- CruisExcellence in Las Vegas, a Craigslist adventure and an amazing birthday dinner at Guy Savoy
- Cruise ship inspections in Vegas, Wicked Spoon, Absinthe, and New Yonaka
***
Saturday was a full day of CruisExcellence, with two classes in the morning (no sleeping in for me), and two virtual ship inspections in the afternoon. I ate one of the boxes of madeleines from last night's dinner for breakfast, but I could not resist the display of pastries in the Paris hotel's bakery.
|
|
Unfortunately, the cupcake I selected looked moister than it tasted. I'll need to sharpen my eagle eyes to spot the good ones. In between classes was a refreshment break but no treats.
Kaleb met me for lunch again at the creperie, then in the afternoon, I got to participate in the first-ever virtual cruise ship inspections offered by CLIA. I was surprised at how large the conference room setup was; there were lots of agents attending the inspections. The first inspection of the day was for the brand new Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas, a Quantum-class ship. The ship was still in construction, so many of the pictures that were shown were artist's conceptual drawings. We watched a fun video hosted by Kristin Chenoweth, the future godmother of the ship, and the "ship inspection" was done via Powerpoint presentation. What I learned about Quantum was incredible, a super floating entertainment complex! Many of the new offerings are to be complimentary, including:
- Indoor skydiving
- The North Star - a 360 degree "crow's nest"
- Bumper cars
- Roller skating rink
- Music hall with self-leveling billiards tables
- Circus school including flying trapeze (Royal Caribbean hasn't decided yet if it will be complimentary)
- Public space called "Two70" with video walls that change from day to night
There is also the "Family Connected" junior suite which eliminates the headache of locating multiple connecting rooms next or near each other for families or groups of close friends traveling together, though I'm sure you'll have to pay a bit more for this convenience since it's essentially three staterooms that are combined. Sleeping 8 to 10 passengers, the Family Connected junior suite also has two sofabeds as well as three separate bathrooms.
(All images of Quantum of the SeasSM are computer generated and reflect proposed design. Designs, features and itineraries are subject to change.)
Click here for a detailed look into the new Quantum of the Seas. You'll be amazed. I don't think anyone sailing on this ship can complain about it being boring with nothing to do. Quantum will set sail starting mid-November 2014, departing from Cape Liberty, New Jersey with a choice of Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean or Southern Caribbean itineraries.
Partway through the "inspection", Royal Caribbean representatives gave us all free T-shirts. There was a break after the presentation and we got to indulge in a snack buffet of soft pretzels and brownies.
The second virtual ship inspection was with Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival Sunshine had been fully refurbished (used to be the Carnival Destiny) and entered service in May 2013. I'm sure it was hard for the Carnival representatives to follow the Quantum showing, but Sunshine had its selling points as well, including racing waterslides, ropes course suspended above the ship, and a lot more dining options.
(Want to be the first among your friends to experience Quantum of the Seas? Planning a getaway aboard Carnival Sunshine? For these cruises or any others, please don't hesitate to contact me. My travel agency may have discounted group sailings and specials available.)
At the end of the conference, there was a door prize drawing with winners selected from business cards that agents deposited in a bowl at the start of the day. Of all of the prizes offered, I only wanted the CLIA business card holder (two were available), and lo and behold, my business card was pulled out! My seatmate ended up winning the second card holder, pretty weird considering there were a ton of business cards in the bowl, and we came into the conference room at different times.
Once the drawing was over, I walked over to the Cosmopolitan to have dinner at Wicked Spoon buffet. Kaleb was already there, just in case the buffet line was long at 4:30pm on a Saturday. There wasn't any wait; we were immediately seated. I had eaten at Wicked Spoon before so not a lot of pictures, but it was still the same quality and I think better organized than last time.
 |
| a sampling of the buffet |
After dinner was the show...Absinthe, performed in a circular tent just in front of Caesars Palace. I found an advance purchase ticket deal on showtickets.com but you should search on your own in case there are better discounts now. If you don't care about seat location as long as you are sitting together with your group, you may be able to get cheaper tickets the day of at any Tix4Tonight booth sprinkled along the Las Vegas Strip, as our Saturday night show wasn't sold out.
