Galacticruise 2008

I know it's been a while since I blogged, but life has been chaotic!!

Good news is, I got to go on Galacticruise celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica!! AND, I got to go with one of my favorite Star Wars friends, Darth Jazzie!!!

Once I was finally able to get to Los Angeles having weathered Hurricane Ike, I had an absolutely fantastic time! Galacticruise 08 was a reality for me!! Woo hoo!

The first day and night, Jazzie and I spent on the Queen Mary, the haunted cruise ship hotel at Long Beach. It was beautiful!During the day Jazzie and I toured the hotel and a friend of mine that I've known for several years from Houston visited me there as he lives in LA now as an aspiring actor. It was wonderful to see him again!!

That night, we had our pre-cruise dinner where I met several wonderful people and dined with Terry Carter (of Battlestar Galactica fame - Col Tigh) and Austin Stoker (Beneath the Planet of the Apes).

After dinner, Tom DeSanto (Transformers, X-Men) showed us his concepts for Battlestar as he was planning to do before the reimaging was conceived. Afterward, some of us continued out on deck of the Queen Mary to take in the night view.

Next day, it was up and ready to begin boarding the Carnival Paradise! I had to take pics along the way, of course, including of a new friend I had made.

That night, after we were all aboard, we had our opening ceremonies and Q&A session with the entire panel of stars who had accompanied us on the cruise. Our guests included, Robert Feero (two episodes of Battlestar), Stu Phillips (composer of Battlestar music as well as other shows), Richard Hatch (of course, Capt Apollo/Tom Zarek), Austin Stoker, Terry Carter, Terrence McDonnell (writer), George Murdock (Dr on Battlestar), Sarah Rush (Rigel on Battlestar) and Denny Miller (one episode of Battlestar). They were all such nice, wonderful people!! We also had a cocktail party with the opportunity to mingle and have photo ops with the attending stars. Then it was our first dinner on the cruise! Great food, great company!

The next day, after staying up partying, of course, we were at Catalina Island! We took a shore excursion with Sarah Rush to see Catalina. It was just beautiful! I got a great shot of the ship while going over to the island. The things to do on the island itself were limited given the amount of time we had, but we still managed to have a great time!

That night, along with the first night, I went to see the ship's show with a friend I had made there. She knew some of the entertainment cast, so we had some fun with them both nights! We decided we were Justin's Angels (Dance Capt) just for fun!! LATE nights!!! LOL

Next day was Ensenada Day!! As it was also the actual 30th Anniversary Day of the original Battlestar Galactica, we had panels with the various stars all day and an excursion to Ensenada to Papas & Beer with the group. Afterward, we walked the streets of Ensenada to shop. Eventually, we made our way back to the Paradise for the remainder of the panels.

That night after dinner, one of my new friends and I did some partying with Michael Wehrhahn (actor) and Derek Conley (aspiring actor) and friends of Richard's. We had a blast!!! Stayed up AGAIN, way too late, but it was worth it!! LOL

Thursday of the cruise already and it was Richard Hatch seminar day. He gave a couple of great seminars which were really interesting!

That evening was our autograph opportunity with all the stars and, again, photo ops! I spent way too much money, but that was fine.

Before dinner, we took a group picture of all of us. We also had a chance for some pics of each other since it was all drawing to a close.

Dinner that night, being the last of the cruise, was a time for celebration, some good byes and plenty of pictures. Richard Hatch sat at our table that night which was nice. He happened to sit by me so I had the chance to talk with him at length which was very enjoyable. He also discovered while a pic was being taken that I am very ticklish and he kept tickling me!! Squeee!!

Afterward, it was time to have our last party! Several of us got together, danced, had fun and rocked the night away! Of course, general goofiness was a major ingredient! The last hoorah!

Next day was departure day. Final good byes and parting of the ways. I am so glad Darth Jazzie and I got to go together! The ship was beautiful, the steward provided Towel Pals everyday and it was just plain fun!It was really hard to get back to reality, but here I am!! And I finally have internet again after it was down for two weeks from Hurricane Ike! Yippeee!!!