Friday, March 17, 2017

Saturday, January 21, 2017 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Partly Cloudy - 67F

The seas were smooth enough…

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Up early today – got to the Horizon Court about when it opened and there were already lots of people there.  It’s bit chilly but I decided to get away from the background music in the Café and sit in the Solarium Area.  The coffee service is good out there and the walk to the Café is short.  The real reason I am up here so early is that I am scheduled to deliver my next talk at 9:30 AM in the Princess Theater – “Forensic Detectives: The Search for Jack the Ripper”.  I assume that the early start time for this talk is due to the fact that the theater is needed for rehearsals (there is a new cast and a new show).

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“Forensic Detectives:  The Search for Jack the Ripper”

Considering the early time slot, the turnout was surprising good – the theater was 60-70 percent full (400 to 500 attendees based on a seating capacity of 700).  I’ll take it.  People were happy that they could stretch out and now be crowded.

My first visit to the Theater came with more tech issues – the VGA cable would not transmit the image to the theater screen (even though it would in the Explorers Lounge).  We switched to the ship’s laptop – image was warped and my clicker wouldn’t work. Their clicker wouldn’t work well – the slides were moving very slowly (especially the animations) so the talk ran nearly an hour.  An huge tech craziness.  The crowd was patient through it all and I chatted with several of them afterwards.  On passenger said he was going to make me a birthday knot bowl.  I have no idea what that is – I’ll have to wait and see.

It’s still warm enough to sit up on Deck 15, which a pretty good windbreak.  To get really comfortable, some people need extra insulation.

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Staying Warm on Deck 15

While the seas seemed smoothed, the ship was rocking along its long axis – bow to stern – something the stabilizers can’t affect.  This caused the water in the Solarium Pool to exit at either end.

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Tonight is formal Night 2.  We had dinner in Alfredo’s Pizzeria – the food just met our expectations.  I guess it will never be as good as the first time we went here, some three cruises ago.  Not sure what the issue is but the prime suspect is the pizza sauce (too sweet).

The show tonight is a brand new one for Princess (and the reason the theater was pretty occupied during the day the whole cruise).  “Born to Dance” is a fancy, multi-media, presentation featuring commentary from real Broadway stars.  It could easily be a show on PBS.  It looked rich and felt rich.  One neat thing was the introduction of the dancers at the end (large images on the screen).  One of the best shows I have seen on Princess.  At little fine tuning and it will be their showcase presentation.

Another neat thing - Before the show began, the screen showed a street cam view of Times Square, with people walking and talking (it was on a long loop and repeated at least once).  The people did not appear to know they were being filmed.  One girl tried to jump from a street barrier and landed on her behind – seemed spontaneous.

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Pre-Show Times Square Loop

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Opening Number

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“Cell Block Tango”

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Above two – “Chorus Line”

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Above two – “Dancing Queen”

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“Hello Dolly”

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“You Can Stop the Beat”

A great show.

From the theater we sprinted to the Vista Lounge to see David Pengelley’s second show.  Almost as good as his first effort – very funny and innovative.

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Seas are still rocky…

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