Debarkment Day: New Orleans

The last day on the BWB, it was super windy and cold, probably the coldest we'd experienced, so we didn't go outside much at all.  (Which is weird really.  You'd think that of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico, the latter would have been the warmest, not the coldest.)  Something really neat about that last day was seeing all the oil platforms out in the Gulf.  We saw them all day long.  In the evening, we entered Louisiana waters, and began cruising up the Mississippi (which meant we'd been in five different bodies of water in our trip!).  The Mississippi was also neat, because some of the oil rigs we passed were so close it seemed like we could hop off the boat onto them!

It was strange to think we'd wake up in the morning in New Orleans...and then suddenly there it was.  I hadn't thought I'd be ready to ever get off the boat, but once we got there...I was ready to get to my family!  I almost didn't make it off the boat...my card that let me exit the boat didn't work, and so when I went to leave, it gave a big gong sound.  They just wrote on a piece of paper that I'd left and let me continue on.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip.  I would (and hope to) do it again...and again...and again.  I've said that it is the best way to cross the ocean, in my opinion. 

Day 14: (at sea) Lecture Lady

So here's a story.

While we were touring Alhambra, there was a woman who stuck by the tour guide's side like glue.  She asked so many questions that at one point the tour guide had to give her the calm down hand and asked her to allow others to ask questions.  To me, she just seemed a little quirky and really wanted to know everything she could learn about the place.  

I was in my own little zone looking at all the pretty pretty.  As I do often, I held my camera out to take a picture of myself...and with an iphone that has a front camera, it's because practically impossible to take a bad self-portrait.  Lecture Lady saw me taking my own photo and offered to take it for me.  I let her, just to appease her, and went right back to my little prettypretty zone.

 Later, in the garden, I was taking a picture, not of myself (I already had one), but of the garden, when she asked if she could take a picture of me...with her camera.  I thought that was weird, but well, she didn't seem normal, so why not?  I think she realized it was weird, and offered, after clicking the picture with her camera to take one with mine.  So here I am.  I then stayed clear of her the rest of the time we were at Alahambra.

Well, on the boat, they offer lectures about the ports-of-call, and various other topics for those who are interested in going.  Mama and Papa G decided they wanted to go to the first one.  At lunch, they reported back to us that is was so boring, and that the woman who taught it was all over the place, chasing rabbit trails, and was just really hard to listen to.  I decided from that, to not go to the next lecture.

A few days later, I was flipping through channels on the TV, (they always replay shows and lectures from the boat, as well as some other things on board for you to watch from your television), when I stumbled upon the Lecture Lady.  "CRC!  That's the kooky lady from Alhambra!"  thecamelridingcowgirl looked at the telly and agreed with me.  "That's why she was asking so many questions...she was going to have to teach a lecture about it once back on board!"  We kind of laughed about how it made sense to us that the kooky lady from Alhambra was the boring Lecture Lady her parents later told us about.

Well..(yes, it goes on).  One of the things I did not enjoy about the boat was that every breakfast and lunch, I had to make small talk about where I'm from (a question I hate as a third culture kid who still lives overseas as an adult) and what I do (a question I'm uncomfortable with in my line of work).  Over and over and over again having to talk to people I don't know and will never see again.  Where were the Bridge Buddies eating?  Where were our dinner dining table mates eating?  Couldn't I be put at a table for four with the rest of my group instead of at a table for 12?

After several extremely unpleasant meals with some overly obnoxious people, thecamelridingcowgirl had had it.  We found her parents and the Bridge Buddies and practically begged for a table for just the 8 of us.  It was the final meal that I'd have to possibly eat with strangers and I really just wanted to enjoy myself.  No unpleasantries.  No awkward.  No kooks.

So all of us are laughing and enjoying one another when I notice past thecamelridingcowgirl's shouder the Lecture Lady is at a table just past ours.  Oh no!  I thought I'd dodged that bullet once and for all.  I was about to whisper to the CRC about Lecture Lady when I see that she (LL) is looking at our table and pointing me out to her table.  I started to tell the CRC that, when oh no!  Lecture Lady gets up.  As I'm whispering that she's headed our way, I see that its even worse.

She's bringing a terribly awkward looking smiley man with her.

