Cruise: Part VIII

I have fallen behind in blogging about the cruise again. There are about two posts, including this one, to go! I hope to have it done by the new year, so I can do a post about 2012 and looking forward to 2013. You know, the obligatory looking-back-and-forward type of thing. Anyways, here is the vacation journal:



Entry Date, Saturday 11/24. Day VII 1:00am

I can’t believe I’m still up. So, the “White Hot Party” was kinda funish for about a minute or less. I only saw one of my hot tub friends despite many of them saying they would be there. It was an older crowd than what I was expecting and most of the people that were actually up and having fun were the crew. If you go to a party and the staff are running around dancing and hanging from the rafters while everyone else is sitting down, it’s probably going to be a lame party.

At more than one point, I noticed some of the crew being really unprofessional. They were hanging out by the bar area of the Spinnaker Lounge goofing off. I noticed some inappropriate grabbing of boy and girl parts from either sex and vulgar language. While I have nothing wrong with inappropriate grabbing and vulgar language (I really wanted to join in), I feel that the crew should set a better example.

I was also bummed out that the crew and staff were *gasp* having fun, while I was stuck mingling with some pretty boring people.

I was dressed like this:

It went over pretty well. I got some high fives, compliments, and stares from tons of strangers. It was a great conversation starter and opened the door for a variety of questions pertaining to what I was wearing underneath. I provided a bunch of intriguing answers and even lifted up the toga a few times to let people see for themselves.

Despite the general consensous from most people being in the positive, I did not receive any action from the ladies. Meh.

There were some ice sculptures at the party. I didn't have my camera (no place to put it in the toga), but I had taken these pictures earlier.

What should I do tomorrow? (Well, I guess, technically, tomorrow is today). Hot tub? Lounge? Tomorrow is the last day of the cruise! How do I want to spend it? I should probably make it an early night since I’m going to need to be up early the following morning to disembark.

(This is an abrupt change of topic…) Dancing on a moving ship is very difficult. I don’t know how others manage to appear somewhat graceful. I could hardly keep my balance let alone the rhythm. I did, to my dismay, discover that, not only do I know all the moves to the Macarena, I am quite good at it...

The part of the White Hot Party that was funish was a 20 or 30 minute set of group dancing songs: The Macarena, the Electric Slide, The Cha Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, the Wobble, and a few others. I like having some drinks and dancing in a group to songs that allow you to do the same moves over and over again.

I left the White Hot Party in my sweaty bed sheet and took to the main deck. Surprisingly, it was not cold out. I stumbled along the railing and watched the moon’s light dancing on the ocean. There was no one else out and I breathe deeply while the ocean breeze blew through my hair.

I found the golf driving range: a small netted enclosure with a bulls eye on one of the nets. I set myself up, toga and all, with three balls to hit off of a little rubber tee. First ball: shanked off to the side. Giggle. Second ball: straight down the middle, but about 5 feet higher than the bulls eye. Whooooo. Third ball: Nice solid swing. At the end of my back swing, I watched the rubber tee fly majestically through the air in a toppling arc to the center of the bulls eye. The swing was so smooth that I thought for a moment that I hit the ball threw a small hole in the netting to the right of the bulls eye. I did not. I looked back down at the fake grass below my feet and sitting neatly in the little hole that the rubber tee had been stuck in was the golf ball.

I was so enthralled by this (toga blowing in every direction from the breeze), that I yelled out with my hands in the air, “Nobody saw that!” Because, nobody did.

Entry Date, Saturday 11/24. Day VII 1:30pm

You know what’s a lot of fun? Walking through a rocking cruise ship with a small cup filled with coffee. It kind of reminds me of that game where you have an egg on a spoon and you have to race other people without dropping the egg. The coffee/rocking ship thing is even more fun in the busier corridors of the ship.

I woke up at 9:30 this morning, did the breakfast buffet thing as usual. I tried to find a seat inside, failed, and ended up outside on the aft deck being warm in the sun when there was no breeze and frozen to the core when there was a breeze.

After breakfast, I walked through the ship and found a spot by a big window in one of the main thoroughfares where I sat and read for a bit. My dance partner from one of the earlier nights, Myra, saw me and stopped to chat. She said her husband had been doing good during the port days, but was sick again since the ship was out to sea. She said she was disappointed that the weather wasn’t nicer, but she still had a great time on the cruise. I agreed.

After Myra went on her way, I moved to the Fyzz Lounge, which was practically deserted and afforded me the opportunity to sprawl out on a soft couch. I kicked my shoes off, laid back, and read. After a while, two of my hot tub friends, a couple, sat nearby. We chatted for a bit about what to do on the last day and what cruise ships we should all try for our next vacations.

One of the cruise crew came in to the Fyzz Lounge, then, and started setting up for a demonstration on Cheerleading Aerobics. I excused myself, and went to find a quieter spot to read in. That spot turned out to be the library. On my way there, I discovered a lot of people with books out. Few had drinks other than water or coffee. Seems that I wasn’t the only person looking for a low-key last day on the ship.

I read for about an hour, but started to fall asleep. So, I went to get some coffee, walked the entire length of the ship while balancing the coffee, and crashed in my stateroom. Not sure if the coffee is going to wake me up or not… I think I’ll nap for a bit and then decide. Today is definitely going to be a real easy-going day.

Entry Date, Saturday 11/24. Day VII 6:10pm

I just had the best meal of the cruise! And it took place at the buffet of all places! You’d think (and this was my thought the entire time) that the food in the sit down dining rooms would be a better quality than the food at the buffet. You’d be wrong. The meat was actually juicy and it had – wait for it – flavor! It was delicious.

On my way to the buffet, I met a family in the elevator. We chatted a bit and ended up sitting near each other in the buffet. We talked about the cruise and cruising in general, as well as, other things. They said they are from Delaware and were various parts, but not the whole, of a family and group of nearby friends. They wondered if I, being from “New York,” would be taking the subway back home to “near Albany.” I had to explain how rural upstate NY is compared to the city and how different the “state of New York” is compared to the city.

Today has been really low-key. I napped for a couple hours before going to the buffet. I’m hanging out in the Bar City area for now. Yup. More acoustic guitar songs with Randon.

A moment ago, I ran into Abby – the adorable woman from the Blue Lagoon. She was concierging (is that a word?) at Le Bistro, which is right next to Bar City. When she saw me, I said, “Hi. Abby, right?” She said “yes” and appeared thoughtful for a moment. “James.” I said. “Oh, yes!” She said excitedly, “Sir James.” Ugh. She asked how I was doing with regards to the rocking of the boat. I said I was doing well, which is true. She said a lot of people had canceled reservations because they are sick.

Entry Date, Saturday 11/24. Day VII 10:00pm

The ship is rocking and shaking so badly that the hangers in my stateroom closet are a constant rattling distraction from my ability to sleep.

I left Bar City shortly after writing and went to the casino. I spent 80 dollars on roulette. However, I played for quite a while – roughly three hours. After losing my first 40, I found a rhythm and a strategy. It worked for a while, in that I didn’t lose money quickly. Still, it was a slow drain and my chips eventually ran out.

I met a couple at the roulette table that lives in NYC. Their house received a lot of damage from the storm. They lost a lot more money in roulette too.

Now I’m back in the stateroom. I packed about 80% of my stuff and set up a wakeup call for 5:30am.