Cruise – Days 1 & 2

Day One

We go at 4pm, on time. There seem to be about 1,500 on board; if every stateroom held two it would be about 1,900. Who knows. Maybe it is 1,900 souls on board. The observation decks are really crowded as we head south through Tampa Bay. Most people seem to be regular folks, people I almost know, dressed not really great, starting to drink. Folks tugging at new clothing. People who need sunscreen. Students playing cards. I end up on the front deck on level 12. This is as high as you can get. It is a warm evening. A full moon rises early into a still blue and hazy sky.

My room is 7001, on the same floor as the casino and art auction room, which features work by Thomas Kinkade et al. At check-in there were many groups of three coming to rooms just as mine; how they would fit in mystifies. The bed is huge. I spread myself out like Jesus yet I cannot reach both sides. King? California King? Four pillows. The shower has a nice stinging massage effect. There is a TV and little desk. I have the mini bar emptied so I can stash the drink I have brought. I was advised to bring my own drink. An all day soda card costs $6.50 and many people just bring their own.

Everywhere is carpeted, and nicely. Blues. An expanse of turquoise. Carpet in patterns that will not show the spilled beer, but nice.

I have supper in the Garden Café, on level 11. This is a giant buffet and there is a lot of broccoli. Also salad and curried vegetables and lentils and dahl, plus much of what is appealing but deadly. So I manage to eat well. This whole unlimited eating has worried me. I am very good at that kind of thing, which is to say very bad. So to congratulate myself I get some coffee, select a piece of cake and on my way to the ice cream station to get the tiniest bit, I bump into Roel, from the Phillipines (all staff wear tags with their names and country of origin). “Oh Madame,” he says, “you’ll have a crepe.” “Oh Christ,” I say. “Yes please. Are these here every night or just tonight?” Every night.

So now I have cake and coffee and crepe. I repair to the aft deck. This is a gorgeous open deck, with nice tables, open to the breeze and the moon. There is pretty much nobody there. I eat my cake and crepe watching this full moon. We are now three hours out of Tampa, well under the Skyway Bridge (where the moon looked spectacular), and a small boat appears and pulls alongside, far down from me (since I am up so high). The boat is labeled PILOT and I assume they are here to pick up the pilot who has guided the boat to open waters. I cannot see the pilot board his little boat, but after a while it peels off and heads back north.

Later I hang off the back at dead centre. The moon is higher and the path of its light on the water is the widest I have ever seen – a football field wide, or more. The night is still warm. I look back and see that we are on a road of silver.

Day Two

Later in the night I do not sleep and have an explosive case of Montezuma’s Revenge. I keep my curtains open and turn and toss in moonlight. I spend a long time thinking about how to describe the motion of the boat while in bed. It involves words like jostle, jiggle, popcorn pan shaking. I settle on low vibration with a veneer of chug. On decks lower than mine I would add grind.

In the morning I am better and have fruit and bacon. Piercing a blueberry with my fork causes its juice to spray across my new chartreuse shirt. Lucky for me it sprays in a nice clean abstract arc so I just go about my business. I take a turn on deck 6, which is the walking/jogging deck before going to the first yoga class of my life. For second breakfast, there is a waffle station.

It is hot hot. At noon we are told we our position is 22° 27” north,   085° 2” west. Heading: 200°. Speed: 20 knots (23mph). Cuba is the nearest land but it’s not visible. The air is 26° and the water is warmer: 27°. Many people are broiling in lounge chairs on various decks.

There are a lot of people reading books on this boat. Many more than I have seen for a long time. I can’t speak for them, but the reason I have books and magazines instead of FB and boingboing is the cost of wifi on board: 75¢ a minute. I will look for wifi on Roatan tomorrow.