Go to the following links to see and expereince our trip!
Click this! ---> The Pictures!
Click this! ---> The Videos!
Enjoy!
-J&B
Click this! ---> The Pictures!
Click this! ---> The Videos!
Enjoy!
-J&B
Go to the following links to see and expereince our trip!
Click this! ---> The Pictures! Click this! ---> The Videos! Enjoy! -J&B
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Seattle, WA
Yay! Another day of sleeping in! Brandi and I woke up around 10am I think. We packed, went downstairs, checked out, checked out luggage with the Bell Boy, and then walked to the Pike Place Market again. This time, we were going to meet everyone for lunch. We were early to the market so we walked around and purchased some more items. We got a couple of pieces of art, $7 each. :) We also got some fresh raspberries, dried peaches and some fresh cherries. The cherries are really yummy. We met our group for lunch at the Pike Brewing Company and ate lunch. We had one of the tastiest appetizers I have ever had. It was artichoke and crabmeat dip with pita bread slices...wow... Remember what I wrote earlier about FRESH fish? Yeah...this qualifed. I am afraid to try to have this anywhere else in fear that it won’t taste as good. Lunch was a lot of fun, but bittersweet. It was time to say goodbye. Our flight was leaving earlier than everyone elses and we had to go. We said our goodbyes, promised that we’d be in touch via facebook an email, and then we took a cab to the hotel to get our luggage. Cindy and Rob, friends from XBOX Live who live in Seattle, took us to the airport. That was realyy nice of them. We had a nice scare at the security checkpoint in the airport. The guy who went through the beeper before us had knee replacement. He beeped. The TSA representative had him wait for another TSA guy before he could let more people through security. We waited at the entrance to beeper arch for about 1 minute while that other TSA guy finally arrived. Once he arrived, the first TSA guy waved us through and we picked up our 2 bags from the X-Ray counter...wait a minute...2 bags? There should be 3! Where’s the 3rd bag!? I flagged down a TSA rep and let him know that I had a bag missing. I described it. He said he would have to look at the video and then I would have to talk to the police. I gave him a, what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about-just-find-my-bag-now look. He said that he was sorry and that that was procedure. I was pissed. Then...miraculously, looking to my left, around 6 feet away, nowhere near our other 2 bags, there it was...on the ground, and under the X-Ray roller system. WHAT!? WHO TOUCHES AND MOVES OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGS!? We grabbed it and went on our way. I was still stewing inside that it seemed that the TSA guy didn’t give a darn about our STOLEN bag at the baggage claim. Eventually, I calmed down...but the whole experience still leaves me angry. Then we went to the News Store. Brandi took FOREVER to figure out which Michael Jackson inspired tabloid she wanted. She stood in line, then got out of line to look at another, then got in line, then got back out of line. She did this 1 more time...Since I was still a bit peeved about the whole TSA “security” issue, I was NOT in the mood to wait for Brandi to pick out a magazine. She settled on 2 different ones. At least she narrowed it down! We went to gate, waited for about 45 minutes. She read, I wrote. Then we boarded the plane. I blogged on the plane and she did some more reading. While it may seem to you that I spent a lot of this time blogging, take a look at how much I’ve written over the last 8 days. I have the feeling it’s a lot. The plane landed safely and my mom picked us up at the airport and wanted to hear all about the trip. We were tired, but did our best to giver her some of the highlights... We unpacked and hit the hay. It was a very memorable trip. We plan on doing it again someday. -J&B Seattle, WA
Our head waiter, Rakesh, ROCKED! He told us last night that we can get off the ship anytime after our color has been called. All luggage is color coded. Brandi and I had no idea that was true! So...we all met in the dining room for breakfast at 8am and had a last big breakfast together. It was good and we were sad to get off the ship for the last time. Finding our luggage was not difficult at all. We found our bags, exited the most “whatever” customs known to man, and met at the shuttle waiting area. Seriously, now I know that the only foreign country that we visited was Canada, but the customs officers could at least LOOK at our passports to make sure we are who we are...but no. you held up your passport, and before you could opon it, they waved you through. Nice security there US customs. In contrast, when we entered the US after being in Mexico and the Caribbean, not only did they open and look at the passports, they asked us questions about our purchases and such. That’s what we expected. So we were waiting for the shuttle...and