Wanderung 15

Volksmarching through Germany and a Cruise to get back.

September-November 2007

Tuesday, November 6th - At Sea.

Noon Position: At Sea, 33 degrees, 39' North Latitude, 36 degrees, 09' West Latitude

Bob:

We had heavier seas than we had previously experienced. The ship was noticeably pitching and rolling, to the extent that the pools had to be closed for safety reasons. The crew also attached bags to the stairway railings, and of course being curious I checked out what was being offered. It turned out to be the standard aircraft "Sick Sack", more affectionately known as the Barf Bag. Apparently quite a few passengers had come down with Mal de Mer, and attendance at dinner was noticeably lower than on the previous nights. The folks at our table all showed up, however, as none of us seemed to be affected by the motion.

Monika:

The swells were up today and crashed into our window. When I went to the Solarium for the aquadynamics, they had closed the pool, because the rough sea really caused quite a wave action in the pool. I think, they were worried that someone might get thrown against a wall. They put a net over the pool so aquadymanics was called off on account of the weather.

At 10:00 we had an appointment with a travel agent, to make another "ghost booking". When you book another cruise on the ship, you get up to $100 per person credited to your shipboard account. But you don't have to book a specific cruise. You can put down $100 per person used as a downpayment on a future cruise. Of course, that gives you the chance to get the best price on said future cruise. We had done that on our previous cruise, and when we looked at our account on this cruise, there was a credit of $200. So we knew it worked and had decided to do it again. We also got some information for the transatlantic crossings and Panama Canal crossings for next year. Bob and I both have decided, we do like cruising and neither of us has shown any sign of sea sickness, even today the swaying of the ship does not seem to affect us, although some people have gotten seasick.

Bob:

After dinner we danced some ballroom dances in the Centrum where they typically had a keyboard player and vocalist performing. The tempo of those performances was typically sedate, but that helped me a lot in keeping count of the beat and keeping track of where my feet were going, at least most of the time. I tend to take steps that are just too large for a crowded dance floor and the inevitable collisions are rather embarrassing, but we still had a great deal of fun and that was the whole point.

The evening performance was a professional singer (soprano) named "Izzy". No jokes, of course, but she had a very good voice. However, like some sopranos I have heard she seemed to become rather shrill when hitting her highest notes. The recital was a mix of a couple of classical pieces taken from operas such as "Madame Butterfly" together with showtunes like "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady and even a couple of folk songs like "Scarborough Fair" and "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose". I am almost certainly prejudiced, but I think our voice teacher Laurie or Allison, one of her students, could have sung those selections better. Allison is just beginning her career and I rather wished she could have performed for such an appreciative audience. After the show, I relaxed with an Acrostic puzzle and Monika started re-reading Laurie King's "The Game" before we finally turned in for the night.

Monika:

After dinner we practiced our dancing in the beautiful atrium, an open area from the 4th deck to the 12th deck with a glass elevator on one side and elegant stairs going up from the 4th deck to the 5th. The area on the 4th deck was a dance floor, and every evening there would be live music to dance by.

The evening performance was a Soprano who only goes by her first name "Izzy". Somehow, I was wondering how good a singer can someone called "Izzy" be? But she was remarkably good. She sang a variety of songs from operas such as Madame Butterfly, musical theater, and even a Scottish folksong. The band of course accompanied her competently as always, with the keyboard player really doing an outstanding job on the piano.


 

Copyright 2008 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt
Prolog Germany Map Cruise Map Epilog

September 2007
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November 2007
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