Sea Day #3

It was great this morning to sleep all the way to 7:00 a.m.  The people next door didn’t have their TV on until all hours and we both feel a little more rested today.  We started out in the Solarium and while Elva stayed to have breakfast I went and showered.  After her shower she left for the Art History lesson and I called maintenance to come unlock our safe.  Apparently last night I put in the wrong lock code. 

It took only a few minutes for the gentleman to come and reset it so I had time for a walk and a bowl of cereal before morning Brain Waker.  This is the first trivia of the day.  We did pretty good but no win yet.  We tied but missed one of the three tie break questions.  We split up for the middle of the day.  I played a Beatles Trivia because the person asked me to please stay as they had no partner.  She did very well at that – I just wrote stuff down.  Another tie.

I spent some time trying to figure how to convert my nonrefundable onboard credit into cold hard cash.  I will let you know how that works out. 

At one Elva ditched the trivia team and went to the lecture which is part of the series given by a lady named Lisa.  I hope I can catch it On Demand later as I enjoyed her talk yesterday.  Today was on Italy and was about poison, plots and Popes I think.  Out trivia team placed first in the Progressive so we are off to a good start.  Fingers crossed. 

Elva and I went to the Wine Tasting and were not impressed with the offerings.  Didn’t finish even one of the four samples.  We chatted with various people including some that we met on the Carnival South American trip!  Cruising is a small world of very lucky people.   A lot of nothing going on today so we triviaed again and Elva joined us.  Second place seems to be our position of pride. 

My friend, Kent, was wondering: Celebrity does not have as much trivia or Karaoke or fun games as Royal Caribbean and certainly far less than Carnival.  Celebrity is a very first class, sedate ship of sorts.  The people are not as old as on Holland but not as lively as Royal.  The entertainment at the main show has been excellent.  The food has been great and seems to have availability of most everything until about 10:30 at night and some things until 1:00 a.m.  There are, of course, specialty restaurants and lots of bars including something called a Gastro Bar which is supposed to be elevated pub food.  The shops are full of some of the same stuff that is on other ships and some very, very expensive designer items.  I saw a nice handbag that was over $400!  Since it is part of the Royal Caribbean Company, your Royal stock gets you benefits on board.  Also, because they are together, your Royal status translates to some level on Celebrity but doesn’t exactly add to the points. But my current Celebrity status elevates me from Emerald to Platinum on Royal.  Not sure how all that works.  But they do have some nice parties and special events for their past cruisers.

Snack time came around and we lounged on deck with some French Fries to tide us over between the wine sampling and dinner.  Right now I am on our balcony in the warm sun and soft breeze writing to you while Elva is watching a repeat of yesterday’s lecture on our flat screen TV.  Elva is great to travel with.  We gel well.  Some things we enjoy together and others we each go our own way.  A super way to travel. 

Again – second place at the afternoon Brain Strain.  I am kind of glad they don’t have as much trivia as Carnival.  I can’t handle the stress!!

We relaxed in the cabin before going to dinner and were seated with two sisters who were recent widows and taking their first cruise since their husbands die.  Elva and I both know how surely the memories are assaulting their sense every day on board.  But they were fun to talk travel and family with and when we left them to their dessert so that we could make it to the 8:00 show we felt that dinner had been really nice.

Doug Cameron Violinist with Comedy was amazing.  He could really paly such a variety of self-arranged music on is aqua blue / green violin.   The orchestra was great considering that entertainers have a chance to have only one rehearsal before performing.  I thought the drummer was especially talented.  When the River Dance music was being played the drummer kept up a tapping sound and with the lights and smoke you could almost see the dancers that weren’t really there, in their green costumes.  Doug also sang, had clever repartee, and a video salute to his recently deceased parents.  His Dad had been the vice-president of Warner Brothers Television and his Mom was a singer songwriter who had performed with many of the great vocalists and groups of the 40’s and 50’s.  She also wrote and performed the Road runner Cartoon theme song!

After a full hour of entertainment we went to the Battle of the Sexes and I was picked to be captain of the ladies team.  We killed on it, missing only one question.  But it will be progressive so hopefully we can keep it up when next they play.

From there we went up to the Solarium for the Liquid Party.  When we arrived the Cruise Director and some of his staff had jumped in the pool with their clothes on and were having good luck getting guests to do it to!  Aerial artists were performing on rings above us and a Mermaid was perched poolside!  Crazy fun but very loud.  We did not last long until Elva went to the room and I went to get my nightly cup of tea.

Back at the room we watched the History of Spain by the ship’s guest speaker.  Lisa Didier is an excellent presenter and you can really remember what she is teaching you.  Elva and I agreed that she must have been a great Professor to have in the college where she taught.

This was the end of our Sea Day #3 and we greatly enjoyed it.  Before turning out the lights we set back our clocks again.  Crossing East to West this time of year adds nine hours to the cruise with no extra charge!