Tuesday, November 13, 2012

November 12 Fun Day at Sea

November 12

First of all, I forgot to mention that before coming back to the ship yeaterday, we stopped at the "Top of the Mountain" and had the World Famous Banana Daiquiri, served now to 10,000,000 customers.  Well, Jim says, 10,000,000 daiquiris.  Some customers might have had two, you know.  I do mot like sweet drinks, but this one was tasty and refreshing.  I really liked it.

What a wonderful evening last night!

We  uploaded the newest blog, learning that we really could do it onboard...a major discovery.
Then Jim played Wii while I had a drink and relaxed.  At this point, it was time for dinner, again wonderful.  The problem was that we had already eaten breakfast and lunch onboard.  Jim and I are used to eating omly two meals a day, and this was just too much.  We barely touched dinner, so were were able to go to the early evening extravaganza in the theater.  It was the Original Drifters and it was fantastic!

These guys were so perfect...singing and dancing to the songs of the Drifters and some others of the 50's and 60's.  They doo-woped and moved exactly right!  We just loved the hour-long performance.  We were singing the songs all the way back to our room.


Today was a “Fun Day at Sea,” meaning we wouldn’t be in any port.  After a leisurely breakfast, we went to the Solarium, a beautiful room in Asian Indian style.  It was adults only and we noticed it was very quiet there, although there aren’t very many children on the ship at all.  There was a swimming pool, with a strong current, due to the way the water came in and left the pool area.   



There was also a hot tub, and many deck lounge chairs for reading or sleeping. 


We swam and read for a couple of hours, then gravitated to the large pool area where they were teaching line dancing, Caribbean style.  We didn’t participate, but sat in the main lobby lounge for awhile, listening to quiet music and reading.


After a nap, we dressed for Formal Night.  Jim is not fond of dressing up, but he wanted to please me.  Unfortunately, the shirts he sent to be pressed weren’t returned until 5:15 p.m. and our dinner reservations were for 6:00 p.m.  Then, I was drying my hair after my shower, about 5:30 p.m.  when the power went out for all U.S. outlets in our cabin.  Jim found a European adapter he had happened to tuck into his suitcase, so I was able to finish getting ready.  We found out that the power went out in a bunch of rooms on our row.  Jim thinks it was my fault as I had both a hair dryer and curling iron plugged in and both draw lots of power.  Then, too, everyone was getting ready at the same time for Formal Night, so it could have been a drain of power from multiple sources.

Of course, Jim had to remind me how I blew up both my hair dryer and curling iron in Paris when we took the girls to Europe a year ago.  He also reminded me that when we were in Agua Caliente (outside Machu Picchu in Peru), I needed more light by the bed, so I unscrewed a light bulb from one lamp and put it in another, shutting off all the power in the entire hotel, Gringo Jim’s.  I guess the hotel’s name tells you about the high quality of the hotel.

Jim just said, “Vicki, the electrician.  It is the third time you’ve struck!”

We had another terrific dinner.  Royal Caribbean really does the meals just right! 

I had a talk with our waiters about their lives onboard.  They sleep two to a bunk bed cabin with no windows on the 1st floor.  This is just above the engine rooms.  They work for about ten hour a day, but this is separated by a break in the afternoons.  If they are in port, they are encouraged to get off the ship and walk, getting fresh air and exercise.  They commit to seven months at sea, 7 days a week, or at least 6, and then have two months off. 

After dinner we went to the Royal Caribbean Dancers and Singers show, “Now and Beyond,” a tribute to Broadway, featuring songs by Cole Porter and Abba.  We were unimpressed with the singers’ renditions of the songs, except for Abba.  How can you screw Abba up, with Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen?  The dancers, however, were fantastic.

One thing I noticed that I wish every theater would do.  Each row of seats was offset so that you were looking between the people in front of you, instead of craning your neck around a tall person.  It was terrific, making all seats in the theater good seats.

We have an early day tomorrow, so it’s off to bed.






No comments:

Post a Comment