes before he got back so had we gone we probably would not have gotten to see the beer drinking pigs. As soon as he got back we piled back in the van and took the long way back to the ship via the little bar in the rainforest.

A pig waits for a beer while the bar girl tells Tina what to do

It cost $1 to watch, $2 for a beer for the pigs, and $3 to take a video. We paid our dollars and each bought a beer for the pigs. John paid the extra $3 to video. A bartender, or possibly the owner of the place, led us across the parking lot to an enclosure on the other side with 4 stalls. 3 stalls held one pig each, though one was a small potbellied pig to short to perform. The other two stood up on their hind legs with their front legs on the wall when offered a beer.

pig drinking beer

They take an unopened can right out of a person’s hand and open it with their teeth, chugging it and chomping the can as they go. When done they spit out an empty flattened can. When asked how the meat tastes, the lady said the pigs are pets and they don’t eat them. The pig show is well worth the low price even if the beer is of the non-alcoholic sort.

Even though we took the scenic route back to see the pigs our guide got us back to the ship with plenty of time to spare for browsing through the shopping booths and taking photos of the ship from various places on shore. Frederikstad had a number of little booths set up along the waterfront across the street from permanent stores.

shopping in Frederiksted

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Posted in Caribbean, Carnival, Ports of Call, Shore Excursions, Splendor | Tagged bar, beer, beer guzzling pigs, cruise, island tour, photos, pig, St Croix, travel, video | 10 Comments

Saint Croix Island Tour

Posted on March 11, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Carnival Splendor in St. Croix

Things to do in St Croix

When traveling with a group that ranges from 12 to 90 in age as we did on the Carnival Splendor, planning shore excursions that are appropriate and enjoyable for all can pose a challenge. St. Croix is a lesser-often visited port and does not have as large of a selection of shore excursions as some of the more commonly visited ports. We didn’t see anything suitable for everyone that jumped out and said “We must do this” from the shore excursions offered there. Prior to the cruise I did a bit of research online and discovered that likely we would find something to do if we just got off the boat and walked to the end of the pier. Doing things on your own sometimes also saves money over booking excursions at every port.

crazy caterpillar by an old church in Christiansted

While walking to the end of the pier a couple groups on official shore excursions from the ship passed us by, one headed out to go diving and the other on a walking tour through the town. The people on those tours probably had a great time, but neither would have been a suitable tour for our group as none of us are certified divers and one has limited walking abilities. Other shore excursions offered at Saint Croix include sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, biking, and sight-seeing,

roadside view in St Croix

Sure enough when we finally reached the end of the pier we found locals with signs offering shuttles to a variety of places like beaches or a town on the other side of the island and a little booth with a couple choices for island tours. Just beyond the port gates a number of portable booths held all manner of things for sale, including Larimar jewelry at very good prices. A few more yards walk led to the town of Fredericksted with many more booths where locals hawked their wares along the shore. The other side of the street had permanent shops. It’s nice to visit a place in its native state with local stores rather than the usual sterile cruise ship port with the same stores as every other port.

beach by the cruise ship dock

People flocked to a beach next to the pier, which seems to have a lot of good reviews online. The driver on the tour we chose advised avoiding that beach. He said it was not the cleanest beach around as that one sometimes has issues with sewer drainage emptying there when St Croix’s aging sewer system is under repair or having problems.

St Croix Island Tour

The booth offering island tours had one that went around a large portion of the island including the other town, Christiansted for just $25 per person. Another stayed in the local area and included things like a botanical garden. They said the longer tour was the better deal as besides being longer it had less places that required an additional admittance fee.

Justin points out the large pea-like pods on a tree at the resort where we stopped

We drove through a rainforest on winding narrow 2 lane roads with potholes that go unfilled because much of the money sent to the US Virgin Islands goes to St. Thomas, which is smaller, but more visited by tourists than St. Croix. The driver was pretty good at dodging the potholes, something he’d obviously had a lot of practice doing. He pointed out Cane Beach, which he said had the best snorkeling in all of the Caribbean. I’m assuming he meant shore snorkeling by that. In the rainforest we saw interesting trees like breadfruit and one that they use the fruits for medicinal purposes. He liked to pull over in random spots to point out the things that grew there.

palapa on the beach where Columbus landed

We made a brief stop at Mt. Pellier Hut, home of the beer guzzling pigs. They weren’t open yet so we came back later, but that story is in another blog.

St John’s Episcopal Church, the oldest church in St Croix

Chickens ran free in many of the island’s yards. At one point a mongoose ran across the road and one of the passengers asked what they eat. “Chickens and eggs,” the driver said.

“What about snakes?” someone asked.

“There are no snakes on the island,” the driver replied. “Mongoose were brought here to eat the snakes and now they are the snakes.” (By that he meant they were introduced to solve a snake problem, but now have become a chicken raiding problem themselves since there are no more snakes for them to eat.)

sign on the beach where Columbus landed

After a pit stop at a lovely resort we went on to see the beach where Christopher Columbus landed on his second voyage to the Caribbean. A bird of unknown species wandered slowly through the sand, which was flecked with bits of dead coral that had washed up on the beach.

bird on the beach

Something that looked like some sort of shredded bark lined the water’s edge. I have no idea what it was, possibly some sort of seaweed or something. The beach had a couple palapas and some palm trees. We saw a random dog wandering about the beach with its owner, the first of many random dogs we saw throughout this cruise. They were the only ones there not on our tour, so it looked like a good place to go for anyone looking for a beach away from crowds.

random dog on the beach

Christiansted

Christiansted, St. Croix

We had an hour in Christiansted, a town on the far side of the island. It is larger than Frederickstad and the only other city on the 82 square mile island. People were free to shop or explore or visit the beach. On the way into town we had passed the island’s oldest church, built in the 1700’s. My mother and I hiked back up to the church to take some photos. While there saw some speedy little geckos who really did not want their picture taken and a bigger lizard who not only stayed still, but even puffed out a big yellow ruff under its chin. As a bonus on the way back down to the main part of town we found two more old churches and some huge crazy looking caterpillars.

larimar bracelets from St Croix

Reasonably priced Larimar jewelry could be found in the jewelry shop there. Some of the booths near the ship had considerably cheaper larimar jewelry, but not in as professional of settings. Larimar is mined only in the Dominican Republic. Jewelry stores around the Caribbean have larimar jewelry, but usually at a much higher price. On islands near the Dominican Republic such as the Virgin Islands or Grand Turk locals make very affordable larimar jewelry. Besides the lovely blue color, larimar is claimed to have healing properties.

lizard at the old church in Christiansted

On the way back to the ship we stopped at a rum factory. Nobody on the van really wanted to tour the factory, but as the driver had mentioned stopping back by the bar with the beer guzzling pigs on the return trip a few of us chilled in the waiting area there while the driver took the rest of them back to the ship. We would have done the tour if they had started right away, but by the time they were ready to go the driver was back so we went off to see the pigs instead.

shopping booths at the pier

Posted in Caribbean, Carnival, Port Cities, Ports of Call, Shore Excursions, Splendor | Tagged cruise, dog, island tour, larimar jewelry, photos, St Croix, travel, Virgin Islands | 9 Comments

Carnival Legend

Posted on March 6, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Carnival Legend

The Legend dwarfed all the other ships at Circular Quay in Sydney

Carnival Legend has joined her sister ship, the Spirit, in sailing out of Sydney, Australia. Unlike the Spirit who stays in Australia year-round, the Legend spends just part of the year there. It works out well since the southern hemisphere’s summer season for Australia comes during the northern hemisphere’s winter and cruises from Seattle where the Legend will spend the summer cruising to Alaska are seasonal.

