BLOG THE THIRD

November 17, 2015

The Streak is over!  No, the Pirates have not yet won a World Series – that is coming in 2016.  Your favorite cruisers went to an event that was actually happening.  We scheduled one and it took place.  But it almost didn’t!

We scheduled the St. Kitts Scenic Railroad Tour.  Our tickets told us to meet in the Royal Theater on board at 12:15.  There were a half dozen or so of us there at 12:00, and the theater was closed and no Royal Caribbean person in sight.  A crewman came by to take his lunch break, asked us if we needed help, and he stepped in.  He called the excursion office and learned that we were supposed to be on the pier to meet our tour – in spite of what was printed on our tickets.

That was the only bump.  The ride was a lot of fun.  The scenery is gorgeous.  The narrator was knowledgeable.  And our hostess served an unlimited supply of complimentary drinks.  We each had a virgin Pina Colada.  Some of the riders took advantage of the word “complimentary” and loaded up on free booze.

The train ride hides nothing of the way many people live.  Just two blocks from the main square, were houses in run-down condition.  Out in the country side it was worse.  In many places we saw houses that had pipes and posts sticking out of a flat roof.  Those folks have run out of money to add a planned second story.  They hope they will be able to finish some day.  With the sugar industry closed down in 2005 and the planned restart not yet any where close to happening, we did not see very many economic opportunities – stores, shops, gas stations, but not much industry.  They definitely depend on tourism to survive.

And speaking of gasoline, it is $5.75 per gallon.

You know by now that I found a wifi spot to post the second blog.  May we be as successful tomorrow in St. Maarten.

We went to supper early, in the Chic, so we could get to the 7 p.m. outdoor movie.  Tonight’s offering was “Minions.”  What a funny movie!  And we stayed through all the credits, singing “Mellow Yellow” with Donovan.

The movie got over in time for us to be only a few minutes late for “Name That Tune.”  It was a recreation of an old game show, spiced up by the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers punctuating the songs.  There were ten contestants on stage to start, and they worked down by stages to 2 and then the winner.  We actually knew a few of the songs and hollered them out.

The message light was flashing on the phone when we got back to the room.  My talk from Day 11 has been moved to Day 12.  I now have two talks on Day 10 – back to back – and two talks on Day 12 with a two hour break in between – and that cuts into my nap time!

Well that’s all for now.  If this doesn’t get up in St. Maarten, it will be posted from Edgewater.

TTFN

November 18, 2015

Yoda!  We sought Yoda!

There is a shop/museum on St. Maarten called “That Yoda Guy.”  Nick Maley assembled the original Yoda for Star Wars.  That’s what he says, and he has a museum which he lets you see for free if you buy something from his shop for $40, or $10 each if you don’t buy anything.  We wanted to see it last time we were here,  never found it, but we made that our first stop today.  There are a couple of models of Yoda that we posed with (they are in the free room), but saw nothing inviting about the museum, and left – it was small and you could see into several of the exhibits.  Disappointed in the museum we were, but glad to find it we were. 

Sometime ago we saw an episode of “American Pickers” where Mike and Frank met the guy who made Yoda for Star Wars, and he was in California, not St. Maarten.  I guess he could have two places.  I guess two guys could have worked on Yoda.  Heck, maybe three.  But Nick has a museum and we saw it.  One item off the bucket list.

We only stayed out two hours, but enjoyed walking around on Front Street.  We did not go to Back Street.  Those, really, are the two streets in Philipsburg.  And they are full of jewelry stores, t-shirt and other souvenir shops, and That Yoda Guy.

We did look in a store that sells bamboo sheets, pillow cases, under wear, socks, etc.  We’ve heard Port Lecturers tell us how great they are, even softer than 1,000 count Egyptian Cotton, so we checked them out.  They are soft.  Don’t know if they are softer than said Egyptian Cotton.  But they are expensive.  $175 for queen sheets.  Pillow cases extra.  Shipping is free.  We passed.

We had lunch back on board in the Two70, and supper in The Grande.  We dressed in our formals for supper and had a good meal.  Pasta Alfredo for me and Beef Tenderloin for Bonnie.  The dessert was awesome: Volcanic Molten Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream.  I want that again!

