Nov 1 2014 - Explorer to Fla from NY, Lifeboat Crashes

[The Big Booper]

We go up to Café Promenade and once again the band is playing inside.

 

 

 

 

We will finally get to see the RC D & S in a show tonight, the old venerable “Wild, Cool & Swingin”. As late traditional diners, all of our shows except early in the cruise, are at 6:45 PM. We’ve seen the show before but still enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

One more show picture.

 

 

At dinner our waiter treated us to an origami creation. He made three in all over three nights and I think this was the dragon.

 

 

After dinner the pool deck party and buffet was moved down to the Promenade because of inclement weather and it got slightly crowded. Of course, as usual, the pool band was once again the Promenade band. We retreated to the forward overlook above Maharajas Lounge for a little air; we were still full from supper. The weather was a negative factor for much of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

We then went out to the Starboard promenade deck; it wasn’t too bad since most of the smokers were still inside at the “pool party”. It looks nice at night and the rain had stopped. Two or three miles away we saw a ship passing us and by leaning against a pole and the railing I got a slightly shaky image of it – we couldn’t quite identify it. Vision? At least two miles away.

 

 

We got back to our cabin and noted that we had a new visitor and that the previous flying thingee had made good his escape. Since the new fellow looked hungry and we wanted him to stay around for a while we bribed him with a leftover orange from our fruit bowl from a couple of days ago. He seemed happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[kleo30]

I am so enjoying your review. We had friends on this trip, and really wanted to do this cruise, too. But we just couldn't make it work. Thanks for sharing.

[trvlmil]

Great review and photos! Thank you for sharing. We love the Explorer and will miss her here in NJ

[Havin'fun]

I love the review and the pictures. We were on this cruise and had a wonderful time. It's a lot of fun reliving it and also seeing it through some one else's experiences.

[The Big Booper]

Day 9

 

 

At Sea. The main activity in the morning was another Top Tier event where a whole load of crystal blocks were handed out plus the P’s with the most cruise nights were introduced. The show opened with entertainment from one of the combos, followed by a performance by the Captain. The Maharajas Lounge was packed, only natural since there were almost 1,100 top tiers aboard. The biggest applause went to the newly anointed P from Pa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the event we hit Café P looking for our favorite snacks and we were pleasantly surprised to discover that in lieu of the regular vanilla cheesecake lollypops, for one day only, they had chocolate cheesecake lollypops. Adding in the usual tarts made it a great late morning snack, which tided us over until lunch 25 minutes later. Obviously the special treat was in honor the Top Tier event.

 

 

 

GOOD STUFF!

 

[The Big Booper]

In the afternoon our turn finally came up to see “Spirits of the Seasons” the long running ice show. This might have been the fourth time for us and it is still good; the last time was in 2010 so it seemed fresh. With only 30 kids on-board they had no kids available for the sled sequence.

 

There are many pics of this performance since we were sitting right along the rail at a perfect spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

 

 

 

 

 

 

And he's not even from Canada, but from Australia.

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

As we left the arena we ran into The Couple, hadn’t seen them in a few days. They looked spiffy in their casual daytime outfits. I felt like saying ole; unfortunately the best shot left out his shoes and he told me he likes having his shoes in a picture. Quality over shoes I sez.

 

 

 

 

 

That night our waiter made another dragon, which was even cooler then the first one. And not because it was blue.

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we went to the game show “Finish that Lyric”, hosted by EFT. Our tablemate, Chantal from Belgium, was one of the contestants but didn’t win. The highlight was listening to EFT instruct the sound booth as to what to play, pure gibberish and doubletalk

 

After this game we went up to Karaoke where Chantal’s husband Marc was one of the contestants. Considering that the objective here is to hear slightly sloshed people trying to sing the lyrics, Marc was sober and a polished performer. The woman following Marc said “I have to follow HIM?” The hostess was Oksana from Ukraine and she was in her element.

 

After all this musical activity we toddled off to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

Curacao. The weather looked great today so we decided to go ahead with our plans to visit the Sea Aquarium. The cab fare was $5 pp one way and the admission for seniors was $11 pp, instead of the regular $21 pp, a good deal. After a quickie breakfast we were headed off the ship when we ran into…The Couple, who looked elegant as always.

 

 

 

 

 

The cab ride was fairly quick and passed over the high bridge, eventually dropping us off 200 feet from the entrance. The facility is next door to a beach and resort and the whole area looked attractive and photogenic. While en route I noticed Vision pulling in and snapped a quickie of it from outside the SA

 

 

 

 

Daily life boat picture.

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vision pulling in.

[The Big Booper]

The Sea Aquarium (SA) has six main exhibits and a guide takes visitors to the six in sequence. You can repeat any of the attractions as many times as you like; we got in and went over to the Dolphin talk and performance. The three adult mammals were performing directly in front of the crowd while off to the side a younger dolphin was learning the routines and performing the same tricks to the same music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

 

More Dolphins.

 

 

Don't know what this building houses.

 

The group was then led over to the stingray exhibit. Because the water is in a large tank instead of an open ocean with moving water it can be harder to see the rays and the water does contain particulates. It makes it difficult to see and photograph them.

 

 

 

 

 

Sting Rays in very murky water.

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

Next up was the Pink Flamingo exhibit and the daddy longlegs of the avian world put on their usual good show, stalking around their open compound and doing Flamingo things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

We then walked outside the compound to a little side area where the sea lions put on their show. This used to take place in a lagoon but now it is on dry land with a podium for the guys to show their tricks. We were told that they might be moved back in a year or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

He caught it !

 

 

 

The next stop was at a tank with several lemon sharks, which the guide insisted could be petted. Not on your life. The guide also let some of the guests feed the sharks. Bait was attached to a foot long metal probe, which was then waved in the water right in front of the shark.

 

SNAP!

 

Also, no thanks on this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

The next stop appeared to be an ordinary fish tank with fish swimming around in the water. Then we noticed some tough guys at the bottom of the tank. Yep, the stars of lobster night were putting on a boxing match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then started the cycle again after a 15-minute delay to catch the dolphin show in its entirety before we hit the small cafeteria with an extremely limited selection of human food. There is also a gift shop. Surprise. It had some nice stuff, many with logos.

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

There was a single cab waiting outside which we took to get back to downtown, time to check out the town. It had been years since we were here and it appeared to have been really spruced up. With perfect timing we arrived at the Queen Emma pontoon bridge as it was opening for a small ship to slip through. It’s always fascinating to watch it go thru the cycle and then close again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first, I misread this....

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

We stumbled across this synagogue, the oldest in our hemisphere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

I ran into a quartet of models promoting some product and their handler volunteered to take a picture of all five of us. Oh Happy Days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life imitates art - I was taking a picture of this street art when ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read this sigh fast ...

 

 

 

 

The Vision at dockside.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2014 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

We walked back across the bridge, stopped to take pictures and hiked back to the ship. It had been a long day and we both needed a rest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

We were a little bit late to the Cabaret showtime starring the RC singers. The two men were dressed as if they were going out to eat at Applebees while Sandy was dressed to kill, a sign of the times for performers. We had to leave before Robbin came out to perform. Music trivia time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At dinner tonight our waiter made an origami giraffe. It had spots and a long yellow neck so that’s what it must have been. After dinner we hit karaoke again to support our tablemate Marc. He sang along with Ken of The Couple, EFT teeshirt guy from the M & M, and a couple of other decent singers.