Malt Shop Memories Cruise, The Hurricane Edition

Let’s back up a bit to Saturday when we were scheduled to board Holland America Line’s Eurodam in Fort Lauderdale. At the pre-cruise party on Friday night we learned our ship was diverted to Jacksonville due to Hurricane Sandy. As a result, instead of boarding Eurodam at Port Everglades, we boarded coaches to Jacksonville where we finally embarked hours later than planned. No problem… For those of us on board early enough, a full evening of musical events were on tap, including the opening of the “Jungle Room” and the introduction of Elvis Tribute Artists hosted by Gino Monopoli (one of my personal favorite “Elvi”) and Dwight Icenhower. As a courtesy for the inconvenience, Holland America hosted open bars and all drinks were on them for the night.

Luggage arrived during the night and we were able to get settled in before our delayed boat drill at 9am on Sunday morning. In our pre-cruise package for the Malt Shop Memories Cruise we received official tee-shirts to wear at the Malt Shop Memories Cruise T-shirt party where the music was provided by DJ Jerry Blavat and complimentary drinks were served poolside. Afterwards, Chubby Checker was on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Twist. Gosh, we don’t feel that old.

Everyone has color coded key cards (either red or blue), which determine show times and dinner seatings. Our shows are at 6pm and our first showtime featured The Tymes and Darlene Love (He’s A Rebel”). To wrap up the night, the Sock Hop Dance Party was held poolside with The Chiffons and The Platters.

By and large the hurricane is behind us and the ocean has settled down, but we are on board the most rockin’ ship at sea.

Image (c) CruiseDiva.com