Cruising From Baltimore at Christmastime

[TheCalicoCat]

Another great post.

I am eagerly anticipating the rest of your posts & feel quite confident that you will be finished by the time I am on the Grandeur in 18 days. (I had feared that you might take 5 times as long as your trip to write your report.;))

[emeraldcity]

Another great post.

I am eagerly anticipating the rest of your posts & feel quite confident that you will be finished by the time I am on the Grandeur in 18 days. (I had feared that you might take 5 times as long as your trip to write your report.;))

 

No promises ... it looks like I need about two days to write each day up ... and that's assuming I don't have to do other things ... like work, clean house, get groceries ... LOL.

 

I'm almost done with the next day, so I should have that posted later this evening.

[emeraldcity]

We had moved the clocks forward the night before, so the illusion of sleeping in was gifted to the entire passenger base. Moving the clocks forward means losing an hour of sleep. The crew specifically mentioned this, to which DD retorted, “Lose an hour of sleep? We’re on vacation. I’ll sleep as long as I like.”

 

I stepped out on the balcony Monday morning to discover we were sailing in deep blue waters. There were patches of blue sky above us and before us. Behind us, a bubbly cloud cover reigned. The Grandeur had achieved her quest to bring us to the optimal vacation zone – a privileged modern cruise ship in a warm climate on relatively calm seas. By 7:30, the sun was playing peek-a-boo with some stubborn cloud cover on the horizon. When had I last seen the sun? Thursday perhaps.

 

After a light breakfast in the Windjammer, I ventured out onto the windy pool deck where I had the odd experience of walking against a strong tail wind, even though the ship was plowing forward into a strong headwind. Apparently the wind was swirling around the pool deck and one side of the ship was at odds with the rest of the world. I climbed up to the sun deck and the wind was even stronger, and clearly coming from the front. With all the resolve of that huge club of folks that makes New Year’s Resolutions about All Things Fitness, I decided to walk my first mile that morning. As long as I stayed close to the rail, I would be out of the way of the really fit cruisers who were running the track. My resolve crumpled after the first circuit. I just wasn’t up for the battle involved in overcoming the strong winds.

 

I headed below to be sure to get a seat for the upcoming Destination Lecture in the South Pacific Lounge. The lecture was well-attended again – by the silver-haired cruisers. The topic today dealt with the historical background of the 2 islands we’d visit on Friday and Saturday. Overall, I walked away feeling that all four islands had endured a rather similar turbulent history, initially servicing the interests of the European community by supplying agricultural or mineral resources. And today, the agriculture takes a back seat to tourism, as the islands compete with each other to attract the tourists that create a huge portion of the local economy (with Haiti begin the exception … it remains the poorest country in the Americas). With that sort of economic base, it puts a sobering perspective on the potential for economic ruin when the world economy sours or the hurricanes interrupt the flow of tourist dollars.

 

After the lecture I went up to the pool deck to find DD. She had claimed a spot in the sun and was working on getting rid of her Ohio winter pallor. The mom thing is something you just can’t turn off, so I honed in on the most likely faux pas that she was making and I scored a bull-eye. No, she hadn’t put on sunscreen, because she didn’t know where it was. Seriously? Everyone knows that the cabins possess a finite number of drawers and shelves. A complete check of every one of them would take a whopping 3 minutes (even accounting for the vast amount of stuff we had brought on board). So I went down one deck, found it in the second drawer I opened and returned to put some on her back and leave her to finish the job. About this time, they started showing Fred Claus on the big screen, which was just another of those moments when you had to remind yourself that Christmas was really coming up shortly. Despite the decorations on board, it just didn’t feel like it. It just felt like a Caribbean cruise … and it doesn’t get any better than that.

 

Oddly, I didn’t feel like joining the pool crowd today. I was more interested in immersing myself in some ship activity. Since eliminating puffy eyes or sculpting my body didn’t have an irresistible lure, I decided to take in the Cake Decorating Demonstration in the Centrum at 10:30. If this conjures up images of getting some valuable instruction on what to do with all those Wilton supplies you bought at the food show last year, think again. They should have billed this as the Cake Decorating Game Show. I arrived to find that a long table was set up and there were three cake turntables on three stations. Chef Chris arrived on time and got a great deal of pleasure out of the tardy arrival of the CD Jeff. Chef Chris was clearly running this show. He took the center decorating station and called for a volunteer. The objective was to get someone who would bungle the job, which may be why they called for a male volunteer. It strikes me though, that one of these days, they’re going to pull a guy out of the audience who finishes drywall or concrete for a living. I’ve watched those guys at work and I suspect they would do a credible job of producing a seam-free cake. The chosen volunteer happily took his place to the chef’s left and promptly opened the bottle of cherry liquor, splashed a generous portion into the provided glass and made sure it was suitable for use. Jeff’s turntable was lopsided to assure that his efforts would fail. He compensated for the loss of points on the presentation by going for the gold on the content – guess which liquor bottle had the lowest level by the time the demo ended. The object of the show was for the Chef to produce a picture perfect cake, by demonstrating the necessary steps. These steps were to be copied by the other two men with the intent of turning out something that was presentation quality. Neither of them succeeded – but then, they weren’t supposed to. In the end, there were three cakes for sampling … and the kitchen sent several additional cakes that even included some non-alcoholic ones. Upon invitation, at the end of the demo the passengers surged forward to sample the goods. I slipped around the crowd and headed up one level for one final photo. It was a quick position transfer to the vantage point one deck above, but not quick enough for a photograph of the sodden alcoholic confection – the hoard had made short work of it.

 

 

Checking the schedule of activities, I found that I had just missed something in the Fitness Center that would have advised me how to increase my metabolism, but I could still make it to Beginning Spanish Class. Having cruised a Spanish Immersion Cruise the year before on the Grandeur, it still bothered me that I hadn’t managed to come away from that trip with some useful language skills, so I decided this would be my chance to correct that deficiency (and besides, it sounded better than the Spa’s next item which promised to solve bad hair days). I arrived in the Schooner Bar and found an open seat by Dan from the CruiseCritic group. He seemed to have a better grasp of Spanish than I possessed as Roberto stepped us through several key phrases. Roberto would pronounce the phrase and we were to repeat it. I was wallowing in self-confidence as I easily handled the parrot phase of the class. Unfortunately, the next phase was when Roberto advised that we were to use those phrases and carry on a conversation with someone near us. Dan tried to be helpful, bless his heart, but in short order, I was reduced to Por favor and Buenos something-or-other. This may be one of life’s challenges I don’t have enough years to address.

 

DD meanwhile was working off all that rich food with some poolside line dance classes. I preferred to stay inside and make a more gradual adjustment from winter to summer.

