Bristol Avery Rodgers: March 2011

Wow!! Now that was fun! An exciting week of eating, relaxing, laughing, eating, sightseeing, eating, eating, eating........and more eating. I think everyone hung out at the buffet more than anywhere else. Every time we turned around we were headed for another meal/snack. Chan nearly devoured the ship's supply of watermelon, pineapple, and soft serve ice cream....while I took on the weightier items....chicken, steak, pasta, et cetera. I also took on the task of cleaning out their stock of skim milk and orange juice....and I think between the two of us the ketchup supply was quickly depleted. With all the buffet-ing we engaged in, we were a little nervous about stepping on the ol' scale Saturday evening. According to this article, the average weight gain on a cruise is 2lbs per day. Our cruise departed on Saturday and returned the following Saturday...7 days. So if my calluge edjumakated brain is working correctly...7 days multiplied by 2lbs per day = 14 cotton-pickin' pounds!! Like I said, we were a bit hesitant about "weighing in." But by George....the scale was kind and said I only gained a little under 2lbs...and Chan stayed the same. WHEW! So enough about the food...the rest of the trip was great too. :) Our cruise-ship, the Norwegian Star, was very nice, and our cruise-director (Jamie) and crew were top-notch! We enjoyed several performances during the week...including amazing acrobats, an incredible illusionist, a hilarious hypnotist ("PLEASE, give me my butt back!" LOL), side-splitting improv comedians...great entertainment! We were also "blessed" (lol) by a talent show put on by the crew. Most of the acts were pretty good.....minus Mr. Sweet Angel and his Magic Ladder. Some chunky guy dressed up like an angel (looked like he used a tablecloth from one of the restaurants) and did some interesting ballet up-and-down his utility ladder and back-and-forth across the stage. I don't think he meant for it to be comedy.......but brother......it was forevermore a riot!! We were doubled over in our seats laughing our heads off. When we finally regained our composure, we started cheering loudly for the fella'....I think it was the hardest we laughed during the entire trip. So whoever you are...wherever you are...thank you Mr. Sweet Filipino Angel for making our night! lol During the same performance, the crew did a skit that we will definitely use for a future youth event....VERY funny!! We made three port-calls while on the cruise...1) Cabo San Lucas - 2) again...Cabo San Lucas - and 3) Puerta Vallarta. We were originally scheduled to make a port-call in Mazalan, but it was canceled due to high crime and recent violent incidents...thus having two stops at Cabo. The only negatives of the trip were the crazy spring break-ers and the bigggg-ish folks who for some reason thought they should sport speedos and bathing suits...wowzers...there should be a law against that in public. But overall, the trip was wonderful...we had a great time. And as always, it's good to be back home!!

- SHIP DAYS -