Circus Critters - Freedom of the Seas

Good morning,

I recently watched the Freedom of the Seas Circus Parade (daughter Catherine's earlier parade images here) from a balcony above the action.

As soon as the parade was over I went down to the Royal Promenade and got some closer shots of some of the critters the circus performers had left so that we could all get pictures.

The circus performers pull these huge critters in the parade to the delight of all of us watching.

I wasn't the only one taking pictures so didn't even try to wait for people to move out of the way to get my shots.

According to the Cruise Director, there is some wonderful news about this parade and other entertainment changes that will occur after the ship goes into dry dock in March, 2011.  The ship will then have a contract with Dream Works and we will have all of the Dream Works characters in the parade as well as featured at other times around the ship.  That means Shrek and all of his friends will be on board!  I'm a real Shrek fan so am very excited about this.

There are many other changes coming to Freedom in dry dock, too.  

Enjoy!

Lois

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 The Circus Ship

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Port Canaveral Pics

Good morning,

I was on my way to lunch the other day and took an outside deck to get there.  I looked across the water in Port Canaveral at the next ship and saw a diver sitting on the bulbous bow of the ship.  I am confident he was working, not playing out there.  He was probably checking for sea growth on the hull and/or part of a team cleaning it.

Here is the picture of the Disney Wonder while I was standing in the same place, but without zooming in on the bow at the water line.  Now you can see exactly where that man is sitting.  It's just such a neat image.  :)

Looking in another direction I saw there were two US Coast Guard ships in port.

As always, tomorrow we will be in a different port.  There is always something interesting to see and photograph out here.  I hope you're enjoying it all with me.

Best,
Lois

Check out Watery Wednesday!

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 The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue

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Phunny Bovine Photo

Good morning,

I didn't realize how funny the image above is until I looked at it after downloading from my digital camera.

That's Captain Manolis (far left) up there on the bridge a deck above and across the Royal Promenade aboard Freedom of the Seas.  He's introducing his senior officers at the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party.

Look carefully to the far, far right to see "who" is watching Captain Manolis so intently.  Yep, that's a cow.  In fact, that's one of the Ben and Jerry's Cows right there on board Freedom of the Seas.

Well, we think it's pretty funny from this angle.  ;)

Here is another view of the cows from below on the Royal Promenade.

You just never know what you're going to find on a cruise ship these days.  ;)

Best,
Lois

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 Farm Cow Dairy Kitchen Ice Cream Scoop Stainless Spoon

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Medical Emergencies at Sea

Good morning,

Since I've been out here floating around aboard Freedom  of the Seas, I've been asked several times about medical emergencies while we are at sea.  We have two doctors, three nurses, and a well equipped hospital on board so most medical emergencies can be handled here on the ship.

Should more highly specialized care be required while we are sea, patients can be evacuated via helicopter.  I have posted views of and from the helipad here.

This particular day, though we were in the Port of Cozumel, Mexico, when a patient needed to be evacuated.

 The ambulance arrived with a doctor on board as well as other emergency personnel.

 It didn't take long...

 ...for the patient to be removed from the ship...

 ...placed in the ambulance...

 ...and taken to a local hospital.

The medical care is so good on board some cruise line ships that some people chose to retire to the sea where they have all the comforts of a fabulous hotel, a different port every day, and medical care on call if needed.

So, there you have it.  If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Very best,
Lois

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 Electronic Ambulance & Rescue Team

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Adventure Ocean - Freedom of the Seas

Good morning,

Here are some images of children in the Adventure Ocean program aboard Freedom of the Seas. 

The children have a wonderful area of the ship for their own events and programs, but on this particular day they were parading through Royal Promenade, the "main street" of the ship.

 Today was a circus parade...

 ...that extended the length of the Royal Promenade, more than a US football field long.

 Seeing and hearing the kids brings a smile to everyone.

Enjoy!

Lois

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 Barney's Exercise Circus & Parade of Numbers [VHS]

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Tam Hat for 18" Doll - Crochet

Good morning,

Ginger needed one more item to make her sweater (pattern here) and skirt (pattern here) outfit complete.  

The little tam hat above probably took me no more than six or eight minutes to make, but it so important to complete the "look" of her outfit.  ;)

Back in the days I was teaching needlecrafts, I would have used an outfit like this to teach different techniques.  

The hat is crocheted in the round using a standard crochet hook.  The skirt is knitted in the round using both double pointed and circular needles.  The sweater is made in Tunisian (afghan) stitch using an afghan hook.

If you would like to make the hat, the pattern is below.

Enjoy!

Lois

PS - My friend, Marit of Marit's Hobby Blog has a give away.  Be sure to click to enter!

Ginger's Crocheted Tam Hat

Materials:

A small amount of blue #4 yarn

work in round; ch 2 always counts as first dc in round, join each round with ss

ch 4, join with ss

round 1: 12 dc in round

round 2: 2 dc in each st (24 st in round)

round 3: *2 dc in first st, 1 dc in next st. Repeat from *. (36 st in round)

round 4: *2 dc in first st, 1 dc in next 2 st. Repeat from *. (48 st in round)

round 5: *2 dc in first st, 1 dc in next 3 st. Repeat from *. *60 st in round)

round 6: work even in dc

round 7: *k3, k2 tog. Repeat from * (48 st in round)

round 8: *k2, k2 tog. Repeat from * (36 st in round)

round 9: work even in sc. 

Break off.  Weave in ends.

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 Lion Brand Yarn 480-098H Nature's Choice Organic Cotton Yarn, Almond

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Captain's Corner in Pharaoh's Lounge

Good morning,

Toward the end of most cruises aboard Freedom of the Seas there is a special event with the Executive Committee.  As pictured left to right they are:  Human Resources Director, Chief Engineer, Staff Captain, Hotel Director, Captain, and Cruise Director as moderator.

The event on this ship is called Captain's Corner is is purely a question and answer question so guests can ask questions of the people who make their cruise vacation possible.   It's always a very interesting session to hear what the guests ask and how the Executive Committee responds.

While sitting in on the Captain's Corner event recently I realized I haven't shown you pictures of Pharaoh's Lounge.  The image above is one side of the entrance hall. 

Inside there is more theme art work...

 ...and there is, of course, a bar in the lounge, too, (this is a cruise ship, you know!) but it wasn't open at the time of this Captain's Corner.

As long as I have sailed on board Freedom of the Seas, I keep finding more areas I haven't featured here.  I hope you are enjoying the ship as much as we do.

Very best,
Lois

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 Royal Caribbean PULLBACK-SKU#614534-6

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