Welcome to the Chronicles of

~ the Second Noordam Adventure ~ the 15th Anniversary Cruise ~
12/06/2008 - 12/17/2008

12/16 - At Sea

8:52am - North of Cuba

Good morning, all you blog fans! Its great to be back in your time zone!

Okay, not really. But it sounded better than "You bastards! Thanks for dragging us back into your hell soaked depressing non cruising time zone!" It just seemed to strike the wrong tone, you know what I mean?

ALright, before I dig this hole any deeper, let me show you the morning view:

It rained a bit last night, and the seas right now are running about 7 - 10 feet. The wind is in the 30-35 mph range, coming at the ship from our side, but it is not too bad. The biggest thing I noticed this morning was that it was cooler (sad look). According to the ship's info, its 74F out, which, while seeming to be a bright summer's day for many who read this, is quite a difference from the 80F of recent days.

The other thing you noticed as you sat on the balcony is another rainbow! And we are actually sailing into it. Kind of neat!

Yeah, that is the ship on the left side of the shot.

We are currently running up the northern coast of Cuba, and I am going to see if I can get a picture of it when we go up for breakfast, since it is on the other side of the ship. Hopefully the clouds don't obscure it too badly.

Last night was fun. We hooked up with Trish & Greg at 7pm, and then we all went down (they are a deck down from us) to Grace & Chuck's room. As I believe I mentioned, they are in a suite, and were nice enough to offer us a viewing of the "Suite Life." And a sweet life it is! They had some h'ors douvres that they snagged from the Neptune Lounge, a suites only lounge where apprently they have some food and drinks available all day long. They went great with the champagne that we brought!

Carol was the first into the room, and about 2 seconds in said, "Pete, you're in trouble!" Now, I hadn't gotten into the room yet! I made it 3 feet in when I thought to myself, "Yep, she's right!" The room itself is about twice as large as our stateroom (I would have taken pictures, but I thought that might be a little too much intrusion, you know?) They have a king size bed, an 8 foot desk and shelf thing along one wall, a leather couch, overstuffed chair, 2 comfy chairs, and a clock (notably missing in the riff-raff rooms)! The bathrom has a double sink and dressing area on the outside, and both a tub and shower in the bathroom proper. It was huge. The deck had a round table with 4 chairs around it, two other rattan chairs with a little cocktail table, and none of it was in front of the double doors to get out on the deck. It was probably 8 feet deep and easily 20 wide. It was an impressive room.

There are quite a few perks that go with the room, too. You get access to the Neptune Lounge, concierge service (they'll make reservations for you, etc), unlimited dry cleaning and laundering (big perks at sea), breakfast at the Pinnacle Grill (its only open to us peons for lunch and dinner), priority boarding and debarking, and I think I read someplace that you also get free internet - something I would love!

Obviously, you do pay for those perks, but it is a really nice way to cruise.

Dinner was a blast, as Grace & Chuck joined our table again. Last night Dave & Cindy were back, but Clay made good on his promise to "not get back into that outfit again" referring to his shirt and tie.

The show was a good one, basically a musical review by the singers and dancers from the ship. You just can't help but wonder "What Would Simon Say?" as the show progresses, but it was pretty good. After the show, we took a walk around the Promenade Deck (it wasn't too windy), and saw some ships in the distance. It was great evening.

So, now here we are on our last sea day of the cruise. Of course, the vacation doesn't end with the end of the cruise, but the cruise was a big part of it. The debarkation talk is at 10:15, and they have another cooking demo today. There are a few good things on the itinerary today (just can't remember what, so I'll have to check it out during breakfast).

Well, time for breakfast. We'll talk later!

11:45am - Still North of Cuba

Well, the debarkation talk was interesting - and funny. Okay, maybe it was the questions that people ask the staff of the ship that I found so funny. Like "Does this elevator go to the front of the ship?" or "You're fixing the elevator here on Deck 5? Great! Its also broken on Deck 6!" or the ever famous "What is our current elevation?" and "Does the ship dock in the middle of town?" On one tour a friend of ours heard "What continental plate is this island on?" but we figure that the person was just being annoying.

Then we were told about the debarkation proceedures and the survey that we need to fill out. Then the crew representatives (all 11,000 of them) came up so we could clap for them, and they could take a bow. It was nice.

The theater is pretty nice. Took a few shots (before it all started):

Not sure who this is, but there are a bunch of them around the perimeter:

And this is the ceiling of the theater - kind of a tent sort of feel. People pay big bucks to designers like Clay to do this stuff at their house:

One thing I noticed is that there are lots of dolphin statues around. Dolphins, contrary to popular belief, are denizens of the deep. Ugly fish that exsist in the deep sea, which is why they are the submariner's mascots. Dolphins, as people call them, are really porpoises, mammals, that have nothing to do with the fish. But the statues are cool:

We are going to head off to lunch next, and then see how the homemade boats float (they had a competition - and I missed the signups). I'll let you know how it goes.

2:41pm - Past Cuba

Well, we survived our "encounter" with the communist country known as Cuba, and managed to not be sent to Gitmo! It is a gorgeous day out, with a stiff breeze and seas still in the 7-10 foot range. Lots of whitecaps, but the water is still a deep, deep blue. I'm definitely going to miss it tomorrow!

One thing about the balconies is that the divider that is between neighboring balconies actually open. Today, Trish popped her head out over the rail, and Carol and I were talking to her for a few minutes, when I said to myself, "Self, this can't be that hard to open!" So we were looking, and it is a simple square key to open it. I suppose we could have called the cabin stewart, but that would have taken time, and interrupted his day, and we wouldn't want to do that! Besides, where would the challenge be? What would rouse the spirit of adventure and accomplishment if we had someone else do it? Besides, who wanted permission?

Normally, I would go into my camera bag and pull out the 10" screwdriver that resides there (it is amazing how many plane rides and cruises they have let that thing thru). But since I decided to travel light this trip, I didn't have my camera bag with me. So instead, I ended up grabbing my trusty comb. That right! I have a blue comb with a long tapered end on it (would make a great shank if sharpened!), and I thought if it wasn't too stiff, this would do. As it turned out, maintainence is next to godliness on this ship, and the lock turned easily (I really expected it to be stiff and near impossible to turn with a cheap piece of plastic, but hey, one never knows until on tries, right?). Now we have a double balcony. Seems a shame we have to share it, though. But we are trying to catch up to Grace & Chuck's room!

So Greg came out, and the four of us were hanging out chatting. Then we decided to go to the main diningroom for lunch. We had a lovely 3 course meal (figured we should take advantage, since its the last lunch we get aboard this tub!). At the end of the meal, Trish pulls out a notebook. Not a little homework pad, but a full size, three subject, 8 1/2 x 11 page notebook. I asked why she brought a notebook to lunch, and she made a comment about my laptop (which I had been typing on after we opened the divider). I pointed out, sensible, that I had not brought the laptop to lunch with us. She said it was the only way she was going to remember to get our info (full names, address, emails, etc). I looked at Carol and asked if we wanted to give her that information. Greg, meanwhile is laughing quietly, but smartly says nothing.

Trish proceeds to pass the notebook to Carol so she can put in our phony information, and manages to hit a full glass of icewater. Yep, you go it, instant flooding on Deck 2. Luckily, the water really flows between Carol and I, and Carol got wetter than I did, along the side of her shorts. No biggie, but we are all laughing. I am pointing out that a homework pad is a far more practical option, as we are sopping up the water with cloth napkins (which really don't hold much water, when you get down to it).

The waiter we had was a quiet, shy sort of chap, who is not really sure of himself, or his command of the english language. He hears the not so subtle commotion, and comes over. I turn, look at him, and say "Hi" with a smile. He looks at me for a moment, takes Greg's empty plate, and slowly turns away, not sure what just happened. We crack up laughing. He never noticed the upturned glass, ice cubes on the table, or the section of soaked tablecloth.

We naturally, beat a semi hasty retreat, giving poor Trish grief. She wants to know if she will ever live this down? Those of you who know me know the answer instinctively - absolutely not.

Greg just smiles.

After we sent them on their way (Trish was going to try to kill the printers in the Explorer's Lounge printing boarding passes for tomorrow's flights), we went up to the Lido Deck to check out the Build Your Own Boat finals. We got there just after they had announced the winner. I am really sorry that I didn't get to see the competitor's entries, because the 1st runner up's ship looked an awful lot like those models of fine sailing ships I showed you a few days back. His was a 3 masted vessel, with a fine prow, furled sails, and a wheel deck, very much like the Black Pearl of Pirates of the Caribbean. Except that his was made of cardboard, duct tape, and a couple of dowels. It was impressive. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. I would have loved to have seen the winner (there were people around the runner up saying to him that he would have won the previous cruise's - last week - competition, hands down).

Then we went to the theater and caught the entertainer's chat, where some of the dancers, singers, and tech people answer questions from the audience. I hadn't meant to go to that, but it just worked out. It was really interesting. There was one guy who was currently working on his 19th contract with Holland America (each contract is for about 6 months).

Now I am back on my double balcony, typing to you guys. Carol is taking her on deck nap - didn't even try to read, this time. Of course, she had already finished the 2 books she was working on, so there wasn't anything to read.

This really is a fabulous ship, a great way to see a range of islands, have some interesting excursions, and meet some wonderful people. We highly recommend it, even though we can't seem to convince too many people (Kelly!). I know, Michael Beecher is sold. Now I just need to get 18 other cabins sold, and I get a free trip (presuming I can convince them to go at the same time. I guarantee that the excursions will be first class!!!).

Okay, time to relax, take a snooze, or play a game or two before drinks (yes, you don't think I am giving that tradition up before I absolutely have to, do you?). Talk later!

Til then....

Keep Smiling!!!

Your Intrepid Servant, the Timethief Beachbum