World Quest 2013: Cruising the Indian Ocean

It has been a busy few days at sea. The seas have been uncommonly flat and all I can say after 25,000 miles and 82 days at sea, this has been unusual. One can hardly believe that we are actually at sea and not in a stationary hotel.

There have been plenty of lectures (which we cannot attend because they are during bridge time) and events happening, so we have had little down time. Our bridge time consists of prep time for Michael from 8 am to 9 am, then we have classes from 10 am to noon; the game goes from 2pm until 5pm. Then we fit mealtime in between the bridge and that leaves about two hours for free time. This is our schedule on sea days. On port days, we do not have bridge duties.

The weather has been a big factor in this part of the world. Most people I have talked to have really been impacted by the heat and humidity. The air feels so heavy that it is like there is not enough oxygen to breathe. Unless you are accustomed to this type of weather, I find it is very stressful on the body -- not to mention the need to take multiple showers, which means my hair takes a beating with all the shampooing and drying.

My body is holding up so far. The knees are working as long as I don't have to do stairs and can walk on a flat surface. My saluting finger on the right hand is swollen and hurts; I probably have trigger finger again. I must have worn it out from shuffling 7 times 21 decks of cards = 147 decks shuffled each day. I do have help from some of the other players, but I may have to seek medical attention as it is not getting any better. Other than that, I am good to go.

We lost a lot of bridge players in Singapore so the games are smaller. We had several people lose their partners so I am playing almost every day. Michael has been teaching 2 over 1 and wants me to learn it. I suppose it is a good idea, but there is so much to remember and my brain has become wilted from all the heat. We have started to talk about logistics when we return home and I think I have started to mentally shift there. I am looking forward to not having to dress and put makeup on every day.

So now for the good stuff about our activities on board. The irrepressible Adrian is now a big celebrity on board. A comedienne/singer from the UK, Hilary O’Neil, put on a show in the evening and during her act, picked on the right person – our loveable Adrian. She did a five minute spot with him and I think he out starred her, but being a good professional, she recognized what she had before her and played it to the hilt. Here is the video I shot. The video isn’t all that good, but turn up the volume. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9B0rxAgxjl The act continued with Adrian dancing with Hilary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm2kCNOwXh0 Remember folks, Adrian is 92 years young, and he and partner Lillian, are quite the pair.

Remember the great music of the 50’s and 60’s? We had a rockin’ night eating at a 50’s diner and dancing on the pool deck to the hot Seabourn band. The crew turned the Colonnade into a 50’s diner with a flashing diner sign, a jukebox, and food from home – meatloaf, Philly streak sandwich, chili fries, fried chicken and milkshakes among the selections. The wait staff was all decked out in their finest ripped jeans and T-shirts, the world cruise guests in their coolest 50’s costumes. Given the limited nature of our wardrobes, it was really cool to see James Dean wannabes, the soda jerk, the bobbie soxer, and yours truly as a kid. Michael dressed in rolled up jeans, white sox, a white T-shirt with a “cigarette” pack rolled up in the sleeve; I painted on sideburns and a tattoo on his arm. I wore my hair in pigtails tied with ribbon and carried a teddy bear (that I borrowed from the gift shop) since I was just a little kid in the 50’s.

After dinner, we joined the rest of the guests for some great rock-n-roll music from the 50’s and 60’s. It was hot and humid, but nothing could stop us from dancing as the beat kept our feet moving. The Seabourn band was in the groove, and the crew said they had never seen so many guests on deck dancing. Adrian and Lillian were still dancing when we left. We had a great time.

The crew put on another epicurean night on the pool deck. Crew from different parts of the world made hors d’oeuves to sample from their home countries. Since it was formal night, people were decked out in their tuxes and cocktail dresses even though it was 100 degrees outside with 100% humidity (I exaggerate a bit, but it was moist and toasty outside at 6:30pm).

We are going to be short bridge players on our next sea day as many of them are taking a four day trip to the Taj Mahal. We cannot go as we must stay on board and do our bridge thingL

This is an addendum: on our sea day between Cochin and Mumbai, we managed to squeak in a 3-table game. It was dicey as most of our bridge players went on the trip to the Taj Mahal, leaving just a few of us bridge souls behind. After a rough start to the day, courtesy of the side effects from the medication for my swollen saluting finger, I was able to get up around noon and make it to bridge. I was still suffering from extreme dizziness, but being the good little trouper, I sucked it up with the help of a P&J sandwich and some ginger ale. The medication helped reduce the swelling, yippee, but I think the cure was worse than the disease. I played with Michael and we came in first with a 57% game!! And that my friends, was no April fool’s joke.