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Published: June 20th 2012
It was the strangest feeling waking up today. It was the last Straight sea day. It was actually quite sad. I was getting used to being stuck on the boat with no set thing I had to do or places I had to be, and just make it all up as I went along. That being said, there was so much I had wanted to do today. Now I had been meaning to put out a card on the door to order breakfast in our Suite since day one of the cruise, but that didn’t happen. So breakfast again was up in the Windjammer. It was almost a routine now. I would grab a bowel, spoon, a packet of mini wheat’s and my little container of Full Cream Dubai Long Life Milk. I worked out, by putting the straw into the container, then tipping it out that way; it didn’t make as big a mess over the table. Some mornings I would either add some scrambled eggs +/- French toast, and some peaches with pears - Breakfast of champions. I had discovered where they kept the packets of Frosty Flakes. After a trip with my son to the States in 2009,
he fell in love with them, and I knew if I managed to take a couple of packets home with me, anything I bought would be nothing compared to him getting the cereal … he loved them that much. I did manage to borrow a spare packet for my take home luggage. I was the best mum ever.
It was back at the room, I switched on the TV. Someone suggested that I check out and see if they would repeat the ice skating show, because that way I could get some film version of it, to be able to show my kids. Unfortunately they didn’t play any of that, however they did play the Love and Marriage game, which looked to be a very funny show.
Advertised this morning for 10:15am was to be a demonstration in Studio B (the ice skating room) titled “this is how we do it”. It was going to be lessons on how to do the fruit carving as well as how they did the towel animals I came to love so much. We walked in on the end of a lecture on Singapore. I’m not sure who was giving the lecture
but I had seen him on the TV channels as they must film it and repeat it on loop through the cruise. It took me back to university, and had to laugh when he said something that identified him as a university lecturer. He did have this very dry one tone about his presentation. Luckily there were pictures that accompanied what he was saying. He did get a good crowd in listening to him, or maybe everyone came early for the demonstrations?
Now as far as the towel animals went, it was so cool as we received lessons on several of the critters, we also walked away with a little booklet to take home and do our own animals. I had to take one, because every second day now, when I walk into my bedroom at night, I’m expecting a new towel animal to greet me. The husband was on notice!
As far as the fruit demonstration it was a case of try and work it out, he was going to carve while the towels were being made and you just sat back and watched a real master at work. It was fun at the end as we
could go up and take photos of what has been done, but it was worse than going to one of the $10 sales they had on the promenade decks! Think at least five women deep, all just standing there blankly with no intention of moving! Eventually it was a case of get in and out and try not to step on anyone’s toes.
After this we headed up to the top deck as I wanted to get photographic proof that husband scaled the climbing. Apparently he had done it the previous day. When we arrived no one else was climbing, so he had a two climbs up the wall. It was pretty funny watching him do it. He did make it look kind of easy. The first section he went up apparently was the baby one, so he then went over to a more challenging section. I had to laugh, because instead of just using the poking out rocks, he used these white little holes in the wall, which I thought was cheating, and told him so when he got back down. The rope handler backed me up. Apparently when climbing the wall properly you are only supposed to
use the “rocks”. Oh well, I guess if you don’t tell anyone, no one would know. Good thing I don’t post information like this on the internet. He did get mortally wounded scrapping his leg against the wall at some stage. Nothing like a bit of skin between friends.
After lunch the pace was a touch slower. Now during the cruise a couple of times we entered into the Cleopatra’s lounge to watch the Progressive Trivia. Our friends in Roberta & co were playing, so it was fun sitting back listening into the questions and thinking wow, there were quite a few kind of nerdy people on board. The whole trivia thing I learnt during the cruise is a whole other planet. They do play as though there are sheep stations on the line, and apparently we upset several apple carts when we sat too close to Roberta’s team, and they could be at risk of being classed as cheats. Um seriously? They might as well have done the quiz in French for all the help I would have been. Also some of the answers were just wrong. I thought I had a complete given in how many teaspoons
make up a tablespoon. Clearly the answer is 4, as a teaspoon is equal to 5mls and a tablespoon is 20 mls. When this question was asked one lady put up her hand and asked, now is this in American terms or other terms? Um, what? Have Americans got some type of weird spoon thing going down? The guy doing the quiz response was we always get the correct answer for this anyway, so you work it out. See it was complete French, I had no idea what the hell they were talking about. Apparently the answer as it turns out was meant to have been 3, so clearly I’ve been over schooled and shouldn’t enter trivia rooms. It might turn my cooking really bad. Honestly they better not use that question sailing out of Australia, or there will be a right bun fight.
