The ride has been a bit bumpy today - could be because we are channeling between Cuba and the Bahamas (but I’m thinking that “agitated” is how those Castro brothers like to keep things here!) Here you can just barely see Cuba off in the distance (we had to head to the other side of the ship to get this - nothing but water on the Weiler side of the boat!)Gerry took the morning off to hopefully chase his cold completely away. That meant I had to represent the team at morning trivia. We came close - only lost by one (and I had serious plan for that keychain!) but I couldn’t come up with the number of white keys on the piano, the fact that figs are mentioned apparently way more than olives in the bible or that fireflies locate their mates by sight rather than noise. And those were the EASY questions!
In the afternoon we visited the “Aroma Thermal Suite” with many others (it would appear that they don’t “limit” the number of passes they sell quite as much as they’d like you to believe). Gerry has decided to rename the rooms so as you enter the first steam room on your right (formerly “baby bear”) is now dubbed “Phoenix” - a dry heat steam room (if there is such a thing) where you will definitely want to bring a towel. Just like in Phoenix if you sit on the bleachers (okay tile benches) you blister your bum! Continuing around the room clockwise the next steam room you come to (formerly the “mama bear” room) is now being called “The First Circle of Hell” - again you’ll need a towel to sit upon and you won’t last long. Right after this room you come to the room (still known as) “Hell - Table for One”. If you forget your towel you’re really done for - you can’t sit and the air at standing level is super-heated (easily 15 degrees hotter than ground level but you’ll be there soon enough to tell) and, as near as I can tell (since I keep forgetting my damn towel) completely devoid of oxygen (technically I think oxygen is heavier than the toxins you’re apparently sweating out and so I must be just recycling the bad stuff). This room doesn’t utilize aromatherapy but if it did, I’d recommend they use "essence of brimstone."
The final room on our circle is the Aromatherapy Room. It is scented with some “new age” scent (eucalyptus, lemongrass, cucumber) and leaves you wondering when Yanni is going to show up. It is quite and peaceful and really pleasant (particularly after even a few seconds in “Hell”).
In the afternoon we rejoined our newfound friends for another go at Trivia. The questions were a bit easier which doesn’t explain then why we got fewer correct. Oh well, we’re saving our “good stuff” for later in the cruise!
Formal night - which means photo ops (plenty!) and this time (which is totally confusing to me) the Captain’s WELCOMING Champagne Waterfall. Typically this is something they reserve for the last night of the cruise but we are apparently traveling backwards thru the canal (I wonder how well this thing backs up?) They seem to have a lot of fun doing it but it's pretty serious work. It’s an amazing feat of engineering watching them construct the tower. There is no other support to the structure than that provided by the glasses, the grape and the champagne. Each glass is inspected by 5 or 6 worker bees and anything that even looks slightly flawed or not exactly even is dismissed. The glasses start out with a grape (anchor?) and some champagne so that the weight change is not as dramatic when they start allowing passengers to pour the champagne from the top (another photo op).We capped the evening with a visit to the Universe Lounge to see Randy Cabral and his act of “Comedy, Juggling and Other Useless Skills”. He said that he was on the Tonight Show a couple of weeks ago so maybe someone saw him? He was pretty funny and is apparently leaving the ship in Aruba (nice) and so we’re going to try to catch his final show tonight. If I can figure out how to attach a movie I'll let you see a bit of his act.
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