Halloween-dam cruise! Let the good times roll!!

[bepsf]

Grumpy--thanks for checking in with us!

 

Apparently, Scotty and his gal-pal Dawn were upgraded to a suite too...

...and he saw a friend of ours from the Noordam inaugural aboard, Mark whatsisname (the former CD/Ship historian) from Baltimore.

 

Sorry you had such trouble getting dinner seatings arranged, Pinnacle dinners, etc.* That's a big pain when another group is given priority - but sounds like you're making the best of it.

 

Cant wait to see the pix!

:D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Grumpy, Thanks so much for checking in. Sounds like a good time is being had by all:D Can't wait to see the pictures.:eek: :)

[Copper10-8]

Grumpmeister; thanks for the report and great to hear everyone is having a good time and no one is having to be bailed out of jail yet;)

 

Two quick questions if you don't mind: what kind of group is/who are the "Chumley Bears" (if you know)? And is Lisa's good friend and favorite captain, "smilin' Jack" the master of the Westerdam?

[tootiesmom]

Thanks Grumpy for the info ! We'll be leaving for Ft Lauderdale on Saturday the 11th and cruising the Westerdam on Sunday the 12th. Hope you get to post more (especially about Tortola) when you get home and before we leave........selfish huh :o

 

tootiesmom

[Oceanwench]

Grumpmeister; thanks for the report and great to hear everyone is having a good time and no one is having to be bailed out of jail yet;)

 

Two quick questions if you don't mind: what kind of group is/who are the "Chumley Bears" (if you know)? And is Lisa's good friend and favorite captain, "smilin' Jack" the master of the Westerdam?

 

 

I googled Chumley Bears and found this:

 

Welcome to Chumley's BearCruises, the original and finest Bear group vacations!

 

Designed for Bears and the Bear-friendly, we welcome you to do as much - or as little - as you'd like. Travel with the warmest men from all over, generally we have representation from more than 35 states - and quite a few countries!

 

Being a member of a huge group of hot men means you are able to be yourself and still save hundreds of dollars compared to 'all-gay' cruises, and without feeling like you are trapped at sea in a twink bar!

 

Not a typical 'bear run', we offer a full week for you to make friendships that will last a lifetime - and all without the pervasive sleaze and tackiness that so often accompany similar events.

[Copper10-8]

Thank you Miss Wench;) Learned something new!

[HeatherInFlorida]

I Googled Chumley Bears, too, and it looks like my first info was correct and this is the group that raised such a commotion on a recent RCI cruise? Not sure, but I don't think it's not the "cuddly" bears that our CC group were talking about.

 

Grumpy, so great to hear from you and know that you're all still alive and kicking. It is too bad that the larger group is getting so much preferential treatment, but I guess it's to be expected.

 

That is so wonderful that one of your group won the costume prize! I hope the winner will 'fess up. Can't wait to see pix!

 

Thanks again for checking in!

[KathieKata]

Great CHECK-IN Grumpy.......give my love to Slinkie!!:D

[bepsf]

"Bear" is a slang term that generally*refers to a plus-sized, hirsute gay man - typically one that rejects the "gay standard" lifestyle that can include working out in gyms, driving expensive foreign cars being clean-shaven and wearing stylish clothing - generally preferring to drink beer, watch football, drive pickups and wear flannel shirts & ball caps in the company of other "Bears".

 

Often they are also seen in the company of "Cubs" (hirsute, but normal-sized/slim) and "Otters" (not so hairy...), but all in the same league as far as not conforming to the "gay standard".

 

Chumley is a "Bear" who also happens to be a Travel Agent in the Fort Lauderdale area who organizes group cruises and vacations.

 

Yes, these are the Bears that the CC group was referring to...

;)

[Ziggy7]

Hi Everyone!!! We are having a wonderful time!!!!

 

Most nights the Asst. Cruise Director Frankie, hangs out with us in the clubs and takes care of us!!!! We have had a 99 percent particiopation is the scheduled activities.

 

Last night the Hal-O-Ween party was a blast!!!!! Boy do I have some great pictures to share with you!!!! Internet is too slow to post tonight I guess I need to down size them more so I will try and post tomorrow night!!!

 

Janice , Rita, Maggie, Ginny, and most of the others are terrorizing the Bears LOL Oh and anything you hear about me isnt true :) hehee

 

Today my DH , Daughters, and I went swimming with the dolphins! Sir Scott & Dawn were also in our group, we had the time of our life!!!!

 

I downloaded all your post and will sign off to read them then I will try and post again tonight :)

 

I just recieved a special inite from Franikie to the group to join him tonight in the disco, so I hope I can still post later hehehehe.

