First day

Liberty of the Seas

Our cruise on July 18, 2010 did not disappoint us in any way. This was our second Freedom class ship and believe it or not, Liberty seemed just a bit better. Everything on this cruise worked out just great. From the port of Miami and the subsequent days that followed, everything was wonderful. The weather co-operated and except for one brief shower in Jamaica ( near the end of the day) we didn't see rain.

The shows were ..... well.... what cruise ship shows are. The ice show however, never fails to be great.

The MIXED NUTZ once again were the Quest winners. We couldn't have done it without some new recruits. Cruise Director Mike Swajkowski turned up the difficulty by adding some dance moves into the game. Without our young recruits we would have been losers for sure. Their energy put us over the top.

Okay, I'll step back now and start from the beginning of the trip.

We started off from Islip MacArthur airport on Long Island, NY. We took an early flight to Fort Lauderdale on the day before the cruise. We stayed at the Ramada Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood Beach, just minutes away from the airport.

We had the whole day to enjoy the sun, the sand, the waters....including the pool and hot tub.

This group consisted of my family and my brothers family. We strolled the broadwalk and lunched at a small place along the walk. Later that day, original Mixed Nutz George and Marie arrived, bringing new friends with them.

We had dinner that night at O'malleys right on the beach in front of the hotel. It was a beautiful night and we strolled again on the broadwalk. ( yes ...it is broadwalk, not boardwalk ...it is pavers, not boards) There was lots of activity going on all along. Many clubs and restaurants with music and bands playing.

The vacation is only starting and we have to get some rest for the next seven days. So it is off to get some rest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGNd_D-T7g

This is the link to the Mixed Nuts Cruise Video Parts 6 & 7 . Once on you tube you'll see all the other parts. More still coming.

We are getting ready to cruise on LIBERTY of THE SEAS on JULY 18th, 2010.

I have a new mini pocket video camera for this cruise.

BEWARE....lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9pU6kSSS4

This is a link to one of the Mixed Nutz Cruise Groups videos.

This is a composite movie of the group on both Serenade and Navigator.

MIXED NUTZ CRUISE GROUP

THE CRUISE VIDEO

I made a DVD of the MIXED NUTZ ON ADVENTURE. It was not a cruise in review but covered it well in our own perspective, covering what the Mixed Nutz did.

The entire video is too large for you tube so I have broken it up into segments. The first segment I posted online was a composite of the original Mixed Nutz on Navigator and Serenade. The next segment I'll post the link here as soon as it is on You Tube. Other segments will follow.

Next trip I'll have a Video camera rolling. I put that away for the last few cruises and have just been using a digital camera instead.

The Quest on Adventure of the Seas.

The Mixed Nutz formed one of the teams for the QUEST GAME which is held in Studio B. This is the multi use space that is used for Ice Shows / Quest / Theme Parties...etc

We were there proudly displaying our cruise group banner. My brother Bruce was one of the Captains. The other was Melissa. Our cruise Director MIKE S. changed up the game a little and even busted someone who brought items to the game. One of the early moments of the game was that each team was to do something to get there cruise director and staff's attention. That group would win that Quest. The groups on the other side were the first to go. The cheered..... some cheered and waved. Some made crazy noises. As it was coming to be our turn, a woman from another group sitting with us suggested. "Lets do "NOTHING". JUST SIT QUIET. Okay...let's try that. And we won that QUEST.

That was only the beginning. It got crazy after that. I captured much of the action in photos and a little video. In the end, THE MIXED NUTZ CRUISE GROUP won the quest. This was a highlight of the cruise DVD I made. Rich was named Ms. Adventure of the Seas. You had to be there. ( or see the DVD) It's too long for You tube.

More Trunk Bay pictures.

Trunk Bay, located on St. John, is a short boat ride from St. Thomas. It is a great place to snorkle. There is a marked underwater trail to follow.

I find this place to have the whitest sand a most crystal water of all the places I have been. I really enjoy just laying half in and half out of the water and soaking up the beauty of it all. To me it is worth the trip and time to get here.

Excursion to Trunk Bay in St. John

Welcome to the Serenade Folks who I thought might drop in.

As I had said, a few of your cruise mates on your up-coming cruise on Serenade are Mixed Nutz members. ( incidently..... membership is open to everyone)

Serenade was one of our past cruises. We had a great group onboard and had a load of fun. We bought a horse for the horse races thanks to Mixed Nutz member Dave, who had the knowledge on how to buy it for the lowest possible price. We unfortunately, did not win the owners race and therefore did not win our money back. BUT...we had fun! I'll post a picture of Nuts so Fast ( our horse) and how he was decorated.

I recently completed a DVD movie of our last Mixed Nutz cruise and added a featurette showing the Mixed Nutz of old. Great fun.....great memories.

The Mixed Nutz next cruise is July 18, 2010 on Liberty of the Seas. We are going west............again! We have new folks that never went on the western itinerary so by popular choice ( as it's done) west we go.

As an organizer of these events, I try to make each cruise as memorable as possible, even at my own cost. Although I'm doing it for others, I'm doing it for me as well.

If you have a moment, look back on this Blog. As you can see, I'm still writing about Adventure. I stopped to make the movie which was very time consuming but the results made it worthwhile. Someday I'll figure out how to get it ( it's large...33 min) connected to this.

Enjoy your cruise.

The start of the Adventure of the Seas cruise with the MIXED NUTZ CRUISE group.

The following few pictures are from the first day and night of the cruise.

Royal

Our Pre-Cruise dinner at Ajili Mojili in San Juan, Puerto Rico the night before the cruise.

The DVD of the Adventure Cruise is done!

And it came out great!

I have been sending it out in groups. I believe everyone who is or would be interested in receiving one will get one. It's too large to post to You Tube so it won't be found there. I could potentially break it up into segments and post it, but it's not the same without the intended flow.

It's not a cruise in review movie, but more like a sampling of what we all did. Plus I tried to add some amusement to it with catchy music and sub titles. In my opinion I think I created a neat video of the MIXED NUTZ on Adventure of the Seas, in particular the segment about "WHY WE ARE THE MIXED NUTZ." In addition I added a featurette about the MIXED NUTZ previous cruises and again with some catchy music to go along with it.

Here are a few pictures to get this cruise review started.

THE MIXED NUTZ ON ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS

The planning for this cruise began nearly two years before our departure from San Juan Puerto Rico on April 20, 2008. After many years of trying, Carol and I managed to get my brother Bruce and his wife Sharon to book this cruise with us. I suggested they try cabin 7388 and we'll take our tried and true 7688. So we booked..........and waited.
Along the way we had a very active thread on CruiseCritic. Our threadmates hailed from all points of the USA. Our group usually consists of East meeting West with a little South and North also. And not to forget the middle....we get them also.
Once again we planned to meet the night before for a pre-cruise kick-off dinner for all those who could be there the day before. We had a nice crowd for this get together. It was decided previously that "authentic" Puerto Rican cuisine was desired and a restaurant was selected. A private room was reserved and we all met there.
It was great fun getting a chance to meet face to face with folks we have been writing to and from for so long. We knew instantlly that this crew was going to be one to remember. Time has proven that. Of course not everybody stays in touch but enough of us do. We keep a Mixed Nutz thread active on Cruise Critic's Floataway Lounge. It is updated daily.
There is much to write about this cruise and I will get to it real soon. I have a photo project underway from this cruise and hope to finish it soon. When I'm done, everyone who has remained in contact will get a copy. When that is finished I will complete the write up of that cruise on this blog.
I have to hurry. The July cruise will be here before you know it.

It's a New Year!

It's a new year and it's been awhile since I updated this Blog.

We got a little side-tracked with the holidays. There was also the coming of our first grandchild on December 23rd. All that kept me away from the computer but now we are looking at the next cruise coming in July. This promises to be anothe big blast of a cruise. We'll talk more on this a little later following my next entry on past cruises with the MIXED NUTZ.

There is a lot to talk about yet so keep checking here to see the updates.