The inside of the theater was pretty elaborate for being a tent, though the seating was mainly wooden folding chairs placed right next to each other. If you need a seat that is wider than 18 inches, there are areas set up along the walls of the tent with benches and cast-iron chairs which would be more roomy, though you probably have to buy those seats directly as the Tix4Tonight seats are randomly assigned. You could also specifically purchase an aisle seat and extended into the open space.
 |
| tight quarters |
Absinthe was a combination of daring circus acts and crude comedy; I don't recommend going if you're not comfortable listening to loud, dirty language and sexual innuendos. I thought the show was entertaining, but I wouldn't see it again too soon.
 |
| start of the show, then I had to put the camera away |
The next day, we checked out of Planet Hollywood and grabbed breakfast at Oyster Bay inside the Miracle Mile shops. Originally we wanted to go to Ocean One right next door but there was a long wait. Breakfast was fine, though the service was a little slow. Afterwards, we headed over to Aria to gamble a bit and also have a crepe and gelato at the Jean-Philippe Patisserie there.
Our flight was at 9pm so we were able to have a sit-down meal before leaving Sin City. Dinner tonight was off-strip at Yonaka Modern Japanese Restaurant, recently opened and somehow made its way quickly into the top 10 "highest rated" Las Vegas restaurants on Yelp. Of course I had to try it! I made reservations through OpenTable.
The location was a couple of miles west of the Strip, on Flamingo Road, in a little strip mall. The inside of the restaurant had a contemporary flair.
There was a "happy hour" food menu offered from 5-7pm in addition to the regular menu. The happy hour selections were pretty much same as the regular menu but with discounted prices. With the help of our server's recommendations, we ordered a few happy hour plates and combined it with the "omakase special" from the regular menu, as I like to be surprised.
The meal started out with an amuse-bouche consisting of a strawberry slice dressed with fish sauce. It seemed weird at first, but the flavors mingled well to wake up the taste buds. This was followed by a huge plate of crispy Brussels sprouts, a favorite dish amongst Yonaka fans. Count me in...the mixture of savory seasonings and the natural bitterness of the sprouts worked well, and the deep-frying added a delightful crispness. I wanted to learn how to make this from the first bite I took.
|
|
Then we were served "Sake Orenji": salmon sashimi topped with yuzu tobiko and a citrusy soy sauce. The salmon was so fresh and went perfectly with the sauce. The plating was also divine.
 |
| yummy! |
Next up was a dish called "Niku Berry", which consisted of beef and mushrooms, dressed with strawberries and a chimichurri sauce. The meat went really well with the sauce. The following dish, "Crudo", was a mixture of sea bass sashimi, tomatoes, jalapenos and microgreens. Again, the fish was so fresh, and the hint of spice from the jalapenos was welcoming.
|
|
The fresh fish parade didn't stop there. We got another dish with raw hamachi and salmon, called "Konpa". It was nice to have the dishes served alternately "light" and "heavy". The next dish was "heavy"...honey ribs. So tender and fatty!
|
|
It turned out that a couple of the happy hour specials we ordered were already part of the omakase menu, so the chef decided to treat us to one of the blackboard specials as a replacement. Thus, I have no idea what the name of the dish was, but it contained seared tuna and was tasty. This was followed by a intermezzo of fruit and microgreens.
|
|
Then the piece(s) de resistance: hamachi kama (the collar of the fish) and fresh uni, served right in the shell itself! The hamachi kama was so juicy and tender; I cleaned off all those bones. Having fresh uni spoils you from ordering the regular uni nigiri since it doesn't taste the same. I was almost tempted to order some live sea urchin from Catalina Offshore when I got home.
|
|
This delightful meal was finished with a dessert called Chokoreto. The green sauce had avocado in it! The chocolate and ice cream hit the spot.
Overall, the dinner experience felt like a Japanese-themed Chopped episode, with all the dishes coming from the winning chef. I really enjoyed the array of flavors and imaginative ingredient combinations. Plus, everything tasted so FRESH! Another plus was that the bill was 1/10th what I spent at Guy Savoy. ;) I totally recommend coming here.
When we got home, I discovered that I was missing my house and car keys. It turned out I forgot them in the hotel room safe. The safe was perched on a high shelf in the closet, so I couldn't see into it and apparently was too short to feel all the way into the back. Fortunately we drove Kaleb's car to the airport and he had a house key on him. The next morning, I called Planet Hollywood's housekeeping department to find out if they found my keys. The lady asked for the room number and the name that it was reserved under, so fortunately we learned "Tony's" last name when we checked in! She then told me that someone already checked into the room and would need permission to search the safe, and would call me if they didn't find anything. I gave her my address and credit card to pay for the return shipping. I didn't hear from Planet Hollywood that day so I hoped that all was well. (then regretted not doing 1-day shipping for a few dollars more!) Three days later, I got my keys back; crisis averted, thank goodness!
And that ends our work-and-play trip to Vegas...next trip is a local one-day jaunt but with great company and of course, great food. Stay tuned!
