HOORAY for Sea Olympics 2008!

Last Saturday was a great day for the ship; and probably one of the best days at sea yet. My big event, the 2008 Summer Sea Olympics! Now the hype and anticipation leading up to this day of activity all began when the original day of Sea Olympics was moved from mid-July to early August. Then, after tough pre-Olympics competitions such as volleyball, Sea Jeopardy and Improv Night, the anticipation built and built; teams were anxiously awaiting the day after we sailed from Egypt to kick the other seas’ butts at a high level of competition. Too bad the night we left Egypt, half the ship came down with Pharaoh’s revenge. I won’t go into the details, but I am sure you can figure out what happened. The Arabian and Baltic Seas were both out to early leads going into the day, the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea (faculty/staff/lifelong learners) close on their heels.

Opening ceremonies kicked off at 10 AM in the Union, with Captain Kingston officially opening the games. The Sea Captains (a male and female elected from each sea), proudly carried in their Sea Flags to the cheers of their fellow sea mates. After Captain Kingston opened the games, yours truly (also suffering from Pharaoh’s revenge) reviewed the day’s activities and then we were off!

The first competitions of the day were the Scavenger Hunt, where teams had to collect items from their seas, utilizing the list and asked for items from each port. The Ping Pong tournament kicked off at 11:30, followed by the Water Balloon Toss on Deck 7 at 11:30. One of the highlights of the day came at high noon, time for the Synchronized Swimming competition, where each sea utilized the pool on the ship to create a 3-minute routine. The pool deck and upper decks were jam-packed with students, staff and faculty all taking photos and cheering on their teams. The synchronized swimming was hilarious! You saw it all—Speedos, women in swim caps, Disney themes to seas poking fun at the TAs. Things got really spicy when two women jumped into the pool with their life vests on. Too bad the staff captain was outside watching the games and immediately ordered everyone to return their life vests to their cabins. At the end of the event, the Dead Sea, on the strength of their Little Mermaid/Raining Men/Jump On It routine, took first place.

After the morning’s activities, the Arabian Sea pulled ahead to take first place overall, placing in all of the morning’s events.

Next up was the Tug-of-War and Limbo competitions, which were both hotly contested and both won by the Arabian Sea. Those folks were on fire! At this point, they looked unstoppable. My sea, the Mediterranean Sea, was holding their own in 4th place.

The Iron Chef challenge and Mashed Potato Sculpture were up next. Thanks to our amazing hotel and food and beverage managers, each team was supplied random items and had 45 minutes to create and cook a pizza, using the pool bistro’s pizza ovens. Each team was supplied dough and items ranging from peanut butter to white chocolate chips, soy sauce, pickles, and other random assorted items provided by the chef. After making a Thai peanut-ish pizza with soy sauce, the Baltic Sea took first place in Iron Chef. The Mashed Potato Sculpture contest was underway on Deck 5 outside. Each team was given a plate full of potatoes and had 30 minutes to create a nautical-themed sculpture. The Bering Sea pulled out a win in this category with the Dead Sea coming in a close second.

The hot hula hoop contest was next, a modified musical chairs. All teams had 2 participants and had to pass a hula hoop through their bodies. When the music stopped, whomever was left with the hula hoop was out. After a brutal battle, one of our own professors took home the gold medal. The basketball knock off competition was over in 10 minutes as a whiz from the Baltic Sea knocked all other participants off one after another.

Following the hula hoop, the art/sketch competition was being judged at 3 PM. Each student participating was given directions at opening ceremonies to draw/sketch their favorite staff, faculty or crew member on the ship. The work that was submitted was absolutely incredible. After judging, the work was posted in Tymitz Square (the social hub of the ship) for everyone to see.

Our Assistant Executive Dean, Randy Lewis, who has the fortune of making all shipboard announcements each day, announced results throughout the day and going into the last three events, it was still too close to call. The Baltic, Arabian, Yellow and Dead Seas were all in it to win it, it would be a race to the end.

Next up was the Greek God and Goddess Runway Toga Showdown, where each sea had a male and a female create togas, with the caveat that ship-issued items (shower curtains, bed sheets, comforters, towels or any linens) was strictly prohibited. David Pe emceed the event and did a fabulous job. The Union was packed to capacity as each sea strutted their stuff; and bared a lot of skin. My favorite team was the Dead Sea, in which Bill and Sue, two lifelong learners in their seventies and a husband/wife duo, strutted their stuff as the God and Goddess of Food and Drink; Sue wearing what looked to be two tablecloths, an Egyptian head covering with spangles and a bra (over the tablecloths!) made of lettuce leaves. Bill, also wearing a tablecloth and a lettuce leaf over his bits and pieces, strutted his stuff while also whipping around a wine bottle. Both were absolutely adorable and hilarious and received the best crowd reaction. At the end of the day, the Baltic Sea won the competition with their Russian-inspired looks. It was hilarious!!

The Sea Cheer/Sea Sing was immediately following. Kyle, one of my most adorable students and lead singer for the on-board band, ABandOn Ship (clever) emceed the events and did a fantastic job. Immediately after the cheers, we went straight into lip sync, which was a good time. One of the RDs dressed in drag as a Spice Girl, Marco did a spin on Enrique Igleasias, Justin showed off his dance moves with Cupid’s Shuffle and I somehow had the pleasure of lip syncing to Pimping All Over the World and David twirled a hula hoop to the song “Around the World.” The Union was again packed and everyone was having a blast.

At the end of the night, however, there could be only 1 winner: the Baltic Sea was able to squeak it out in the end and they will be the first people off the ship when we dock in Norfolk on the 22nd. The Arabian Sea placed second, Yellow Sea third, Dead Sea was fourth and the Mediterranean came in 6th.

With Sea Olympics officially closed, I immediately went to my cabin and crashed, hoping to rest up for Greece. Overall, it was a fantastic day and really got students involved and excited. I was pleased to hear nothing but positive comments and I chalk it up to a fabulous success!