Life on a Sea Day
Good morning:
As the Captain promised, the third sea day after San Diewgo we found out why the Northern Pacific is called the Devil’s Ocean. To avoid the worst of the waves from San Diego to Hawaii the Captain took a southerly route that was 300 miles out of the way . We only had 15 and 20 feet rollers which gave a roller coaster feel to the ship and reduced the passengers to either walking like drunks or 110 year olds. Moving from a place where one could hold on to another became a sport.
The place where the rise and fall was most pronounced was the two swimming pools on deck 8, one at either end of the ship. The picture above does not give justice to the waves that are created. Riding the waves that washed over the sides and then back into the pool was great fun. Like swimming in the ocean, but without sand in your bathing suit or any worry about riptides. One of my Road Scholar colleagues, watching from the deck became very alarmed when I disappeared in a trough. Now she "life guards" to make sure that I am safe.
If you get bored during sea days it's your own fault! There is so much going on that the biggest problem is deciding which thing to do. Besides our Road Scholar lectures, there are other lectures available for the entire ship which are very informative. Plus, meditation, tai chi, watercolor classes, bridge instruction, duplicate bridge, ukulele lessons and much more. The library is well stocked and staffed and there are excellent Windows classes. I learned a few things.
Every night there is a show in the Queen’s Lounge, a two story theater that seats many people. The shows are quite good. They last about 45 minutes and occur at 8P and are repeated at 10. Plus, there are three different bar/music venues each offering different music types. There is even star gazing on the top of the ship, but these cloudy nights have cut into actually seeing too many stars. Oh, and a casino, but during the day I feel sorry for the employees there wistfully hoping that passerbys will stop and play. I understand that the night is different.
TV is…. Sometimes we can get the BBC and MSNBC and sports channels. Always the ship channels that provide information about future cruises and the shops. Yesterday the satellite connection was out and there were only the shipboard channels… But if one is dying for in cabin entertainment, there are many DVDs to take out.
A few days ago they had a lei making class with orchids. I am now the proud possessor of an orchid lei that I made and which I don every night. I will keep this up until it dies of fatigue. I was told that ideally it would be closed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Given that plastic bags are in short supply on board, the instructor suggested taking a page from the Daily Times (The summary of news that keeps us sort of in the loop with happenings beyond our world.) and placing it under the lei then placing another page over it. The idea is to get the moisture in the refrigerator to condense and provide it with moisture.
Pardon the stupid look, I'm not good at selfies.
Every day about 12:30 the captain gives us the ship’s position and the distance from the nearest land, a meteorologic report, and an estimation of the wave size. When I get off the ship and look at it I think, “Wow, this is a BIG ship! To the ocean it is an acorn! As cruise ships go we are pretty small. The keel 27 feet under the ship which traverses the entire 778 feet length of the ship makes me secure in the knowledge that we are not top heavy.
I eat breakfast and lunch in the “Lido” which is a huge cafeteria on the 8th deck catering to many different food choices. The restaurant takes up most of the 8th deck except for a sea view pool in the stern and an indoor/outdoor pool in the bow. One can eat dinner in the Lido if one chooses, but I usually go to the formal dining room. Some nights are “gala” nights when you get really gussied up, or if you don't want to bother, eat in the Lido. On days when we have shore excursions with lunch, I often do the Lido for dinner because I am not very hungry. Our lunches on shore in Central America were representative of the food of the country and were excellent!
This is not a ship designed for kids. The only child aboard is about 15 months olds and belongs to a crew member and his wife. The average age of the passengers is probably about 75 and there are enough walkers, wheelchairs, and canes to qualify for a high-end nursing home. Judging by the overheard conversation I gather that many of the passengers spend their life cruising. Their conversation is about free upgrades, past cruises, and which one they will do next. Very seldom do I hear them talking about shore excursions. I do enjoy this as a way to see a little bit of the world without airplanes and packing and unpacking, but I can't imagine it as a way of life. To say nothing of my bank account not being up to the task.
Every afternoon at 3p we have a Road Scholar lecture. The current lecturer is a geophysicist, a specialty for studying earthquakes, volcanoes, and the geology behind them. Although we tend to think of “land,” as stable, actually it is floating on the earth’s mantle and core with earthquakes being the waves. Volcanoes are a release of pressure in the faults and stuff from the earth’s core. There are three different types of volcanoes, the type determining how it erupts, slowly with lava spilling out like Kilauea or with great fanfare such as Mt. St. Helens. And then there are cinder volcanoes which spew cinders when they erupt. This latter can be found in Colorado.
To keep us in the know about the day of the week, each of the four elevators has a carpet announcing the current day of the week. Last week, someone mistakenly put out Wednesday when it was really Saturday. That really threw some folks. Probably one of the Indonesian crew who speaks very little English. Despite limited English the crew are very friendly and always say hello.
Time changes going west means frequently gaining an hour. We gained an hour two nights ago and will probably gain one tonight. 25 hour days as a habit are interesting.