The Voyage Home

Last day of the cruise, and we are sailing back to Miami.  As always there is a lot of entertainment to choose from. We started off by checking at the guest services desk to see if they had any info about the rescheduling of our Karl Urban photo session but they told us to come back later.

The "shore leave" bar

Most of the entertainment on this cruise is either about Star Trek itself, or it stars one of the actors from the show.  But Trekkies are obviously the kind of people who would be interested in space exploration and so some of the "guest stars" aboard are here to give scientific talks.  Sadly, there had been so much going on in the early part of the cruise that I'd missed the earlier ones, but this morning we managed to fit in 2 of these presentations.  First, a talk about the future of space exploration by the astronaut Rick Seafross. Fascinating fact, Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, is launching the Falcon Heavy in 2018, which can launch twice as much payload as any previous launcher.  Typically, Elon Musk will be using it as an opportunity for publicity by launching a Tesla car into orbit.
Then we attended an interesting, and quite funny, talk with Phil Plait the astronomer about the chances of an asteroid or comet hitting the earth and what we can do about it. Hint: Don't do anything like what they did in "Armageddon".

Tried the guest services desk again, but they still had no update on the photo session. "We'll make an announcement over the speakers" they said.  So off we went to the pool deck to listen out for it.  Lots of entertainment on the pool deck of course, including a Deep Space 9 Q&A with 7 of the actors from that series and "Oh My!" with George Takei.  But time was getting on - and I'd still heard no announcement, so I went down to the guest services desk again - only
to find that Karl Urban was there and the photo session was already nearly over.  So I dashed back up to the pool deck and grabbed a rather wet Bridie who had recently been in the pool and we double timed it back to deck 7 and managed to get our photo done just before the session wrapped up.  Instead of us being all dressed up in our Star Trek finest, I'm in a ratty old t-shirt and a pair of shorts and Bridie's in a pool cover up with wet hair, but at least we got the photo done in the end.

There was another full evening's entertainment including a fascinating talk about the planet Vulcan (yes - some French astronomer announced he'd found this planet between Mercury and the sun), a show called BFF with Robert Picardo and his friend and singer Jordan Bennett, and a late night Q&A with Karl Urban.  He had some great stories about Leonard Nimoy.

As a parting shot I'd have to say that this cruise was a lot more fun and had much more going on than any of the normal cruises I've been on.  Despite going directly from one event to the next all the time we were aboard ship, there were so many things I didn't get to do.  I'm sorry I missed out  on many of the scientific talks,  I didn't get to see Armin Shimmerman doing Shakespeare.  We missed to many of the competitions including the tribble toss, the Cmdr Riker chair mounting competition and the Search for Spock scavenger hunt. We couldn't get on the Klingon Pub Krawl with Gowron because it was fully booked, and had to give the Gorn's Gong show a miss because there was not even standing room in 13 Forward when we turned up for it.  I missed the showing of George Takei's movie "Allegiance", and I would have loved to have taken part in some of the competitions like the Utopia Planetia ship building (ships had to be able to traverse the pool carrying 6 bottles of beer). One of the make up artists from the shows was on board and Bridie really wanted to get made up as an Andorian - but there just wasn't enough time.

Finally, I want to give special props to Entertainment Cruise Productions for making such an effort to transform the ship into a truly Trekkie environment.  It would have been easy to just say that having the actors on board made it a Star Trek cruise, and leave it at that.  Instead, they had made the effort to rebrand the restaurants and bars (Klingon Karnivoria, Sandrines, 13 Forward, etc) and make various other  alterations around the ship, including flying the flag of the Federation from the ship mast, having a special cocktails (I tried a romulan ale, a raktajino and some Klingon blood wine).  Even the elevators were turned into Turbo lifts.    I had a great time, and I'd recommend this to any Trekkies out there.

Costa Maya, Mexico

Today we had a full day excursion to the Kohunlich Mayan ruins. It took over 2 hours in a bus down some rather poorly maintained roads to get there, and over 2 hours to get back again, but it was worth it.  The more popular Mayan sites no longer allow tourists to walk on the ruins, but Kohunlich is one of the less popular sites, so we were allowed to walk around as we pleased.  I climbed 3 of the buildings but it was hard going. Each individual step is really high - especially for a short person like me.  Fascinating facts learned: the Mayans used to build buildings over the top of other buildings.  Some of these buildings are nested 7 layers deep.