The other thing I noticed was the rivalry between teams. I was giggling away with how bitchy it all was. It was serious cut throat stuff that was going down. Honestly if another team brought over a tray of drinks, its laced with poison or drugs so you don’t drink it. One team seemed to
have to question almost every question as it was read for further clarification, which caused a couple of other teams to roll their eyes each time. Who needed to watch soaps when you could sit in on this stuff. In the end one team walked away with the title of the winners and ended up with a whole set of the Royal Caribbean merchandise a bag, pen, cap and probably notepad. It was a prize worth killing over really when you think about it.
I did make the mistake of chatting to some of Roberta’s team members. We were discussing one of the answers which was the Whacky Races cartoon from Hanna Barbera. I used to watch this as a kid as it was one of the cartoons that seemed to be on repeat in the afternoons post school. The other couple also Australian, Perth were highly familiar with it as well. An American girl on their team didn’t know the tv show at all. In trying to explain the concept and ways of Australian Tv, she thought I was insulting the Americans and their cable. Oh man, did this start a bun fight with her. We almost needed
security into the room, as I had called her and her friends all idiots apparently. I don’t think she heard at all what I was saying (she’s American and I’m talking about Australia), and as much as I tried to tell her that cable was the exception not the rule in Australia, it was all just offending her great country. Regardless of what I said, she couldn’t grasp the concept I was talking about a different country other than America – I mean who in their right mind would talk of a country other than America?. I should learn not to discuss things in details with Americans at times. They tend to get so sensitive and so defensive. It was a case of Ugh! The term lighten up a touch came to mind. I should have known though … its trivia and huge prizes were at stake in the room.
When the trivia dust had settled, there was a parade to be held. We got some fairly decent spots along the pathway, and it was a bit exciting waiting for it all to happen. Eventually a rope came along to give us an idea of what boundary we could
try and push against and test the strength of the string. Actually thinking about it, I’m surprised they didn’t have any other parades during the cruise. It would have been a lot of fun having a parade at the beginning of the cruise instead of just the ending I guess. That being said, unfortunately we were standing near some of the organizers of the parade, and it made it feel like we were really experience the guinea pig version of it, ready for the “Asian market” when we got off the ship. We kept hearing how so many things on the ship were changing ready for this new market. The lady had her clipboard out and was making notes along the way. She even did a bit of side directing and giving instructions to those in the parade. As I said, it probably would have been better standing somewhere else, to just enjoy it, instead of feeling like we were watching a practice run. It was a fun parade over all. The lights were low and you got to see all the Dreamworks characters that hadn’t been let out of the closet before this point in time. The parade was
over before too long and there was a mix up that she was very frustrated over regarding the winding up of the ropes at the end of the parade. I wouldn’t want to be the guys that got that wrong. She didn’t look all that happy with them!
We did have one further night in the Main dining room for dinner, but I can’t remember now if it was tonight or tomorrow night. Either way, when we did go, we had a table for four and sat with Kevin and Julie and I think laughed our entire way through the dinner.
Post dinner, we headed together into the Theatre for the Headliner Show of “The Rat Pack Returns”. I believe it was before going to the theatre we gave K&J a tour of our room and they returned the favor. Talk about feeling quite embarrassed by our room in the end. Kevin was hilarious about it all, and then showed us there inside cabin, making it the most entertaining room guided tour ever. It was after seeing all of Julies drink glasses that I decided that I wanted to get one as a souvenir to take home. I
went to order two of them, as my husband wanted one as well, but apparently they only had one glass left in the theatres bar. This meant only one drink to share between us both. It was a sickly sweet drink, whatever it was. We made our way down to the front of the theatre to watch the show. It was an alright type of show. I guess the portrayal of Dean Martin as a slobbering drunk I found a touch stupid maybe I was too young to know better. I grew up watching Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movies as a kid and fell in love with them. The jokes also between the three entertainers were just in a way weak. Again, I don’t know if that’s how the three really interacted or not, but it was just so scripted.
After the Show at 10:30pm, there was to be a White Night Pool Party. It sounded like a lot of fun. I ended up pulling out my American flag top for the night, as it was mostly white. I don’t think my husband had any white with him. We went up onto the deck. There was a heck
Trying a "harder" route
Now would have been harder if he did it properly, but he just scaled it with ease, kind of cheating, which he hates me saying, as he didn't realise it was :)of a lot of preparation for the event. The ice carvings were a touch fun. The main one on the fruit table had us all guessing as to exactly what it was. It was only when looking at the photos later, and taken at the right angle that we were able to work out it was a fish. Initially I thought it was an angel that was melting quickly in the heat!
It was a kind of fun night on the deck. Watching the people fully get into the dancing was somewhat entertaining. It was a night for the line dancers. I was a touch surprised that no one was swimming. I guess they maybe weren’t allowed to or something? I would have thought, a proper Pool Party meant that you could have swimming as well, so a touch confused over that. Was really like “old peoples get together by the pool” party. I didn’t stay out too late. I probably then missed all the fun?
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