Forward Stairwell Art

March 19, 2023

I am so excited about today’s post that I am skipping over several days so I can write this post now. I will get back to the days I have missed.

Yesterday we moved from the Sky Princess to the Rotterdam.

The Rotterdam is a two-year-old ship, and she is beautiful. The art on this ship is interesting, quirky, and fun. Every time we went somewhere we were surprised and tickled by what we saw. 

Two themes dominate the ship’s art and décor: Music and Holland. Much of the art can be found in the stairwells and elevator lobbies. Each stairwell seems to have its own theme.

Today we “toured” the forward stairwell. I am sorry that the pictures are so poor. The lighting is very bad. The pieces in the stairwells are very difficult to photograph because you can’t stand very far away. There is usually plexiglass over the art and it reflects everything. It is unfortunate that the names of the artists and the titles of the works are not provided.

See if you can figure out what the theme of the forward stairwell is. It took a while until I realized there might be a theme.

Here is a clever three-dimensional piece. The three central buildings extend out from the paper in a tent-like shape, with the apex being the center corner of each building.

Three pieces - made out of heavy cardstock? There are places where the colored layer of paper seems to have been ripped off intentionally.

This piece seems to be made from clay. It is different on each of its four sides.

I can’t tell whether this is made from paper or plastic. One of the techniques used was “quilling.”

New York, London, and Rome - better together IMHO

“You Can’t Get There from Here” would be my title for this three-dimensional piece.

It’s all in the way the light is done. This is a one-dimensional painting.

A lot of soldering went into this one

OMG, I love this. It is  knitted.

Knitting close-up

A pair of paintings to exercise your brain

Creative crochet

Crochet close-up

I actually saw a woman sit on the black base of this lighted sculpture

One of a set of three pieces made of cut paper or cardstock

There were three of these three-dimensional constructions. Again, much more interesting when grouped together. 

Painting

Painting

And this is my favorite set from the forward stairwell:

       

Once again, apologies for the shadows, reflections, and distortions.

I believe the theme here is Houses.

I will be touring more stairwells soon. I will also try to keep up with a daily report - or keep from falling too far behind.

Side by Side

March 18, 2023

“Back to Back” is when you take two cruises in a row on the same ship, as we just did on the Sky Princess. “Side by Side” is taking two cruises in a row on different ships. That’s what we are doing now. We disembarked from the Sky Princess this morning and took a taxi across the port to the Rotterdam.

This is our first cruise with Holland America, and I think I am going to like it - a lot! The Rotterdam is new and she is glamorous … classy … fascinating.

The design of the public areas is mostly “open concept.” There are fewer rooms, more spaces. It all flows from one space to the next. You can see into some of the restaurants because the walls are often more suggestions than solid walls. The main entertainment area of the ship is called the “Music Walk.” The main venues for entertainment are B.B. King’s Blues Club, Lincoln Center Stage, “billboard onboard” and the Rolling Stone Rock Room. The World Stage is a large semi-circular state-of-the-art theater.

Much of the art on the ship is a continuation of the music theme. The art is fresh and often amusing.

There are subtle reminders of the company’s Dutch roots everywhere. Sometimes it is just an orange stripe. Sometimes it is a bit of delftware or a tulip design in the carpet.

Our stateroom is very comfortable. The colors are muted. The balcony is big enough for two chairs, two ottomans, and a table. Our mattress is excellent. So is the shower. There are various amenities for us to use during the cruise: bathrobes, lap blankets, beach towels, and a big orange umbrella. (I don’t think this app lets my add footnotes. If I knew how, I would add a footnote here that says we never used the lap blankets.😎)

Safe, mini-fridge, three drawers for storage

On the other hand, I would have liked a little more soundproofing between cabins. Our neighbors had very loud voices. Did you know that you can tell someone has a southern accent even when you can’t make out their words?

We had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill, which is one of the specialty restaurants on Holland America. It was primarily a steakhouse, but they had seafood and other types of meat. It was delicious, and the service was first rate.

Crab Cake appetizer

Beef tenderloin with lobster dumplings

Later we went to a show at “billboard onboard.” The theme was British Invasion. We watched Trenton and KG play baby grand pianos and sing. They had so much energy. It was infectious. 

Today’s color is slate gray. Our bathroom floor and shower floor were slate, and the shower was one of our favorite things about our cabin.

It’s Time to Say Goodbye

March 17, 2023

Today is our last full day on Sky Princess. It is a sea day and a packing day. But first we got dressed up for the Most-Traveled Passenger Lunch. This is an exclusive event for the Top 40 Most-Traveled Passengers on each cruise. Each table is hosted by a senior officer and the Executive Chef arranges a special meal.

Lunch was superb! We sat with the Staff Captain, who is the second in command. All three couples at the table needed to vent about the impact of Spring Break on our cruise. The Staff Captain listened patiently to the concerns of everyone at the table. Once we got everything off our chests, we all relaxed and had a good time. My issues were: unsupervised children and the rudeness of other passengers in the theater. I told him I understood there wasn’t a lot Princess could do about it, but I thought they could limit the number of children on board and bring extra security on during Spring Break. I also said they should make announcements in the theater about being quiet during shows and turning off devices. Will it make any difference? Probably not. But at least we had someone important listen to us.

Herb-Crusted Lobster and Sea Scallop

Seared Alaskan Halibut with Hackleback Caviar

Milk Chocolate Bar Mousse

Since today is St. Patrick’s Day, the standard cheesy decorations could be seen everywhere — on passengers’ doors and in the atrium. There was green beer and green cake. Passengers wore blinking green necklaces, leprechaun hats, and green socks. Matt Baxter and some of the other musicians onboard played some rousing Irish music. 

We were expecting to see the show 5 Skies again tonight, but it was not on the program. I think this is one more change that makes this week different. The old 5 Skies cast left the ship last week. They had been together for 6 or 9 months. I thought a new cast would be joining the ship and continuing through the ship’s European/summer season. If so, they will be joining when we reach Fort Lauderdale, or perhaps when the ship reaches Southampton. 

Because tonight is the last night of this cruise, it is “White and Gold Night.” It was a very low-key thing. Most people were not aware of it, and only a handful of people dressed in gold and white.It kind of got lost in the St. Patrick’s Day celebration and all the other commotion going on around the ship.

Once again, as is the tradition on the last night, there was a Baked Alaska Parade and napkin-waving. Our first week on the Sky Princess was very enjoyable, but I am not sad to wave goodbye to this Spring Break week.

Today’s color is Kelly Green.

Costa Crowded

March 16, 2023

So, Costa Maya is another one of those “made places” I have been talking about. Costa Maya is one of the older ones. In 2001, Mexico built this fancy port near a small village called Mahahual, to attract cruise ships. There are a number of Mayan archeological sites nearby (within 1 to 2 hours). We visited a site called Chacchoben when we were here several years ago.   

Costa Maya shopping village and activities area, as seen from the dock

We decided to go for a walk around the port area to get some exercise. There were two medium-sized ships in port today, and it was very crowded. It was hard to navigate through the crowds to get anywhere. It was especially hard to get to the shops and to get into them.

There were aggressive salespeople outside every shop, attempting to engage passers-by in conversation. Every shop sold the same made-in China junk: t-shirts, island shirts, tote bags, towels, hats, flip flops, liquor, magnets. The ubiquitous jewelry shops were there, of course.

There were some bars and restaurants. There was a large free pool in the center, with a legion of kids in it. There were a few “photo op” spots, and a very small beach.

A flamingo habitat. Who doesn’t love these gorgeous, silly-looking birds?

Colorful parrots

I’m gonna name him “Flounder”

 

If you pay a few dollars, they will take a photo of you (with your camera) next to the two people dressed in traditional Mayan style

A fake Mayan temple provides yet another photo op

It was two crowded to make a full circuit around the port, so we decided to head back to the ship. We stopped on the dock to look at the beautiful, clear water.

When we go to the area where the ships were docked, we had to walk through a crowded metal canyon.

Sky Princess is the one on the left

In the evening we attended the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party to see who beat us out of third place. They had about 50% more days at sea than we have. Can’t argue with that. After we disembark in two days, Sky Princess’s Caribbean season will be over and she will sail to Southampton, England. A number of folks who boarded this week will be staying on for the crossing.

After dinner we saw the new show, Spotlight Bar, which we had so enjoyed last week. Such entertaining choreography!

Today’s color is Flamingo Pink.