DINNER

Cruises are great.  Tropical paradises are great.  Heck, even rock walls and basketball courts are great!  But of all the things on the cruise, some of the most memorable events and people were at dinner. 

"LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!"

Gerald is one of the liveliest crewman aboard ship.  He really spiced up dinner.  He's from India and is a great waiter.  Another of his favorite sayings, "Just like home!"  Well he treated us better than home.  Josh will take a while to accomadate to getting his own food.

Look at this royalty!  It'll be a long time before any of us eat like this again!  And for that matter, we may NEVER eat as much!  Every night, we were fed plate after plate, all you can eat!  The food was gourmet too!  Now, I'm addicted to cheesecake!  Several times, Gerald even brought out plates before we even asked for 'em, effectively stuffing me and Josh, but heck, I'll eat anything as long as it's there!

Tough tough decisions.  "Should I go for the steak, perfect chicken, or snails?"  Haha, well they didn't serve snails for the MAIN dish, but it was an appetizer once.  EWWW!  The favorite appetizers: banana bread and corn bread (and we took extras back too!).  Katherine always ate steak; I always a head of lettuce with a slice or two of tomatoe (nothing more!); Dad and Sus always the choice alcoholic beverage and wine of the day!  Josh also liked to ruin his fruit with tons of sugar...but he put sugar on EVERYTHING!

Oh, what can I say about Mel?  He's a retired psychologist guy and something similar to a priest.  Josh and I talked a lot with him about his stories.  He saw stuff in the clouds, ate shrimp after shrimp after shrimp, and was very cool.  He's coming out with a book in a while, which I intend to read.  This photograph?  He's probably ordering more shrimp and lobster tail!

Jacob was the assistant waiter.  He brought us the drinks as far as water, iced tea, and Josh' lemonade.  To my surprise, all the staff around our table remembered our favorite orders and brought it to us without asking!  Jacob we didn't see much, but was still cool.  All the staff on the ship made it a great environment.

Below is a picture of our table on one of the informal nights.  See dad's chair?  He's either in bed with a migraine or taking this picture.  From the left and clockwise: Sus, Katherine, Josh, Me, Mel, Mel's wife Marie of 27 years, and their friends  For the life of me I can't remember the other ladies' name: she was rather quiet but extremely nice.

Mel and Maire had their anniversary on the ship.  They even kissed behind a napkin for the occasion, very touching.  They are a nice couple who put their cream in the coffee cup before the coffee so that it mixes quicker.  On the last night, Mel wore a "Life is Good" hat.  It was great.  The cruise was great, but it was made even greater by our new friends.

Mel, his wife, and their friend.  Dad talked with their friend, but I couldn't hear the conversation much.  She owns a tobacco farm I, think on around 83 acres?  Or was it in the hundreds?

Josh' favorite lady!  Mercel brought out the little alcoholic drinks (I couldn't stand their smell), and Josh and Kat's daiquiris. 

Below, the Headwaiter congratulates Mel and Marie on their 27th anniversary.  That's a long time!  But a bliss it seems.  There the napkin holds their hands together, but later on they kissed behind it!  The headwaiter later ordered my daily cheesecake desserts.

OUR TABLE!