Caribbean Cruise & Hollywood, Fl Jan/Feb 2017 Part 7

2/3/17 6:40pm 

Carnival Conquest, Aft Deck, Somewhere between the Caribbean ocean and Florida

Conquest is well on its way back to its home port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I am sitting on the aft deck and I just finished eating a chicken salad from the Lido Buffet. I just watched the sun set, though it was cloudy on the horizon. Still, it was quite a lovely sight to behold.

The sky is now blue and orange among black clouds and I can barely keep my eyes off it to write.

I don’t remember what time I woke up this morning… I barely made it to the buffet in time for breakfast. Today is a sea day, so no incentive to get up and explore. After breakfast, I went on a search for a sunny spot to lay out. I tried a few different options and basically spent the rest of the day laying in the sun, listening to my Conquest Cruise 2017 playlist. 

At one point, it was nothing but dark clouds and a sprinkling of rain, so I went back to my room, changed into my workout clothes, and went to the gym. I didn’t enjoy myself at the gym. For some reason, the machines make exercising awkward when you are used to exercising without machines. Jogging on the treadmill was just plain weird. Weight machines are also weird. The elliptical is especially weird. I spent about twenty-five minutes there and got a decent workout, but not at the same level as I get at home. And my joints hurt, which is not something that happens when exercising at home.

The sprinkling stopped and there were less clouds, so I returned to sunbathing after stopping at Blue Iguana for the last chicken taco of the cruise and a pina colada. The drink was particularly strong and I had a good buzz two thirds of the way into it.

I naped on an upper deck in the sun while listening to some 90s favorites (old Counting Crows, Sarah McLachlan, etc) and some new artists who have some songs I like, who I want to hear more of (Frank Turner, Josh Ritter, Griffen House) and Bruce Springsteen’s Magic album for the hell of it. 

When it got to be around 5pm, I took a dip in the pool to cool off and stayed there until I was freezing. Then, I went back to my stateroom and found info on debarkation for tomorrow and I felt sad.

I planned out my evening, shaved and showered, and went to the aft deck to watch the sun set. 

It was a beautiful sunset and there were dozens of people on the aft deck taking and posing for pictures.

After the sunset, I stopped in the Lido buffet for the chicken salad and then came here to the aft deck to write. When I think about the cruise ending, I am sad. I don’t want the cruise to end. But then I remind myself that the vacation isn’t over, and I get a big smile. Doubling up on a vacation is the way to go! Hollywood, Florida, here I come!

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2/4/17 1:15am  

Carnival Conquest, Stateroom 1640, Off the coast of Florida

I am actually quite sunburned on my forehead and the right side of my face. I’ve applied lots of aloe gel many times and the burn is subsiding quickly as a result. I must have missed a spot when applying the sunblock the second time or else I just didn’t put enough on that area. The rest of me is only slightly colored. 

After my last scribblings, I went to the casino to use up the rest of my non-refundable onboard credits. The first slot machine that I played quadrupled my money on my fourth play. It then slowly ate away at it until I was only up twenty bucks. Then I found Hot Rolls, which was a machine that some good friends and I had played at a casino back home. So I gave this one a shot. The rolls were not hot, however. I stopped when I broke even. 

I wandered by the tables and stopped at craps for a moment. I watched about ten rolls and the guy who was rolling was on a streak. I watched everyone triple their chips in a matter of moments. I had to go to the cashier to get cash to play and by the time I returned, another person had the dice. I put down sixty dollars and, despite playing conservatively, lost most of it in about fifteen rolls. I placed one last bet with the ten dollars I had left and lost, so I left.

(Red Meat Count: 6)

I went up to the Lido Deck because my stomach was grumbly. I had a hot dog with sauerkraut and dreamt about the cheesecake. (NOTE: There is some sort of thing about hot dogs on cruise ships. On my last cruise, I had a hot dog and it turned out, surprisingly, to be one of the tastiest meals of the cruise! So, now that I've had a hot dog on this cruise, it's become a thing. Dare, I say: a tradition?)

