January 31 and February 1 - Two Days at Sea
I love days at sea - they are my favorite - wonderful, lazy, no schedule (except for Team Trivia). First day and night was uneventful except for Team Trivia preparation.
February 1 was to be the last day of Team Trivia. The tradition on this ship is that teams come in costume. Have you ever tried to figure out a costume (something for the whole team - 11 of us - when you don't have any resources? It was also the day for the Galley Lunch, where all guests are invited into the Galley to partake of a huge buffet - any and all food that you could possibly imagine. Having been to so many in the past, Adolfo and I had begun giving these a "pass". But knowing John and Sandi hadn't had this experience, we decided to attend, and then just give dinner a pass, or if we got hungry then we'd order room service later.
While enjoying the food and once again drinking wine (vino does tend to stir the creative juices!), John was searching his phone for ideas and came up with something we all agreed on - we would be "Identity Thieves". This required a black mask and lots of name tags - but where could we get these items, or at least obtain the materials? We turned to Nic Botha, our guest services manager and he promptly brought to my suite, 100 sticky name tags and a black marker pen.
While we were thinking about what to do about the masks, John and Sandi were speaking with Reuben, a bartender in the observation lounge. John asked where he could get lots of black material. Reuben produced two large heavy duty garbage bags. Perfect! So while John went to get the garbage bags, Sandi and I came up with names and wrote them up.
That evening found the three of us on the floor, holding different parts of a garbage bag while John cut out the masks with scissors he'd procured from the Spa desk. We then managed to locate all of our team members, either that evening or early the next morning and instructed all to meet in the Casino, right around the corner from where Team Trivia would be held. There, we would costume up!!
Most people didn't give us a "WOW", but we thought we'd been very resourceful.
What is even better about that day, at the end of the cruise our team was third from the bottom of a dozen teams. On the bonus question of the last day, teams bet (just like Jeopardy) to see if they can catch up. We bet a portion of our meager points, and then waited for the question. As luck would have it, as soon as the question was asked teammate Recky jumped up in her seat and whispered to us that she knew the answer - she'd been an art major! Here's the question: Who painted The Laughing Cavalier? Not only did I not know the answer, couldn't even recollect the painting. Only two teams got the right answer - artists names were all over the place - Goya, Picasso, Dali, Gainsborough . . . . but the correct answer is . . . .
Franz Hals. Guess I won't forget this one!! We came in second place! Darned good recovery!
That evening, Eric asked us to join him at the Thomas Keller Grill - we'd been on the waiting list. We accepted with alacrity! We've had really good meals in this restaurant. Some people don't like it, so they do have other options. Many who do not like it do nothing but complain about it! Get a life!!
Still don't know the name of this delightful young woman in the TK Grill, but she made the creation of a TK Caesar salad a moment to remember, and perhaps the best Caesar we've ever had!!
Another beautiful day - the cruise was coming to an end, and we were ready to mutiny! We weren't getting off the ship!
February 1 was to be the last day of Team Trivia. The tradition on this ship is that teams come in costume. Have you ever tried to figure out a costume (something for the whole team - 11 of us - when you don't have any resources? It was also the day for the Galley Lunch, where all guests are invited into the Galley to partake of a huge buffet - any and all food that you could possibly imagine. Having been to so many in the past, Adolfo and I had begun giving these a "pass". But knowing John and Sandi hadn't had this experience, we decided to attend, and then just give dinner a pass, or if we got hungry then we'd order room service later.
The most beautiful display of food was the dessert area and I didn't take photo!!!
While we were thinking about what to do about the masks, John and Sandi were speaking with Reuben, a bartender in the observation lounge. John asked where he could get lots of black material. Reuben produced two large heavy duty garbage bags. Perfect! So while John went to get the garbage bags, Sandi and I came up with names and wrote them up.
That evening found the three of us on the floor, holding different parts of a garbage bag while John cut out the masks with scissors he'd procured from the Spa desk. We then managed to locate all of our team members, either that evening or early the next morning and instructed all to meet in the Casino, right around the corner from where Team Trivia would be held. There, we would costume up!!
Most people didn't give us a "WOW", but we thought we'd been very resourceful.
What is even better about that day, at the end of the cruise our team was third from the bottom of a dozen teams. On the bonus question of the last day, teams bet (just like Jeopardy) to see if they can catch up. We bet a portion of our meager points, and then waited for the question. As luck would have it, as soon as the question was asked teammate Recky jumped up in her seat and whispered to us that she knew the answer - she'd been an art major! Here's the question: Who painted The Laughing Cavalier? Not only did I not know the answer, couldn't even recollect the painting. Only two teams got the right answer - artists names were all over the place - Goya, Picasso, Dali, Gainsborough . . . . but the correct answer is . . . .
Franz Hals. Guess I won't forget this one!! We came in second place! Darned good recovery!
That evening, Eric asked us to join him at the Thomas Keller Grill - we'd been on the waiting list. We accepted with alacrity! We've had really good meals in this restaurant. Some people don't like it, so they do have other options. Many who do not like it do nothing but complain about it! Get a life!!
Another beautiful day - the cruise was coming to an end, and we were ready to mutiny! We weren't getting off the ship!
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