(written May 14,2011)
And so it begins. Breakfast is easy. Car is there early, great driver, no issues getting to the port thanks to the horrific thunderstorms that moved through central Florida the previous night thereby lessening the chance of wildfires (so no Plague of Fire, yet). We’re at the port with only a few people ahead of us. And then the bugs descend.
They call them love bugs, and no, they look nothing like the little Volkswagen in those Herbie the Love Bug movies. They’re kind of longish, thin, dark colored things that swarm around Florida twice a year. However, on this particular day at the port, by the time we boarded, there were so many of them, ship’s staff made the decision to restrict all passengers to the inside of the ship, closing the pools and canceling the traditional sail away party. The order was to stay indoors until the ship started moving.
Monster One herself was the one who pointed out that her perhaps her eerie magical power of vacation destruction had kicked in again. She said something about the Seven Plagues of the Transatlantic, and when I pointed out that in The Bible God actually inflicted ten plagues on the Egyptians, she rightly pointed out that we weren’t going to Egypt, but Europe. So maybe they didn’t rate as many plagues. Fair enough, though it seemed that we were the ones suffering, and not the European, though there are a fair number on board.
And after we had eaten and found a place to sit and look out over the port (usually we’d be on deck nine, or deck four, enjoying the outside), I saw that she might be right, and we were suffering Plague Number One: The Plague of Insects. The windows were covered in the bugs, and looking out over the deck, you could see them everywhere.
To the credit of the entertainment staff, they did have a toned down version of the sail away party in the atrium. Then, breaking the rules because we have problems listening, we went out to watch the ship sail away (a bit behind schedule), and we were off.
The rest of the night went smoothly for us anyway. The unfortunate guys on the deck crew had to wash away and sweep up the thousands of dead bugs all over the place. Some had even managed to get into the ship. And as stowaways were traditionally dealt with, they were dispatched and probably chucked overboard. (Unless this violates some environmental regulations, then I have no idea what they did with them.)
Our good friend and honorary uncle Zan isn’t aboard. He’s on vacation again, and I knew he would be. But still, it would have been nice to see him. The faces are very different on the ship this time. Only Ali (who’s been promoted recently to head server) is really familiar. New cruise director. New wait staff (who are very good). New everyone. But change is good- and all of the old gang are over on the Dream, to which both Zan and Ali will be headed. So on the Big Graduation Trip of Doom, if disaster ensues everywhere else, at least our dining service will be top notch with Zan in charge.
Adventures Away (but not yet, technically- because they didn’t have the sail away party and play that song.)
Our server, Simoun from the the Philippines, is really good- by the way. He told Monster One to make sure to put on a lot of sunscreen on the island tomorrow (since she’s so incredibly pale, like Caspar the Friendly Ghost), and to stay away from boys until she gets her college degree. Smart guy.
Our head server is from Romania. Has a close approximation of beloved Uncle Zan’s hair-do, and I think he might be a vampire. Being Romanian and all. So going to keep an eye on him, and see if crew members start disappearing on the passage, just like in Dracula.
Teamskoi at Home and Abroad 