Cruising Along

For anyone who's not familiar with cruising, I can imagine the top 3 impressions you could have about a Caribbean cruise: a lot of eating, a lot of drinking, and too much sun. Well, that's entirely possible, but it'd be mostly up to you. In reality, there's enough going on to keep you from doing any of those things.

Cruise ships have become small towns in the middle of the ocean. The one I'm on can hold around 4800 passengers. This doesn't count the crew, which can sometimes be as large as one for every two passengers. So what can a small town in the ocean offer? Here are a few things I've seen and done this week:

• Watched dolphins and flying fish swimming alongside the ship
• Rode a gondola 300 feet above sea level on a moving boat
• Saw a caberet show and a virtual concert
• Watched a robotic bartender make a cocktail
• Had a really good massage and facial at the spa
• Watched a larger man attempt the flying trapeze
• Saw part of Game 7 of the NBA finals on a giant screen on the pool deck
• Ate a lot
• Drank a little
• Got just enough sun

Even with all that, there were still a few things I didn't try, like the iFly skydiving simulator, or the Flowrider surfing simulator, or watch the Broadway show (I've seen We Will Rock You before), or eat at the Japanese restaurant. I was also pretty unsuccessful at bingo. But it was fun all the same.

So another cruise is coming to an end. One day to spend in NYC and it's back home again.

"I'm slowly drifting away, wave after wave, wave after wave"

Entering the Triangle

It's been a busy few days, stopping in Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico, and Haiti, and the end is nigh as we sail for two days back to New Jersey. But this is the part I've been waiting for. We are about to enter the Bermuda Triangle. Bucket list, check!

The Triangle is bounded by Bermuda, San Juan, and Miami. According to the position map, the ship should start passing through it tonight. I know I sound really morbid, but it just fascinates me. Plus I'm incredibly confident that everything will be fine. We're not on a plane or a small sailboat, after all!

Speaking of experiences, we had an amazing one yesterday at Wonderland, one of the specialty restaurants. The theme is pretty obvious, and the menu is unusual, as expected. The waiter customized our meal based on our preferences, and everything was delicious.  Best part was when the waiter described one of the dishes as "frog's eyes". My friend started to panic a little, but he was just kidding, it was made of olives.

I'm pretty exhausted, so I'll do the recap tomorrow. You know, assuming I make it out of the Triangle and everything.

"I know that I'm running out of time, I want it all, and I'm wishing they'd stop trying to turn me off, I want it on"

Rockin' and Rollin'

Everything is vibrating. Especially the "window". I forgot about this part of cruising. Who knows why everything is shaky tonight. They said the waves were only going to be about 6 feet or so...

Today was Bermuda, our first port. I was on a shore excursion on my own this time. Looking out of the "window" in the morning revealed the most dreary scene imaginable. As feared, it was pouring rain when I disembarked. People were snapping up the plastic bag ponchos at $2 a pop. Luckily for me, the last thing I remembered to grab on my way out the door at home was my umbrella. A number of the beach and water related tours were cancelled, but my tour went ahead.

The tour was really good. Lots of interesting facts (did you know that Michael Douglas is half-Bermudian?), lots of amazing scenery. We were able to basically cover the length of the country, which at a grand total of 21 miles wasn't too strenuous. Not a lot of time after we got back to the pier to do any shopping, though. I guess I'll have to wait until St. Maarten.

Another day on the high seas tomorrow.

"Hold, hold on, hold on to me, 'cause I'm a little unsteady, a little unsteady"

A Virtual Window

The gentle swaying. How I've missed it.

I can't say where I am at the moment, only because I don't know. I guess the only location I can give is "the Atlantic Ocean". I'm on the Anthem of the Seas, one of the newest monstrosities released into the wild by Royal Caribbean. It isn't the biggest one (read: this one doesn't have a Central Park running through its midsection), but it's still big enough that I feel confident I'll be able to work off the calories just walking from the restaurant back to my room.

This is my 4th cruise, and I have to say this is a pretty nice ship. Everything is shiny and state of the art. They have a bar tended by robots! They have a skydiving simulator on the top deck! They have bumper cars and a food truck! They have wifi! But the accommodations have definitely improved. The room I have is a standard interior room, with the one difference that it has a virtual balcony. They mounted a huge TV screen on the wall that shows a real time image of the outside of the ship. So when we were pulling out of the pier in New Jersey, I was able to watch us pass by the Statue of Liberty without having to run up to the top deck.

The age in which we live.

And so now we're chugging our way southeast. A full day of sailing tomorrow, which can only mean one thing. Time for some bingo.

"I got this feeling inside my bones, it goes electric, wavy when i turn it on"