Cruise report - day two
Dec. 18th, 2007 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookaddict43Pictures and rambling behind the cut! Hope you enjoy :D
Day two dawned with me sleeping in! My bed was very comfortable and warm (I was cold most of the time I was away)I didn't want to get out. Our cabin was small, but comfortable and, most of all, clean. The cabin staff cleaned up and made the beds at least twice a day. Each night there was a cute towel creature left on our beds, it was so nice to be spoiled for awhile.
These towel animals were so cute. My sunglasses made several appearances in their costumes :) Apparently there was even towel tying classes on board, it sort of boggles the mind a bit *giggles*
Due to my sleeping in I had to miss breakfast in order to go to the Photo ops. I'm glad I went when I did, I ended up near the front of the line most times.
Way back when at the beginning of the cruise I paid the original price in full for the ticket. When the prices were reduced, I took the option of putting my money toward photos and autographs.
I’d forgotten all about this and was so surprised at registration when I got all the tickets for the photos and autographs. I was pretty excited about this since I’d never been for photos before. The organisers did a great job herding us through the rather inconvenient venue and all my photos were over well before the 3 hours was up and the atmosphere was both friendly and fun. My only problem was that all the standing gave me another attack of sciatica, which got worse during the morning.
I got to know more people when we were standing in line and have got to say that the Browncoats are some of the friendlist people I've ever met. I was standing chatting with a few others when Ron came along and asked how everyone was. It seemed he too was cold the first night and had asked the cabin steward for some blankets. He chatted a bit more then went off to get ready for the photos. He was so nice during the photo-taking and really put me at ease.
It took 3 tries for my photo with Jonathan. When I tried to leave the second time, the photographer stopped me and said I'd had my eyes closed. Michael Fairman, who was standing near by, shouted out that that was to be expected with Jonathan, everyone would close their eyes. Jonathan just rolled his eyes *grins* When I had my photo taken with Michael I told him I’d killed Niska in a fan fic, but I don’t think he got what I meant. He was very friendly and was obviously enjoying himself very much.
Sonny was lovely in a white suit this time, Nectar was easygoing and standing with the Bards was just great. I bought their On the Drift CD at B3 and play it all the time, it was great to both see and hear them again.
The photos were over in time enough for lunch and learning to dance like in Shindig was next on the schedule. I had to give that a miss though and went and lay down with my troublesome leg. Cana and Kimie went though and enjoyed it very much...
Shindig photos courtesy of Kimie
Next on the program was The White Elephant gift exchange. This was a late addition to the program after I left home, so I had to rack my brains for something to contribute. Some poor soul ended up with a pair of brightly coloured toe socks from me! Sorry about that *grins*
The exchange started with chaos. Jonathan got everyone to put their gifts along the bar and then when we were all settled down realised that the White Elephant wouldn't work that way. Enlisting the help of a great little girl from the audience, he proceeded to give everyone a gift back! He was funny about Audrey (the little girl) being there, saying he would have to tone down some of his jokes etc. The fun just got more funnier from there with everyone getting mixed up with Jonathan's instructions. Some people would end up with 2 or even 3 gifts and others would end up with none. Eventually Jonathan ordered everyone to open their gifts and we all compared with each other. I ended up with some Australian stuff which made me laugh, but I successfully traded my Melbourne keyring for something else in the end.
Jonathan in fine form with his helper
After this there was time again to explore the ship. This time I went to the piano bar in the Atrium, checked out the gym and went to the shops to buy a shawl for formal night. The dress I bought had no sleeves and I would've frozen to death without one.
Looking down the atrium
Dumping my spoils in our room I returned to the gym to try and work the sciatica out of my muscles. The machines were awesome, but they had so many buttons I didn't have a clue how to work them and had to be shown the basics; I felt like a total country bumpkin! lol. The room was right at the top of the boat and had glass walls on two sides, it was a real pleasure to exercise and see such beautiful scenery. Ron came in while I was there and started working out, but I was a good girl and ignored his presence to the best of my ability...
Back in the cabin we got ourselves dressed for the Captain's cocktail party and formal dinner. It was the first time in a year I've worn shoes with a heel on them and to say I wasn’t comfortable is putting it mildly. With the assistance of a sharp toothpick, I spent my first few minutes in the lounge making new holes in the shoe straps and things were much better then! :) The cocktail party offered free appetisers and wine and introduced the senior members of the ships' staff. I was very interested to see the many different nations were represented here.
Dinner was great again and this time we had more people at the table. I tried a different thing every night and enjoyed them all. The dining room staff sang a song for us as entertainment, which was both strange and funny. We had quite a discussion with our head waitress who recognised Michael from The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. She'd seen it 5 times! On the last night she managed to have a photo taken with him and was so happy.
Next came one of the major events which was the panel.
The Panel
I so enjoyed listening to the actors talking and answering questions about their work on Firefly/Serenity and other things. I don't remember everything (I'm relying on the cruise DVD for more memories), but here are some highlights.
Michael answering a question about Niska's motivations was getting into the character and talking about the sexual satisfaction of torture; when Ron interrupted him by reminding him that it was his (Michael's) daughter who asked the question!
Michael again - when he thought one of his answers was getting too serious, got up and did a little dance around the stage. His hip wiggles were wonderful, he was so funny.
Nectar asked the others who was working. Michael is doing Live Theatre for the first time in years and enjoying it and Ron has a job coming up doing voice overs on a computer game. He was so cute about this, he obviously didn't have a clue what he was supposed to do for this job; and when someone asked which game he didn't know! Someone else advised him to talk to Nathan, Alan or Adam about Halo3 which he'd never heard of! :D
Michael's wife Joy asked a question of us fans about why we were so passionate about a defunct tv show. Jonathan gave a wonderful answer that summed up, I think, what a lot of us felt. The wonderful dialogue, the characters, and the reality of their situation were all things he talked about. This is one part of the panel I really want to listen to again.
Ron
After the panel, I really could have listened to them talk all night, Kimie and I went to the speed friending which was a great idea btw! We sat in two lines facing each other and swapped partners every three minutes. I met some wonderful people this way and it was great from then on to actually call folks by name when I spoke to them! After going down the line I was getting pretty hoarse from talking, so was happy to go off to Karoake with Cana and Kimie.
We had great fun at the Karoake listening to all the songs and singing along. Cana took part in a contest to see who would sing Madonna at the closing concert and won! On that note we took ourselves to bed so we would be ready for the next day and our first port in Mexico...
Day two dawned with me sleeping in! My bed was very comfortable and warm (I was cold most of the time I was away)I didn't want to get out. Our cabin was small, but comfortable and, most of all, clean. The cabin staff cleaned up and made the beds at least twice a day. Each night there was a cute towel creature left on our beds, it was so nice to be spoiled for awhile.
These towel animals were so cute. My sunglasses made several appearances in their costumes :) Apparently there was even towel tying classes on board, it sort of boggles the mind a bit *giggles*
Due to my sleeping in I had to miss breakfast in order to go to the Photo ops. I'm glad I went when I did, I ended up near the front of the line most times.
Way back when at the beginning of the cruise I paid the original price in full for the ticket. When the prices were reduced, I took the option of putting my money toward photos and autographs.
I’d forgotten all about this and was so surprised at registration when I got all the tickets for the photos and autographs. I was pretty excited about this since I’d never been for photos before. The organisers did a great job herding us through the rather inconvenient venue and all my photos were over well before the 3 hours was up and the atmosphere was both friendly and fun. My only problem was that all the standing gave me another attack of sciatica, which got worse during the morning.
I got to know more people when we were standing in line and have got to say that the Browncoats are some of the friendlist people I've ever met. I was standing chatting with a few others when Ron came along and asked how everyone was. It seemed he too was cold the first night and had asked the cabin steward for some blankets. He chatted a bit more then went off to get ready for the photos. He was so nice during the photo-taking and really put me at ease.
It took 3 tries for my photo with Jonathan. When I tried to leave the second time, the photographer stopped me and said I'd had my eyes closed. Michael Fairman, who was standing near by, shouted out that that was to be expected with Jonathan, everyone would close their eyes. Jonathan just rolled his eyes *grins* When I had my photo taken with Michael I told him I’d killed Niska in a fan fic, but I don’t think he got what I meant. He was very friendly and was obviously enjoying himself very much.
Sonny was lovely in a white suit this time, Nectar was easygoing and standing with the Bards was just great. I bought their On the Drift CD at B3 and play it all the time, it was great to both see and hear them again.
The photos were over in time enough for lunch and learning to dance like in Shindig was next on the schedule. I had to give that a miss though and went and lay down with my troublesome leg. Cana and Kimie went though and enjoyed it very much...
Shindig photos courtesy of Kimie
Next on the program was The White Elephant gift exchange. This was a late addition to the program after I left home, so I had to rack my brains for something to contribute. Some poor soul ended up with a pair of brightly coloured toe socks from me! Sorry about that *grins*
The exchange started with chaos. Jonathan got everyone to put their gifts along the bar and then when we were all settled down realised that the White Elephant wouldn't work that way. Enlisting the help of a great little girl from the audience, he proceeded to give everyone a gift back! He was funny about Audrey (the little girl) being there, saying he would have to tone down some of his jokes etc. The fun just got more funnier from there with everyone getting mixed up with Jonathan's instructions. Some people would end up with 2 or even 3 gifts and others would end up with none. Eventually Jonathan ordered everyone to open their gifts and we all compared with each other. I ended up with some Australian stuff which made me laugh, but I successfully traded my Melbourne keyring for something else in the end.
