Just Off Aug 06 2006 Rhapsody

[zantedeschia]

Wow Z! I'm enjoying the review tremendously.

:D

Gotta pop by and say though that you are attempting to give way more attention to your BF while off on vacation than I would to my DH. I'd be like, "I'm off on a cruise. See you in a week! Kiss, kiss!"

Yeah well couple things. New bf is new, only about 3 months along. He's also extremely handsome, more than I think I'm capable of catching, wish I had a picture to post. Blond, blond hair, I'd say surfer type but he's more rugged good looks, chiseled Marlboro Man type face, pale blue eyes, masculine as all get out (just the right amount of hair on chest and forearms), deep voice with a marvelous southern Louisiana accent. Very affectionate and passionate and friendly and social. I can't get enough of him. And he apparently can't get enough of me!

[sweettxcruiser04]

Your review is so entertaining. I leave on the Rhapsody Sunday for the 3rd time.

Do you remember, or is it on your compass, is Derek Lewis still in the Schooner Bar at nights?

[AudioFilly]

:D

 

Yeah well couple things. New bf is new, only about 3 months along. He's also extremely handsome, more than I think I'm capable of catching, wish I had a picture to post. Blond, blond hair, I'd say surfer type but he's more rugged good looks, chiseled Marlboro Man type face, pale blue eyes, masculine as all get out (just the right amount of hair on chest and forearms), deep voice with a marvelous southern Louisiana accent. Very affectionate and passionate and friendly and social. I can't get enough of him. And he apparently can't get enough of me!

 

I can see how that would make a difference. ;) Lucky girl!

 

DH and I have been together since 1985. Guess that does make for an easier time of a week long separation.

 

Still lamenting your charges you paid though. I guess I am a born cheapskate. I'd have been right there with you scoping out all the freebies!

[zantedeschia]

Your review is so entertaining. I leave on the Rhapsody Sunday for the 3rd time.

Do you remember, or is it on your compass, is Derek Lewis still in the Schooner Bar at nights?

Cruise Compass says Schooner Bar Entertainment with Jim Moody 9:45pm to 12:30am.

[sweettxcruiser04]

Aww. Derek was the highlight of the cruise last time. maybe he was just on vacation. or maybe jim is just as much fun.

Thank you!

[vickiw0318]

It is hard to imagine the Rhapsody without Derek. Hope he is just taking a well deserved vacation.

[sweettxcruiser04]

Yes and hopefully it was only a 2 week vacation so he will be back on Sunday.

Hope the cruise isnt boring without him. :(

i dont think a cruise could be boring.

[zantedeschia]

Things from previous days: During the juggler's act he had a couple interactions with people from the audience. In one he came down to the row right in front of us and played with this man named Joe (who played him back). Another time he pulled about a 7 year old boy from the audience and "juggled" him. I ran into the boy on deck and said, "you're the kid that got juggled!" Before he started talking about it, he goes, "you're about the 20th person that's said that to me!" Joe was on our pirate cruise, I looked at him, then went "Joe!" He retorted, "yep that's me, I'll be giving out autographs later."

 

Yesterday, the while talking about fares, the cabdriver told me her "screw the tourists" rate (my words, not hers). Would have been 12 dollars each way each person. I told Alex no way was I gonna pay $48 to go to Hell. Cabbie said that they had a lower rate schedule for us cause they didn't want to alienate the cruise ships. She did say that gas was about $4/gallon. I didn't shop in Georgetown, but I have heard Grand Cayman is very expensive.

 

Back to Friday. I know exactly when we got cell phone service. It was at 8:25am, because that's when Alex's phone went off, notifiying her of new messages. She's worse than I am, she has 3 boyfriends atm. Old boyfriend, whom she's talking to again, current boyfriend who she thinks she's just rebounding off of, and a new one that's not quite official yet.

 

Something's slipped under the door, it's an invitation for a free booze opportunity, I mean another champagne art auction. Don't think it's invite only but the one that's listed in Saturday's Compass. Free booze opportunity today is the Cozumel Shopping Party in the Forum Shops, 10:45am to 11:45am with free margaritas. Gonna miss that one as I'm going to be in Cozumel on my shore excursion.

