Fantastic Voyage 2018 Diary: Day 4

Let me share a very important piece of advice for potential Fantastic Voyage travelers. Do you currently own just one or two pieces of luggage? Are you one of those light packing, ‘I don’t want to pay baggage fees’ type of people? Because if so, you’re going to have to make some changes. One, have a baggage fee budget. You will likely need to check at least 5 bags because how else will you be able to transport the elaborate costumes you’ll need for the various theme nights? There’s White Night, 70’s Night, Pajama Night, the Sneaker Ball and for the purposes of today’s recap, Mardi Gras Theme Night.

But first, Jenifer Lewis. People, if you have a chance to see this lady on her book tour, make sure you go. But one disclaimer – Jenifer can cuss and she holds nothing back on her tour for her recent memoir, The Mother Of Black Hollywood. Lewis’ event was supposed to be part of Sybil’s Book Club event, but God bless Sybil for attempting to host.

Jenifer cannot help but take over any event she’s part of and that’s what she did as she encouraged and sometimes even heckled the audience. She shared hilarious, and touching moments from her life and her book, including how she finally accepted her bipolar disorder diagnosis. She also brought one of the ship’s servers onstage to sing his favorite song, which happened to be ‘No Woman No Cry.” It was Jenifer Unfiltered and despite the profanity, the audience loved it. More on Jenifer later.

With numerous daytime events to choose from, those onboard the Carnival Breeze had to consider their options. There was the HBCU Day Party and as you can imagine, that was something to see as the alumnae from the nation’s Black colleges and universities showed up and showed out in their best gear.

One of the more controversial panels was the “What Men Really Think When It Comes To Beauty” with Bobbi Brown makeup artist Tia. Dwele, Chris Paul, Huggy Lowdown and Raheem DeVaughn joined a panel that debated whether or not women’s beauty practices are truly attractive to men. Jacque Reid and Rodney Perry weighed in from the audience with Jacque taking the position that women should be able to what they want and Perry saying that men just really don’t care that much but if there are extreme changes, he just wants to get a little notice.

If you missed all those and needed a guide to gambling, Claudia Jordan‘s seminar promised to help you win at Blackjack. If that wasn’t your twist, you could have joined the Line dancers in the Atrium who were taking their dancing extremely seriously. Never get between a line dancer and her fan, OK?

On to the night and what a night it was. Mardi Gras was the theme and remember those baggage fees we discussed? Well worth it, as some of you did not come to play. If I hadn’t been there and seen it with my own two eyes, I would not have believed it. Let’s start with Tom Joyner as King T’Challa and Jenifer Lewis as the leader of the Dora Milaje and Huggy Lowdown as M’Baka. Aside from that, our cruisers are creative, ya’ll. From what looked like Mardi Gras outfits to the Hidden Figures to the Clovers from Bring It On to the Zulu Queens to Rick James and Teena Marie and the Obamas.

If you’ve ever been to a second line in New Orleans you might have some idea of the celebratory atmosphere on the ship. I am sure that some nice lady that you see every day at your local post office or some gentleman that drives the bus you take to work every day, was out here in a costume that you’ve never expect them to have in their closet. I really do want to know where y’all getting these outfits, though. Help a sister out for next year.

We can’t forget the ladies who came from Japan to get on the cruise. There’s a mother, a daughter and their cousin and they have charmed the entire ship with their embrace of Black music and culture. Unfortunately, with the language barrier, we’ve only been able to find out that they’ve been trying to get on the cruise for a decade because they love Tom Joyner and music!

Did you think the night was over? Have you been reading? Nope. When the Mardi Gras parade ended, the Eric Roberson concert was starting in the Ocean Breeze stage. Oh, and the mighty O’Jays and the Isleys were in Ovation Theater. People, if you haven’t seen these older groups live, do yourself a favor and check them out when they come to your city. You might think it’s not your generation, but you’ll be surprised to find yourself singing along. When you’ve been around forty plus years, you damn sure know how to put on a show.

2 a.m. – Aside from the ongoing jam in the Atrium, there was another concert. The Jones Girls, EnVogue and SWV. The Jones Girls may be down to Shirley, the last surviving sister, but her background singers, reportedly her nieces could for sure form their own girl group. EnVogue looked and sounded great and of course, the Sisters With Voices took it back to the 90’s with their fiery rendition of their hits.

Next up: Jamaica…. and Anita Baker yaaaassssss! Check out our next recap to keep up with all that’s going on on the Fantastic Voyage 2017.

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