Cruisin'

After our misadventures in the airport, my husband and I finally arrived to our cruise ship with 15 minutes to spare before the ship sailed.  We were very ready for the adventure of the cruise to begin.

We found our very comfortable cabin and unpacked. We had most of what we needed in our carry-on luggage, so we hadn’t been too worried when we didn’t have time to wait for the suitcase we checked. The lady working baggage in the airport had told us that, sadly, the airline was no longer able to send luggage somewhere unaccompanied by a person, due to increased security measures.  We were told that we would have to pick up our luggage on our way back to Pittsburgh.
  

The Guest Services rep on the ship just scoffed when we told him the story.  He dialed a number on his cell phone and handed it to my husband.  The airline sent our luggage to Key West, our first port of call the next day, and the cruise line picked it up at the airport there. It seems that “increased security measures” is just a handy excuse the airline uses when they don’t want to do something.
  

We would not have the Internet for a few days while on the cruise, so I wasn’t going to be able to track my food and calorie intake.  My husband and I had pledged ourselves to relaxing our calorie consumption, while still being sensible. However, I calculated that if in a typical weekday I earned an extra 153 calories by doing 15 minutes of back and knee exercises, and taking a 15 minute, ¾ of a mile walk at lunchtime, that I had probably earned about 15,000 extra calories that first day, after all the brisk walking we did through three airports, and after my “run” through the Philadelphia Airport. Of course, this was a rough guess – I might have been underestimating the number of calories I burned.  Whatever, it was settled - I was going to have a cocktail (which I needed after the day I had had) AND dessert at dinner that night.

So we changed and cleaned up and found the dining room, where we enjoyed the first of many fine meals that we would have on the ship.  My cocktail was a Kiss on the Lips, which involved peach schnapps and mango and grenadine.  I not only had dessert; I had molten chocolate cake, by far the most decadent dessert on the menu.
  

After dinner, while exploring the ship, we wondered into a room where karaoke was taking place.  Now this was our type of ship activity!  They seemed to be finishing up one round of karaoke when we arrived and were handing out smaller binders of select songs for the next session.  My husband and I decided on doing a couple of duets – “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher, and “Summer Nights” from Grease.

It turns out that we had unknowingly signed up for “Superstar Live” with the Cruise Ship Live Band and a hostess who doubled as our back-up singer.  It was like karaoke on steroids.  My husband and I were first up.  It turns out that Cher sang Bass, and Sonny was the Soprano on “You Got Me, Babe,” but we gamely sang the gender-appropriate parts.  “Summer Nights” was more in tune with our natural vocal ranges (no pun intended).

After “Summer Nights,” a young guy came up to us, and explained that his company was making a documentary about the Perkins School for the Blind who was taking their senior trip on this cruise.  He said that the students really enjoyed our performance, and they wanted to know if they could have our permission to use footage of our karaoke performance in the documentary. We were feeling particularly amenable by that time, what with the alcohol and dessert and singing and all, and we happily signed the waivers, figuring that the chance of them using our footage in the end was rather slim.

We returned to our cabin, relaxed and happy, and ready to get a good night’s sleep.  A couple of hours on the cruise ship had melted away all the stress of our very long day in the airport and on airplanes.  This was going to be a very good journey.