 

Everyone says hello and they all have special pictures to post for you all later!!!

 

We miss you all and will you were here!!!!

 

Hugs!!!!!

[HeatherInFlorida]

So great to hear from you, Ziggy!!!!:D And I'm so happy a good time is being had by everyone.

 

Have to say I'm still confused about the "Bears". Thanks, Brian, for your explanation and it helps. But my confusion lies with which "Bear" group this is. Our group told me that they believed the "Bears" on the cruise represented stuffed bears (as in for children, cuddly bears), but maybe I completely misunderstood. Heaven knows it wouldn't be the first time!!!

 

Doesn't matter! As long as everyone is having fun:D .

[hammybee]

Have to say I'm still confused about the "Bears". Thanks, Brian, for your explanation and it helps. But my confusion lies with which "Bear" group this is. Our group told me that they believed the "Bears" on the cruise represented stuffed bears (as in for children, cuddly bears), but maybe I completely misunderstood. Heaven knows it wouldn't be the first time!!!

 

Doesn't matter! As long as everyone is having fun:D .

 

Oh Heather, this is so funny. I knew who they were right off the bat. DH fits the physical profile and it's one of his many nicknames. :)

[hammybee]

[quote name=Grumpy1

 

Today is Tortola' date=' arrival at 2p and sailing at 10. Good planning! There was a time change last night so everyone lost an hour's sleep, in addition to the laght night parties. [/size]

 

Thank you Grumpy and Ziggy for checking in with us. I so do wish I could have joined you.

 

I left the quote in hopes that we can commit this to memory so that the next time an OP asks about HAL time versus port time, we remember the golden rule, "HAL time is port time". Many islands in the Caribbean do not observe DST, so the time changes are only apparent when the eastern seabord has switched to DST.

 

Thanks again for posting and I look forward to all the pix. I want to see those cabin doors and slippers.

[gizmo]

 

Have to say I'm still confused about the "Bears". Thanks, Brian, for your explanation and it helps. But my confusion lies with which "Bear" group this is. Our group told me that they believed the "Bears" on the cruise represented stuffed bears (as in for children, cuddly bears), but maybe I completely misunderstood. Heaven knows it wouldn't be the first time!!!

 

 

Maybe you did misunderstand or maybe someone was pulling your leg. :D

 

I looked at some old posts, since I recalled this group of "bears" being mentioned before.

 

I think Stanford'sGirl was on a cruise with them before and Renorita knew who they were.

[crystal808]

Good morning to all from St. Maarten:

 

Docked right about 7 am, and folks are a-scatterin'. Docked next to us is the Majesty of the Seas, and I'm at the mid-ship Lido where the connection seems to be a bit better today.

 

Just to reiterate: The Bears aboard are definitely NOT the stuffed animal type...real, live, honest-to-Goodness bears. ;) For the most part, very well-behaved, friendly, and very nice bears, at that. There has been some mention of an incident or two around the aft Lido pool where beverages have been "dangerously" close to the water. A no-no, and I think all has been made clear....

 

We sail at 5pm for our cruise to Half Moon Cay, with a sea day to get there. Gotta love them sea days!

 

Everyone aboard seems to be having a wonderful time; the CCers are also being well-behaved (for the most part!)...yours truly, included, of course....

 

Thanks go to Deb/Ziggie for her efforts in making sure all is well, and right for the CCers. Pinnacle Debacle aside, things have been smooth sailing.

 

Paul

who hasn't missed a party yet! :D

 

P.S.: To be sure, it's safe to say that the Crow's Nest Halloween Party probably set a record for number of drinks served, and hours of fun! I heard, but did not witness, that the party, which was moved to the disco, went on until 6 AM the following morning...again, not this CCer!!!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Paul, so good to hear from you and I'm so glad you're all having such a good time. You're all going to need a vacation from your vacation when you return!

 

Glad the "bear" thing has been cleared up for dumb me:o . In my posts I was trying to be delicate (unusual for me, I know). I was told by a specific individual (who hall remain nameless to protect their innocence) that the "Bear" group on this cruise was one that had gotten a little carried away just a few weeks ago on an RCI cruise.

 

But when I mentioned this to a couple of our CC'ers, they assured me that this was not that group at all, but rather bears of a "cuddly" variety. My misunderstanding came at that point when I assumed they meant "stuffed bears":D .... which takes us back to "never assume";) .

 

Halloweeners, keep having an amazing time! I can't wait for more reviews and pictures when you return (if not sooner):D .

[Copper10-8]

"Bear" is a slang term that generally*refers to a plus-sized, hirsute gay man - typically one that rejects the "gay standard" lifestyle that can include working out in gyms, driving expensive foreign cars being clean-shaven and wearing stylish clothing - generally preferring to drink beer, watch football, drive pickups and wear flannel shirts & ball caps in the company of other "Bears".

