Live From the Jewell 1/3/2016

[Blizzard54]

And please let us know if they show it. We are embarking on superbowl and are assuming/hoping it will be shown :)

 

We have sailed during the superbowl and it was shown. I will be bringing along my own hot spot so I can stream it just in case.

[troyphoto]

Blog Post and pics here:

Pulled into SUNNY Cabo San Lucas yesterday.

 

It’s nice getting into the shelter of the Baja peninsula. The seas calmed to the point that we can barely tell that we’re underway. If it weren’t for the rumble of the engines vibrating the ship, we would have no indication that we were moving.

 

Last night, somewhere in the wee hours of the morning (you know, when you just gotta go wee before you can fall back asleep) I leaned against the cabin wall. Since we didn’t have far to go and most of the ship was asleep, the engines were running quietly. With my ear pressed up to the wall, I could hear the sloshing of the bow cutting through the shallow waves. Our cabin is forward on deck five, right about where the waves foam out after being sliced by the bow. I could imagine our sleek white bulbous bow gently shoving its way through the waters as we headed toward Mazatlan last night.

 

Back to yesterday and Cabo.

 

As we neared the Cabo coastline, most of the early risers were up and past breakfast. I was wandering deck 7 with my camera at the ready, working on ship décor photos. A woman along the railing, near the aft Art Gallery doors, pointed excitedly at the waves. I spied the mist of a marine mammal’s blowhole discharge. Camera up, waiting. What kind of creature was it? A whale of some sort? A porpoise? A Mexican version of Nessie?

 

It breached just enough to breath again, then the flukes of its tail appeared and went upright, perhaps in a wave to us, just before it slid under the surface again. I spent another moment or two scanning the waves for another mist cloud. Nothing. So I kept walking forward.

 

Eventually, I found my wife sitting on deck near the doors to the Stardust Theater, reading in a lounger, near several other people. One woman had her chair pulled up to the railing. Her left hand had four fingers stretched out, with her thumb tucked in as she stared out at the coastline sliding by.

 

After a few minutes, the woman at the rail sat bolt upright. Her right hand, with the index finger rigid, pointed out at the waves. “Another one, there!” she exclaimed. “And there!”

 

She turned around to a friend sitting near us in the loungers. She held up her left hand with all finger and thumb splayed out, joined by a single finger held aloft on her right hand. “That’s six, so far!”

 

Wife and I had moved to the railing by then. We debated what type of critter we were seeing. (folks that went on a Whale Watching excursion said they were humpbacks) I surmised orca based on the dark tail with white splotches I had photographed waving. Wife said she thought the larger shapes were brownish in hue. Somewhere during our discussion and guesswork, a porpoise breached the waves in a series of leaps. I managed to get a few clicks of him doing his dance.

 

I wondered if the Jewel was stirring up plant life in the shallow waters, which got the fish out to feed, and brought out the porpoise and his buddies to dine on the fish?

 

But, the Jewel and her captain weren’t here to whale watch. He kept the ship on course, and as we rounded the final outcropping and turned toward our anchor spot off Cabo, we watched other small vessels converge on the area where we had seen our finned buddies doing their dance.

 

“HOLA!” the voice from the ceiling greeted us. Sin had us all trained well. Everyone around us yelled “Hola!” back, despite being on deck, when Sin was tucked inside an office somewhere broadcasting instructions throughout the ship. Tender tickets were distributed, and several of the Jewell’s lifeboats, and some of the Cabo boats would spend the day transporting cruisers to and from the ship to the shore.

 

Wife and I dined again in O’Sheehans. I had the corned beef on rye, wife had the chili dog.

 

After lunch, with Sin’s voice from the ceiling still calling tender ticket numbers, wife headed up to the pool deck to catch some sun (and a nap). I wandered the decks some more, looking for bits of the ship that had been upgraded since our last visit in ’08. I found a few.

 

One of the worst changes is how the casino expanded into the “hallway” along the starboard side of deck 6. That used to be a good way to get from bar city (Magnums) to the Stardust Theater. Even though the casino was full of smokers, one could make a quick walk either way in a straight line, and minimize exposure to cigarette smoke (I’ve got asthma, and cigarette smoke is a trigger for me).

 

Of course, our cabin is near the forward elevators. To avoid having to dodge and weave our way through the casino that has expanded into the former walkway, in order to get to Magnums from our cabin, we’re running up to deck 7, through the walkway on Fizz (exposing ourselves to Karaoke, which in some cases is almost as deadly as smoking!) then down the grand staircase. Oh well, I can use the exercise, but I’ll try to avoid lower decks in the fore of the ship from now on, since we tend to spend a lot of time near the piano in bar city.

 

Dinner was back at Tsar’s. I had the striploin steak, and wife enjoyed the Whole New York Striploin Roast with taters and broccoli. Carrot cake and caramel brownies rounded out the meal. The best part about not getting off the ship in Cabo (besides avoiding the tenders) is getting into eat before the crowds. We enjoyed a window seat on the port side and got to watch the sun set behind the Cabo mountains.

 

We caught the “Funny Fiddle” show with Chris Pendelton. I won’t spoil it, except to say that my only disappointment was that the fiddle didn’t tell one single joke. The comedian was funny, but a name like “Funny person with a fiddle” just doesn’t have the same hutzpah as “Funny Fiddle.” If you’re on with Chris and the fiddle, definitely catch the show.

 

We headed up to Spinaker for the Beatles tribute. It was standing room only. Next Stage, the party band with one girl, and four guys, was mysteriously missing the lady. Then it dawned on me. Doh!

 

They had a lot of energy, and got the crowd dancing. It’s interesting hearing the Phillipino accents in the songs when our brains are used to the English accents of the original Fab Four. All in all, a good show, once my brain got used to the changed accents.

 

Following that, was the Love Boat Dating Game show. It was OK… painful at

 

times, but still funny. Typical set up: one “bachelor” and three mysterious “bachelorettes” on the other side of a screen (followed by vice-versa with the genders). Questions like “If you were a Super Hero, what would your name be, and what super power would you use on me?”

 

Of course, being a real bachelor/ette wasn’t a requirement for being a contestant – and having a mom with pre-teens in the audience be in one of the three chairs killed off a lot of fun answers from one contestant. Some good laughs, but I’m not sure this is on the must-see list, until they eliminate the under 16 patrons to get the parental angst out of the room.

 

After that we caught more of Marissa in the Crystal Atrium. She’s got a good vibe, and an excellent range. I spent some more time looking at her song list, and see that she’s got about 40 songs, ranging from Johnny Cash to Adele, Janis Joplin to Tom Petty. Good variety for guitar and vocals. She connects well with the audience, and loves little tykes in “Footie-Jammies.”

[troyphoto]

Seas are calm and weather is sunny and warm.

 

Found out that on embarkation day, they had NFL on the big screen up in spinnaker. Don't know if that will be the same for your cruise.

 

Thanks for the reminder on one L in Jewel. Fixed it in my blogs, but CC doesn't allow edits that far back.

[Blizzard54]

Those sure look like Orcas to me.

 

Thanks for writing this. I am really looking forward to getting onboard.

[cruzsnooze]

Seas are calm and weather is sunny and warm.

 

Found out that on embarkation day, they had NFL on the big screen up in spinnaker. Don't know if that will be the same for your cruise.

 

Thanks for the reminder on one L in Jewel. Fixed it in my blogs, but CC doesn't allow edits that far back.

 

Glad you didn't take offense. I will be on the Jewel later in January. I have the 7 night specialty restaurant package and am wondering if you ate or looked at any of those specialty restaurants. What did they look like? Were they upscale and quiet. Did you happen to look at any menus?

I sure hope the whales are migrating when we sail. I booked a whale watching excursion. I'm not fond of tenders but it is what it is. Did you do any excursions through NCL?

Might be a silly question but not for me, how is the coffee? I'm a big coffee drinker and although I have the Lavazzo machine in my cabin I don't like the coffee it makes so use the buffet coffee.

Do you know which restaurants are used for breakfast and lunch for suite passengers. I heard they changed it from Cagney's after dry dock.

Thanks for the lively posts, I've enjoyed them.

[Wavesprite]

They're either humpbacks or grey whales.....

 

Your pictures and blog are really great. We'll be on the Jewel next month for 14 days and I'm really loving reading about your trip and seeing all of the pictures!

