Caribbean Cruise 2014:
Day 9 - At Sea
Day 9 - At Sea
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Saturday, March 8, 2014: We slept in as usual. At this point, sleep was more important than breakfast. The sun was shining down on our snorkeling equipment, lashed down the day before to dry on the outdoor furniture. |
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Tom had finished the first two books in the Hunger Games series, so we visited the library several times hoping that the third book would show up. |
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Unfortunately, it did not. There was a single copy of "Catching Fire" in stock. |
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It's time for a tour of the ship. Here is Queen Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980. This bust was one of a half dozen or more that stood near ... |
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... the clear elevators on each deck, so that when you rode those elevators up or down, the faces changed quickly from one deck to the next. It was a pretty cool effect. |
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The interior elevators had gorgeous metal doors ... |
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... and the elevator lobbies featured these large planters with the cool Holland America logo imprinted and painted on either side. |
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These chairs looked like great fun to sit in, but we were always in a hurry when we encountered them. |
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One of the stairwells featured a series of paintings on each landing of the various ships that have had the name Noordam over the years. This is SS Noordam I (1902-1928). |
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This is MS Noordam II (1938-1963). |
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This is MS Noordam III (1984-2004). We had been on this ship when we cruised the Baltic Sea in 2002. |
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In fact, our cabin was pictured here somewhere. We had a minisuite with a slightly obstructed view, so it was probably on the Navigation deck between the life boats. |
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This is MS Noordam IV (2006 - Present). We were on this boat at THIS VERY MINUTE. |
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Here's some cool tile ship-themed artwork, ... |
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... and here's some actual ship artwork, suspended over the landing leading to the Crow's Nest, ... |
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... which is where we had the first of two Mixology classes, ... |
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... hosted by Bartender Nick (again) and Culinary Arts Center Host Kiersten. |
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We would be making cocktails served in the B. B. King's Blues Club onboard and we'd be using the ingredients shown here in this blurry photo. |
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First, Kiersten showed us how to pour and mix a "Lucille" using Malibu rum, blue curaçao, orange juice, and pineapple juice. This cocktail is pure heaven and we'll be serving this in our basement bar. After each drink was introduced and poured, Kiersten led us in a different toast, then followed it up with a trivia question, awarding the leftover drinks to the correct guesser. |
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This drink is called "Rock Me Baby" and is made with rum, banana liqueur, melon liqueur, orange, pineapple and cranberry juice, and a little Myers rum on the top. If you look closely, you can see that the top of the drink is a little darker. This one was a little too heavy on the rum for our taste. |
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Tom helped shake the "Motown Margarita" consisting of tequila, blue curaçao, sour mix, and a splash of orange juice and lime juice. Yum. |
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Cheers! |
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Here are the finished (and slightly consumed) cocktails, shown from right to left in the order that they were mixed. We happily drank them down with handfuls of Goldfish crackers and promised to come back the next day. |
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It had been a fairly overcast day, but as we got close to Haiti, it started to clear up. |
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We loaded up on food at the taco bar for lunch and enjoyed watching the coastline. |
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As we got closer, the sun came out ... |
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... and we ended up with very pretty views of Haiti. |
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Yes, indeed -- Haiti. The map channel showed our location. |
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Two days earlier, Debbie had said to Tom, "Wouldn't it be great if they showed 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' onboard the ship?" He agreed but figured that it wasn't at all likely. That very evening, the program for the next day announced that it would be the featured movie in the theater, which means ... |
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... that we'd be watching it in our very cabin this evening! And we did. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy