The Games People Play...

Those of you who have followed my previous blog already know I am a token fiend and by that I mean I go crazy trying to win Regent tokens which can be exchanged later in the cruise for logo geegaws.  Regent has now replaced the tokens with a "reward card" which is a plastic coated, color coded sort of playing card sized item showing either 1, 2 or even 3 points.  The gist is the same:  you win a game, you win a reward point.  The difference is that some of the games now have 1st and 2nd place prizes (hence 1 point, 2 points, 3 points). 

Anyway, I was intent on winning some of these point cards.  I just didn't realize it was going to be so difficult to do so!  At the end of the two weeks I had amassed a few more points than my good friend Susan had...her face in this picture is priceless!



While I give proper credit (and deservedly so) to the wonderful performers while they are on stage, putting them in charge of some of these games has been less than effective.  Mason, for example, is a wonderfully talented dancer but he has been letting a couple of the passengers turn the games into a mitigated disaster.  Bocce was such a joke that we skipped all of the rest of the games that day and hadn't tried anything else since.  Today we participated in the putting contest but, again, there is a group of game players who just aren't any fun to be around.  I don't know any nicer way to say it.  The passengers who ARE fun to play games with are a lot of fun, indeed.  Mike got kind of a "rep" around the ship as the guy who brought his own Ping putter with him while everyone else has to use the rusty ones from 1972.  Also, funny is when someone overheard someone else talking about Mike's putter and thought it was a PINK putter which resulted in an additional conversation about why some guy would have a pink putter.  There were a couple of guys (Mike, Wayne, Paul, Jim(?)) who put together some putting skins games a few times....Mike won $38 one day but the rest of the time they all pretty much broke even.

Luckily, the daily tea time trivia contest still awards reward points to the winners. We have a team that we felt would be very strong (or at least should have been!) and we have fun, and even though my "officially fluid" team of 3 to 6 players never claimed a victory, I have a few CC friends who are super smart/well rounded and they have donated some of their points to me as you can see above (Much love to Jackie, Dennis, Dick, Peter and Pat) I finally remembered to bring my camera one day and present here are Bonnie, Joel, Kathy, Me and I believe that seafoam green shape in the bottom left is Susan whose head is chopped out of the picture

One game that I AM good at, apparently is bingo!  One day I won the $185 cover all and

twice I won the small round robin --once for $80 and once for $139!  We only play bingo on sea days, but I still have a few more chances to win some money.  Which is especially good because the casino games are kicking my ass.  The "ice-breaker" for Bingo winnings was Wayne who won two out of four games one day; next day Joel won and was kind enough to pose for a picture!

Here's one last thing regarding games which really aggravated me (although I have noticed more of this on this cruise than I did previously)  tonight was the Liar's Club game show which is another event you need to form teams for.  My friends who had planned to play unfortunately had disbursed -- two turned into sleeping beauties (LOL you know who you are!); two wouldn't leave the casino tables (again, not mentioning any names!) and Bonnie & Joel have managed to avoid me all day....(on purpose?? methinks NOT!).  So I went into Horizon in search of a team.  Important note before I go further -- there is NO LIMIT on the # of people you can have on your team.  This policy was announced a few times by the host/cruise director.  I already knew this and on my last cruise, I made a point of looking around us to see if anyone was alone and invited them to join our team.  Okay, so getting back to tonight's game.  I spotted Ed and Anna who were sitting with a 3rd woman.  I joined them and introduced myself to the 3rd woman who said her name was Barbara.  At that point Anna told her her own name and introduced Ed.  I didn't realize that they all didn't already know each other -- but no biggie, like I said it's a friendly game and anyone can & should join anyone else.  Now here's the part where I got aggravated.  About a minute before the game started, Barbara's two other friends came in to the Lounge and instead of having them join us, B slides her chair away without even a goodbye and shouts to the cruise director "Can we get our own team #?"  What the hell??? 

But this is the kind of cliquishness (is that even a word?) I am finding around the ship that I didn't find the last time.  Last time the people who did the same kinds of things, were all very sociable (at least amongst each other) and I kind of assumed that was because we all knew we were going to be seeing a lot of each other.  The smokers all chatted and socialized with each other;  the game players all chatted and socialized with each other; the casino players all chatted and socialized with each other.... you get the picture.  I'm sure it was the same way in the gym, in the puzzle corner, in the card room, etc.
THIS time I am finding a lot of "pockets" of people congregating in smaller groups and keeping to themselves to the extent where they don't even acknowledge others in passing.  Weird!