 

At breakfast, Alex and I had a nasty fight. I asked her for her phone and she refused and went into "you pay more attention to Scott than you do me" mode. I went, I pay for your phone, I can take it away. To which she threatened to break the phone. We were at a stand-off and I literally was shouting at her in the Windjammer. She finally surrendered it and I went off into the pool deck to talk to Scott. The ugliness didn't resurface, but I thought I was giving her 100% on the cruise and it was ironic since she was text messaging one or two of her boyfriends. (for Audiofilly, I checked Alex's phone statement on the website and the amount over the base amount currently reads $83, which isn't as bad as people claimed it would be.)

 

I didn't note what other ships were with us in Cozumel, but I didn't care, cause we were docked! And yeah, the dock looked pretty chewed up. I told Alex this damage was from almost a year ago!

 

On to our excursion, the Mexican Cuisine Workshop. We got on a bus with another excursion, some Beach Break thing and drove a short distance to Playa Mia. Did I say it was a tiny group? Twelve people. We had 2 guides, the main chef I wish I could remember his name (Alex is asleep atm, I can't ask if she recalls), and his assistant, Luis. The cooking was more of a series of techniques than recipes, there were a lot of shortcuts. I'm a cook, so I let Alex do all the cooking.

 

Here are the ingredients (it appears to be Imperial measure, that is, by weight not volume so make sure you know how to convert if you decide to make any of these):

 

Sopes (serves 4)

200g/7 oz Spanish sausage (chorizo)

150g/5.3 oz cubed potatoes

300g/10.5 oz corn dough (masa)

100g/3.5 oz shredded lettuce

60g/2 oz crumbled cheese (forgive me for not remembering the name of it)

150g/5.3 oz refried beans

 

Fish Filet with Mango Sauce (they let people have chicken if they didn't like fish) (serves 4)

4 pieces (200g/7 oz each) fish fillet (we used grouper)

20g/7 oz blended fresh mango

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

 

For the garnish

4 pieces banana pepper (they were sliced in half, seeds/veins cleaned)

80g/2.8 oz zuchini blossom, chopped

60g/2 oz whole kernel corn

40g/1.4 oz diced onion

50g/1.8 oz butter

2 teaspoons olive oil

 

Rice Pudding Tower (serves 4)

150g/5.3 oz cooked rice

1 liter/4 cups milk

4 sticks cinnamon

granulated sugar to taste

 

Cookie dough

100g/3.5 oz flour

50g/1.8 oz sugar

20ml/1.5 tablespoons milk

50g/1 oz butter

 

They served us drinks even before we started cooking. Alex said I had 5 XX, but I think I had 4. Beer that close to the source tastes wonderful! Interspersed with the Dos Equis, I had a shot of mezcal and 2 shots tequila. They were impressed when I did the shots, said I was a true Mexican! :) Kept asking for top shelf but they didn't have any. I paced so I'd get tipsy, sober a bit, get tipsy again. They let Alex drink but they weren't irresponsible about it, after her third strawberry daiquiri she got giggly and silly. The head chef cut her off and brought her a bottle of water, this action in itself sobering her up a little. I asked for a mojito and got "This is Mexico, not Cuba!"

 

Rather than try to remember the order we prepared everything in, I'll just go by appetizer, entree and dessert. We did the rice pudding first and I kept complaining the flame was turned too high, mainly cause I had Alex pour in the correct amount of milk and it boiled off quickly. The chef kept telling me it was fine, just keep stirring. I kept insisting they turn the flame down. Finally he goes "Luis! We have a troublemaker!" Luis came over with a stern look on his face and brandished his spatula at me. I finally just took the pot off the flame. Also during they had us decorate our plates, including writing our names on them. Alex would write things like "Alex is Great", "Alex is Better Than You".

 

For the sope, they brought balls of masa dough which we pressed thick, about 3.5" in diameter and tossed those on the grill to brown. All the other ingredients were in little tubs. The sausage and potatoes were already combined. We sauteed those to warm with no oil cause there was enough oil in the sausage already. We assembled it by spreading beans on the cooked tortilla, spooning sausage/potatoes over, then garnishing with lettuce and cheese. We did this last.

