May 8, 2007:

Early Morning:

The day dawns with promise. The clouds are mostly gone and the wind, though still brisk, has subsided to Force 6 (strong breeze). We are in “Moderate” Seas (4-8 foot waves) so the deck is still in motion, but it is a tired, lethargic movement compared to yesterday’s vigorous action. We are now west and a little north of Bermuda having traveled 1451 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale and with another 1385 miles to go before reaching landfall at Ponta Delgada, Azores.

The clouds move in and out during the day so we have periods of bright sunshine and periods of overcast. The main feature is the knife-edge horizon. This far out from land on a clear day there is nothing to soften the transition from sky to sea....it is an abrupt and perfect shift from lighter to darker blue. The brain tries to create familiar objects where none really exist, so as you stare out across the vast blue a whitecap momentarily becomes a house or island or ship then disappears. But even the occasional hallucination seems calming......it is just so pleasurable to look at large areas of nothing for long periods of time.

Evening:

.....Dinner was very pleasant. I ditched the recent dinner companions in the Amalfi Dining Room and went to Tequila’s Steakhouse where a fine filet mignon was served with a very nice Murrietta’s Well wine, in whose aura I am still basking.

I managed to hold my own at the blackjack tables....(Ok, it was the blackjack video machine) in the casino....I think I walked away with $3.50 more than I came in with.  Maybe I’m not ready for the Vegas Strip.

Another thing about this trip that I may have mentioned before....the constant time change....I have to lose another hour tonight and then do it again the next day as we continue to move through the Atlantic time zones....it generates a kind of slow-motion jetlag. I’ve just come back from dinner and it’s already time for bed.

May 9, 2007:

Morning:

When you are on a cruise you get to meet a variety of people that you wouldn’t normally encounter. Of course there are different races, different nationalities and different languages, and that is to be expected. But you also find yourself thrown together with different TYPES of people. At breakfast this morning we were randomly seated with 4 other people. None of us knew any of the others. Yet, to me, the other 4 people seemed nearly indistinguishable. All of them were native New Yorkers and all had fled the city for life in Florida after retiring. When it came time to order there was much, nearly identical indecision:

“....should I get the prunes or the grapefruit?”

“....I wonder if they use butter to fix the eggs....I won’t like it if it has butter.”

“....I can’t decide if I want the muffin or the Danish.”

After much head scratching and teeth gnashing it was finally decided.

.....then once the decision was made there were many instructions issued

“I want hot chocolate. But make it with 2% milk, not regular milk and not with water.”

“Bring me prune juice...Right Now!”

“I want oat meal, but only if you have real brown sugar.”

“I’ll take the eggs, but fix them with oil....the spray on oil...don’t use butter.”

Once a set of instructions as lengthy as the pre-launch checklist for the Space Shuttle had been given the breakfast order was complete.

.....and when the food arrived there was much dissatisfaction:

“This cream is too rich; get me some milk for my coffee.”

“These eggs aren’t right you used too much oil.”

“Where is the brown sugar?”

“Is there something wrong with this bagel......taste it and see?”

“Take these eggs back and try again.”

I am only skimming the surface of the sea of complaints that were surging from these folks. I started to think it was an audition for some kind of new TV show: “Who Wants To Be A Bitch”. I believe these 4 strangers set a new personal record for being picky and hard to please.

I took some pleasure in watching as one woman, who had sent back her first set of eggs....and then rejected her second set of eggs for some muffins, proceeded to knock her third attempt at breakfast off the table as she was turning around to find the waiter so she could complain about some other imperfection in her order.

....for the record, my yogurt, omelet and coffee were just fine and I highly recommend the Portofino Dining Room for breakfast.

The remainder of the morning was consumed in doing a little laundry.....it was a bit early in the trip for laundry, but tomorrow is the last sea day before we reach the Azores and I expect there will be a mad crush of people trying to do laundry then.

After the experience at breakfast this morning, I decided to skip lunch in favor of the gym and the jogging track.....it is my one noble, defiant gesture as I sink beneath the waves of food and alcohol that are thrust upon you every waking moment on the ship. At dinner tonight I will be back in the clutches of Secret Agent Man and Mr. SuperGlue so I’d like to be hungry enough to immerse myself in the food instead of the conversation.  But, before dinner I have the by-invitation-only “Captain’s Circle” party to attend. This is a small, intimate gathering thrown by the ship’s captain for a few of his special guests......or so you are led to believe on the invitation. Of course the captain doesn’t play favorites in this regard, so there are about 2000 special guests who are invited......but that is rapidly approaching so I must end this tale for now and start dressing for the evening. 

......P.S.  I’m going to try to find something other than my meal companions to talk about in the future......really, I promise.