1019 - At Sea North of Hispanola Ah, it is so nice to sleep in! Well, kiddies, welcome to the Atlantic. Last night when we shot the hole between St Thomas and Puerto Rico, we left the Caribbean, and entered the Atlantic Ocean. And you can tell, too, since the seas have picked up a bit, and the ship is rolling more than it did yesterday. But that also means you get rocked to sleep at night, which is quite soothing - no wonder babies like that so much! The other change that is happening is that it is cooling down. Still not what we left, but it is only 70F outside now, under cloudy skies - last night it was 77F! I ill have to check the Ft Lauderdale weather forecast when I upload. Anyway, we are tooling along at 16 knots, and we have a 16 mph wind hitting us from the starboard beam (that's from the right, for those who don't know their port from starboard - and directly from the right, too, which is good for me, since my cabin is on the port (or left) side of the ship). Here is the morning view. Last night we had a good time. We ate dinner with Mike & Deb again, and we have taken to asking for the same waiter, a man named Clickson, who along with his assistant are very good (we had another team a few nights ago, and they sucked, so we started asking for them by name). The meal was good, but it was funny how many of us were not ordering from the daily menu (they have 2 menus in the diningroom, really. One is the daily menu that changes each day, and one is a static menu that you can always get. The static menu includes all the courses, with some standards (shrimp cocktail and sirloin steak), and some "exotic" things (like escargo, which is very good, and I have had twice now). This way, if something on the daily menu doesn't tickle your fancy, there will be something on the static menu that will work for you. Its a nice system). After dinner, we went to the nightly show. It was a piano playing virtuoso - the guy was amazing. He had alot of personality, too, but it didn't come out right away, and I am used to shooting Kevin Rhodes (conductor for the Springfield Symphony) who has personality to spare, and it shows is entire performance (watching him play piano is really fun, too). The ship's band backed him up, and that worked really well, although there were times when the band was a little too loud (vs the piano), and the piano playing didn't get shown as well as it could have. And I learned that Phantom of the Opera was an old silent movie, once upon a time. They played the scores from the old movie, and the Andrew Llyod Webber show, while playing clips from the old movie on a big screen. It is amazing how much was copied from the old movie, in terms of costumes and sets. I was surprised! But overall, it was a good performance. The late comedy show last night was a show called Liar, Liar. Basically, its where they set up a panel of 3 (the cruise director, the late night comedian from the other night, and the singing impersonator from the main show) tell you the definition of some obscure words in the english language. Obviously, only one definition is correct. Every group in the theater (this evening it was my mother, Carol, and myself in our group) voted for who they thought was telling the truth. Now, while they did keep score (which group was most accurate), they didn't win anything (stupid of the ship). Not that we were in contention (we got each word wrong, and only came close to being right once - where we said, its either this one or that one, so go with this one. Of course it was that one!). But it was really funny. We had a good time laughing. So that was pretty much it last night. Today they are having the first brunch of the cruise down in the main diningroom, so we are headed there next. I will let you know how it goes in the next installment. Til then.... 1609 - At Sea - Still North of Hispanola Okay, those of you who know me well, really well, know that brunch is my favorite meal. Not that I get to see too many good ones, but when they are good, they are lots of fun! Well, the brunch on the ship was definitely alot of fun! Its a buffet set up in the main diningroom (which pretty much never has buffets), with hot stations, cold stations, etc. Here is what it looks like from the upper level looking down. Here are some of the first things I ran into - its on the bread station (brioche, croissants, rolls, sliced bread, you name it). And yes, these are made from bread. I also learned a new way to serve shrimp - not that I will be using it anytime soon. In the "basket" next to the parrot is shrimp. Obviously, there was lots of great ice-work done here - what else would you expect from a cruiseship, right? This one has all sorts of fish swimming about. There was even alot of candy work (to go with the white and dark chocolate fountains, and the crepe station). They even spelled out the ship's name in the pineapples! There was even live music from a trio of players filling the room. And the bass player was playing the funkiest bass I have ever seen - but it must be great for moving around the ship and transporting! Keep that in mind, all you future (and current) bass players - and their mothers! One thing I have noticed at dinners, but haven't really mentioned is the wine vault located along one side of the restaurant. It is incredibly cool, and I am sure reminiscent of