Jonathan in fine form with his helper
After this there was time again to explore the ship. This time I went to the piano bar in the Atrium, checked out the gym and went to the shops to buy a shawl for formal night. The dress I bought had no sleeves and I would've frozen to death without one.
Looking down the atrium
Dumping my spoils in our room I returned to the gym to try and work the sciatica out of my muscles. The machines were awesome, but they had so many buttons I didn't have a clue how to work them and had to be shown the basics; I felt like a total country bumpkin! lol. The room was right at the top of the boat and had glass walls on two sides, it was a real pleasure to exercise and see such beautiful scenery. Ron came in while I was there and started working out, but I was a good girl and ignored his presence to the best of my ability...
Back in the cabin we got ourselves dressed for the Captain's cocktail party and formal dinner. It was the first time in a year I've worn shoes with a heel on them and to say I wasn’t comfortable is putting it mildly. With the assistance of a sharp toothpick, I spent my first few minutes in the lounge making new holes in the shoe straps and things were much better then! :) The cocktail party offered free appetisers and wine and introduced the senior members of the ships' staff. I was very interested to see the many different nations were represented here.
Dinner was great again and this time we had more people at the table. I tried a different thing every night and enjoyed them all. The dining room staff sang a song for us as entertainment, which was both strange and funny. We had quite a discussion with our head waitress who recognised Michael from The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. She'd seen it 5 times! On the last night she managed to have a photo taken with him and was so happy.
Next came one of the major events which was the panel.
The Panel
I so enjoyed listening to the actors talking and answering questions about their work on Firefly/Serenity and other things. I don't remember everything (I'm relying on the cruise DVD for more memories), but here are some highlights.
Michael answering a question about Niska's motivations was getting into the character and talking about the sexual satisfaction of torture; when Ron interrupted him by reminding him that it was his (Michael's) daughter who asked the question!
Michael again - when he thought one of his answers was getting too serious, got up and did a little dance around the stage. His hip wiggles were wonderful, he was so funny.
Nectar asked the others who was working. Michael is doing Live Theatre for the first time in years and enjoying it and Ron has a job coming up doing voice overs on a computer game. He was so cute about this, he obviously didn't have a clue what he was supposed to do for this job; and when someone asked which game he didn't know! Someone else advised him to talk to Nathan, Alan or Adam about Halo3 which he'd never heard of! :D
Michael's wife Joy asked a question of us fans about why we were so passionate about a defunct tv show. Jonathan gave a wonderful answer that summed up, I think, what a lot of us felt. The wonderful dialogue, the characters, and the reality of their situation were all things he talked about. This is one part of the panel I really want to listen to again.
Ron
After the panel, I really could have listened to them talk all night, Kimie and I went to the speed friending which was a great idea btw! We sat in two lines facing each other and swapped partners every three minutes. I met some wonderful people this way and it was great from then on to actually call folks by name when I spoke to them! After going down the line I was getting pretty hoarse from talking, so was happy to go off to Karoake with Cana and Kimie.
We had great fun at the Karoake listening to all the songs and singing along. Cana took part in a contest to see who would sing Madonna at the closing concert and won! On that note we took ourselves to bed so we would be ready for the next day and our first port in Mexico...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 02:09 pm (UTC)It really looks awesome! But I need more piccies of Fran herself!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 12:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 02:16 pm (UTC)I will write my own, but I do love reading your accounts. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 12:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 02:30 pm (UTC)Towel animals!
Atrium! !!! Gorgeous, by the way. *stares*
Oh dear, this is awesome! :D
Excitement + words = not working so well for me. *loves the whole post*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 12:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 01:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 03:32 pm (UTC)thank you for sharing!!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 12:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 06:42 pm (UTC)I'm really happy you had a wonderful time. Everyone needs memories like these. : )
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 12:20 pm (UTC)They are great memories and it's fun to share them with others who understand!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-18 07:30 pm (UTC)I love the pictures as well as reading your account of the days, it looks so very fun. Did you happen to see MIke Rogo anywhere?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-19 12:22 pm (UTC)I looked for Mike everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found :( That would have pushed the cruise right up to the perfection mark for sure!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-21 04:33 pm (UTC)Also Jonathan has awesome socks. ;)
Miss you Fran!