Sorry I've been Gone.

I appologize any of my readers that have been waiting for my next installment of my blog.  I've had some health issues and work has kept me very busy.  But I have an new one almost finished and hope to publish it soon.  We have another Tripped planned for our 30th wedding Anniversary in October.  Please stay tuned.

Unexpected Disneyland.

Mickey Welcomes you to Walt's Happy Place!

Sometimes all is right with the world and lady luck smiles down upon you.  Sometimes, the stars align and everything falls in place.  The weekend of February 22 was one of those times.  I had been planning with my boss a quick trip to one of our branch offices near Los Angeles California. The office was using outdated network equipment and we needed to swap it out with better, newer, more secure equipment.  That gave me my chance to fly out to LA.  The nature of the equipment that I needed to swap was such that it was best to do it when the office wasn't busy or not working at all so we chose to do the swap out on weekend.  With the onsite folks, who were very accommodating, I was able to install my new switches during the day on Friday and cut the users over to the new equipment late that afternoon.  This gave me Saturday as a fall back day in case the cut over had problems or if I needed extra time. The cut over went smoothly and there were no problems with connectivity at the office, thus I was free on Saturday and Sunday.  Hoping that this would be the case, I has sort of planned in the back of my mind to go to the two parks at the Disneyland resort in Anihiem.  How lucky I was to be able to spend one unexpected day in the original Disney theme park and get a bonus day in Disney's California Adventure park.  I would get the chance to do attractions that Disney World didn't have and compare some of the attractions that were at both parks.  Also, for a few of the attractions, the lines were a bit shorter when I came across them, making attractions like Toy Story Midway Mania much more accessible.  How could i go wrong.

Main Street USA The horses were out

This same statue exists at WDW

I wanted to arrive early at Disneyland on Saturday because there was a certain amount of Disney business to which i needed to attend.  First, I needed to find the park.  I was staying north and a little west of Los Angeles in the Agoura Hills area.  I had seen on the map that finding my way to the Disneyland Resort area should be pretty simple.  My hotel was just a few yards off of US 101 that goes through downtown L. A. where it soon connects to I 5.  I 5 runs right past the Disneyland resort.  Even so, I programmed my GPS to take me there.  Sure enough, it put me on US101 to I5.  It was still fortunate that I had planned my route ahead of time because the rental car company gave me the wrong charger for the GPS and it was soon out of juice much to my dismay on the way home that evening.  The trip from my hotel to the park only about 1 hour and 15 minutes or so.  The traffic on the freeways that I was taking hadn't gotten too bad at 7:00 am on Saturday so the drive was relatively easy.  I had heard that on busy days the wait just to buy tickets could be as long as an hour.  This fact was one of the reasons wanted to get to the parks a little bit early, along with the fact that usually the parks were not as crowded in the morning hours.  What I didn't know was that Disneyland offers a half day ticket that would dramatically affect the crowds in the afternoon.

My parking location.

I arrived at the park and found my way to the parking structure.  When I was in Disneyland 45 years ago, i don't remember the Mickey and Friends parking structure.  Maybe that wasn't much of a priority for a 10 year old.  Parking only cost 16 dollars a day. In my book, parking may be the least expensive part of the trip.  We made our way to the top of the structure and I parked in Level "Minnie", row 8, Section D.  In order to remember where I put the car I took a picture of the sign nearest my car.  Disney has cleverly designed the escalators to the parking levels on the structure so that every two levels is serviced by a main escalator with a shorter one form the upper level to the lower.  Level Minnie was the top floor.  I took a short escalator down to level 5 and then a longer one down to the transportation area, where the trams that take visitors to the parks are located.  The trams are a bit of an engineering feat as well.  All of the Tram engines are powered by Natural gas.  Natural Gas, as a fuel, has very few emissions and reflects well upon Disney and its concern for the environment.   As a matter of fact, I saw quite a large number of filling stations that had Natural Gas as an option so I imagine that there are many vehicles in Southern California that use natural Gas.  The trip from the parking area to the Theme parks was not long.  Trams always seemed to be available either to just walk on or after just a short wait.  Handling the parking is something and transportation to the parking is something that Disney has down.

Even the trams are pretty cool.

The trams whisked us away to the park entrances.  The lay out of the entrance area is kind of interesting.  The trams drop visitors off near the Downtown Disney area.  I didn't take the time to explore Downtown Disney on this visit, I had business with the theme parks and my first order of business was to get my Ticket.  I had heard that the wait to purchase tickets could be as long as an hour. So, i wanted to arrive early enough that the line wouldn't be so long.  The strategy worked pretty well. My wait to buy a ticket was only about 15 minutes.  I didn't plan on going from park to park, My feet probably couldn't stand the stress, so I purchased the two day single park ticket.  I wanted to visit both parks and I also knew that there would be enough in each park to keep me busy all day.  I had some Christmas money with me hoping I would get a chance to go to the parks and I used it along my debit card to pay for the ticket.  The whole two days cost $175.00  that makes each day cost $87.50 each day.  The cost for any Disney ticket isn't cheep, but as you add days it gets cheaper.  a one day non park hopper ticket costs $92.00 so i saved about $4.50  and about $9.00 over all.  I was happy to pay the cost because I was going to Disneyland!

Looks the same but  I assure you its slightly different 

After passing through the Iconic Disney gates with the big picture of Mickey in flowers on the front.  I wandered into Main Street USA.  At Walt Disney World,  Its usually pretty hot and humid.   The Horse drawn trolleys do not operating in that kind of weather as it wouldn't be good for the animals.   But in the beautiful weather in Southern California,  The horses could work without causing them a problem.  I had never seen the Horse drawn Trolleys working and it was quite a treat to see them.  However, I didn't take one because I wanted to take in the sights with a slow wander down the street.  Disney Engineers use Forced Perspective to make the buildings appear taller than they actually are. The floors actually grow shorter than the one below tricking your mind into thinking that the building is actually taller.  It works pretty well. Another pretty well known fact about Main Street USA is that Walt Himself had an apartment over the Firehouse in the town square.  He would stay there especially during the construction of Disneyland.  Now the apartment  is being preserved as sort of a shrine to Walt's Memory.  The occasion is rare indeed when someone is actually allowed into the apartment and nobody is ever allowed to stay there, which I think is altogether fitting.  In Walt Disney's memory, a light illuminates his apartment window above the firehouse entrance all the time.

The Matterhorn  45 years before conquered.

The first thing on my list was a bit of unfinished business that was 45 years in the making.  On my first visit to
Disneyland I was only 9 years old.  I remember being excited about going and doing lots of the attractions.  I remember its a small world and Peter Pans Flight, both are still among my favorite attractions.  But the one attraction I didn't get to do back in the late 60's was the Matterhorn Bobsleds.  When I first went to Disney with my parents all the attractions were rated.  Before visitors entered the park, they purchased a booklet of tickets of various value.  Some of the attractions were Valued as A attractions with increasing excitement through E attractions. Even now, things that are very exciting are often called E ticket rides. The Matterhorn Bobsleds were an E-Ticket attraction and when the time had come for me to ride The Matterhorn, we had no E coupons.  So,  i didn't get to ride the Matterhorn.    Finally, after 45 years I had found my way back to Disneyland and I didn't need any tickets to ride the attractionss.  Fortunately for me, the line was really short first thing in the morning.  So I took the opportunity to ride on the Matterhorn Bobsleds first.  I will be the first to admit that the Matterhorn might not be the most exciting of all the Disneyland attractions, and I can't say that I spent every waking moment regretting a chance to ride on the bobsleds.  In fact I was really wasn't thinking about getting the chance to ride at all until until I leaned that I was going to make this trip to California, and an opportunity existed to visit Disneyland.  Even so,  after 45 years,  between visits I chose this attraction to be  first on my list.  The attraction was fun and I wasn't at all disappointed in my ride, however, anyone that has ridden the Matterhorn Bobsleds knows that there are faster, better coasters in Disneyland and in the rest of the Disney properties across the US.

I wish It's a small world would have been open

So, after taking care of that bit of nostalgia I set off to do more of the park.  Very near the Matterhorn was the original Small World attraction.  What makes this attraction great and always worth a ride is that Small World was one of the two attractions Disney's WED company did for the 1964 worlds fair.  Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was the other worlds fair attraction that would eventually move to Disneyland.  Small World has made its way into Disneyland Paris, Hong kong and Tokyo. However, Disneyland Shanghai will not have an iteration of It's a small world when it opens in 2015.  To be honest,  Its a Small World After all is one of my favorite attractions at Disney World and I was a little disappointed to find that the attraction was closed when I was in Disneyland in February.  Oh well, you can't win them all. Great moments with Mr. Lincoln was truly breaking edge Technology in 1964.  The natural movements made by the animatronics of 1964 were amazing for the time and the characters were not computer controlled at the time.  This makes the attraction even more amazing in my book.  Great moments with Mr. Lincoln is the direct ancestor for the Hall of presidents at Disney World which is a not miss attraction for me.

C3PO at Star Tours

And R2D2 As well.

By this time my stomach was telling me that it was time for breakfast.  I had no idea how big an issue eating would be before 11:30 when most of the Disneyland restaurants would be open.  My hunger was still on Indiana time which was some three hours ahead of California time, so at 9:30 California time my belly was telling me that it was past time for breakfast and getting into lunch time.  I had hoped to grab a bite at the hotel.  The Residence Inn where I was staying offered a hot breakfast buffet every morning.  Unfortunately for me, on the weekends the hotel didn't start serving before 7:00 am, which was some time after I wanted to leave for Disneyland.  I thought at the time,  "No problem,  I'll just pop by the Tomorrowland Terrace for a Mickey waffle."  Little did I know at the time that the Tomorrowland Terrace didn't server breakfast.  So, I though that I would catch my two favorite attractions in Tomorrowland.  Disneyland is obviously set up differently than the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, and there are a few additional attractions that exist in other Disney World parks that have found a home in Disneyland.  I really enjoy Star Tours since its redesign a few years ago.  In Walt Disney World, Star Tours is located in Disney's Hollywood Studios. In Disneyland you could find the attraction in Tomorrowland close to The Tomorrowland Terrace.  I was happy that Disneyland had put a version of this attraction in Disneyland and happily waited the 15 minutes or so it took to work my way through the line.  One of the features of the Star Tours attraction is that one person on the attraction is chosen as the rebel spy.  I have actually been the rebel spy twice in Disney World.  No such luck on that day but I still loved the ride.

Buzz give the lowdown on the Attraction.

Just down the walkway a bit from Star Tours was Pixar Favorite of mine.  Buzz Lightyear's Space Rangers Spin is a shooting game that gives the riders laser blasters to take out various targets scattered through the ride.  Seeing an Anamatronic Buzz was almost worth the wait in line in itself, but it was still pretty early in the day so the lines were not bad, YET.  Just to make a quick comment about the Queues and switchbacks in Disneyland,  most of them are outdoors.  The beautiful Southern California weather must be responsible for this because in Orlando the humid weather during the summers makes it very important for the Queues to be inside with fans and air conditioners for the most part. Anyway,  waiting in line for Space Rangers spin was not unpleasant and the line wasn't long,  and again I say YET.  when the later afternoon came, the lines were getting pretty long but they were still good when I rode the Space Rangers attraction.  I'll say right now that it was a good thing I was riding by myself.  Anybody and I mean anybody could have beaten my score.  Fortunately, It wasn't about how many points I could score on the game, but how much fun I could have playing.  I'm sure I could have easily won any match using that as the criteria for victory.  I finally got the hang of controlling the car and shooting toward the end of the game.  I could am much better with both hands on the blaster, requiring me to choose a direction, move my car that way and start shooting targets, moving the direction of the car only when I needed to change the angle for my shots.  At the beginning, i was moving pretty wildly, not able to concentrate on any single target or target area.  Once i settled down, My score began to improve, but the attraction came to a close before I could really start scoring points.

The Queue wasn't bad at all.  25 minutes.

I was still hungry and getting hungrier as time went past so I made another trip past the Tomorrowland Terrace, with no luck.  I hoped to improve my chances of finding something to eat by changing lands. besides the time had come to hit one of my favorite attractions at any Disney Property. I wanted to find the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.   Instead of Adventureland like in Disney World,  the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is in New Orleans Square.  The line was only about 20 minutes at that time so I thought I would take advantage of the shortish queue and do the attraction before eating.  Almost the whole queue is outside for Pirates very unlike Orlando where riders go through most of the switchbacks indoors, in cool air  and sort of traverse a tunnel down to the loading area.  only the last few switchbacks were inside at Disneyland.  I didn't care that we were outside because the weather was so nice.  About half way through the queue we found a door that opened on both the inside part of the queue and the outside part. Actually the door was locked but lots of riders amused themselves by knocking on the door to see if they could get people on the other side to answer.  Lots of "Shave and a Hair cut, Two Bits" was heard resounding around the lines on both sides.  It was kinda fun. I'm not sure but I think the attraction is longer and even better in some ways that the Disney World version.  I think there are more Scenes at the beginning of the attraction and riders float past a restaurant much like riders of the Grand Fiesta Toure attraction in Mexico at Epcot's world show case.  It was pretty cool to see the lights of all the candles on the tables as we floated past.  Of course, The restaurant wasn't open yet.  A vignette of a old man playing a banjo on the porch of a bayou house was the first scene.  I am almost Pirates of the Caribbean in Disney World doesn't have that.

The Streets of New Orleans

This is the restaurant

Actually looked better on the menu.

After riding Pirates, I couldn't take it any more, I needed to eat. Food in New Orleans is legendary.  I hoped that the food that was served by restaurants in New Orleans Square would be at least comparable.  So I decided I would eat in the New Orleans Square area. The time was 11:00 so I hoped that some of the restaurants would be opening soon.  I actually wanted to eat at the place where the Pirates attraction floated by.  I wasn't really sure of the Restaurants name so I wandered down the streets of New Orleans Square.  By this time it was 11:00 PST and I was pretty hungry.  I went to look at the menu of a little place called Cafe Orleans that had outside seating about halfway between the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.  Interestingly, the Haunted Mansion is in New Orleans Square as well.  In Disney World the Haunted Mansion is in Liberty Square not far from the hall of Presidents.  Anyway, I overheard someone asking about the wait time for people that didn't have reservations for Cafe Orleans. The person at the counter said it would be about 15 minutes.  I thought that I could easily wait that long to get a place to sit and eat.  Cafe Orleans is a table service restaurant which means that a server will come and take your order. Quick service restaurants don't accept reservations and diners wait in line to order and pick up their food.  Most table service restaurants take reservations and sometimes they are booked months in advance and the wait times for people that don't have reservations can be very very long indeed.  After hearing about the wait time I decided I would get my name on the list as well.  I was excited about getting to eat in something less than a half an hour.  Well,  as we all know, even the best plans can come crashing down about our ears.  What I failed to realize was that the wait time was figured in after the restaurant opened, and much to my dismay, the restaurant opened at 11:30.  I didn't catch onto this until after the 15 minutes had elapsed and no one had gone into the restaurant at all.  I decided to stick it out anyway, because I had no better plans.  So, About 11:45, very close to the check-in desks estimate, I got to go into the restaurant.

View from my table.

I was very hungry by then.  I kind of looked around me to see what others were ordering and noticed that the main meal of choice for most diners was the Monte Cristo sandwich. I had plenty of time to look the restaurant and check out the menu since the Wait staff was pretty slow getting around to me.  Reading the menu, I thought the Monte Cristo sandwish looked pretty good so I chose it to be my entree. I also was kind of in the mood for a cup of gumbo.  I ordered that as well.  Then, the next round of waiting began.  The restaurant was pretty busy, but not so much that I thought my food would take a long time to get.  I was wrong.  The gumbo arrived after a near 20 minute wait.  My thoughts at the time were, "How long does it take to ladle up a cup of gumbo and bring it out."  The wait time was much longer than I had ever envisioned it would be at the Cafe Orleans.  The taste of what was brought to me was good, However,  I have had a lot of gumbo over the years and I've even made my share of Gumbo in my own kitchen.  What I received at Cafe Orleans wasn't really gumbo.  The broth was too thick making it more of a gravy like you would put on mashed potatoes.  The classic veggies were there and the sausage and other components were right as well. But I really had a hard time getting over the broth.  But, I was hungry so I devoured the Anti-gumbo with some gusto.  Like I said, I was willing to over look the dishes un-gumboness because it tasted pretty good with the rice that was served with it.  Next began the wait for the entree.  Another 20 minutes passed before my sandwich arrived.  I started out liking it very much,  The sandwich was served with some berry preserves and the whole thing tasted really good together.  But after a while, the heaviness of the breading on the sandwich began to intrude on my enjoyment of the meal.  In the end, I pealed back the breading and ate the meat and cheese.  The entree came with grapes that, while on the small side, were pretty sweet and made a nice side dish.  At the end of the day, I might have to rate this meal as among the worst I've had at a Disney resort.  The food was good but not spectacular, The wait was long and if  I hadn't been at Disneyland and could look out at the crowds and the river boats in the Rivers of American, the whole thing would have been tedious. In addition to the lackluster food, I was unhappy with the whole experience, which, through a combination of my errors and the slow service, had lasted over two hours, robbing me of time I could have better spent in the park.

Cast Member managing the queue at the Haunted Mansion

Whats a good Haunt without a hearse.

After a slow start to the afternoon, things picked up as I went on down the lane toward the Haunted Mansion.  Like Pirates, this is one of my favorite attractions in the Magic kingdom in Disney World.  as i approached the cast member at the gate of the attraction was turning people away saying that the attraction was down for maintenance problems. I don't think peak season for Disneyland includes late February. So i guess it shouldn't be surprising that a number of attractions were not operating or being refurbished.  I had wanted to do "I'ts a Small World"  and hear the insidious song the Sherman brothers wrote for that attraction.  Like "Its a great big beautiful tomorrow", "Its a small World Afterall" gets into your brain and is difficult to exercised.  Splash Mountain was also closed.  Splash Mountain is a tough ride to get on sometimes at the Magic Kingdom.  Wait times for all the Magic Kingdoms Mountains often reach over an hour.  But since Splash Mountain was closed, the wait time didn't matter.  To be honest however, when I heard that the Haunted Mansion was broken, I was a little unhappy.  With all the other attractions down, hearing that the Haunted Mansion was having problems wasn't welcome news.  But as I was walking away, overheard the cast member the gate talking on the radio saying that the attraction was running again.  I immediately went back and asked him.  He let me get into the now moving line. The line was much shorter because of the delay so i was very quickly able to negotiate the queue and get on the attraction.  I guess it was a bit of luck, because I didn't have to wait very long at all before I was in one of the famous Doom Buggies.  I really enjoy the special effects on this ride.  How the Disney Imagineers were able to do some of the effects are still a mystery to me.  Not knowing how they do every effect in the Haunted mansion is OK though. Not knowing enhances the experience. I think that the Haunted Mansion is a bit creepier in Disneyland than in Disney world. Since creepiness isn't a liability for a Haunted Mansion, I liked the attraction in Disneyland just a little bit more, but I love the Haunted Mansion in both locations.

65 minutes didn't feel all that long.

Disney provides lots of stuff to set the mood for an attracion

This looksl like it came from the jungles of Belize

Inside the attraction had more of an Indian feel.

Frontierland didn't have a lot in it that I wanted to do. I have done the Country Bear Jamboree on several occasions and while it is entertaining and and a great place to rest your feet in air conditioning for a little while, I wasn't all that interested in seeing it again.  So I walked around to Adventureland where  The Jungle Cruise,another one of my favorite attractions, and The Indiana Jones Adventure, an attraction not offered in Disney World, was located.  The Indiana Jones Adventure in Adventureland is very new compared to the other attractions in Disneyland.  The attraction opened on March 3 1995 as Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye and the attraction still uses that story line.  The vehicles used in the Indiana Jones Adventure are the same as those used in the Dinosaur attraction in Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.  As a matter of fact, These programmable Vehicles were used first in Disneyland in the Indiana Jones Attraction and were later used in the Dinosaur Attraction.  These two attractions remain the only two  that use this system in the world.  The Indiana Jones Attraction is very popular. And by this time in the afternoon the crowd was really building.  The wait time, when I entered the line was right at 65 minutes.  The queue snakes up next to the Jungle cruses queue when the line gets especially long.   I could have fast passed this attraction but, as I had time and was on my own, I entered the standby line.  They has a line labeled single rider which would have fit me fine but the cast member said that it wasn't open at that time. The line moved pretty quickly and when I moved from the switchbacks that were borrowed from the Jungle Cruise, i had noticed that the wait time had increased to 75 minutes after we passed the entrance to the attraction again.  That might have been enough to get me to not do the attraction. However,  I was already deep in the line by that time so the only real choice was to stick it out.  It was shady in the line and Disney had provided lots of stuff to look at while in the queue so the wait wasn't unpleasant.  The ride itself is exciting and a lot of fun.  The attraction can be a bit jerky at times, like the Dinosaur attraction in the Animal Kingdom.  I like the fact that Imagnineers can tweak the ride if they feel it needs adjustment.  They can make Indiana Jones more exciting or less jarring as they see fit.  It was a fun attraction.

Loading the boats for the Jungle Cruise.

On Board the boat.. (what did that guy see?)

The crowds were really getting heavy

After having fun With Indy, the time had come to do an Old Classic standby. If the Indiana Jones adventure is one of the newest rides in Disneyland, the Jungle Cruise is one of the oldest. This attraction has been in Disneyland since it opened in 1955. As a matter of fact,  when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, Aventureland in Florida had a version of the Jungle Cruise. Because of the popularity of the Attraction and because the Load times for the attraction are long, the wait times can be long.  On my visit, they weren't too bad yet so I jumped into the queue. The Jungle Cruise by itself is OK.  The anamitronics are pretty cool and the river was certainly beautiful, but what makes this attraction is the banter the Guide gives while you float along the river. The girl guiding our cruise was very funny and genuinely seemed to enjoy doing the attraction. Like most things at Disney, cast members made all the difference whether at a hotel or doing an attraction. The Head hunters, the hippos and even a few of the passengers were not spared the sharpness of her wit.  There was nothing offensive about what she said but, like all the other times I have visited the Jungle Cruise, the guide made the ride.  because of our vantage point i could see how the crowd were really starting to build in the park.  Disneyland offers a discounted 1/2 day ticket of which many Californians take advantage.  I mean, if you could catch a few rides,  maybe see Fantasmic or the fireworks then it would be worth while to make an afternoon of it.  But the half day Ticket also produces a big spike in the crowd size.  Out of Town visitors on vacation would be better served to come during a week day and plan to do the attractions for which the lines get the longest in the morning.  While i got a lot of my favorites done in the Morning, I didn't have a choice as to what day of the week to go to the parks.

Mr. Toad has been at Disneyland since it opened in 1955

From Adventureland I went back to Fantasyland.  Disneyland's Fantasyland has several attractions that the Magic kingdom doesn't have or have closed over the years to make way for new attractions, and Peter Pan's flight, of my all time favorite attractions, has a much shorter Queue in Disneyland than in Walt Disney World. The first attraction I found was one that I don't think I did when I was a kid. Mr. Toads wild ride is based on the much loved children's story The Wind in the Willows. by Kenneth Grahame.  Disney made a move from the book in 1949 which they released along with an adaptation of the Legend of sleepy Hollow.  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was well received by reviewers and the public alike. Mr Toads Wild Ride opened in Disneyland in 1955 when Disneyland first opened. In 1983 Mr. Toad received a face lift and has been there ever since.  Also, as one of the original attractions in The Magic Kingdom Mr Toads Wild ride opened and stayed in service in Walt Disney World from 1971 to 1998 when it was replaced buy the Adventures of Winne the Pooh.  As a side note, The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a great ride in of itself.  Mr. Toads wild ride starts at Toad hall where Mr. Toad wants to take a car ride.  Mr. Toad is not all the greatest of drivers however and soon farmers and  bakers and Policemen are dodging the careening vehicle as Mr. Toad terrorizes the English countryside. Mr Toad soon finds himself crashing through the streets and some of the shops of London.  The car even causes an explosion at one point.  This is an older attraction and it really is starting to show it's age.  Still,  it is an original and should have a home in the original happiest place on earth.

Here is where you fly over London.

Next up was another ride that has been around a long time.  Peter Pan's Flight was another of the original attractions in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.  Both the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions were refurb in 1983 and both are still going strong and even though both are among the Walt Disney's oldest attractions, Peter Pans Flight remains one of my favorites to this day.  The single criticism I have about the attraction is the slow load times for people getting on the ride. Lots of people love the attraction so 70 to 80 minute queue times are not unusual at Walt Disney World.  The 50 minute wait that I had to board the ride didn't seem so bad. I spoke with a young couple that was bringing their son to Disneyland for his birthday.  They had visited California adventure the day before.  They both were very pleasant people and our chat helped make the wait time go fairly quickly.  Soon I was on one of the flying ships and after finding my happy thought and getting a sprinkle of pixie dust,  we set sail over the roof tops of London.  We soon found our way to Neverland (first star to the right and straight on till morning) We visited pirates and mermaids and the lost boys.  I now have to acknowledge that some people might take offense to the way Native Americans are portrayed in both the Peter Pan  movie and the attractions at Disneyland and Disney World.  Personally, I feel that in the context of the time and place and when the book and movie were done it could have been a lot worse.  Soon,  with captain Hook vanquished again we were safely back in Southern California.  By this time it was starting to get late in the afternoon toward evening.  The park was really filling up by then.  I wanted to stay for the fireworks but the crowds were such that I didn't want to stay. After a quick dinner of chicken strips in frontierland's Golden Horseshoe  I worked my way back to the parking garage and went back to hotel.  It was a wonderful day, full of old and new memories and great Disney fun.

Good night Disneyland!

Seven Days at Sea with a Princess - Part Three - Cozumel!

At Puerto Maya Just to get ashore you had to go through the Duty Free shops, seen above.

When we got up the next morning our ship was already docked in Cozumel.  We had been to Cozumel before with my Mom and Dad and my sister and brother-in-law.  That time we hopped on a bus and went to a cooking class at Playa Mia on the west coast of Cozumel. I think the last time Cozumel was toward the end of our cruise.  This time however, it was the first stop.  While I enjoyed the cooking lesson, which was very hands on, We were looking for something a little different to do while we were in Cozumel this time.  Boy did we find it.  But I might be getting ahead of my self a bit.  Our first order of business was breakfast.  Mom and Dad had selected a less strenuous activity for their day in Cozumel and they were scheduled to leave the ship much earlier than we were, so they called us up again to see if we wanted breakfast in the dining room again. My mother was on a search for the perfect Eggs Benedict.  I like like Eggs Benedict as well. I think a soft poached egg on a English muffin with ham or Canadian bacon is delicious and a tart Hollandaise sauce on top just makes it wonderful but i don't pursue the dish with the same passion as my Mom.  As out departure from the ship was a little later, We chose not to go with them to the dining room and lay in for a bit longer.  Later when mom was describing her breakfast, we heard her said that her egg was overcooked and the Hollandaise sauce was cooked onto the eggs under a broiler.  I thought broiling Eggs Benedict was a bit odd.  The funny part is, when my wife and I went to the Horizon Buffet that morning I was able to get Eggs Benedict. While, I will grant that the Egg was over cooked, the buffet provided a side of Hollandaise sauce and I could put as much as I wanted on my Egg.  Later in the cruise, My mom figured out that if she told them what she wanted and asked for the Hollandaise on the side she could get the perfect Eggs Benedict she was searching for.  The galleys on the ships were very receptive to special orders and cooks on board prepared a well poached soft and put the sauce on the side. As for my Breakfast, I indulged in the collection of crisp bacon and delicious sausages along with a Meusli that I doctored up with dried fruit and granola.  I know that it sort of defeats the purpose of Meusli to put cream on it but i couldn't resist a dollop of clotted cream on the top of the cereal.  It made it taste yummy! And, of course, I had to have my daily allotment of Chocolate Croissants.

Some of the shops at Puerto Maya

It wasn't long before it was time for us to go ashore to catch a ride to our Shore Excursion.  I had assumed that we would be riding on a bus, or a van or some other land transportation to get where we would board the sailing vessels that make up America's Cup Regatta which was our excursion of choice for Cozumel. After we disembarked the ship, we had a bit of time before we were to meet the people that were running our excursion. So off we went shopping.  Nearly every cruise ship port has a collection of shops at the pier when you arrive at port.  I'll be the first to admit that I don't have a large amount of experience with Cruise ports. I haven't been on nearly as many cruises as my parents and some people have had hundreds of days at sea.  But even in my short tenure as a cruise enthusiast I have begun to notice some patterns in the shops at the cruise ports.  You can count on several shops no matter where you go.  Nearly every port has many shops for jewelry.  There is always a Restaurant or two and lots of little shops selling Touristy stuff.  Lots of the shops are the same from Port to port.  The most interesting shops are the ones that have the local stuff in them.  In Cozumel we could could find Mexican Chocolate (Mexican chocolate is different than what we eat.  Its not as refined but still tastes wonderful), crafts and of course T-shirts by the score.  Our mission in Cozumel was simple. We needed to find a pair of glasses holders to keep us from loosing our spectacles.   Every where we went we asked if they had holders and we looked in a lot of shops.  Unfortunately, glasses holders were not to be found in Cozumel.  I let my wife have the single set of holders that we could find at home because she would be much more debilitated than me without glasses.If shoppers were interested in Duty free stuff then they were in luck.  There were huge Duty Free shops at the entrance of every port we visited.  Alcohol, Cigarettes, fragrances and other exotic things were available.  Funny thing though, I didn't think the prices were all that much lower for the same stuff in US.

Stars and Stripes and True North IV (We were not on board for this photo)

After maybe an hour and half in the shops, the time came for us to go on our shore excursion.  We had scheduled the America's Cup Regatta.  Some time ago, I'm not sure when, the company, with I believe was Australian, purchased one of Dennis Conner's Stars and Strips 12 meter yachts.  This yacht is same boat that won the America's Cup back from Australia in 1987's which was the last time that 12 meter yachts were used in the America's cup.  We were on the True North IV which completed in the same Luis Vuitton cup races as Stars and Strips.  The US won the Luis Vuitton cup to earn the right to race the Australians and went on to win the America's Cup bringing it back to the US.  Dennis Conner was the first skipper to loose the cup in over 100 years and the first Skipper to win it back.  Since then the cup has been passed to New Zealand and then to the Suisse and back to the US. The cup was successfully defended last fall. All of this history adds to the fun of the experience.  We were met near the dock by an fellow that was obviously from Australia by his accent.  I'm sure that he had been sailing for a long time. Anyway, he let us to a pontoon boat that would take us out to the yachts.  On the way out we were split into 2 teams with a captain for each.  We were picked one by one, like you would be picked in a pick up basketball game or something.  While my wife and I weren't picked first we were picked close to the begining.  I think it was our enthusiasm that carried us.  We were picked by the Canadian captain. She really was from Canada and we were on True North IV which was a Canadian boat.

First of all, I should probably state that the seas were pretty rough for a casual sailor like myself. It was misting rain and the wind was up a bit.  This is a mixed blessing for sailing, Wind is good for sailors.  High seas are bad for land lubbers.  The weather was bad enough to make my wife and I wonder if they were going to do the excursion or cancel it do to the conditions.  Well fortunately for us, the excursion went on as planned and the pontoon boat took all of us would be America's Cup Racers out to the boats.  The Skippers of the boats were brothers and something about them got my competitive juices going and I really wanted to win the race.  Now, we had the choice of activity level.  We could choose  none, medium or active.  My wife and I  choose medium.  My competitive juices were flowing but not enough to give myself a heart attack.  As it turned out it was the perfect choice for me and the boat as well. My wife's job ended up being the bar tender. She helped pass out the drinks after the race. I kind of suspect she would have enjoyed something a little more active. My Job on the boat was rear grinder.  As the boat tacks from one direction to the other the sail must move over the boat and the tension must be maintained on the sail in order for it to work properly.  I got the job of tensioning the sail after a tack. It was fun and a big adventure because the boat tossed us around a bit.  I used a handle that fit into the top of a ratcheted fixture that would hold the sail tension as I cranked it down.  To simplify matters, the company had put a piece of black tape where I should stop when I was winding the rope.  I had a counter part at the fixture whose job was to loosen the rope and take care of making sure it was properly lashed to the ratchet. This was great fun and I was determined to do it as well as I could.  I really wanted to win you see.

I'm at the back. Bonnie more toward the Middle.

So, with an understanding of what my task was to be, we sailed off and honed our skills a little before the race.  There are a lot of timing rules for the start of an America's Cup race.  People often see the yachts circling just in front of the start line.  The idea is to hit the start line with full forward momentum at just the right moment when the race is suppose to start.  If a boat crosses to early it has to circle around and do it again.  The margin for victory between boats, and especially with these two boats, is so thin that a good skipper would almost certainly win the race if his challenger crossed the line too soon and had to circle. But both our Skipper and his brother hit the line well and the race was on.  At the beginning it took a little time for me to get use to the pitching of the craft.  Cleats had been  provided on the deck of the boat for us to leverage against when we were leaning back  and a rope to hold on to when we were leaning forward.  It took me a few minutes to get the hang of all this but soon I was able to stay stable enough to do my job.  During the first up wind leg of the race, Stars and Strips (not our boat) forged a head with a pretty good lead, our skipper assured us that we had the advantage in the down wind leg and would catch them and pass them.  They had extended the first up wind leg to make sure the race would last the appropriate amount of time. With the stiff winds, we were moving pretty fast through the water.  We made our turn at the buoy a little better that Stars and strips and made up a decent amount of distance.  Soon we were flying across the ocean on the down wind leg of the race.  You would think that when you sail with the wind the boats would go at their fastest. Actually, the cross wind leg is when the boats move faster.  The angle of the wind provides more energy to the boat causing it to move quicker across the ocean.  After a couple of upwind and down wind legs that were shorter that the original up wind leg we started to come close the end of the race.  It looked to me as if we were leading but our skipper said that the race was much closer than it looked because the finish line was at an angle to the forward progress of the ships.  So neck and neck we charged across the sea it was very exciting and great fun. Rain and wind and pitching boats couldn't ruin it for me.  Our skipper told us that if we saw the committee boat raise a white flag then we were the winners of the race. To be honest the committee boat was a small outboard boat that had braved the waves to take pictures and "officiate" the race.  Time passed and we could see the committee boat. As we pasted them and they raised the white flag first then the blue one. We had won the race.  Wow, What a hoot.

Puerto Maya in Cozumel

After the race was run we sailed back to the mooring for our boat which took several minutes.  we were all exhilarated and maybe a little tired, but not to bad.  The race was set up with amateurs in mind. So nobody was exhausted from the experience.  We gave the traditional Three cheers to the other team and passed by the committee boat for another photo, and there was time for a beer or a coke as we sailed back. All to soon we were back to the mooring where they kept the boat.  I suspect they do this regatta more than once a day but I don't know for sure.  Once the boat was moored the time came to furl the sails.  Putting the Sail away required that  the customers to be out the way so that the real crew could wrap the sail up and tie it down.  This required that we move to the bow of the boat.  Of course, while sitting on a box on the bow the box tipped over and I went to the deck. I didn't hurt myself and I thought the fall was pretty funny.  At the beginning of the regatta the skipper told us that if a crew member fell overboard they should be prepared to wait in the water for a while because the boats don't turn on a dime and if the boat you fell off of was winning you might get to wait even longer.  No one fell out, of course, and I had lots of hands to help me back onto a more stable sitting device that the crew provided.  The pontoon boat soon returned to pick us up.  Normally, the boat would have taken us to the gift shop where we would get some Rum Punch and could purchase souvenirs at the International pier, but on this day the sea was too rough at the dock where the gift shop was.  So they took us back to the Puerto Maya pier.  Our counterparts from the Stars and Strips were just a little subdued and I felt no urge for trash talk, but we on the True North were having a great time on the pontoon boat trip back.  I wanted a picture and my wife and I both wanted T-shirts, so we followed one of the crew members to the International pier where the gift shop was located.  The walk was about 1/3 of a mile, so it wasn't too bad.  Its funny how the walk back seemed much shorter.  I think they way my mind works is that I pay much closer attention while i'm going to a new place, therefore, making walk seem longer.  On the way back I'm already more familiar with the route, so I don't pay as close attention, thus making the walk back shorter in my head. The Rum punch was more punch than rum, but that was OK with me. One of the last thing I needed was to get tipsy in unfamiliar land.  The gift shop didn't have my size but we bought a t-shirt for my wife and pictures of us on the boats.  They were kind enough to email us pictures so I could put them in this blog.  All in all, this excursion was one of the highlights of the cruise for me.  Its something wonderful and goes down as one of the best days ever in spite of the misting rain and the winds.

The International Pier is furthest up.

By the time We returned to the ship it was pretty well past lunch time, but on a cruise ship it always seems to be lunch time.  Food is available 24 hours a day on the ship, however, I haven't chosen to test the availability of food in the early morning by getting up and going on search for a meal at 2:00 am.  Usually I'm so full from the scheduled meals that I really haven't been in need of a late night or early morning snack. Before my wife and I hit the buffet for lunch we both needed a quick shower to wash off the salt spray from the regatta and as usual the buffet was packed with many good things to eat. We knew that dinner was coming soon so our we ate pretty lightly, well as lightly as one can on a cruise ship. After lunch, I believe that my wife took advantage of her membership in the spa while I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and napping in our cabin.  It was very refreshing.  I was afraid that I had missed my rehearsal for the pop choir but it turns out they didn't have one that day.

You've seen this picture of the Lotus Spa before.