Edited January 7, 2016 by Wavesprite

[troyphoto]

Note: for some reason my personal blog isn't loading, and dealing with it on Ship's Internet isn't cost effective, so this post is only on CC for now. No pics, sorry.

 

The wildlife on board the ship again plays prominently into the day’s activities. That will have to wait until it chronological time in today’s report.

 

Father time (or at least the Gnomes in charge of time zones) keeps messing with me. We awoke yesterday docked in Mazatlan. One of my favorite activities on board is being on deck as the ship pulls in to dock. I enjoy watching the lines get tossed, pulled in and cinched tight. But, with the time change, and early arrival, I slept through docking.

 

Wife and I are Midwesterners, so we’ve been on Eastern time for almost all of our lives. Then, wife’s job got her temporarily assigned out to Sunny California. She spent December getting used to a three hour swing in time. I came out for the last (almost) three weeks of that time, and got my internal clock reset to a later sunrise and bedtime.

 

As the Jewel travels down the Baja coast, we lost an hour (sprung our clocks forward) once in Cabo. Now again, while I slept, we lost another hour, and pulled into (today as I write this) Puerto Vallarta while I slept. Darn Time Change Gnomes.

 

But, as Sin the Cruise Director (HOLA! SIN!) says, “Don’t worry, we give those two hours back to you on the sea days…”

 

First a three hour shift for wife and I, just got used to it, then twice in one week, we gain an hour back. Since we’ll be heading back to Eastern Time Zone once the cruise is over, great! We’ll be partially adjusted again.. Oh, wait, we get to go back those two hours in the next two days. Back to West Coast time… then a flight back to East Coast time. Blech. We’re going to be so screwed up on time zones when we get home.

 

Something tells me the coffee gnomes planned this out just to screw with me. I need to find a way to get even with them.

Pub Crawling

 

Yesterday, several couples from our Cruise Critic meetup group got together for a pub craw. We began at O’Sheehans on Deck 8 mid (BTW: wife and I had lunch there, she got the meatloaf, I had the burger – which comes equipped, as it should, with a couple of strips of bacon.)

 

The bar at O’Sheehans is a good place to sit. I ended up on the end of our group, and spent most of our time there chatting with a couple not attached to our group.

 

After that, we headed down to Bar City (Maltings, Shakers, and Magnum) Deck 6 mid. We were an hour before the bars opened, but the staff was very accommodating, and got our orders as soon as they got the bar restocked. Wife discovered the Rum Cake drink, which she says tastes like Chocolate. Another cruiser liked the Lavender Patch

 

While there, the ladies discussed the best place to get a massage in Mazatlan. Seems the going rate is about $15 to 20 US. We also got to pass around our Whale Watchers’ (from Cabo) phones with pics of the humpback whales they got to get up close to.

 

Then we headed up to the Great Outdoors. I was concerned that the area might not be open. I had spent the morning there, typing away on this journal, and then arguing with the internet on the ship to get it uploaded. After wasting about 30 minutes of my internet time, I gave up, and discovered that the blue ribbons were up, and crew were directing guests back inside.

 

Seems that Wednesday was the day to wash the deck of the outdoor café. As I prowled the sports deck later, I saw the maintenance crew, in a boom lift from the dock, as well as the hanging maintenance gantry that prowls the outside of the ship, working to knock off the inevitable rust spots along the outside of the café area. As I look around this morning, I see quite a few small red-primer patches dotting the railing, waiting on their coat of white paint.

 

Fortunately, our brain cells waiting to be buzzed were in luck. They had reopened the area. Most of the group ordered the Rebellious Fish drink, and pronounced it yummy. We also grazed on cookies and other goodies from the snack buffet.

 

We got underway while hanging out in the Great Outdoors. This made for some great sunset selfies, and another whale sighting off in the distance.

 

We finished at Sugarcane Mojito bar (up on 13, midship). This is inside of Moderno, but the bar is available without the dinner reservations. The Mojito crowd liked the Rhaspberry Mojito, with meh reactions to the Coconut one… too much lime in the coconut in that one.

 

Wife and I excused ourselves from the killing off of brain cells, and headed off to dinner in Moderno. I had the Tenderloin steak slices, and she had another pasta dish, Chicken Parmesan.

The Shows

 

Following that was entertainment. We had missed the early main show, so we headed up to Spinaker to listen to the show band. That was followed by the four vocalists from the dance company singing cabaret style with piano accompaniment. The covered some interesting and fun show tunes.

