By Jeffrey A. Rendall, Photos by Jeff Rendall, Bethany Rendall and Matthew Rendall
Tuesday, our first full day at sea. Fitness, Pier 7, The Sexiest Man in the World, Giovanni’s and Back to the Future the stage musical
Despite being up late the previous night, we awakened close to dawn. The sunlight was noticeable even with the curtains drawn, which may not be welcome to some folks. I liked it.
Marveling at the ship’s wake that stretches to the horizon.
Shari had signed up for a fitness class at 7.
I’d done a little walking on the Oasis of the Seas during our Rome cruise, so I decided to head down to the track for my own fitness session. We’d seen where the track was on embarkation Day when visiting the fitness center. Another terrific design element on Star of the Seas. You can only access the fitness center via the track on this deck, though I believe you can get in there on one of the other decks. It’s separate from the “living” parts of the ship.
I walked the track and immediately noticed that it seemed longer than on the Oasis class ship. A sign indicated that one lap was 2197 feet. 3 miles was 7.4 laps. I’m not sure how far it was from where I entered the track to the starting line, which is by the fitness center.
This being an At-Sea day, there was a healthy number of joggers and walkers with the latter group staying to the left to allow the former group to pass. Some people didn’t move over at all. It felt kind of like driving the highway.
There was a Jupiter statue next to the track. The sea was relatively calm and the wind was light. All in all, a terrific setting for a walk.
Jupiter helps mark your progress on the walking track.
After finishing my brisk stroll, I walked inside the outer doors to deck five, which was convenient to the Pearl Café and ordered a coffee and a plain croissant. Pearl Café had breakfast sandwiches, which kind of looked good, but I instead opted to save my food quota for the heavier meals of the day.
Bethany noticed there was a “Name That Tune – Love Songs” presentation at Dueling Pianos at 10. We entered the venue at about 9:45 and there wasn’t anyone in there. Soon a Korean lady staffer walked in and set out pencils and paper and set up her computer. This must be the place.
She said she’d play snippets of 15 songs and we’d have to identify the artist and name the song for 2 points. One point for each. The directions were easy enough. I didn’t think I’d know enough to win, but probably be competitive based on the age of the particular song. The songs were mostly old songs. I felt pride that I knew most
Trivia competitions are harder than you’d think.
of the tunes and melodies, but couldn’t get the titles and the artists. But I also figured most people would struggle with the recollections.
We ended up with 17 out of 30 points. The “winner” got 27 out of 30 points. What??? Dang. People know their stuff on cruise ships, a know-it-all in every crowd.
After that, we knew we had the “free” lunch that Guest Services gave us, but still weren’t set on where to use it. We headed out to Central Park to see if we might be interested in swapping Pier 7 for Izumi in the Park. We glanced at the Izumi menu – it was fairly limited at the smaller Izumi version – and decided to stay with Pier 7, which is in the Surfside neighborhood on Deck 5, adjacent to Playmakers and the Absolute Zero venue.
Surfside had all the kids-type stuff. The wide space was packed with families and had many kids milling to and fro. They must love the area. Almost like a kids swimming set-aside section all to themselves. Plenty of young parents too.
We arrived a little early for our Pier 7 brunch, but were seated immediately, as there weren’t too many in the restaurant yet. Upon perusing the menu, we noticed there were both breakfast and lunch choices. Each Pier 7 diner could choose an appetizer, main course and a dessert. I opted for the steak quesadilla. Three of us had that. For the main course, I ordered one of the burgers and had fries with it. The waiter took our drink orders – mocktails – and walked outside to the bar area to order our drinks.
Pier 7 in the Surfside Neighborhood. Casual dining, relaxed atmosphere.
The food orders took a few minutes, but were fresh and delicious. The things we’d heard about Pier 7 turned out to be true. The atmosphere was very laid back, which was perfect for families. The service was prompt and attentive without being overbearing. The food was freshly prepared to order. This was a
Plenty to like at Pier 7 in the Surfside Neighborhood.
real specialty restaurant despite its casual food court-type appearance.
Shari had the lobster pizza and only ate one slice. Matthew chose pancakes, which he complained were too small. But they were billed as “Dollar” pancakes. Did he not know what those were?
This was only day three, but we agreed afterwards that Pier 7 was our favorite specialty restaurant on the cruise despite its modest cost. Pier 7 beat Giovanni’s, Hooked and Izumi Hibachi. Not necessarily in a head-to-head quality-of-the-food match-up, but for the totality of the experience. The portion sizes were reasonable, which means we didn’t feel obligated to stuff ourselves from the get-go, though the steak quesadilla by itself would’ve been enough for a stand-alone meal. I don’t think you can order a la carte there, but if you can, it might be worth a visit to the aft portion of the ship in the Surfside neighborhood.
Sexiest Man in the World Competition; more like the ham-i-est dude on Star of the Seas
We’d left sufficient time after lunch to head up to the Aquadome theater where the “Sexiest Man in the World” competition was set to take place. We’d envisioned that Matthew would be perfect for it, since he would put on a good show, even if other guys might’ve “fit” the “sex-i-est” billing a little closer.
The minimum age for participants was 18. Matthew went up to (entertainment staff head) Tristan for the first time and put in his name. Some other guy from Colorado did too. When the show started, there were only three signups, and no judges. Tristan pointed out guys in the crowd based on their characteristics. Three of them were 20-somethings who were good looking, and there was a middle-aged guy in a yellow bucket hat who stood out like a sore thumb.
The “sexy” guys were coaxed to come down on stage. The all-female judges were a 20-year-old college student, a 50-something nurse from New York and 79-year-old Barbara, who said she and hubby Jim were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on Star of the Seas this week.
Each of the judges previewed what they thought was sexy about a man. We figured this would be interesting, if not exactly objective or scientific. It wasn’t like a beauty contest – or a Mr. Universe competition — for sure.
There was Matthew, the 30-something Hispanic guy from
Win the crowd to advance at The Sexiest Man in the World competition.
Colorado, a 20s guy with a porn-type mustache from Kentucky who looked tall and fit and even more so when he took his shirt off, a couple guys from Iowa, including 50-something yellow bucket hat guy and a good looking dude from Utah, who Tristan had picked out from the crowd when he was “recruiting” for the show.
The men were given a sample demonstration by Tristan on how they might impress the judges, which basically involved turning away from them and waving their behinds at the ladies for a good view. Then facing them and putting a leg up on the chair and pointing up in a pose.
NO TOUCHING ALLOWED! Good, keep it clean. Family entertainment, right? This wasn’t an adults-only show like those later in the day/cruise.
Colorado guy went first, since he was the first to sign up. He did all of the assigned tasks and played it up a little. Then Matthew went. I felt he could’ve done more. The other guys took more time and had the crowd roaring and applauding. The judges seemed like they were embarrassed at the lewd gestures from strange guys, no matter how “sexy” they might have been.
It wasn’t a true ‘contest’ in the sense that looks played a role. This was supposed to be the “Sexiest Man in the World”, right? The guys danced, gyrated, took their shirt off in a couple instances and made fools of themselves to win.
The winner of the competition gets a fun prize, too.
I told Matthew after it was over that he would have gotten farther if he had “won the crowd” like Proximo advised Maximus to do in Gladiator.
Instead, Matthew was the first one out, eliminated by Barbara. The youngest contestant got eliminated by the oldest judge. He was disappointed, but also kind of relieved….?
The contest went on. The two finalists ended up being the Kentucky “porn stash” guy and the guy from Utah (who we subsequently learned was gay) and the younger guy from Iowa. But the women seemed to like the guy from Utah the best. The crowd was going crazy. The finalists did all sorts of stunts to try and impress the judges.
It was all in good fun. Tristan was a good host. Another priceless memory from the Star of the Seas.
Quiet time, then Giovanni’s for an early dinner.
Shari said she wanted to find the “Adults Only” jacuzzi and sit there for a bit. I enjoyed the air conditioning and did a little work back in the room. Matthew went to Playmakers to play pool, which he said was challenging because of the rocking of the ship.
And took a snooze for 35 minutes. A nice break. The stateroom bed was comfortable enough.
We got dressed for dinner. We’d booked Giovanni’s at five to leave time to get to our show for the evening. We were seated promptly and approached by our waiter, Arnold from India, who spoke so softly he was hard to hear with his accent. Arnold explained that we could’ve had a pizza for an appetizer, which Matthew did. I chose a Caesar salad which was fresh and delicious. I loved the croutons. Probably the best of the cruise.
Based on Matt from Royal Caribbean blog’s recommendation, I selected the Chicken Parmigiana, which I wanted to compare to the night before in the Main Dining Room.
Matthew had lasagna. He compared it to the MDR version as well. Both were very cheesy and “you’d better be ready to chew.” Matthew said the Giovanni’s version had stronger Italian seasonings and more flavor. I thought the Giovanni’s chicken parm was as good as the night before, though I wouldn’t call it superior. The chicken in the MDR seemed tenderer than in Giovanni’s which was a little drier. Flavor was comparable. The Giovanni’s version came with spaghetti, too.
Ordering a specialty pizza might have tipped the balance in favor of Giovanni’s, but the MDR version of the Chicken P was just as tasty and satisfying without the Specialty restaurant price. The meal was so filling that we decided to skip the dessert course. Having had a specialty meal for brunch and then dinner, it’s just too much food.
Specialty restaurants are what they are. They’re supposed to be “special” apart from the MDR, with more private tables, presumably more individualized service and a more specialized atmosphere to mimic the region where the food comes from.
Would I go to Giovanni’s again? Probably. But I would maybe try some of the other specialty eateries first. And lean towards the MDR if we wanted to save money and devote it towards off-ship excursions, etc. The experience might have been enhanced with wine with dinner. May try it next time.
The Back to the Future show was scheduled for 8:30, so we had plenty of time after dinner. Went back to the room and changed into more comfortable clothes. Shari took the second bottle of wine to have it open. She went to the Schooner Bar and they charged her a $17 corkage fee. Stupid, because that’s about what the wine bottle costed in itself. Bethany had gotten it done for free at Playmakers. Lesson learned.
***Tip*** Don’t forget to bring your own wine opener!
Enjoyed the wine on the balcony, seeing the vastness of the ocean and wondered how far we’d gone and how far we had yet to travel. It’d been a long day. Got a little tired, which didn’t bode well for enjoying the “main event”, the Broadway-type show on the ship.
We also didn’t leave enough lag time for the show. By the time we reached the Royal Theater, there were no blocks of seats open on the lower level…
Hint: If you’re on a mega-ship like Star of the Seas, you need to leave sufficient time before the shows to pick out good seats. This wasn’t true on other ships, though we’ve made the mistake of thinking that since we already had ticke
Planet Earth is actually located in Central Park.
ts that we’d have a decent selection of locations. Not true. Especially with a group of four of us.
If you have two, it’s probably doable to get there close to showtime. Otherwise, make sure there’s a window for the production shows. Especially the big ones. Nobody really liked “Cats” on Oasis of the Seas. That might’ve been an exception.
Purchasing “The Key” also could alleviate the problem, since “Key” holders have a reserved seat section. Something to think about for future voyages, especially since “The Key” comes with Wifi included, no small consideration.
Back to the Future Show, a trip down memory lane, but the original is hard to beat
Like all of Royal Caribbean’s shows, “Back to the Future, the Musical” was visually impressive. We were warned ahead of time to not take pictures or video. The theater was mostly full. We sat in the back row on the upper balcony. The show began right on time. There were many things in common with the original movie, even though it’s been over 40 years since the Michael J. Fox version hit the theaters. The DeLorean doesn’t look so space age any longer, more like a precursor to Tesla. I doubt many in the audience who weren’t familiar with the movie understood the references contained in the dialogue, but for us, it was just like going home again.
Unlike the movie, it seemed like the central characters in the stage version were George McFly and Doc Brown. The Biff character had longer-type hair. The Goldie Wilson character had his own musical number. Was that a play on political correctness?
The line about Ronald Reagan being the president was changed a bit in this stage version. “Who is his vice president?” In the movie it was, “Who is his vice president, Jerry Lewis?” In the musical version, it was, “Who was his vice president, Donald….” The audience laughed. “Donald Duck?”
It occurred to me that Back to the Future doesn’t work nearly as well as a musical as it did on the big screen. Of course, there was “Power of Love” in the stage version, and Marty did his Chuck Berry guitar solo during the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance romance. One of the highlights of the show. A number of the songs weren’t familiar, however. I think the playwrights assumed that people would know the story well.
The actor who played George McFly was very good. So was Doc Brown, though the guy who played Brown in the stage version was much younger than Christopher Lloyd was. It was hard to make the connection. Part of the humor of the Doc Brown character is he didn’t look all that different from 1985 to 1955.
The Goldie Wilson bus boy/Mayor character was given a more prominent role in the stage version. Not sure why, other than an attempt by the creators to bring the production “up to date” with today’s notions of “inclusion”.
The storyline followed the movie, for the most part, with a number of key scenes left out. The interaction between Marty and Biff seemed stretched. The guy who played Biff wasn’t as masculine/tough guy bully — as the real thing. And not having Michael J. Fox as Marty… he couldn’t be replaced.
The Lorraine character was pretty close to Lea Thompson’s performance as were Marty’s brother and sister. Especially the sister. The brother character wasn’t tall and awkward like in the movie.
Overall impression? Back to the Future, The Musical was a worthy attempt, for sure. But I enjoyed the SOL show the previous evening more. The SOL program was over-the-top good, though I wasn’t able to follow the storyline in the ice show. It didn’t matter.
I’m pretty familiar with the “Back to the Future” story, and although the producers did a very good job in trying to get it to translate to the stage, their live action redo didn’t work nearly as well. A few of the characters seemed mis-cast too, particularly Biff, who wasn’t all that convincing as a bully. And Marty’s brother. Having the story revolve around George McFly was an interesting twist, and the actor who played George was particularly good. He followed Crispin Glover well.
The show ran close to two hours and began at 8:30. I think the dark theater somewhat lulled the people to sleep. But the finale was good. The ensemble cast sang “Power of Love”.
There was a good bit of dancing in the stage version. Not sure if it worked, either, though the actors and dancers did their best to interpret the instructions.
Overall, “Back to the Future” was definitely worth seeing, but I wasn’t “wowed” by the performance. I’ve heard the Royal Caribbean powers-that-be were thinking about replacing “Cats” on Oasis of the Seas. That might be a good thing. “Back the Future” would be too expensive to replace. What would they put in its stead?
Note: I enjoyed “We will Rock You” on Anthem of the Seas more.
After the “Back to the Future, the Musical” stage show
It took several minutes for the sizable Royal Theater crowd to dissipate. The Star of the Seas smart elevators are awesome, but they were jammed. We ended up sharing an elevator with an obviously intoxicated couple, which they didn’t really attempt to disguise.
The deluxe drink package motivates people to copiously imbibe to justify the expense. I actually enjoyed having to ration our wine for the entire cruise and order non-alcoholic drinks, which made it more enjoyable in most ways. But there certainly was a party vibe on Star of the Seas headed to the southern Caribbean. People stayed up later. Drank more.
I saw more of the late hours happenings on this cruise than previously. A good many people were into the late-night entertainments, including some kids. The late-night entertainment is there if you want it. Or go back to the stateroom and watch TV as the day fades. Both enjoyable.
Back at the room, we crashed after the long day. The cruise wasn’t even half over yet and we’d already done and seen so much. Cruising is awesome!
Going back to “regular” elevators after the Star experience
I must admit, when we first boarded the Star of the Seas and approached the elevators, I wasn’t enthused about the “smart” system that was offered. There were a couple very large sections for elevators and a couple touch pads to touch your desired floor before being directed to a “Letter” of the elevator we’d be taking.
Once on the elevator, it would indicate which floor – or floors – were next. There’s not getting on the thing and touching anything except the door closed button. It was strange and unfamiliar and I figured it was something like GPS, which has its benefits but also its drawbacks from using regular old paper maps or the video display screen on your car.
But after a time or two using the “smart” elevators, I realized the genius of them. There isn’t one designated elevator or block of four or five or six to select from. The system has 18 or more to choose from. The wait for the elevator on Star of the Seas is never longer than about a minute, and once on the elevator, it already knows your floor. Genius!
This isn’t to say Star’s elevator system was perfect, but it was really good. Yet another innovation from Royal Caribbean that enhances the experience.
Next up – Puerto Rico
Star of the Seas Caribbean Vacation Blog, Part I – Coming face to face with a giant —
https://www.golfintheusa.com/star-of-the-seas-caribbean-vacation-blog-part-i-coming-face-to-face-with-a-giant/
Star of the Seas Caribbean Vacation Blog, Part II – Private Beach paradise and the best ice show you’ve ever seen — https://www.golfintheusa.com/star-of-the-seas-caribbean-vacation-blog-part-ii-private-beach-paradise-and-the-best-ice-show-youve-ever-seen/