Barcelona and Transatlantic Cruise 2008 – Day 14 – Atlantic Crossing
December 9, 2008
Today was second sea day as part of the Atlantic. The weather remained nice being warm and mostly sunny. In the afternoon, we could see a storm ahead of us and on both sides, but we were still in the sun. The Captain pulled up close to the storm and slowed down as it was moving the same direction as us. It was kind of interesting to see the foul weather ahead of and on both sides of us but yet, we remained sunny. Tomorrow, depending on how the storm goes, we may actually enter into it.
The weather remained nice for shorts and a t-shirt as it stayed near 80 degrees with minimal wind and sun. The seas were also quite calm with still only 2 foot swells. The ocean floor sits more than 20,000 feet below us. The water is very deep blue and the wake of the boat has an aquamarine look to it.
This has been a wonderful cruise thus far but the time is slipping away from us. It’s hard to imagine we only have 3 sea days and one port of call in St Maartan before we arrive in San Juan and the cruise will come to a close. Where does the time go so fast? We have already begun talking about our next cruise but that’s another post for another time.
I spent a good portion of the morning sitting in the Revelations Lounge just sitting and staring at the water. For me, it’s so peaceful and relaxing just to be staring at the water. I like to alternate between our balcony, where you can hear and smell the water too, and the Revelations Lounge where you are a bit higher and at the very front of the boat. Savannah joined me for about 15 minutes, but no one usually does – they are too much on the go.
Suzanne was again running from trivia game to trivia game. She has been competing in the Battle of the Sexes trivia game which pits men against women in trivia across about 7 days. Yesterday was Savannah’s day to spend all day in the Fun Factory. She has been wanting this day all cruise. She gets one or two counselors to play video or board games with her all day. They don’t mind as they have to be there anyways despite only being 6 kids on board.
Sean spent a little time in the Fun Factory too, but this was really his day. In the afternoon, the Cruise Director was hosting a game show called Who Wants to be a Bazillionaire based on the TV show. Anyone, including Sean, who wanted to give the game show a try, put their name in a hat. As fate would have it, Sean’s name was the second one draw to compete. The “competition†was really geared for no one to lose. He surprised the Cruise Director and the audience by knowing a bunch of the questions right off. Coupled with the lifelines and help from the audience, Sean was able to make it all the way to the top and win the top prize. He received an assortment of trinkets including a cruise bag, pillow, t-shirt, passport holder, lanyard and other miscellaneous things. The rest of the day he was congratulated wherever he went on the ship.
But, he had to run pretty fast from the show as our British friends had managed to get him on the invite list for the bridge tour. He was also able to take a camera for some pictures. He said the bridge tour was cool as the 2nd Mater walked them around and explained the various instruments and how they were used for navigation or controlling the ship. He even managed to complete the tour without pushing any buttons! So, it was a pretty good day for Sean.
We spent some time in the afternoon at the Mast Bar near the pool enjoying the sun, the band and the company of Roy and Jennifer. After a couple of drinks we plotted our course for the night. It was British Invasion night in the Revelations Lounge and they were having a buffet of British Pub food. We decided to forego going to the restaurant tonight and eat the British Pub food instead. The highlight of the meal was the authentic English pub style fish and chips. They were very tasty.
I think the crew was unprepared for the turnout however. When we showed up, we ended up being about 50th in line for the food. The line moved a bit slowly and there wasn’t a lot of crew around to help out. There were three or four officers including the Hotel Director near the line who were busy talking on their phones trying to get more help. As we were eating our food, about a dozen new staff members arrived to help out and things moved a bit better. I heard the Hotel Director (who is British) talking to a group of British folks. They were telling him how good and authentic the food was. The Hotel Director apologized for the slow start saying that they didn’t expect this big a turnout and did not expect folks to make this their dinner for the night. They thought they might stop by for a quick snack before dinner and that there were only 50 or 60 Brits on the cruise so having 300 or 400 people show up was a surprise. They reacted pretty quickly to the situation though.
After dinner, we went to the theater for the Fred Klett comedy act. He was a nice family oriented comedian who didn’t swear once during his act and was very funny. The kids really enjoyed him too. They enjoyed his show so much that after the show, they pitched in together and bought a live comedy show DVD of his.
There was a bunch of other events going on late night on the ship, but everyone was a bit tuckered out from the busy day and cruise that we decided to turn in early for a change. We went back to the cabin and just relaxed while the kids watched their new comedy DVD. We went lights out a little before 11:00.
Tomorrow will be another day at sea and providing we can continue to avoid the storm, should even have some more warming and poolside time in store for us.
New Board Games
December 27, 2007
For Christmas this year, the kids received a whole bunch of new board games. As a family that plays a lot of board games, Christmas is always a chance for us to try out some new games. This year, the kids also got some of the old favorites redone.
Amongst the new games they got this year are:
- Battlelore – This is a two person fantasy strategy war game. It is by the same author, Richard Borg, that did the Battle Cry game about the American Civil War that Sean and I really enjoy playing. This game was done after Battle Cry. The only drawback to it is that it is a two player game, so only Sean and I can play. There is a whole bunch of add-ons for the game series too. Sean and I are excited about this game, but have yet to play it.
- Monkeys on the Moon – A funny card game by the same folks who did the Nacho Incident game that we play quite frequently. Its another fairly quick, light hearted game where you try to advance various tribes of monkeys on the moon and then launch them back to Earth. It is good fun and we have played it several times already.
- Shipwrecked – We gave this game its first spin last night and have just begun to understand the intricacies of this bidding/bluffing strategy game. Games are quick, taking less than a half hour to play which can be nice at times.
- Scotland Yard – This is a detective type game where one player tries to avoid the other players and complete his mission. The other players team up against the spy guy. Games like this that add in the teaming up aspect have been well received by our family. Again, we have yet to play this new game yet, but will most likely today.
- Fact or Crap – Guess who wanted this game? Yup, it was Sean. This is a very simplistic game that you can determine how long you want to take. Clues are read from a card and players say whether the info is factual or made up. Thats all there is to it. Initially, it was fun, but for longer games, it grows repetitive quite quickly. This game will probably be relegated to parties and for times when we have a limited amount of time to play.
- Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition – A new take on an old game. The money is gone and instead players have a credit card and all money aspects are handled electronically. We play Monopoly now and then but the paper money and set up always seemed like a bit of distraction. Though we haven’t played the new game yet, we are hoping to revive and old classic.
- Spongebob Operation – Another remake of the classic Operation game that will likely be for the kids only.
- Battleship Torpedo Attack – Another remake of the classic Battleship game except that some new features, the torpedos, have been added. We have yet to try this game.
- 1 vs 100 – This is a DVD game based on the popular TV show. The kids have enjoyed watching the show and wanted the DVD game. We have a few DVD games and have mostly enjoyed them. We have yet to try this one.
So we have quite a few new board games to play with. They ought to keep us busy for quite a while, or at least until next Christmas when we replenish our stock.
The kids also received a bunch of games for the Xbox 360. These games include: Mass Effect, Crash of the Titans, Viva Pinata Party Animals, Thrillville Off the Rails, Simpsons Movie and Scene It. The family has already had a couple of extended gaming nights playing Scene It. I think we have finally found a game that Suzanne will play on the Xbox 360. And with it being a trivia game, she does quite well. Luckily, I have pulled upsets both nights thus far.
I will make more detailed posts on these games as we play them and can make detailed comments about them. Ah, the life of a board game family…
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