Wednesday, April 14, 2010

set a course for adventure

“The key to a successful cruise experience,”

I emailed to my mother,

“is to fully embrace the love boat-esque weirdness that is available to us! To never pass up the chance to pose for a staged photo (without buying prints, of course), to attend all the captain's parties and Vegas-meets-Pocmont shows, to eat like total pigs, and of course to find our favorite spots to soak up the sun and watch the ocean glide by =) It's going to be SO GREAT!!!"

It really was. We embraced it all head on.
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The photo ops are so weird. From the moment you set foot upon Carnival soil, your vogue is requested in front of a background screen that often blocks one’s view of the very thing it is depicting. I was all over those photo ops, so were the kids. The photographers print up your images and store them in a big gallery on the ship, you can stroll through and pick out your poses from among the thousands on display. We never ceased being amused by the sight of ourselves in sombreros with a stuffed lizard, or winking provocatively in front of a romantic sunset, or grabbing on to the captain’s wheel as if the deck was lilting toward an iceberg. And then there is formal night, when the freaks come out.





This is one of the places where they set up for formal night photos, and the peeps are all decked out for their turn. I wore my fancy flip flops to honor the regal occasion.


The cruise is chock full of opportunities for adventure, you've got your soduko , mini golf and karoke tournaments; spin classes, spa lectures, ice cream sundae parties, a hairy chest competition, and dance lessons. Each day’s activities are announced in a handy little booklet that is left on your turned down bed at night, along with a whimsical towel beast and some chocolate:



While our happiest moments were spent in those lovely chairs on the Lido deck, enjoying the drink of the day




We did participate in many silly things, like the cha-cha slide





And the hip hop show.



My boy and I may or may not have been called up to participate in the show. There may or may not be a video.

Being dorks adventurous definitely has its perks. If we had not shown up for the Captain's party and endured the eternal introduction of senior officers, we would have enjoyed neither free booze nor the opportunity to be interviewed for the ship-wide tv station!


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Not much time is spent in the cabin, except to refill unobtrusive souvenior cups with contraband booze.

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or have our own formal night photo op in the pretty window seat

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It's a funny, freaky, relaxing adventure at sea. Like the Love Boat, there's something for everyone.



And every night in the dining room, there is Ivan:




What's not to love?

7 comments:

Mom C said...

Soooo nice Jacquie -what a great time we all had. Great re-cap. love mom

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Oh, I love, I love. I'm in love. I love everything about your Love Boat adventure, and I love you. And Mom and Dad. And your chitlins.

Me myself personally? I'm feeling the love.

Love,
Ellie

Me, You, or Ellie said...

A hairy chest contest? Really? I know someone who could kill that contest!

I really had no idea how other-worldly a cruise ship was. I'm glad you all fully embraced the weirdness; it sounds like you were successful in setting the perfect course for adventure.

But, I just gotta ask, what's up with those hideous tri-colored cups??

beth

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Beth, if you look at the "drink of the day" photo, you'll notice the inspiration for those silly cups, which are now the kids' favorite bedtime water cups ;)

We tried to talk my dad into the hairy chest contest, in addition to being a very handsome man, he is also a very hairy man. One time when my boy was little and saw his grandfather without a shirt, he asked: "Why is your fur so black?"

Jacquie

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Yes, but why replicate the ugly into uglier cups? It makes no sense to me :-)

I prefer your very handsome, very hairy dad's plastic cup full of golden goodness.

b

Mom C said...

A requirement for the hairy chest contest was to be drunk out of your mind. The 5 or 6 bozoes who participated (we could see a little bit of it from our beautiful spot on the upper deck) danced around and slowly removed their t-shirts...can you say gross?? mom

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Oh God I love this.

Ellie