 

Then we headed down to catch the Russian aerialist couple, Duo Déjà vu. An excellent show. Evgeny is an excellent vocalist, and provided vocal numbers in both Russian and English in between aerial sets. Catherine, his wife, was graceful with the various curtains, ribbons, straps and a suspended cage.

 

My wife did get a bit grumpy, but didn’t say anything. We’ve noticed on this trip that quite a few folks are coming in late to the shows in the theater, finding seats inside the row, that cause most of row to have to stand while the performance is underway. A couple of times, folks have entered with only about 15 minutes left in the show. Oh, well.

 

One mother, who sent her preteen son in to save four seats next to us, came in about seven minutes into the show, forcing about six of us to stand in front of the folks behind us, and block their view so the late arrivals could get to the saved seats. The mother sat next to my wife, and took quite a few photos of the performers with her cell phone. Wife would be enjoying the performance, and a block of light from the woman’s cell phone would appear at the edge her field of vision, distracting her.

 

Other than “that woman” in the audience, it was a great show.

Wildlife on the Prowl

 

Following the Déjà vu show, we headed back up to Spinaker (why are those two venues so far apart???? Asthma boy can’t run up six flights of stairs without a rest stop at deck 11) for the Dance Like A Norwegian contest.

 

My wife’s dance partner from the first night, Christian, was one of the celebrity dancers, so she seemed to have a personal interest in his success. I, on the other hand, preferred one of the Dance company’s professional dancers, Montana.

 

Our contestants were varied – but two stood out. My favorite was a gent we’ll refer to as “Frat Boy” based on how the judges, including Sin (in his Grumpy role), and JP (the funny magician from opening night), referred to him. “Frat Boy” came with his own cheering section, that looked suspiciously like a large section of this fraternity brothers.

 

Wife, of course, was already set to cheer from Cruise Staff Christian, who was dressed in a spiffy black suit, with bow tie, and black hat similar to one you’d expect to see in old photos of the Rat Pack. One thing was missing, though. Christian had no shirt on. Judges in their preliminary comments said they wanted to see nudity on the dance floor – but warned Christian not to go there right away.

 

The dancers hit the floor and shook their booties. Action got hot and heavy through three different songs with different rhythms. Christian and his partner kept most of their clothes on, while Montana and “Frat Boy” bumped and ground their way through the songs.

 

Following round one, JP was the first judge to comment on Christian being great with the cougars, referring to the middle-aged woman that was grooving with him. She quickly embraced the label, and lobbed snarky comment back at the judges whenever she and Christian were the targets of Sin’s or JP’s comments.

 

Eventually, three other couples were voted off by the judges, and a final round with Christian and Cougar woman, Frat Boy and Montana, and other couple, who we will refer to as “Third Place Couple.”

 

Another round of dancing, this time solo, to a random set of preselected rhythms. Third Place Couple drew Riverdance as their rhythm. A valiant effort ensued, but the other two couples were connecting with the audience. That was key, because eventually, we got to cheer to decide the winner.

 

Montana and her new Fraternity buddy got Sir Mix A lot, “I Like Big Butts” for their piece. Much hilarity and pelvic thrusting ensued. I spied Christian across the dance floor, with his Cougar partner. He was speaking into her ear, obviously plotting their next dance routine.

 

By default, they ended up with the Tango. After a few trips across the dance floor in a Tango only slightly better than I could perform (I have zero rhythm and don’t even pretend to dance), Christian drug a chair out onto the floor. He pointed commandingly at the chair. Cougar shook her head and pointed for Christian to sit. He forcefully pointed, commanding her to sit. Eventually she did. Christian’s pants when flying into the audience.

 

His bright blue gym shorts kept the R-rating of the show intact. To our delight much booty shaking occurred, including when Cougar swapped places with him, and gave a quick (fully clothed) lap dance to her dance partner.

 

After comments from the judges, another free form dance off from all three couples (including “Thriller” where Cougar got her claws out, according to one of the judges), it was time to vote.

