Sunday, May 2, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – mid 70s - breezy

Our shipboard routine is underway.  A 7:10 AM wake up call.  Ellen is off to her morning stretch class and I am off to the Horizon Cafe for breakfast.  I have my transition breakfast – waffle with cottage cheese and jam (just like home) and have coffee with Ellen when she gets done with her class.  We had a chance to meet my fellow speaker, Larry Rudner, the destination speaker, when he sat down next to us at breakfast.  He is making his 54th transit of the Panama Canal on this trip – amazing. 

My first talk - “The CSI Phenomenon” is scheduled or 1:30 PM.  I am scheduled to meet with the AV staff at 1:00 PM in the Princess Theater to go through the set up. 

At 11:30 AM, I attended the first Destination Lecture - “Aruba and Cartagena”- in the Princess Theater.  The theater is packed.  The presentation is good and Larry uses some animation in his talks.  His wife runs the computer from the floor of the theater.  I leave a bit early so I can get something to eat, change, and get back to set up.

When I arrive at the Princess Theater at 1:00 PM, there is only one person there and he is sitting in a chair at the very back end of the theater.  A chilling possibility – no CSI folks on board.

The set up is easy and I await the last minute arrival of the “bus” with its many eager attendees.  People do start to come into the theater (probably from lunch, since Larry talked through lunch).  At final count, about 100 folks are in the large theater.  I was introduced by Peter, which was a good kickoff.

The talk went well and there was applause.  It turns out that nearly everyone is a fan of CSI or one of the other forensic shows.  I am hoping that at least these people return for tomorrow’s session.

Rested most of the afternoon so we would enjoy dinner and the shows.  At 5:00 PM, we went to the Wedding Chapel for the Shabbat Service – the room was all set up – three Challahs and wine.  When we arrived, there was already a minyan but no one to lead the service.  Eventually, someone started us off but, in no time, a cadre from Mexico went into an independent chanting of the service.  Eventually, we and the Mexicans arrived at the Kiddush.  Next week, we are hoping for less entropy.

Tonight is Formal Night 1 so I had a chance to check out Gary’s Tux.  As you can see, it and we looked our usual elegant selves.

Formal Night 1 (Small)

After the Manischewitz, we kept our dinner reservation.  Dinner was good again – Fettuccini Alfredo, Salmon, and Halibut.  The couple sitting next to us were celebrating their 50th anniversary and they were kind enough to share their cake with us.  While at dinner. we were able to made a cruise long reservation in the Bordeaux Room for 5:15 PM so we are set for dinner. 

The first production show - “Do you Wanna Dance?” – in the Princess Theater was great finishing off with an Irish Step Dance every bit as good as River Dance.

Step Dance (Small)

Do You Wanna Dance - Step Dance Finale

Following the show, we took in the Broadway Tribute by Tom in the Crooner’s Lounge.  Even though he was his kooky self, he did sing some great Broadway tunes – finishing off with “The Music of the Night”.  Most of the evening involving singing along and everyone did.

After his first set, we headed for the room.  The seas are a bit bumpy tonight so I hope we can sleep through it.

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