Cruise ships strive to keep all passengers entertained throughout their journey with a cornicopia full of options.  Here is a recap some of the events of the last 10 days.

One of the most unique events I have experineced while cruising occurred after last nights ‘Captain’s Dinner’.  The entertainment department re-created a New Years Eve party in the atrium of the ship.  A live band started the proceedings with music including ‘Celebration’ and all the standard party songs.  The staff kept passengers dancing and at midnight hundreds of balloons were released from the top of the atrium along with passengers tossing streamers that had been handed out.  A long conga line gyrating to the band playing ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’, wound its way around the 5th deck, up the grand staircase and around the shops on the 6th deck before returning to the base of the atrium.  What a blast.

From the very first night on there was live music in several lounges throughout the ship.  A female singer and a piano player, ‘Cinnamoon’ played often in the Wheelhouse Bar.  Other evenings, ‘Exquizit’, a ragae style rock band played.  You could always find a quiet lounge where a singer/piano player performed broadway music as well as that of the Rat Pack era.  Other venues had Classical Serenades performed by a string quartet, a pianist performing piano classics.  In the Razzmatazz nightclub current dance music was orchestrated by a DJ.

The Sea Princess has two stage performance theatres, the Vista Lounge, and the Princess Theatre with evening performances dubbed “Showtime”.  The ships production company of dancers and singers entertained us with four Broadway style shows.  The most entertaining was the ‘British Invasion’ with songs from the 1960’s including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and more through the 80’s with music from Queen and the bands of that decade.  Pretty wild and elaborate costumes as well.

Other headlining performances include a comedian/magician, a guitar playing/singer/comedian, and a hypnotist, all performing multiple shows on differnet evenings.

If live music is not your cup of tea perhaps movies are.  The Sea Princess has a large outdoor TV screen high above the swimming pool.  During the day, documentaries about Alaska, photo slide shows, old silent movies, and live concerts were shown on the screen.  In the evening you could sit back in the loungers by the pool and enjoy recent releases in the “Movies Under the Stars” series complete with blankets and popcorn.  Some of the movies were, Water for Elephants, The Adjustment Bureau, Thor, and new ones each evening.  Four channels on your stateroom TV was also dedicated to relatively new movies for anyones taste.

Four different presentations in The Scholarship@Sea lecture program about the history and wildlife of Alaska were informative and entertaining.  National Park rangers were onboard doing narration during our time in Glacier Bay National Park and Forest Rangers were onboard discussing the Tongass National Forest while in Ketchikan.  You could also attend a series of Navigation@Sea Lectures by the ships officers discussing various operations of the ship.

How about towel animal folding, ice-carving, fruit and vegitable art, or culinary demonstrations.  Bridge, scrabble, suduko, trivia, scavenger hunt, golf putting, ping-pong, baskeball, and lots more games.  Talks on accupuncture, herbal medicine, detox for healt, etc. BINGO, the casino, tournaments like blackjack, slots, and poker in the casino.

This is only a partial listing of the daily activities.  There really is something for everyone to keep you engaged.

Until tomorrow,
Bon Voyage

For more information, tips and ideas talk with me,
Ole Nordhavn, Cruise Holidays, “your personal cruise expert.”
email: onordhavn@cruiseholidays.com
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