After getting dressed up for the first Elegant night of the cruise, we headed up to the Captain’s party for the free pre-dinner cocktails and also to see the bridge crew (but mostly for the booze).  It was nice to see that a large percentage of the cruisers decided to partake in Elegant night by dressing up.  Usually on Carnival ships those dressed up seem to be outnumbered by those who don’t, but this time that wasn’t the case.

There was a band playing at the party and numerous couples got up to dance.  Most were in their 50′s or older and they all seemed to really be enjoying the company of those they were with.  One of the people that really stuck out to me was a Vietnam veteran who although he needed help up the stairs, once he got there he really knew how to shake his “grove thang”.  I hope when I get to be his age I still have that much energy.  He and his lady really seemed to be in love.   It was pretty touching, especially they played the Lee Greenwood classic “Proud to be an American” and he started to salute the room.  I’ll never forgot that guy.

Our waiter must have really liked us because he was johnny on the spot any time there was an empty glass in hand. Note to self: travel with pretty girls more often, you definitely get special treatment.

After awhile John entered the lounge and introduced Captain Giuseppe Giusa, the man charged with making sure we all have a safe cruise.  Also known as the guy in charge of bouncing us around the Caribbean like a pinball.  He in turn introduced the rest of his bridge staff (some of which looked barely old enough to drive).

After the party it was off to dinner.  Nothing eventful happened here, just more good food and great service.  Afterwards we spent some time and money in the casino, before going to bingo.  Tonight was one of the big production shows, “The Big Easy”.  There was no picture taking allowed so I won’t be posting any on this blog, but I will say that it was definately worth watching.  I normally am not the biggest fan of production shows since talent levels across the fleet fluctuates so much.  But, I will say this was one of the most talented group of performers that I have seen at sea.  It really is worth watching.

Being a huge football fan I wanted to check out “The Express” on the big screen, but I was vetoed. So, instead we spent some time singing along in Scott’s piano bar.  The piano player wasn’t all that great but the atomosphere was good (if you can take all of the smoke).  We would only visit the piano bar one more time, because Catie couldn’t take all of the smoke.

Today was set to be a fun day at sea for us.  What this usually means is lots of lounging at the pool and checking out the usual lido deck activities like hairy chest contests, trivia and ice carving.

We start off the day by rolling out of bed at a leisurely pace which for me means about 8 o’clock.  After getting ready to hit the pool we decide to stop off for breakfast first.  The freedom restaurant was still pretty empty at this hour of the morning so finding a seat was no problem.  I had my usual bowl of fruit and bagels.  In my normal life I’m usually scarfing down breakfast before I run out the door for work, so it was nice being able to sit down to relax while gazing out the window onto the open seas.

When we headed to the pool there was no sign of the chair hogs that usually populate cruise ships, so we had our pick of chairs poolside.  We opted to be behind the hot tubs with a perfect view of the big screen on board the Freedom.  Every morning John Heald does a morning show to get the day started.  He answers a whole slew of “Dear John” letters which passengers write and submit every day.  Some of the letters are praise about the cruise, some are complaints and some are just silly non-informative banter.  He mixes in some jokes along the way and will sometimes call the stateroom of the author of the letter.  This was a bit different for me and seemed like a nice touch.

The weather was gorgeous for the early part of the day so we took turns laying out and getting into the hot tub and pool.  For the most part the kids on this ship were better behaved than they have been on our last couple of cruises so I was thankful for that.  However, there was one little boy who seemed to derive great enjoyment doing belly flops into the hot tub.  Kids do the darndest things, mainly because they are kids and have no idea how bad they can get hurt.  The problem is his mom was sitting next to him as he splashing everyone.  After about the third time I finally said something to him, embarassed by it all his mom did make him stop.

About midway through the afternoon (just as the games were about to start) the weather started to turn.  That is when they made the announcement that the hairy chest contest and mixologist competition would be moved in doors.  We really didn’t care if we had missed either of those but figured since the weather wasn’t great we might as well.  So, we made our way down to the nightclub for the mixologist competition.