waiting...and wiating ...and then we finally found out that some Indian family took our vans! What!? Were we offered a discount because we were waiting? NO! They didn’t even apologize. They just got us another 2 shuttle vans...sorta. They got us ONE shuttle van and then we just started loading up our stuff into ANOTHER shuttle van because it was time that we left the port in our opinion. In the words of our shuttle driver, “They are so disorganized.” We concur. We got to Westin. Holy crap that hotel is awesome! I will try to stay at the Westin again for sure. We checked in, went to our rooms, and then 30 minutes later, met in the lobby to go to lunch at the Space Needle. Ok...get this...to get to the Space Needle from downtown, you get to take the MONORAIL! AWESOME! It cost only $4 for a roundtrip ticket. the monorail has 2 stops. Downtown and the Space Needle. Both the monorail and the Space Needle were contructed for the 1962 World’s Fair. Neato! We had lunch in the Space Needle’s restaurant. The prices were a little expensive, but it included access to the observation deck, so it works out that the prices are reasonable as long as you want to go to the observation deck...which we did. The restaurant rotates. 1 full rotoation every 47 minutes. Each table is located along the wall with a spectacular view of the city. Totally cool. I have Space Needle envy now. Brandi and I read as much as we could about the Space Needle on the observation deck and that prompted me to purchase a book in the gift shop. Did you know that the motor that turns the retaurant is only 1.5 hp and that it took $4.5M in 1962 to build the Space Needle and it made ALL of that money back in only 18 months! Talk about a great investment! Brandi and I took the monorail back to the hotel, said goodbye to Shpuck’s mom because we weren’t going to see her again, and then Brandi went to a blown glass art gallery and I went to the room for a nap. She got back a little earlier than I expected and played some solitaire on her iPhone. I tried to nap a little longer and then it was 5:15pm...time to get ready to meet the group in the lobby, I thought we were a little late to the lobby, but we were right on time. Earlier, I asked the hotel concierge the best way to get to Safeco Field, and he gave me a little map and told me about “the tunnel.” I was thinking, “What tunnel? There’s a tunnel? What is he talking about ‘tunnel?’” So...Seattle is VERY cool. There is a public transit tunnel system that runs BENEATH the city. It runs for FREE most of the time! There used to be a trolly system down there, but the trolleys were replaced with Hybrid-Electric busses. It was AWESOME! It took us from 3 blocks away from our hotel to 5 blocks away from the Stadium...and it was FREE! Safeco field is beautiful and the fans were great! It was easy to find our seats and the traffic flowed well after the game. I wish the Mariners would’ve won, but we had a really good time anyway. We started walking back to the tunnel station entrance and it was closed. I guess it doesn’t run after 7 pm...so some people took a taxi back to the hotel and some of us decided to walk. It was a 1 mile walk, up hill, at 10 at night. We made it, but it made us very tired. Once back in the room, our heads hit the pillows and we were OUT! Not sleepless in Seattle at all... Victoria, BC
We slept in today...for real. You know...that’s something we’ve noticed about the Alaskan cruise, it’s much more laid back than the every minute party that is the Caribbean cruise. While this does ad some downtime, it also gives your body a chancye to recharge. Give and take I guess. SHOUT OUT! Last night, we left a message at the Purser’s desk for the Cruise Director to give a shoutout to Aubrey in the morning on the Morning Show...Some wires got crossed. Instead of, “Congratulations Dr. White on your doctorate from the other Dr. White.” It was, “To Jesse Shapiro and Jason White: Hey guys! What’s up!?” It was funny...and Aubrey laughed too...so all is good. Soooo.... Right before Brandi and I went to the Windjammer for breakfast, we called Shpuck and Aubrey to see if they wanted to go. They said, “Sure! See you there.” We got up there around 10:45 and Shpuck and Aubrey showed up at around 11. Shpuck was disappointed that it was still breakfast. I laughed. I told him if he ate slow enough, he could have lunch in about 30 minutes or so. He was not amused. The 4 of us decided that Victoria would be the one port with NO Royal Caribbean excursions. We would just walk around and look at stuff. Fine with me. We wanted to start to save a couple of bucks and wanted to take it easy anyway. We took the shuttle downtown and started walking around. We eventually made it to the waterfront where we agreed to get tickets for a little ferry service that toured the harbour and offered historical information. It was also inexpensive and we didn’t have to walk. 2 major plusses. We purchased our ferry tickets and then were told we had a 20 minute wait until the next ferry. During the wait we went up the wharf a bit and found a street performer/juggler/comedian guy. I was chosen to be a helper along with another dude from our cruise. Cool. Brandi got some cool video and then it was time to grab our ferry. We took the ferry around the harbour and decided to get off at Fisherman’s Wharf. Don’t think that that’s a gran area the size of Pier 39 in San Francisco. Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria is about the size of well...4 businesses. We patronized one of them and Jesse had, for the VERY FIRST TIME...Fish and Chips. Not ANY fish and chips. Halibut from the Pacific Ocean. It was quite tasty. Footnote: Jesse has now had 2 servings of fresh fish on the trip and enjoyed both. For those of you who aren’t familiar with my (Jesse) diet, I don’t eat seafood...except tuna fish from a can. It was the first time I had real fish, and it was good. I would have it again, if it was fresh, from the ocean. That’s the rule from now on. No fish from fish farms for me. I want the fish that were plucked from their home in the sea and slapped on my plate. I’m serious. After our very yummy meal, a seal in the harbour was dicovered...just hanging out under the water looking up and posing for the tourists. Most likely, he was looking for food...but I prefer the “he was just posing for pictures” story. We decided that instead of taking the water ferry back to the main wharf, we would walk to the next ferry station and THEN take the ferry back. It was a nice stroll along the waterfront. We hopped on the next water taxi and headed to Parliament. Cool! Parliament is open for visitors. You can take pictures, walk around the first 2 floors, go to the bathroom, pick your nose, and even pass gas...just no talking too loud. After the stop at Parliament, we looked at our watches and decided it was time to make it back to the shuttle top downtown. On the way, we had to get some souvenirs. By the way...we got souvenirs EVERYWHERE! Yay! We took the shuttle back to the pier and got back on board right before the ship was to leave port. Perfect timing! Brandi went to the room and I went to the Centrum to write some blog stuffs. The jazz trio l like was there. Nice... After some writing, I went back to the room, got ready for dinner and then we went to the farewell show. That’s always the best how of the cruise because it has a little of everything...including Los Ponchos Gauchos. Seriously...totally awesome...highly recommended entertainment. They are also the group called, “Flourescence.” Great show all around! Then dinner...our last one. So....it had to be good...and LARGE! Brandi and I had 2 servings of Royal Caribbean’s spinich artichoke dip with fried tortilla chips. Brandi started her main course with a NY strip steak as did I, but it wasn’t very good...so we switched to the top sirloin. Yup...that’s how it works...you don’t likw what they bring? Have them bring you something else! I saw that Pam was eating a cheese calzone so I told Edi, our waiter, that I wanted one of those. So he brought me one. For dessert, Brandi had some chocolate cake and I had some vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Whew! What a meal! Oh...how could I forget, Aubrey was brought a graduation, celebration mousse cake and took a bite and then it ended up on Shpuck’s plate. I bet him $1 he couldn’t eat in one bite. His mom threw in another $5 and Slick threw in $1 as well...Shpuck failed. It’s fun to make Shpuck to embarrassing things. Once dinner was completed, we went to the photo gallery to make a final ruling on which pictures we would buy, we purchased 3 more and then Brandi went to bed and I went to the casino to see if I could make some money back... ...I did make some money back...but apparently, for Brandi, it wasn’t enough. She said, “Next time. Be up by $500 or don’t come back.” She smiled. I laughed. Then we collapsed. Sleepytime. At Sea
Today, we got to sleep in, which was really awesome! We got up leisurely and Brandi went to work out while I blogged in the Centrum. After Brandi and I were done doing our individual things, we met up and got ready for lunch. We met Shpuck and Aubrey in the Windjammer and ate lunch. Mmmmm...the ginger noodles we great! After lunch, it was time to check out the shops on board. I bought a couple of T-shirts (2 for $30) and a magnet. Clap for magnets! After shopping, it was time for some Team Trivia. Once again, we didn’t win. And then we had Name that TV Tune trivia. We did OK. There were too many questions about shows on the WB, Does anyone watch that network? I guess so...not us though. We took our loss, and then went to the Battle of the Sexes game show. To put it simply...It was the Family Feud with guys vs. girls. The girls were kicking the guys’ ass until the lightning round...which involved very little lightning. There were 5 members per team. Each team member was given a piece of paper and told they had 20 seconds to make a paper airplane. The person’s who