Day 3, Wednesday April 18, At Sea, Smart Casual

Tuesday evening we had a bit of active sea. There wasn't enough to
cause a real problem but it was sufficiently noticeable that one of the
lecturers commented on it. We also had a rain squall about dinner time
Tuesday but it is still pleasant weather in general with a temperature
of about 60. With the loss of another hour Tuesday night I was late
rising and completed about 2 1/2 miles on deck 14, ending around sunrise
of 7:30.

Presentations by our usual 3 speakers were intermingled with 2 Cruise
Critic events. Fred Bronson's presentation was on the story of Dick
Clark and American Bandstand. Marc Kaufman told us about the newest
Mars Rover. I had to leave that session a bit early as we had a Cruise
Critic Luncheon with about 120 people at noon in the Grand Epernay
Restaurant.

Steve Javie concluded the "Beyond the Podium" series for the day at
2PM. He had planned to offer "You Make the Call", showing videos of NBA
plays and how the officials determine the proper call, but instead
presented "The Road to the NBA", outlining the steps in training and
advancement to a job as an NBA official, a long process which requires
both luck and skill to advance to a field with only 60 openings. He
will present "You Make the Call" in a later session.

A cabin crawl concluded the afternoon's activities for about 60 Cruise
Critic members. In groups of about 8 we toured a series of 10 cabins
including inside, ocean view, Veranda, Aqua, and Royal, Corner, and Aft
suites and a Handicap Suite. The range of accommodations available was
quite stunning.

This evening's entertainment was female vocal impressionist Karen
Grainger. With a variety of wigs, Grainger gave impressions of a number
of singers including Reba McIntyre, Celine Dion, Cher, and a number of
surprises such as Lionel Ritchie.

Today's parting shot comes from the current Celebrity Today under the
heading of "you learn something new every day". There is a discussion
of officers' insignia and I saw: "The Chief Engineer's epaulet contains
4 gold stripes with propeller on purple background. The purple
background honors the memory of the maritime engineers of the Titanic."
How appropriate to be learning that as about 100 years ago the bodies of
Titanic victims were likely being brought ashore.

Roy