January 7, 2013  (Sea Day)

It was another relaxing day at sea although the seas were a bit rough today. The winds were creating large swells and white caps and the ship was rolling from side to side most of the day. It made it a bit difficult to walk without weaving from side to side. We attended the port talk on our visit to Cartagena, Columbia tomorrow. Met up with the folks from CruiseCritic.com, as well as the first LGBT cocktail party.

Jon Bailey’s lecture today was titled “Mom, Apple Pie & the Fourth of July: The Music Man”. A look back at the musical from the 1950’s set in a Midwest town. What fun to see clips of the musical in its day and to look at the language used in the songs of the musical and how they reflect the feeling of the day.

Dan Ostler continued his lecture on the American effort to build the Panama Canal. A look back at how Theodore Roosevelt wanted to make the dirt fly in Panama and so he did. Between the French and American efforts to get the canal built 40,000 people lost their lives. Today it would be hard to imagine that we could lose that many lives building anything.

Today is our first formal night and we bring out the tuxedos and fancy clothes for the evening. This also means that the selections on the dinner menu are filled with such items as lobster, rack of lamb and filet mignon. There are too many delicious choices to choose from. Tonight’s entertainment was a show titled “Hit Me With a Hot Note” performed by the Amsterdam cast. The show included the music of Jazz and Motown legends Duke Ellington, Nina Simone and Ray Charles.