Nancy’s Summer Cruise – Day 4

Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas
9 Night Cruise to Bermuda, St. Martin, St. Thomas, and San Juan

Missed the previous installments? Here they are: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

Today was a day at sea while we cruised toward San Maarten. Unlike the first three days, I got up very early. Now what would get me up so early, you ask? Of course: The Spa!

The latest treatment was (get ready) an Exotic Lime and Ginger Salt Glow with a Relaxing Back, Neck, and Shoulder Massage. This had to be one of the all time best spa treatments I have ever experienced. My treatment specialist was this very small Filipino woman who was as strong as an ox. She gave me an extremely deep muscle massage. I’m sure I will feel a bit sore tomorrow or the next day but she worked hard to get out all my crunchies. I even got to shower off in the spa and use some of their fancy (read: $50) shampoo and conditioner – woohoo!

At 10:30 am, we were greeted by Explorer’s executive chef, Joaquim Mueller. He was to be our guide for the private galley tour – part of my winning Make A Wish bid. The tour lasted almost 40 minutes and was extremely interesting. I have seen a few galleys but never one this large! (Of course, we’re also on one of the larger ships afloat, so the galley size is to be expected.)

Chef Mueller was a man who received great respect. The moment we stepped into the kitchen, it was like walking in with a five star general. As we toured the galley, Chef Mueller described, in detail, how they manage to feed 3,000+ passengers in a single day, plus the officers and crew. Nothing is wasted either. All discarded food is pulped and ejected downward into the ocean (and only at a specific distance from land), where the fish are plentiful, waiting and hungry. As for things like bones and so on, that gets incinerated, and the resulting energy is used to heat water!

There are over ten galleys (kitchens) on the Explorer of the Seas. We toured one level of the main galley used for the three-level dining room. Here’s a random bit of trivia: 1,400 pounds of potatoes are used each day. While the potatoes are peeled by machine, onions and other items are all peeled by hand. Also, they only use US meats. I know from other cruise lines that US beef tends to be used without question, as it is considered the best in the world by many top chefs. However, they also say Europe produces better tasting vegetables. When possible, locally grown food is always brought on-board as a ship makes its way from port to port. (Make that a lot of locally grown food.)

At one point, Executive Chef Mueller was busy explaining how his chefs and workers get tested and graded on their work, when a beverage waiter arrived, pushing a rather heavy cart. He asked our group to move so he could pass. No problem, we all stepped aside.

Not Chef Mueller.

He turned to the man and said “Come back in ten minutes” in a way that would make you shake in your boots. The poor beverage waiter didn’t know what to do. You could tell he had a deadline to make with that cart, but he was just told by the boss to come back later. So he just stood there and a stare-down ensued. Needless to say, Chef Mueller won and the beverage waiter just slinked backwards while we continued our tour. Just think of him as the Robert DeNiro of cooking. You do not mess with this guy.

With the tour over, Joe and Lex headed for the video arcade. Lex has settled on one particular racing game: The Fast and the Furious Drift. After getting his fix, they had a bite for lunch, then Lex asked to play with the kids in Adventure Ocean for a few hours. Joe obliged and then, on the way back to our cabin, he witnessed the belly flop competition which he said was very funny and hugely attended by the masses on the ship. Seriously. We have proof. (See the photo? Yep.)

I read a bit before heading to my Sudoku Challenge devotional. The cruise director, who is officiating, tells us the puzzle is of medium difficulty. Now, I really enjoy my Sudoku. The harder the better. Well, thirty seconds after starting, it was apparent that this was not merely hard. It wasn’t merely difficult. It was one of those beyond painfully hard, “holy cow my brain hurts” Sudoku. After five minutes, someone spoke up and asked about the difficulty level. Sure enough, the puzzle was checked and – whoops – the puzzle was way into the “extreme difficulty” range, suitable only for rocket scientists.

Speaking of which … it turns out we had at least one such person on-board, as she finished in twelve minutes! Even so, we were asked to carry on since there was a second place prize. 15 minutes passed. Then 20, and 30 … still no second place winner. No one, other than our resident super genius, could figure it out. I ended up taking the puzzle back to my room and worked on it for another half hour. Just when I thought I had it, I noticed two 4s in one grid of nine. I just ripped up the paper. I get so frustrated when I cannot complete a Sudoku!

To clear my head, I decided to attend a seminar on – of course – Meteorology.

The specific topic? Hurricanes. It was a truly fascinating look at the science behind these storms, why they form, how they form, and so on. Fun fact: The air in the eye (or center) of a storm is lower, not higher, while in motion. Here’s another one: Hurricanes in Southeast Asia are typhoons, while in the Indian Ocean they are called cyclones. Meanwhile, in the Austrailian outback, a hurricane is called a “Willy-Willy”. (Now you are all ready for Jeopardy, right?)

Around 5 pm, I met up with the family and we saw the ice skating show Spirits of the Seasons. (Yes, the ice skating show. There is – no joke – an ice rink on Decks 1 and 2.) This was, hands down, the BEST ice skating show I have ever seen on a Royal Caribbean ship. The cast was talented, the costumes were great, and the sound was perfect. I’m starting to think they may do well to phase out all those song-and-dance revues and replace them with more ice skating. It was that much fun.

One of the song arrangements was impressive enough that Joe approached the audio engineer and production manager afterward and asked who performed it. (They’re checking into it.)

Dinner followed the show, then we brought Lex up to Deck 12 and Adventure Ocean where he begged to stay until midnight. They have all these games for him, and I knew he wouldn’t care for tonight’s show anyway, so that was an easy decision.

Joe and I had our own evening of fun and games. First, Ultimate Trivia part deux (still not very good at it – 10 out of 22 this time), a comedian in the Palace Theater, then a Battle of the Sexes in the Maharajas Lounge which, in all honesty, made me embarrassed to be a woman. The women lost but, truthfully, our “representatives” were so stupid! I realize alcohol played a huge part but – come on – they couldn’t even figure out how to pop a balloon properly. At least the overall competition was entertaining.

Tomorrow we arrive in San Maarten. We’ll be taking an island tour, then spending some time in Marigot. (I prefer the French side of the island. Oui!) Here’s hoping for pleasant weather. More tomorrow!