She approaches us and says hello, and how she'd been looking for us again ever since Alhambra, but never saw us until now, on this last day.  "Why didn't you dine at the solo traveler's dining room?" she asked.

"Because I'm not traveling alone.  I'm traveling with these friends of mine.  So I dine with them."

"Oh."  Kooky awkward moment of silence.

"Well, this is _________."  (I honestly don't even remember his name.)  "He's from England.  And I just thought, you both seem so nice."

Incredibly kooky awkward moment of silence.

"Well, nice to meet you."  At this point, I think the Bridge Buddies were trying not to laugh and make it worse.

I can't even remember how the awkwardness ended, but they eventually walked away.  Mama G said--"That's why she took your photo.  To show it to him."

ACK!

Note to self: Never, ever, ever let strangers take your photo.  There's never a time it's not weird.  And really...just because I'm single and he's single and we're both on a cruise does not a happy couple make.  But thanks for trying.

Day 13: (at sea) Food

Well, I think I've already blogged about what I loved on the boat.  Being on the boat.  The waves.  Staring at the water.  Reading for hours.  Have I mentioned that I loved going to Music Trivia?

So what haven't I told you about?  THE FOOD!  It wouldn't be a cruise if we didn't talk about food, now would it?  The food really was great.

Every night, there was a cold fruit soup as one of the appetizer options.  The first night, I had a watermelon getspacho that was to die for.  Not until the very last night did I have a fruit soup that was as good as that first one (even though the rest really were great).  The last night, we had a raspberry pineapple soup that was just divine.  

My absolutely favorite appetizer was a smoked duck breast salad.  I could have eaten it every night.

Before the cruise, my dad warned me not to eat lobster every night.  Turns out--that wasn't an option.  I only had lobster twice.  It was so yummy...but my favorite main dish was a coq au vin.  Look how Frenchy I've become!  

On a cruise, you can order as much food as you want...which obviously can get out of control.  But the portions are small.  And you don't have to eat all that they bring you.  Its a good chance to try eating things you wouldn't try before because you don't want to spend the money on a risk.  That said--I tried alot!  It got to where we called it "The N Special" if you ordered two appetizers, two main dishes, and two desserts.

I made sure to walk alot to work off all that I ate!  Also, I never visited the round-the-clock food.  I only ate at mealtimes and that was it.  In fact, I never once had ice cream!  While I enjoyed the breakfasts and lunches, dinners really were my favorite.  Dressing up, hanging with the same crowd each night at our table, good food and our awesome waiters made dinner the highlight of each day.

Well, second to Music Trivia.  Haha.

Day 12: Nassau, Bahamas

I woke up early on the Bahama Mama morning to watch as we approached land.  After six days at sea, I figured it would be fun to watch land appear on the horizon and get bigger and bigger.  It didn't disappoint.

 Can you see that line of Caribbean blue water on the horizon?  That was awesome.

 First clear glimpse of Nassau and Atlantis.

 Okay, this was cool.  This boat had the word "pilot" painted really largely across the side.  Because ports are different and usually changing, ship captains don't drive the ship into port.  A port pilot will come on board and he's the one to pilot the ship safely into it's parking spot in the port.  (Yes, I know that I am not using any correct words except "pilot" and "captain."  I don't know the right words.  If they'd given a course on board about appropriate boat language, I would have taken it.)  thecamelridingcowgirl even saw the pilot jump from his little ship onto our Big White Boat.  I wish I would have seen that!

 I, along with many others, went up to the helipad to watch the boat come into the port.  It was really neat watching that big ole ship go exactly through small little barriers.

 There's Atlantis off in the distance.  I really liked this view as we went by.  I had a little friend with me who kept asking all sorts of questions, especially--where are the dolphins.  Sadly, we never saw any.

 I've been to Nassau and Atlantis before, so I wasn't real into the idea of doing a planned excursion.  So me, thecamelridingcowgirl, and her parents just walked into town to do a little shopping.  The famous straw market (pictured below) was fun the first time I saw, and a bit too much stimulation for me this time around.  Next time...I'm staying on the boat.