 

The fish/chicken we seasoned with salt and pepper, then seared in a little oil. I kept wanting to increase the seasonings, head chef wouldn't let me, saying he'd bring out some hot sauce later. I said, "oh come on, you're boring" for not letting me spice things up. True to his word, they gave us some very hot habanero sauce. I'm a chilihead, so I guarantee you this stuff was pretty volcanic. When it was time to turn the fish, he had everyone do the wrist flip thing, you know where you toss the food in the air and it turns over. Everyone except me, I turned my fish with the spatula, to which I got mocked: "You're *boring*!" For the garnish, we seared the peppers skin side down on the grill in a little oil. The onion was sauteed first in a little butter, then the corn and zucchini added, this mixture used to fill the peppers. For the sauce we combined the mango, chili and cumin and reduced it by about half (this sauce was tasty). They took the fish from us to finish baking in the oven.

 

For the dessert they brought out balls of cookie dough which we flattened in the tortilla press. The rice, milk and cinnamon sticks were combined and cooked down, sugar added (keep tasting till it's how sweet you want it). They took these away, brought them back later. There was a big rigamarole with decorating the plate with strawberry sauce and Mexican sour cream. The dessert to be honest was more decoration than actual dessert. We stacked the cookies, did cookie, pudding, cookie, pudding, cookie. Wine was offered but only a couple people accepted. When we went to eat, a few people right off the bat didn't sit down to dine but took off. A couple more left after the entree and didn't do dessert. After we ate, we went shopping. There were vendors all over the place so I let Alex pick up some souvenirs, haggling the vendors down as much as 50%.

 

Here's where the day gets interesting. Remember the abovementioned handsome and very friendly boyfriend? Well he leaves behind quite a legacy of ex-girlfriends. To say hundreds would be no exaggeration (he's 40ish). I wanted to pick him up a wedding band, even tho we're not married, to show he's off the market. (this was his idea, not mine but I liked it, he wants to be married in spirit.) I wandered into a shop, asked to see wedding bands, first one they showed me I liked a lot. They wouldn't come down on it tho, maybe cause I did one of the things you're not supposed to which is express interest in a piece. It was like pulling teeth trying to get them to come down. It was marked $600, they went you can have it for $380. They wouldn't budge when I tried to haggle, I'd say $300, they'd go $350, I'd say $325, they'd say $350. They brought another ring over, priced $585, you can have it for $295. Dropped it in my hand, this one was noticeably lighter so that was part of the reason they wouldn't come down on the other, it was heavy for its size (I think this was the point, to show me the comparison). I finally got it to $325, had it sized and engraved.

 

They commented on the ring my bf gave me, a 10K band with a ruby heart. Pushed this ruby and diamond tennis bracelet on me, what does the tag say Alex? $2500, OMG. Too much. We'll let you have it for $1300. What's the absolute highest you'll pay for this? $800, I said. No, not your low price, your high price. $800, I said. They kept dropping it, no, no, no, no I insisted. $1050 for you and we'll toss in this silver necklace ($150) for your daughter. This is where the bad thing happened, I saw the bottles of tequila. Can I have a shot? Certainly! I had THREE. By the time I left, they were down to SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY on the bracelet (they would clasp it on my wrist, I kept taking it off, they'd clasp it on again) with the necklace thrown in. I bought the necklace for $75. The bracelet was beautiful but no. Alex said they were pressuring her as well, convince your mom to buy the bracelet. That was tempting tho, $2500 ---> $750.

 

The tequila shots were probably why I allowed another vendor to drag me in his shop, one filled with silver. Now maybe here's karma, I didn't ask but he pulls out this heavy silver cross on a heavy chain. I'm not religious but Scott is and I was like I wonder if he'd like that. Wish I'd noted the weight when he put it on the scale, it was *heavy*. Bought it for $107. Oh you have some tequila too, can I have some? Took another shot.

 

The tequila shots pushed me over the edge, I was trashed. No, I was **trashed**. We went back to the ship and I didn't detox, I passed out for 2 hours. Looking over my notes, my handwriting is very bad for a couple lines, there's a scribble that says "omg so drunk from tequila shots". Woke up to the captain making an announcement. "I realize we were supposed to have departed an hour ago but we're waiting on a group of 158 guests that have been delayed." Before we left, they still called 2 people's names over the intercom, don't know if these people got left behind or not.

 

Getting so drunk left me feeling rather fragile, no more free booze opportunities for me, unfortunately. Alex took all the quarters and went back to the casino despite my recommending that she not do this. She came back a short while later -- they kicked her out, much to her chagrin. But not after she had a 20 credit payout, so we ended up about even on the gambling. She said she was afraid they were going to take away her winnings, I was like no they wouldn't do that. Also pointed out how they try to be soft on the guests, notice how they didn't seek me out on the matter? She learned her lesson, she didn't ask to gamble after that.

