26 March 2006

The daily newspaper began the day with a little lesson in nautical terms….just so us tourists could pretend we are ‘old salts’. So we learned terms like:

Aft:  the back of the boat

Beam: the width of the boat

Bulkhead: a wall or partition

Deckhead: a ceiling

Galley: the kitchen

Leeside: the side that is sheltered from the wind

Roll: the side to side motion of the boat

Wake: the disturbed water behind the boat

….and many other terms.  But even so, many tourists can’t use the terms correctly. An example follows:

This morning I was at the gym. Since they don’t open the place until 7am I couldn’t get there really early and beat the crowds. The treadmills were all taken and the best I could do was get on the sign-up sheet for a time that was about 40 minutes away. I passed the time playing rather half-heartedly with the free weights. Finally, my treadmill came open a few minutes early and I got on. I had been on for about 10 minutes when a guy patted me on the shoulder and asked if I was planning to get off anytime soon. I said “No, I’m signed on for another 30 minutes”. To which he said “No, I’m signed up for this time”. Anyway, just to humor him, I said “Let’s go check the sign-up sheet”. We did, and I pointed out the time with my name in the slot……and then he pointed out the date on the sign-up sheet. In fact, I had signed up on the sheet for tomorrow….he did have today’s time slot. Anyway, I hastily got my towel and water bottle off of the treadmill and relinquished the machine. But, as I walked away I heard him comment about me to another person: “What a deckhead”. So, you see tourists just can’t get these nautical terms right. I just had to chuckle at his poor mastery of nautical language….I’m not a ceiling!!

……at least I thought he said Deckhead.

What to do on a day at sea??

Practicality overcame personal preference and a trip to the laundry room preceded breakfast. Later I spent about 40 minutes fighting the Internet in order to send a couple of emails and post updates to the website for yesterday’s stop in Tasmania. But the slow speed and the spotty connection takes much of the fun out surfing the net……which might be a good thing, otherwise I might be on the computer much of the day.

Activities from the ship’s newspaper I won’t be doing today:

1. “Putting it Together” – solving the communal jigsaw puzzle
2. The health and well-being lecture “Let’s Stay Young”
3. Scavenger Hunt Challenge
4. “Glamorous Grannies” – the search for the best looking grandmother on the ship
5. Cocktail Karaoke

….nor will I be attending the “Friends of Dr. Bob and Bill W.” meeting and the “Friends of Dorothy” seem to have taken a couple days off from their meeting schedule so I guess I can’t go there either.

I did go to the atrium just before lunch to view the “Cocktail Mixology” demonstration and take a few pictures, but I couldn’t force my way to the front of the crowd to have a shot at getting a free drink. I may be over 6 feet 2 inches in height and weigh in the middle 200’s, but when a free Mai-tai or Mojito is in the balance old geezers with stooped shoulders, using walkers and breathing through an oxygen mask will kick you in the shins and beat you with their canes if you try to muscle in on their territory. I think some of them slept on the couches in the atrium overnight to get front row positions for the demo. 

We are undergoing New Zealand Customs and Passport inspection on the ship today and tomorrow. It appears that New Zealand is even more picky than Australia was about bringing food products into the country. I have to present myself for inspection tomorrow morning, at which time I guess I’ll find out if I can keep my little packets of Vegemite that I stole from the hotel breakfast buffet in Port Douglas. Pam was going to try to smuggle in a small jar of honey, but after a sleepless night she lost her nerve and has now resolved to eat the honey before reporting to the Customs Officers tomorrow.   

……later…..

What I did do today was attend a lecture on “The Last Days of the Romanov’s”…..why we have a lecture on Russian history on an Australian-New Zealand cruise I have not idea, but it was pretty interesting………and I went to see the movie “Walk the Line” in the main theater. In a few minutes we head off to dinner at Sterling’s Steakhouse (one of the optional dining venues) instead of going to our usual table in the Vivaldi Dining Room.