My packed agenda for the day was consulted and yielded the result that making a rose from a ribbon was next up. I confess to a bit of gender bias here. I would have thought that an arts and craft class would be led by a female from the CD’s staff, but Darryl, the Activities Director was “The Man” for this one. He bounced around the Centrum pretending to care if we got our folds right early enough in the process to assure the appropriate end result. Without a supporting cast of assistant ribbon-folding instructors, Darryl was spread pretty thin. Mind you, there was a generous pile of precut pink ribbons awaiting the early arrivals to this premier event, but they severely miscalculated the interest this class would create. Both genders were well represented as more chairs were pulled over to join the tight ring around the Centrum Dance Floor. DD showed up partway through the process to critique my efforts and belittle the results. It is, of course my mission in life to provide merriment to my offspring and my struggles to avoid having the thing completely unravel when I was going into the final twisting phase rated a ten on the merriment-o-meter.

 

Frankly I thought DD had been planning on the pool games, but she told me that she’d discovered it was just a cornhole contest. Of course, RCI calls it baggo. I can understand that cornhole sounds terribly rural, but I don’t see that renaming it baggo makes it more upscale. In any event, DD wasn’t into it, so she moved on to the next plan for the day. That meant she was waiting for the Centrum Rose Production Company to finish up and move on so the ballroom group could take over the space for cha-cha. I left her to her dance group and went in search of something to eat before the next CruiseCritic event.

 

By 2:30 I was meeting the group in the casino for the Slot Pull. We all threw in $15 and clustered around the designated Wheel of Fortune machine to give it our best shot. Our group included several serious gamblers who knew the casino ins and outs, as well as a bunch of commoners who needed a leader to marshal us into a team capable of letting a machine suck away most of our grub stake. It was a lot of boisterous fun as we cheered on each gambler. I offer my apologies to the other casino patrons who tried to tolerate the one-hour invasion of CC-group gambling at its finest. In the end, we each got $14 back, so it cost us $1 for one hour of fun. And many of us also got a prize to take away as well.

 

I think some of the group stayed to continue to socialize, but I skipped out to make it back to the Centrum for the second Thriller class. By this time, I was really favoring my knee, which had begun to swell a bit. I was hoping I could minimize the movements that were putting stress on the joint, but by the conclusion of the class, I had to face reality. Last year’s surgery had given me pain-free mobility, but it hadn’t made the knee 100%. I was going to have to be part of the audience for this one. A bit of a disappointment, but I can get a lot of pleasure out of watching one of my kids have fun, so I accepted the situation and focused on enjoying my cruise.

 

We went and spiffed up for dinner; then consulted the Compass to see what might be available to fill a 30-minute gap of time. Hmm, Trivia in the Schooner Bar. We decided that it might be interesting, but we harbored no illusions about our chances of being contenders. When we cruised out of Colon Panama, our USA team dominated the contests because of simple geography. The questions had been developed in Miami by a team of Americans, so the Latin Americans didn’t have the advantage of having studied US history in detail. We arrived in the Schooner Bar to find that seating was at a premium. The host of the event didn’t bother to give newcomers a chance to form teams, so we were one of several small groups that would have probably benefitted by a chance to work together. And when it came time to score, the host didn’t even allow us enough time to catch someone’s attention to trade our score sheet, so we ended up scoring our own. That didn’t stop us from having fun challenging ourselves and seeing how many of our answers were correct. But it did drop the concept of future trivia contests on this cruise to new depths. If we had nothing better to do, we might stop by, but it wasn’t going to figure into our priorities. However, those who are into Trivia in a big way will be encouraged to know that the Trivia craze is sweeping the seas and rivaling the spa seminars in the Cruise Compass. It was not uncommon to find as many as 5 trivia contests scheduled in any given day.

 

We joined the exodus of early seating diners, bound for the MDR. All nine of us made it to dinner that night. This was the night when the young adult son of one of the couples at our table decided to test the dining staff’s resolve to give you as much as you wanted of whatever you wanted. And he wanted shrimp cocktail. He started with 2 and then asked for a third. He was terribly pleased with himself at that point and I don’t believe he was expecting it when Dwi slipped another one in front of him. If anyone is holding a record, I’d be interested in knowing, since I expect my son to try the same thing when he takes his first cruise in April. But it wasn’t till number 5 that the guy decided he reached his limit. It was a delightful dinner with this new found group of friends. DD and I consider the shared table seating to be one of the best parts of each cruise and this great group of people was a wonderful complement to our overall experience.

 

Our serving team was shaping up to be one of the best we’ve ever had. We have often gotten a serving team where one of the two seems a bit new on the job, but Terry Ann and Dwi were both at the top of their game. Dwi slipped me my ice tea shortly after I arrived at the table and moments later would appear on my other side to offer the bread basket , deftly sorting out a couple of savory bites right away. He continued to worry about his inability to have found green tea for DD, and didn’t seem mollified when she tried to convince him that the mint tea was really awesome in its place. Terry Ann had already begun to get a feel for the sort of things we liked and I found that I could already ask her what would work best for me. She never steered me wrong.

 

After dinner, there was another game show in the Centrum. We managed to find seats fairly close to the middle near the dance floor for the 60-Seconds or Less Game Show. DD was determined to be a contestant and each time there was a call for volunteers, she was bouncing in her seat waving her arms and trying to be noticed. The game host was Roberto and he was apparently suffering from a vision impairment on the left side because he kept picking people from the right. Due to the graceful gesture of a couple we were seated with, DD switched places so that she could get farther to the right. Her wild gesticulating finally attracted Roberto’s attention and she was chosen for the third contest. It’s a shame that there wasn’t enough battery life left in my camera for a video, so I had to settle for still shots of her 60-seconds of fame. She wowed the crowd with her amazing ability to transfer cotton balls across the room on the tip of her nose, beating out her male counterpart. For her efforts, she received a gold medal, a Royal Caribbean highlighter, and the adulation of hundreds of cruisers.

 

We joined a group of CruiseCritic friends to attend the All Access Show in the Palladium theater. I’ll start off by saying that production shows do not generally include our little two-some in their fan base. But the theater was fully packed so can that many people possibly be wrong? With an open mind we scrambled to the seats we were directed to close to the front. The dancing was high energy, and the synchronized movements were right on track. So here’s where we get to the part with the “but” lead-in. But, despite the best efforts of the performers, we found that it just wasn’t our type of show. The dancing was highly stylized with lots of jerking and extreme movements. I confess, I would have preferred something reminiscent of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers … classy, smooth and mesmerizing. If that makes me sound old, I guess you’ve got me pegged. In any event, what could have the saved the show for us would have been a different choice of music. Although it was billed as featuring music that spanned several great Rock-n-Roll eras, they chose less mainstream songs from those eras, so we couldn’t get into the music either. We slipped out after 20 minutes.

 

This left us with a chunk of unscheduled time, which is historically our downfall in the late evening. If we head back to the cabin to sit down and discuss our day, lethargy sets in and we miss a great evening party. Since tonight was the Sock Hop, which we missed on the last two cruises due to sheer exhaustion, we weren’t about to miss it this time. So we went up to the Solarium for a snack. I really wasn’t going to have anything to eat. But seriously, there’s always room for nachos! We settled down at one of the tables to enjoy this warm glass house that adorns the tops of our floating palace. Gradually, we became aware of a splashing sound from the pool that grew in intensity. The pool was only partially filled and the waves were violently smashing alternately against either end, sending sprays of water as high as the columns that towered over the pool. The inhabitants of the hot tub found that their peaceful pool had morphed into a hostile landscape where some invisible gremlin was dousing them periodically with considerable quantites of cold sea water. They gave up and emerged to towel off and retreat. I scooted down to the cabin to grab my camera and returned to try and capture the effect. Since I’m just a point-and-shoot amateur, I always feel a bit intimidated to post my photos, but this one at least gives a sense of the water show we got that night.

 

 

We managed to make it to the Sock Hop, which was in full swing as we arrived. I took the billing literally, and happily left my shoes in the cabin. I think DD and I were the only ones in socks, so if you’re one of those people who likes to be sure you fit in with the crowd, wear shoes. I’m a little bit of a rebel, so it didn’t bother me. Jimena was on stage leading choreographed dance moves and we all did our best to follow suit. It was a great party with awesome music. Age was irrelevant, as the dance floor held kids as young as 4 and as old as 60-(cough-cough)-something-or-other. At one point, they even encouraged the kids to come up on the stage and show-off … they were in their glory. All too soon, the clock struck 11 and they folded up shop – announcing that the party was moving to the Viking Crown. Take away the music and the CD staff and it’s like letting air out of the balloon. In short order, the Centrum emptied out (to the likely relief of those who have cabins in that general vicinity). We decided that we’d had our fun and headed back to our cabin to call it a night.

[TheCalicoCat]

Another great day!

[maureencruiser]

Did Darryl wear his tree costume?!

 

Darryl has a tree costume?? Oh, I hope you got a picture of it! The thing with Darryl is he doesn't wear costumes so much as the costumes wear him, he is always the star attraction! :D

 

Loving the review, keep it coming! :D

[FirstAlto]

Wow -I am in total awe of all the activities you and your DD are participating in :eek::eek:

I bring my highlighter and mark all kinda things on the Compass while at breakfast, but when the time comes around I am too lazy to get up from my comfy lounge chair in the shade ;);)

I am really enjoying your review and your writing style !

Jane

[GiannaD]

We were on the August 13 Grandeur cruise and agree that Daryl is the best.

 

We are really enjoying this thread and will look forward to the next posts.

 

Thanks for letting us "sail" with you, emeraldcity.

[cruiseclues]

We were on the August 13 Grandeur cruise and agree that Daryl is the best.

 

We are really enjoying this thread and will look forward to the next posts.

 

Thanks for letting us "sail" with you, emeraldcity.

 

We agree about Daryl.

 

Thanks for your review. :):):):)

[justforkicks]

More.....please:confused:

[emeraldcity]

Sorry about the delay ... shoveling snow and going through the whirlwind efforts to get DD down state for her internship has taken a bit of doing, but I got the next installment ready this evening.

[emeraldcity]

It was another beautiful morning – one of those idyllic days that you dream about when you’re shoveling snow or scraping ice off the windshield. The Grandeur continued to plow through the waves at a steady rate, and the turbulence of the first day at sea was no longer an issue.

 

After spending some time on the balcony that morning, I decided to get some breakfast. It was early enough that there wouldn’t be a line in the WJ for omelets so I headed up there. I tamed a cup of coffee with another ridiculously generous serving of creamer and then got in line behind the captain for an omelet. Chef Chris came over to add a little spark to the encounter with a tale of the previous cruise. Late in the cruise they had created a cake that was fashioned to look like the ship in honor of the ship’s birthday … and the chef wanted the captain to cut the cake. As the captain considered where that cut should be made, Chef Chris joked that he should make the first cut on the bridge. This little gambit was not well-received.

 

When the captain’s omelet were done, he took the plates and headed over to the table where his wife was waiting, and I collected mine and went to an empty table near the bow to enjoy the unparalleled view of our on-going progress toward the first of the islands we would visit. This would be the first time I’d done three consecutive sea days, which was a bit of a test to determine if I could do a transatlantic. All systems were “go”, I reasoned as I sat there contemplating just how stress-free the last few days had been. If we passed St. Kitts up tomorrow and headed even farther south, I would have been perfectly fine with it. Yes, I do think that a transatlantic needs to be a part of my future.

 

As I considered my schedule for the morning, the 9:00 lecture took on an aspect of drudgery. Yes … I was interested in the topic of Pirates of the Caribbean, but I had to admit that stretching out in a padded lounge chair in the Solarium had a far greater appeal. Blowing off the lecture became a bit easier when I reasoned that if I really wanted to know about those pirates, I could certainly research them on the internet when I got home. I gathered my embroidery and towel and headed for the Solarium, arriving shortly after someone decided to vacate a nicely located chair that boasted a little table next to it. I claimed my prize and settled in for a relaxing morning. The recorded birdsong that is usually a staple in the Solarium was being drowned out by the water in the pool. The wave action had calmed down from the previous night but it was still sloshing back and forth noticeably and the whooshing water drowned out most other noise in that enclosed space.

It has been my experience that RCI seems to close the pools when there is this much wave action. So I watched the folks who were bobbing about on the water and they didn’t seem to be the worse for the wear. Certainly, nobody was being slammed up against the side. The only challenge seemed to be that you had to time entry and re-entry. Get out when the water is streaming toward the ladder, and get in when it’s headed in the other direction.

 

I struck up a conversation with the fellow in the chair on the other side of our little table and found that he lived about 15 minutes away from me in another suburb of Cleveland. With unabashed glee we shared the stories we’d gotten about the 6-inches of snow our neighbors back home were shoveling. But I never quit watching the pool and trying to decide if I belonged in it. DD finally showed up with her breakfast in hand to check in and I turned my chair and my social contact over to her and headed for the pool.

 

I timed my entry so that I was going out with the tide and then began to enjoy bobbing about as the waters washed me back and forth. There were several of us similarly engaged and we shared our delight at the experience with each other. From time to time we bumped into each other and we each laughed and excused ourselves. Only a cruise ship is this sort of thing possible, without any thought of potential litigation. Whether in the hallways or in the pool, the ship’s movement can leave you zigging instead of zagging and daily personal minor collisions are a result. And when it happens, we laugh and apologize and go on our way.

 

Given the break-neck pace we’ve been operating at since we came on board, the reader is probably stunned to discover that I ended up spending virtually the entire morning in the Solarium, leaving only when I decided that it was getting close to lunch time. First stop was the cabin to wash up and then head to the MDR for another salad. It was a delightful surprise to end up being seated with one the couples from my dinner seating and we made the acquaintances of the young couple who was also at our table and enjoyed a wonderful meal. I was really only planning on the salad until I spotted gnocchi on the menu. This was one of the delightful discoveries I’d made on last year’s cruise and I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to enjoy it again. Gnocchi is actually memorable enough that I researched it on Google. I found recipes that make it clear you need a 4-year culinary degree to attempt it. So I just book a cruise instead and hope it shows up on the menu.

