15 CRAIGSIDE VERSUS SEABOURN ODYSSEY

Long live King Charles III.  Here are some photos from Time.   Jill Biden and granddaughter Finnegan.

Prince William and Princess of Wales Catherine, with Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.

Prince Harry was there.

King Charles III being crowned.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla from the Buckingham Place balcony.

There were some unhappy people protesting the coronation, led by an anti-monarchy group, for this event is expected to cost taxpayers $125 million.  One of Boris Johnson's protests featured a 350 million pound banknote.  Here is only a one million pound note of King Charles III.

On  Monday I already gave the Seabourn Odyssey pluses and minuses, mostly good.  Yesterday I began the case for 15 Craigside, where we live.  Today I add more and then compare the two.

On the Odyssey I was afraid to use their wellness center for fear of the outbreak.  I checked, and 15 Craigside today has no covid cases.  I use that recumbent elliptical cross trainer to the left and cable strength machine to the right.  I'm too old for the treadmill.

I might add that among the activities at 15 Craigside are a dozen wellness classes each week, and a host of other attractions.

Pacific Taiko performance.

May Day program.

Sign up for the latest covid booster shot.  15C arranges for a medical group to come here to give the shots.

The staff and fine service on the Seabourn Odyssey are about as good as it gets, and the same can be said for 15 Craigside.  The Seabourn food was spectacular, but we soon got tired of the caviar, escargots and foie gras.  The same can be said for 15 Craigside, but the advantage is that many of the dishes are stuff we grew up on, plus I do a lot of enhancements to add variety. 

For example, 15 Craigside provides the pork tofu.  However, I quickly fry it in wagyu fat and add onions.  Plus, o-toro sashimi, here with hot sake and cold Kirin beer.  Seabourn cannot do this.

Kalua Pig and Cabbage, again with Wagyu Fat plus cut onions and more cabbage, with mac salad, soybeans and hamachi sashimi.

I felt like going fundamental Japanese, so had hot rice topped with butter, ikura (salmon eggs) and natto (a good probiotic), with tsukemono, sashimi, miso soup, hot sake and cold Sapporo beer.

Even the spaghetti is enchanced, with sliced garlic in butter, large salad, beer and a Dutton-Goldfield Pinot Noir from Stanford.

Yesterday I mentioned Cinco de Mayo.  Here are those photos, plus the Boy's Day Strawberry Mochi and Takoyaki.

Here is our menu for Mother's Day, next week.

One additional eating option at 15 Craigside is that you also have a pick on Honolulu restaurants.  On the Odyssey you hesitate eating in port cities because the food is free on the ship.  No such restraint at home.  Yesterday we went out for pork tonkatsu.

While I have tried to compare 15 Craigside with the Seabourn Odyssey, that is not the point.  The beauty of having both experiences is that they complement each other.  15 Craigside is a secure and comfortable environment with decent cuisine and a lot of activities.  I do very little, but enjoy the freedom to do so.  A cruise opens up the world to opportunities not available in Nuuanu and Hawaii.  Now on to the rest of my life.

-