 

For dinner I ate light to spare my topsy-turvey tummy. Had the hummus which was very good, the berry soup which I didn't like at all, and I asked if I could have the side salad served as a dinner salad, which they did for me. No dessert. The Adventure Ocean "pirates" came out this dinner, we had a prime view being right at the bottom of the stairs. The AO director went through his spiel, part of it went "there's the captain's wife, there's the captain's son" prompting responses from the kids. When he did "there's the captain's daughter" he pointed right at Alex.

 

I didn't have much to say after I got drunk, guess I didn't do much, not surprising. Don't recall doing anything. One more day left on the cruise, I'm anxious to get back to Houston.

 

More to come.

[zantedeschia]

Alex would get bored and doodle, usually on the back of the Guests 15 - 17 events card. I'd get concerned when she'd write something dark, but when I finally brought it up, she commented they were song lyrics and not coming from her heart.

 

On the back of the Day 3, August 8th, At Sea card:

 

ABCDEFG in dark gothic style capitals, there's an H but it says Help me. (!?) Two lines of text:

 

Show me where the

Sun goes down

 

Back of the Day 4, August 9th, Ocho Rios card:

 

"If I was in

WWII they'd

call me

Spitfire"

 

"I'm the

freak of

the

world"

 

Underneath I wrote "no you're not". She wrote "<-- Lyric!" underlined 3 times.

 

"I'm trapped

in this world

all lonely and wanting

sitting

at the bottom

with you."

 

A sketch of an eye, there's a piercing in the eyebrow, I thought that cute.

 

On the back of the Day 7, August 12th, At Sea card, a more upbeat lyric:

 

Meow (accompanied by pawprints and a heart)

 

"It's a fine day,

people open windows

They leave their houses,

Just for a short while.

 

It's a fine night tonight,

It will be a fine day tomorrow."

 

:)

[zantedeschia]

Today at breakfast, I hear "Hi Stephanie!" Turn around, there's Kumar in a white supervisor's uniform. :)

 

I'm thinking of fasting today. Don't succeed but I do walk 4 miles in 4 sessions. I do both walk-a-miles and 2 1-mile stints on the treadmill.

 

Alex asks me if we always get second seating by chance or if I request it. I tell her I ask for it and if she'd rather have first seating. She says no, 6 o'clock is too early to eat.

 

In Grand Cayman, Alex got caught by a photographer on the pier. It never showed up on the photo boards. I keep looking for it hoping it shows, but never find it.

 

Today they have a limited seating lunch called The Chef's TAble for $29.95. It features:

 

Crabmeat & Asparagus au Gratin

in a savoury pastry shell

wine: Mont Gras Sauvignon Blanc

 

Oven Roasted Portobello Mushroom

with Balsamic marinated tomatoes, melted goat cheese

wine: pouilly-fuisse

 

Herb Crusts Petite Filet Mignon

with Fresh asparagus and truffle mashed potatoes

wine: Shiraz Rosemount Estate

 

Caramelized Banana Parfait

with amaretto cream, white chocolate and caramel sauce

 

Being a foodie it looks interesting, Alex says no. Good thing, I wouldn't have been up to it today if I had signed up for it.

 

Thursday night Alex and Jette took some formal pictures together. I don't like them all that much, which is a shame, and pass on them.

 

Alex still wants to veg. I suggest some events for her to try today, the ice carving demonstration, a backstage tour on the teen program and the juggling workshop. She tries to make it to the ice carving but gives up cause too many people are crowded around and she can't see. At least she tried.

 

The ocean is like glass today. Totally flat and smooth. Looks a bit surreal. The ship slices through the water like a knife.

 

Here's a bit of irony. I don't like pizza, rarely eat it. People complain that the pizza in the Solarium is terrible. However, I've like it every time I tried it. Then again, I only get the wierd flavours: pineapple, artichoke, tuna.