airplane went further got the points. Each one of the guy’s paper airplanes went farther than the women’s. The guys won! YAY! Brandi and I split up for the next event. I went to play in the adult Wii Tennis Tournament and Brandi played some bingo. Wow is there a story during bingo... I tied for 3rd in the Wii Tennis Tournament and then made my way to the bingo room...and everyone was laughing hysterically. Here’s why, Travis, one of the Entertainment Staff left the bingo floor to go to the bathroom. He went, zipped up his pants, washed his hands and came back into the main hall with everyone laughing at him. Why you ask? Well...because he had his microphone on! For the whole peeing procedure! HAHAHAHA! After that, he had the nickname, “Whiz Kid.” Very funny. We had some time to kill so we went to the Moonlight Bay Lounge to see if we could add to the completion of the puzzle. I wasn’t any help and neither was Brandi. Slick (Doug) was able to place over 10 pieces! The puzzle was a 1500 piece puzzle with half of it just being blue sky. I had no patience for a puzzle with just a bunch of blue pieces...that were all shaped the SAME! Ugh! Rumor has it that the last cruise finished the puzzle. I don’t think we did... After messing with the puzzle for far too long as far as I’m concerned, we went to trivia. We weren’t doing to well...Shpuck entered late and offered up Lithium. Thanks Shpuck! Aubrey wasn’t feeling well so we all visited her in her room...about 8 of us I suspect. As you have probably seen, the rooms are a little small so it was funny...we sorta just took over Aubs’ room. We woke her up and told her that we were all going to look at pictures. That was fun...and then we made our way to the Broadway Melodies Theatre for this evening’s show, Ballroom Dancing...It was fun and good. After that, Brandi and I went back to the room to get ready for dinner. I was ready before her so I went to the casino and lost $25. Darn. Then I ate a little more at dinner...I’d say $25 worth or so. :) Tonight was one of my most favorite nights...THE QUEST! The Quest, if you haven’t read any of my blogs before, is like an adult scavenger hunt with everything happening in one room. It is one of the most memorable nights of any cruise. Our cruise director, Keith, did things differently than our previous cruise directors. Instead of the room being broken up by sections, we created our own little groups. Instead of 10 teams or so, we had 25. So it was a little more personal of a game and our group had a fantastic time! Slick and Pam carried our team. After The Quest, Brandi and I went to the Centrum to enjoy some Big Band music and eat some tasty snacks. The name of the evening was called, “Big Band and Bites.” We didn’t stay too long...we were sorta tired. Back to the room we headed...to sleep. Tracy Arm Fjord
So...before we got the Cruise Compass yesterday, that’s the document that lets us know what’s going on each day, we thought, “All right! Tomorrow we’re at sea and we can totally sleep in.” That was not the case. We were told at dinner last night, as well as reminded by staff, that we should be up at 5am to see all the good glacier stuff in the morning. That’s a little early....but we did it anyway. We set the alarm and woke up at 5am as advertised and headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge. That’s the highest point on the ship...and inside. Waiting for us was Shpuck and Aubrey right at the window. The view that morning were breathtaking. Oh...and while we were inside, many passengers were outside on the deck, in the very cold wind. HAHAHAHAHA! Well...eventually I was able to coax Brandi to go outside. She had her jacket and I told her it wasn’t too bad. I had already been outside to go get us some Breakfast snacks at 6am. She didn’t believe me at first due to the fact that some of the crew had to fold up a bunch of deck chairs because mother nature had them racing down the deck because of the wind. We took pictures while in the Fjord (Fee-yord) until around 8:45 am. Then Brandi went back to the room to take a nap while I went to the Solarium hot tub with Shpuck and Aubrey. I went back to the room and took a small nap and then woke at 10:45 so we could go to the bow and try to see some whales. Let me just add at this point that the WHOLE day we were exhausted! But it was worth it, despite the fact that we didn’t see any whales, but Brandi and I still enjoyed sitting at the bow talking in the sun and looking at the beautiful scenery. It was also MUCH warmer at 11am. Short sleeve shirts is all you needed now...not 3 layers. We met up with Shpuck, Aubrey, Pam, Slick, Michelle and Shelly for lunch in the dining room. It was our first lunch there. WOW! Awesome salad bar! Great sandwich! And, unfortunately for the guy at the table next to us, some interesting entertainment. We overheard a passenger talking and heard him say something like, “Yeah. It really hurts when I press there.” Then we heard a doctor say, “Your appendix may be about to burst.” Wow... This ship is the smallest ship that Brandi and I have been on and there is no helipad. We saw a boat come up along side and take that lunch patron off the ship and presumably to a hospital. I hope he was able to eat his salad first. It was really good. :) After the meal, we went back to the Shall We Dance Lounge for the “Finish That Lyric Game Show!” FUN! It was very similar to “Don’t Forget The Lyrics” hosted by Wayne Brady on TV. Every song chosen was a song that most people know, so it really kept the audience involved. Brandi and I had a good time as the rest of our group left 15 minutes in to go play some afternoon trivia. They didn’t do so well. Anyway...The finals was a guy from Fresno vs. a girl from San Francisco! HA! The girl won on a Eurythmics question. She took home a lot of Royal Caribbean swag. Good for her! After the Lyrics game show, Brandi and I met up with Shpuck and Aubrey. Then...Brandi went to play some Bingo and I went with Shpuck and Aubrey to the Solarium to get some ice cream...Refreshing! Then I met Brandi at Bingo and she gave me the grim news...she didn’t win again...That makes me sad. I played some pull tabs and won $15! But I spent $25. So I took my $15 and went to the casino and turned it into $25. Yay! I broke even! Brandi and I went back to the room. She took ANOTHER nap and I went to the Centrum to blog. Seriously...writing this thing every day takes a lot of time...but I have a lot of fun doing it! I met Brandi back at the room. We got ready for the show. Glen Smith. Talented, Vegas style piano player entertainer. And he was lots of fun. After the show, we headed quickly to the Movie Tune Trivia at the Shall We Dance Lounge. Ummm...WE ROCKED! 15 out of 15! We finally won! And we got some cool canvas backpacky things. YAY! After our smashing win, we headed out to take some pictures and then to dinner. It was formal night so we looked really good and it was lobster night. Brandi and I had Thai BBQ Chicken. That was good. Show time! Love and Marriage game show! Still one of the funniest hours on the high seas! We didn’t even have to move from our seats because the comedian from the first night, Brian Bruner, had his late night show. If you have the opportunity to see this guy at a club or something, HE IS VERY FUNNY! We got up at 5am. We went to bed at 12:30am. LONG DAY. Time for some sleep and REALLY sleep in this time. We looked at the advance copy of the Cruise Compass and learned that we can sleep in all we want and not have to worry about being anywhere in the morning. YAY! The lights were turned off and we checked out 4 seconds later. zzzzzzzzzzz -J&B Skagway, AK
What time did we get up today? 6am! I thought we were on vacation! Ugh! The reason for the early start is because we have 2 excursions today. The first one is a the White Pass Train that takes you up the famous White Pass trail and then we go biking down. The 2nd is a visit to Liarsville where we will indulge in Alaskan Baked Salmon, Gold Rush Camp and goofy saloon show. After our daily breakfast visit to the Windjammer, we exited the ship and went to the pier. It was now 7:15am. We were the first of our group to arrive, but that didn’t matter. The rest trickled in and then all 12 of us were there and ready to catch our train and learn more about Alaska! The train took us up the trail and we heard lots of stories of rockslides, hardship, and death. I bought a DVD and a cap. Good thing too...because, at the time of this writing, I don’t remember much of the stories. We crossed over into Canada and then got off the train and met our bike guides for the 2nd half of the excursion...which was awesome! We rode bikes about 15 miles back to Skagway! Along the way, saw other trains going up the trail, other glaciers and we drank from a waterfall. Yup...it was crisp and clear and refreshing. Ahhhhh... The bike tour finished downtown, which was perfect, because it let us make our way back to the ship and drop off some stuff. Why are we dropping off stuff? BECAUSE IT WAS 87 DEGREES! IN ALASKA! WHAT!? Yes...today was hotter than yesterday and once again, I had a backpack full of extra clothing. Ugh. The walk back to the ship is MUCH easier in Skagway. Only about 1/4 of a mile...and the terrain is flat, unlike the terrain in Juneau which was hilly. So, we headed back to the ship, and while we were in line to get on, Shpuck and Aubrey were coming OFF the ship and they saw us and they said for us NOT to go on the ship because there was a really long line of people getting off the ship and we’d never make it back in time to catch the bus to the salmon bake. Given the new information, we turned around and went to the guyu holding the clipboard for “Gold Rush Camp and Salmon Bake.” Guess I’ll tote that backpack around a little more. Salmon bake. Liarsville. ate Salmon first time. GREAT! I think it was the sauce. Shopping in Skagway. Solarium to wind down. Great idea Brandi! Pool and jacuzzi. Firecracker outside. Jazz trio in the Centrum. Dinner Shpuck, at dinner, said, “Look! A waterfall!” and then he whipped out his camera and took a photo. I responded, “Yeah...we drank from one of those.” The wind from his sails as stolen. He laughed. We laughed...and then I took a picture too. :) Sleepytime. We’re going to get up early tomorrow...Ugh. -J&B Juneau, AK