The best part of the Bahamas, this time around, was the coming into them.  Once we got back on board, I headed to the Schooner Bar for some trivia.  (Shocking, I know.  I'm a creature of habit.)  However, because most of the passengers were off the boat, the host, one of the cruise director's staff, let us shoot a million questions at him about working on board.  I'd been wondering lots of things about what it was like, so I really enjoyed the spontaneous q&a time.  Just two more days at sea (well, at Gulf), and we'd be back in America!

Day 11: (at sea) Formal Nights and other Fun

One of the things I was looking forward to on the boat was getting to dress up all fancy.  Its not often that a girl gets to do that anymore (except for a wedding), and well...I love getting dressed up fancy!  There were 3 formal nights, and 3 (or 4?) semi-formal nights.  I dressed up for all of them, and a couple other nights too!  I didn't take pictures every night, though.  Anyway, here's the first formal night:

 Another fun thing to do on the boat: play putt-putt!  It was one of the few gorgeous days we had, and so we took advantage.  Let me just say this: I'm terrible at putt-putt on solid ground.  I'm horrific at it on a boat that was constantly moving to make my ball roll away from the hole.  But I can't even blame the boat for the time I hit it hard enough that it bounced off a rock wall, went over the ledge, falling down to the deck below us, where it thankfully did not knock some elderly person out.  There were quite a few antics chasing it down as it continued rolling further and further away from the hole...

 The Black and White Ball.  Everyone on board dressed up in black and white.  It was pretty awesome.  That's one good looking crew, isn't it?

 On the last formal night, thecamelridingcowgirl loved her black and gold dress she decided to where it again.  I'm glad she did...isn't it so pretty?!  I wore one of my favorite dresses to dance in.

 For the last night on the BWB, we decided to dress up again.  You can't quite tell, but thecamelridingcowgirl's shirt is all shimmery.  It was pretty awesome.

One of the fun things to do on a formal night was sit near either the entrance to the theatre or one of the restaurants, and watch all the people pass you by.  The gowns were so elegant and all so different.  The men wore various tuxes with all sorts of different colored bow ties, and a few men wore kilts or military uniforms.  That was neat to see the various military uniforms from different countries.  It didn't matter where they were from, they still looked "dapper," as thecamelridingcowgirl said.

I'm down with dapper.  :)

Day 10: (at sea) Entertainment

Royal Caribbean sent me a detailed, very long survey the other day about my recent experience with them.  I'll say it over and over: I had an excellent experience.  I would recommend cruising to anyone and I'd recommend cruising with them.  That said...I would not rate the entire trip a 10...there were a few areas where they could use some improvement, and I made sure to let them know those in that survey, alongside my extremely high satisfaction.  One are where they did not meet my expectations was in the area of entertainment.

They promised Broadway shows on their website, and instead, we got one night with a collection of very random Broadway songs.  They promised quality entertainment and the opening night's signature act was of a juggler.  There was more than one night that I got up and left.  

There were more nights that I stayed and watched.  The entertainment was fun--it just wasn't what I expected.  For example:  this comedian/magician tied himself up in a straight jacket, and while balancing on a simulated surfboard (and while on a moving boat), got himself out of the straight jacket without falling off the board.  I can't make this stuff up, people.  Check out the terrible-quality photo for proof:

The surfing magician was actually pretty funny.  Funnier than the Music Impressionist.  He would do musical impersonations of famous singers.  It wasn't even good enough for a photo.  In complete contrast to him, were the band The Legend Continues: The Platters, who sang songs by, you guessed it, The Platters.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I hadn't really heard of The Platters, nor did I know many of their songs...but this cruiseship audience sure did!  They loved this act.  And with good reason: they were truly excellent.

The ballroom dancers were lots of fun.  You can't really go wrong with that, no can you?

Also entertaining?  Our dining room staff.  Our main waiter, Ashwin (on the right), had a super dry sense of humor that was awesome, and Christian (on the left) was the sweetest, most gentle man.  They were awesome as our wait staff...but if you haven't cruised before you may not know: The wait staff sings for you!  Ours only did it twice, but it was fun to watch Ashwin be funny about it.

When the wait staff sing, it's some kind of tradition to wave your napkins in the air.  The crowd might have been even more entertaining about this than the wait staff!

Also, being greeted by a towel monkey is pretty entertaining, I'm not going to lie.

