Gratitude Cruises | Sober Blog

I have owned several 4 star restaurants, but 150 Central Park is one of the finest I have ever eaten in. Albeit, you have to purchase a 7 night cruise on the most fabulous ship on the sea to get that $35. per person price, (gratuity included) but Oasis of the Seas by Royal Caribbean is worth every penny. 150 Central Park is their signature restaurant and they have done a fine job with it.
The week I was onboard, there were two alternating menus at this venue which is right in the middle of “Central Park” one of their seven themed neighborhoods. Twelve hundred trees and plants coexist in sailing splendor on these winding paths. You could select the day/menu you wanted to enjoy by looking at the entrance marquee.
Here is the menu we choose, created by Chef Kerriann Von Raesfeld who is the first woman to win the honor of ‘Best Young Cook in the World’ at the 2008 WACS Congress. When a course says “Scallop” it is exactly that, one perfect scallop!

CREAM OF SUNCHOKE
Parmesan Froth and Fresh Chive
SEARED SEA SCALLOP
Citrus Potato Puree, Sauteed Spinach, Crispy Bacon, Veal Reduction, Herbed Citrus
TRIO OF BEET SALAD
Pickled, Roasted and Chilled Arugula, Goat Cheese, Candy Walnut Dust
CUBE OF HALIBUT
Red Onkion, Fennel Confit, Butter Pastry, Spiced Mandarin Emulsion
WAGYU STRIP STEAK
Celery Root Cream, Shitake Bacon, Demi Glace, Chive Oil
BANANA SPLIT
Roasted Banana Ice Cream, White Chocolate Banana Crepe, Tipsy Cherries, Pineapple Bubbles
Although we graciously asked the waiter to delete the tipsey cherries from our dessert, it did not seem like there was one element missing from this dinner.

Drinks of all types are not included. For two glasses of wine and two sodas, the tab was an additional $62.00. Maybe it seemed pricey because the last wine I drank was $1.49 a gallon! The decor is equisite and was designed for intimate romantic dining, not for the large groups I like to party with. Make your reservation before you get onboard and you won’t be disappointed.

The alternate menu which I look forward to savoring:
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
Cinnamon Crouton
TOMATO TART TARTAN
Goat Cheese Mousse, Melted Onions, Puff Pastry, Basil Pesto, Chive Oil
GNOCCHI WITH CHANTERELLES
Candied Bacon, Veal Butter adn Marsala Foam
HORSERADISH CRUSTED SALMON
Parsnip Puree, Dilled Cucumber, Sweet Mustard Sauce, Crispy Dill
BRAISED BEEF SHORT RIB
Boursin Potato Puree, Root Vegetables, Parsnip Chip
SCHARFFEN BERGER CHOCOLATE PATE
Butter Cookie, Blonde Liquid Caramel, Fleur De Sel, Port Sorbet

I am always happy to be living life to the fullest, but know it’s because I have been blessed with divine intervention. I don’t drink or eat alcohol and always ask to have it eliminated or substituted from my food. I don’t know how many teaspoons of port sorbet will get me thinking I can have more, but I don’t want to find out. I hope you feel the same!
See you in October!

After nine glorious days of sober celebrations and over thirty five meetings and group events, I want to thank all of you who have kept coming back for 8 years and making the Halloween Cruise such an awesome event. With brothers and sisters from 20 states and 3 countries we totaled 1,073 years of sobriety. Way cool!

We began this year’s festivities with a wedding on the beach the night before sailing for Jason & Lorrie. I performed the ceremony and it was endorsed by heaven with a full rainbow at the end of the ceremony.

(There are advantanges to having your officiant/sober sister/photographer with you on your honeymoon!)

We ended our events 9 short days later as Bill B. got a call with news of who will be starring in “The Lois Wilson Story, When Love is Not Enough.” It was incredible that Bill and his wife Bernedette were able to join us on our cruise with so much left to do for the movie.
Our “Studio 54 Stayin’ Alive” Group Costume was a hoot!

AWESOME SOBER DANCING! CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR OWN SANDY AND STEVIE B. CLICK HERE.

See more videos at www.youtube.com/bluemoonsnow

Our wonderful Keynote Speaker Jack C. not only delivered a very powerful message of experience, strength, and hope, but days later he was the perfect officiant for our impromptu private costume contest. When the crowd chanted the Flip Wilson “Here Come the Judge” as he entered the room, Jack surely rose to the “Laugh In” occassion and could not have been a more wonderful sport.

The fellowship and giggles on excursions was always there as folks rode underwater motorcycles, toured fortresses, went aerial trekking, parasailing, snorkeling, shopping, and spelunking.
Our honeymooners won a free cruise at bingo and were chosen as one of the three couples on stage for the Love and Marriage Game which they won! When given the bottle of champagne, they graciously gave it to the couple married 60 years. Love and service is our mantra!

