That's What She Said: Star Trek Cruise

Today we docked at Costa Maya, Mexico. Siobhan, Rodney, and Kip went on a shore excursion to see Mayan ruins, showing us a photo of the steep stairs they were allowed to climb if they wanted to (looks pretty steep!):

John and I opted for a more leisurely morning, recharging for the last bit of excitement ahead. We were happy to have time to check out the remaining hallways with decorated doors. Here's a colorful United Federation of Planets flag:

He he...

I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I really like this Vulcan motto:

A neat piece of art:

Wow, this is extensive - our cruise route, depicted in Star Trek form (they also had a poster with the cruise ship schematics). Not sure how they created it all, but it's pretty amazing and detailed:

This one lights up :)

Well played:

More funny memes, and I especially like the Sulu one in the lower right:

The one on the left made me laugh out loud:

Yesterday, all my tribbles seemed so far away... also note "Spock's shoulder and neck massage":

A brief diversion on deck 7 - the game room, finally with time to stop and look at everything. Check out the 3D chess board!

Oops, more diversion, somehow we managed to eventually break away before it was completed:

Even the ship's sushi menu has been updated for this week, including Hikaru Sulu's "I Was Born There" Roll:

OK, back to the doors, let's finish these up! Wow, that's creative:

Nice use of the peephole:

We always took the stairs (had to get SOME exercise) but I couldn't resist one ride on the turbolift to take photos:

John and I still had time to walk off the ship and look around the tourist area briefly:

The ocean is quite pretty here, beautiful blue and with waves crashing on rocks over yonder:

I've never seen this before! Tiny piranhas that nibble on your feet - and people pay for this because...? I guess if I really wanted to know I could have asked, but I was happy they didn't mind me taking a photo of their feet:

View of the little village, including the pole where they perform an acrobatic show like Mom and I saw in Mexico City (which is super cool, if you ever get a chance to see it):

The colorful tower we climbed up for the view:

We happened by a little booth where I caught a glimpse of a Star Trek symbol and had to go back to check it out. They were taking Mexican coins and creating designs, and normally I wouldn't think much about it. But the previous week one of the passengers told them about the Star Trek cruises (there were 2 back-to-back this year) and the guy took the idea and ran with it. He told me that Star Trek fans spend money like no other tourists - that could be true!

So now I have this wonderful necklace:

Back on the ship, ready for a full evening of activities!

John went to see the Scopes Monkey Trial since he missed it the first time, and I sat in for a while and appreciated it all over again.

Then up to 13 Forward to listen to Max Grodenchik tell some stories. The best part was when he coaxed Armin Shimerman to join him on stage for a rendition of the Ferengi's "Rules of Acquisition".

Someone captured a version of this duet previously:
https://youtu.be/lNo6n3NhDO8?t=1m42s

The highlight of the evening - Brent Spiner sings! He was amazing - I had no idea he was that good. We waited in line to get front row seats, and it was so worth it. I basically sat with my mouth open for a few minutes before I realized I should close it.

We knew he could sing, and here's my favorite Star Trek clip to demonstrate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKFMWhxJask

His performance on our ship was even better, and watching it in person was very special. Thank you Brent!

Jeffrey Combs, Phil Plait, and Robb Pearlman starred in a game show called The Liar's Club where one person gave the correct definition of a strange word and the other two made something up - and the audience had to figure out who was telling the truth. Three comedians playing off each other, it was funny (and I suppose I might have learned a bit of vocabulary, except the only thing I remember is that one word was related to an eskimo).

Ethan Phillips did another standup routine, tossing out jokes with his hilarious, somewhat halting, delivery. He got some help from his friend Robert Picardo (the singing doctor) and a few people from the audience doing callbacks to a Rat Pack joke about Hortense that had gone wrong the previous night and also yelling "9:30" whenever Ethan asked what time it was (the show started at 9:30). All in all, lots of laughter and giggles.