One of our favorite performances was the Ice Dancing Show.  Yep, an ice skating rink on the moving ocean.  Talk about hard!  They had all kinds of fun costumes and routines to fun music.  That would have been entertaining enough.

But each time they lifted a girl in the air, or did a spinning jump and landed it...I was impressed.  How do you spin, jump, and land on ice when the ground wasn't where it was when you took off?

Then they brought out the Human Hamster.  This guy put himself into the hamster wheel, and rolled around on it...again, on ice...on a moving boat.  How he didn't get seasick is beyond me.

My favorite show, though, hands down, was El Gaucho.  (thecamelridingcowgirl says he came in second for her, and that a singer who I didn't go hear was her favorite.)  El Gaucho did this multi-faceted show with comedy (he had me in stitches), music (he played the drums, piano, and guitar), dancing (he did a sort of tap dance), theatrics, and well...I can't even explain the other stuff.  It involved whips and spinny thingys.  You just have to watch the clip to really get the full impression.

So...that's what I did pretty much every other evening after Music Trivia.  I didn't get a Broadway show, but I did at least get to sing along to Momma Mia and Dreamgirls.

Day 9: (at sea) Music Trivia

Many people have asked me what was my favorite thing about the BWB, and I usually say, "Well, besides being on the boat?  Easy: Music Trivia."  I went to Music Trivia early into the trip, to the "What's that Abba Song?"  I did very poorly.  I went back the next night to "What's that Classic Rock Tune?" expecting to do very well and bombed again.  Not about to be beaten I continued to go, determined that I knew my music better than I was demonstrating.

Thecamelridingcowgirl joined along on "What's that Love-Movie Theme Song?" night.  When the host played the music to Ghost, thecamelridingcowgirl, in an attempt to throw off others who might be listening to our answer, yelled out "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!"  Because that is a well-known Love Movie.  She was quite amused with her antics and decided to keep it up.

On "What's that Michael Jackson Song" night, she kept yelling out songs by Prince.  "Purple Rain!"  "When Doves Cry!"  So on "What's that Color Song" night when the music for Purple Rain played and she said in all honesty, "Oh, I don't know this one," I responded, "Are you kidding me?!"  I wrote the answer down, and she saw the true humor of her antics.  Oh my, that woman.

We were pretty excited about Motown night, and even listened to my Motown playlist on my computer while getting ready that night for dinner.  When we showed up to the Schooner Bar, there were twice as many people as usual.  I thought, for certain, with that many people and most of them raised during the Motown years, that there was no way we'd win that night.  

Each song clip would come on, and thecamelridingcowgirl and I would have fun singing along with it. We'd write down our answers and feel pleased that we were having fun...even though surely someone else would get more correct than us.  She began to notice, though, that not as many people were signing along to every word like we were.  Could it be possible?  Could we beat the old folks as their own generation's music?!

Normally, after the papers had been scored, the host would start with 0 and work his way up to who had 20 correct.  We'd gotten 18/20 right--the best we'd ever done at Music Trivia.  This night, however, he started at 20, asking how many people got 20 correct.

Silence.

We started to feel excited that we'd tie for first--which will get you a prize.  The team next to us, who'd graded our papers, began getting excited with us.

Then, who got 19 right?  Silence again...to which we started jumping up and down.

Who got 18 right?  We began clapping and cheering, and 100 people old enough to be our parents turned and looked at the two youngest contestants in the room.  We were the only ones who got 18 right!!!  The host asked how many were on our team, assuming that there were more than the two of us, and the old folks had helped us.  

Nope!  Just the two of us!  Amazed, he asked our team name, and we cheekily answered, "Not Even Old Enough to Be Born in the Motown Years!"  

We made many a friend that night!  :)  It was super fun, and we won luggage tags on top of the bragging rights to being Queens of Motown!  

We never did win any more Music Trivia, although we did continue to go and have fun with all the other regulars.  Once night, this one couple started dancing an awesome jig to Black Water and I was so bummed I didn't get them on video.  Well...at the final Music Trivia: "What's that Elvis tune?", it seemed like the whole boat showed up, and the host had the crowd sing and dance to Hound Dog...and I got my video then.  You can see the one couple dance the jig again.  