Well, here I am in Stateroom 10207, all alone.  Bonnie went up to Deck 14 to sit under the stars and watch “Jurassic World” again.  I am not a Jurassic fan, so I bid her adieu at the Royal Theater where we had enjoyed “Savannah Jack,” a five piece band from Nashville.  One of the coolest parts of the show was where the audience hollered out the name of a performer and the band played a selection from that entertainer.  I think I’ve been hanging out with Bonnie too long, because I think they just listen to the roar of the audience, pick out an entertainer who may or may not have been named, and do a prepared song.  I mean, after Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers, who hollers out “Prince!”  But “someone” did, and we heard “Purple Rain.”  It was good, regardless, and a top rated show for us.

Bonnie saw the movie as only Bonnie can.  She got a seat theater side and watched the last half of the movie, stayed an hour and watched the first half of the movie.  When the projection got to where she came in, she left.

And as I said, I am all alone writing this blog, so I can say whatever I want!  Ha ha!  Take that!

Okay.

Thinking.

I don’t know what to say!

As I think I told you earlier, I have two talks back to back tomorrow (1:30-2:15 and 3:00-3:45).  So I’m going to say toodles, and do some rehearsing.

TTFN!

November 19, 2015

A busy day at sea.  I had a talk at 1:30 and another one at 3:00.  The morning was spent in rehearsal for “Philipsburg: Four Nation Escape,” and “Tempest in the Atlantic.”  A last minute concert has been scheduled for tomorrow when I had been scheduled to do a talk, so I’ll have two on Saturday, and then it will be dry land.

Bonnie walked on the track on Deck 15 and the 40 miles an hour wind tried to blow her off the ship, she said.  She did a mile in spite of the opposition.

We had supper in the Silk and asked for our new friend Gisele.  It was a pleasant supper, and she entertained us with stories about vacationing with her boyfriend on another Royal Caribbean ship.  They charge the workers $10 a day to sail on another RC vessel, which makes for a very great vacation (if they ask soon enough, and there is space available they get to stay in a regular guest cabin).

Then we went to the Two70 for a Virtual Symphony.  Through impressive technology the American Philharmonic Orchestra was filmed and shown on the back window of the ship.  The picture was very good and the sound was great – and the music was pieces we knew or had at least heard of: compositions by Aaron Copeland, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and John Williams.  It was strange applauding a movie screen, but most folks seemed to get into it.

I am tired.  I worked hard today, so this is short, and I am off to bed.

TTFN

November 20, 2015

The highlight of our day was riding the Bumper Cars again.  I missed her this time.  There was a film crew on hand filming a commercial for Royal Caribbean.  We were in our cars at 12:30.  They weren’t going to start filming until 1:30, and by the time our ride was finished the end of the line was some where near 3:00, and thus we missed our chance at stardom.

I forgot to tell you last night, Bonnie ordered a garden salad.  We’d each had them before and maybe more than once, but last night was the last night garden salad was on the menu.  A supply of fresh fruits and vegetables was to have come on at Martinique and 2 of the 10 trailer loads never made it.  Evidently the lettuce was on one of those trailers.  Her salad was wilty spinach and lots of Parmesan cheese.  Looked bad, tasted no better and she pushed it aside.  Tonight someone sitting beside us ordered garden salad (it’s still printed, you just can’t have it) and Shenelle, our waitress, told the lady it wasn’t available anymore.  The Captain explained, in his Captain’s Talk this afternoon, that the storage rooms on the ship are built for 7 day cruises, necessitating taking on supplies somewhere in a 12 day cruise.  Ooops!

Bonnie wants you to know that she walked a mile.  I did not.

We sat in the show tonight (“The Gift” – a special production written just for Royal Caribbean about a man who loses his wife and his way in life and finds it again in time to save his children from a similar fate – good show) beside of a couple from Georgia.  From Atlanta, Georgia.  From Canton, Georgia.  Where Bonnie’s best friend, Karen Utsch, lives.  And the couple’s nephew married Robert Symms’  daughter (Robert was a friend of ours – and of many, many people).  Now that’s one for the small world department.

The ship sets its clocks back one hour tonight as we head back to Bayonne, so we can play one hour longer before turning in, or just turn in and get an extra hour of sleep.  Guess which one we chose!

Last day at sea tomorrow with yours truly doing two talks.

TTFN

November 23, 2015

I will post pictures tomorrow.