We saw the movie “Gotta Dance” which Peggy B. was in and several of our cruisers performed in the “Gotta Dance” routine the ship now has on all cruises. The 12 Step Trivia Game was priceless~!
One of our cruisers brought her beau this year who proposed to her with a heart shaped diamond ring! Congratulations Joanne & Don! Celebrations galore as we had meals fit for kings and laughs fit for a happy and joyous vacation. Next year this Halloween trip will be on the Inaugural Halloween sailing of Oasis of the Seas. While no rooms are left for the general public, I have rooms for our group. Call me to book asap to get yours! All events are exclusively for Gratitude Cruise guests. 561-702-2312

avalanche-heart
Heart Shape Avalanche I saw from a plane

http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/179

Vote for me at above link. Here is my blog entry for this contest. Blogger who wins gets a trip to Antarctica.

Alaska, June, 2009
By Snow Piccolo June 26th, 2009 | 4:42 am

The depth and breathe of this trip to Alaska defies description. Words collapse beneath the weight of its beauty and the camera lens is small and impotent. If you have not been to Alaska, you must make plans to go at least once in this lifetime. I never knew that God’s world had so many awesome mountains, bulging purple starfish and a sun that comes up at 3:30 am.
Due to cloud cover, Mt. McKinley can only be seen 30% of the year. Our first morning out, while riding a glass domed train having reindeer sausage in the dining car, the clouds parted and there was McKinley in all its majesty.
Breathtaking excursions laced this trip with gratitude and wonder. I was dropped by a helicopter onto Mendenhall Glacier where I went dog sledding. My dog team placed eight in the Iditarod last year, the world’s longest dog sled race of 1150 miles. I didn’t ride quite that far, but the thrill was undeniable! The dogs were much smaller than I had imagined. I have relied too much on Hollywood for information.
I flew in a small plane in the evening with three other women over unexplored and unnamed mountains, over majestic glaciers sporting round pools of blue water which stared up at us like Mother Nature’s eyes. We landed on Ruth Glacier and yelled out “Denali.” Echoes came back through the prehistoric air four times. On the return to home base we saw a valentine in the snow, a dual avalanche in the shape of a heart. I took 576 pictures on this 12 day trip before returning to Florida, seemingly the other side of the world.
I should be Quark’s Official Blogger because my eyes, ears and artists heart are always to dictation and I love to write!

Our cruise ship Radiance of the Seas slips in between the mountains, glaciers and fish to dock us in a little port built up with rocks. The port is ready with a platform full of new helicopters. There is not even one doctor in this town and medical attention is a two hour flight away. Pregnant women are required to leave town two months prior to giving birth. It’s still a frontier town and charming to pieces.
I went to a farm where I did something I have wanted to do forever, I did glass blowing. I made a beautiful snow, blue magic feather and gilded paperweight which will be shipped to my home. Then we had a home made brunch from all the ingredients in the Jewel Farm garden. 33 staff live in the baracks there and grow their own food.
The air tingles with crisp promise of more northern adventure. Although the guides sait last ngiht that we wouldn’t probably site any whales, our group saw 5 Orcas and a humpback with a baby who did tricks for us. Although you can only see Mt. McKilyey 30% of the year, we saw it clearly the first day. Today we snuck into Icy Straight Point and the sun blazing on the streets is so unusal we know how truly blessed this trip is as it is rarely sunny this long. I stayed onboard and slept the morning away in elegant luxury. The internet and cell phone connections come and go. AT&T seems to be the only carrier that works in these remote areas. My phone is dead for sure!
We have our meeting at 5:00, formal dress tonight and our Private Coketail Party at 7:00. Life is that good!

So my cell phone alarm clock rang at 7:30 this morning and I got up and got dressed in long johns, hat, mittens, etc. and went into the elevator as the sun blazed its morning song through the ship I am on which is 50% glass. I didn’t know that my cell phone reverted to east coast time and I had awakened at 4:30 am until some folks in the same daze got on the elevator!
I went back for a few hours rest to preparare for my excursion. Nothing could have prepared me for taking a helicopter ride in the Juneau, Alaska Icefield. They have been studying the effects of the icefield’s glacier system here since 1946.
We were given glacier boots to put over out boots, instructed on how to board the helicopter, and squeezed in for a ride to heaven. The temperature today was 67 and hot hot for everyone. We climbed up over the majesty of the white blanketed mountains until we got to the the south end of the icefield and landed on Mendenhall Glacier. As we flew over the blue topaz pools of water which signifiy a glacier, it was apparent we were traveling back in time. Nestled in the middle of the glacier were about twenty white huts where 15 people, mostly in their twentites, taking care of about 100 sled dogs. Our guide met us wearing no shirt. It had snowed up there yesterday so it was pristine. Our dog sled was all hooked up and ready for us to go for a ride. The dogs were so responsive and much leaner than I thought they would be. Our team came in 8th in the Iditarod this year. Some dogs have competed as much as 9 times in the race. Gee and Haw are the two commands they respond to. Gee being right and Haw being turn left please! As we took turns riding in different position, we watched as an avalanche went crashing down. The sound echoing through the glacier was as old as time itself. This is North America’s fifth largest icefield which blankets over 1,500 square miles of land and stretches nearly 100 miles north to south and 45 miles east to west. The whiteness was blinding. I took lots of pictures and videos, but could not really tell if the camera was on, as nothing was visible.
Sober Dog sledding on a glacier…WOW…take that one off the bucket list!

I am sitting onboard Radiance of the Seas sailing thought the Alaska morning. Wish I could load some pictures, but alas, nature is so powerful here all machinery is helpless. My new camera is shy, my cell phones won’t send pictures and I can barely tweet! It’s truly living in the moment! I just found this computer onboard with some time to spare before 10:00 am meeting.
Our tour guide for the previous four days on land was one incredible German woman who has lived in raw Alaska for a long time. She is about 36 years old, lives in a cabin with no electricity, and has to chop her fire wood and haul water to her cabin which has no lock on the door. She volunteers to help the mushers for the Iditarod every year, has biked not only the Iditarod trail, but 4,000 Alaska miles. She is from another time and place. As a farewell gift I bought her a book titled “Gold Rush Women.” We all signed it and I think she will enjoy reading it on the long winter nights. She was good friends with Susan Butcher, the only women to win the Iditarod three times in a row. The Iditarod is up there in world class races with the Tour de France. It’s an 1,159 miile dog sled race.
We are blessed with so 65 beautiful alcoholics on this trip! Two women have only two months of sobriety each and they will get an earful from our gang! Many volunteered to be sponsors at sea and all are willing to carry the message any time of day or night wherever we are.
Today we cruise Hubbard Glacier and have a fancy black tie dinner tonight. Ain’t life grand?

THIS IS WHAT SOBER FUN LOOKS LIKE…STARK RAVING SOBER…CLICK HERE FOR YOU TUBE CLIP

(This was The Quest Adult Scavenger Hunt in the Ice Skating Rink! One man in each group had to wear lipstick and a bra and do a crazy dance to score points for the team! Way to go John!)

7 Days on Freedom of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world was totally awesome, miracle filled and generally hysterically funny. 140 of us gathered to eat, drink and be merry and have a blast around the clock. From Karoke, to multiple lobster tails, to standing straight up on dophins noses and riding with them and riding horses in the salty caribbean sea, there was not a dull moment! Our Coketail Party was glamorous with elegant smiling guests and caviar. Our group costume theme this year was "Birds of a Feather" and costume prize winner was Jay M. who was a cowboy riding an ostrich! The ship awarded him with a bottle of champagne, and of course they couldn't know that one is not enough. Jay donated it graciously!

The speakers were unbelieveable and God's presence was apparent at every turn. We were truly blessed to have each other, to have such strong fellowship and ability to laugh again. Speakers talks will be available this week for free on the website. Thank you all for showing up and participating in your own lives! Same time next year! www.gratitudcruises.com

Fortunately, God has lots of beautiful people He has blessed with the gift of articulation. Liz B., the only woman of color on the planet to stay sober 56 years, just got out of the hospital and will not be able to join us on the Halloween Gratitude Cruise. Angie P. from Cincinnati, OH, who spoke at the International Convention in Toronto, will take her place. Also, Lorna K. who spoke at the International in 95 will take the place of Scott R. who went to that big meeting in the sky with Bill W.

Cruisers don't forget…this years group costume is "Birds of a Feather!"

PS. One Oceanview cabin left a group rate for Alaska Cruisetour, May 25-June 5, 2009.

www.sobercelebrations.com

Sober Blog

Sober News, Young Timer Rants, Travel Bytes

Archive for the 'Gratitude Cruises' Category

Foodies who appreciate food as art will love this restaurant

8th Halloween Gratitude Cruise was a blast!

Vote at Quark Expeditionsfor Snow to go to Antarctica

Monday, June 1, Skagway, Alaska

Morning at Sea, Saturday May 30

When you need relief, you don’t have to drink to get it!

7th Annual Halloween Gratitude Cruise

Keynote Speaker Replacement Troops

SOBER CRUISE ON YOU TUBE

CLICK HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kkg6pwpqDA

Categories