Dinner Companion Drama

The night we left Los Angeles we didn't go to dinner in the dining room. We weren't hungry after the big lunch and sail away wine and champagne. Jeff was napping and I decided to go and do some surveillance on our new table. It was in the area of our old table and so I went and sat in Stirling's seat because they were always late.

An old woman and man arrived first at our new table. She approached it and stopped still. She thumped her cane on the ground and said, "Table for 2!" He told her no, that was her table. "Table for 2!!!" and on it went. They finally hobbled off. No one else ever arrived at our table for 6, so it was the old people and us. They took up a stance at the maître d' station to wait for a table for 2.

Next, another old woman and man arrived at our old table next to Stirling and Clare. She took one look at the chair and said, " I can't sit here! There is glitter! (from me when I sat there). The waiter covered the chair with a napkin and she finally sat down, but kept on grumbling.

Another couple arrived at the 3rd table in the area. She looked at their table for 6 set for 4 and said, "Where are all the people! I want a party!"

At this point I was laughing at the disaster called dinner and left.

The next night we decided to go to dinner to deal with our table, even though we kind of dreaded it. There was a nice couple about our age waiting for us at our table. They are Greg and Jo from Melbourne, Australia.

They had asked to be moved from their table from the night before because they were at a table for 6 with 4 people that only spoke Spanish. So it is now the four of us at a table for 6 with the other 2 chairs empty so far. Two nights with the same tablemates! We are having a great time with them and are looking forward to our next two weeks. They will disembark in Auckland because the ship is full to Melbourne and to Sydney which would be the easiest places for them to disembark. Stirling and Clare are off in Sydney so we will be back on the search then.

Grog with Robert Macomber

February 1, Pacific Ocean En Route to Honolulu, Hawaii

Eastern Time minus 4 hours

One of our lecturers on this segment, Los Angles to Sydney, is Robert N. Macomber, an internationally recognized, award-winning maritime author, lecturer and TV commentator. It is great for us to have him on our cruise because we all belong to our Florida sailing club, the Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society (CMCS). He is a charter member. Although we have heard him speak, we hadn't actually met him until he embarked this week. He travels a lot and so do we. He lives in Matlacha Florida, which is also the home of The Yard Dogs.

Yesterday his subject was Modern Day Piracy Around the World and today it was Grog. I know this is out of order. I have lots of things stored up to write about, but this was so funny I had to write it now. Bob suggested that anyone that was attending the lecture bring a drink to toast with, even if it was water, because that was part of the lecture.

When it was time to leave for the lecture, Jeff had his Mount Gay Rum flask that he bought in Barbados. I had 2 glasses and a bottle of water.

When we got there, Bob explained about Grog. It was the drink of the Royal Navy and of the US Navy as well for a long time, like over 100 years. Actually it was very interesting, but I forgot to write it down in my new notebook. He gave an extensive history of the drink. It was used as punishment and reward etc.

Grog is the most famous drink afloat. Grog is made with Rum from the British Islands of the Caribbean and water in varying strengths from ¼ Rum and ¾ water and sometimes much stronger. We didn't know it ahead of time but we happened to have the perfect ingredients for Grog. He mentioned that Mount Gay is the preferred rum of current day sailors, which is why Jeff has the flask.

Bob announced he was going to tell is about some historical toasts of the Royal Navy. He said we should have the drinks ready so Jeff tried to open the flask. It was stuck. He used his shirt, his belt, my jacket and my shirt. Stirling used his shirt, Clare's shirt, the cloth of her purse and then a piece of paper (not sure of the thinking behind that one) to try to open the flask. Then Jeff used the top of his sock and then, believe it or not, the tongue of his gym shoe to try to open it. At this point he said he was going to go back to our cabin to get a pliers. I don't know why he has a pliers. (This reminds me of when he fixed the tour bus with his Swiss Army knife when we were in Nova Scotia.) He came running back in and said he was able to open it with the phone cord on the phone in the hall. By this time I was laughing so hard I was snorting. No one has ever said Jeff doesn't think out of the box. Anyway, success!!!!

The Toasts: Most were from the Royal Navy

Monday: “To our ships at sea”

Tuesday: “To our men”

Wednesday: “Ourselves, as no one else is likely to concern themselves with us”

Thursday:” A bloody war and a quick promotion”

Others:

“To our sweethearts and our wives, may they never meet”

“To absent friends and those still at sea”

Confederate Navy: “Here's to the ships of our Navy and the ladies of the land. May the former be well rigged and the latter be well manned.”

Tonight we met him up in the Commodore Club for a some Mount Gay and Tonic and Mount Gay and Coke.

LA Sail Away

We hauled all of our purchases on board the ship and made a few more calls to the girls while we still had phone service. We received a call from Betsy that she was going to stay to watch the sail away. This is a picture of her waiting on shore for us to leave. Sorry it is so grainy, but she was far away and I still don't know how to use the camera.

Stirling and Clare went to Costco to stock up on wine. He now created a still life of flowers and wine.

He had to make four trips on the ship through inspections to carry everything on while Clare stood guard of the purchases. Clare left their cell phone in the friend's car. We are hoping it catches up in Honolulu. That was the drama of the day.

We were docked at the San Pedro Port which was a huge container port. It seemed even larger than the one in Hamburg, Germany which was immense.

A day with Betsy in LA

January 30, Los Angeles, CA
Eastern Time minus 3 hours

Los Angeles was the official end of the first segment of our Voyage (New York to Los Angeles). One down, five to go.

We had no trouble getting off the ship as "In transit passengers". We were off in 1 minute and through Customs and Immigration. Our friend Kazzie is British and she told me it took her from 10:15 to 11:45 to go though the same, but she needed to do other things to pass. She even needed to get fingerprinted to enter the US.

Our friend Betsy was there to pick us up shortly after 7 AM. She is a great high school friend of both of ours. She still lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin most of the time, but works out of LA. She is involved in the production of television commercials. She flew out to LA the night before to meet us. First stop was Wal-Mart of course. We stocked up on more supplies and then were off to Starbucks for some good coffee.

Here is a picture of the two terrors of our high school.

This is what Betsy and I do best (errands with a lunch and coffee break thrown in). We have been doing this since we were 16 years old and still enjoy it as much! We get our stuff done and still get time to catch up on the news. When we drove past Tuesday Morning we could hardly keep ourselves from stopping.

Our main stop of the day was to visit the old Queen Mary Cruise Ship. We have been hearing a lot about it on this ship and have attended a couple of lectures about her so it was fun to visit.
We had a wonderful lunch and a couple of Bloody Marys and just enjoyed the day.

Phoning in From LA

I just spoke with Mom, and they are in LA and spending time with her friend Betsy.

It's 8:30am there and they are already done with their Wal-Mart run. She bought a notebook so she can "take better notes for the blog."

Now they're off to Starbucks and then on to Best Buy to purchase the photo software that has been used in the on-board computer classes.

They have been very busy on board. Mom said that on Monday alone she had two computer classes, book club, a lecture, and a group meeting for the online forum www.cruisecritic.com.

They are still looking for the perfect dinner companions, but have a new table tonight as many people are boarding the ship in LA.

She said that she has a lot of on-board photos, including some of Dad fencing, but they're waiting to send them until they have a few days at sea. When they depart LA tonight, they have four days at sea before arriving in Hawaii, and then four more days at sea before arriving in American Samoa.

I think that the more exotic portion of the trip starts now!

Updated:
I think I've said this before, but they love getting the comments. If you have any suggestions on what she should write about, if anything is too long or too short, etc. leave it in a comment.

Mom is up about $150 in Blackjack and thinks she's played about 50 hours so far. Not bad!

They have champagne with Stirling and Clare (on their balcony) every time the ship leaves port, so they stocked up on a few bottles tonight. Stirling and Clare will be on the ship until Sydney.

There is a big gala planned for when the ship is in Lisbon, Portugal. There will be a fancy dinner with free wine, and there is rumor it may be held in a bull ring? Stay tuned for updates.

Liz

Dom Perignon with John and Petie

January 29 en route to LA

One great couple we met on board is John and Petie (Sharon) from Bellingham, Washington.

They talked to Jeff on deck on day when they noticed that he was wearing a shirt from Bellingham that he got while we were out there in Summer of 2006 working some regattas.

John is actually a Cheesehead from Plymouth, Wisconsin.

We really enjoyed them. Jeff may go out to Washington to go on a fishing trip with John and his friends. I really hope that happens.

They embarked in Ft Lauderdale and were to disembark in LA. They called us to come and share a bottle of Dom Perrignom with them to celebrate their last night. Sharon had revived it on board from her daughter for her 65th birthday. They had also invited their tablemates.

Jeff Blogs

First off, thank you Liz for this blog.

It is 100 steps from our cabin to the Golden Lion, which is a Pub with Guinness and Harp on tap. Suffice it to say that from that and every other point of view, this new Queen Victoria is laid out beautifully. It is a great ship.

We left the North Atlantic together with Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, first on our starboard beam, then later on our port beam. In addition to these two ships extending their cruise together, they acted as moving break-waters for each other along the way. We had 20+mph breezes on our beam for most of the run to Fort Lauderdale.

After Fort Lauderdale the ships split-up, with ours headed south towards the area of the Trade Winds. All the way through the Caribbean and into the entrance of the Panama Canal it blew stink from a bit south of east, never less than 20+ kts, day and night. There was relief from some of the banks of islands. After turning west, we used the tail-wind to our advantage. On deck, it was like a scow going down-hill. There was noise from the waves breaking, but still air while we went almost as fast as, and the same direction as the wind.

Upon reaching the Pacific, the winds calmed remarkably. On the Caribbean side of the isthmus, there is a constant blow from the east. The wind blows moisture from the Caribbean up the slope of the continental divide, and that feeds moisture to rain forests. However, here on the Pacific side, only 50 – 100 miles away, the winds are “normal”, and the local climate is all but arid.

Acapulco was interesting. It is beautiful from the 10th floor of an ocean liner. 1 ½ million people. At one time it was a vacation destination for gringos. Now it is a resort city for the 25 million people that live in Mexico City. Jeanne organized a great tour, including a $14 lunch right at the cliff-diving venue. As a veteran high-diver from St. John’s Summer Camp (30’ max.), the highest dive was impressive at 105’. Our guide, a single parent mom, went to the States to have both of her kids, but then raised them in Acapulco. As US citizens, the kids are now on the dole, attending the University of Florida. She did the best she could for her family, and they all love America.

Sport fishing in Manzanillo, Mexico was a bust. 5 hours of listening to a pair of droning, 2 cycle Detroit diesels. One strike from a big Marlin, but the captain couldn’t get the hook set. Anyway, the sea was calm, the weather was pleasant. Conversation during the fishing trip yielded the following. With satellite TV on the ship we were able to hear about the $600/$1,200 checks being sent to everyone in the US. With China funding the US national debt, this “Wal-Mart rebate” completes the circle: consumer-to-Wal-Mart-to-China-to-the-US-government, and now finally back to the consumer.

Presently we are off of Cabo San Lucas, which is a few hundred miles south of San Diego, CA. We thought of Jimmie and Maria’s trip – volley ball anyone? The winds are calm, but there is a gentle swell to the sea. That seems to be a difference between the Atlantic and Pacific. In the Atlantic, when it’s calm it’s like a mirror. So far, on the Pacific, even when there is no wind, there is still a swell.

A few more comments before wrapping up -
Our cabin has been renamed ‘The Cave’ by us and our friends, Stirling and Clare. It has turned out to be what we wanted and what we hoped for. No daylight whatsoever, but extremely well ventilated. At 207 sq ft, it is roomy. With the help of Vince and Debbie, who drove over to Fort Lauderdale from Marco Island, a huge (Wal-Mart) chest of drawers was added. All 13 or so suitcases were unpacked. It is on the lowest deck, which means that we are subjected to the most minimal ship’s movement. Our lifeboat drill was simple. This is the deck where they just lock all of our doors so that there is more room in the life boats for the rich and famous.

The best lecturer so far has been Ben Cameron. The subject matter, the future of live theatre, was interesting and timely for our family. Cameron was the head of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is currently the president of a multi-billion dollar, grant giving foundation. I tried to get a redacted version of his comments, but he claimed that his 5 lectures were made from notes on napkins. Anyway, a couple of general comments followed by some pointed, reasoned prognostications: More money is spent on computer games than movies and music combined. Movie attendance and revenue went down for the first time in decades. The typical theatre audience member has not changed in decades – which is a 48 year old white woman with an average income of $63k. That as youth ages, the theatre must figure out how to change from “linear narrative” to “visual interpretative”, and from “created content” to “co-created content” – meaning that since younger people are making their own content, that live theatre needs to come up with a way to have that happen within/during a production.

As with any cruise, over-eating is the permanent problem. It is made even more difficult by the quality, which really is exceptional. Skipping a course here and there, even an entire meal when possible, helps. We’ve been using the stairs, and have gone to the gym on most days.
Last month Errol and I went to the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show. I bought a pair of Sebago deck shoes for the voyage. At first thought, that may not seem to be remarkable. But for me and the people I hang with, it couldn’t get any more Thurston Howell the 3rd than that. Put another way, if you actually need deck shoes on this boat, you’ve got a problem that the shoes aren’t going to solve.

Actually, the deck shoes do go with a particular vest that was given to me by Linda’s Jeff D. It’s this Ralph Lauren Polo, really nautical, really well made, over-the-top, nice red vest. Jeff told me that he didn’t know what he was thinking when he bought it, but that maybe I would get some use out of it someday. Anyway, between the deck shoes and the vest, nobody touches me on the ramp.

For my retired brethren having difficulty in coming up with a reason to know what day of the week it is, you’ll be happy to know that you are in good company. Yesterday, Captain Paul Wright, in giving the weather forecast, said what “tomorrow’s” weather would be. Then, instead of saying something like ‘and the day after that’, he tried to spit out what day ‘day after that’ was. He stumbled a bit, chuckled, gave up, and finally said, “well, whatever day that is”, and then gave the forecast. If there is no purpose in knowing . . .

There are “unhosted” gatherings posted in the daily activities. Unhosted means that no one from the ship is involved. Passengers just show-up and make something of the theme. The first one was “Rolls Royce and other English cars”. Too many people showed-up and we all became immediately willing to let the most outrageous anecdotes dominate the discussion. Suffice it to say that listening to English gentlemen speaking in-depth gear-head lingo about their cars was truly impressive. Especially the ones that had the new BMW Rolls Royce. They were very pleased with what BMW has contributed to their brand, more as if it were a purchased option, than a failure of their homeland in being able to support the technical and market requirements of their car maker. As an impromptu discussion, really an amazing discourse.

Another “unhosted” activity is “Yachts and Yachting”. If gas outside of the US is expensive, stand-back for the cost of diesel fuel for boats in Europe: $10/gal. The gear-head speak was, again, impressive. There were only six of us in this group. My 32’ was by far the smallest, but they were kind to the upstart. Everyone came at it from different directions – the trawler guy from England, but keeps his boat up a river in France; the cruising sailor from the US that sailed over to the Med and back; the couple from Sydney that have cruised their trawler everywhere; an authentic “yachtee” who keeps his 85 footer on the island of Palma de Majorca, Spain. Anyway, during the session we all gave and got good technical advice from each other. We’ll be meeting regularly during the cruise.

My first book for reading on the trip is “The World is Flat” - thanks to Sharon B. (“Aunty Sharon” takes care of us on a lot of levels.) It talks about outsourcing. Here on the ship we have the usual Eastern European, Philippine, but also a lot of Indian staff. From discussion on-board, Tata Industries, in India, is set to buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford very soon. Another Indian paid Ford a billion for Aston Martin a few months ago. The transition from stand-alone British companies to Ford was a big deal for the Brits. Going from Ford to India now seems more like an accounting event than a further change in their sovereignty. My guess is that the Brits are about a decade ahead of the US on the globalization thing. The on-board meaning of that might go something like: our great-grandchildren will be serving the grandchildren of our Indian servers. And all of their combined descendants will end-up serving the Chinese. Anyway, the book is timely for me, especially in the context of what are seeing on the voyage.

In a few days we see our friend Betsy in Los Angeles, and then on to Carl and Carla in Honolulu.

All the Best!
Jeff