June 26 - Day at Sea / Formal Night 2
Today appeared to be a very laid back day, but all of us agreed at the end of the day that it had been a very busy and full day. After breakfast (later than usual as the clocks moved up an hour last night) Kim and I met Sue in the Solstice Theatre for a hypnosis show, put on by the previous night's entertainer, magician Ryan David, that had been promised to "pack the house!" Sue was coming from a hot glass blowing demonstration where she and Dan had sat outside (in ultra-cold temps!) to watch the demonstration....they were rewarded for their patience by winning a drawing which earned them a glass-blown plate. The three of us were in a perfect spot to watch as about a dozen brave souls volunteered to be hyptotized.....knowing full well that they would be do things under suggestion that were "entertaining." I commend them for willing to BE the show :) The first portion had all of them believing they were on a beach. David first suggested how pleasant it was and they "put on" suntan lotion - first themselves and then their neighbors.....then he suggested they had a bird, whom they admired and then it began crawling up inside their clothes....fun stuff. He then singled out three of them for individual "performances." The one gal believed she was a diva singer anytime the music came on - and she really played the part; another lady believed she was being pinched on the rear end anytime David mentioned the word "celebrity." She was most offended at her neighbors, who were dumbfounded when accused of being the "attacker!" The third guy believed he had the MOST comfortable t-shirt EVER when he heard the phrase "car keys" and would switch it from front to back to make it even more comfortable. The highlight - for me at least - was the finale. One older gentlemen was led to believe he was the captain of the ship, and he KNEW that laughing was dangerous, so he was to announce that laughing was now outlawed onboard! Three other men believed they were security guards to enforce the new law. The "captain" sounded just like our captain (accent and all!) and he was most sympathetic, but insistent there would be no more laughing.....of course it just frustrated him when everyone laughed out loud. One "security officer" in particular pointed to a lady and said, "SHE is laughing - she won't stop!" and was most indignant :) And finally, the first lady who'd been believing she had her rear end pinched was now told that when she was thanked for being part of the show, she would start off stage and then realize she'd seen multiple Big Foots come on board who had been eating guests! She would rush up to the microphone and tell everyone to protect their children......but to do so in Mandarin Chinese! True to the suggestion she was in near panic mode speaking what she believed was Chinese, pleading with everyone to save their children. And the guy with the t-shirt - well he was told that once he got back to his seat he would realize he had no pants on! He would take the comfortable t-shirt off, "cover himself" and dash back up on stage to hide behind Ryan David, knowing it was the only "safe place" where he would not be "exposed." We all laughed so hard, nearly bringing tears to our eyes!
It was past 1:30 pm by the time the show ended so we all met for lunch. At 3:00, shortly after lunch, was another presentation by Brent Davis. Today his top was the Orca Whales. The first third of his presentation was a lot about his wife, his cd's, etc. and to be honest I was so tired I nodded off for a minute or two more than once! But the last 40 minutes his discussion, videos, and photos of the Orca were fascinating! Some of the highlights........
- One of the best places to see the Orca - off the coast of San Juan Islands near Seattle, where we are going on Sunday!
- They are one of the most intelligent mammals on the planet, using more than 80% of their brain (we use less than 15%). They cannot fully sleep, so they shut down one half of their brain while "sleeping" and swim against the current in an "auto-mode" in a group. Studies have shown that one of the orca is awake and here's the most fascinating thing.....when the "leader" has a thought, within seconds ALL the others' brain waves show that THEY HAVE THE SAME THOUGHT! So the leader is guiding them by mental telepathy! WOW!
- Finally....when the orca are being watched by a group of powerboats - the propellers being very dangerous, obviously - they will swim right up beside a boat, using it for protection and then dive down to disappear. One will resurface about a mile away in one direction, following by another surfacing a mile away in the other direction. The boats typically separate to go "see the show." Meanwhile all of the orca re-group underwater back in the middle and swim off, undisturbed!
We met for before-dinner drinks at "our bar" - later we had our group photo taken right near the bar (see above) in our Formal Attire Part 2. We listened to the quartet of singers whom we'd enjoyed the first night on board and then headed to dinner. For some reason we were seated in the lower dining area, which is usually reserved for those dining on a fixed schedule. This seemed like a great deal, until we got to our table which was far, far back in the corner. While this was a good location to have a more quiet dinner, and three of us did not have to look out the windowns - which are like looking through coke bottles - most disturbing! - it was probably the very worst location for the traditional waiter march. We all waved our napkins like the rest of the crowd, but never spotted a single dinner staff person marching or singing. Disappointing.
After dinner we wanted (me in particular) to have our group photo taken in front of the "ship" background. We found it and got in line. But as soon as the group in front of us was ready for pictures, the captain of the ship appeared and they had their photo taken with him. Kim asked the photographer could we have our photo not only with the captain, but without......and we were told that if we wanted to do that we would have to come back around 9:45 pm. So we got out of line (pretty sure the captain did NOT see us!) and headed off the the theatre for the last "big show" - one we'd been promised we did NOT want to miss. It had been billed as a "Cirque de Soleil-like" show. We all had agreed that the ship's talent had been entertaining, but was far from "broadway-caliber" in the previous shows. So we had our doubts about their ability to pull off such a show - with the exception of two performers who were OBVIOUSLY talented in these kinds of performances. As soon as the show started however it was clear that this would indeed be an exceptional show. I have to say, being a veteran of many cirque-like shows, that this performance was as good as most of the cirque shows I've seen. The acrobatics, juggling, and other unusual things they did on stage, and in the air, were exceptionally well done!
When the show was over we headed back to the "ship background" to have our photo taken, only to discover the background was rolled up and the photographer gone for the night. Sue and Dan headed to the casino for about twenty minutes while Kim and I went upstairs to read befoere turning in. We asked Sue to bang on our door if she won big again. About twenty minutes after we were settled into our pajamas there was a banging at the door! "Did you win big again?" we asked......no she said, but she told us that she had to tell us that as they went to leave, the "ship background" and photographer had re-opened! At least they got their photo taken with the background I wanted :)
The final day of our cruise was an ultra-cool and foggy day. The ship's blast horn sounded several times throughout the day because it was so much thicker than portrayed in the photo below. We had received information about packing and disembarking for tomorrow's landing in Seattle and had to spend a good bit of time getting all of our things packed so they could be outside our room by 11 pm at the latest. The four of us met at breakfast and made a final decision about today......we decided it really wasn't worth the money to get off the ship and tour the city of Victoria. And we also decided that since we would be spending the next three nights in Seattle that we'd rather spend our meal money on a good restaurant there than to eat in one of the specialty restaurants on our last night on board. We re-grouped about 1 pm for an afternoon drink, did a little shopping, got some photos, and then headed into the theatre to hear Brent Nixon's last speech - this one on seals and otters. About fifteen minutes after his presentation it was the final show of the cruise - early because of the evening docking in Victoria. It was a highllight of the musical acts and was good. We headed back to our cabins to get "cleaned up" for dinner and then met at "our bar" for a couple of pre-dinner cocktails. The dinner was very good - a veal cordon-bleu and all of us had the french onion soup one last time - it was without a doubt the best thing prepared in the dining room! After dinner we had a final drink and laughed about some of the photo poses that the photographers (who were sub-par by any standard of measurement) had required. The girls just had to strike one last pose - see at right! And then out the window we saw one last amazing sight......the mountains ABOVE the clouds.....really a cool final vista to capture in our last on-board photograph. Tomorrow we begin our Seattle adventure!
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