one I heard about in Vegas. This one is 2 stories tall, obviously glass, and stores buku botles of wine. The biggest difference between this one and the one in Vegas would have to be the people flying thru the air (on wires, ala Circ du Solei) to retrieve your wine choice - this one has glass floors (I was kind of disappointed when I noticed that!). Imagine having one of these in your house! Terry, can you build one? After the meal, we went for a walk around the ship. We stopped on the pool deck because there is an acapella group called These Four Guys singing. I mentioned them from the opening night show (damned that seems like ages ago), and we haven't gotten to see too much of them on the cruise. But when you get a chance to, you just have to stop and watch them. Kibbe, I keep thinking of you when I see these guys. Want to sign up to work a cruiseship? While we were on the pool deck, I figured I would show you a little of it. First shot is of the main pool deck (there are 2 main pools and a bunch of hottubs). Notice the white vertical column covers? There are supports for the deck above in them, but they serve another purpose as well. To house these: It is cool how they have those beds built into the deck. Little personal oasises. Actually, the pool decks (and throughout the ship) have these little finds. Like these chairs: They also have enclosed hammocks - which I would have shot for you, but someone (a couple, actually) was using it, so I didn't want to shoot it and bother someone. Maybe later! The deckchairs are also the nicest I have ever seen. One the main pool decks, they have a great cushion oneach and every chair (don' think there were ever cushions on ony of the other ships we've been on), and in the Spa pool (here): the chairs are teak - and really comfy! Then we went into the Sky Observation Lounge, which I call 14 Forward (because that is where it is!). The first thing to greet you is a statue - the Thinker One thing that makes this statue rather interesting is the fact that it is a puzzle. Also the fact that the screen behind it is a brass chainmail. This is what you see as you advance past the Thinker. It is a huge space, relatively speaking. I think the only dedicated spaces that are bigger would be the main diningroom and the theater. It is a gorgeous space with lots of windows. Then there is the full bar. Sponsored by Skyy Vodka (which makes you wonder why it is not the Skyy Observation Lounge?) Even the bar surface is special - inlaid mother of pearl, I think (under glass, of course) - lit from below. It is gorgeous. As I said earlier, there is a greater than 180 degree view of the ocean when you go forward in the lounge. There are some comfy seating to enjoy that great view. There are even some loungers, so you can sleep, basking inthe glorious view! The dancefloor features a bandstand, which I told you about the other day. In the overhead there is an amazing lighting setup that my buddy Rob would kill to set something like this up at a local club (unfortunately, no local club is bright enough to make this sort of an investment!). Now, if Rob had this setup, he would use it to its best advantage! Here is another one of those cute nooks I was telling you about - very private, yet still accessible. There is even a conference center - but who the heck would want to be on this beautiful ship and have a business meeting. Of course, it would mean you were on a beautiful cruiseship, so I guess it would beat the business meeting alternatives! Even the bathrooms are special! There are signs with sayings mounted over the urinals (I have no idea what they have in the ladies room) Even the sinks are neat - the water flows out of the entire back bottom of the sink, so there is no visible drainhole. It is a really neat effect done in a glass sink! Alright, enough pictures, before you think I have lost my mind (yeah, I would have bet money I wouldn't take pictures in a bathroom). So, we went back to the room to get some money, because Carol wanted to play on some slots in the casino - making a contribution, as we have taken to calling my mother and Joe's efforts along those lines. We went in with $20, and came out with $70, so we can't complain at all. Tip money! Then we went back to the room to read and relax a bit. That is something we haven't done too much of yet. I brought this book I have had a year that I wanted to read, but hadn't gotten to yet. It was so nice to just read. That is one thing I love about cruising - you canjust sit onthe balcony and watch the waves go by, or lay on the bed, watch the waves go by thru the big glass doors, or read a book. So nice. This evening is our last formal night of the trip. We are going, as I mentioned yesterday I think, with Mike and Debbie to the Tuscan Grille to reprise our dinner there with them. It should be fun. Of course Clickson (our pretty much daily waiter in the main diningroom) frowned when he heard that, and threatened to some up with some baked alaska for our dessert (baked alaska is a big deal on ships - personally, I figure if its not flaming, it is not as much fun!). So, it is almost time to get all duded up the evening festivities, thus I will sign off and get dressed. See you all tomorrow! Keep Smiling!!! Your Intrepid Servant, the Timethief Beachbum

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