Today we sorta got to sleep in. We both got up and Brandi worked out and I went to the Schooner Bar to update the blog until trivia started. I acually got a lot done, which was really nice. Then...trivia. It was general knowledge trivia today. We did pretty good, but not great. Still...no wins under our belt. After trivia...around 10:30 am, we went to breakfast before we had our excursion that day...Yay our first excusrsion! Breakfast was breakfast. Nothing spectacular to report. Oh...I ate a o lot. But then again...there is food available almost 24 hours a day...so it’s hard NOT to eat a lot! We packed a couple of apples and plums and made our way to the pier to meet up with our excusrsion. What were doing that day you ask? We were going kayaking within close proximity and view of a glacier! Cool! We met our bus and learned a little about Juneau...oh yeah...that’s where we were. Cool huh? Funny that I use the term, “cool.” Because it was FAR from cool...it was hot...not Africa hot, but hot. 82 friggin’ degrees! Everyone we talked to said, “Wear layers!” “Sure it’s the summer, but it will still be cool.” “No...you won’t need shorts.” They were all wrong. Note: Despite the warm weather, it was GREAT! It was just hot because we thought it might be cold. If we were prepared for the heat then all would’ve been good. Once at the glacier, (Sorry, I don’t remember what the name was of the glacier we visited.) we got out of the bus, got our boots, life vest and splash skirt and then claimed our kayaks. Oh yes...we brought along all of those aforementioned layers in a backpack. 1 fleece, 2 jackets, and 1 windbreaker. What we needed...none of those things. The kayaking itself was really neat. We saw a bald eagle, some otters (we think) a waterfall, and of course, a GLACIER! All while kayaking in the OCEAN! It was great and also tired us out pretty good. The sun was shining. We were paddling. And the shore didn’t seem to get much closer when we were heading back to shore. That’s because we were tired and our kayak had rudder pedals that weren’t straight. So, in order to go straight, I had to use the rudder pedals to turn left. It’s had to explain, but in essence, I had to paddle like I was turning in order to go straight, so there was a lot of back on forth. Still...it was an experience I will soon not forget. We got back to shore, were greeted with water and crackers and salami and cheese. Yum! The bus took us back to the center of town...PERFECT! It dropped us off right by the Red Dog Saloon. Time for some pictures and and souvenirs! We walked around the town, bought a couple of items. My favorite shirt? It showed a bunch of hikers and the text said, “Bring a compass. It’s awkward to eat your friends. Juneau, AK.” I regret not buying that shirt. My 2nd favorite shirt? “Juneau, a drinking town with a fishing problem.” Given the number of bars in Juneau, this is an appropriate statement. While walking, Brandi and I were given 2 “Supahstars!” on the street of Juneau from people from the ship. Awesome! We like being celebrities! We decided to walk back to the ship instead of taking the shuttle. Why? Because I wanted the FULL set of 4 Alaska coasters that were being given out by 4 different Juneau shops. The walk back took us past the fourth and final coaster location. Well...because we were walking back to the pier, it was a 1 mile walk, in the heat, after paddling a kayak earlier. Needless to say, that when we got back to the ship, our feet hurt and we were hot and tired. But not tired enough for 70’s Name That Tune trivia! We did ok...well...The other members of my team didn’t know all that much...We got 21 of the 30 questions but lost to a team that got 25 right. Sigh. That evening’s show was called “The Piano Man.” It had singing and dancing to the music of Ray Charles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow and somone else I can’t remember. It was very entertaining. The singers on this trip have a lot of talent. It was Italian night in the dining room tonight. That meant...SINGING WAITERS! *None of whom were from Italy. HA! Personally, I love it when the waiters sing. It was loads of fun! It is now 10:30pm and most of our group is pretty tired. We took some pictures in the Centrum and then Shpuck and Aubrey went to bet. Brandi and I hung out an danced in the Centrum at the 70’s dance party. FUN! We think we’re going to be in the video for this cruise. That would rock. OK...11:30. Time for bed. I almost forgot! Tonight was the night that Brandi, Shpuck, Aubrey and myself agreed to wear our Caribbean shirts. They were a big hit. Probably because we’re all fun people...except Shpuck. :) -J&B Happy Birthday, America!
At Sea Now...just to let everyone know...I am 1 day behind in writing the blog. I will do my best to remember everything that happened today...which is yesterday. Good morning! We slept in and it was GOOD! Brandi went to work our and I started writing the blog until...10AM. TRIVIA TIME! Clap for trivia! We did OK but not spectacular. It was “USA Trivia” and it looks like some of us need to bone up on our American history. We did well...but not well enough to win. Bummer. After that, it was time to try some bingo. They totally changed it. I can’t really explain it, but there wasn’t a B-I-N-G-O across the top of the card. How is that bingo? Well...that didn’t bother the die hards, they played anyway. Brandi and I both played to get it out of our system. Mmmmmm....lunch. Hello Windjammer! I love that place. They have EVERYTHING up there. Pasta, sandwiches, burgers, fries, chicken...then I had, I mean then THEY have, cookies and cake and ice cream, etc. Clap for the Windjammer! This next activity was at Brandi’s request...Samba lessons. 1...ah 2...3...ah 4...5...ah 6...7 and 8. It really was that simple...to say. I thought I was going to have trouble moving my hips. My hips moved fine. Next time, I’ll get them to move to the music. Seriously though, it was an experience I will never forget, and that’s mostly because Brandi took video. HAHAHAHA! After the hip thrusting, it was time for more trivia! Once again...we failed to bring home any prize. I have come to the conclusion that all of the serious trivialites go on the Alaskan cruises. The next event was something I never thought I’d do on a ship...seperate from Brandi and play in a Wii Bowling Tournament. Seriously though...that was a blast! Brandi hung out for the first little bit, but then got bored and and went to play some bingo. Clap...clap...N-G-O! I was doing very well during the qualifying rounds, so well in fact that I qualified for the finals...then I started to suck pretty bad. I came in 4th...didn’t even get a participation award! Oh well...I had fun! And that’s all that matters. Funny note. Elise...my girlfriend on this cruise...(I have one every cruise) said that the 18-20+ Wii Bowling Tournament only had 8 entrants. The Adult Wii Bowling Tournament had 32. Hooray for adults! Soooo...after I was done sucking at Wii Bowling and coming in fourth, I went to see how Brandi was doing at bingo. I got there during the final card...then...out of nowhere...”Bingo! Bingo! Bingo! Bingo! Bingo! Bingo!” It was Shpuck’s mom! She won! And boy was she excited! Well, honestly, I would be excited too. After the “Bingo!” explosion, Brandi and I went to the Solarium and hung out with Shpuck and crew. We ate some food. Note: Royal Caribbean makes the best french fries in the universe. It was still a litle early, but it was a formal night and Brandi was going to need some extra time getting ready for the evening. I got ready quickly and decided that while I was waiting for Brandi, I would go to the casino. Bad idea. I won...but then I lost. Oh well...darn you Casino Royale on the Rhapsody of the Seas! Believe it or not, Brandi was ready a little early. I went back to the room, picked her up, and we went to casino to earn some money back. Instead, we walked around and decided that we’d rather sit in the Centrum and listen to the Jazz Trio. Talented 2 of them are... Yeah...so...mixed feelings on the jazz trio. The drummer and the piano player/bass player: talented. The singer: bad. It’s difficult to put in words, but she is just plain....bad. Which was a bummer, since the other 2 dudes are quite talented. We met up with the rest of the group for pictures at 8pm. They look good. As soon as we took the last picture, Brandi and I went to the watch raffle. We didn’t win. So...time to eat. As always, dinner was superb. After dinner we decided that we would go to the Shall We dance Lounge and watch some Karaoke. Brandi and I were in there 10 seconds and realized that this was not the “fun” type of Karaoke. It was the other type of Karaoke where the people who were getting up to sing were thinking that they were good. We wanted the “let’s have a great time and sing our hearts out because we know that we can’t sing” kinda Karaoke. So we left... ...and went to the Schooner Bar, where it’s always a “5 minute party!” Basically, there’s a guy in the Schooner Bar who plays guitar, sings dirty versions of songs, and picks out people to come up and sing some Karaoke, but he picks the songs. It was getting a little late...almost 11:30 and we were a tad tired. Derek....the Kamikaze Karaoke host, was letting people leave with much hassle...until we tried to leave. I told Brandi we should leave out the back. She said, “No...he’s letting people leave. Let’s just go out the front.” Remember that we were dressed up...a lot. Well...on our way out, Derek said that we had to stop because we looked so cool. We then were forced to entertain the Schooner Bar faithful with our rendition of “Summer Nights” from Grease. Brandi and I actually did pretty well. and in doing so, became, “Superstahs!” It was awesome...because we’re awesome. And now everyone knows it. Sleepy time. -J&B Embarkation Day
