Approximately 50 Grand Horizon residents, plus several friends, met at the community center on Dec. 3 to await a brand new bus that took us on a 5-hour bus ride to the port of Miami for a cruise on the Norwegian Getaway. The bus ride was long but passed quickly enough, with all the conversation going on. Some people spent the time reading, working crossword puzzles or doing other activities.
(Courtesy of Marty and Helene Rubenstein)
Once we boarded the cruise ship, we had a mandatory life jacket demonstration. It was interesting and informative, and then we settled in, unpacked and then all 50 of us had a leisurely dinner.
After dinner, we were treated to a welcome aboard show, “The Million Dollar Quartet,” and it had hits from Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
They were excellent.
After this, in the same show, we viewed some dancers in beautiful black and white costumes.
This marked the end of the first day and we all turned in for a good night’s sleep.
The following morning, there were several places to have breakfast, but we wanted to sit and enjoy being served. So, on to “Savors,” for a relaxing breakfast, while sitting in our seats facing a huge window and beautiful scenery.
Later in the morning, we went to a presentation where they carved vegetables and/or fruit. They created, in front of our eyes, penguins, turkeys, ducks and more. Each piece was more fascinating and detailed than the last.
At the end of the show, all the finished pieces were displayed to people who wished to photograph them or just to admire the great work.
At lunch, we joined 20 of our neighbors to break bread and converse about the fun we’d had so far.
From there, some of us went to a diamond, gemstone and watch presentation (which was informative), while others went to other activities.
After that, we went to see a show that had a singer and three others in the band. It was a terrific show with a bunch of oldies thrown in. People were swaying in their seats to the music.
In the same theater, we saw a “Newlywed, not so Newlywed” game show. The show was so funny and shown on our TVs for the rest of the tour.
The time has changed, and we get an extra hour of sleep, and woke on the third day in Roatan, Honduras and, once again, had a pleasant breakfast with 16 others and had a fun time.
Later in the day after browsing the ship and meeting new people, we went to O’ Sheehan’s Irish Bar & Grill for a quick lunch with five others from Grand Horizons.
After the lunch, we went to the atrium for a general trivia game with Alberto from Brazil. We didn’t do so well, so I guess we have to brush up on our trivia.
From there, we were treated to a movie entitled “The Proposal.” It starred Sandra Bullock and was hysterical.
After the movies, we learned some Chinese characters. Some people got to see their name in Chinese.
Right after this, we played “Win, Lose or Draw.” Our team won, but it was a close game for a while.
We then joined our friends for dinner, and saw a show called “Burn the Floor,” which had lovely dances with many colorful costumes.
The following morning, we awoke in Belize and, after breakfast, we joined in on another trivia game. Once again, we didn’t get much right, but we had fun.
It was raining, so we walked around the ship, in between raindrops.
We saw a movie called “Ghost in the Shell,” a futuristic movie and since it was going nowhere, left before the end.
We went to another movie, a 3-D one, called “Wonder Woman.” This was somewhat better, as it did have a little story to it.
When evening approached, we saw a game show called “55 to Stay Alive.” This was an action- packed show. There were many other shows on board, including “Deal or No Deal” and others, but we definitely needed the rest, so we turned in.
The following day, we arrived at Costa Maya, Mexico, and it was a dreary day in the morning hours and got a little bit better as the day progressed.
We went for another trivia game with the same endings that we had previously. Before the trivia game, we tried out in a Sudoku Speed Challenge, and got nowhere fast.
I did try out origami and created a frog. It was fun and certainly was different.
There also was Nintendo Wii Sports. I tried my hand at bowling and it was fun. No exertion like 10-pin bowling. I was the guinea pig, as others followed after me.
After a full morning of activities, we had lunch with our friends. During lunch, another game show was going on and it was called Tri Bond Trivia. This was different, as they would give you three words, and you would figure out what they had in common. It was so different and really made you think.
After the game, we wanted to walk a little, but since it was still chilly outside, we took a long walk from floor to floor.
We joined the others for a game called Scattergories. This was also a challenging game, as you had to “think,” and our team won.
The following day, we docked at Cozumel and some people went to do some exploring.
With no crowd, we explored the boat and found a library, card room, meeting rooms and more that we didn’t know existed.
Later in the day, we saw a video documentary on Elvis Presley.
We also had an arts and crafts course to make a flower box.
We saw Latin line dances and some people (I give them credit) took lessons. It was loads of fun.
Later that night, we were treated to music by Grove International and, later, the same group along with a singer performed oldies but goodies.
Our last full day at sea was Dec. 9.
We started the day with supposedly easy trivia, but it was the hardest of them all.
We then were treated to a towel-folding demonstration. You would be surprised at the animals they could make. There was a monkey, a turtle, a penguin and several others. It was an absolute delight.
We then attended a cupcake-decorating demonstration. and the cupcakes looked yummy.
This entire cruise was hosted by Terry Gardner, and he says that at the end of the year, they will take another cruise through the Panama Canal, which will be 11 days.
Anyone that is interested can give Terry Gardner. Our thanks go out to him for his hard work.
By Helene Rubenstein, Grand Horizons
Published January 3, 2018