 

Third place team finished third. Wife cheered and clapped for her dance buddy and the Cougar. I yelled and pounded the table along with the fraternity brothers. Despite the hat, and the bright blue shorts, Frat Boy and Montana prevailed. The Fraternity house belched forth its occupants as they mobbed their fellow brother on the dance floor. Much jumping chest bumping ensued as consolation prizes were distributed to Mr. Third Place, and Cougar Lady.

 

Side note here, and special shout out to Sin!

 

I’ve spent 15+ years in the event industry. I tend to watch not only the action, but the sidelines as well (wedding and event photography isn’t always right in front of me – the good photo opportunities are all around me). As the fraternity brothers mobbed their fellow brother, Sin was up, and at Montana’s side. He quickly escorted her off the dance floor and away from the drunk mob of high-fiving, chanting, and chest bumping fraternity gents. Hat’s off to Sin for making sure his female crewmember wasn’t caught up in the press of alcohol-fueled gentlemen.

[troyphoto]

Glad you didn't take offense. I will be on the Jewel later in January. I have the 7 night specialty restaurant package and am wondering if you ate or looked at any of those specialty restaurants. What did they look like? Were they upscale and quiet. Did you happen to look at any menus?

I sure hope the whales are migrating when we sail. I booked a whale watching excursion. I'm not fond of tenders but it is what it is. Did you do any excursions through NCL?

Might be a silly question but not for me, how is the coffee? I'm a big coffee drinker and although I have the Lavazzo machine in my cabin I don't like the coffee it makes so use the buffet coffee.

Do you know which restaurants are used for breakfast and lunch for suite passengers. I heard they changed it from Cagney's after dry dock.

Thanks for the lively posts, I've enjoyed them.

 

No on excursions, though the whale watchers in our CC group did enjoy that one in Cabo.

 

Check out the first at sea post on page 1 for the coffee gnome stories.

 

One of the suite passengers may know about the breakfast locations. I'm primed to sit in the GO no matter what else is available. I love that part of the ship.

[bs209438]

Thanks for the shots of the menus. Looks like they are still using the traditional menus. Maybe the last week before they change to the new ones? We'll see next week...

 

The waters off Cabo look beautiful! Wildlife - both indoor and out - seems fascinating, too.

 

Looking forward to your next posting

[troyphoto]

I’ll get to day 5 in the next post, but a bit of interest first.

 

This morning I arose, showered, etc, and prepared to head up to the Great Outdoors café on deck 12. As I grabbed my computer bag, I looked at my camera. I knew I was too late for the exact sunrise, but we’d still be in “golden hour” when the sun lights up the cloud cover with its early morning yellow hue.

 

Naw, I thought. I don’t need a camera. I’d rather just enjoy the view, than think about where the best photo would be. Besides. After half-a-dozen other cruises, I’ve got plenty of sunrise and sunset photos. I’m graduating, I told myself, to experience cruiser instead of photo-cruiser. I’m here to enjoy the sea. So I left it behind and headed upstairs and after for coffee and a big plate of bacon to enjoy the view with.

 

Wife showed up about half an hour later. Her ritual is to walk laps on deck seven (promenade) and get in about five miles of exercise before the maintenance crews start working out there. She plopped down on a chair at my little table.

 

“I got in one lap before they put up ropes for the maintenance crew,” she explained. “Then I did about three more laps back and forth, hit the ropes, turn around and go the other way until I got to the other side of the ropes. THEN, they closed down the other side of the deck.”

 

We sat and enjoyed the view while grousing and grumbling about her inability to get an hour’s walking in without clogging up the jogging track on deck 13. It’s too narrow to often for joggers and walkers to coexist peacefully.

 

Then she looked up and asked, “Are we going back to Cabo?”

 

I turned and looked over my left shoulder. “Looks like it. Must be a medical emergency.”

 

Tthat explained what one of the roped off areas on deck was. If we were pulling into Cabo unplanned, they needed to get someone in to medical care.

 

The crew lowered a lifeboat, and tendered a passenger and the doc into shore. I asked a security crewmember what was up. The official story was that someone had taken ill, and needed to go ashore for medical attention.

 

I’m sure there’s a nice boring unofficial story. But we can only speculate.

 

So I will. ;)

 

This person is probably not feeling their best, and is very disappointed in missing out on the rest of the cruise while being sick. So they deserve a tale of adventure and daring-do. A bit of bravado in speculation.

