March 24 - “To the left …”

We went on the tour of the innards of the ship yesterday. Here are just a few of the fun facts:

55 computer screens in the control room. 

Engine capacity =512 school buses. 

Power capacity 52,000+ homes. 

We did have to be scanned by security before being allowed into the control room and the bridge. Guess they had to make sure Captain Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew would be totally safe from embedded Klingon agents among us. Oh! And to top it off, we were issued and got to keep a cool new lanyard that says, “Behind the Waves.”

We had lunch with a fun couple from Kansas. Their favorite cruise was one they took to Ireland. Sounded like they had a great time. Bucket list addition? Maybe …

After lunch we headed down to the Grand Promenade. That’s just a high class name for Big Room At The Center Of The Ship. There we became part of a huge line dance battalion. Macarena, YMCA, and whatever that “to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left” song is. I’ve see April do it a bunch. Well, April, move over. Make room for the Old Scooters. 

We also had to do another time change. Forward another hour. Sorry, Body. 

Last night was one of the dress up nights. Not dress up like your favorite superhero or anything cool like that. No. Just dress up. Some people wore suits or full length gowns. Chris wore a dress and looked her usual gorgeous self. I wore slacks and a kinda nice shirt. Left my hat in the room. After dinner we just strolled around the interior deck again. They were playing some sort of jazz. Is skat the same as jazz?  Pro photographers were everywhere, and most of them had a line. We went back to the room and took a selfie with the sunset in the background. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭42‬:‭1‬ says, As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God.

Father, be with those crew members who have to do all that behind the scenes hard work. Amen. 

March 23 - “The Chinese Way”

We chatted at breakfast with a fun lady from China. She said she was inherently very shy (“The Chinese Way,” according to her). But boy, did she have a lot to say. She talked about life on the boat, her husband, her niece, and how Americans are so ready to chat and share their feelings. Great lady.

After that, we went to the “interdenominational service .” The pastor was a Catholic priest who had just finished a mass. For us non-Catholics, a guy in the audience led everyone in singing the doxology. The priest read the lessons for the day, then asked for prayer requests. He finished up by leading in the Lord’s Prayer. The whole thing lasted about ten minutes. Kind of disappointing. 

We almost left, but I remembered that the next episode of Barney Fife was next. We quickly returned and got almost the same seats. The show was good again, but the room was so cold that I found myself bundling up to stay warm, which led to, well … I kept falling asleep. Maybe I’ll do better today. 

We did receive a text from Christi letting us know that Lindsay was getting baptized that morning. Of course it didn’t happen until it was well into the afternoon for us, but we did see it online. Proud of you, Lindsay. 

I did something at dinner that I have never done before. I sent my food back for something different. See, I ordered the lobster mac and cheese. Sounds decadent, right?

What they delivered was a bowl of elbow macaroni mixed in with some of the juice from a lobster. They must have used the meat somewhere else. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The reason I couldn’t eat it? No cheese. I mean, not even cheese flavoring. Think boiled macaroni with tuna fish juice. Nasty. 

They didn’t question my choice though. Didn’t even ask why. Instead I had a braised beef rib. Great big square chunk of meat. Now that was good. 

After dinner we headed over to the headliner event. This time the entertainment was an aerial show.  A husband and wife team did some ridiculously hard acrobatics on the ground first. Then they translated that onto aerial things like a hanging hula hoop and those dual hanging curtain-looking things. They were quite impressive. 

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭10‬ says, For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death.”

Father, thank you for Lindsay and her step into baptism. Keep drawing her closer and closer to you. Amen. 

March 22 - “Tales of the Travelers”

Ah. Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. So far we have not been witness to said phenomenon. Once again, the skies in the East hold looming the darkness of potential thunderstorms.  But I did get a picture of the tiny sliver of sunlight in the northeastern sky. 

