Oceania Nautica - Andaman Sea

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Woke up to a windy, sun-filled morning in the Andaman Sea. There were some white caps and a bit of ship’s roll today.

After a windy breakfast at the Terrace Café, it was time for the much anticipated “Country Fair” on the pool deck, hosted by the various ship’s departments. Our bar maven, Gorrin, was so excited about it since they’d been planning the events over the last few days.

The “Tapas Terrace” restaurant featured a special “Kiss the Prince” tent, with Sylvester, the Maitre’D, decked out like Tom Jones laying on a bed of velvet pillows, inside a canopied tent. One of the waitresses greeted you at the door in a harem outfit, made you use the hand sanitizer and then you could jump on the bed of pillows and snuggle up next to “The Prince” where you could hug and kiss him on the cheek while he fed you grapes. It was an absolute laugh riot !!

The Polo Grill had a roll the football into the coffee thermos bowling alley. The Grand Dining Room had a blindfolded whip cream feeding contest. I paired up with 12 year old Stacy from California and she fed me a never-ending bowl of deliciously rich whipped cream and I ended up wearing half of it.

The Provisions Department had a masking tape ball you threw at coffee cans. The kitchen staff had a fear factor station you could bob for apples in icy cold water. The casino staff had a bowl full of quarters where you had to guess the number. Joe won this - he came closest to the actual total and was only off by 12. The spa staff hosted a “do a hairdo” or “paint toenails” of your partner. This led to quite a few men running around with toenail polish !! The sommelier staff hosted Jacuzzi fishing. David, the cruise director, took ice cold wet sponges to the head and body if you were able to toss them through a life preserver from a distance of 10 feet. The beverage department hosted the most activities called “Pirates of Nautica”. The activities included a beverage carrying relay race, land the pen in the Grolsch bottle while it is tied to your waist behind your back and a ring toss game over a variety of liquor and wine bottles. Participants were awarded Nautica Play Money that could be turned in for Oceania points. David the cruise director was on the $1.00, Thiery the general manager was on the $2.00 and the captain was on the $5.00.

In addition to the games, the bartenders were performing a bottle juggling routine and Victoria from Martini’s Bar put on a belly dancing show with complete costume. She was fantastic.

Things got crazy at the end of the 90 minute fair when cruise staff members got tossed in the pool, uniform and all. Most had their pagers and cell phones on them, so the communication’s officer was going crazy. The funniest moment was when the chef and Maitre’D from the Grand Dining Room got tossed in…chef’s hat and all. Even those who got wet seemed to have a great time.
A cold, tall beer was in order after that and then I retired to our breezy cabin verandah to catch up on my journal writing.

I used the computer lab to upload more photos and burn some on to CD-Roms at $15.00 a piece. I need to remember to bring blank CDs with me next time. Then the service is free.

This afternoon was the Grand Teadansa in Nautica Lounge with full orchestra and cruise staff singing 40’s style ballads. The chefs and all ship’s officers mingled with the crowd and beautiful marzipan and butter sculptures were on display. We had a great time clowning around with the chefs and Michael, our favorite sommelier from Canada.

Another delicious dinner tonight at Grand Dining Room, a fantastic showtime with JR Lustig and a qualifying round for Karaoke Idol finals. I got in easily, since only 2 of us showed up and were both entered by default—should be fun. I enjoyed our chat with Chris from the entertainment staff who recently lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Astoria in NYC. We also had an intimate chat with David, the cruise director, which was nice.

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Photos

Prince Sylvester
Tapas Maitre 'd

Billy and Gana
One of our coctail waitresses, from Ukraine

"Gorrin, you're in so much trouble"
Gorrin and Maya - Everyone into the pool