A snowstorm is coming

I'm not sure what it is, but it seems like every time Mike and I take a cruise, we've gotten out of town right before a major snowstorm.    2009 we drive to the airport in a snowstorm and after de-icing the plane we take off leaving the rest of the family to fend off the blizzard.  2010 we sail out of New York and come home to 20 inches of snow.  Now, for 2011, our track record remains intact:  a 14 incher is heading our way and should start to rear its ugly head about 5 hours after we land in sunny Florida.  

I finished all of my packing over the weekend and this time I actually remembered to pack the cruise documents and put the cruise luggage tags on the suitcases so I'm already way ahead of the game.  I just heard the sound of wheels rolling across the kitchen floor so I am assuming that Mike has finished his packing as well.  As always, I put all of his outfits together and packed for him earlier, but I know he always likes to throw some last minute stuff into his bag.

It's so weird; I keep having this thought in the back of my head that I'm going to arrive at the port tomorrow and they're going to say to me that my cabin has been changed.  It's probably just a lingering thought from having had the chance at a Penthouse Suite but it would be wild if it happens.  At this point, I'd just be happy moving to a different deck - 8 through 10 - that features a launderette.  I just know I'm going to have to do some ironing and as far as doing laundry, well that just goes without saying.

Found out tonight that our sailaway is going to be broadcast live in HDTV on  CLICK HERE TO SEE ME WAVING LIKE A LUNATIC and it's supposed to be a 6pm sailaway but when I checked the Port Log it shows the Mariner departing at 5pm so who knows?  But the wonderful gentleman (Lou) manning the cameras said he would catch it live and also capture some still shots so whatever time we sail I'm sure he'll be recording it for posterity.


Okay, so if I get to bed (sleep!) right now I can get 5 hours of shut eye and then the bags under my eyes will be slightly less noticeable than if I were to stay up all night.  What are the chances??

Less Than Two Weeks Away

Sitting here I just realized that we are leaving in LESS THAN 2 weeks, and since things didn't seem to work out with the diet anyway I decided to just grab a couple of Oreos and bring you all up to speed.

I started pulling out some of my summer clothes to pick some outfits and get them ready for packing.  Of course all my skorts and shorts are wrinkled because they've been folded up sitting on wire shelves in the closet since September.  Logically, I decide to throw them in the dryer with a damp bath towel to "steam" the wrinkles out.  Mike asks why I bother, his "solution" is to just wear wrinkled clothes and if anyone doesn't like it well that is just their problem.  I try to explain that, NO it is MY problem because people will think that his wife is too damned lazy to iron his clothes.  Which of course isn't true; the truth is his wife is too damned lazy to throw them back in the dryer!  Anyway so that leads to a discussion of just what exactly he wants to pack because he refuses to pack any long sleeved button-down shirts but all of his short sleeve button-downs are either batik (oh, I LOVE my monkey shirt, he says.  I don't bother telling him that those are LIZARDS not Monkeys!) or retro vintage style bowling shirts.  Neither of which really go with the dress slacks I have selected for him.  Unless he suddenly morphs into Cosmo Kramer which might not have been a bad thing during Kramer's halcyon days of Seinfeld but not such a good thing now post the stand-up rant...

Crap, I've eaten like 5 Oreos already

Finally I just agreed to let him wear what he wants even if that includes a pull-over windbreaker if it's chilly in the dining room and he only has short sleeved shirts, and he agrees not to throw me overboard once we're out at sea.

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The upsell fairy came to visit and it was soooooooo painful to have to tell my TA to turn down the offer.  It was a really good offer, too, but we just couldn't justify the extra expense for features that we don't even have any need of. (i.e. butler service).  But I appreciate my agent getting right on this and attempting to hook me up!  I'm sure I've said this before, but I'll say it again, if you are looking for a good luxury travel agent  (and looking for a good price as well), I highly recommend Joe and JP from CHIC LUXURY CRUISES click here!  Seriously I wonder if we'll be chilling out in our cabin or on our balcony and look at each other and say, "we shoulda....."

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Speaking of my TA, he finally got confirmation from Kristin at Regent that my group meeting space had been arranged.  Not at Horizon Lounge (which I had requested specifically for its outdoor seating area) but they have given me Observation Lounge for the date and time I wanted.  Further investigation, however, leads me to be happy about the change of venue because the Observation Lounge bar generally opens at 11am which is one of the earliest to open!  So we can get this party started right away :-)     Another interesting side note about this whole meet & greet affair is that I did finally get a response from someone in corporate addressing my dissatisfaction with the lack of ....hmmm, I can't think of the word..... shown by Regent compared to other cruise lines.  I also expressed my surprise at the Regent staff acting as if they had never heard of Cruise Critic when at least three of the mucky-mucks at Regent do in fact post on CC (Frank Del Rio, Mark Conroy, Tim Rubacky)

So, I did finally get a response and I'm pasting it here without the to/from info:

Neither Regent nor Oceania do the CC parties as we limit these types of functions strictly to those group functions arranged through our agent partners.

One of the most valuable resources we give our agent partners is the ability to host cocktail parties or private functions for their clients and to do so for CC, or any other internet forum, would dilute that substantially.

The beauty of the Oceania and Regent vessels is that they are human sized and thus, guests find each other quiet easily, unlike say on the 3000 passenger Celebrity ships.  

I certainly hope you understand. 

Well, sorry, I don't understand and I think that is the lamest excuse/rationale I could ever envision.  But I got my way so it's all good!!

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10 Oreos down.... time to stop writing before I can't zip the wrinkled shorts!

Crossing The Equator

Making the journey from "Polliwog" to "Shellback" is a proud, ancient tradition and I have seen many discussions in the Cruising Chat Rooms of different activities used to mark the occasion.


In my search to find out what Regent may or may not have planned for our voyage in January, I came across this journal entry which is more than 100 years old!

There is always a great time when the ship crosses "the line," as they call the Equator, and all who have not before crossed it must pay tribute to Father Neptune. The ship's stewards worked hard getting ready for this; there was a great tank rigged on the after deck and filled about four feet deep with salt water. We were ordered to report at nine and most of us appeared in our pajamas. There were the Devil, in fine guise, old Father Neptune, in correct beard and costume, and a lot of other characters, among them a gorilla, admirably imitated. These English lads are certainly bright and painstaking. First there was a parade of the characters, then the bugle called us all aft to the tank, where Neptune had his throne. The women were called first, one by one, and Father Neptune received them very graciously, putting a few courteous questions to them, then turning them over to the doctor, who proceeded to take their temperatures. His thermometer was made of one of the glass boiler tubes, and was open at each end and filled with salt water. As the woman took it in her mouth it was raised and the water went where it would do the most good! One bright lady managed to stop the end of the tube with her tongue, and then to blow hard and deliver the sea water in the doctor's face. After the temperature was thus taken each was given a tonic from a huge bottle,' then the faces were lathered with a huge brush and carefully shaved with a wooden razor about two feet long, and then the victims were discharged.

We men went through a similar proceeding, only we were told to be seated on the edge of the tank, and after we were shaved we were suddenly capsized backward into the tank, a pleasant enough finish for one who could swim. Unluckily some one went in on top of me, so that I was down at the bottom of the tank quite a long time, but I did not swallow any water, and came out all right. Some of the men resisted and one was so fearfully strong that it took all of the stewards to put him in ; when they did get him over they all piled in on top of him, then some one turned a hose with a two-inch stream of water on the struggling, screaming mob, and, afterward turned it on a dense mass of Italian third-class passengers who were watching the play. I do not suppose that the water hurt them any. After-ward we were given certificates that we had been presented at the court of King Neptune. 

Of course, having been distracted by this gentleman's experience, I never got around to finding out if anything might be planned for my voyage.  I am fairly certain that if the Mariner holds some sort of ceremony, it will be slightly less involved than this -- but I truly hope that something is done to commemorate the event for those of us who will finally have reached "shellback" status.  Either way, dear readers, you will be the first to hear all about it!

Oh, The Places We'll Go!

I received a NOOK for Christmas (that's the Barnes and Noble e-reader for those of you who missed the hottest tech toys of 2009!)  Anyway, that has absolutely NOTHING to do with my 2011 cruise -- other than the fact that I'll probably bring it along because I have fallen madly and deeply in love with the thing -- but basically I've spent the past few weeks doing nothing other than reading novels.  I kind of figured it was about time that I put the damned thing down and so something else; what might that something else be?? Of course, it's on to the computer to do some OTHER reading!

So, anyway, I decided to start looking at the places we will be stopping and one of the things I am most looking forward to is the transit of the Panama Canal.  Even though there is no beach.  Or no casino. Or no golf course.......