We walked around the track after breakfast. We stopped at just a mile. We figured we’d get in plenty of steps over the course of the day to make up the difference. Difference between what? you may ask. Ah. That’s for us to know and … well, we don’t even know, so we’ll just stick to the facts. We walked a mile on the track. We also strolled around the Promenade Deck. We actually went to hear from the captain and crew, but the notice mysteriously disappeared from the app. Hmm Hope we still have a driver onboard. 

Right before lunch we went to the theater to hear episode 2 of “Don Knotts, Barney Fife, and Mayberry.” Funny … again. 

For lunch we joined some friends from Jamaica Beach, Russell and Chrissy. I did their wedding a few years back, so it was great to catch up with them. They have done some serious world-wide traveling, and we have done a few US road trips, so we shared “horror stories.” Actually, they were fun “Tales of the Travelers.”

Last night at dinner we heard that there had been an earthquake not very far from our location. Personally, I didn’t feel anything. The seas had already been a little rockin’. And it had been raining off and on all day. Maybe I just missed it. Of course it could have been the extra-terrestrial protection afforded us as a result of our recent incursion into the Bermuda Triangle …

After dinner we headed over to the headliner show at the theater. This one was called Unlock Your Mind with mentalist David Hall. He was really good at what he did. Pretty entertaining, and he knew how to make use of his audience. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭56‬:‭3‬ says, When I am afraid, I will trust in You.

Father, thank you for the time we had with Russell and Chrissy. Help them have an enjoyable and relaxing cruise. Amen. 

March 21 - “Barney Fife??”

Well, we awoke to a new ship’s position yesterday. We are officially inside the dreaded Bermuda Triangle. It’s that piece of the Atlantic Ocean pie roughly determined by the three points, the island of Bermuda (hence the name), Miami, and Puerto Rico. If this is my last post … you know what has happened to us - wish us well in our new home in a galaxy far, far away …

We had breakfast with an emergency room RN from New Jersey. Sounded like ER issues are pretty much the same in the East as in Texas, April. I guess people are people wherever they live. 

After breakfast we took our prayer walk. We had to stay on deck 15 to pray for 16, because the wind had shut down access to anything outside up there. As a result, we found ourselves next in line for the zip line. 

Of course, Chris shoved me aside and said, “Hold my stuff. I’m goin’ in.” (Or something along those lines). They harnessed her up and hoisted her up on the line. However, she was too short to reach the take-off step. Time out. They had to switch out one of the safety lines. Ready … not ready. She forgot to hand me her watch. The attendant graciously offered to hold it for her while she jumped. 

Last obstacle conquered, she finally made the leap. She flew down the track like she had done it before (she HAD done it before). She made it record time, too. That’s my girl. Of course we had to go up to the room for an energy bar right away …

After lunch we went to a show featuring the nephew of Don Knotts. Yep. Barney Fife. He played clips from the show and shared personal stories from their family history. He’ll be doing more every day we’re at sea. Should be lots of fun. 

After that show, we took a walk. This time, after some strolling around,  we located the actual walking track. It goes all around the ship and is pretty much covered. It blocks the rain, but there’s no way to block the wind. And the wind has been treacherous out here. We walked on it for about a mile. And we were not alone. Good to see others keeping in shape. 

Speaking of shape … I got brave and tried the escargot at dinner. Actually they were really good. Very buttery. And the tiger shrimp to follow made for a perfect combination. Not to mention the key lime pie. Good dinner, guys. 

Last night we went to the ice skating show. It was in a theater at an unusual place on the ship. We had to go to the floor above it, walk the length of the ship, then go back downstairs to the ice rink. Weird logistics. The show, however, was fabulous. The Olympic skaters didn’t have much on these guys. There were even two of them who did back flips. Remember how that was a big deal a few weeks ago?

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬ says, Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains. 

Father, I pray for our waiters, Dianti (the girl) and Vivian (the guy). Not sure where Dianti is from, but Vivian is a long way from India. Bless them. Amen. 

March 20 - “God saves a wife-killer??”

We docked in Nassau, Bahamas, around 7:30 am … in the rain. Yep. Tropical Island paradise was blanketed with showers. Good thing we didn’t sign up for a beach day. 

