We have not seen land from boarding the ship on Nov. 1st until St. Martin tomorrow... Nine complete days of "oceans blue". Instead of blogging each day, I thought I would give you a glimpse of our magical nautical life. Keep in mind our days were filled with exhausting options, gluttonous opportunities and unforgettable memories.

There are 3,500+ guests traveling with us, along with 1,000+ crew (from 39 countries). It is incredibly interesting to be among such a global community.
Breakfast, most mornings, was aft, at the Windjammer Café.
We tried to keep things in check by going to the gym as often as possible.
Drinks, poolside, while a Calypso band played, were refreshing.
Did I mention gluttonous?
 When the sun finally came out on day #5, sunburns abounded.
Laundry days in our Stateroom didn't make us look too neat. But home is where you hang your clothes, and this feels like home.
The irony of finding a "bat" in our room was not lost on us (see Sept. 29th posting).
Unbeknownst to me, the theme of this particular cruise was Movie Magic Tour. It couldn't have been more perfect for me. I am such a cinephile! One of the biggest highlights of our days at sea was David Kirkpatrick's lectures. David is an American film producer, studio executive and writer. He is perhaps most famous for his career at Paramount Pictures where he eventually became President of the Motion Picture Group. Kirkpatrick was also the first motion picture executive to be chief of production at two studios at the same time when he ran Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures. He is the Co-Founder of the MIT Center For Future Storytelling, dedicated to elevating the human experience through technology and art. 
The afternoon lectures were hosted by Robert Schirn. After retiring from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Schirn turned his interest toward some of the most notorious and infamous cases in Southern California history. Through the use of the Freedom of Information Act, Mr. Schirn was granted unprecedented access to some of the most famous case files in the District Attorney’s Office. He was able to glean previously unknown information, not just from the trials of noted murderers and criminals, but from their backgrounds and pasts. Mr. Schirn offered a peek behind the curtain of many famous and infamous characters from Los Angeles. These talks were so incredibly interesting, I couldn't miss them.
For dinner, we dined at a table of 11. Mark, Carol and Judy are our long time friends, but we were also paired with a jovial group of Scots who made mealtimes exceptional. Linda, Alec, Donna, Ian, Diane and Ross made us look forward to each evening with their adventurous tales of their days on the high seas.
Formal nights had us cleaning up pretty well, meeting the Captain, and a whole lot of kilts. There were a large number of Irish and Scots on board, and their ensemble is the equivalent of a tuxedo. Very, very cool.

OH MAN THE SHOWS. Each night there was something varied and mostly unbelievable. On the ice rink, there were two completely different Ice Capades quality skating productions. The "wows" were uttered by all.
The East Coast Boys made us girls swoon. While considered a tribute band to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, I think they are far better. We loved this show!

Hysterical is the only word to describe David Knight, a hypnotherapist and TV Hypnotist. One of the UKs best loved stage hypnotists, he had us guffawing during the entire event! One of the volunteers was our tablemate Linda. Hysterical. I'm still laughing as I write this.
Abbacadabra was in Tahoe when we left. This ABBA tribute band had our toes tapping and made us feel like we were in 1970's Sweden. Such fun.
Kevin McMahon was a physicist turned magician and when he asked for a volunteer, I suggested Steve. Everyone, afterward came up to Steve and told him he was the best part of the show.
Judy and Carol spend their afternoons in choir practice and performed exceptionally for the entire ship. We were duly impressed.

We tried to see as many sunrises and sunsets as possible. There is something amazing about being on the deck, in the quiet as the day begins or ends.
Movies, concerts, Trivia games, walks, and musicals filled our days at sea with all we could possibly want to do... or as little. Truly unforgettable.