Portland, Maine

​As mentioned yesterday, we took the shuttle into Boston and enjoyed a delightful walk. It was a short walk over to the Quincy Market where we walked inside. They have lots of restaurants and if one can’t find something to eat, they must not like most foods. There seemed to be something for everyone.
 
We then walked other area and decided we should visit the Paul Revere House which we eventually found and prior to getting there we walked a portion of the Freedom Trail. In 2016 we walked most or all of it.  We went to a few other areas including a small park dedicated to the Holocaust.
 
Then when we were a couple of minutes from the Shuttle Bus location Anne Marie met Boston. She caught her foot on the lip of some type of utility or other cover that should have been flat to the sidewalk and was not. Unfortunately, she went face first onto the sidewalk but was fortunate to have her hands flat to break the fall. Thank goodness nothing broken but bruises on hands and eyebrow where glasses hit and scratched knee. Thankfully, she carries a first aid back, so we had lots of alcohol wipe, Neosporin and Band-Aids.  We know it could have been far worse, so someone was watching out for us. Anne Maris is a real trooper. She has several bruises, a few cuts and bumps. 
 
Photos are included from our walk.
 
Ironically, when we attended a cocktail party before dinner the wife and husband who hosted the event told us that in Provincetown she fell down and the shock the husband had when he look up and realized his wife had fallen.  
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Photos are included from our walk.

Waterside Dinner Menu from last evening.

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​Last evening we returned to Waterside for a lovely dinner. Once again, we were taken care of by an extraordinary team of Head Waiter Jacques, Senior Waiter Enver, Waiter Edson and Sommelier Rodolpho under the direction of Restaurant Manager Paolo.
 
A little about each person. We’ve known Jacques for several years when he was in Waterside than Prego and we have been in his section of Waterside since 2020. Senior Waiter Enver was our Waiter on the 2023 Inaugural and on other sailings in 2023 assisting Senior Waiter Mancin and promoted to Senior Waiter and he was our Senior Waiter when we had lunch in Waterside on the 2024 Holiday Cruise on afternoon. Waiter Edson we have had throughout the cruise. We had Sommelier Rodolpho in prior years and on the second of these six cruises.
 
We do dine early, and the quiet time provides a great opportunity to speak with this team and also enjoy some good laughter.  
Senior Waiter welcomes us to Waterside, brings over the menus, knows each item inside and out and can offer wonderful recommendations, and knows us so well that between he and Edson they could likely order our selections before we do. We just get excited about what we will eat after Enver describes each course and he is very passionate and positive and deals with everything so well. And that added words “My Crystal Pleasure” resonates with us and says it all.
 
Often it is Waiter Edson who reminds us of the name of the special butter which I must write down or I will forget it seconds later.  By now I can get one right as almost every night I guess it is the seaweed special butter. 
 
Sommelier Rodolpho educates us about wine and there is always something new to learn from him and on nights when Head Sommelier Jiri stops by we learn from him as well. Sometimes it’s things we don’t think about.
 
Head Waiter Jacques comes by and we enjoy this time and his sense of humor and his professionalism and his development of the waitstaff team.
 
Restaurant Manage Paolo often comes over and works very hard to get people seated and like Jacques if the waitstaff is very busy they will clear tables and get them ready for the next set of guests and even help bring over the next course.  We have known Paolo for 22+ years.
 
We can’t say enough about the professionalism, attention to detail, kindness and that human touch of the waitstaff team. By the way it starts from the moment you enter Waterside or any of the other dining venues and in Waterside one or two waiters will escort us to our table, take a photo of us and sometimes pose for a photo, pull out chair out and placed the napkin on our lap. This just adds a level of class to the overall dining experience. 
 
How was dinner? It was fab thanks to the waitstaff team, and those incredible chefs, assistants and other personnel in the galley, the fantastic recipes, and let us not forget about the wine. 

The remedy for many things is Chicken Soup. Anne Marie came close to that with Chicken Broth and a Matzah Ball for her appetizer. We each had the Dover Sole and Head Waiter Jacque and Waiter Enver came to our table each with a plate in hand and each deboned the Dover Sole tableside.
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In case you wanted to know, the special butter was Peppery Lavendar & Herbs.
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​Last night’s entertainment included James Fox performing My Influences followed by the White Party.
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Today's Daily Reflections Program.

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Once again, we returned to Portland, Maine today. This was a substitute port for Bar Harbor which was on the original itinerary. Bar Harbor now limits the number of total guests who can be in port at once between all ships and other ships that stop here more often had priority over us. Personally, since we are able to dock in Portland and Bar Harbor requires tender we think this is a great alternative. 

Portland, Maine has the largest population of any city in the state of Maine. While the city population totals 70,000 people another 575,000 people live in the metropolitan area. 
 
The port of Portland is the second largest tonnage seaport in New England.
 
The area where we are docked is considered the old port area and features lots of quaint shops and restaurants. 
 
Major attractions include:
 
Maine Jewish Museum within the restored Chaim Synagogue.
 
Old Port with cobblestone street and 18th street buildings.
 
Kennebunkport which years ago was known for shipbuilding and a fishing village.
 
Portland Freedom Trail Site which is two miles and passes through the city’s oldest and most historical sites.

Originally, Keith was going to go out by myself but Anne Marie was up to it. We held hands most of the time. Otherwise, Keith held Anne Marie’s arm. Like the Captain of a ship if Anne Marie was going down, Keith would go down with her.
 
With map in hand, we found the places we wanted to visit. This included the Maine Jewish Museum and Jewish Synagogue, The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, The Eastern Cemetery dating back to the 1700’s and we stumbled (not literally thank goodness) on a small Italian area and visited their grocery shop with several items that Anne Marie remembers from her younger years when her Italian Nana did the cooking.
 
Weather was typical of a Fall day in Maine and was lovely.
 

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Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith