Busman's Holiday -- The Conclusion

Kevin informs me it's "karaoke," not "karayoke." I may not be able to spell it, but I sure as hell had fun singing it. Princess Idol night was a riot. We did it in the Universe Lounge, which is set up cabaret style, and includes a balconey. The room was packed. Standing room only. Really.

The stage was set up with three judges on the left (the pianist from the ship's orchestra, the lead singer from one of the lounge bands, and a guest entertainer), the main stage in the center, and two rows of comfy seating (and lots of champagne) on the right for the finalists.

We were a diverse group -- three guys and three women, ages ranging from early twenties up into the high seventies. Song styles included Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Buddy Holly, country rock (yours truly), Garth Brooks and Patsy Cline.

(I learned something funny doing this -- I get nervous and mess up when there are only a couple of people in the audience... but put me in a room full of people and I just can't miss. Finally my Leo nature asserts itself. Who'd have thunk it?)

Anyway, Team Trouble (more about them later) made sure the Princess Mom made it to the show. I was actually able to snag her a front row seat!

The best part of the whole experience was that all the finalists really liked one another, and we were rooting for each other louder than anyone else. The guy I'd suspected would win the thing proved me correct. I was thrilled for him. I can belt out a tune and get the crowd jumping, but Ken is a true singer. From what I understand, the voting was very close -- a good thing, too, because every one of the finalists was excellent.

After the show was over, Team Trouble (Debbie (from Boston), Pam (her sister, from Cincinnati) and Joyce (from Cape Cod) and yours truly) trotted the Princess Mom over to our home away from home, the Explorer Lounge. The Princess outdid herself, and stayed with us until about midnight -- much later than her usual bedtime.

All in all, it was a great evening. I had a blast. Wish you could have been there, too.

Saturday and Sunday were at sea days. Boy, howdy, do I like at sea days. You can be as busy or as lazy as you want.

Saturday was lazy, indeed. Lots of reading out on the balcony. Lovely naps. Explorer Lounge in the evening. Bliss.

On Sunday, I used some of that time for my last photography class -- a photo critique session. Was very interesting and helpful. Also managed to fit in a game called the PMS Challenge. ("Port, Midships, Starboard," you philistines!) This was again set in the Universe Lounge, and was a wacky combination of a scavenger hunt, Let's Make a Deal and Beat the Clock. We were split into three teams. Each team had a captain and a coach. The captain could not leave the stage, and was the only person from the team who could place the required items on the judge's table for scoring purposes. The coach was part cheerleader, part dog's body -- the person who got the required item from the team to the captain. Yes, I was a coach. And, yes, we won. We wouldn't have, if it hadn't been for my bra... but that's a story for another day. Picked up the Princess Mom and managed to make it to the talent show at 5:00 p.m. (No, I wasn't in it. I figured that between Princess Idol and the bra incident, I'd had more than my 15 minutes of fame...) Zipped back to the cabin long enough to stuff wardrobe into suitcases, dump them in the hall for pickup by porters, and then headed off to dinner. Took the Princess to the late show -- a review featuring music of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Rat Pack, and then some '70s and '80s stuff that just didn't fit in with the rest of the theme. (The Princess loved it. That's all that counts.) After that, I packed the Princess off to bed, and headed out to say my farewells to Team Trouble, the boys at the bar, and the Cruise Director's staff. You see? Busy, busy day!

Monday morning we were up before the sun, and had an early breakfast. Then it was a lot of hurry up and wait. I was truly impressed with how smoothly the disembarkation process went. They got us off the ship and connected with our luggage (all our luggage. Last cruise I was on, I came home with one piece less than I'd arrived with...) in record time. Then we stood around and waited for our transport to the airport. We waited some more. And then we waited even longer. Finally got to the Ft. Lauderdale airport around 11:30 a.m. Couldn't check in with ATA until after 1:00 p.m., as there was nobody on duty before then. Had to sit around guarding a mountain of luggage until that time. So we read. And we ate (I ran for take-out). Then we checked in. Read some more. Shopped a little bit. Toddled onto the plane and... sigh. Headed home.

Part of me was ready to come home. The other part thought I should have locked myself in the cabin and refused to come out until after the ship sailed again. Ah, well. There's always another trip.