 

Went back to the Edelwiess dining room for lunch for the Nicoise salad and to once again greedily pilfer the tapenade. This turned out to be fortuitous. Got seated with some unexpectedly, compatible lunch companions. Four 16ish to 19ish year olds, 2 brothers and a brother and a sister, cousins to each other, from Omaha, Nebraska. You're gonna have a fun flight home, I said. They were like, tell me about it. We talked all through lunch. Found out the racetrack in Omaha was no longer there, and chatted about things like Royal Caribbean vs Carnival - they wanted to know why I didn't like Carnival. They told me the new drinking rules, no alcohol for under 21 period was definitely now in effect. I said I didn't care, I was still gonna buy my daughter a drink if I wanted and it really wasn't going to stop under 21's from getting alcohol. They said they had run into a 13-year-old that was drunk who claimed he was 16 and a senior but they didn't believe him, I was like you can't really tell how old someone is by looking at them but whatever.

 

While they ordered pretty mundane things (like burgers), they were more adventurous on the desserts. One of them ordered two chocolate creme brulees. Is it for the chocolate or for the creme brulee, I asked? Both, he said, as he demolished them.

 

After they left, the man at the end of the table queried, "did they really say they ran into a drunk 13-year-old??!!" His wife playfully chastized him for eavesdropping (a common occurance for me it appears) with, "Is that why you haven't been listening to me?" I was kind of apologetic, if my conversation offends you, just put your hands over your ears. He was like oh no, not at all but I was more concerned about his two 8-to-10ish kids who seemed pretty oblivious to everything so it probably didn't matter.

 

Around 4pm, there was an "alpha alpha alpha" call with a room number, repeated 3 times. I told Alex that was like a Code Blue, someone had a heart attack or something.

 

Tonight is Italian night at dinner! I don't like Italian food all that much but still managed to find plenty to eat. I had the scallop with risotto (very good), strawberry soup (very good), a green salad and a lamb shank (one can never go wrong with the lamb). I gave the garlic soup a miss as it's always been bland and flat before, but Alex got it and it's been changed. Wonderfully garlicky and zingy with lots of pieces of garlic. Alex got the steak and kept trading bites of it for pieces of my lamb, I would have smacked her hand had I not been under the weather. We asked for gravy for the mashed potatoes. Kumar said they didn't have any but he would bring us some mushroom sauce from the marsala chicken. Came back with what looked (and tasted) a lot like a delicious mushroom gravy. I said it was all a matter of semantics.

 

Jette won $500 playing bingo! But she wouldn't buy me a drink, the witch! Wait, I promised I wouldn't say anything bad about her (grumblemumblemurfle#$%@) ....

 

For dessert, Jette gets this raspberry, pink, molded, mounded, mousse thing. She gives is a Jette-look, grabs the edge of the plate and shakes it. "It jiggles!" she says, brightly. I look at it, look down at my dessert, pound cake with strawberry sauce. Pick up a piece of strawberry, lean across the table and deposit it on top of her rosy, domed dessert. "What's this for?" she asks innocently. Simon dryly replies, "The nipple." She gives it a "look", grabs the plate and perkily jiggles it. We all about fall off our chairs from laughing. She calls over the assistant waiter and points to her plate. "Look!" And she jiggles it. He covers his eyes with his hands. By this time we're screaming in hysterics and I don't care we're getting funny looks from the next table. Simon cracks, "You need to order a second one." There were a couple more rude boob jokes, I honestly don't remember them as I was too busy ROFL. It was quite the pity when she finally ate it.

 

I bet you think this is the end of the review. But wait! There's still tomorrow. And it doesn't seem quite appropriate to end things with a ribald dessert!

 

Still just a little bit more to come.

[zantedeschia]

Forgot about the champagne art auction this day (Saturday). Don't see anything about champagne on the Cruise Compass, wait it does say "Sip on champagne as you bid on works by Dali, Max, Picasso, Lekinff, Tarkay and more...." That started at 1pm according to the Compass, so one final free booze opportunity.

[K9CrazyGirl]

Z,

 

I want you to book now for Rhapsody 5/27/07 so I can cruise with you!!! As a writer myself, I gotta say..........Girl, you got some SKILLZ!!!

 

Keep it up!

 

Jen

 

K9CrazyGirl

http://www.thecruisegirls.com

[selectone]

Ok, Stephanie! We are anxiously awaiting your next episode. Our Roll Call group, going on Rhapsody, Oct 1, are quite enjoying your trip's accounts. I've been on her several times and can relate to many of your encounters. Love the ship, love the staff, love the pax. Nothing but nice things to say about Rhapsody.

[zantedeschia]

I misread the tip thing and tried to turn it in too late and the purser wouldn't accept it. By the time I realized I could draw some cash from the casino, the teller was closed. So I ended up not tipping, kind of felt funny about it cause I always have before.

 

Alex didn't like smoking on the deck so was pleased to discover she could smoke in the lounges. I usually found her in the champagne bar.

 

When you buy the shots, you get to keep the souvenir Loving Cups. My previous ones were made of glass, the ones this cruise were made of metal. I ended up with 2.

 

Cell phones went off 5ish so I went out outside, on Deck 5. Sent Scott a text message: "Warning, warning, your phone is about to explode" and then proceeded to message him every 20 minutes or so (he was not amused).

 

When I went out on deck, there was Conquest! Either stopped or slowed in the water as we were passing her. It was still dark and she was all lit up. She looked close enough to reach out and pick up, but she had to have been at least half a mile away or more.

 

Right at this time, a pilot boat draws up alongside the ship, directly underneath me! It's pitch black and she has bright lights on, the light and dark are in sharp contrast. I stand there and watch her go right up to the side disappearing underneath me. Keep in mind we're still over an hour out of Galveston. She stays there for a minute or 2, then turns off her lights and takes off, it looks like towards Conquest.

 

I hook up with Alex and we go up to Deck 9, the Windjammer doesn't open for breakfast until 6:30. A crew person drops a platter full of pastries, she helps him pick them up. At breakfast, the carving guy isn't there, I ask the new guy and he said he went back to Jamaica.

 

Waiting to debark is always about the same for me, especially when coming back to Galveston. I'm under no pressure to catch a flight so we hang. We had second-to-last to be called color tags, slated 9:50 but we got called around 9:30. Got stopped right as we got to the doorway cause the guard there said there were too many people in the baggage area. Held us there about 20 minutes. Recovered our bags no problem. Well, Alex couldn't find the garment bag, the porter couldn't find it, I go looking and take less than a minute for me to recover it it.

 

Get in line to go through Immigration/Customs. We're 3rd or 4th back in line, takes us another 10 or 15 minutes to get up to the agent. Takes us about 2 minutes to get processed, this is no exaggeration. This has happened before with me & Alex, I guess mother & daughter are very low on the list of risk factors. Guy cracks we must be sisters, we get that a lot too.

 

Our cruise ends with a glitch, our ride lost track of time and is still in Houston! We end up waiting in the heat about 2 hours for him to arrive. NBD, Alex naps and I make phone calls. I only had about 3 dollars (in coin) to give the porter as I was expecting our to be here waiting! Felt bad about that but the porter was okay with it.

 

But anyhow. Alex had so much fun, she asked me to add her to the cruise I have booked on Voyager, Jan 13, 2008 with her brother. I had to switch from a D2 to a D1, increasing the fare from $849 to $939 for me & her brother, so I'm going to have to watch for price drops. Her fare was $399, what a deal!

 

And I of course, had a grand time cruising with Alex. Till next time! (I'm sure there's something I forgot and I'm still trying to snap a picture of Scott to post along with promised pictures people have yet to send me ...)

[Peddler&Tass]

Thanks for all the reviews..Edgar was our Steward last year...excellent..

[zantedeschia]

Wow, I was kind of out of it, lots of typos in my last message. :/

Some stray odd thoughts.

Can't believe I forgot to mention Alex setting off the metal detector during checkin. She was wearing these parachute pants she got from Hot Topic full of zippers, metal studs, metal loops and the like. They spent a minute or so running the wand over here.

I did take our passports along in Cozumel but as we weren't zipping along through treetops or walking the plank, it was no big deal having them along. Mentioned this earlier in the week to Jette and Simon, they were of the ilk that there's more risk of them getting lost/wet/stolen then missing the sailing. I'm like I'm in a foreign country, I'm taking my passport, it's a no brainer.

Couldn't do the printed sudoku puzzles that I picked up from the library. One, the couple I did were too easy and two, they were printed in a retangular format as opposed to square and it hurt my eyes trying to solve them.

Saw in another thread someone thought I was including TMI. Alex's state of mind is very relevant to me. She's had emotional problems, been in psychiatric hospitals, been on anti-depressants and mood stabilizers, been in therapy. She's a lot better now but I still have to be sensitive to her moods. Especially have to be aware of what might set her off and how to get her out of a depression if she falls into one. Something she does when she gets upset is cut herself. Jette noticed some scarring on Alex's shoulder and asked her about it but Alex deflected the question. When she was in her funk she was moaning how she didn't want to be on the trip, she wanted to be home, she wanted to talk to her friends. So it was kind of a serious matter to me, not as bad as it could have been, fortunately, and I did manage to resolve it in a few hours.

It was an auspicious trip. :)

Grabbed a camera and snapped some pics of Scott. He's a hard subject cause he doesn't like his picture taken. OTOT, he's very animated and by the time I've reacted to the expression I want, it's already 4 seconds in the past. I'm probably biased and he's not nearly as hawt as I think he is, but take a peek.

[AudioFilly]

Hey Z!

Good review.

Don't take things said in our other thread too much to heart. It sounds like you and Alex have come down a hard road together. With probably some heavy duty counseling involved. At least I hope so. I'm a big believer in therapy. It has saved my life and my marriage more than once.

I'll admit when I first started reading your comments about Alex's period, my first thought was not too much information. I was thinking, "Her daughter is going to kill her for sharing this much online." But the fact is some people are just more comfortable sharing than others are.

In reading this review you remind me very much of my Sister-in-law, who I absolutely adore. My SIL is very plain spoken and doesn't pull her punches. While occasionally she can deal quite a blow with her bluntness. You never feel blindsided because you always know exactly where you stand with her. And she never hesitates to stand up for herself or those she loves. She would have been right there with you going toe-to-toe with the guy over the saved seats.

As for Scott, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The most important thing is that you think he is hot, hot, hot! Even after 21 years together I still think my husband is the hottest thing that ever walked on two legs. My girlfriends just come right out and laugh at me when I've had a few drinks and start waxing poetic about how incredible I think he is. They're like, "C'mon Lezlie, he is kinda cute and he's really funny, but he's not exactly hot." And then they collapse into giggles (they will have had a few, too, at that point.) I just look at them like they have completely lost their minds. What's wrong with these women? Are they blind?

So great review. I hope to meet you on some distant future cruise someday. I wouldn't be able to give you Jette's wide-eyed wonder. But I could provide raucous appreciation for your banter! :D

[zantedeschia]

Can't believe I forgot to mention when we docked, cause it was so interesting to watch. We moved in parallel to the dock, in the middle of the channel. Then the ship rotated 180 degrees, pivoting in one spot. After that they used the side thrusters to inch us in. Conquest was sitting a couple hundred yards away while we did this.

One night at dinner, I was telling Jette "irony is spending a week away from my new bf, going home, catching a cold and him refusing to be affectionate with me." In reality, irony was my going home, being affectionate with my new bf and catching a cold from him. Bleh. And I was so good about washing my hands and using hand sanitizer on the ship.

[zantedeschia]

Pshaw, Audio! Just tell me he's cute. :p

Pirate photos are up! On my yahoo account here:
[url]http://photos.yahoo.com/anankae/[/url]

[zantedeschia]

New photos!

Jette & Alex and me & Alex.

[url]http://photos.yahoo.com/anankae[/url]

[pjinaz]

Thanks for all the great info on the Rhapsody Zantedeshia! Wow!

I am interested in the cell coverage you had. I was under the impression aT-Mobile or Cingular phone would work on the ship. Do you have any more info on this? Your phone still didn't work after you activated international calling?

I am worried about this as I really will need to use my phone once or twice and both T-Mobile and Cingular swear up and down that either will work. I have Verizon, which I know won't work, but have access to a T-Mobile I was going to take, considering getting a Cingular phone just for the trip.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, glad you had a great trip. I can't wait for mine.

[zantedeschia]

[quote name='pjinaz']
I am interested in the cell coverage you had. I was under the impression a T-Mobile or Cingular phone would work on the ship. Do you have any more info on this? Your phone still didn't work after you activated international calling?

I am worried about this as I really will need to use my phone once or twice and both T-Mobile and Cingular swear up and down that either will work.
[/quote]

At the time I was on Rhapsody, T-Mobile did not work At Sea. There is coverage in Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel - international roaming is around 5 dollars a minute.

I have no idea about Cingular.

Just checked T-Mobile's web site. It says there's service on Rhapsody but I've since read here there still is not:
[url]http://www.t-mobile.com/International/RoamingOverview.aspx?tp=Inl_Tab_RoamWorldwide[/url]