Venice or Bust III - On Board Ship - Sept 29, 2008

Bob, Terry, Rena, Marg and Me

Major Atrium!!!

Elevator Near Miss

Babar of the Stateroom

OOOH - NICE ELEPHANT

Today we are sailing from Dubrovnik to Kusadasi, Turkey.
I thought I’d just write a word or two about shipboard life.

We're on the Royal Caribbean Line’s Splendour of the Seas – a 12 year old ship with about 1600 passengers and 800 crew. Our day at sea is spent sunning and snacking while the rocky coast of the Peleponese passes by.This works up a good appetite for dinner. To stave off hunger, we order chocolate and fruit crepes served to us on the fantail. Who needs lunch!

Speaking of hanging, we have a ringside seat on the fantail for the shipboard climbing wall. I am sorely tempted to try my luck but Rena sagely notes that everyone else trying his or her luck is about 12 years old. I have to act my age, again – sigh!
At night I have a fine dinner – wild mushroom fettucine alfredo with escargots for an appetizer and cherries jubilee for dessert. Our companions at dinner are Bob and Terry from Indiana. Terry works as a hospital administrator and Bob is a retiree from insurance giant AIG. They are delightful dinner company and we enjoy discussing our respective adventures during the previous day in Dubrovnik. (See Venice or Bust II.)It's always fun meeting new people on a cruise.It's formal night so I get to do two of my favorite things – 1) play dress-up in my 1947 tuxedo and 2) dance West Coast Swing to a live band in the lounge. After that we head to the floor show – a medley of musical numbers from the movies. After the show, I get Rena laughing so hard she almost pees in the glass elevator that travels up and down the ship's seven story atrium. It’s a test of the trickle down theory only this turns out to be a dry run. Better luck tomorrow night? (Answer: Depends.)

Enough of these urinary diversions!
We return to our room. Every night our room steward makes up the bed with a different animal mascot. Tonight it’s an elephant. She’s wearing MY sunglasses!! And they look better on Ms. Babar than they do on me. The nerve!!

Tomorrow will be my first time in Asia.
Well, Asia Minor really, but it still counts.
Another day, another continent – I love it.
Maybe I'll call the next blog installment ‘Turkey before Breakfast’. Catchy, no?

DAKTARI