Passenger Log from Emerald
Princess . . . Cruising Western Caribbean, Stardate April 2015
Agendas for days 1 through 7 of
the cruise are pretty much the same: wake up with plan to walk around the promenade
deck, have a sumptuous breakfast, find a perfect spot to relax at one of the
three pools on board, have a sumptuous lunch, go ashore when we are in port,
and then have a sumptuous, dressy dinner and see a show. In between all these
activities there should be naps.
I love cruising. I love floating
around the Caribbean with approximately two thousand complete strangers. And even
with so many fellow passengers, I am impressed that there are many times when I
feel like the only other people on the ship besides me are the captain and a
poolside waiter from Slovenia (or Latvia, or Moldova) who brings me fruity
drinks with paper umbrellas and bunches of cherries. It’s amazing to be served
dinner in an Italian specialty restaurant by a Russian girl named Anastasia, overseen
by a maître d’ from Pompeii. It’s delightful to chat with a real live Cuban in,
of all places, the cigar bar. It’s interesting to be seated for dinner between
a defense contractor who just returned from Saudi Arabia and a high school
principal from Columbus, Ohio.
A word about the captain. Even
though we had at least three written invitations left in our cabin to join him
(and a few hundred other people) for cocktails, we never did quite make it. But
I heard him make several announcements (in an attractive Italian accent), and I
saw his photograph at various points around the vessel. His bio on the website
said his hobby was boating. So I figured that since he apparently couldn’t get
enough sailing, he must know what he is doing up there on the bridge.
Although I’ve cruised before,
there is always something new to learn. This time I learned you should forget
about using Wi-Fi on your cell phone unless you plan to send AT&T or
Verizon, or whatever service provider you are indentured to, a check for about
a thousand bucks. You are in the middle of the ocean, people; there are no
towers close by. And, as a comedian at one of the shows pointed out, if you
miss your peeps back home so much, you should have brought them on the cruise
with you.
Going ashore is totally optional,
of course. Many passengers like scuba diving, or dolphin watching, or getting
their hair cornrowed. We prefer to save our energy for that walk around the promenade
deck and mainly go ashore only to shop. We’ve even been able to reduce that activity
to a bare minimum, since all the islands we visited sell similar stuff. About
being docked: there is something magnificent about seeing four or five ships anchored
in the azure water like giant behemoths spewing forth hundreds of tourists into
tender boats, or directly onto the pier of those islands that are accommodating
to their guests.
The evening entertainment on our
ship was fabulous, crammed with singers and dancers who would be at home on
Broadway. One of our leading lady soloists could give Alicia Keys a run for her
money any day. On one past cruise, I was awed by an illusionist, from India, who
stopped by our table at dinner and briefly introduced himself. A few seconds
later he moved to another table, from where he waved my watch in the air at me.
How’d he do that? What was even more
amazing was that the lady at the next table who had witnessed me getting ripped
off still managed to be relieved of her own watch.
Inevitably, day 7 rolls around.
It’s far too quick and we haven’t accomplished all we planned, particularly that
walk around the promenade deck. But it’s back to dry land for me, my focus now
on the desert as Patty and I begin our wrap-up of Palm Desert Killing, our latest Val and Kit mystery. Reluctantly, I
say good-bye to the beautiful Emerald Princess and all who sailed on her. I
take with me fond memories of the nice people we met, all the laughs we had, and
eating enough food to sink a cruise ship.
 |
| Roz and Mike on the Emerald Princess, giving the sign of Quatro Strong for a dear young man and close friend. |
No comments:
Post a Comment