First Day on the Boat - an abundance of photos!

` After an interlude, I am back with more actual photos from the cruise!!

` Yes, I am back with some more photos of our trip - indeed, more photos that are organized in a story-like fashion. Why did I even bother posting photos that were not organized in the first place? You have two options: 1), I was using those as a teaser or 2) I'm just weird.
` I guess I'm weird either way: A couple nights ago, Lou said in his sleep "What's the barrier between us and normal people? They have a tortoise. We don't." I woke him up and informed him of this, and he said, "Thank god we don't have that damned tortoise."
` A little later he started talking about something he thought made sense about how it was too bad we couldn't swim on the porch, but we could eat there because you don't have a piece of meat in the whirlpool, you have it in the bushes, and how the people tailing us would be jealous. I was like "What?" but he couldn't explain to me because apparently I'd been asleep when he started that conversation.
` Yeah, and apparently he had been as well. Anyway, there are no tortoises to be found here in our life. Seabirds, we'd had an abundance of our port of disembarkation in Long Beach way back on January 15th!
` As my camera was being brought to my room via porter, I didn't have it on the way in (though on your way through the giant geodesic checkpoint, you can't have cameras on anyway). In the meantime, we had some lunch - which in general consisted of all you can eat salads, hamburgers, pizza and a soft-serve machine.
` The crew also shoved these grotesquely strong cocktails at us. We took them, but I couldn't even drink much of mine because it was so nasty. Apparently it consists of some kind of pink powder that they pour rum into - even they don't know what's in it! And then, they charged us fourteen bucks!
` Well, once I finally got my camera - and my camcorder - I went around the ship taking so many pictures - mostly up on the sun deck.
` Here's one of the nearby Queen Mary, the scary haunted boat with the ghost pelicans and cormorants I had posted earlier, along with Long Beach in the background, the geodesic dome we had come out of and the gangway leading up to our gargantuan boat:

` I believe I was on the sun deck there, watching the seagulls wheel around us. Here's one that later got a citation for almost crashing into my head!

` Then I realized that my camera was still set on 5 megapixels, so I upped the resolution to 7.1. I believe this was the first photo taken in that resolution - our wonderful view of a seawall and some boats, and a seagull-flag, signifying that the seagulls officially own the ship.

` Then, over the side of the boat I photographed a cormorant is drying its wings as well as other seabirds along a pier. There was also a pelican but apparently I didn't get it.

` Since I'd switched my resolution, I took another pic of the Queen Mary from near the Lido deck (you can see the ghost birds if you look closely!):

` Then, I was standing at the very back of the boat by the city, being frustrated that the FabCam (my first autofocus ever) focused on the city when I wanted it to focus on seagulls and vice-versa. Even so, I got a few good pictures of gulls which were tame enough to go right up to you. Here's one I got a few feet from....

` Here's another one that was perched on a fixture somewhere below the railing.

` This is where I met a couple of German immigrants who sounded like they came from the Deutschland boonies, but then we were called into this huge auditorum called the Normandie. Lucky me, I met Lou on the way, carrying a life vest for me.
` That was when we got ready to drown! Don't I look stunning in Day-Glo orange?

` And I think that Lou looked especially attractive....

` In fact, that place was filled with people in life vests, all the way up to the balcony! Lou calls this picture 'Pleasure Sheep'. Yes, we'll dress up in stupid life vests in herd fashion when we're not drowning because a cruise is worth it!

` As for the rest of the ship - well, this was the first place we walked into upon coming aboard, though at the time the blue sky above was visible through the skylight. It's the Grand Atrium, which, as I recall was eight stories tall with two glass elevators running up and down - though we preferred to be athletic and use the stairs.

` ...Of course, we tried to ride a glass elevator once out of curiosity - however, they never seemed to work when we wanted on. In fact, a few times we pushed the button and the elevator just went past us! Half the time one of the elevators was shut down anyway for staged photography, which there was a lot of. Absolutely worthless if you ask me.
` Well, anyway, the ship was gorgeous, full of fake marble and wood and pretty signs that changed colors like in Las Vegas. Which reminds me - gambling! Lots of gambling. And drinking. Even minors can drink in international waters! In fact, there was a club O2, but it was usually very empty. Must have not been worth the alcohol.
` After the boat had departed from shore, which I missed, I made sure I made it back to the Normandie to see some kind of show involving a comedian in the latter half. As we didn't have a clock anywhere in the room (and our cell phones couldn't tell us the time because they didn't have reception down in our room), I kept having to run up by the stairs to look at the hallway clock to make sure I wasn't late. Lou, on the other hand, was content to pass out on the bed, so I got the walkie-talkies out and took one along with me.
` It wasn't long before I wished I'd stayed with Lou for a while, despite my getting a seat in the front row. All I can say was that the first half of the show was the gayest thing I have ever seen. And by 'gay' I don't mean anything to do with homosexuality. I mean, that one thing I went to with the singing gay men dressed as nuns - that was not gay. That was cool and full of homosexual men.
` This... was full of dancers, singers, fog machines, three huge letters that spelled out 'Fun', the gayest song ever, repeating words like 'Fun, fun, fun', and several gigantic beach balls that the audience got to bounce around. The 'gay' highlight would have to be the little rap number done by none other than... well, a very scary creature. If you are prepared to view his horrific visage, I suggest reading Funship Freddy: Friend or Fiend?
` After all the colored lights and bright colors and melodramatically peppy music (which did not rev me up in the least!) our cruise director came on stage for a little introduction/comedy routine. Along with him were also the head crew members, each with their own little routines. In particular there was this one funny punk-haired girl from rainy London who I can remember said "we don't get sunburn, we rust" or something like that. (Of course, everywhere I've lived in probably rains more than London, and I know what she means!)
` Then, the cute little young crew members scurried off and the cruise director came back. He's also a Britainer and has a high pitched voice as well....

` Well, he sang and did some funny stuff, and then he turned up his collar and did a dead-on impersonation of Elvis - who of course has neither a British accent nor a high voice. I was stunned! (I imagine it was a little like Andy Kauffman stunning people with his Elvis impersonation, except without all the booing beforehand.)
` Then at 7:30, we got to the comedian, the somewhat famous Lowell Sanders!

` He was great!! He even had some funny stuff about being on a cruise - I remember one part was like: "I got up in the middle of the night to pee, I come back... bed's turned down, (towel origami) dog, everything's straightened up... I look around my room and I don't see anyone! It's scary... they just disappear!"
` During his routine, I repeatedly contacted Lou with my walkie-talkie, and though he couldn't understand me, he decided to come up anyway. (Also, he thought someone else was me because apparently there are so many walkie-talkie users on the boat!) Since I was in the front row, I was easy enough to find.
` Later, at our dinner time of 8:30, we got to eat in this fancy restaurant I can't remember the name of. (One of their restaurants is called the 'Elation'. Pffft!) We were seated with three other young couples and one of the women - I won't say who! - kept winking at Lou! It was awesome.
` The food was great, we felt great, and then I think we went to bed shortly thereafter. And the next day... well, that's another post. You'll have to come back later. So long for now!