First thing, I did not abandon ship as far as this blog goes. I’ve been writing all along, but for these last several days, the internet connection on board has been so slow that if I could get a connection, it might take 20 minutes to post to the blog. I did buy a crew card which costs a fraction of the passenger cards, but still it would cost a small fortune to post.
So, if you missed all the days between Hong Kong and Singapore, they are now posted below in backward order from today. Don’t get confused with the time thing. On this side of the world, you are actually existing in my past. It’s Sunday here, but Saturday for you.
We’re sailing, as they say, full steam ahead through the Malacca Strait, between Malaysia and Sumatra, toward the Bay of Bengal. We’re on our way to Chennai, India which used to be called Madras. We will be three days at sea, so this might be a good time to tell you about a day at sea. I don’t usually do mornings, but since time is upside down on this side of the world, I’ve been up early and have walked three miles around the promenade deck before 8am. Three and one half times around is one mile. The one day it was raining, I went to the fitness center and walked on the treadmill while flipping channels on the indiviual tvs. Then I’m up to the 8th floor Lido deck to the buffet breakfast for coffee and a light bite. I call my sister Lori who’s managing our studio (finally got a phone line out after several days) then back to the cabin to see Richard before he teaches his 9am tai chi class. I took photos of him teaching from the stage of the Queen’s Lounge where the big nightly shows take place. He needs to be above the large crowd (today 123) of students. They love him and have already mentioned some impressive benefits from just a few classes.
I take some time to write, though I could have attended one of several different activities offered at 10 and 11am. The ranks of people sceptical of our wild love of cruising, who think they would be bored on a ship, don’t have a clue. The actuality is that you don’t have time to do a fraction of the things you want to do. From all kinds of sports, to several different art and crafts, from computer classes to cooking classes, from lectures to interviews with the celebrities on board, from spa treatments to yoga and fitness classes, you really have to make the time to sit around and read or swim or just relax.
We lunch outside, watching the wake of the ship trail behind us, and then off to hear a lecture about upcoming ports. Barbara, the port lecturer is a hoot. She is interesting, exhuberant, amusing, and my model for learning to give readings for my book when I get back. We take a ballroom dance class then take a swim. Then it’s downstairs to our cabin to rest and get ready for the evening. We’ll eat in the dining room with elegant full service from our waiter, assistant waiter, and wine steward—all from Indonesia. While watiing for the big evening show in the Queen’s Lounge, we might sit and listen to a trio that plays the most exquisite and romantic music, dance to a band, listen to a solo piano entertainer, or read in the internet café. After the show, all of which have been excellent entertainers in their respective fields, we might take in a film at the movie theater. We walk a bit on the Promenade deck to check out the night sky, then it’s off to bed. If we haven’t had enough, we can watch the tv in our cabin or rent one of the 2000 dvds from the ship’s library. Exhausted, the grateful little world cruisers lay their heads on the high thread count linens and close their sleepy little eyes.