 

While I was busy appreciating the efforts of the culinary department, DD was working off her breakfast at Thriller practice. I arrived in time to watch the last part of the class and then we headed up to the pool deck together for line dance class. Line dancing used to consist of a handful of dances like the Electric Slide and the Chicken Dance. But cruisers have fueled a whole new need for more choreographed group dancing. Admittedly, most of it is the women who can’t convince their significant other into dancing with her. So if the cruise staff leads group dances, there’s no need for partners. This delightful turn of events even provides us single cruisers with the opportunity to give it a go. I learned a number of new line dances during the course of the 10-day cruise and look forward to getting other opportunities to dance them.

 

By the time dance class ended, we’d lost the opportunity to get a prime viewing spot for the premier pool deck event of the entire cruise … the Men’s Belly Flop Competition. So we settled for a partially obstructed view. (Don’t book the deck chairs on the sun deck down-wind of the hot tub and its canopy.) Jeffrey was a superb host for this one. Issuing plenty of commentary, he razzed the contestants and egged on the crowd. My personal favorite was the guy in the Santa swim trunks and Santa hat ... of course, he did more of a nose-dive than a belly flop, but I have to give him extra points for wardrobe.

 

 

Then there was the blinding white contestant who probably came from the North Pole and has never exposed so much skin to the sun. “Did you put on sunscreen? Dude, you’re like – transparent!” And what belly-flop competition is complete without the Kamikaze children who keep leaving the side of the pool during the introductions, daring fate. “Hello, is there a mother in the house?” As usual, a good time was had by all, and you could always spot the contestant’s family by the 5-fingered scores the group would try to award, no matter how poorly the flopper executed the maneuver.

 

In keeping with the low-key theme for the day, I spent some time of the balcony that afternoon watching the wave action and enjoying my little private verandah. I’d brought my embroidery out with me, but for the most part, I just gazed out at the sea.

 

Why is it that when you’re sitting on your balcony, the ocean’s surface looks deceptively close? I know it’s the eye playing tricks on you, but I felt that it looked like it was only about 20 feet below me. Given that my cabin was on Deck 8, this was particularly upsetting, since this leads to the inevitable belief that the MDR is now underwater. So I periodically had to keep stepping up to the rail and looking down to assure myself that it wouldn’t be necessary to change my dinner plans.

 

DD decided that she needed to catch some rays, which wasn’t going to happen on our portside balcony so she went up to the pool deck. This was the signal for the sun to gather a few puffy white clouds around itself to thwart her plans. This was a recurrent theme for the entire cruise. The only skin pigment she managed to damage happened on our beach days. She did try the hot tub too, but it wasn’t hot enough to her liking so she retreated to the cabin and washed up for dinner.

 

As it so happened, we were both ready for dinner before 5, so that left us with a little hole in the schedule. After a full day of downtime, we really needed to kick things up a notch. The only thing on the schedule was the “Where in the World Trivia Contest”. (OK … there was a Stretch and Relax class in the Fitness Center, but kicking things up a notch does not include anything with the word “relax” in the title.) So off we went to the Schooner Bar to watch the trivia professionals decimate us lesser mortals. We managed to team up with another couple at the bar and we felt we achieved an acceptable score, but once again, somebody else was awarded those highly prized luggage tags that declare undying love for Baggage Handlers.

 

We arrived at dinner and settled into our favorite seats. Dwi slid my ice tea in front of me and proudly announced to DD that he had found green tea for her. DD tried to say it was OK, since she was really enjoying the mint tea she’d tried that first night. I tried to kick her under the table. Really? The guy spent four days searching the ship for green tea, and the head waiter had even come over to apologize that they didn’t have it earlier. My dear, you need to graciously accept the tea. This is where I cave under pressure. Rather than disappoint the wait staff that wants to please me, I’d take the green tea and express my humble gratitude. Mind you, we hadn’t stopped at any port yet, so it’s unclear how many places he had to look to find it.

 

We had plans to check out the movie that night on the big screen. They were playing Man of Steel and it started at 7:00. Of course, we didn’t get out of the dining room until well after that, since we were having such a pleasant evening chatting with our tablemates. By the time we made it up to the pool deck, Clark was dealing with the usual angst of every teenage kid that realizes he’s a misfit in the world. We gave the movie about ten minutes and then decided it wasn’t worth braving the windy conditions. Of course, if it had been Thor or Ironman we’d have later disputed the fact that there was any wind at all … but Clark just didn’t have that much appeal.

 

Dance Tunes with DJ Terry was a great way to fill in the gap until the Final Answer Game Show. So we headed down to the Centrum to claim some seats. This is, of course, one of the things we don’t do very much … arrive early for good seats. Some people have this down as an art. I think they walk past a venue, see an open seat and plop down, reasoning that sooner-or-later, they will have a great seat. Actually, I sat down next to one of these people. He asked me what was going to be happening soon. I was at a loss for words. You’re sitting here waiting for a show and you don’t know what it is? That is a whole mindset I just can’t wrap my head around. Once I told him what it was, he frowned and made plans to move on. Just how much time did he spend hanging onto a seat for a show he decided he wasn’t going to like, so he left? That, Sir, is why your cabin steward leaves a daily planner in your cabin every night.

 

OK, so now, we’ve joined the group of seat warmers who are seated around the Centrum Floor. There are two classes of people, as defined by the seats they have settled into. The lucky people manage to wallow in comfortable upholstered chairs that nicely wrap around you, take up a lot of floor space and insure your comfort. Then there are the unfortunate that try to figure out how to put 2 people into those silly seats that boast enough seating for one-and-a-half butts … and curiously have a back that only extends halfway along the back. I suspect that’s to make it crystal clear to the person who has only one cheek perched on the chair that they should go elsewhere.

 

Promptly at 9:30, Darryl was already in place to begin the Game Show. His sidekick for the event was Jimena (of Thriller fame). As much as I enjoy Darryl as a game show host, I have to be honest about this production – Jimena stole the show. Whenever a contestant hesitated on the answers, she would eagerly pantomime the answer she wanted them to give. Sometimes she was deliberately misleading them, so they quickly learned she was an unreliable source. But she never gave up trying to confuse them, which made for great entertainment.

 

And the evening ended like so many others would on the ship – wandering up to Park Café for nachos and cheese and some flavored water. We sat and nibbled on our snack and savored the moments we’d spent on this 3-day escape from reality, while making plans for our first shore visit in the morning.

Edited January 8, 2014 by emeraldcity

[TheCalicoCat]

welcome back & thanks for day 3, you had me worried for a day or two.;)

[bythehex]

Since we were on the same cruise, I have a question for you.

 

There was an elegant couple who danced every night in the Centrum to the music of the Evergreen trio (who I enjoyed listening to very much). They looked like they belonged in one of those ballroom dancing competitions. I saw the man one morning in the Windjammer and he told me they weren't professional dancers, but they'd taken lessons and converted a bedroom in their house into a dance studio where they practice every day.

 

However, because they rarely smiled when they were dancing, and looked "too professional", my husband thinks they work for Royal Caribbean and just pose as passengers to make people want to get up and dance. I don't agree with him, but he got me thinking.

 

Did you notice them? What do you think? I think they looked great, frankly, and regardless they were entertaining to watch. What's your take on them? :confused:

[TheCalicoCat]

Since we were on the same cruise, I have a question for you.

 

There was an elegant couple who danced every night in the Centrum to the music of the Evergreen trio (who I enjoyed listening to very much). They looked like they belonged in one of those ballroom dancing competitions. I saw the man one morning in the Windjammer and he told me they weren't professional dancers, but they'd taken lessons and converted a bedroom in their house into a dance studio where they practice every day.

 

However, because they rarely smiled when they were dancing, and looked "too professional", my husband thinks they work for Royal Caribbean and just pose as passengers to make people want to get up and dance. I don't agree with him, but he got me thinking.

 

Did you notice them? What do you think? I think they looked great, frankly, and regardless they were entertaining to watch. What's your take on them? :confused:

 

I wasn't on that cruise, but I seriously doubt that any cruise line hires dancers to get people to dance. They know that people mostly want to watch/listen.

 

Now if you husband is right, I wish that they would put that salary money/room space towards more service attendants. (Room stewards take care of more rooms now that they did in the past & the wait staff appears to be on the thin side too.)

 

Just my thought/opinion.

[TravelerThom]

... I seriously doubt that any cruise line hires dancers to get people to dance...

a number of cruise lines used to have "Gentlemen Hosts". Not paid, but the cruise line gave them a free room (but the management company that coordinated had a modest charge paid by the Gentlemen Hosts); essentially the same deal as offered to "Enrichment Speakers" on ships (but a few of the better known speakers are paid). Many lines have dropped Gentlemen Hosts, but still present on some sailings of Silverseas, Cunard, etc. Luxury lines often have significant numbers of wealthy widows.

 

Thom

[EmpressofPurple]

LOVE LOVE LOVE this review... great photos... AMAZING decorations!! Well worth the extra bags and extra effort, thanks for sharing... can't wait to hear about the rest of the cruise.

[TheCalicoCat]

a number of cruise lines used to have "Gentlemen Hosts". Not paid, but the cruise line gave them a free room (but the management company that coordinated had a modest charge paid by the Gentlemen Hosts); essentially the same deal as offered to "Enrichment Speakers" on ships (but a few of the better known speakers are paid). Many lines have dropped Gentlemen Hosts, but still present on some sailings of Silverseas, Cunard, etc. Luxury lines often have significant numbers of wealthy widows.

 

Thom

 

Good point - I am "never" speaking for the luxury lines. :) Also I tend to lump Carnival, NCL, RCCL, & HAL together. I find them to be more similar than not. Just my humble opinion.

[TravelerThom]

Good point - I am "never" speaking for the luxury lines. :) Also I tend to lump Carnival, NCL, RCCL, & HAL together. I find them to be more similar than not. Just my humble opinion.

Within the last 10 years, but not within the last 5 years, I saw Gentleman Hosts on Celebrity and NCL (I just don't know about the other lines). They had official name tags when they were on duty.

[bythehex]

I figured they were just passengers who like to dance. If they worked for the cruise line, I'm sure they would have had name tags, or been giving dance lessons or something.

 

I don't know where my DH got the idea that they were employees trying to get people to dance. He said he thought they were "too good". Go figure! :rolleyes:

[emeraldcity]

Since we were on the same cruise, I have a question for you.

 

There was an elegant couple who danced every night in the Centrum to the music of the Evergreen trio (who I enjoyed listening to very much). They looked like they belonged in one of those ballroom dancing competitions. I saw the man one morning in the Windjammer and he told me they weren't professional dancers, but they'd taken lessons and converted a bedroom in their house into a dance studio where they practice every day.

 

However, because they rarely smiled when they were dancing, and looked "too professional", my husband thinks they work for Royal Caribbean and just pose as passengers to make people want to get up and dance. I don't agree with him, but he got me thinking.

 

Did you notice them? What do you think? I think they looked great, frankly, and regardless they were entertaining to watch. What's your take on them? :confused:

 

There were actually two couples who were ballroom dance couples. One of them was at least getting cruise fare paid I suspect, since they taught the ballroom classes. The other couple had paid for the trip to enjoy the chance to dance.

 

Ballroom dancers have a tough time finding a great venue to dance in, but cruises offer the perfect place, so it's not uncommon to hear chatter in ballroom studios about cruising. (Yes, I have taken ballroom dance lessons, but it's been quite some time since I did.) My DD this past semester joined the ballroom dance group at her university and she competed at the collegiate competition held in Columbus this past November during the Ohio Star Ball. So she attended some of the ballroom classes and studied their style when we happened to see them dancing.

 

I suspect the couple you noticed was the couple we chatted with a few times. I'm sorry I don't remember their names, but he graciously invited my DD to dance in the Centrum one evening and she was thrilled to accept. He told her she did very well and encouraged her to continue taking lessons.

 

One of my dance partners years ago decided to follow up on the chance to get a free cruise in exchange for being a dance host, but he decided it wasn't a great experience. He was accustomed to having dance partners that had learned a certain style and he found himself expected to give an enjoyable dance experience to women who didn't have much of a sense of timing (and didn't have the benefit of any lessons) ... and furthermore, all he got was an inside cabin. LOL! You get what you pay for, don't you.

[emeraldcity]

LOVE LOVE LOVE this review... great photos... AMAZING decorations!! Well worth the extra bags and extra effort, thanks for sharing... can't wait to hear about the rest of the cruise.

 

You are way too kind. I actually hesitate to post photos because I've seen some awesome photos taken by other cruisers ... and my point-and-shoot photography just doesn't compare. But sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ... and the nose-diving Santa was just too funny to keep to myself.

[riviera]

We were also on this cruise with you Emeraldcity and are enjoying your thoughts and style of writing. Ahhhhh...memories. Thank you....Looking forward to more....

[TheCalicoCat]

Thanks for more information on the dancers/hosts, etc.

 

When I was last on the Pride, there was a couple who fell into the "Loved to Dance" category. They were dancing every chance the got. Even at the "Welcome back" party.

[emeraldcity]

This would be the first day we had to be up by a set time to assure we would be off the ship in time for our excursion. DD had handled alarm-setting duties the night before and she did a pretty good job of it. Although, it might have been more effective if she had checked the volume. A half hour after the alarm silently activated, we woke up and realized we’d overslept. This still left us with an hour to get ready for the day. Normally an hour is hardly time for any female to achieve presentability, but one tends to skip a lot of primping details when the plans for the day include harnesses, hardhats and treetops. We grabbed a quick breakfast and then convened in the cabin to discuss those vital details involving “stuff” and who schleps what. One of the last items with Avon’s bug guard, which I only used for my legs, since I don’t want anything considering that I might accept the concept it could climb onto me. This would prove to be a good move.

 

We headed down to Deck 2 to join the other eager beavers who didn’t get the memo. It seems that a downpour commenced about the time that the customs folks rolled out the welcome mat, so the captain decided to delay disembarkation. The tour vendors huddled under shelter at the other end of the pier and pushed back our start times, since everyone wanted to be sure that the passengers of the Grandeur loved the island enough to spend money on T-shirts later in the day to serve as walking billboards about where we’d gone on vacation while our neighbors got to fight rush-hour in slush-covered streets. (I’m sure there’s an English teacher out there cringing at the length of some of these sentences.) We clogged the stairwells and jammed the hallways on Deck 2 for about a half hour and then the rush was on.

 

There was a light rain still falling and I wondered briefly about whether I should have grabbed the ponchos too. But I wasn’t about to head back for them. Not only was the course already set, but the chance of getting my stylish DD to consider rain protection was virtually non-existent. She considers rain ponchos to simply be plastic garbage bags in disguise. I even have little success in getting her to consider using an umbrella. We made it to the covered pavilion squatting at the head of the pier and identified which of the many excursion signs we should be working toward. There wasn’t much or a sense of order. People were just clumping around excursion staff trying to figure out what they were supposed to do to get on with the plans for the day. The organizers were not terribly clear about where you were supposed to stand while people were being collected before moving them to ground transportation. Naturally, I had failed to fill out the on-line waiver, so I was handed a clipboard and pen. They weren’t even going to get us on a nice dry bus until we assured them that in the event of flat tire, stubbed toe or cable rug rash we wouldn’t be speed-dialing our favorite attorney. I noticed that the railway excursion people weren’t being similarly accosted, so it was case of discrimination. But I let it pass, filled out my form and handed it over as docile as you please.

 

They gathered up the first contingent of zippers presently and pointed out the Pied Piper that we were to follow around the building to the bus. The rain still hadn’t given up as we made the pilgrimage to the bus. We climbed aboard and the driver set off for Wingfield Estates. The driver gave us a bit of background information about the areas we were passing and paused at one point to give us a full description of the county’s flag and its symbolism. It was great historical stuff, but I can’t recall a single fact (and it would be cheating to Google it). I did find the buildings interesting. As with so many homes in the Caribbean, concrete block is the building material of choice, for its superior ability to defy hurricane strength winds. But what was particularly intriguing were the homes with the unfinished second floor. We were to later hear that this was an awesome tax dodge. You didn’t have to pay property taxes until you finished the roof. So they added several extensions to the top of a single-floor house to give it the illusion of a second story under construction … and lived happily ever after. I really doubt the community I live in would deliberate very long before closing a loop-hole that enormous; but here in the Caribbean, it’s been going on for years.

 

The driver paused with pride to point out the 300-bed hospital with 4 operating rooms and I felt a bit guilty thinking that one of the prime reasons I buy travel insurance is to make sure I can be airlifted back to the states if medical need should arise.

 

We really didn’t have a very long ride before the ruins of an old sugar mill came into view and we found that we had arrived at our destination. Miraculously, the rain had finally stopped and the weather fairies gifted us with one of the world’s most perfect days. We piled out and turned to look at the painted enticement across the top of the equipment building “Come Fly Wit Us”. That charming humor was our first introduction to the zip guides who started off with a round of joking as soon as they approached. There was a warning that your last chance to visit the necessary room had arrived and those of us who felt it would be best to avoid being in a position to have to take a wild one trooped down the hill a bit to take turns in a facility that had different stalls for genders, but a common sink area. Then it was back up to the equipment shed to get ready for our zipline. Hanging on the wall was the schedule for the day, and it looked like the Grandeur passengers had booked their entire morning. According to the counts, there would be 62 of us. My DD had been pushing for this sort of experience for a number of years, but I had always steered us in a different path, because we always cruised before at a time when it was beastly hot in the Caribbean. As such, I tried to be sure that our experiences in extreme heat tended to involve water – lots of water … splashing in it, immersing in it, zipping across it. Until this trip, my fear was that ziplining meant that I’d find my hot-flash prone self in a steamy jungle, climbing up rope ladders to get to a tiny platform, and encountering spiders along the way that had taken a liking to the rope ladder. (I think I’ve seen too many Indiana Jones movies.)

 

My research on the ziplining operation in St. Kitts had unearthed a video of all 5 zips. So I was pretty confident I knew what to expect – participants are seated in a comfy little seat, suspended from a trolley and the whole apparatus glides down the cable with the rider hanging below and hollering “Whee!” Given that I was a veteran of the Cleveland Metroparks refrigerated toboggan chutes (where, until recently, the riders had to haul the toboggans up the hill), you’d think I would have asked the basic question, “How does all that equipment get to the top of the cable?” Well, that part had been missing from the 5-zip video … the rider hauls the equipment up. First you are fitted with a harness, which you step into and then pull up to strap around your body. That comfy little seat dangles from the back of your harness and every subsequent step you make involves a reminder that there is a little load hanging just below your posterior. I now know what a toddler feels like when they’ve filled their pants and haven’t managed to get mom’s attention yet to address the issue. Then of course, there is a hard hat, which most of us tried to wear at a jaunty little angle, and our handlers pulled them forward to sit flat on top of the head. The final piece was the metal trolley assembly that rode on the top of the cable. This was bigger and a bit heavier than expected, and certainly added to the overall feeling of clumsiness as we set off up the ramp for our first trial run down the training cable.

 

We had been assigned two handlers for our group of 20 – Spec (for Spectacular) and Sugar Lips (who advised that the ladies get to call him that … the guys can just call him Mel). Since we’d been associating with people the entire cruise who seemed to readily go by their screen names, I easily adjusted to the concept that what was on the birth certificate was probably irrelevant anyway. We were trained in the importance of proper stopping position, and I was to find that the amount of force involved in stopping the forward motion would exact a toll if you didn’t follow the instructions. Then DD was positioned at the starting gate and I got to pull the handle (flush the toilet) to send her down the cable. I was next and the quick zip was over before I was ready for it to end. Having passed training, we graduated to the truck that would haul us up to the top where we would then return to this point via a series of 4 zips that zig-zagged their way down the slope. This truck had big balloon tires and resembled a troop transport vehicle from the Indiana Jones movies. It really only lacked the cover over the back. We climbed up a little ladder to get into the back and sank down into heavily padded seats. I’m not sure if the padding was to assure creature comfort or prevent litigation, since the road we used to get to the top was heavily rutted. If jostling, bouncing and bumping don’t make your list of fun things to do, then you might want to take the St. Kitts Train Excursion. We laughed and joked with our fellow zippers throughout the drive, feeling that the truck ride made a nice complement to a morning of adventure.

 

At the top, we collected our trolleys from the truck and prepared for the first big zip. This one (entitled The Boss) would be the longest, but not the fastest. I believe they said it would get up to 25 mph, so they were breaking us in gradually. As we waited our turn, we took the opportunity to exchange little personal bits with our fellow zippers. I was delighted to learn that I wasn’t the oldest one on this excursion. We were joined by two sisters who had me beat. It’s incredibly encouraging to find people older than me who still participate in active experiences. They both noted that this was on their bucket list, which is not something that drives my decision process. That whole bucket list thing just sounds so confining. It takes the concept of vacation planning backwards, in my mind. “I want to zipline, so I need to find a cruise that goes to a place where I can do that.” Not my style. I decide to take a cruise, I pick out one that sounds interesting, and then I start to research what sorts of things are available at the ports that I might be interested in. But I digress … the big take-away here is that one of those women had me beat by six years so that conjures up all kinds of potential in my mind for six more years of incredible memorable experiences.