The rain finally let up even before we left for our Highlights of Nassau bus tour. Geoffrey was our driver/guide, responsible to weave his way through the extremely busy streets. Cars and buses and pedestrians everywhere. You could really tell he knows his stuff. 

First stop was Fort Montague. Site of the first battle of the U.S. Marines. They came to get some of the gunpowder stored there. The gunpowder was gone, but they found it in the governor’s palace. So they took it (and his private liquor stash) and sailed away. 

But the governor ordered a series of canon shots at them as they left.  That angered the Marines, so they came back and took the governor hostage. Traded him for a high ranking U.S. officer. Three months later the U.S. won their independence. 

We learned about Junkanu. Apparently, it’s the Bahamas version of Mardi Gras. Sort of. I think he said it starts on December 26th. Still not sure what it actually celebrates, though. Just that they have a big parade and wear those wild, colorful costumes you see on TV ads about the Bahamas. 

Our other stopping place was the Rum Cake Factory. They make 3,000 plus cakes a day. We got a free sample, but they ran us through like a herd of cattle. We stopped to look at something and got stuck. We were the last ones back to the bus. Sorry guys. 

Speaking of last ones back, we entertained ourselves for a long time after we got back to our room. How? By watching the late-comers trying desperately to make it back on board before the ship left for good. As far as we could tell, no one was left behind. We set sail for the open seas right around 4:30, boat time. 

At dinner we heard a fascinating story of how one of the guys came to know Jesus. He grew up in Ireland and was a juvenile delinquent. At one point he and some friends were horsing around, and he accidentally knocked a lady off a 20 foot wall. Seeing her injuries, he was convinced she was dead. In fact her husband raced up, crying out, “You killed my wife!”  

But then the husband gathered himself, reached out and took his wife’s hand, and said, “In the name of Jesus, be healed.” And she was. Just that simple. (Not simple! Counts as a miracle!). And then he offered to not press charges if he could talk to our new friend Joe for ten minutes. 

Joe wasn’t saved right then, but several other divine encounters drew him to a place where he did come to Jesus. As you might imagine, we were all on the edge of our seats. And the only appropriate response to something like that? Way to go, God!

We were scheduled to see two different shows last night. The first one was a musical put on by the crew. The second was the outdoor diving exhibition. The musical was really good. It was done like Pentatonix. No musical instruments. All the background music was done by voices. And there was lots of dancing as well. 

The diving show was a different matter, however. The ship was going through some really rough seas, and it was wreaking havoc with the technical parts of the show. Not to mention the water in the pool was sloshing all over the place and even filling up the front row of the spectator section. Glad we were on row four or five. They finally had to cancel and try for another night. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭6‬ says, Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

Father, be with those swimmers and divers and acrobats. That’s a really scary job they have in the best of conditions. Amen. 

March 19 - “Pickleball Day … or not”

We met Arturo from the Philippines at breakfast. He was very excited about getting to Barcelona. One reason was that it would be a chance to get off the ship. But the main reason was … so he could go to church. He was especially excited to see Sagrada Família. He wanted to thank God for the chance to see His world. So do we, Arturo. So do we. 

From there we went to the Guest Services desk. We were going through our excursions tickets, and Chris noticed that she didn’t have a ticket for our excursion in Malaga. We went right up to the counter (no line at all).  The girl there entered us into the computer and zap! There we were. She printed out a ticket and we were off in less than three minutes. 

From there we went walking again. We already did our prayer walk for deck 14 (There is no deck 13. This is like a superstitious floating hotel). So this one was just for fun. We watched some people play pickleball. I thought it would give me a head start on our pickleball class last night. Nope. I still knew nothing about the game, other than it uses a net, oversized ping pong paddles, and a wiffle ball. 

It just so happened that the zip line was right next door to pickleball. Couldn’t pass that one up. Chris wouldn’t go, so I opted to go solo. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed joking around with the new guy working as a safety expert.  And no, it didn’t bother my neck or my back. Done and done. Well, for me. Chris still wants to go. Hey. YOU stop her. 

We had a time change at 2 pm. Had to match up with Nassau, Bahamas time. That put us at Eastern. So … one hour gone, six to go. 

After a pretty good nap again in the afternoon (guess we could get used to this), we grabbed some dinner (some French stuff I couldn’t pronounce). Then it was … pickleball time. 

We gathered with the other 9 people on board who knew nothing about pickleball. After a crash course in technique, we got on the court and started hitting back and forth. Gently. And just as  Francisco, our Portuguese teacher started us on a longer type hit … it started raining. That was it. We were all at risk anyway (being a certain age), so he was taking no chances. We went back inside and he explained the rules. Sort of. I can pretty well guarantee that none of us were following everything he said. At one point his partner interrupted him. The class had been rescheduled to next Thursday, if we could come back. We all agreed. Why not? So next Thursday it is! 

And since we were now still able to walk, we decided to go back to the Royal Theater. Ryan Malloy, the Frankie Valli guy, and the Dreamers were back for “ an all-new” performance. I liked this one better than the last. I recognized some of the songs. And the finale had everyone on their feet, singing along. Great way to end the day. 

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ says, You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Father, be with our pickleball mates. Keep us all healthy until we can hit the courts again. Amen. 

March 18 - “Explorations”

Yesterday was explore-the-ship day. That fit in really well with our Lent assignment to prayer walk one level of the ship every day. After breakfast we walked through deck 12, praying for the cruisers (especially those with names on the doors) and room stewards. By the way, our guy is named Maali. He’s from Indonesia. 

Next we strolled around the public areas of the ship. That included their take on New York’s Central Park. It’s even called that. They have carved out a niche in the center of the boat, planted some trees and bushes, and named it Central Park. (Humph. Imagine that - Central Park in the Central Part. Creative). 

We took a selfie over near the carousel. All looked fine until we got photobombed by Zoltar. Yep. Same guy from the movie “Big.”  As of now we don’t feel any younger than usual. 

On one of the decks we joined in on the tail end of an exercise class of sorts. Just in time for the cooldown stretches. That’s the way to do it! On another deck we sat still enough that I fell asleep. Also the way to do it. Can’t waste a minute, you know. 

We finished up the morning by getting a game card for the cruise-long scavenger hunt. The idea is to get signatures from as many different countries as possible. While waiting we struck up a conversation with some folks from Nebraska. It amazes us the sheer number of cruises people have been on. 

We did finally get a game card. Come to find out, it was only for places the crew is from.  I thought it was for random fellow cruisers. Oh well. It was still interesting to see how many countries are represented in the crew (more than 60 different countries). 

We took a nap after lunch. Just a plain old afternoon nap. Loved it. I woke before Chris and got involved in a weirdly convoluted futuristic movie about AI robots vs. humans. Humans turned out to be the bad guys. Imagine that …

I did a little pranking of one of our tablemates after dinner. Joe left his hat. His wife grabbed it for him,  but I got it from her and put it on. As we walked out, it finally dawned on him that he didn’t have it. He turned and asked his wife to go get it for him. I was standing right next to her. He never saw it. Chris finally started over-exaggeratedly pointing at my head. He looked at me kind of dumfounded.  I guess he couldn’t believe that the new guy/retired pastor would do such a thing. Good times. 

The showtime was a musical event. Actually it amounted to a concert by a group pretending to be Frankie Valli and the Dreamers.  I figured it couldn’t be the real deal. I looked up Frankie Valli. He’s 91 years old. And after hearing these guys, he probably would pass out. Don’t get me wrong. When they did Frankie’s songs, they were eerily spot-on. But then they digressed into some strange rap-type stuff. I couldn’t understand what they were singing. Musically - really good. Communication-wise - not so much. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.

Father, be with those folks on the 12th floor. Draw them to yourself. And help them have a great cruise. Especially the newlyweds. Amen.