But, it is important to know about geographical "things" and really I might get the chance to try out for Jeopardy again (did you know that about me??).  So here I find myself reading all kinds of interesting narratives about the construction and general history of the Panama Canal and seriously it is quite amazing!

I've taken the liberty of "lifting" a few pictures that show 1) an easy-to-read detailed map of the canal and 2) an illustration of how the locks work.  I am now going to attempt to insert these pictures right here in the same general vicinity of this paragraph ~~ here goes!!   Okay, well they appeared kind of all around this paragraph but that's okay, a couple of months from now I'll have this all down pat again!

Here is how the route we will be taking works: Ships approaching from the Atlantic first pass through the Gatún Locks -- a series of three lock sets that lift vessels 85 feet (26 m) to Gatún Lake. Once there, ships wind through the lake's channel for about 23 miles (37 km) before entering the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. After about 8 miles (13 km) spent crossing through the Cut, ships reach the Pedro Miguel Locks. These locks lower ships 30 feet (9 m) to the Miraflores Lake, where they pass through a mile-long (2 km) channel. Ships then approach the two-stepped Miraflores Locks that return them to sea level. A 7-mile (11-km) passage takes them out to the Pacific. From deep water to deep water, the canal is 50 miles (80 km) long.

Each of the locks is built in pairs to allow for two-way traffic. With a total transit time of eight to 10 hours, it just wouldn't make sense to run a one-way street.  To raise a ship, water is released from a lake (Gatún, Alajuela or Miraflores) or from a higher lock through valves that open on the upper end of the lock. To lower a ship, water drains to a lower lock or to the ocean through valves that open at the lower end of the lock. The locks are powered by electricity.

Because so much hinges on the locks' integrity, safety precautions prevent large ships from sailing through on their own steam. An out-of-control large ship could plunge through a lock. Large craft are instead escorted by electric towing locomotives.

To find more information, or to read the whole story, visit Panama Canal Authority -- I believe we all only have time for the Reader's Digest version!

Booking the Mariner

As readers of my previous blog already know, last year Mike and I took a luxury cruise aboard the Seven Seas Mariner to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.  I had high expectations ~ and all of my expectations were met AND exceeded by the wonderful ship, the wonderful staff and the wonderful group of passengers we had the pleasure with which to sail.

Although I had high hopes and dreams, I thought it would be quite a long time indeed before we were in a position to spend that much money on a cruise again.  I wasn't overly morose about it; after all, I had checked the Regent website and scanned the brochures, and the Mariner wasn't heading anywhere I wanted to go at the time I wanted to go.  So, instead, I booked a cruise for Mike and I aboard the Norwegian Gem for 2010.  Sailing out of New York City was a major plus; and it enabled us to treat our daughter, son-in-law and our #1 grandchild to cruise as well since we only had to pay their cruise fare as opposed to 3 additional airplane tickets.  Having this family cruise to look forward to kept my mind off of what was going on with the Mariner.  I stayed out of the Luxury Cruise Talk chat rooms and the Regent threads on Cruise Critic (why torture myself with hearing about others' upcoming trips).  I barely glanced at the Regent brochures that came in the mail before unceremoniously throwing them away.  And I deleted all Regent-related e-mails without even opening them up.

Then, finally, right before Christmas, one of the brochure descriptions did catch my eye.  It was for 2011 sailings and it showed my wonderful Mariner heading back into warm climates in January.  Oh Joy!  Here was something I could consider ~ the first leg of their Circle South America voyage ~ two weeks in warm waters and transiting the Panama Canal (a first for us).  Then I saw the price and sticker shock set in.  Was I insane to consider paying that amount for a 2 week vacation??  I wasn't even sure I should mention it to Mike...he might think I'm even crazier than I thought I might be!  But when I showed him the dates and itinerary, he didn't hesitate at all:  "Book it!"  I hemmmmed and hawwwwwwed for a couple of days before finally calling my old friend Joe at Chic Luxury Cruises and reluctantly gave him my credit card information for the deposit.

Mike is generally more pragmatic than I am, but even he convinced me that the old cliche "you can't take it with you" is probably right on and after all what is the point of busting your hump day after day after year after year if you are never going to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  And just looking at our cabin pictures brings back so many incredible memories....we truly cannot wait to be back on board.

So, this blog begins another chapter in the cruising lives of Diz & Mike and it will probably become quite active in the second half of 2010.

Join me in my journey!