Curve contributor Jenny Block shares her adventures from Olivia’s 20th Anniversary Western Caribbean cruise.
Well, I am back in my favorite Eames chair looking out on a gorgeous, sunny day. Wedocked at Cozumel, Mexico this morning and I am so excited to tell you all about the last twenty-four hours before we head out to explore.
After I signed off yesterday, we grabbed another quick snack and then headed over to the theater to hear Olivia President and Founder Judy Dulgacz talk about the history of Olivia and to show a retrospective film. The story is incredible really.
In 1973 she started Olivia Records because there was simply no home for women in music. One night at an Olivia artist concert, an audience member said to Judy, “Wouldn’t it be great to have a concert on the water?” And Olivia as we now know it was born.
It made me feel really grateful to all of the women who came before me and made it possible for me to live my life as I choose openly and safely and without shame. I know, I know. The fight’s far from over.
But, man, we sure have come a long way. After the talk, Jemma and I sat by the pool and took in the scene. We couldn’t snag a beach chair to save our lives. So we settled on dining chairs and worked away on the daily trivia quiz sheet.
We grabbed some sushi in the dining room just in time to get to the theater for sexology giant Dr. Carol Queen’s workshop, “Get Your Buzz on Board or Your Dildo on Deck.” In case you don’t know who Queen is, she’s the one who brilliantly started the sex ed dept at Good Vibrations, the San Francisco-based premier sex toy shop (known for being super lesbian friendly, by the way).
She’s the author of a number of books, the Founding Director of the Foundation of Sex and Culture, and is currently creating a script for a new series of sex ed movies.
“I’m totally feeling the Julia Child here,” Queen joked as they opened the curtains at the front of the theater to reveal the test kitchen in order to make more room in the overflowing theater. I gotta tell you, it was quite a sight with all of the toys laid out like ingredients—dildos, vibrators, harnesses, you name it, with shiny stainless counters and high end appliances in the background.
Queen talked about why sex toys, particularly vibrators are such a happy thing – because they can get the job done, no matter what, and emphasized that they are nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. There was as much laughing as there was learning and an hour went by in a snap. After that, the entire crowd raced to buy sex toys and borrow porn. My kind of afternoon!
I also had the pleasure of meeting Curve’s own Dipstick and am so looking forward to having dinner with her tomorrow night! Love her already!
We went back to the pool and managed to score a few beach loungers where we took in the rest of the afternoon sun – under a closed roof. It was too cold to go “topless” that day so the ship closed up the glass roof and suddenly it was sunny and seventy!
Before we headed back to our room to get ready for formal night, we bumped into our new friends Amber and Sharon who looked beautiful in matching white dresses. They had taken part in that afternoon’s group commitment ceremony.
They were absolutely glowing, especially Amber who is five months pregnant. Congratulations, girls!
We got all spiffed up for the ship’s formal night and met Denny and Evie for a hilarious comedy show with headliner Vickie Shaw. Oh my God. She is an ex Southern Baptist Sunday School teacher who looks like a classic, Texas debutante but she can tell a story that will make your jaw drop and stomach ache with laughter. I think it took me a full hour after to recover!
We had a great dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room. I opted for osso buco and shrimp cocktail. My girl went for a Caesar salad and pasta and for dessert it was Heath bar frozen yogurt.
Yum! Once again, I’d love to tell you that we then hit the bar or the casino or the dance floor. But I’m afraid it was straight to bed after that. There was no keeping my girl awake and after an hour of TV, I too was down for the count. Good thing too because today promises to be a big one!
We’ve already finished our two-mile walk on deck and once I sign off here we’re headed to check out downtown Cozumel. Looking forward to seeing what the city has to offer and to telling you all about it come tomorrow.