Last Day at Sea September 15th

For the most part the day was totally frittered away packing for departure the next day, getting library books back, checking the bill, using up internet minutes, packing, eating, eating, eating ....

We did find time to listen to Joe Condril talk about Presidents, VEEPS and First Ladies. He had a little trouble with the audio visual and was pressed for time due to a presentation scheduled right after his, so he was speeding through it. The following three were most memorable to me.

I had heard before that there were a lot of similarities between two of my favorite Presidents - Kennedy and Lincoln; Kennedy presided over civil unrest, Lincoln over the Civil War, Lincoln died in 1860, Kennedy in 1960, Lincoln was born in 1839, Kennedy in 1939, both were killed by southerners, the arrested perpetrator in both cases killed before trial, both lost children while in the warehouse etc. I didn't get all of them, but he will be sending out the presentation.

Brother and author John (you can see which I think is most important - that he is related to me) probably knows, but Speaker Joe says that we had a native American vice president from 1929 to 1933, a Kiowa, lawyer and politician by profession. Found the picture on the Internet. He certainly doesn't look like the stereotype of an Indian.

The "secret president" was Edith Galt Bolling Wilson, wife of Woodrow Wilson, who was so sick during the last 18 months he was too sick to get out of bed. All communication was done through his wife. It was during this period of time that several significant pieces of legislation were signed, including the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote in 1920. Love this picture of her, also found on the Internet.

Part I of the Royal Caribbean Story narrated by Zack covered the early years of this cruise line. Edvard Stefon from Wisconsin had the idea and recruited investors from Norway who specified that the Viking Crown be incorporated into the insignia (also includes a seagull). First three ships were the Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, and Sun Viking. Later they decided that they needed to increase the ships capacity and that the lowest cost alternative was to expand them. They actually cut the ship in two and inserted a piece in-between. Amazing.

They started a Ship Shape program - you can earn shipshape dollars that can be spent on the ship by taking exercise classes! I somehow missed this altogether. Oh well, live and learn.

They also told us about CocoCay, their own private Caribbean island. Now I have two great reasons to cruise on RC again.

The hour long presentation ended in 1995/98 with RC's 15 ships. Zack promised that there would be a part II on the next cruise. Well, now I have 3 reasons to sign up for another cruise.

Above is the RC picture of Jewel of the Seas. Our friends, the McCuskers tell us that their son Gary worked for RC in IT and his last ship was Jewel of the Seas, pictured above. What a great job! Our sailing friends tell me that this ship had faster internet than the other RC ships they have been on, so congratulations Gary!

We were on the starboard side, aft, if I have that right, on the 8th floor. On this ship they also have a rock climbing wall which Terry had to be talked out of climbing, a Solarium for adults only with hot tub and pool open 24 hours a day, multiple night clubs, a theater, cinema, and specialty restaurants. Amazing ship and there are even newer more amazing ships. Love those Vikings!

The rest of the day was spent packing, packing, packing. Should have been easy, but it just never is, especially when I would rather have been doing other things, like going on the back stage tour with the dancers/singers, listening to a lecture on animals assisting humans, or even walking the ship and looking at the waves.

Sometime during the day we learned that a member of the crew needed medical assistance and would have to be evacuated. The ship detoured to Nova Scotia. A coast guard ship raced out to get him or her; we never knew which or exactly what was wrong. sign up for another cruise.

Of course we couldn't miss the final dinner or the final show, Tony Tillman, dynamic entertainer who whipped those old people into frenzy. Early in his career Sammy Davis Jr. befriended him. Tony's last song was Mr. Bojangles, one of my favorite songs. I liked it. Terry not so much, but then Terry probably remembers how Sammy did it. One of the benefits of not remembering much of anything is that every day is a brand new day.

Who says old age can't be fun? NOT ME!