 

The first person to zip is always one of the guides and they apparently get bored in tourist position, so they zip upside down … the show-offs! We were all jealous. When someone announced “We want to do that!” Spec shot back, “That’s a different waiver form!” When my turn came, the guide stepped through a careful process to assure the rider doesn’t take off before all the system checks are in place and the safety line is attached. Then someone is nominated to flush the toilet and I was flying. It was amazing, flying out over the treetops … probably saying “Whee!” And it was a long ride, but it seemed too short. I got into the required stop position and the spring did its job to stop me. Spec helped me unhook from the trolley and I stepped aside to wait till it was time for the next zip. DD had managed to get a rather good picture of me, so the pressure was on for me to get a good one of her next time.

 

The second zip was a bit shorter, but would be faster, reaching speeds of 35 mph. I was an experienced zipper now. I was a legend … at least in my own mind. In reality, I ranked right up there with the cocky 16-year-old that has just gotten his driver’s license. On the next zip, I didn’t lock my arms right when I was approaching the end and my left arm came briefly in contact with the cable. This would be the cable burn I mentioned earlier. Not serious at all, but a firm reminder that one needs to take the instructions seriously. And then I bungled the photo of DD. Well, that wasn’t really my fault. I think she got into her stopping position too early which is why the picture she gets to post on Facebook assumes her friends can recognize her backside.

 

As a group of us collected to wait for the next zip, I was asked by a family to take their picture with the ocean in the background. Mind you, we could see the ocean just fine from where we were, but dad wanted the family (and his photographer) to circumvent a gate and pose in the unkempt grass beyond. I obliged, and the picture seemed to satisfy the family. We returned to the other side of the fence and I noticed the girl was busy knocking little insects off her legs. Remember the Avon Bug Guard? There were no little bugs interested in hanging out anywhere in the vicinity of my legs. I may be an over-packer … but I am a successful over-packer. The moral of the story is that if you are a fence climber, you’d better do some business with your Avon Lady before you leave home.

 

Finally everyone arrived from Zip Three and we were introduced to the basic facts about our next zip, which was 45 mph – making it sound like you got a feeling of going faster. But it never felt like that. Maybe if I did this sort of thing regularly, the different speeds would register. But I really only remember the great feeling of flying through the air above the trees.

 

Finally we did the side-by-side zip, which was relatively short. I not only beat DD to the platform, I got a bigger bounce-back on the spring (see what fun a little weight can buy you!), so I really got to zipline on more cable that she did, because I did that one twice.

 

At this point, we trudged back up to the equipment building and shed our stylish dare-devil attire, tipped the handlers and were advised we had a little free time before the bus would return to take us back to the ship. This meant we would be able to explore the nearby stone ruins of the old sugar mill. The Mill had been built into the slope in order to capitalize on the ability to divert water to the water wheel that drove the mill. Nothing remained of the water wheel except the housing where it once turned, but the stone ruins and the big chimney were an impressive sight. We wandered around studying the big display signs that briefly described parts of what we were seeing. I found myself wishing we dragged Professor Ummer along to provide some useful commentary. Given that I’m a city girl – born and bred, it is incomprehensible to me how a bunch of green stalks end up being wonderful white crystals that sweeten those basic life essentials like coffee and cookies. I was reduced to having to read those signs and try to understand how an economy can really survive on a crop that takes 15 months to mature. But then again … apparently it can’t. That’s why the islands are harvesting tourists instead. They show up every day … it’s so much more profitable.

 

 

Then our driver arrived and we loaded up for the return trip to town. He wasn’t quite as chatty as on the initial trip, but we certainly got a nice chance to see some of the island en route. I had the good fortune to be seated on the side of the bus with a great view of the ship at the pier as we circled the island … looks like they put the dingy over the side for comparison.

 

 

I strongly suspect that our driver did his basic training running rides at Disney World … you know the place … every attraction seems to empty out into a ride-themed store. Our driver dropped us off at one end of the shopping complex that’s nestled between the town itself and the pier. I half-expected to see a kiosk within the first 25 yards selling “Come Fly Wit Us” t-shirts. DD announced that shopping was next up on the agenda … after lunch on board.

 

So we headed back to the ship, past plenty of shops that had some merchandise positioned outside to attract shoppers, past the open air bar that was doing a great business, past taxi drivers who continued to offer to take you wherever you might be interested in going. We almost made it back to the pier entrance before we were offered the chance to pose with some monkeys. The green monkeys of St. Kitts were escapees from ships that visited a couple centuries ago. As our driver had explained en route to Wingfield Estates, “They multiplied and multiplied and multiplied and multiplied.” The farmers of St Kitts love those monkeys about as much as I love the deer that feed on my flowers at home. Frankly, it is a treat to spot them in the wild, as we did on the truck ride up to our zip experience. But I don’t want to hold one. I wondered about the passengers who succumbed to the temptation … and then had to make out that customs declaration at the end of the cruise … you know, the one where you have to answer yes or no to the question “I have (We have) been in close proximity of (such as touching or handling) livestock.” Not only will you find yourself tempted to lie to the US Government about what you were doing on vacation, it bothers me that those monkeys bear an uncanny resemblance to the monkey in Pirates of the Caribbean, and he was always stealing stuff. I like my stuff … I want to keep my stuff … I’m not risking the possibility that a monkey might like my stuff, too.

 

Once back on board, we dumped our stuff in the cabin and then headed up to the Windjammer for a quick lunch. My personal preference was to spend the rest of the afternoon on board, but DD wasn’t accepting negotiation about the afternoon’s plans. It was time to move into window shopping mode. So we grabbed our Santa Hats for the necessary picture on the island and headed back down the pier. I was mildly interested in finding a unique Caribbean Christmas Ornament and DD couldn’t imagine returning to Ohio without one of those wonderful colorful, breezy dresses that swayed on the wind hanging in front of the multiple shops we’d passed. So we went from store to store, looking for just the right dress, and studying whatever else they had that might need to come home with us. Since they had a wonderful array of colorful dresses in nearly every store, I thought we’d find something that DD would fall in love with pretty quickly. But she’s become a bit more discriminating and it not only had to have just the right style, it had to come with an attractive price tag. I think we hit every store in St. Kitts that was selling dresses. The final stop was the very same store where I’d found the best price three years earlier when I was determined to bring home a beach towel that screamed St. Kitts! This place had a dress that she liked at a price she accepted. As for my objective, I did find one ornament at one point that was a maybe, but it’s pretty easy to walk away from a maybe – especially when there’s no price tag on it and you want to avoid the exchange with the shop keeper. Once you ask the price, I always feel like they expect you to be willing to fork over the cash.

