A Day on the Ship, A Day in the Sun

This is a view of looking "aft"on the "port" side of Jewel of the Seas. Didn't know I could "speak Navy" eh?
Under that glassy dome to the left of this photo was the Solarium, where Taj Mahal met the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - obviously a Norwegian designer's acid trip gone truly bad. Fortunately, it was the only bad decor decision we experienced.

This was a first for me - on my ninth cruise trip, I decided to cast budget to the winds and booked a balcony room. It was a good decision, and made a difference on this ten day jaunt. After consecutive land tours in Panama and Costa Rica, this was to be an "at sea" day, and I began it with a walk around the 12th deck before the crew put out the chairs and the party goers from the night before staked out their place in the sun. This cruise I partook of the exercise facility often, in what turned out to be a futile effort to hold my weight down. Like the Freshman Fifteen, gained that first year in college, cruises are not good places to lose weight. I managed to "manage" my gain to only three pounds over ten days, so on balance I guess all that deck walking, treadmill walking, and stationary bicycle riding helped a bit.

When not exercising, or eating at the Windjammer buffet, I enjoyed the Art Auctions and got in a modicum of trouble collecting some Emile Bellet, a French artist painting in the style of the Fauvres school. He paints in a vivid colors manner, of "size 4" women without facial expression, to represent all women. Earlier, and better known names, of this style included Matisse and Cezanne. They serve free champagne at these auctions, a reason to go, and once you can get past too much Peter Max and Thomas Kinkade (not my favorites), there are some nice works to contemplate adding to your collection. I did not gamble in the casion, nor play any Bingo, but enjoyed the nightly entertainment a lot. Well, "Tango Buenas Aires" got a bit tiresome after the first 20 minutes, but overall all of the shows were fun, and we enjoyed sharing this cruise with British friends of 20 years. Simon & Ann would join us for dinner every night to share their experiences of the day.

A cruise is meant as a time to get away from telephones, emails, and utility bills. After almost forty years of work, I'm starting to master this "retirement gig", and on my next cruise I'll reach "Diamond" status. On this trip, Elizabeth also reached diamond status, but that tale comes tomorrow to tell as I relate our day in and around Georgetown, Grand Cayman.