Sydney has excellent public transportation. You can take a train from Sydney’s suburbs or the airport to Circular Quay where the ship docks.

To book an Australian cruise on the Legend (or Spirit), visit Carnival.com.au, and for Carnival cruises out of America go to Carnival.com.

Sydney Opera House from the deck of the Legend

The Legend is a Spirit Class ship, built in Finland and launched December 17, 2001. It was delivered to Carnival on August 14, 2002 and has Panamanian registration. The Legend has 12 decks, and was the first Carnival ship to offer alternative dining and a wedding chapel.

The theme for the decor on the Legend is legends. The stairways had paintings or sculptures in the center and vases in glass cases on the sides.

Ship Facts:

Gross Tonnage – 88,500
Guest Capacity – 2124 (2,680 at max capacity)
Length – 963 feet
Beam 105.6 feet
Draft 25.5 feet
Crew – 930
Speed 22 knots cruising speed, 24 max
Engines – 6 diesel electric
Designer – Joseph Farcus
Décor – legends

It’s a long climb to the top of the green thunder waterslide.

The Legend undertook a major drydock in 2014 with refurbishing for the season in Australia where $47 million dollar Aussification improvements included additions like the green thunder waterslide, an enhanced gym, and some of Carnival’s 2.0 upgrades such as the Red Frog Pub which serves as a gathering place for things like trivia games as well as a place to buy drinks. It does not have the pub grub food menu found on ships like the Breeze though.

when sliding down you get to the bottom of the green thunder slide almost before you realize you left the top

The green thunder waterslide is quite different from any other cruise ship waterslide I’ve seen. At the top you step into a little enclosed capsule. You stand there and then all of a sudden the bottom drops out from under your feet and you whoosh down the slide so fast you are at the end practically before you even knew the ride began. The ship also has a yellow waterslide and a children’s splash park with small waterslides.

The children’s splash park has little waterslides.

The spa on the legend does not have a hydrotherapy mineral pool or heated ceramic chairs, but the locker rooms in the spa/gym area have a sauna and steam room available for free and use of the hot tub in the gym area is free as well. The spa offers a range of treatments from haircuts and facials to a wide variety of body treatments and massages. Spa appointments cost extra, but use of the gym is free. The gym has a variety of fitness equipment including treadmills, exercise bikes, and elliptical cross trainers.

First person in the Red Frog Pub each cruise gets a free drink.

Legend Australia Dining Room Dress Code

Regular nights – No cut-off jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, gym or basketball shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops or bathing suit attire.

Elegant Nights – In addition to the above, no jeans, shorts, t-shirts or sportswear.

Carnival Australia’s dining times start a bit earlier than on Carnival ships in America with your time dining running from 5:30 to 9:00 and standard dining times with early seating at 5:30 and late at 7:45.

Carnival Australia has a Mexican Fiesta theme night where guests are encouraged to come to the dining room dressed in Mexican or Caribbean style clothing. The menu that night is Mexican food with dessert choices that include a chocolate chipotle pudding which is definitely worth ordering. It resembles a fancier version of Carnival’s signature dessert, the chocolate melting cake.

Aussification of the Legend

The pie station – an excellent addition to the Lido.

Food differences include some unique menu items in the dining room and a Pies and Snags station on the Lido which serves meat pies, sausages, and the best French fries onboard. The Lido also had trays with packets of Vegemite available with the breakfast condiments. If you ‘re not Australian and you haven’t tried Vegemite consider yourself lucky. It’s probably something you have to grow up with to like it.

Looking in on Nouveau from above through the funnel

The Legend’s upscale pay-extra restaurant resides in the funnel, accessed by a glass stairway from the Lido Buffet. In Australia it was called Nouveau. For the Australian sailings they also added a pay-extra seafood restaurant called Freshie’s to one of the outside grills at the end of the Lido Buffet by the pool.