Earlier in the cruise they selected five “amateur” mixologist to brew up their favorite drinks.  The winner of the contest would have their drink put on the menu for the rest of the cruise.  The judges for the competition were three members of the cruise ship staff who would make funny comments and interact American Idol style with each other.  To be honest it isn’t really a must see event especially since they play it over and over on the stateroom television so don’t think you have to watch it. Three of the drinks which were entered seemed like something I would drink the other two didn’t really interest me.  The winner was called a green banana.  They had it available immediately upon the conclusion for a reduced priced so I gave it a shot.  While the drink wasn’t bad it wasn’t anything special either.  To me it tasted kind of bland, so I never ordered another one.

The hairy chest contest which was supposed to take place in the same venue following the mixologist contest was rescheduled.  There was only one entrant into the contest so they decided to hold it on the next day at sea.  This was a good decision because it wouldn’t go over nearly as well inside as it usually does outdoors.

We also did some trivia which netted us a ship on a stick and a couple of medals.  This was actually my first ship on a stick ever but it would not be my last.  In fact by the end of the cruise I would be a bonified trivia god.

Since we arrived back on the ship early, we had plenty of time to get ready for dinner.  So, we went back to the room and got dressed at a leisurely pace.  We sat around the room and talked while enjoying a couple of cocktails thanks to our rum runner flasks (they really do come in handy). While we were getting ready for dinner John Heald comes on the intercom.  He informs us there are three storms out there and assures us that safety is there main concern.  He informs us that instead of visiting the rest of our scheduled ports (Antigua, Tortola, St. Thomas and Puerto Rico) we would be visiting Ocho Rios, Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  Since we sail the Eastern route more than any other, it was no big deal for us but not everyone shared our view.

We made plans for what to do that evening.  Judging from the Carnival Capers it was going to be a pretty quiet evening.  There was a comedian scheduled as the Main Show, but other than that there was nothing really going on.  What this usually means for us is partaking in the ancient Japanese are of karaoke.  However, first it was off to dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was uneventful.  As usual our waiter (King Tut) was great and the food was good.  Our table was a little bit light tonight as one of the groups (of four people) decided to eat at the buffet instead of the dining room.  This would turn out to be a trend for them, which truthfully wasn’t a bad thing since they didn’t really talk much anyways.  The other family that was seated with us also spent the day at the Atlantis, so we compared notes and took pictures.  We also discussed the itinerary change and they shared our view, cruises are great no matter where you are headed.  About halfway through dinner we were tipped off by the Maitre’D that there would be another announcement regarding the itinerary at which point we did get a bit nervous.

After dinner it was off to bingo to see if I could get back some of the money I gave Carnival earlier for that excursion.  Tonight I was actually close to winning but, alas I lost again.

The comedian that we would be seeing tonight’s name was Michael James.  He wasn’t a stand-up comic, but an action comedian.  In other words a juggler.  He was actually pretty good and managed to keep the show exciting.  I’m usually not into the juggling but his act was pretty good.  At one point he was on a unicycle with a women from the crowd on his shoulders and another time he was climbing an unsupported ladder while juggling knives.  Anyone that juggles knives is cool in my book.

After the comedian we decided to hit the casino for a little while.  I’m not a big gambler so we didn’t play any table games.  Instead I sucked down long island iced teas while watching them pull on the slots.  My favorite thing about the casino is how strong they make the drinks there. Its also the only place on the ship where you are always guaranteed to find a server within twenty seconds of needing one.  Hmmm, I wonder why?  The girls would win a little bit of money but then give it back.  All in all they broke even for the night but were able to play for about one and half hours on only five dollars each so thats a win, as far as I am concerned.  Now, it was off to karaoke.

Now details on this are a bit foggy (combination of poor memory and long island iced teas) but at some point John Heald made the second announcement.  There was to be yet another itinerary change, we would be resuming our originally scheduled cruise.  The NOAA had updated their projections and the storms all took a more northern track so our ports would be safe.  The only difference would be Antigua was a scratch and Puerto Rico would be an extended port.

Karaoke is held in the International Lounge which is a small venue but was nearly empty the first night.  However, tonight there was a much better turnout.  The room seemed to be dominated by two groups that must have been on for a family reunion or something.  This always makes singing a little more intimidating, but the good part was there was never a lull in action like there was the night before.  All in all, everyone seemed to have fun and the crowd was really well behaved (on my last Carnival cruise one group booed people who were bad).  Karaoke didn’t end until 1 a.m. but we didn’t stay until the conclusion.  At about 12:30 we decided to hit the lido deck for a slice of pizza before turning in for the night.