Day 9, Friday, May 27, At Sea, Casual

Photos from top: Cakeoff, Pastry Chef's entry, Hotel Mgr entry, Captain's entry. Carly's new stripes.

It was another pleasant but cloudy morning, and I finished a good walk
about 7:15, off the North Carolina coast. After returning to my cabin
for Carly and Paul's final morning show I went up to the My Fair Lady
dining room for breakfast.

At 10 we had a cake decorating challenge between Captain Gus and the
Hotel Manager, and the head pastry chef in Centrum. Things started well
with all 3 expertly slicing the cake into 3 layers, but then the
differences came out. The pastry chef did a fantastic job at each step,
creating a truly superb Black Forest Cake. The Hotel Manager was a step
behind creating a truly professional end product but sometimes having to
redo some imperfections. Captain Gus went wild, starting with a "thin
coating" of sherry that became a thick soaking, using 2/3 of the bottle,
then enormous gobs of whipped cream and cherries and chocolates thrown
helter skelter on the creation. At each step the Captain got the most
applause, but in the end Cruise Director Carly (on pretty even final
voting) awarded the title to the pastry chef. The 2 losers responded by
putting messy whipped cream "stripes" on Carly's shoulders. The Master
is in charge of everything but it is a good thing they leave some things
to the experts in their fields. At 11 we had a backstage tour in the
Orpheum Theater, an excellent opportunity to understand all the
complexity that goes into putting on the wonderful stage shows.

For lunch today I went for pizza in the Solarium and spent much of the
afternoon with the sad task of packing.

Our final dinner in the My Fair Lady dining room was a bit of a sad
affair. I enjoyed a tasty Strawberry Bisque, Chicken Marsela, and
Tiramisu, and then we all said goodbye to our dining staff.

The evening Farewell Show had several parts. Starting with a video of
highlights of the cruise, we next went to a performance by "Gotta
Dance", a group modeled after the senior cheerleader program of an NFL
team. The main attraction was the comedy of Michael Ester, and the
program concluded with a number by the Royal Caribbean Singers and
Dancers. The singers also performed a jazz Cabaret in Boleros.

Today's parting shot is a followup to yesterday's. People more
knowledgeable than me about RCI say their next class of ships will be
able to make the trip to Baltimore, very good news. I think with regard
to cities like Montreal and I'm sure many others, the growing size of
cruise ships will still have some unfortunate implications.

Roy