Cruise Journal: 12/10/2007

Shower

There are odd advantages for both tall and short people on this cruise ship. The life jackets are tucked on top of the closet, and I can only reach them if they’re near the edge. The thermostat is reachable, but definitely mounted higher than comfortable for me. The shower, though! How on earth a tall person would get clean, I don’t know. I stretched up to scrub the shampoo out of my hair, and hit the ceiling.

But I’m amazed at how dry the bathroom stays. I’ve managed to inadvertently soak the entire floor (and my change of clothes) in a hotel bathroom that was 5x6 feet with a tub to catch the water. Here the bathroom is 4x4 feet tops, and the shower is partitioned off from the rest by a curtain and a 1 inch lip along the floor. In spite of the boat’s motion, the rest of the bathroom floor stays dry. Amazing.

The sun is up, and the water outside our port holes is foaming white over a gorgeous deep blue. It’s going to be a beautiful day at sea. Time for the breakfast buffet.

My... Hair...

I needed a hair cut, and I have a wedding to go to when I get back, so...

Mom and I both made appointments, and I decided to get my hair colored too. So I went up the beauty salon this afternoon, and told the girl (Fae) what I wanted. She did things a little differently than I'm used to. Instead of trimming the hair between her fingers straight, she sort of snipped into it with the little scissors. I guess that gives it more texture.

She used a sort of little brush to mix up the color, then paint it on to my hair. I need one of those little brushes! She didn't get any on my ears, which I'm always doing when I do this myself. I love red hair dye. It always looks like you must be coloring your hair purple. When she rinsed it out, though, I was sort of taken aback. I've never gone that red! She dried and poofed my hair out, in a way I really didn't like, so I decided I'd have to go back to my room and douse my head and comb it out before I could be sure I liked it.

I went back to the cabin to do this, and while I was in the restroom, Mom came in and called to see if I was there. She asked, "So, how is it?" I responded, "... ... ... I look like a stop sign."

But it combed out okay, and I'm sure the color will calm down with a few shampoos. If not, I can always go back later in the cruise and get them to do something about it. But maybe I'll enjoy having a head the color of hybiscus. :-P

Dinner

Dinner was much better tonight. Italian restaurant, breaded pork cutlet, brushetta with roast duck, cheese tortellini with alfredo, chocolate cake. Every one had two lobster tails, except me. Shame I don’t like lobster. :-)

It still took two hours, but with so much food, there was always something to eat or something on its way to be eaten. And the maitre d’ came over to chat with us for quite a while. His name tag showed his country of origin to be Hravatska. Which none of us had heard of. So he began to give us hints. Only, we thought he was just telling us about the place.

He finally said, okay, what is this, and pointed to one of the men’s necktie. “A tie.” And what is it in French? Of course I couldn’t remember. “Cravate.” And what does cravate sound like in English… So the table starts tossing out words. I say, well, it sounds like Hravatska. He nods, and says yes, what else. More words. And it clicks. “Croatia.” And he points to me and says “Yes!” He told us about how when Croatian ambassadors visited the court of Napolean, they wore cravats around their neck which attracted attention, and the name was coined.

So dinner was excellent and I learned something new. I think we can call the evening a success!

Photos

As promised, here are links to my on-line photo albums. You'll have to have a free Snapfish account, sorry.

The Sea, The Sky - Random pictures of wind and water.

Progresso y Merida - First stop, a coastal town in the Yucatan, then a taxi trip inland.

Cozumel - Too touristy for me, and it was raining, but still lovely.

Belize - My favorite stop of the whole cruise. I could see myself retiring here. :-P

Norwegian Dream - Me being a tourist and crawling all over the ship.

Christmas On Board - Trees, garland, the decks were... decked out.

Chocolate Buffet - Nuf said.

Fog in the Ship Channel - Made coming home tricky. And eerie.