After my wife returned from her spa treatment, we dressed for dinner. We met my parents at the usual place in front of the lifts that went down to the Atrium.  Today's meal was not a formal affair, but I don't like to dress in shorts for meals aboard ship.  So I put on was a pair of dockers and a collared shirt.  The food, as always was delicious and our servers treated us like royalty again.  If any service could rival that of Disney then our servers came close.  They were always attentive and always kept our glass full.  Yani, our assistant server, had a  had a bandage behind one of her ears.  It turns out she wasn't hurt but she had a tattoo.  Princess does not allow there wait staff to display tattoos so she covered it with a bandage. I had noticed the bandage on previous nights but after commenting about what ever wound she had received, she told me the story of how it was a tattoo.  My father and I wondered what she had tattooed behind her ear.  I guess every woman likes to keep a little mystery because in spite of the subtle and not so subtle hints we never got the nature of her tattoo out of her.  As we were taking our delicious meal we could feel the ships engines start to crank up and watch the Island of Cozumel slip away through the windows.

This was the fellow that did the tribute show.  Terry Lee Geoffy

That nights entertainment was a Johnny Cash Tribute singer.  I personally think that at one time he might have sounded like Johnny and he never claimed to be an impersonator and the music was pleasant if not accurate. I like Johnny Cash songs anyway.  He brought out his wife to sing the famous "If I Were a Carpenter" song.  I suspect it was the hair because even if they didn't sound much like Johnny and June Carter Cash,  they sure looked like them.  She went on to sing several songs by June Carter Cash. Then they let one of their backup singers do a number.  I must be frank here,  She was the best singer of the lot.  I would have loved to have heard more from her.  Anyway it wasn't an unpleasant way to spend an hour and a half and the time went by quickly.  There is so much activity on a ship in the evening.  Lots of night clubs and bars that offer entertainment and dancing along with your favorite beverage.  But I have to tell you that I was tired when the show was over.  My wife and I went back to our cabin and after reading for a short time, we conked out.  Cozumel was great!

Seven Days at Sea with a Princess - Part Two

Day 2 - A day at Sea.

The Gulf of Mexico.  Deep waters sometimes.

When I woke the morning after embarkation, I could look out the door to my balcony and see no land in site. We were not far enough off shore however to loose site of ships and the oil platforms that dot the continental shelf extending into the gulf of mexico.  The sea lanes coming in and out of Houston are very busy.  In fact, I lost count of the number of ships that cruised by uncomfortably close to us as we navigated the shipping channel in Galveston Bay, the previous night.  I'm sure the Ship's crew knew their business, but on more than one occasion the other traffic heading into Houston looked much closer with which i would have been comfortable.  I could  see quite quickly why the port was closed due to fog the previous night. Even with the modern radar systems it would only take a small error to have disastrous results.  However, this didn't bother my ability to sleep in the slightest and I had no Poseidon Adventure nightmares that night. One of the interesting things about cursing on the ship is that each cabin had a TV in the state room that can access a channel with the speed and position of the ship.  We could see from the map that we hadn't quite cleared the continental shelf and passed above the Deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. At its deepest point, Gulf of Mexico is 14,383 feet deep.  If you put Pikes Peak at the deepest point, there would still be 269 feet of water to go through to get to the top of the mountain.  While we didn't cross the deepest point, the water was still very deep.

Coral Dining Room.  We took most of our meals there.

I started the next day with a phone call from my parents asking if we wanted to eat a little breakfast.  Something about sea air or maybe it was the quality of the food aboard the ship, made us ready to eat.  So we showered and dressed and met my parents at the center lifts.  We rode down to the Deck 7 ( Promenade Deck)  to  the Coral Dining room where breakfast was served.  Breakfast is served "Open Seating" through out the cruise and you never knew who you would meet up with when you went to breakfast.  You were given the choice of sitting on your own or sharing a table with other passengers.  We would always choose to eat with others when we had the chance.  One thing I have to say about cruising out of Houston is that, obviously, there will be lots of Texans on board the ship.  We found them refreshingly friendly and not all that different from folks in Indiana.   We ate breakfast with a couple of women that were cruising together.  They were wearing Texan's gear and we of course are Colts fans.  The Texans and Colts were playing later that day, but there was no animosity towards us and we had a lively and friendly discussion about football. We ran into these folks several times during the cruise and we always had a smile and a wave for each other. The meal started with a selection of sweet rolls.  It is at this point that I discovered the decadent deliciousness that was the Chocolate croissant.  The rich buttery croissants were filled with just the right amount of chocolate and fortunately for me, they were served all over the ship at breakfast time.  I made it a point to have one when ever I could.  For my breakfast entree, I had an egg scrabble with smoked salmon.  Not everyone in my family likes smoked salmon and sometimes I find it a bit too smoky even for my tastes, but mixed with the eggs, the salmon made for a perfect beginning to the day.  I also had a side of bacon.  The bacon was crisp and flavorful much to my relief.  My sister is not fond of cruise ship coffee.  She believes that there is a cistern of coffee somewhere in the middle of the ship made from coffee concentrate.  I don't doubt that she is correct, but for me it tasted good.  Perhaps its just the good memories of sitting on deck with my father talking and drinking coffee that make it taste as good as it does.

One thing that we have enjoyed through out most of our cruises has been the trivia game that the Cruise director of the ship leads twice daily in on of the bars on the ship.  This day,  He held the challenge in the Wheel House bar, our muster station if you will remember, at 10:30 in the morning.  We were well breakfasted and ready to compete.  Normally, when my sister and brother-in-law are with us on the ship, we make the perfect size team.  No more than 6 may compete as a team at a time.  Of course, we found another couple that was more than willing to play on our team.  They were from Houston and were some of the nicest people that you would want to meet.  Both were well versed in lots of topics that my family were not so we complemented each other nicely.  We did pretty well and of the 23 points available we got 20 of them.  We thought we were tied for first but someone spoke up an said they had 21 answers correct.  This was after the cruise director was getting ready to figure out a way to break the tie.  Oh well, Like he said it was just a game and the prizes were not worth fighting over.  It was fun none the less.

The Old Regal Princess This was a beautiful Older Ship.

Horizon Buffet on the Caribbean Princess.