After finishing the hot dog, I went out on the deck to watch the night time a bit. Love the ocean at night!

After about twenty minutes, I decided it was time. Cheesecake time.

First, however, I went back to my room and packed most of my things and put my suitcase outside of my room to be collected for debarkation.

Then, I went to the coffee bar and ordered my cheesecake. It was a very large portion. I took it to the self serve ice cream machine and poured myself a dish of vanilla. Then, I went to the lobby and ordered a martini. (Note: Hendricks, while being my favorite gin, does not pair very well with cheesecake.)

I took a seat off to the side and watched the band set up. I basked in the glorious moment as I picked up the fork and took my first scoop of cheesecake. And… 

It was… okay. It was rich and creamy, but not quite the ten out of ten that I had built myself up for. Price Chopper cheesecake with whipped cream is actually better.

The martini was also so-so. Not sure what made Hendricks taste so-so… nasty vermouth, I suppose?

The piano dude saw me and struck up a conversation. We talked about the last day of the cruise and party music and cheesecake. He said, “You won’t finish it.” I laughed and he said, “it’s so rich and filling.” He was right.

I watched some people dancing. I thought it was supposed to be classic rock night, but they just played some random dancey-type stuff from various eras. And some people danced. I did not.

At 11:30pm, I went to Henri’s dance club and sat there for an hour while a few people danced before the DJ played Cupid Shuffle and Wobble back to back. A few other people joined the group dances and so did I. It was fun, but not nearly as amazing as the Mega Deck Party or the catamaran in Cozumel.

After those two songs, I went back to sitting down and waited for another group dance song to come on. At one point, I walked over to the wall to check out a thing that looked like a hammock, but was so slack that most of it was touching the ground. As I attempted to figure out what purpose it served (there were three of them lined up in small alcoves along the wall), a young woman came over and tried to sit in it. But she couldn’t because, of course, there was too much slack. We made eye contact and I struck up a conversation about the "hammocks." She explained that she is Chilean and speaks little English. I know minimal Spanish, but we were able to communicate somewhat with our limited proficiencies in second languages. She was excited to learn that I’m from New York, because she will be visiting the city for five days. She is going to see the statue of liberty, ground zero, Brooklyn, Times Square – all touristy stuff. I explained that my New York is quite different from New York City and I think she understood. Then she rejoined her friends and I went back to where I left my drink. I found myself talking to a young woman who had sat down next to my drink. She appeared to be way too young to be in the club, which is advertised as 21 and up. She looked 16. I recognized her from the two group dances and noted that she had sat down after them, like I had done. She said she was on vacation with her family and they were asleep in the cabin, which is when I concluded that she is sixteen tops. I told her I figured the comfortable dances were over, so I was calling it a night.

I walked up to the top deck and saw little lights off in the distance on the horizon (Florida coast). Then I came back to my room and, well, I’m going to bed.

(I used all of the other towel animals, but kept this one intact)

One final thought: I learned something about myself tonight (just when I thought I had myself all figured out!). I subconsciously rank experiences, things, etc, and when I’ve had a ten out of ten (let’s say) of something (cheesecake, for example) then a seven out of ten just isn’t good enough for me and I’m disappointed. Subconsciously, I can’t really enjoy a seven out of ten or eight of ten when I know what a ten out of ten is like. Even though an eight out of ten on a scale of one to ten is really good, it’s sub par for me. The same goes for martinis (Nate at Circus Café makes a ten out of ten martini). The same goes for love, I think. I had a nine out of ten love once… yeah, it was definitely just nine out of ten. It was short lived, but it happened. I’ve had five out of ten, six out of ten, and even seven out of ten, but nothing again has reached that nine out of ten. Part of me is hopeful that a ten out of ten love exists. It’s a small hope… but a hope none-the-less.

Okay, one more final thought: I don’t want to be back in the USA and in cell phone service range again. I know as soon as I take my phone off of airplane mode, that I’ll be inundated with contacts (texts, facebook messages, emails, maybe even a call or two). I’d rather stay away from it all… maybe keep searching for the ten out of ten love.