Can a vanilla latte be a cruise highlight?

Enjoying a vanilla latte as wife enjoys hot chocolate in the Star's Grand Atrium coffee shop

I enjoy a vanilla latte. It is now my go-to drink.

I order them all the time at our local coffee shop and when I travel and was expecting to do the same on our Baltics cruise earlier this year.

We were on the Norwegian Star sailing out of Copenhagen, Denmark in May.

My first trip to the coffee shop in the Grand Atrium was a small disappointment.

I wanted a latte, a vanilla latte, but upon reaching the counter, I perused the flavors and didn’t see it.

“You don’t have vanilla, do you?”

The reply was in the negative, along with something along the lines of “Do they make that flavor?”

Looking over the assortment, I discovered that “You don’t have coconut either?"

On further inspection of the flavors I said, "Make that a hazelnut latte, then.”

The barista worked his magic and produced a good tasting latte although I wished it had been vanilla.

I had a good bit of on-ship credit to spend during the next nine days and I was disappointed that a lot of it would be spent on hazelnut, which is OK, but just not my favorite.

I expected to visit the coffee bar at least three times a day for the rest of the cruise which is a lot of latte and a lot of disappointment.

But I decided to accept my lot in life and enjoy the hazelnut.

But that wasn’t the case.

Upon my return later that day, to my surprise, I noticed a bottle of vanilla flavoring had appeared.

For someone who likes their latte — vanilla style, that helped make my day and my cruise. For hardcore coffee drinkers of which I am apparently one, that is a big deal!

Thanks so much to the barista who took the effort to go and find the vanilla somewhere and have it available to make my cruise even more special.

Next post: Aug. 25, 2015