This is the pizza bar on the Caribbean Princess downloaded form beyondships.com

After trivia, it was getting close to time for lunch.  After a brief discussion, My wife and I decided to give the pizza counter on the Lido deck a try.  We have been fond of the pizza aboard ship since we took the cruise to Hawaii on the Regal Princess in 2007.  The old Regal Princess was transferred to P&O cruise lines and now cruises the waters near Australia as the Pacific Dawn.  P&O Cruise lines is a subsidiary of Carnival that owns both Princess and Costa Cruise lines as well.  The Regal Princess had a small restaurant dedicated to pizza on the Lido Deck of the ship.  Passengers could go and get a made to order pie.  On the Caribbean Princess, the pizza ovens were at a counter near the pool on the Lido deck and for the most part, you could get a slice of the pizza that they had already cooked.  Pizza by the slice can be pretty good and they had a choice of an artichoke and cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza but pizza by the slice is much better when the pizzeria puts the slices back in the over to crisp up the crust before serving.  I bet if the people cooking the pizzas on the Caribbean princess had crisped up the crust, the pizza would have been better.  But as I like to say, even bad pizza is pretty good and this pizza was fine for what it was.  Just across the bar from the pizza counter was a burger counter as well.  We didn't get a burger while we were on the cruise this time but I had heard others saying that the burgers were very good.  I would probably have enjoyed the burger better but I had waxed  nostalgic for the wonderful pizza we got on the Regal Princess.  So after eating our pizza slices, my wife and I decided we would like something sweet to go with the pizza.  On the same deck is pizza and burger counters is the Horizon Buffet.  I know that people know that ships are famous for their buffets.  I would say that the reputation is a little overrated, especially on Princess ships.  The buffets are good but they are not the extravagant feasts that one pictures when one thinks of the spreads for which cruise ships have a reputation.  I will say however, that the cruise company isn't responsible for their buffets being over-hyped.  I just think that people have this image of what a cruise ship buffet should be.  That being said, my wife and I went to the Horizon Buffet to get some sweets.  They had some wonderful tarts, cakes and puddings that were delightful and I couldn't resist getting a little of the savory stuff they had to offer as well.  Just for the record, My wife and I spend many breakfasts and lunches at the buffets and really enjoyed the food there.  It was at the buffet that I got my daily fix of Chocolate Croissants. I like the buffet even if it wasn't the Ice Sculpture decorated thing that lots of people see in their heads when they think of Cruise ships.

My Wife enjoyed the Lotus Spa.

We spent our afternoon exploring our beautiful ship. My wife had enjoyed the lotus spa on other cruises and she could could get access for a fairly low price at the beginning of the cruise.  My wife and my mom went up to the spa to check it out. From her description, it was pretty much just like the the Spas on the Crown Princess where she had gone on a previous cruise. I am not really the spa type of guy but I am a singer as some of you already know so my shipboard activity was to join the Princess Pop Choir that met for the first time that afternoon.  This group of singers is completely composed of passengers on board the ship.  I sang in the Princess Pop Choir on the Crown princess.  The songs we performed on the previous cruise was stuff done by Tom Jones and Neil Diamond.  I had hopes that since we were just a week before Christmas, we would be singing Christmas songs.  Unfortunately, with a couple of exceptions, the line up of songs was the same songs we did on the Crown princess.  Since we only had a half an hour daily for a week to learn 6 songs were were pretty much all singing melody with a little light choreography.  I guess that Political Correctness and the Diversity of the people aboard ship prevented us from doing the Christmas stuff.  I almost tried to convince the others in our little group to sing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" or something like that but decided against it. There will be more on the Pop Choir later in another post.

Yani and Noel. They took wonderful care of our family.

We rounded out our first day at sea with a delicious meal in the Coral Dining room.This was our first formal night so we all dressed in our fanciest clothes to go to dinner. The formal nights are nice aboard ship, the food is a bit fancier, and that is saying something, and the wait staff offer an additional course from the standard 4 courses.  Dinner usually consisted of an appetizer, A soup or salad, and an entree that was usually chicken beef or sometimes a pasta.  Princess always had choices that were offered every day.  Diners could always include Filet of beef as an entree and shrimp cocktail as an appetizer to name just a couple of the selections that were offered every day. The formal meal always offered petit fours and cookies at the end of the meal and our first formal meal we were offered strawberry sorbet that was delicious as a palate cleanser between the soup and the Entree.  Since this was the first time we would be sitting at our assigned table and the first time we would be served by our wait staff.  Our server was from the Philippines and was, appropriately enough because it was the Christmas season, named Noel.  Our assistant waiter was named Yani and she was from the Ukraine I believe. Noel and Yani took terrific care of us while we were aboard ship.  He always knew what the best dish that the kitchen was offering and never failed to let us know what he felt tasted the best.  Much to my regret I didn't take his suggestion and ordered something else. The entree he suggested was much better than the one I had chosen.  Anyway, My family likes to joke around with the wait staff and try to put them at their ease. I think that the wait staff has always enjoyed our more informal approach and have in turn given us service beyond any which I would have had any right to expect.  I still remember the names of the two waiters that served us aboard our first cruise.  Yordon and Edmond provided perfect service to us for 15 days as we went round trip to Hawaii.  When the cruise finished the both sat down and had a cup of coffee with us.  I appreciate that they felt comfortable enough to do that with my crazy family.  Later, on my next cruise, Yordon was on the ship.  He remembered us from the Hawaii cruise and it was like seeing an old friend.

After our dinner, we went to the Princess Theater in the bow of the ship to see our first of many shows.  Princess has entertainers do shows every night on board the ship. The show for this night was "So You Wanna Dance" and was performed by the troupe of singers and dancers that were assigned to the Caribbean Princess.  I believe all of the Princess Cruise liners have a group of singers and dancers that are under contract with Princess and perform on an assigned ship.  "Do You Wanna Dance" was a medley of songs that were associated with dances from around the world.  While the singers often left a little to be desired, I truly enjoyed the dancing which is made more impressive when you consider they were dancing on a slightly pitching stage.  Tippy Shippy doesn't abandon you when you go to shows and the ship tips as much for dancers as it does for those of us just trying to make it down the hallway.  As far as the singing is concerned, all of the singers were smiling and seemed to be happy to be there, but sometimes you couldn't shake the feeling that they were just mailing the performance in that evening.  At times some of the singers had pitch problems and it hurt a bit to listen.  Even so, I enjoyed the one and a half hour show and was intrigued by some of the dances form India and Thailand, and the rousing dances from Ireland were lots of fun too.  There were other things we could have taken part in during the evening but as soon as the show was over my wife and I turned in for the night.  It had been a fun first day at sea.

Time for bed in a great cabin.