2004 Europe

Seafood Curry from the Lido Grill

April 19 – Our cabin is on the same deck to which they attach the top of the stairs down to the tender platform. At 2AM this morning I was awakened by the sounds of setting that platform up. The injured passenger was transferred to a small Coast Guard like cutter from Bermuda to be taken in to the hospital so we never actually stopped in Bermuda. In fact, since it was dark, I never even saw the island. I think the cutter came out quite a way to make the pick up.

I went to Justin Miller’s coffee chat today and I finally realized how I knew him. He was on the Volendam for the Asia Pacific cruise as the professor part of ‘Smitty and the Professor’. She (Smitty) was a torch singer and he played the piano for her and also lectured on the big bands. The cruise director, Peter Daums, told me that they have since divorced and he has returned to performing, using the instrument that he played to work his way through med school, the guitar.

It just dawned on me that I should list the dances we’re learning on the ship. So far we have learned the meringue, waltz, rumba and foxtrot. I discovered that the dance I’ve been doing for years that I call the Longenberger two-step is actually various improvisations on the meringue. The entertainer was a comic magician, Woody Pittman. He was funny, but how many ways can you do the standard rope, ring, card and hat tricks? His comedy was the best part of his act. We also saw the movie ‘Big Fish’. I think Diana liked it, I just thought it was goofy.

April 20 – This mornings dance class was the cha-cha. Diana and I are pretty good at that so it was free dance time. Did you know that you can Cha-Cha to most rock-and-roll songs? I love it but it drives the dance instructors wild. Anything 4/4 time can be a cha-cha. In fact a lot of 50s R & R actually has a 1,2,3 & 4 cha-cha beat. Just don’t tell anyone I told you this. ‘Real’ dancers find it irritating.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing. Tonight’s entertainment was Celeste Francis. She has a powerful and very accurate voice. She was trained in opera but prefers to sing ballads and big band songs. She’s the only performer so far to perform without a microphone and there was absolutely no problem hearing her. Her husband, Trevor Jones, who accompanies her on the piano, was with the Electric Light Orchestra in the ‘70s. He also wrote music for the movie ‘Brassed Off’.

April 21 – Went to the coffee chat with Celeste Francis this AM. She’s performed in a lot of West End musicals as a member of the chorus. She has recorded with Jack Jones, the Platters and Frankie Avalon.

They had a curry bar out by the pool at lunch today. The chef made seafood curry to order and there was yellow curry chicken and red curry beef. I had him make the seafood curry very hot and it was great. I sampled the other two and the flavor was good but they were too mild to be great.

The Noordam Cast did another show this evening. They are all talented. One couple dances exceptionally and one couple sings exceptionally, but they all dance and sing. The hard parts just go to the specialists. My opinion that KC is the best singer has been reinforced. After the evening show they held the Officers Black and White Ball.

April 22 – Our last full day at sea before Horta in the Azores. The seas are rougher today. Not violently so, just a pronounced roll side to side. Makes for great sleeping but dancing is trickier. Today’s dance lesson was the Tango. It was pretty exciting on the rolling dance floor. The entertainment was Paul Pappas, a pianist. He was excellent and very energetic. He played in many styles from classical to honky-tonk.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger