It's long so I will just start right off with the cut -

(I started typing this at the Newark International Airport where I had a 2 hour layover between flights. You would think in an airport of this size, the wireless internet would be free, as it was in Tampa and Manchester NH, but it's not! Geesh)

It's overcast and raining in Newark, and I am told the conditions are the same in NH. Toto, we are not in Tampa anymore!

I had been looking forward to this trip for literally months. Julie of EFO had told me about the cruise about a year ago, and I made my initial deposit back in May. With that sort of "lead time" it always felt a very long time away. But, with the change in my job situation, the timing of the cruise turned out to be absolutely perfect.

Back at Falcon Ridge in July, I was asking veteran Edhead Cruisers what to expect, and one person told me "you will not want to take a cruise any other way after this". He was right. The group totaled just over 100 fans, and I think I knew about 8-10 people from previous shows/festivals. I knew a lot more when we were back in port! It was nice to just about always find someone to eat with at breakfast and lunch. Still did not get to meet everyone in the group (and I even met two Edheads at the Florida Aquarium afterwards - the aquarium is right next to the cruise terminal and we were watching the next bunch of travelers board and walk around the decks of "our" ship.)

Many of us had cabins in the same area which created a bit of a dorm atmosphere. After arriving and hiding my bags in my room, I went off in search of other people wearing EFO shirts. Didn't take long to find people! Our first event was the evening of departure, an opening reception of sorts. There were a total of 4 official events including the shows, but there was much mingling and hanging out throughout the weekend, plus an unscheduled jam session on one of the decks after our port day (minus Julie who was resting her voice before the last show).

The ship was rather nice (not having anything in my experiences for comparison). I still do not think I ever really mastered getting around easily. Some places I learned how to get to quickly (food!) but I don't feel like I ever quite got the hang of everything location-wise. The staff were pretty much all very friendly and quick to help. I did some of the touristy cruise things like buying some of the photos that their fleet of photogs were always taking (pricey, of course, with their captive audience but I figure I do not know when I will do something like this again so....). For someone who tends to avoid being in photos fairly studiously, I was pretty relaxed about that this weekend.

We had two private concerts during the cruise, pretty much all requests made on slips of paper at the opening reception. The shows had entertainingly diverse set lists, going deep into the EFO catalogue. And I believe it was also my first time hearing their Schoolhouse Rock medley. Between the official shows and the Saturday night deck jam, I was pleased to hear my two requests (Jerusalem and Sahara). The down side to the shows was that the stage lighting for the room was not working so the combination of room lighting and the backstage fluorescents meant we could SEE the band, but I have no idea how the photos will look. Between that and shooting in a venue that listed from time to time, it was a unique photo challenge! And on Sunday, the show was at the same time as the Pats-Colts game. The "sports bar" was right next to the lounge hosting the shows, so there were often cheers floating through the doors.

Photographically, I kept myself busy mostly with the digital point and shoot. Between the silly first time cruiser "look at the pretty big boat!" stuff, Cozumel, deck/hang out time, and going to the Florida Aquarium after the cruise, I shot over 400 images on that. Got in almost 3 rolls on the fisheye and 3 rolls at the concerts. Never had time to pull out the pinhole camera and play with that at all. Took two waterproof disposables on the dolphin excursion so will be very curious to see those, too.

Random bits... the woman who ran the karaoke stuff was fairly well flummoxed by the Edheads. Julie and Robbie got up to do a very entertaining and slightly over the top "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" which brought the house down (especially among Edheads) but the DJ could not stop talking about how they walked off in different directions when they were done. Several other Edheads got up and did songs (NOT me - that would clear the room in a jiffy) and did well. The two winners of EFO karaoke did very well on their songs during the EFO shows, too.

There was another big group on board with a radio station( they had over 700 people). Made for some interesting conversations in the dining rooms when people saw our shirts. "Who is Eddie from Ohio?" (folk rock band) "Where in Ohio are they from?" (Virginia - which often stopped people short. They couldn't figure out how to respond to that). The people who wandered through the deck where the Sat night jam was happening often stopped and listened for a while.

OH! And Cozumel. I opted for one of the dolphin excursions. The description of the one I picked was a little vague, but I had the impression that we would have a "free swim" with the dolphins, just everyone swimming around and hanging out, I guess. Not many people signed up for the dolphin stuff which made it nicely not crowded. We did not get the free swim, but we did get to do some of the low key interaction stuff. As I posted before, I did get to kiss a dolphin which was way cool. There is also a "hug" (you hold your arms out in the water and it comes and lays on them on its side). We then swam out a little farther for a pull ride on the pectoral fins. The swells were actually fairly pronounced here so it was challenging to stay on our feet for some things. (this may have also caused the program for the day to change). I do know that some excursions for snorkeling were cancelled because of the rougher water. After going back to the ship to get some lunch I wandered around the main commercial street a little, in search of postcards. Getting past all of the many jewelry and liquor stores without being aggressively approached by merchants was challenging. I walked back to the ship on the beach side of the street to avoid it all afterwards. I was struck, too, at how beautifully turquoise blue the waters really are. I mean, it always looks pretty in pictures, but seeing for myself the difference between Caribbean waters and the green plankton-rich waters of the north Atlantic was neat.

The bad - it was too short! I wanted at least one more day for relaxing and hanging out. It was a TERRIFIC trip but it also just flew by. And, I lost my spare digital camera battery. I think it fell out of my pouch on the next to last night, but nothing ever turned up at lost and found, and we were leaving that deck (informal jam session night) as the cleaning crew was arriving so it probably just got thrown out. :-(

Still cruisin' - I also still sort of feel like I am ON the ship. The waters were a little bit rough so we could feel the ship list and lurch from time to time. I still feel like I am compensating for that. My head still seems to think it "senses" some swells/listing and I feel like I am constantly moving. It's a little bit disconcerting but otherwise not a problem. I think I am just trying to get back my equilibrium.

I know that pulling off these fan club cruises is a major undertaking with getting enough people signed up and finding dates to do it. But, I really do hope there is another Edhead Cruise somewhere in the future. I'd be the first to sign up for a street team to help rouse up interest and bookings.

Long as this post is, this really is just a highlight review. All in all, it was the break I needed to relax and do something completely new and different. Was nice to be in warm weather again (though it was windy the last couple of days on deck).

So, when can we do this again????

Ok - now that I am home and able to post... I am SO tired... Not a morning person does not begin to cover it, and yesterday I was up at 5:45, today at 4:20. And now, I get to babysit my nephews :-/ That will only be for about an hour, luckily.

Is it nap time yet?

Oh yeah - and when CAN we do that EFO cruisin' again??????????