Another food difference involved milk on the Lido, which on most ships is found in cartons at breakfast. The Legend had no milk in cartons, but instead had milk dispensers available all day on the Lido, probably because Aussies tend to like milk in their tea and coffee.

The Legend’s Club Merlin Casino is decorated in medieval style. In Australia the Casino is smoke free.

Some things are done differently at Carnival Australia. It’s too bad some of the changes like no smoking anywhere inside the ship including the casino and free water dispensers on every bar aren’t done on all the ships. Both are due to Australian law though.

Like all of Carnival’s ships, the Legend has launderetts on some passenger decks. No coins needed, just the sail & sign card.

When booking on Carnival Australia, the tips are incorporated into the cruise price because Australians are not accustomed to American style tipping. They don’t tend to tip at all so some areas of service are a bit lax since the crew is not working for tips. We had excellent service in the dining room, but our waiter knew we were Americans. He gave us super speedy service on days we had somewhere to go right after dinner and asked for it. And yes, we did leave him a good tip the last day. The stateroom service was acceptable, but not quite up to the standards of Carnival America where the stewards know that outstanding service brings better tips. In fact our steward seemed quite surprised to receive a tip at all since that is not the Aussie custom.

The Atrium, found at the center of the ship.

On Carnival America the room service is always free. Most Americans will give the delivery person a few bucks tip. In Australia the room service costs money because those employees live mainly off tips on ships sailing out of America and Aussies aren’t used to tipping.

One of two swimming pools on the Legend’s Lido deck

Carnival Australia does not sell alcohol packages because Aussie law prevents promoting alcohol. They don’t have a sail-away party because people didn’t participate when they tried it. Leaving Sydney provides such spectacular views that people are most likely too busy taking great photos of Sydney’s landmark bridge and opera house or even of the city skyline to attend a party as the ship pulls out of the harbour.

There’s lots to do on cruise ships. The Legend’s activities include mini-golf.

While in Australia the ship uses local comedians in the Punchliner comedy theater. One said he lived in New Zealand, but most came from Australia. Our whole group including my 3 and 5 year old grandchildren really enjoyed the early evening family friendly comedy shows. Later in the evening they have adults only performances.

there's always something to do on a cruise ship

giant chess set on the Lido deck

Cruising out of Australia, the differences aren’t just in the ship or the food. Some tend more to follow the attitudes of the people. One of the entertainment staff said the games are sometimes hard to get going because everyone wants to watch someone else so nobody wants to go first. Once a game gets going people seemed to join in though.

ship on a stick

Winning any games revealed one big difference – you had to win two medals to trade for a ship on a stick rather than winning a ship on a stick outright, which the guy running the games said was because it was hard to get the ship on a stick trophies there so they had to use them sparingly. In general though the crew like the Aussie attitude because they are more laid back and don’t complain or expect compensation for every little thing that goes wrong – and of course since they are not expecting tips anyway the crew is more relaxed (and a bit more lax as well.)

The Legend has a lot of intricate tile patterns in the decor.

We were quite surprised to find different rules involving things passengers can bring onboard. Power strips are a common item many cruise passengers normally bring since a lot of the ships have just one outlet in the room. On the Legend out of Australia they confiscated ours and left a note saying it was a prohibited item that we could have back at the end of the cruise. A crew member said they consider it a fire hazard, but had no idea if that is due to the different power voltage since she was unaware people use them all the time on cruise ships in the USA. They also confiscate things like walkie talkies because of interference with the ones the crew use. Passengers accustomed to bringing a couple bottles of wine on board will find that gets confiscated as well since it is not allowed on Carnival Australia.

Escape from the kids on the adults-only Serenity deck

We had a great time on the Legend. Cruising is starting to become quite popular in Australia and they are lucky to have the Legend and Spirit providing some more affordable options.