Back on the ship just in time to set sail. Karl Urban came aboard here.  Quite a few of the celebrities had trouble making it on board due to the bad weather on the East coast at the start of the trip.  Bob Picardo and Ethan Philips had their flights out of New York cancelled and had to take a train to Washington to fly from there - literally arriving about an hour before we sailed.  Jonathan Frakes also missed the boat and had to join us in the Honduras. We were supposed to have a photo session with Karl in the evening but he got food poisoning from something he ate in Mexico, so it was postponed..
There was still, as usual, a packed night of entertainment. We saw "the liar's club" - a sort of "call my bluff" type quiz followed by "In Search of Lost Time".  This was Brent Spiner's show.  I had no idea Data could sing like that!  He must have been on Broadway at some point in his career.

Harvest Caye, Belize

Apologies that this entry is a week late.  I've never been on a cruise where there was just so much going on.  I just didn't have time to post updates here for the last 3 days of the cruise. Then I got home and immediately came down with the flu.  After 3 days I have just enough energy to sit in bed with my laptop and get on with this!

So, on Monday we arrived at Harvest Caye, Belize.  Harvest Caye is Norwegian's new 50 million dollar private resort in Belize.  Lots of people have a downer on it because it's a private resort and not "real" Belize.  Admittedly, the sand is a bit rough, and it's a bit mercenary of Norwegian when we've already paid for the cruise to charge again  for food/drinks in a their resort.  That said, I actually found it nice not to have to deal with lots of people trying to sell me something - it was a very relaxing place to spend a day. 

Bridie and I took a tour of a mangrove estuary on a boat and saw manatees, dolphins and assorted other wildlife.  After that Bridie was off to try out the zip lining, while I walked the beach and watched the sand spaceships building competition. Then I met up with Bridie again so that we could spend some quality time in the pool bar.  Finally I was dozing on one of the beach loungers when the guy across from me got up from his lounger to leave - only then did I notice that he was Robert Picardo.

Back on board we had another packed evening of entertainment.  First a piece called "High Lord Cuckoo Face and 3 little klingons"with Robert O'Reilly (Gowron).  Then our photo with Robert Picardo, before the Star Trek Squares game  show. Hilarious show - the Gorn answered every  question with "arrrgh arrrgh arrgh".  The late night party was "Risa's Festival of the Moon", but Bridie and I knew we had a full day excursion ahead of us in Mexico, so we decided to miss the party and head to bed relatively early.

Roatan, Honduras

First stop of the cruise today in Roatan Honduras. Bridie went off to do a snorkeling tour, but I can't swim, so I just got off the ship briefly and had a look around the shops.  Despite the fact that I was barely off ship for an hour the mozzies got me about 6 times! Back on board I spent some quality time on the pool deck and met some nice folks from Alberta in the hot tub.

Once Bridie got back from her tour we had a quick supper in the buffet and then off for another evening of entertainment. First we watched a Gow-Rom sketch with Robert O'Reilly (Chancellor Gowron) and Max Grodenchik both in full make up.  They then did a Q and A for about 30 minutes.  Then off to the theatre for George Takei's "memories" presentation.  He talked about his childhood in the American Japanese internment camps during WWII, and also about being gay before and during the aids epidemic, and again feeling persecuted for being different.  These experiences shaped him and caused him to take the role of a political activist today. 
After that it was off to Q's costume party with John De Lancie on the pool deck.  Some unbelievable costumes.  The work people have put into it is amazing - and of course they are all only too happy to be photographed.  Here's a quick selection:

At Sea

Sorry I'm 2 days behind on my entries, but there is just sooo much to do on board.  On our first day at sea we went up to the pool deck for morning meditation with Nana Visitor (Major Kira) and then stayed on to watch the Klingon vegetable carving. Looked more like fruit than vegetables to me, and I'm not quite sure what it had to do with Klingons.  Anyhow, when that finished we suddenly realized we were late for our photo session with George Takei.  Had to rush down to the Grand Pacific dining room. Fortunately the whole thing was running late and there was still a queue. Mr Takei even apologized to us for the "long wait".  I don't think we endeared ourselves to him by admitting that we had forgotten the photo session and had only been in the queue for 5 minutes.

After a quick lunch in the buffet it was off to see a John De Lancie (Q)  piece about the Scopes Monkey Trial.  Very well acted by Bob Picardo (the doctor), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Ethan Philips (Neelix) and a bunch of others including John De Lancie himself.  Also a cooking demo by Nana Visitor. 

In the evening we decided to go to one of the special restaurants: the Klingon Karnivoria (AKA the Brazillian steakhouse).  Followed by an incredible night's entertainment.  First the Interstellar Improv with Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar), Ethan Philips and Rene Auberjonois. They ad-libbed an alternative soundtrack to an episode of the original series.  I laughed so much my stomach hurt.  Then the Rat Pack show with Jeff Combs (Weyoun/Shran), Casey Biggs (Gul Dukat), Armin Shimmerman (Quark), Max Grodenchik(Rom) and Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest). Oh and Ethan Philips again.  They sang, told jokes, played various instruments. I can't believe how talented these guys are.  I've got to say that all the entertainment is way better than the shows on a regular cruise.

Beam me up Scotty

Connor Trinner - Trip from "Enterprise"

 Headed on-board our cruise ship this morning.
 We brought our swim suits in our hand luggage, so Bridie and I were able to spend sometime in the hot tub before everyone else was aboard.  Then I had a Romulan Ale (an interesting concoction made with blue curaco).
Finally the Federation flag was raised (by George Takei) and we had a sail away party with all the actors.
After a very nice meal in the dining room, we are now getting kitted out in our Star Trek outfits ready to go have our photo session with Brent Spiner.

Nana Visitor - Major Kira from DS9

The Conch Republic

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday.  We had a long day, getting up at 6am to head off for the Florida Keys, and we didn't get back to the hotel until 10pm.  43 islands are connected by 42  bridges. The 7 mile bridge shown here is well known from movies like "Fast and the Furious" and "True Lies".

I learned some fascinating facts about the Florida Keys area (otherwise known as the Conch Republic).  In 1982 the police set up a roadblock to try and catch drug traffickers and illegal immigrants coming from the Keys.  This caused 25 mile tail backs and it was taking 12-13 hours to get into or out of the Keys, which was ruining the local economy.  So the mayor of Key West decided to put together legal documents saying that if the police were going to treat them like a foreign country they were going to become one and declared independence.  They also declared "war" on the US.  Hostilities included throwing stale Cuban bread at the US Navy ships in Key West Harbor.  The "war" lasted one minute. After which they "surrendered" and asked for a billion dollars of foreign aid. They didn't get the aid of course, but the huge amount of publicity generated did succeed in getting the road blocks taken away again.

Key West is home to the Southernmost point in the USA (only 90 miles to Cuba as Kennedy was fond of saying during the Cuban Missile Crisis). Also it's home to Key Lime Pie (of course we had some), one of Ernest Hemmingway's houses, a whole lot of cigar manufacturers, and some chickens roaming the streets.  We went down to the sea front and had a great view of some pelicans fishing.  

We left Key West at about 6pm, but it took a good 3.5 hours to get back to Miami. 

Later today we board our ship, Norwegian Jade, to start the cruise part of our trip.

Alligators and Crocodiles

Jam packed day today.  We started with breakfast on the patio at the News Cafe on Ocean Drive.  This is a cafe where Versace used to hang out (Versace's house is a few doors down on Ocean Drive).  Lovely breakfast, and a lovely view of Miami Beach as well.  Then we were picked up at the hotel for a 3 hour Everglades tour.  The ride on the air boat was so much fun - better than a roller coaster.  Sadly it was a bit cool today (by Miami standards) so the alligators were staying in their nests.  The Everglades is the only place in the world where you can see both alligators and crocodiles.  The crocodiles keep down near the sea, while the alligators keep to the fresh water. 
When we got back to the park headquarters we were able to see some alligators up close, both a baby and and adult, and even had our photos taken with a baby alligator.
We were a bit dubious about having our photo taken with the baby alligator on the grounds that it might be exploiting the animal, but apparently this alligator was born in captivity and apparently the National Park Service are not even allowed to put captive born alligators back into the wild.  So the baby alligator will have to live out its life in the "tourist" zone of the park anyhow.

This evening we decided to try out some Cuban cuisine at a restaurant called Havana 1957, again out on Ocean Drive with a great view of Miami beach in the dusk.  Amazing meal and some out of this world mojitos! 

Art Deco

Miami Beach is a city full of historical art deco buildings.  This morning we took a walking tour to take in some of the architectural history of the city.  It was a good opportunity to walk off the Grand Marnier banana french toast we had for breakfast.
We then walked up to the shopping area at the North end of the island and had a light lunch before taking in the new Star Wars movie in the afternoon.


It's a long movie, so by the time we got out it was dark and we decided to have supper outdoors at one of the many lovely looking street restaurants in the main shopping area. 

Grand Marnier banana french toast for breakfast.  We're pushing the boat out for our first meal here in Miami.  We're going out on a walking tour this morning to see the Art Deco architecture in Miami Beach.  Hopefully we'll be able to walk off some of the calories.

Party in the city where the heat is on

Made it!
Landed in Miami about 5pm.  Bridie's flight was late, but we met up eventually and got a taxi to the hotel.  Very nice hotel.  Free cocktails on arrival!

It was freakin' freezing in Montreal this morning when Andy dropped me off at the airport. So nice to be here in a lovely warm place.