After further discussion, Dave and I want to clarify that
except for the guy who couldn’t sing, last night’s show can’t be blamed on the
singers and dancers, who were doing the best they could with a bad situation.
We got another hour last night, and since we’d gone to bed
early and slept very well we were both awake by 6:15. The internet was working
again, so I posted the blog and headed up for stretch and abs. I didn’t get
there until about 6:50, and there was barely any room. It’s interesting to me
that neither instructor is very good, but the class keeps getting bigger and
bigger. Today it was Jesse, and he did a lot of boat pose things, one of which –
extending the legs & then lifting & lowering them – I couldn’t finish.
He also held low plank for 2:15, and I gave up at 2:00, which was frustrating.
As I was going to wipe off my mat Dave came by & said he was going to work
out, so I stayed up and did day 3 of BodyFit. But then he wasn’t going to sit
down breakfast, so I went by myself. I ended up at a really fun table, but I
hadn’t set my watch back so I suddenly felt very rushed and had to leave early.
I got up to the spa and was waiting in the relaxation room
when Kieren our cruise director came on to do the morning activity
announcement, which started out with “Shortly at 10:00…” I figured out what had
happened and went down to the cabin and got my kindle, then sat out on the
promenade with Dave and read while he did some Sudoku. It’s hazy and cloudy
today, and a little humid, but a very pleasant temperature for sitting out on
the deck. Even though yesterday was a full sea day we both had many activities
and felt as though we were rushing about – today was much more relaxed.
Eventually it was time for my massage, a 75 minute one with
heated bamboo sticks that she rolled all over. Usually when I get a massage it’s
75% getting the knots out of my back and shoulders, but in this one she had
time to massage my head and face, which I really, really liked. I especially
liked the part where she did circles around my eyes in time with the music – it
would have been awful if she’d been off the beat.
I took a shower up there and then came down to get Dave and
we went to lunch. We sat at a table with one other couple, Maryanne and her
husband, whose name we both forgot. He was wearing a Mariners t-shirt, and it
turned out they are from Vancouver, WA and know Mike & Shari Totman, whose
daughters Annika and Bethany babysat for Josh and Tim. People always tell about
small world stories, but this was my first one. We had a very pleasant and leisurely
lunch, and then went back to our cabin to do some more verandah sitting and
wave listening. The only negative is that the ventilation system isn’t working
in our bathroom, which we’re hoping will get fixed soon.
I headed down to the lounge at 2:40, and Elizabeth was
already there. I was worried that nobody would come because the Dancing with
the Stars lesson/competition was going on right next door in the Queen’s
lounge, and a few people did walk through looking for it, but I was very
pleased to have 5 or 6 people come back from yesterday, and 5 or 6 more people
come for the first time. I was a better teacher today then yesterday, too – in addition
to better cueing of moves and levels, I was much more relaxed and just having
more fun. The class was louder in response, too, which made it more fun for me.
After the class a woman came up to me and told me that she had a bad back, but
that it felt better after class yesterday than it had for the whole cruise.
Through movement we find health! There’s no Nia for the next two days, but I am
looking forward to teaching again on our next sea day.
Meanwhile Dave finished the second in his 7 book series
while accomplishing another of his cruise goals, drinking a beer in the Ocean
bar lounge area. When I got back to the room in my post-class high Dave was
putting on his shoes to go do a walk on the promenade deck, so I changed out of
my red fairy pants and into more normal workout gear and we went for a mile and
a half or so. The ocean is amazingly calm, barely any waves at all, with long,
gentle swells that feel like the ship is going up and down some low, gentle
hills. My personal preference is for rougher seas, but this is nice too. We’re
supposed to get some rain squalls overnight, and the clouds were very
interesting. Dave discovered an interesting thing which is that if you’re on
the other side of the ship from the sun, you can’t tell from looking at the
ocean whether it is behind a cloud or not. We paused at the back of the ship to
look at the wake (very small; we’re only going about 14 knots) and there was a
beautiful rainbow.
When we got back our laundry had arrived. It’s very nice to
have them do the laundry. Two odd things were that they did an elaborate fold
on the underwear, and they starched Dave’s pajamas so much that I’m afraid he
might cut himself on the sleeve creases in the night. We did some more reading
and writing on the verandah, and also watching squalls move across the ocean. I
went in and had a wonderful bath with Jacuzzi (although it was no Roger de
Lluria), and then we got dressed for dinner. It’s format night, but neither of
us has 3 formal night outfits so we sort of dressed down a little. We tried
going to the show – Epic Moves – but it was too stupid, so we went down to
listen to the Adagio Strings in the explorers lounge. They are good- they play
some contemporary stuff as well as the standards – and it was packed, with
people standing in the walkway leaning on the wall that separates the lounge from
the corridor. We had an 8:00 reservation in the Pinnacle Grill, the high-end
dining room, so we didn’t get to see our tablemates.
The Pinnacle Grill is interesting – it has a similar menu to
a Morton’s steak house or Ruth’s Chris. It’s also interesting because on the
Alaska cruises it’s very difficult to get in, but on both this cruise and our
long Hawai’I cruise you could pretty much walk in any time. Dinner was very
good, especially the mushrooms and my lamb chops. I ordered the chocolate soufflé
for dessert, and when the waiter said it would take 10-15 minutes I ordered the
cheesecake to eat in the meantime. Suffice it to say we both ate too much.
While we were waiting for our food two of my Nia ladies caught sight of us and
had to wave enthusiastically.
The music was all messed up tonight, so we headed up to the
crows nest to listen to solo guitarist John, who is nice to listen to. At 10:30
we headed down to the officer’s ball, one of the strangest things I’ve been to
on a ship. It seemed like all the officers and cadets (except, one assumes, the
ones running the ship) are required to attend, and Kieren the cruise director
walked around encouraging passengers to “snag an officer”. Some of the dances
are special mystery dancers, where one of the officers has an envelope, and if
you snag that officer you get a prize. Kieren sang the first two songs, and he’s
quite good, but the whole snag-an-officer thing was just strange. I snagged
Dave and we happily sat in one of the back booths enjoying ourselves. One of
the photographers came by and took our picture – she knows us because I always
ask her where the moose is. We don’t know if this is a regular Holland America
event or if it’s something they were just trying out, but if they are I’m here
to tell them it’s a bad idea. We wondered if the officers spend the first half
of the cruise dreading it, and the second half being glad it’s over. It’s almost
all slow dancing. Several officers were wearing kilts, which was good. Did I
mention it was really strange?
We get another hour tonight, but so do most of you – it’s
the end of summer time.
Tonight’s towel animal: elephant, our favorite.
No comments:
Post a Comment