Day 8: (at sea) Rainy Day Awesomeness

As I said in yesterday's post, we took a different route across the ocean due to a low front, but even still...we stayed on the edge of it and had a few grey days at sea.  One day was a particularly awesome rainy day.  It was one of the days that I woke up at 5:30am and stayed awake.  I decided to go find a quiet spot, hopefully alone, somewhere on the boat.  Due to the cold wind and rain, I opted out of my favorite outdoor spot on deck 4, and headed up to the Cloud 9 lounge.  But first, I took a few photos of the lovely lovely lovely grey sea.

 I loved that low-lying storm cloud.  One night, thecamelridingcowgirl and I stepped out on the deck to see what the it looked like at night.  It severely creeped me out, so much so that I stepped back from the railing.  Staring out into the pitch-black void was scary to me, but mysterious to her.  Staring out at this rain cloud--THAT was mysterious to me.  I suppose the line between mysterious and scary (for me) was visibility.  When I could see the deep, I was fine.  But when I looked out and saw void, I didn't know if a squall was approaching.  Or a giant whale was next to us.  Or an iceberg was out there.

Seriously?  Look at the contrast between that deep navy blue and the icy blue near the boat.  It is interesting to me that the ocean only seemed huge to me when I would stop to actually think about the enormity of it.  I don't that my mind could comprehend it.  I would look at the surface and couldn't begin to grasp how deep it was below us.  I would stare out at the horizon and it would just go on and on and on, and I couldn't fathom how far it was in any direction.  

I also loved all the various colors.  Different shades of blue and grey.  I could use this pallet to decorate my whole living room, I do believe!  Over the two weeks on the BWB, I totally fell in love with the icy blue color that the waves made when they hit right next to the boat.

While I sat up in Cloud 9, I stared out at those waves for the longest time.  Here's a little video of the different kinds of waves we experienced while out at sea, and the one labeled "rolling in the deep" is from this particular day.

 

The enormity of the ocean made me think of Ephesians 3:17-21: "...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded (anchored?) in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and forever, Amen."  His love is like that ocean, and that was one deep thought when staring out at the ocean.

When I would look at the ocean and try to comprehend its size, and then realize that its just one small part of the earth, which is one small part of this galaxy--knowing that He is the Creator of it all, and the grandeur of it all--I was awestruck.  And His love for us is even bigger and more glorious than all of that.

The water, despite the rain, was extremely calm sometimes.  Even when calm, it was still constantly moving and rolling.  One of the things I never got tired of laughing about was how hard it was to walk on the boat.  The constant motion made walking a straight line, climbing stairs, and so much more...difficult.  I would imagine that, with how hard it was to walk on the boat, that walking on the actual water, even when calm, would have been difficult.  I know, I know, Jesus walking on water was already a miracle in itself.  But when I imagined trying to walk out on that rolling water...I became more impressed with the miracle.  But Jesus walked on stormy water!  Water with waves big enough to scare Peter.  I suppose I always pictured Him walking on still, flat water.  But when I looked out at the real thing, I understood that I couldn't even imagine what it looked for Jesus to walk on water.

Day 7: (at Sea) Getting to Know the BWB

So I didn't get to know the BWB on day 7...but since all the days at sea were mostly filled with the same thing, I thought I'd post a topic per day that we were getting our way across that big pond.  What did those days that all look the same look like?

I'd get up every.single.dagum.day at 5:30.  It didn't matter how many naps I'd taken the day before, or how early/late I went to bed, or if we'd done a time change or not...I still always woke up at 5:30.  Basically--I wore the motion-sickness patch to keep from getting seasick, and that thing makes you SO THIRSTY.  I drank water all the live-long day and then some!  If I didn't, I felt sick.  And since I was wearing the patch to keep from getting sick...I drank plenty of water!  Which meant there was a 5:30 wake up call every day.  I usually went back to bed, but some days I got up and stayed up.  Breakfast was in the dining room from 8-9 (for us), and I got hooked on their yummy yummy granola.  After breakfast, I'd go fill my water bottle with the naturally-flavored water.  My favorite was the watermelon water, but orange was a close second.

I usually played bridge in the morning for an hour, read for a few hours, and then headed off to lunch.  Sometimes I would walk a few laps to work off all the food I was eating.  Lunch was from 12-1:30ish (for us), and then...more reading!  Sometimes a nap, sometimes some afternoon trivia, sometimes both.  Dinner was from 6-8, and then we'd head to music trivia.  The nightly show was from 9-10, and then I'd read for a good while before going to bed.  That was a typical day.  Even on the excursion days, that was typical, just beginning with the mid-afternoon part.  

One of my absolute favorite things about the BWB was just being on the BWB.  I loved the gentle rocking from being out on the water.  I loved listening to the waves hit against the boat.  I loved being totally away from the world and reality and just chilling out completely for two whole weeks.  In short, I love the BWB.  

The Navigator of the Seas was too big for me to capture in one photo.  She had a medical facility, a two-story theatre, a movie theatre, an ice skating rink, an art gallery, a casino, three formal dining rooms, a library, a chapel, an internet room (although there was wi-fi on the whole boat for those who paid for it), a gym, a spa, putt-putt, a roller-blading track, a basketball court, 3 restaurants, the buffet, a wave-pool, a couple of swimming pools, a running track, a kids area that I never saw (no adults allowed!), a bunch of different themed bars/lounges, and a promenade (the length of the boat) with shops and a cafe and Ben and Jerry's.  Basically...it is a floating city.

 (These pictures are in completely random order, sorry.)  We didn't get towel animals every night, but maybe every other night.  I asked our stateroom attendant one night which ones were the hardest.  He said the turtle and that he hadn't learned the kangaroo yet.  (Mama and Papa G got the kangaroo...it had a baby Roo in its pouch!!!)  Here were our swans that we got one night:

 It cracked me up that there was a no-flip-flops sign on a cruise ship!  However, it was down on deck 1, where you walktheplank find the gangway to leave the ship.  I suppose that flip flops, while quite appropriate footwear in the Caribbean is not good enough for Royal Caribbean.  Haha.

 There were plenty of Watch Your Step signs that showed people seriously taking a wipeout.  thecamelridingcowgirl is notorious for falling, so this was a funny sign to point out to her.  Seriously, though, I understood the signs.  The boat is in a constant state of motion, and so it's easy to lose your step.  You lift your foot, and when you go to reconnect it to the ground, the ground has moved!  Add steps, ramps, and uneven grounding to that motion, and well...there were several broken bones by the end of the cruise!  Thankfully, none of those bones were in our traveling party!

 Out on the promenade was a giant nautical map of the Atlantic.  If you look closely, you'll see a straight line across the middle, and then an arched line above that.  We were originally supposed to take the Rum Line route across the Atlantic (the middle line), but due to a low front moving in causing some ugly weather, we took the Great Circle route just north of the Rum Line.  This kept us on the edge of the low front, instead of the in the middle of it...and so we still did not have nice weather for most of the trip.  I, however, loved the grey weather, and slightly more rocky waves.  Various things were marked on the map: in the top center is where the Titanic sank, the reddish looking square in the center-left is the Bermuda triangle, and several other things.  Bad tourist syndrome: I read the whole map and was fascinated by it...but didn't write down the other markings, and now I don't remember them.  It also marked where we were each day so that we could see how far we went.

 I do remember that we went an average of approximately 22 miles per hour (not nautical miles, but land miles).  Here you can see where we went right spanking through the center of the Bermuda triangle.  I survived and lived to tell about it!

 This kind of 3-D map of the boat was on every floor so that you could look at where you were, and where you wanted to go.  It was impossible to walk from one end to the other on certain decks, so you often had to look at the map to see which floor would get you across and then back up/down.  Our staterooms were on Deck 9, Port Side, on the Forward (front), and our dining room was on Deck 3, on the Aft.  It was one of the places that we couldn't walk through the middle of the ship to get to it.  We could either walk down the passenger hallway on Deck 9, and take the elevator down at that end.  Or (what we did more frequently), we would descend on our end of the boat to deck 4, walk through the Schooner bar and casino, and then go down one more staircase at the other end.  You always wanted to know that, didn't you?  :)

 It got real easy real quick to not remember what day of the week it was.  Every day, the floorboard of the elevator would change to let you know what day it was.  Also, we received a Daily Compass in our room each evening.  It would let us know everything about the day: how to dress at dinner, what specials were going on for the day, which movie would be playing, what performance in the theatre, the full daily schedule, and whether we needed to change our clocks.