Posted in Australia, Carnival, Legend | Tagged Australia, Carnival, cruise ship, Dress Code, Legend, waterslides, what's on board | 17 Comments

Cabins on the Wilderness Adventurer

Posted on February 27, 2015 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Wilderness Adventurer

Passenger cabins on the Wilderness Adventurer serve their purpose well – mainly a place to sleep, wash up, and store your things. They aren’t big, but they also aren’t intended to be where passengers spend their cruise. The expedition vessel mainly travels at night and during the day anchors or docks somewhere while the passengers hike, kayak, or explore. During the times passengers spend on board in the daytime activities like meals, cocktail hour, or presentations of one sort or another occupy some time and there’s plenty of places to sit in the public areas of the ship if it does happen to travel during the day. It also has a hot tub on the top deck.

Navigator Cabin

Wilderness Discoverer has three cabin options, all of which have windows with views to the outside. The Navigator cabins on the main deck cost the least and have about 77 square feet of space. Trailblazer and Pathfinder cabins on the observation deck have about 90 square feet each. The main difference between the two is inside entry on the Trailblazer cabins and outside entry on the Pathfinder.

even the hallway has storage – especially nice for wet coats and boots

The rooms have a lot of storage space. The beds have quite a bit of open space underneath for luggage. Each room has a large set of wooden shelves for storage and a cabinet next to the bed. Rooms with inside entry also have handy coat hooks and space for boots in the hallway just outside the cabin door.

Trailblazer cabin

All rooms come equipped with binoculars and aluminum water bottles for the passenger’s use during their adventures throughout the cruise. They also have water glasses and a hair dryer.

Pathfinder room with outside entry. This one has a window seat.

The outside entry rooms just got remodeled this year with all-new wood and carpeting.

sink in the cabin next to the mirrored bathroom door

Bathrooms are very utilitarian, sometimes called the shoilet. Sinks sit outside the bathroom door. Inside has just space for the toilet with the area in front of it doubling as the shower. The sink has a soap dispenser on the countertop and the shower has shampoo and bath gel in a dispenser hanging on the wall.

plenty of room for passenger’s things on these shelves

Each room has a flatscreen TV hanging over the bed. One channel displays the menus and activities of the day, one has GPS mapping so you can see where the ship is, and one plays daily wildlife movies. There’s also a bowcam channel to show what is under the sea, but the bowcam wasn’t working on our trip. One of the crew said it had met an iceberg and gotten knocked out of place to where it just shows the inside of its housing, but was slated for repair after our cruise.

Fishermen’s Terminal through the cabin window

To view cabins on other ships, click the links below:

Arcadia Breeze Breeze unusual rooms Divina Ecstasy Infinity Legend Liberty Pearl Ruby Princess Splendor Veendam Westerdam

For a complete list of blogs about cabins see My Cruise Stories Ships and Cabins page.

Posted in Shipboard Life, Un-Cruise Adventures, Wilderness Adventurer | Tagged Accomodations, adventure cruise, cruise ship cabins, photos, travel, Un-Cruise Adventures, Wilderness Adventurer | 10 Comments

Gluten Free Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread Pudding Ingredients

Gluten Free Dairy Free Bread Pudding Directions

Gluten Free Dairy Free Vanilla Sauce Ingredients

Gluten Free Dairy Free Vanilla Sauce Directions

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Dinner Menus

Every Day Menu

Daily Menus

Menus from Our Cruise

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4 – Mexican Fiesta Night

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Samples of Menus For Longer Cruises

Caribbean Beach Night Menu

Other

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

How To Make a Washcloth Mouse

Supplies Needed to Fold a Washcloth Mouse

How To Fold a Washcloth Mouse

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Bread Pudding Ingredients

Bread Pudding Directions

Vanilla Sauce

Vanilla Sauce Ingredients

Vanilla Sauce Directions

Optional Croutons

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Things to do in St Croix

St Croix Island Tour

Christiansted

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Carnival Legend

Ship Facts:

Legend Australia Dining Room Dress Code

Aussification of the Legend

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2015

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