Friday 10 April 2020
Third week of lock down and going through some of my facebook postings of previous cruises and came across this one which was a transatlantic crossing from Fort Lauderdale in 2017.
Oh to be back on the seas again but hopefully it will come again .
10 April 2017
Well day four of my wee sojourn to the US with a sail across the Atlantic Ocean and day two at sea.
These transatlantic voyages can be interesting with a selection of things to do to pass the time, like, flower arranging. needlework and quizzes all about America. The quizzes must be American orientated, because most Americans think they are sailing off the edge of the World if they go any further than their inshore waters and any new country they encounter on a trip must be a new world. American news outlets do not help the situation, because they seem to forget there are countries beyond American shores.
Now I realise that I will be getting stick from my many US friends for this but I am also sure that they realise that my attempts to assuage an element of boredom are conducted with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.
Oh, I have just realised that I have inadvertently encroached on the main event of the day, coffee with the captain. I wondered why I had been getting strange looks from a group of people who are waiting to get seats whist I was taking a whole table up with my accoutrements spread out all over the place.
Well I can’t be bothered moving so I will just have to put up with the Captains old jokes in order to piss off all the people who are still giving me strange looks and after all, it is vitally important that I get this report out and the Captain has just told us that the ship is 300 metres long. He is an English Captain so presumably he has been at sea for quite a while and not heard of Brexit because before long he will have to be telling people that the ship is 1000 YARDS long. This is getting exciting he is telling us about the incinerator on board. I think that is how they dispose of the old codgers who expire whilst cruising.
OK, I will have to contain my excitement and get on to more important things like what has been happening this last couple of days since I last posted , which to be honest is not a lot and simply been winding down after a pretty intense couple of months at work . Oh I temporarily digress as the Captain has just told everyone that he once had a 10 to 12 meter swell. I do not believe him.
The first night on board, was taken up with re-familiarising myself with the Crown princess, a lovely ship and now one of the older ships in the Princess fleet. I prefer the older ships as the newer ones are too open plan. Dinner was good with a table of interesting people. Later I ended the evening / early Morning in the compulsory ships disco.
Yesterday was formal night on the ship where everyone dresses up, the ladies in their ball gowns and cocktail dresses and the gentlemen in their tuxedoes. I of course wore my Kilt and just to emphasise my earlier point about the insular nature of American society I had the usual stream of people asking where I was from!
I did bump into Ronnie, resplendent in his kilt, a fellow Scot who I had not seen for about 10 years a guy who regularly travels the World attending to his various business interests and when in the UK spends some time in his second home which is the house of Lords, I sometimes all him Barron Ronnie, as that is what he is. The last time I saw him was on board a princess ship sailing from Venice to the States. Ronnie, despite being a Lord, is a nice guy and the last time I sailed with him we had a great time. His only problem is that as he owns part of Budweiser, and when it is his round he refuses to buy anything other than Budweiser. As many of you will be aware Budweiser is on the same level as Gnats Piss.
So, my evening last night once more ended up in the disco showing the youngsters how to dance, and now onward into Monday and new adventures among the Zimmer’s, wheel chairs and nice people and I attach ( hopefully) photos of the Captains coffee morning .
Right now, can’t make up my mind whether to find the flower arranging or have a beer with Ronnie.
Bob Costello 