Bouncing around

Rockin and a rollin
Weather
The Captain came on to explain that we have strong winds and choppy seas which result in an unstable walking environment on the ship. Of course, everyone is advised to hold on to the side rails. I’ve laughed at myself when I thought: “Gee maybe I should be using my trekker sticks on the ship!” We see lots of folks with green looking faces because of seasickness. I feel sorry for them and wonder why they sail.
In the meantime, I have a sore muscle in my butt and I cannot figure out why or how it became sore! All I can figure is that the van ride on Vanuatu was pretty bumpy (good thing my fillings are secure) and there was a metal rod in the seat that kept jamming into me as the padding had all been beaten down. Well I personally don’t have much padding left down there either!
Revenue streams
Bingo
Any kind of gambling of any kind is popular. Obviously, the casino is a great money maker and it’s never empty that I’ve seen. Bingo is also full of rabid players. One fellow figured out that each time they have bingo here, the ship takes in $1000 to $1500 and pays out $500 or less.
Internet
Lots of folks think that this is a money maker but given all the problems the ship has had with the connection, and the resulting credits that the technician has had to give, it’s dubious at best. Furthermore, there are more generous internet benefits for those of us who are elite and on the world cruise. This is not true if you are not on for the whole 107 days.
Port talk
We learned about 2 stops this morning: the Bay of Islands and Auckland in New Zealand. We’ve been to Auckland before, although for only a few hours since weather made our ship late getting in there 2 yrs ago. We did make it up to the top of the Sky Tower where you can bungee jump to the ground. You know the answer to the question: “So, did you guys bungee jump?”
We are looking forward to seeing all the sheep for which the Kiwis are famous. They do export dairy products too but the sheep related products are the most well known. It is clearly a beautiful country with great weather (we can feel it getting cooler as we go farther south). Many folks on the ship, especially the Brits, have rented cars and driven around NZ for several weeks. That would be fun.
Things to notice
When you go off the ship, you encounter things that remind you of the differences on the ship. For example, the toilet paper and tissues off the ship are so much softer and with more volume than those on the ship. Serving sizes are so much larger. The lighting is brighter overall. Since we drink bottled water always when off the ship, I’m not sure about that comparison. The elevators are larger as are the staircases.
People on board are always well dressed and very clean. I’m not sure about either of these when we’re off ship. But what does it matter anyway.
There are lots more choices of TV shows to watch and the TVs are larger screens too. The art work is more interesting.
Trivia
There were only 5 of us until question 16 when we were joined by a person we sometimes have with us but who has never really made a contribution. It doesn’t matter because otherwise we would have been just 5 anyway. Again we came in 2nd but we felt we did well. One question was to name the 12 apostles (not disciples of which there were 77??). We totally forgot Timothy and Bartholomew. There were other Questions that we stumbled on. Trivia in the afternoon was the worst trivia experience I’ve ever had with unclear questions, pronunciations we couldn’t understand…well if I thought it was that way all the time, I’d stop going.
Oh no! another hour?
We had to give back an hour last night and tonite we have to put our clocks forward again! Horrors! We are so spoiled by travelling west that we (meaning the passengers) drag when we’ve given back an hour.
Mid East Politics
This speaker is a professor of political science at UCLA and his topic today was the Arab Israeli conflict. He had an interesting way to begin. He first impersonated a Palestinian giving his version of the history and current status. Then he switched and was an Israeli Jew. Then he gave an analysis of what was correct and what was inaccurate in the narratives. This is tricky territory and he was very clever in giving us teasers for his future topics. He is the co author of a book on the Mid East situation.
Marsquest
This is our astronomer’s last talk and she went into the information about Mars and illustrated it with great photographs. I hadn’t realized how many missions we had sent there. And btw: her web site is: www.thespacewriter.com/astrocruise.html
Dinner
Peg and Bob were missing and Barbara surmised that Peg was stuck in the laundry room since that’s where she last saw her. And continuing this line, Barbara stated that the laundry room was very busy all day and she had problems finding open washers and dryers to do her laundry despite several trips. Eventually she was successful.
Nancy ordered a dish with an unknown something on the plate. It had a small stem and was somewhat teardrop shaped. She asked if anyone knew what it was. I remarked that it looked like a miniature gall bladder whereupon she howled and not in laughter. Ed had one too and between the two of us we believe it might have been a pickled baby fig. It wasn’t bad. We often have these guessing games about what’s on our plate. Nancy is adamant that she’ll never have lamb or any other baby animal. So we have a good time teasing her.
Desserts are often a special challenge. Tonite the sorbet was supposed to be “Turkish delight” in flavor. None of us Americans had a clue. Suddenly it dawned on us that the Brits did know what it was (some kind of jelly candy). John ordered it and allowed that it wasn’t very Turkish delight in flavor.
Entertainment
This was a young man with several puppets: a black guy from New Orleans, a grandpa of 91, a baby, a crow who sang (horribly but funny), and a boxer. All were different and clever and he was very good. The humor is what I come for but most of his jokes were rehashes of ones we’ve all heard before. Some folks in the audience are hams and are beginning to get to be too much as they try to upstage the entertainers. It wasn’t as bad tonite as it has sometimes been.
Where the hell are we?
We know that our next stop is the Bay of Islands on the North island of New Zealand. Next is Auckland and then we have a port, Picton, and we cannot for the life of us find it on the world map and atlas I brought, nor the one in the library. So we just have to trust. We do know that it is part of New Zealand.
And what time is it anyway?
After gaining hours, by dribs and drabs. And then giving back hours, by dribs and drabs. We hardly know what time it is. The ship has no visible clocks except on the jogging path on deck 10 and certainly no calendars visible except if you look at the date on the Princess Patter each day. Even prisoners and hospital inmates have clocks and calendars. At least we can look outside and see if it’s day or night. Since you travel toward the equator where it’s exactly 12 hrs of sunlight and 12 hrs of dark, then onward, the times of sunrise and sunset change continually and are related to the season which is Fall down under.
March 5, 2010
Bouncing around
I woke up in the night and felt like a wine cork bobbing around in a splashing swimming pool. And occasionally I thought I could hear the ship’s horn and I thought:”Why are they blowing the horn? There’s not a damned thing out here!” The cabins are really pretty well insulated from noise. We rarely hear our neighbors or the ship’s horn unless we’re on the balcony or outside.
Gray and overcast
And the seas are a steel gray. It looks rough out there and you can see by watching the guard rail on the balcony that the ship rides high and they fairly low as it advances in the waves.
Speaking of weather and ships: I’m still amazed at how many people know about and talk about the incident on the Prinsendam in Drake’s passage when we took the South American trip. There is another couple on here who were also on the Prinsendam with us. But you hear others discussing that incident (and a few others) spontaneously. One fellow tells of the ship being in Fort Lauderdale and they wouldn’t let anyone board until almost 4:30 pm because they were still doing repairs from that incident.
Women’s behavior
There are a handful of older ladies on here who clutch their purses to them as if someone was going to steal them any minute. I can’t imagine why you’d carry a purse on the ship; all you need is your cruise card and whatever you take for your activities for the day. And you see them onshore the same way. Now there’s a great invitation for a purse snatcher.
Ed takes a backpack (sunscreen, bug spray, sun hats, water, sunglasses, jacket, camera…) and I take a bag (camera, jacket, my antibiotics and Neosporin bandages in case of injury to my arm, water bottle…) but neither of us carries any valuables in these things. I use a fanny pack to the front with very little in it. I don’t carry my wallet, just my driver’s license (our passports are almost never given to us), today’s tour ticket, two credit cards and cash. Kleenexes and a pen are generally it.
Ed’s at the gym again this morning. He says he doesn’t want to get out of the habit. Hurrah! You won’t find me getting in his way.
Tomorrow
Is the Bay of Isles on the East side of the North Island of New Zealand. The next day is Auckland on the West side of the South Island, then a day at sea and then Picton wherever that is!
Right now I’m off to the culinary demonstration with the Commandatore.