 

Once we got back to the ship, we had an agreeable amount of afternoon available for some sun time, so we headed up to the pool deck to lounge about. The sun spotted us though, and quickly gathered some puffy white clouds to hide behind. After a brief stay we decided that it wasn’t going to get any better, so we adjourned to our room to spiff up for dinner. I wandered out on the balcony at 4:33 to see if there were any stragglers. I was caught off-guard by the size of the parade of people wandering back to the ship. Over 50 people didn’t think that the “4:30 all-aboard” announcement applied to them. Oh – one person did. There was only one person who ran down the pier to board … the rest of them sauntered. (That lone runner was probably a crewmember doing a demo about how to board when you’re late.) The last one was at 4:50 … a woman with a stroller and a couple of other people. Meanwhile, there was a ship’s officer and a couple of staffers standing on the pier with a walkie-talkie looking down the pier at the stragglers and periodically relaying information to whoever was at the other end of that device.

 

We went down to dinner and every one of our tablemates had made it to dinner again. When Dwi flourished the bread tray and delivered our savory bites without even being asked, several of our tablemates decided they had to find out what all the fuss was about, so Dwi had to go find some more. We had a wonderful dinner chatting about the day’s events. Many of the others had taken the railway trip and they said it was very nice. Apparently the monkeys were a topic of conversation on the train and they were told that the monkeys really only had one natural enemy and that was the dogs. However, monkeys can be every bit as clever as humans. When you lack currency to get what you want, you can always resort to charm. Groups of monkeys have taken to sending one of their number over to the dog to pet him, while the rest of the group helps themselves to the farmer’s produce.

 

We returned to our cabin to find that Duane had left us another towel animal. He’d made one earlier in the trip that DD declared was a dog and I tried to convince her was a reindeer. I even stuck a couple candy canes behind the ears for antlers … she was not amused. This time around, we had a rabbit. I was at a loss as to how to make something Christmassy out of a rabbit, so I settled for posing him on the peppermint bed runner for a photo.

 

Tonight was to be the first Aerial Show. They do the show twice. The first time is for the second seating folks, yet it is scheduled shortly after nearly everyone has emptied out of the dining room. Consequently, every level of the Centrum is tightly packed with passengers hoping for the best view. I really don’t think there is a “best view”; however, there are plenty of good views. From time to time, the aerial performers either drop out of your line of sight (yes, we were on an upper level) or they fly sideways behind an obstruction (second seating passengers who had the advantage of early arrival were those obstructions). The show was called Seasons and the first number was Winter. It was mesmerizing. It had all the romance and artistry of ice dancing or pairs skating … but it took it into the third dimension. I find it hard to believe that I will ever see any aerial show that will surpass the impact for me that this one had. It was magical … and all too short. Spring was completely different. Although it was very well done and superbly executed, I was still under the spell of the Winter performance, and it wasn’t fair to try to compare the two. The third number was a production number on the floor … probably while the aerialists changed costuming. Then came the rousing finale, which was Fall. This piece was reminiscent of the mischievous monkeys of Jungle Book bouncing on bungee cords and swinging up and down. I wanted to join them. It looked like so much fun. One has to wonder if this won’t end up someday on the list of possible shipboard activities. After all, if you can zipline on the Allure, why can’t you bungee jump from the top of the Centrum?

 

We wandered up to the pool deck where Chevy Chase was providing Christmas vacation merriment in a snow-covered landscape to an audience in shirt sleeves on deck chairs. I still couldn’t get over the novelty of Christmas Day bearing down on us, while we sailed from island to island in the Caribbean.

 

Before the second performance of the aerial show, we went in search of our pictures to determine if we needed to take any home. The formal pictures were not so terribly different from the last cruise, so we nixed those … but the boarding picture was a winner. I’m pretty sure we haven’t bought a boarding picture since that first cruise I took DD on when she was 8, so this was quite the milestone. They scanned my sea pass card and the diamond freebie registered without issue, allowing us to walk off with our nice little bonus. Next stop was the R Bar for the Drink of the Day, which was Paradise Punch. We got a virgin drink as well as the more potent variety and sampled each other’s to determine which one was better. DD decided she really did like hers better, which was one of those wonderful mom moments. When you have a kid in college, there is a certain relief at watching them discover that a fun fruity drink can be just as much fun without alcohol content. I’m not trying to raise a teetotal, but I want to know that my kids can have a few drinks without thinking that massive amounts of alcohol are necessary in order to have a good time.

 

Then we headed to the second level of the Centrum to watch the second performance of the aerial show. Once again, we missed part of the show depending on where the performers were at any one point. Our overall assessment is that the aerial shows are a fantastic addition of Royal Caribbean’s entertainment, despite the fact that there aren’t too many places that passengers can get the full sense of what is happening the entire time. The thing that makes it work despite the issues with sight lines is that the performers are moving up and down rapidly and repeatedly – you lose sight of them from time to time, but it is briefly.

 

Having missed out on any seat at all for the opening show that first night, we decided that it would be prudent to get seats early for the Love and Marriage show, so we moved on to the Palladium theater and found seats in the balcony. From our vantage point we sat observing the bingo game that was currently in progress. Oh, my! Things have certainly changed in the last year and a half. Electronic bingo has come to the Grandeur. Although there seemed to be the familiar “poke and fold” paper cards, those with hand-held devices could apparently load the cards directly on their device. Now maybe I’m being over-simplistic and reading things in to the situation that aren’t really there, but why does the device need the owner anyway? Pay your money, load the card on the handheld and go the bar to get a drink. The card will know what numbers were called and if you win it’ll play a nice little tune. The Bingo callers hadn’t made the adjustment completely to the electronic reality yet. When the winning handheld made its success known, they even collected it and went through the charade of checking the numbers to see if the machine was cheating.

 

The Palladium Theater filled up for the Love and Marriage Show, which is always a crowd pleaser. Darryl bounced onto the stage to handle the daunting task of weeding out the most amorous couples to be contestants. There was no lack of contenders for the honeymooners or the tweener couple. The dubious honor of humiliating yourself and irreparably damaging your relationship didn’t slow down those who were willing to publicly maul their life partner for a chance to get on stage. The senior couple merely needed the simple fact that they’d been married the longest and the red carpet was rolled out for them to take their seats on stage. At this point, with all the ceremonious introductions due to a head of state, Darryl introduced the Cruise Director as the MC. Applause. Applause.

 

Jeffrey stepped on stage and went through the steps of interviewing the couples. He moved then into the first round of questions and did a superb job of eliciting maximum embarrassment, while repeatedly proclaiming that there was no objective to do so. Personal questions were asked and answered. Reactions were hysterical and the audience began laying bets on whether the honeymooners would last six months or twelve. DD leaned over to me and noted that the man in the tweener couple looked like he just stepped off the Monopoly box and pretty soon we shared this tidbit with those around us to the general agreement of all. But the biggest show stealer was the husband of the couple that’s been married for 60 years. He did a great job of acting like he couldn’t understand anything he was asked, and Jeffrey kept repeating things. Then the moment came when he clearly managed to catch what was said effortlessly and Jeffrey blurted out, “Oh, selective hearing!” And the wife sagely nodded. When the final question was asked and the wife responded that “he never listens to me.” … It brought the house down.

Edited January 11, 2014 by emeraldcity

[TheCalicoCat]

Wow another great day. I just saw that Aerial show on youtube - trying to get a sense as to whether or not my 5 year old will like it. He said, "if it too loud for me, we can go to our cabin.":rolleyes: