Just Say No

Okay, I’ve been trying to restrain from posting this blog, but I can no longer do so. Somewhere in Europe someone MUST take a stand. They MUST be willing to say emphatically NO to the men who come in to purchase a Speedo. I’m serious. I’m convinced that every single European man (and there are a large number of them on this ship, seemingly mostly German) wears a Speedo. And while it’s possible for some women (albeit very few) to look good in a bikini, it is impossible for any man to look good in a Speedo swimming suit.

Miami

We docked the ship last night in Miami. (Well, actually I had nothing to do with it. They never even asked.) As we approached Miami, I did run up to the Peek-a-Boo Bridge to see if someone was operating the ship. They seem to have returned from the bar. Docking the ship is an interesting operation. The harbor pilot comes in on a small boat from shore. Apparently the harbor pilot knows the ins and outs of that particular harbor better than anyone and comes on board to help the captain bring in the craft. From what I could see, he was about 18 years old, with long, shaggy hair and a baseball cap. He drank coffee and shot the breeze with the person who was bringing in the ship. Every once in awhile, one of the pilots would look through binoculars towards shore. (Looking for pirates?) Anyway, no matter what age they were and no matter how much coffee or other libation they had been drinking, they brought the ship into port successfully. Bill and I elected not to get off the ship as it was raining.

This morning we awoke early and caught the shuttle into South Beach. We walked the streets of South Beach (observing the strangest array of people and looking at the oddest things in the store windows) until lunch. We dined at Joe’s Stone Crab, a place our daughter-in-law had told us about. It was exceptionally good. We had so much food that we brought about half of it back on the boat.

Tonight we are eating at the Italian restaurant on board the ship. The food is supposed to be amazing, and it’s a long, slow, luxurious meal. That’s good, because after six hours of not eating, we will undoubtedly be starving! At this point, our stomachs are used to getting fed about every 45 minutes.

One note: Bill took off his watch at the beginning of the cruise, and brags about not caring about the time. However, he asks me what time it is about every half hour. I told him that doesn’t count as being carefree!

We will pull out of Miami at about 4 o’clock, and will begin our Atlantic crossing. Full speed ahead!

It's not getting old yet!

I woke up this morning very early (6:15) and did a three-mile walk on the jogging track. There were a few of us out there that early, and we were able to observe a beautiful sunrise while our friends and partners soundly slept. Each lap is one-fifth of a mile long, and as I came down my first straight-away, a young man was cleaning deck chairs. I said good morning, and he greeted me in return. No doubt, however, he was thinking, “This is a very short track and you’re going to pass me 15 times. Please, let’s not get this started.” I did, in fact, pass him 15 times but spoke to him no more.

Let’s talk a bit about food. The sheer amount of it is astounding. Thus far, it has also been very good. There are a couple of buffet areas where we have eaten lunch each day and breakfast yesterday. In the evening, we dine in the Carmen dining room at a table of seven people (the same folks each night). The table partner I find most interesting is a man named Tom, who appears to be about 65 or 70 years old. He lives in Salt Lake City, and is married. His wife, however, didn’t join him on this trip. When we get to Barcelona, he intends to travel around Europe for a number of weeks. I find it fascinating that his wife isn’t with him. She apparently had no interest on being on a ship for 13 days. This morning we ate breakfast in the Carmen dining room, and met new people. My favorite was a couple from Fort Worth, TX, who are getting married on May 13 in Paris. Romantic, no?

By the way, food is available someplace on the ship 24 hours a day. My personal favorite is the soft serve ice cream machine near the buffet restaurants. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry soft serve whenever you want it. Personally I want it very often, especially the strawberry. That’s why I walk three miles a day!

Our entertainment last night was a comic/ventriloquist who was unbelievably talented. Very funny.

For my Catholic friends and family: there is a priest on board and he offers Mass each day in Cleopatra’s Needle. Bill and I went this morning before breakfast. Funny to go to Mass in a lounge.

Our ship docks this evening at 6 p.m. in Miami.

Peek-a-Boo Bridge

In our orientation materials, and in our daily newsletter, we were/are all invited to come to what is referred to as Peek-a-Boo Bridge. The aforementioned bridge allows passengers to peek down into the operation room and observe the captain and his co-captain piloting the massive Voyager of the Sea. Bill and I took a walk to Peek-a-Boo Bridge today. We peered down into the bridge and, much to our consternation, found two empty chairs. Were they in the bathroom? Had they jumped into a lifeboat in preparation for an iceberg that was dead ahead? Were they sitting in the Sky Bar sipping martinis and talking about the good ol’ days when they used to actually put their hands on the wheel? The captain is hosting a champagne reception this evening and I plan on asking him about this particular concern of mine. (I wonder who will be captaining the boat during the reception. And after the reception when he has had eight or ten glasses of champagne.) Well, I have to sign off as I am late for the belly flop contest at the pool.

Noah's Ark

After experiencing the revolution of the seniors yesterday, we awoke this morning not knowing what to expect next. It was warm and somewhat overcast, and Bill heard on the weather news that there was a chance of tornadoes in the Galveston area. Somehow tornadoes and cruise ships don’t mix in my mind. We got dressed and called a cab to take us to church. Sacred Heart of Jesus was a very beautiful old church with creaky wooden floors, and we enjoyed the Mass very much. Our plan was to walk the 16 or 17 blocks back to our hotel, but instead, a very nice couple in a minivan who had also been at church asked if we would like a ride back to the hotel, since they were staying there as well. Random acts of kindness…. We were able to return the favor when, after waiting a very long time, our cab came to take us to the ship, and we were able to ask that same couple if they would like to share our cab instead of wait longer for another to show up.

It began to rain, and as the day progressed, the rain came down harder. By 1 o’clock, we were checked into our room on the ship and had lunch. By time we were finished eating, the rain was coming down quite hard, and Noah’s Ark came to my mind. Luckily, the rain ended shortly before we set sail at 5.

We met our dinner companions, with whom we will be dining over the next 13 days. They are a very interesting assortment of individuals, including a man from Salt Lake City whose wife didn’t accompany him because she didn’t want to be on a ship for 13 days, a gentleman from Scotland who shares our last name, and a couple from Kansas City, Missouri, who are devout Christians who didn’t want to attend the comedy show that followed dinner for fear it might include foul language (it didn’t, though the comedian invited us to a midnight show that he warned us was adult entertainment).

Despite the earlier weather, the sea feels very calm tonight, at least so far.

European Adventure Day 1

We were pleased to see our bags plunk onto the baggage carriage at the airport in Houston – the first leg of our big adventure. In fact, one of our bags was the very first one out! So far, so good. Had that luggage gotten lost, I’m not sure what we would have done. As we waited for the shuttle that would take us to Galveston, our port city, we became obsessed with trying to remember who sang the song Galveston. This obsession, I fear, is a preview of things to come in the next few months. When we don’t have television, friends, or family to distract us, I’m afraid we will spend a great deal of time trying to remember useless things (now what was the name of that boy who played the Karate Kid?), and competing to be the first to come up with the meaningless fact.

Our shuttle finally arrived to pick us up, albeit late, and we were on the road to Galveston, sharing the same shuttle with about 25 fellow travelers whose ages averaged about 73. Seriously. They were a party of retired airline personnel who were embarking on a cruise/reunion. Anyway, things were going fine until the bus driver pulled into another shuttle stop, waited a few minutes, and left when no one appeared. A few blocks down the road, the driver received a phone call from his dispatcher who informed him that he had left behind several travelers at the previous stop, and told him he had to go back. Unknown to us, our fellow travelers had apparently been quietly seething at the tardiness of the bus driver, and a revolt nearly broke out as the driver turned the shuttle around. They were yelling and demanding his supervisor’s telephone number. Several even called on their cell phones to demand recompense!

After settling into our hotel, we walked down the beachfront to a restaurant that overlooked the water, called Fish Tales. I’m not sure if we were just very hungry, but our meal tasted extraordinarily delicious. The fresh shrimp and oysters came right out of the Gulf of Mexico, which our table overlooked. It doesn’t get much better than that.

By the way, Galveston was sung by Glen Campbell. I don’t know who starred in Karate Kid.

Tick Tock

It is now April -- the actual month that we will be departing on our adventure. Yikes. In addition to my familiar sense of worry about our lengthy trip, I now realize that we have a lot to do to prepare for our departure on April 26. We need to determine how to pay our bills while we're gone. We need to conclusively decide what we're bringing (I see a practice-pack in my near future). I need to figure out what clothes (if any) I need to purchase prior to leaving. We need to begin thinking about what we can and can't live without for several months.

We just returned from a trip to visit my husband's mother, and I had my first experience in saying arrivederci for a lengthy period of time. It didn't go well. But it could have been worse.