December 31st
Happy New Year!
Before I talk about how New Years was celebrated, I want to mention our experience at the Platinum Photography Studio. (By the way, the professional shots on this page were NOT the ones from the Platinum Studio. Those will be in black and white.)
Earlier in the cruise we had decided that we wanted to have a special photo taken of the two of us. Having celebrated our 25th anniversary earlier this year, and since we are in the middle of remodeling (updating) our cabin, we thought it was an ideal time to try to get a black and white picture of the two of us to hang in our bedroom.
These sessions are by appointment only and only 30 sessions are normally available on this cruise.
Our photographer, Milos, warmly greeted us at the private studio located all the way up on the 19th deck. We had previously spoken on the phone, and I had let him know that we were interested in a casual, fun photo that represented “us”. Nothing formal, just relaxed.
He asked us to tell him about ourselves, how we met, our love story. I am such a sentimental fool, that I had to be careful to not tear up. Having my mascara running down my cheeks was a bit too casual of a look…
Eventually we eased into the photo taking part. With soft lighting, a lot of laughter, and a comfortable environment, we HAD FUN!
And then the hard part – we would have to wait until the next evening to see the results.
OK, back to celebrating New Year’s Eve on the ship.
The ship was decorated throughout to help get everyone in the mood to celebrate. Having a before dinner drink, we started the evening.
Starting out our festive evening
It was our final formal night, and the dinner included Baked Alaska on parade at the end. Strange though, it was not offered as a dessert.
A production show, “Blame it on the Boogie” was presented in the Princess Theater. It was cheerful, the music familiar, but the dance quality was not quite as professional as some of the other production pieces we have watched. Maybe I have been watching too much “So You Think You Can Dance”, and have become more of a dance critic 🙂 But after saying that, I have to give them loads of credit that they are performing at sea, on a moving ship, and sometimes with stormy seas!
Blame it on the Boogie set
Running across Susan and Roper, we decided to find a quiet lounge where we could visit and wait for more of the celebration activities to get into full bloom. The lounge right next to Share restaurant was ideal, until we were invaded by the kids club having their own get-together. On the other side of the coin, I was so happy to see that the kids had been corralled and were having a fun, safe time.
Out on the main deck, the place was starting to hop. In fact, we were surprised to find so many still up, as normally, on other nights, by 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. the ship had started to wind down. The DJ was pumping out tunes and the crowd, young and old were dancing all around the pool.
Out on deck around the pool
We ran into Mark and Terry who we had met on the Santiago walking tour and then toured Valparaiso together. We were happy to able to wish them a Happy New Year.
By 11:15, we moved inside to the main atrium. The dance floor was PACKED. But I did not let that derail me.
The central atrium
Even the stairways were filled to capacity
Forging ahead, Susan and I found a (kind of) pathway to the center. I would have been fine, except I somehow managed to trip on some poor ladies foot (stepped on it I’m afraid), and ended up landing on the arm of a chair. Tim swears that I landed in some guys lap, but that is not my recollection, lol.
Susan and Roper
For the next 45 minutes we swayed to the music, did a terrible “YMCA” deconstruction, shimmied and shook with the best of them.
Tim and Joanne pretending to be able to dance
There was a large net strung up on the ceiling that was filled with colorful balloons, and a large big screen TV that showed the countdown process.
Watching the final countdown, cell phone cameras at the ready!
At midnight, the net was opened and we were drenched in balloons.
The balloon drop
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Raining balloons
A fun and memorable way to bring in 2018!
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful for so many amazing experiences that we have had the opportunity to share throughout 2017. Our friends and family are our greatest treasure and continue to keep us grounded and in touch with what is truly important in our lives.
We are especially thankful to those of you who have faithfully followed along, and left comments and/or encouragement.
Our New Years wish for all is for peace, tolerance, equality, vibrant health, love, happiness, prosperity, wisdom and laughter.
May you all find someone special to hug and reflect on the many blessing you have.
I honestly do not know where our travels will end up taking us in 2018. Of course this trip is not over, and we still have a stop in Montevideo, Uruguay, before disembarking in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Then after a few days on our own to explore, we will be joining an Intrepid tour and heading off to Iguazu Falls and eventually on to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
We hope you will join us.
A Note From Abroad 
I felt like I was right there with you, and I had a wonderful time. 😃
I sure enjoyed all the photos of this night, and especially love the “raining balloons” shot.
What a great New Years Eve celebration!!! 🎉
I am SO curious. 🤔🤔🤔
How did Milos’ black and white photos turn out?
Thank you for sharing your travels with us. 💖
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brenda, we ended up getting five pictures – one of each of us, plus three of us together. They will be sent to our office, so I don’t have anything to share yet. We were very pleased with the end results and felt that he captured a bit of us and our love story. All together, a fun experience that although pricey, we felt like it was worth it to commemorate a special time in our lives.
LikeLike
Sounds like a great time!! Happy New Year and all the best for 2018!!
LikeLike
Thank you Darlene. Warm wishes to you as well!
LikeLike
What they said! Happy New year!
LikeLike
And the same back to you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the picture!! Happy New Year to both of you!!
LikeLike
Thank you so much Marie. May 2018 be a GOOD year for us all…
LikeLike
What a wonderful way to bring in the new year. 😀
LikeLike
Yes it was!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another great post! Enjoy reading about your adventures! I am glad that you black and white photos turned out well (I do not think you would have bought them if they didn’t). Wishing you more enjoyable days on your cruise! Can’t wait to see what each new day brings! Happy 2018!
LikeLike
I’m looking forward to getting the black and white photos after we get home and sharing them. Happy 2018 to you as well!
LikeLike
Oh, your posts are so much fun to read! It looks like it was a memorable evening and the photo shoot sounded like a great experience. You two are so adorable by the way!
LikeLike
Thank you so much! You made me grin from ear to ear!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How fun! Happy New Year!
LikeLike
Thank you Sandra – and Happy New Year to you as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a great way to celebrate the New Year. Would have loved to see you 2 dancing and the fall into the lap of that gentleman. HAHA
LikeLike
Sorry second sentence should read “Would have loved to have seen a movie of you 2 dancing and the fall into the gentleman’s lap. HAHA to funny and yes I believe TIm’s side of the story.
LikeLike
Hmmm, I think this is a male conspiracy going on here, lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Makes for a better story if you fell into a lap rather than a chair.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such fun! Now I’m dreaming of when we actually give up our rapidly decreasing Christmas/New Year’s family traditions, and start traveling over the holidays instead! Happy New Year!
LikeLike
Happy New Year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy New Year! The photos of the two of you are adorable, so I am sure the B&W pro photos will be amazing! The celebration looks like tons of fun too. 🙂
LikeLike
It is so out of character for us to get out there and dance, but we did have fun. The advantage of a well-packed dance floor is that there was barely room to sway and no one could see how bad we were
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Dance like no one’s watching….” 😀
LikeLike