There is a 7 hour time difference from Barcelona to New Orleans.  Basically, each day we were at sea, we would set our clocks back one hour at night before we went to bed.  Now, let me tell you: that is the way to take a vacation!  Think about how much you love Fall Back each fall...that glorious one extra hour of sleep!  Then think that you get to do that on 7 nights of your vacation!!!  It's awesome!

 This is the view of the promenade from one of the upper floors.  This is why you can't walk directly across the length of the boat on certain floors.

 Deck 4 wraps the whole boat sort of like a wrap-around porch.  It had an abundance of deck chairs.  The port side was for non-smokers...and I wish for non-shuffle-boarders.  Who knew shuffleboard was such a noisy pasttime?  If they made that part of the boat a quiet zone, for readers and introverts, it would have been perfect.  Anyway...I spent many an hour out there reading my Kindle and just staring at the water.  The waves would crash against the boat just below us, and sometimes it was so loud that you couldn't even hear the shuffleboarders!  I loved it.  Definitely one of my favorite spots on the boat.

 Another favorite spot was the Schooner Bar.  It was decorated like a schooner boat, and well, what better place to hang out on a boat than a place decorated like a boat?!  Not only did I like the decorations and the comfy chairs, but this was also where Music Trivia (and most of the other trivias) was located.  It became an easy meeting spot for me and thecamelridingcowgirl.  If we couldn't find one another in the room or on Deck 4, we checked the Schooner Bar.

 From another angle.  I didn't get a picture of it, because it didn't look that spectacular, but my other favorite spot was the Cloud 9 game room all the way up on Deck 14.  The highest spot on the boat (except the rock climbing wall, whose base was on Deck 14!), it had an awesome view looking out over the boat and the water.  It seemed like you were just hovering up there.

 Sometimes they decorated the promenade.  Apparently there was a circus one day...but I missed it if there were elephants on board!

 The promenade often had live music.  This one was particularly pleasant.

 There was a cafe that was always hopping.  It was funny, because there were signs everywhere that clearly stated that they served Seattle's Best coffee.  But the coffee cups from the barista (and a sign there) was clearly Starbucks cups.  I wondered if it was Seattle's Best coffee, but a Starbucks trained barista?  Who knows?  I went quite often, because the brewed coffee was free and the fruity water was there.

 It took me a few days to figure out how to find it (okay, probably like over a week), but another spot I enjoyed was the helipad.  It was on Deck 5, on the very front of the boat.  If you were going to do your Titanic "I'm flying!" photo, that was where you went to do it.  Except that security would come tell you to step down pretty fast.  I'd seen these two balconies that were shaped like a boat, so I had the bright idea to take my Titanic photo there...except that I still had that problem with the lighting on my camera...so this was the best that I got.

 Quite often, my Seapass card (that you use to pay for everything) that also works as your key would become demagnetized and I'd have to have Esteven, our stateroom attendant let me in.  Seriously, it happened maybe every three days or so...and near the end almost every day.  On the last day, as I went to exit the boat the final time, the card wouldn't work!  I would have been happy to stay a little longer...but they let me off and just wrote down on a paper that I'd exited the boat.

One thing I noticed on the boat was that no one who worked there seemed to know how to say NO.  I asked our waiter one day, "Ashwin...you don't know how to say no, do you?"  He said, "mmm..." and walked away!  :)  So when I decided I wanted to ask for a blanket to use out on deck 4 for when it was cold, Papa G responded, "This isn't an Alaskan cruise!  They don't have deck blankets!" I told him: "I haven't been told no yet on this BWB!  Just you wait and see!"  I went to the front desk and asked for a blanket for the deck and they responded, "They'll be delivered as soon as your stateroom attendant comes back on duty at 6pm."  Perfect.

I headed back to my room, put the "Do Not Disturb" sign in the door, and laid down for a nap.  I was dead asleep about 4:30 when the phone rang.  "Hello, Miss.  This is Esteven.  I saw your Do Not Disturb sign, so I didn't want to knock and bother you.  I am outside your door with the blankets you requested."  I was so out of it asleep that I went to the door, got the blankets and went back to my nap.  It was only later that I kept laughing over the humor of his statement.  Seriously, I giggled for two days over it.