 

If one were to wonder as to why someone might need to be transported in for medical attention after a stop in Peuro Vallarta, one need only realize there is a Pirate Ship adventure excursion in that port.

 

Our Hero was probably on that adventure, living the life of a pretend pirate, eating pirate food, and saying “Arrr Matey!” and “You Scurvy Dog!” as often as possible.

 

But then, as the ship was anchored far off ashore, and the pretend pirates were doing pretend pirate things, a giant tail – a white tail – breached the waves, and slapped down hard on the sea. The smack threw a cloud of spray high into the air as the great white wale set course for the ship.

 

“Avast ye, Tis the son of Moby Dick. Back for revenge!” The pretend pirate captain bellowed. “Raise anchor! All ahead full! Put all canvas to the wind, we’ve got to outrun him!”

 

But, the small vessel wasn’t fast enough, yet. The mighty white whale slammed into the side of the vessel. The boom of the impact sent lads and lasses flying about the deck. Our hero was knocked off their feet and was scrambling to right themselves as the ship rocked from the impact.

 

“My baby!” our hero saw a woman pointing out to water below. The hero spied a young lass bobbing in the waves, as the great white form moved toward the ship again, rising and falling in and out of the waves. Coming in for another hit as the ship slowly started to move.

 

Lines were being tossed over, with life rings attached, but the small girl had no hope to reach them.

 

Our hero, of course, would have seen this, and instinctively dove into the waves. Snaking an arm through a life ring, the hero’s strong strokes quickly closed the distance to the child. Sticking the ring over the girl, and swimming one-armed back to the pirate ship as crew pulled in the rope, helping them back through the waves.

 

The great form of the white whale breached the waves again, the mist from its breath sending a geyser of mist high into the air. Our hero, now at the side of the ship with the child, clung to the rope and the small girl as crew and passengers heaved at their line to pull them aboard. The hero glances over their should at the approaching behemoth and realizes they’ll still be dangling along the side when the great white form rams the vessel again.

 

“Hold on tight,” our hero told their young charge. The frightened girl nodded grimly and squeezed her arms tighter around the life ring. The hero released the life ring and girl. The sudden drop in weight allowed the crew to pull the girl over the railing before the collision.

 

Our hero braced their feet against the ship, and angled their descent to impact the huge white shape surging toward them. The hero’s impact, right in front of the blowhole, caught the great creature by surprise. It instinctively dove, and passed right under the fleeing ship. With a parting shot, the great creature pivoted as it dove, flinging its great tail up, sending out hero flying. Exhausted from the swim, and battered by the whale, our hero had just enough strength to grab some of the rigging on the ship and slow their fall before passing out.

 

Even though this flight of fantasy has no bearing in reality, I offer it as the tale to tell for our fellow passenger. If their story is not as interesting, they may feel free to tell this one.

 

Either way, they have the best wishes for a speedy recovery from all of us back on the Jewel.

Edited January 8, 2016 by troyphoto

[troyphoto]

Blog Post here, with group photo of CCers at our Pub Crawl.

 

Sorry... no pics from the game show

 

We ended our evening with the White Hot Party, following the Perfect Couple Game Show.

 

Lunch was at O’Sheehans again, after docking in Puerto Vallarta. I can’t decide which port I like the scenery in the bay better: PV or Cabo. Each is unique in it’s own way.

 

Sorry Mazatlan, your dock area is also a working shipping port, and not very pretty. Although, watching from a lounge chair on deck seven the guys in camo with a drug-sniffing dog down on the dock below direct the unloading of one particular shipping container was an interesting way to pass the afternoon on Wednesday.

 

Thursday however, my wife got the bug to get off the ship. Fortunately, there are enough little shops right off the dock, that she didn’t make me wander far. Her quest to spend her cash on a small piece of jewelry was quickly accomplished in the third shop we visited. $35 dollars, and half an hour of walking the small shopping plaza was enough.

 

We finished our final port call, and set sail. As we were wandering into Azura for an early dinner, we met up with a couple from our Cruise Critic Meetup group. We shared a table with them and chatted away the dinner hour.

 

Wife and I headed up to Spinaker for music from Essence (the reggae band that is normally pool side). Good musicians, but my wife pointed out that they don’t have all of the standard rock pieces memorized. They sang the first verse to Sweet Home Alabama three times in a row.

