Lost At Sea - I

Kind of chilly on deck as we crossed the Equator and even more so today. All on board are explaining this by lowering their voices and invoking the “Humboldt Current”, a term no doubt one guest heard on the ship from someone in a uniform, probably the Head Housekeeper, and starting a chain reaction of explanation. This is common on small ships about EVERYTHING. In this case it is used in lieu of actually explaining why it’s about 65 degrees out at 4 degrees South latitude. So to come out of the cold I thought I’d relate a few of the incidents of luxury cruise ship life to those who may not have heard some of these stories in my private e-mails. (See, there is an incentive for writing me. You get bonus content.) As with all my postings, to paraphrase the author of “The Incredible Voyage of Jack de Crow” all events are entirely true although I’ve may have taken some literary license with the facts.

The first day after about 110 new guests joined the ship in Costa Rica I met a mother and daughter (70s and 50s or so of age) traveling together in the forward elevator. This lift serves guest rooms on 4 Deck but not the restaurant on the same level. The two ladies were apparently riding up and down, since I found them as I entered on 10 Deck, the highest level, trying to read the labels on the floor buttons. They said they were trying to find the word “restaurant” which surely would appear sooner or later if they just read each text enough times. I pressed the button for 5 Deck which connects through the ship’s reception lobby to the aft staircase and elevators to get them where they needed to go, and when the elevator door opened I pointed them in the right direction and hurried (I needed to hurry) to my room. But 10 minutes later I found them still riding up and down in the forward lift. After exchanging pleasantries, this time I took them to the breakfast place. As we walked through the lobby I made the mistake of saying, “The restaurant is right below us but we are going to the staircase that leads down to the entrance.” One of the woman said, “If it’s below us, why did you take us up here?” I suggested they order the liver omelet.

I failed to mention in my earlier posting regarding yesterday’s stop in Ecuador that I had a nice routine lunch of baby lamb chops and French fries, pictured below. (There’ve been a few inquiries from early readers of the blog about the connection to tuna fishing. There’s none other than I was watching the tuna ships being unloaded as I ate the lamb chops.)

This morning I had breakfast with an Australian woman who beckoned me to join her as I emerged onto the terrace behind the informal dining room Terrace Café (which the ship calls La Terrazza and I call The Cafeteria). The conversation went like this:

Me: May I join you?

Her: I guess, but I’m just leaving.

Me: Oh, I thought you indicated you want company.

Her: Oh, I guess that’s ok.

Me: Did you get to see Manta yesterday?

Her: No, I took an excursion.

Me: Did you see all the armed guards?

Her: No, but it can’t be as bad as in the US.

Me: What can’t be as bad as in the US.

Her: All the firearms that the police have.

Me: Where is that in the US?

Her: Everywhere the police in the States have machine guns. Even cops on the beat have machine guns strung over their shoulders.

Me: I’m not aware of that at all.

Her: All Americans carry guns and automatic weapons wherever they go.

Me: I’m an American and I don’t and don’t have any friends who have such things. Some may go hunting or to sports such as target shooting.

Her: No, you’re wrong. Everyone carries lots of guns. It’s ever since Bush was elected.

Me: What did he do?

Her: His policies, of course.

Me: You traveling alone?

Her: I always seem to.

Just found in the clip by my cabin door a letter from the Tour Manager. (He must have come out of his rabbit hole.) It is addressed to “Dear Guest” and announces a 50% refund for the tour in Costa Rica. It says the $67 credit is “a gesture as a token of our good will and understanding for this unfortunate event.” I have absolutely no idea what this is about. I will let you know if I find out. Of course, I have not yet been successful in getting Andres to slow down for long enough to answer any question before he speeds away saying, “I’m late, I’m late…”

The sun has come out providing warming rays. Time to go back to the pool area and continue to read, “Defining the Wind”, a wonderful book about the Beaufort Scale. Really. A number of you have looked at the few pictures of the wonders of this trip that are posted with this blog but have mentioned only my “suite”. It is nice, and be advised this is the CHEAPEST accommodation on the Silver Shadow. Did I mention the fresh fruit in the living room area each day and the box of lactose laden Godiva chocolate each night? Oh well, someone’s gotta do it.

Happy 5769. More after the Peru port calls…