We leisurely awoke this morning with 1 plan: to get Brandi a pair of shoes that matched a new dress she had just purchsed. Flashback: July 2 5pm. Brandi tries on a dress that needs some Mootsies Tootsies. She doesn’t have time to get them before we board the plane. She calls a DSW in Seattle. They have them. She puts them on 24hr hold. Flashback to the present. Brandi and I look at the public transit map for Seattle. Looks like it would take 1.5 hours to get to DSW and .5 hours to get back. Yeah...I don’t do buses. Oh yeah! Brandi also needs a handheld mirror for flippin up her hair. We looked in our iPhones to find the nearest pharmacy in order to purchase the mirror near the hotel. We walked to the nearest one, which was about a mile away only to find it closed. On the way there, we passed an Enterprise Rent A Car and inquired about renting a car for the day. It was too expensive, so we stuck with the taxi idea. Anyway, we got to the pharmacy and noticed that it was closed for the July 4th weekend and saw a cab waiting around. We commissioned the cab to take us to Best Buy for binoculars and DSW for Brandi’s shoes. To make a long story short. Those binoculars and shoes cost us the normal price, plus 70 in cab fare. I will say this...Brandi looks SMOKIN’ in that dress that matches those shoes! Oh yes...BONUS! While were in the parking lot for Best Buy, we spotted an Ulta...and they had little handlheld mirrors! YAY! The cab driver was really cool. He didn’t charge us any waiting time! All right! Because we were a little ahead of schedule, we had the cab driver take us to the World Famous Pike Place Market. Hooray for tourists like us! We arrived and it is one of the coolest places ever. The dudes at the the fish place LOVE their job. While we were there, Shpuck texted me some taunts. He was on the ship already! We were told that we wouldn’t be able to get on the ship until 1pm and it was only 11ish! Anyway, we purchased a bag of dried Washington Apple ships and headed back to the hotel which was a little under a mile away. We checked out of the room and grabbed a cab to the port. Ok...so while I was getting out pf the cab, I bumped my face...yes my face...on the door of the taxi. I now have a bruise under my right eye. You may see it in some photos. The embarkation proceedure was very easy. There were hardly any people in line and we got right up onto the ship. As some of you know, there are a lot of us that were going on this cruise...Shpuck, Aubrey, many of their family and friends and Brandi and I. There are 14 of us in total. We met up with them in the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. They had been there for a while already, but were happy to stay little longer and chat with us while we grabbed lunch. After lunch, which was fantastic by the way. The desserts are scrumptious. Yummy yummy. Well...we all went to our rooms to see if our luggage was there. It wasn’t yet. So I was bored. I wanted to explore. I called Shpuck, who was napping, and made him get up so we could walk around and look at our home for the next 7 days. He wasn’t thrilled, but he obliged. One thing we discovered was that this ship was backwards compared to the Mariner, Navigator and Independence. The Windjammer is in the front on the Rhapsody while the fitness spa is aft. Backwards. This has led to some unplanned ship exploring. Time: 3:00pm. I needed to go back to the room and wake Brandi to do the mandatory safety drill. I got to the room and Brandi was in NO MOOD to wake up. In fact...we were supposed to BE at the drill at 3:15. Brandi was still waking up. We were a tad late. She will maintain that we were right on time. We disagree in this area. Either way...the drill was a success and then it was on to the pool area to meet up with everyone else. Why go to the pool? Because it’s a party! There was a raffle and drinks and dancing and tables set up representing the photo people and the spa people and the tux rental people, etc. It was fun. Good band too...Souled Out. Jammin’! After the pool party, we made our way up to the Relaxation Room in the spa for the raffle. Aubrey won a scalp massage! YAY AUBREY! After the raffle, the room emptied, but we stayed. The room is at the rear of the ship and has lots of windows and plants. We took the oportunity to sit around and talk for a while. It was truly relaxing. Well...enough of that. On to the signature rock wall...it wasn’t open for climbing, but it was open to get your name on the waiver list so you can just walk up anytime. We all added our names to the list, got our SeaPass punched and then walked towards the Solarium, the adult swimming pool area. It was WINDY! Walking around outside was difficult, but it wasn’t too cold yet. We hung out in the Salrium for a while, had some foodstuffs, and then headed to our rooms. The Solarium is completely enclosed...kinda like a greenhouse. It was pretty comfortable as people were getting thrown around the outer decks. When we got back to the rooms, the luggage was there! We unpacked and went to the Welcome Aboard show. Very fun comedian. Our cruise director, Keith something, is boring. There is nothing special about him. We have been told by Royal Caribbean staff that Brandi and I are spoiled when it comes to cruise directors...We’ve had the best (Ken Rush) and one of the goofiest and memorable (Graham Seymore). This guy is just...there. In fact the Head of the Entertainment staff, Bingo Boy, is much finnier than the cruise director. After the show, we went to dinner. It’s now about 8:30ish. We have the late seating. It was the only seating where all 14 of us could sit together. 10:15. Time for trivia! We didn’t win...yet. Sleepy Time. It was a long day. Supplemental: Things we’ve noticed or learned on this cruise so far. The ship isn’t full. 2400 passenger capacity. 2100 actual passengers. Makes for a lot of elbow room and privacy on the ship. Trivia, and the Schooner Bar in general, is VERY popular. on previous cruises. Trivia was an afterthought. Not this time. The Schooner Bar is almost ALWAYS packed. Trivia is standing room only. Every evening is Kamikaze Karaoke with Derek. He’s very funny. More on him later. This is an older crowd. It doesn’t look there are many poolside games, even when it was warm in Seattle. Things like the Sexy Legs contest, horse racing and belly flop contest have been replaced with the scrapbooking seminar and “Learn how to dance the Samba.” Bingo is more popular as well. See you all tomorrow! -J&B |
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