 

Following that, we drifted down the theater for JP’s funny magic, or magical funny show. Good fun. Kids welcome. Like Disney movies, his adult humor is vague enough that the kids won’t understand, but funny enough for the adults.

 

After that, wife wanted to head out to the White Hot party for some group dancing (Mr. Lack of Rhythm doesn’t dance). Before that, we went back up to Spinnaker for the Perfect Couple Game Show.

 

The game shows are always hit or miss, depending on the type of contestants they pull. A general rule, however, is that they contain adult humor and easily can go to adult type themes (Dating game, Perfect Couple, etc). Leave the kiddos somewhere else. Their presence with parents who are contestants has limited the contestants’ ability to cut loose and take the fun up a couple of notches.

 

This show, however, turned out surprising good, and allowed us to find a perfect couple.

 

Our assistant CD Tom was the Emcee for the evening. He kept asking for couples to sign up and drop their names in a bucket out front. He drew three sets of names from the entrants. If I remember correctly Gracie and Ronnie were first. My apologies to the second couple, but I’ve forgotten your names. Mike and Marcie were third.

 

Couple #1 (Gracie and Ronnie) had been together about five years, Couple #2 about ten years, and Couple #3 (Marcie and Mike) were the youngsters in the relationship scene, at about five months together.

 

The first challenge was for a couple to begin with an orange positioned between them at belly-button level. They had to move the orange up to under one of their chins, without using their hands. With all three couples on the dance floor, Tom called for action. There was much grinding, hugging, and dropping of fruit, but Couple #3, Mike and Marcie prevailed.

 

Contest #2 involved the lady of each couple, loading a lemon into the gentleman’s left pant leg from below (the cuff level), push it up into the crotch area, over into the other pant leg, and roll it down the right leg.

 

Oh, and the lemons were in ice water prior to the contest.

 

Couple # 2 looked like sure winners before any lemons were rolled, since the gent in that couple had on shorts. Until Tom pulled a full sized pineapple to use in place of the lemon. But, a frustrated look from Gent #2, allowed a “twice around” with a lemon.

 

I suspect some shading of times in this contest, since Gent #1 (Ronnie) had very loose pant legs, and the lemon dropped right out… But the official score keeper declared Mike and Marcie the winner by a few seconds.

 

Another round involved a “Pole in the Hole” where the blindfolded lady, clutching a broomstick at crotch level, had to follow direction from her gent to get the pole into the center hole of a toilet paper roll… held between the gents’ legs, right under the … um… you know.

 

Gracie seemed to be the best with understanding her man, and won that round.

 

The final round involved balloon popping. The Ladies had to carry an inflated balloon between there knees over to their gents, and pop the balloon with pressure from their embrace. The first position was a simple hug, where the balloons attempt to skitter out sideways. If a couple seemed to have problems, a cruise staffer was by their side to coach them, or lend the occasional sharp fingernail to get the contest back on track.

 

The ladies all seemed to enjoy the second popping position, which involved the gent sitting in a chair, and the ladies would pop the balloons by sitting aggressively on their laps.

 

The third position was the gent bent over the chair, presenting their bums to their ladies. The women would get a bit of running start with the balloon at pelvic level, and ram it to pop. Couple #2 seemed to have a bit of an issue in this spot. So a helpful cruise staffer stepped in to hold the balloon gingerly in place, while the lady got a good run up.

 

Ooops, he pulled it away at the last minute. Go again.

 

Oops, he pulled the balloon away, as couple #2 bumped again. Laughter ensued.

 

The final position had the gents lay on the floor, and the ladies had to plop down with a balloon under their tush, onto the gent’s pelvis to pop (hopefully just) the balloon. Couple #2, perhaps enjoying their pelvic bumping from the last position (or perhaps they had a stubborn balloon) spent about half a minute bouncing up and down to get the balloon to pop.

 

The audience roared with laughter throughout this show. The couples were all good sports, and willing to give their all, including their dignity, for the contest.

 

In the end, Tom announced that Couple #3 was the winner. Cruise staffers handed each couple a bottle of champaign, and Tom handed something special to Mike, along with the microphone.

 

I probably won’t get the quotes exact, but here’s what happened next as best as I can remember.

