Wednesday Post

Its actually Wednesday mid-afternoon, which means that we’ve been in Georgetown for quite some time. I have, in fact, been off the ship already and have just now come back from some lunch.

Current Position:
19 degrees, 18.16’ N
81 degrees, 23.40’ W
Docked at Georgetown
Relative Wind: 17 mph from a couple of points to port.
Distance Traveled: 1160 nm

Yesterday was, obviously, Jake and Lana’s wedding and the reason we’re on this boat. It was absolutely beautiful. The preacher they got to do the ceremony was both reverent and boisterous in his faith, which made for a wonderful ceremony. And the vows that they gave each other fit the two of them to such a tee, they were perfect. The reception was alright – kind of quiet, honestly, but the conversation was nice. Between us we’ve taken about a gabillion photos of this event – I can only share some of them through this post.

In terms of the rest of the evening, there’s not much to say about it. We went to a band performance and Jilly and I did a little ballroom dancing and then headed out on deck to the hot tub. After that we came back to the room.

This morning has been a bit more eventful. We got up a little after the ship docked with Georgetown and, after getting dressed, had breakfast and then got off the ship with Aaron, Linda, Kaoru, Steve, Greg, and Vekah. Georgetown is pretty nice, though all the real attractions require a bus trip to get to them. The stores are nice, though, and we did a little shopping. I picked up a hematite four leaf clover for Happenstance as well as a model of a schooner which will go into my office. Jilly picked up a necklace and found some hair clips. We also found Matt’s Christmas present, which will be awesome.

After we decided we had had enough shopping we went back up to the boat. We’ve spent our time since eating lunch. Jilly has gone to her hair appointment and I have a facial scheduled just after four – all in preparation for formal night tonight.

Cruise Roundup

So, I haven't done much writing on Thursday or Friday. So I'm going to blog it all here and now. No pictures this entry, either - once Lana has the photos up I'll post a link there.

The facial and shave, which is where i left off at the last entry, was absolutely awesome. The person who did the work (I really am not sure what you call this? The barber? The shavist?) pointed out that my face gets too oily because it gets too dry. Which is counter-intuitive to me, but I'll pick up a face moisturizer when I get home, as well as a deep cleanser.

The formal night was wonderful. Jilly had this hot red dress that she wore for it, which absolutely flattered here. I went with my tuxedo, a red dress shirt and a silver tie. We looked absolutely hawt together, which is good since we got our formal picture taken. When I'm home I'll pull it out and scan it. The entire group also got a formal picture taken, as well, and someone else will be scanning that and sending it along. Totally hotness.

After dinner was some hanging out in the Tessler's room and then pool time. Pool time was wonderful, especially due to the coining of "placid water geek is place". As well as the death roll. :P We finished up with a snack on the Promenade and then everyone collapsed. I've noticed that we tend to collapse earlier on the boat than at cons - probably because we're doing more.

Thursday was Cozumel. We had arranged a tour of the Mayan ruins which were, apparently, way too far inland. The ferry ride off the boat was miserable - the ride was incredibly rough and some people got sick during the trip. And then we had a long walk to the bus. And then a forty-five minute trip out to the "shopping" of the trip. And then longer to the actual ruins. All told, during our seven hour excursion, I think we got ninety minutes actually at the ruins. Though they were absolutely beautiful (and powerful!) I would have liked to have had more time on the site itself. Rather than shop in Mexico, Jilly and I decided to head back to the ship.

Instead of dining in the dining room that night, we had reservations at Chops. It was actually awesome - the only thing I regret is that the day had left my stomach a little uneasy. The steak was huuuuuuuge as was the baked potato (they joked that they couldn't find a smaller one. I want to know where they found these!). It was a delightful experience and I'll totally go again when we cruise. We couldn't eat the mud pie after, but they packed it up for us. When we did have it (on the last night) it was absolutely rich and awesome.

After Chops we hunted for people and eventually found them in the pool. Spent more time there floating until the 80s party started and we retreated. We eventually went back up and hung out with Jay, JD, and Kaoru until it ended and we went to bed.

Friday - Friday was sadness. Our last day on the ship, this time at sea. It was a pretty placid day, honestly. We woke up late to breakfast in bed, which was great. We then wandered looking for people and finally caught up with the group. We had lunch at Johnny Rockets - great food, but probably a little heavy for the heat; it sat in my stomach like a brick. Jilly went off with Kaoru, Greg, Becky, and Steve to the arcade. I hung out with Jake and Lana and their parents for a while, though my stomach was probably making me terrible company (sorry!)

Eventually we went back up to the rooms and it was time for packing. Very, very sad. Got the money for tipping - we went with guidelines for the waiter and assistant waiter, above guidelines for the room team. The head waiter got nothing - we saw him all of twice, and one of those was during the final night when he was hunting for a tip. Dinner itself was terrific - I had another steak, which was absolutely terrific. I'm seriously going to miss the food on this ship - I think my digestive system may just shut down if I eat fast food.

After that was hanging out time. We all went up to the Tessler's rooms and watched Vantage Point while I worked some networking magic to get them our photos, and while Linda worked hard at getting her amazing amount of photos transferred to Lana's notebook. Wow. After the movie people scattered. I hung out with Lana, Jay and JD until Lana went ker-flop and I returned to the room to finish packing.

And then, morning. The one complaint I have about the ship is that the service really tanked on the final morning. The wait staff in the dining room breakfast was indifferent and there was a real sense they were pushing us off the ship. Probably because they were.

And now we're in a hotel room, with a long trip awaiting us to get home. Which is where we want to be at this point, very much. All of us are feeling homesick.

A couple of things before I sign off. Huge thanks to Aaron and Linda during this cruise - you two were absolutely awesome during the whole thing, including leaving cocoa butter hanging on our door when you knew that the two of us had huge sunburn. Thank you, so very much. :)

So, would I do this again? Hells yeah. I think Lana's going to set up planning a Mediterranean cruise for three years hence, we'll definitely get in on that planning. The cruise was absolutely terrific, and I'm glad I went.

And I'm also missing everyone already. ICC can't come fast enough.

Well, that's it for now, I think.