Well, the
bags have been unpacked, the laundry has been finished, the mail has been gone
through, bills have been paid and put away and there’s some food in the
house; in other words, a couple of weeks later, things are back
to “normal” on Robinwood Drive.
Here are
my random thoughts about our World Cruise as the excitement begins to wane….
I won’t
take so many clothes, if there’s a next time, because there is so much great
shopping to be done.
Had we
arrived in Petra
just one day earlier, we would’ve been rained out and, in all likelihood, the
tour would’ve been cancelled.
In 111
days, only a slight drizzle in Bermuda, almost
not worth mentioning; no other
rain.
I enjoyed
being in dozens of ports in countries we’d never been and still meeting someone
we knew – either other passengers or crew!
I loved
waving to people in passing boats, docks, ports and having them wave back.
It was
always a treat to hear about purchases made by crew members at a Walmart. When every penny counts to so many people,
it’s wonderful they can get all the necessities they need at a great
price. Our assistant waiter, Victor,
would not take the elevator in Malta,
at a cost of 1 Euro but opted, instead, to take a 20-minute walk up a steep
hill, because just about every dollar he earned was sent back to his family in
the Philippines. He arrived on the ship in Venice
and was most anxious to get to Fort
Lauderdale because his shoes were falling apart and
needed to go to Ross for Less because they have great prices. We were very happy to actually see him in the
check out line when we arrived at Ross only to find out later that evening that
he hadn’t even tried on the two pairs of shoes he selected by size only because
he didn’t have the time and had to run back to the ship. From the way I saw how many passengers
treated the crew, they hadn’t a clue of the conditions and circumstances under
which the crew live and survive.
On many
nights at 10:00 p.m., we were very often the only passengers in the Pacific
Lounge ready to dance to whichever duo was playing that evening. We got to be very friendly with Dan and
Elliot of The Cruisetones, who were sweet enough to let me play a little
percussion instrument I bought along the way.
I often accepted “homework” to find answers to some obscure trivia
question Dan through out there and reported back the following evening.
I’m
thankful for Art and Val for giving us a wonderful tour of Hong
Kong during our 2-day visit.
However,
I will not miss the toilet paper on the ship.
Nothing more to say on that subject.
One of
the best things about cruising has always been the opportunity to experience
the diversity in cultures, societies, lifestyles, living conditions and people
throughout the world which only reinforces my gratitude for having been born in
the United States
and the incredible freedoms and opportunities we enjoy in this blessed
country.
Michael’s Final Thoughts: I truly enjoyed the three months of cruising but I’m glad
to be home. One of the unique things
about being on a small ship (600 passengers) is you run into the same people
day in and day out. As a result, you get
to know them and their qualities – good and bad. One of the things that still rumbles around
in my head is the issue of eating. It’s
amazing to watch people as they load their plates up with tons of food, going
back for seconds and thirds, and then leaving an almost full plate of food on the
table, only to be thrown away. I
actually heard from more than one waiter that some people wake up in the
morning early, have a continental breakfast at 5:00 a.m., buffet breakfast at
6:00 a.m., breakfast in the dining room at 7:30 a.m., lunch buffet at 11:30,
light snack (of waffles, ice cream, cookies and milk) at 3:00, 4:00 afternoon
tea, 5:15 dinner in the dining room and then a later dinner in the buffet. Hard to believe, yet, the fitness instructor
will tell you the average cruiser gains 7 pounds a week and I have personally
seen people grow wider in a short period of time. Is it any wonder? Unbelievable.
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