 

Mike looked at Marcie, and raised the microphone up. Marcie’s face moved from puzzled to stunned look as she spied the small box, about the size of a ring box that Tom had handed Mike.

 

“Marcie, you mean the world to me,” Mike said. Marcie raised her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide as he explained that he wanted to spend his life with her.

 

Dropping to one knee, Mike asked “Will you be my wife?”’ Marcie flung her arms around the man kneeling in front of her. The audience erupted in a huge cheer.

 

After a passionate kiss, she pulled the mic over to her. “A definite YES!” she told the crowd as we clapped and cheered the happy “perfect couple.”

[Moobaby214]

Troy, Thank you for your live review. We board on the 17th and appreciate all that you have been posting. :)

[troyphoto]

Probably no update today.

 

I've managed to pick up a head cold (as has another CCer) - so I'm going to take it easy and watch the ocean go by... and nap. There's definitely a nap in my future.

[bs209438]

Hope you feel better soon!

[OC SeaPA]

Hope you feel better! I've just discovered your thread. Will be on the next cruise (1/10) along with some others, so please leave some booze for us. Better get back into practice to avoid the hang-over gnome! Definitely need to do a pub crawl on our cruise!

[Blizzard54]

Hope you feel better! I've just discovered your thread. Will be on the next cruise (1/10) along with some others, so please leave some booze for us. Better get back into practice to avoid the hang-over gnome! Definitely need to do a pub crawl on our cruise!

 

I agree with the pub crawl. We can make the plans tomorrow.

[troyphoto]

Those coming in the next few weeks... be sure to pack warmer clothing for sea days.

 

I had to put on what LAers would consider a winter jacket for my nap on a deck chair on deck seven - I already had a turtleneck shirt, a fleece pullover, and long pants on.

 

That wind was darn chilly on sea days.

[Blizzard54]

Those coming in the next few weeks... be sure to pack warmer clothing for sea days.

 

I had to put on what LAers would consider a winter jacket for my nap on a deck chair on deck seven - I already had a turtleneck shirt, a fleece pullover, and long pants on.

 

That wind was darn chilly on sea days.

 

If you are heading home right after your cruise you will find out what chilly is.:eek:

[G-DawgMN]

Thank you for your live review! We are on this cruise in 3 weeks. I am hoping it warms up a little bit when we go :)

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!!

[3kidsncats]

Great LIVE review Troy!! It was wonderful to meet you and your lovely wife, and enjoy some good conversation along with all of those drinks!! I'm going to have to track down a recipe for that Lavender Patch Martini.

 

Love the group shot from the pub crawl -- would you be ok with sharing a printable quality version with the group? I know I would love to have a copy for my scrapbook :-)

[mianmike]

Great LIVE review Troy!! It was wonderful to meet you and your lovely wife, and enjoy some good conversation along with all of those drinks!! I'm going to have to track down a recipe for that Lavender Patch Martini.

 

Love the group shot from the pub crawl -- would you be ok with sharing a printable quality version with the group? I know I would love to have a copy for my scrapbook :-)

 

Ditto! Mia and I love that photo!

[troyphoto]

Great LIVE review Troy!! It was wonderful to meet you and your lovely wife, and enjoy some good conversation along with all of those drinks!! I'm going to have to track down a recipe for that Lavender Patch Martini.

 

Love the group shot from the pub crawl -- would you be ok with sharing a printable quality version with the group? I know I would love to have a copy for my scrapbook :-)

 

I'd be happy to post a high res image for the group on FB, folks can grab it from there in a day or two.

 

Until then, I'm struggling with my head cold (still) - flying 4+ hours with a cold is never fun... oh, and Indiana got ice, then snow, and tonight/tomorrow, we get another 2-4 inches of snow.

 

I miss California already!:D

[Mikel1733]

Those coming in the next few weeks... be sure to pack warmer clothing for sea days.

 

I had to put on what LAers would consider a winter jacket for my nap on a deck chair on deck seven - I already had a turtleneck shirt, a fleece pullover, and long pants on.

 

That wind was darn chilly on sea days.

 

Was it warm once you got to Cabo?

[3kidsncats]

Hope you are feeling better soon, Troy. California definitely has some weather advantages ;-)

[3kidsncats]

Was it warm once you got to Cabo?

 

It was hot at all three ports -- so you need a layering plan for the wardrobe :)