Day 13 - Last Full day at Sea

There was no zumba today, so I got up early and went to stretch class and abs class. I love stretch class & wish I had a video of it – it Is a great way to start your day. I don’t love abs class, but then who would? We did do one where you pull your legs in while sweeping your arms around to the side and touching your ankles, then straighten your legs out and bring your arms back straight over your head that was less awful than most. Also rolling side to side with your arms up and tucking your knees into your elbows. I have abs of steel now. You just can’t see them. Also since there was no zumba we went to breakfast and had benedicts, which we love. I accidentally got the one with spinach instead of the one with smoked salmon, so we’re going to have to do it again. Maybe tomorrow since there is zumba but no boot camp.

Yes, today was the last day of boot camp. Susan and I feel very proud of ourselves and each other for making it through, especially since today’s workout is the most brutal of the four of them. There’s an exercise called “get ups” which is just killer. Last time through Susan didn’t make it through all the reps, but this time we both did. During the group of 16 reps Mark was trying to be encouraging (Matt was leading the exercises) and I seriously considered taking the 5 pound weight and swinging it at his head. I don’t think it is encouraging when someone who is not doing the exercises says anything, much less when they’re saying things like “halfway there” and “just 5 more”. The only encouraging words are “last one”. Also after the 30 second break Matt or Mark always says “when you’re ready, stand up”. Today I found out that if you don’t stand up, they tell you to stand up anyway. I was not ready.

Today’s weather, like most of the sea-day parts of the trip, started out partly to mostly cloudy and a high of about 70 degrees. And, as has been the case since we left Hawaii, a stiff breeze is blowing – technically a gale, with wind speeds over 40 mph. Also we’re having fabulous seas – 10 foot swells. All this combines to make the midship lido pool the best place to be. After boot camp there was a yummy culinary demo at 11 (raw salmon 4 ways), but I didn’t make it past the pool. It is wonderful, exhilarating fun. You can stand in the corner in the shallow end and tons of water pours off the sides onto your head. Or you can float around and get rolled from side to side and end to end. We’re running parallel to the swells, so even though the ship has two 30 foot by 10 foot stabilizers in the front, it’s really rolling from side to side. When you walk down the corridors on the stateroom decks, you feel like a ping-pong ball, and when we ran in a circle for boot camp warmup it felt like we were running up and down hills. Some passengers are looking a little green, but Dave and I love it. Unfortunately the seas are supposed to be much calmer tomorrow.

Lunch with Merna and Mama, as usual. We’ve been creeping closer and closer to disaster, and it finally happened today – we all ordered dessert. Fortunately we’re nearly at the end of the cruise, so there’s only so much damage we can do. But it’s not helping me show off the 6 pack I developed in abs class. After lunch Dave sat on the verandah and did Sudoku, while I did an after-lunch nap again. After my nap of course it was pool time for an hour. Have I mentioned that I love the pool? Dave came by, he’d been up front and said there was a complete rainbow from the spray the ship is throwing up. Also, oddly, even though the wind is coming from the port side of the ship, our side – the starboard side – is thickly crusted with salt, while the port side isn’t. It seems like the wind should be throwing the spray up on the port side, but it’s not.

I had to get out of the pool before I wanted to because we needed to be at culinary trivia at 4. Looking back, it’s probably just as well – the pool is chilly, and I was quite like an icicle when I got out. Also it’s a little bit of a workout – at least it is the way I do it – so this was I should have some energy for zumba tomorrow. I showered up on the Lido deck and came down to the cabin to get dressed. While I was getting dressed Dave your cruise director (we found out last night he’s 27 – he only looks 12) came on and announced the afternoon & evening’s activities, which had 3 things we should know: 1. Trivia was moved to the northern lights disco, 2. It would be wine trivia (uh-huh) and 3. Tonight’s show is Joel Mason again, which we knew but it was good to hear. So we headed over to the northern lights, which is the disco, a place that up until now I had never stayed in for more than the time it took to walk through it.

The disco was an odd venue for the trivia because it is broken up into circular booths surrounding the dance floor, so all the teams were secluded in their own booths – it added to the competitive feeling. JC your party planner originally thought she’d do 15 questions, but dropped it down to 10 because she feels the need to repeat each question 5 times and it gets boring. This was do-or-die for us to regain our trivia crowns, and thanks to knowing that the lead or plastic covering on the top of the wine bottle is called a capsule, we are the champions! We won a bottle of Santa Catalina Chilean merlot, which were not sure what we’re going to do with. Do they still charge corkage if you won it on the ship? Dave wanted to take it back to the room and drink it, but we have a 5 course wine-paired dinner in the Pinnacle tonight, and I don’t want to go into it already toasted. On a side note, 3 of the 4 original boot camp ladies will be at the dinner – Susan wanted to go but got invited to dinner with the Captain instead. She thought that was the kind of offer you couldn’t refuse. After trivia we headed back to the room for a nap for Dave and some typing and reading for me. At this point we are loving spending time relaxing in our room. It’s weird to think that on our original schedule we’d be getting off the ship tomorrow.

Since our dinner was at the pinnacle and not the usual 5:30 early seating, we got dressed a little early and went to hear Chris play up in the crows nest. Last cruise they had hors d’ouevres up there before dinner but not anymore, or not tonight – too bad, we needed more food. It was fun listening to Chris but we didn’t have very long before we had to go. This dinner is something they made up because the special dinner with the chef was cancelled. Bernie had gone around the dining room and wine tastings asking people if they wanted to go, and had gotten 26 people without any trouble at all. It was held in the same private part of the pinnacle as the cooking class. We ended up at the big center table for 10, sitting next to the couple from Kansas City that we’d sat with at the premium wine pairing. It was an enjoyable time, but the pinnacle seemed to have trouble serving that many people at once, so the dinner took three hours. What it mostly made us realize is how good we have it at home, with the fantastic wines and fabulous chefs at our wine pairing dinners. Two of the wines were local – Sokol Blosser Evolution and the Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot that we’d had before – which was kind of funny.

After the dinner we had about 25 minutes before Joel Mason was scheduled to start, and I figured we might as well go get good seats, since my definition of good seats is kind of picky – close, but not too close. We ended up in the third row, after trying out the second row and finding it frighteningly exposed. I was on an aisle so I had a clear shot at Zac the bass guitarist. Chris had told us that there would be cameos by many of the staff, and he was making quite the understatement. The show started with repeated announcements that they couldn’t find Dave the Cruise Director, but we know there are no accidents in magic. So DJ Brett announced the show, when the piano rose from the pit, it was Dave wearing another of Joel’s flamboyant costumes – this time with even taller red heels – the one that’s on the cover of the DVD. I thought the show took a little while to get up some steam, which surprised me a little as I was ready to rock from the get go. Joel’s wife, who turned out to be named Bonnie, had a rather large part in the show, and I didn’t think she’s as funny as he is. But eventually things really got rolling, and while I didn’t end up with bruises on my hands from clapping this time it wasn’t from lack of trying. The heart of the show was an extended blues number in which half the performers on the ship performed “solos”, ranging from a fiery display of piano playing by your techspert Brian to an exercise solo by Dave dressed as an old lady. It got to the point where every time he said the word “solo” you’d hold your breath waiting to see what was going to happen. What else, let’s see. At one point Alex the electric guitar player came over and started playing the piano, so Joel played electric guitar for much of the show – it’s much more mobile than a piano after all. The big closing number was a rendition of Charlie Daniel’s The Devil went down to Georgia on piano that was both funny and amazing, including a repeated bit where Joel kicked the piano bench over and Dave set it back up. It’s the combination of that kind of humor going on during some fiery fingered piano playing that just blows my mind and makes him my favorite.

Then it was the bedtime of our last full day at sea. We’d wondered if the cruise would be too long and we’d be ready for it to be done before it was over. The answer is a resounding no. Tonight’s towel animal: Frog with tail? Maybe it’s another sea turtle.