Little 2 day week-end cruise to nowhere

On November 21st, we went on a little 2 day cruise aboard the all new Celebrity Solstice. We were the first passengers on board this outstanding ship for it's inaugural 2 day cruise to nowhere. That's right. No where. In August, I booked the cruise for its phenomenal value - 320.00 per person for an upgrade to a verandah room. That is quite the deal.

The stateroom was nothing short of outstanding, even if it was your standard size cruise ship room. The decor was brand new, up to date and I was most impressed with the bathroom

The beautiful lawn up on Deck 15. Real grass!! You could putt a golf ball, play croquet and even learn how to play Bocce Ball. Best of all, you could just relax and watch the ocean.

One of the most interesting entertainment aspects of the ship was the Hot Glass show.

The Corning Museum of Glass had some of its glass blowers on the cruise and they put on a great show, making different blown glass objects... and they even gave away some of the items. I was not lucky enough to win.

To be perfectly honest, the food was a little lacking and the service needed a little more polish - and I am not talking about the silverware. You can choose assigned seating or you can go downstairs to the walk-in and sit anywhere service. We had the latter. Soup spoons did not arrive with the soup. Salad dressing did not arrive with the salad and coffee seemed to only be served with the dessert. Matt ordered coffee with his meal both nights... and did not get it until dessert. The food... was okay, but for the most part, I was disappointed with the menu options. I will tell you what. People may make fun of Carnival as a party ship, but they have the food and the wait service down. The same for the room steweards, too. And another thing lacking... NO ROOM SERVICE. I really enjoyed drinking coffee and eating croissant in the morning without having to leave the room. With the verandah, I was looking forward to that as well. Alas, no room service. Maybe they just did not have it for this sailing.

It was sad on Sunday to have to leave such a beautiful ship and get back to the reality of work, home life and all other things pulling at your sleeves. I would definitely recommend sailing on this lovely boat.

Ocala Shows 2008

November 15 and 16th were 2 days of RRCUS supported shows in Ocala, Florida. On Saturday, Finn was judged in the Puppy Sweepstakes by Ms. Denise Flaim. He won his class and took 2nd overall. His breeder handled him, but then Matt was also able to handle him in the ring. He did a great job, too. Finn also won his Bred By Exhibitor Class. We were thrilled.

Matt was also able to handle Ginny's 9 1/2 year old, Savanna, in the Veteran Sweepstakes. Here he is on Saturday. On Sunday, he actually won the class - and let me tell ya how proud he was. He raved about Savanna and how she handled him. She sure did seem like an old pro in the ring - like she had been showing all along, when really she had not been in the ring for 6 years!

Best of all, my friends, Val and Christine, came and saw Finn in his shows. They were the official dog handlers on the sidelines!

We stayed the week-end in Ocala and rented a room at the Ramada Inn, where many of the exhibitors were staying. We had a loooong day and the dogs were tired. Well. Not too tired that Beau did not let himself out of the room and they ran thru the Courtyard until someone spotted them and put them back in the room. We learned about this from a friend of mine when she got to the BBQ and told us my dogs had escaped. Thankfully it ended well. Beau can open doors hat have a latch handle... and that is what he did. Scared me to death. They were not the only RR's to get out - another breeder had her dogs out cruising the parking lot!! That ended well, too.

Let me tell you, Sunday was a 30 degree difference in temperature.

Poor Beau was shivering all morning til it warmed up again. Finn own his Sweepstakes class and he also won Bred By class again. In Open Dogs he did okay (on both days).

Here are pictures of his stash - and I even got him a stuffed lion.

Dog Show Part Deux

Today was Finn's second time in the ring. We headed to the Hernando County Kennel Club in Brooksville, Fl for the show today. He wons his Bred By class and then went in to Open Dogs and did 4th... I think

One thing that is apparent - we need to work on his attention. He has none right now and is soooo distracted. He looks all over the place when he should be focused on his task at hand. Oh well. He is just 9 months old. That will come.

The BIG show in Ocala is less than a week away. We have 5 days to work on this. Yikes