Cruising to Nassau with Lindsey Stirling!

 Well, our journey to Florida is over, but man, was it full of excitement! After the last post we visited our friends Doug and Tanya in the Orlando area (Tanya used to live with my family when she came over to the US from Rrussia in the 90s) which was awesome! I played some chess with their son Michael, I did some Rubix Cubes with their son Michael, and we went to see one of the nearby springs with Tanya! Next time we will float down it, but we didn't have time this visit sadly. Because...

 
 
Our next stop was the Master of Tides cruise with Lindsey Stirling! Last September Julie and I went on a cruise (her first cruising) and saw Lindsey Stirling in concert (our first time seeing her live) and loved both things! So when we heard that she was hosting a cruise we signed up and boy howdy are we glad we did! The cruise was AWESOME!
 

 

We boarded the ship on Tuesday morning bright and early! It was a beautiful sunny day, and we got some good seats on the upper deck so we could watch the performance. Lindsey Stirling is a violinist. And a dancer. At the same time! Seeing her live is both great to listen to and amazing to watch! We thoroughly enjoyed it! But it wasn't just her on the ship, there were many other artists that we got to see! Some we had heard of, some new to us, but we certainly enjoyed them all. The hardest thing was to find time between performances to eat! But we did find time, and the food was very tasty!

 

Several of the performances were up on the main pool deck of the ship (the Norwegian Gem) but there were also several that were in the main auditorium. There were also some performances in the atrium of the ship (smaller area with less seating, but there is a restaurant seating area that overlooks the stage), and a few in the ship's lounge. We enjoyed them all! The featured artists included Hunter Hays, David Archuleta, Sam Tsui, Arkai, Black Gryphon, and Fitz and the Tantrums, as well as a comedy magician (Matt Marcy). Although we certainly enjoyed them all, my favorite (after Lindsey Stirling) was the group Arkai (https://www.arkaimusic.com/)! They are a violin/cello duo who play both with instrumental and electric instruments. They do remixed versions of classic songs as well as writing their own, and their performance was passionate, exciting, emotional, and soul moving, at least for me! We liked them so much we went back for their last performance on Friday!


Overall the cruise was an AWESOME experience, and I highly recommend you all go on the next one!

 
Sadly the cruise came to an end. It was wonderful, exhilarating, and exhausting, and so very worth it. After the cruise we went down to Key West, which was neat, but also really expensive, so we didn't stay long. We did see the southernmost point, only 90 miles from Cuba!
Then we headed northward! We are on our way to Nova Scotia! By way of New York, Boston, and possibly a few other places. We may have also done some mid-journey refrigerator repairs. Always fun to disassemble part of your home when you are on the road, but that is van life!

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