On Monday we pulled into Port Canaveral on the day the Space Shuttle was scheduled to blast off. We had AWESOME seats since the launch vehicle was clearly visible from both my balcony and the outdoor café at the stern. Of course, the launch didn’t happen and I’m glad we didn’t kill anybody trying but there’s still a twinge of disappointment to it.

Since we had no desire to see anything Disney and the Space Center promised to be a madhouse, we just rented a car and spent a relaxed, comfortable and CHEAP day at a friend’s Florida home. Now that’s how to do an excursion.

Back aboard, it’s off to try Grand Pacific. Same excellent range of choices, same semi-warm but otherwise very good food and the same butt numbing 2 hour and 15 minute dinner with ONE glass of water and ONE glass of iced tea. Several of my crew had the foresight to buy bottles of wine last night so they were in good shape. The rest of us just had to try and rope whoever ran by. On the bright side, we met the crew highlight of the trip, a waiter named “Nyuk-Nyuk” (no REALLY) who is the one person aboard who seems to truly enjoy his job. He was a blast and we also saw him in charge of the Happy/Washee idiocy at the Garden Café. He actually made me forget my normal “Shutee Upee” reaction.

The show that night was a 70s “tribute” that was a great reminder of why disco deserved to die painfully and also just why the rest of the decade was kept in the 70s. The rest of the evening was the casino, the shops and more excellent midrats at the Blue Lagoon, all interspersed with many trips to my at sea office. Really good day.