At Sea: King Neptune and Dancing with the Mariner Stars

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As we sail across the Pacific Ocean towards Los Angeles, Alan and I have six days to enjoy life at sea. A flurry of activity fills the days…lectures, naps, Pooch (a card game), naps, Pooch, wine tastings, naps, dancing in the nightclub, Pooch, exercise, shows, naps, well, you get the picture.

Those who’ve never crossed the equator are initiated into the club (our third time crossing the equator). The crew hosts the country fair on the pool deck and of course, the Krew Kapers, with entertainment from the talented crewmembers, brings down the house.

But, a dancing contest turns out to be the most popular event I’ve ever seen held on a ship. Passengers try out and the winners are paired with professional entertainers, as well as the professional ballroom dancing couple that entertain onboard. Even the tryouts are well attended. The chosen few work hard and their competition is the talk of the ship. Although I took many pictures, I don’t have the participant’s permission so I won’t post them here. But, I wrote an article about it for Ngaire Keene at Brown and Keene Travel. And, my good friend, Valerie, was the winner of the contest and received a generous cruise credit from Regent for giving her time to the contest. Go Valerie!

The closer we get to LA, the more Christmassy the ship becomes. The popular Filipino trio that sings Beatles songs is now serenading Christmas carols to diners in Compass Rose. The ship is decked out in holly and ivy - well artificial Christmas trees and garland. Sailing during Christmas is becoming a very appealing idea to us.

But, soon it’s time to disembark. We have many travel plans for 2008 so I hope you’ll check back here from time to time. In the meantime, if you’re craving travel information, I’m blogging about baby boomer travel at My itchy travel feet . Hope to see you there.

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