 

Often they are also seen in the company of "Cubs" (hirsute, but normal-sized/slim) and "Otters" (not so hairy...), but all in the same league as far as not conforming to the "gay standard".

 

Chumley is a "Bear" who also happens to be a Travel Agent in the Fort Lauderdale area who organizes group cruises and vacations.

 

Yes, these are the Bears that the CC group was referring to...

;)

 

Hey Brian, thanks for the education! - Good stuff! Ben Stiller playing basketball against that hairy sweaty guy in " Along came Polly" comes to mind :D

[crystal808]

Just another quick update:

 

Passing by the mid Lido pool toward the Crow's Nest for our 45 minute cocktail party, sponsored by HAL (!) :eek: :D and thought I'd check things out....

 

Hot hors d'oeuvres: Last 2 nights I've been by the Ocean Bar before 8 pm dinner, a small plate of 3 hors d'oeuvres was brought to me; we are supposed to have them as well at our cocktail party in a while....

 

True to form, Slinky has found some "bargains" ashore; last seen heading back to shore for round two....(!)

 

A beautiful, warm (okay, hot in the sun) day at St. Maarten, and sailaway is at 5pm, during our party. A long sea day heading to HMC; hope the weather holds up and it's all a "go" for Saturday....

 

Good day to all!

 

Paul

[hammybee]

P.S.: To be sure, it's safe to say that the Crow's Nest Halloween Party probably set a record for number of drinks served, and hours of fun! I heard, but did not witness, that the party, which was moved to the disco, went on until 6 AM the following morning...again, not this CCer!!!

 

This is easy to understand. You are at sea. You can sleep late. Many are in costume. The Bears are are playing. It does not get any better than this but I have to confess, it's been a long time since I pulled an all nighter, anywhere. :)

[AAAAmerican]

And to think we used to go Bear Hunting on our Mountains. Yes we own them.

 

In NJ now the Gov. Jon Corzine is not going to allow the Bear hunt this year.

 

But yet the bear packs and numbers are becoming non-manageable and hurting babies and small animals... looking for food here, mostly you have the Black Bear.

 

Newark, NJ has the minor baseball league Newark Bears...

 

Boston, MA does have the Boston Bruins...

[HeatherInFlorida]

Paul, I think the weather will be beautiful at HMC by Saturday. It is not nice in the Bahamas today (or here either for that matter) ... lots of rain.

 

But they predict magnificent weather for the weekend so hopefully that will be so for you, too!

 

Enjoy your last couple of days!!!

 

[Williebill]

I hope all of the CC'ers are enjoying the Westerdam as much as my DW and I did on our Alaskan cruise last May. Have a great time for the remainder of your cruise.

[bepsf]

Westerdam apparently has the new wireless service now.

 

Scotty just called me from the ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean (sailing from St Maartin tonite) - he said his phone suddenly beeped and he had 5 bars!

[Copper10-8]

Is the weenie cruise a seven dayer?

[crystal808]

...and a lot of us did the "Walk for the Cure" this morning. Yours truly managed one mile + one lap. Had foot surgery last month and wasn't gonna push it. I think I had the milestone of the slowest lap. However, I was there to make the rest of the group feel good about their pacing. Hey, someone had to do it! :D

 

Yes, apparently they had been working on cell phone tower here, and the guys doing it left the ship in St. Maarten yesterday afternoon before sailing. It hasn't been "announced" that the service is up and running, but, apparently, it is....

 

Even one more "hors d'oeuvres" explanation: At the Ocean Bar last evening, I looked at the Bar Book, and the first page lists the appetizers offered for the day...3 of them. I chose one of the three and was served a little plate with about 5 or 6 crab-stuffed mushrooms. Went really nicely with my split of champagne...;)

 

Tonight's our last formal night; we were told of a time change at the end of our dinner last night. Upper main is 8:15, tonight only. Our Daily newsletter lists both upper seatings, and no lower seatings. Don't know if the Bears and the Hairdressers are filling the lower level for both seatings or not, but it appears that it's likely. I may hear more about that later....

 

Poor Grumpy. Slinky, indeed, came dressed to dinner wearing her new topaz jewelry. Slinky looked marvelous, and happy. Grumpy looked, well...like Grumpy! :)

 

It's nice to have this sea day before HMC tomorrow, but will make tomorrow's day rather hectic: Party all day at HMC (yellow cabana for me!), then come back and have to pack. Sheesh.

 

No doubt a few more CCers may post later on.... Thanks for all the well-wishes!

 

Smooth sailing to all...

Paul