Travelogues ...headin' down the highway, lookin' for adventure...
March 2, 2000 Thursday
We need to board the ship today by 1:30 p.m. so Connie and I wash clothes in the hotel laundry room and dash across the street to get gifts for friends and family. I find several colors and styles of Americas Cup polo shirts for all the boys (son, sons-in-law, and Roger). The exchange rate is 2 to 1 in our favor and I am tempted to buy more, but remember that the next thing on my immediate to do list is to finish repacking. I have visions of again standing on our suitcases in order to cram everything inside and Roger with arms crossed saying, "There is no way...." Reluctantly, I put five of the ten I had chosen back on the rack, repeating to myself my grandmother's old saying, "where there is a will, there is way" and I add, "and there will be another day."
Back at the hotel, Roger and Joe are busy "chatting up" the cute French Canadian waitress in the restaurant and by the time we get back, Joe is speaking French and both "boys" are able to recount her life story. Roger and Joe are two chips off the same block. Though Connie and I pretend to be exasperated with their antics, we wouldn't want them any other way.
By noon our entire "tour" group is assembled and we load onto the bus for the short drive to the pier. I am a little panicked about all the things our Salt Lake buddies have done and seen in the last three days. It dawns on me that I'm going to have a difficult time keeping up with these folks. Their energy level is way beyond me. I decide I will have to fake it 'till I make it with this group.
The Sky Princess is one of the older ships in the Princess Line and was used in the filming of the 70's TV series the "Love Boat." Joe and Connie who are "Commodore Class" cruisers are a little disappointed with the age of the ship but Roger and I are delighted with everything including our room which is far more spacious than the pictures show.
I am relieved to find plenty of storage space and four large closets. However, I keep pulling back the drapes looking for the port-holes only to find blank walls. Roger jokes that he will get me a picture of the ocean to hang there and/or draw one.
After our steward, Jason introduces himself and I ask for additional clothes hangers, Roger heads upstairs for a drink with Joe while I unpack. On our way to our room I had noticed the large number of suitcases outside our fellow passengers cabins and I have a flicker of righteous indignation at our measly four bags. I hurry to finish unpacking and make my way outside to the 8th floor deck where a sumptuous brunch and Roger, Joe, and Connie are already waiting.
Looking at tray after tray of luscious desserts, I know I am in trouble. How in the heck do I pace myself with food like this wherever I look?
By 3:00 p.m. it's evident that the Americas Cup race has finished and the Kiwis have won. At least three to four thousand sailboats are forming a flotilla and are escorting the triumphant Kiwis from the course back to the harbor. The Sky Princess is in the middle of it all. We join our fellow passengers and crowd against the railing on the back of the ship, leaning over and taking it all in.
The New Zealanders are waving wildly in celebration from their boats, all honking their horns over and over, building in crescendo as the winning Kiwis get closer.
There is no other word to describe it but thrilling. At times it is almost too beautiful to bare and my emotions begin to get the better of me. I pull myself away from the crowd and find a comfortable deck chair. I close my eyes to the warm, brilliant blue sky and say silently, "Thank You."
I'm brought back to earth hearing the laughter and excitement all around me as several people point out lone, brave soul in an orange kayak in the middle of the crowded harbor. He looks like a tiny child's toy weaving his way among the large sailboats and even larger yachts. Talk about paddling your own boat. This guy is taking it to the edge.
However, danger also lurks for the passengers of the Sky Princess. Off to the other side of our ship and totally hidden from the collage of boats and yachts of every kind and color, I spy THE pirate ship. It has to be the one Bradlee had warned me about in my phone call to her several days ago. I did not expect to see them so soon. The nerve--stalking unsuspecting tourists in broad daylight.
I rejoin Roger and the crowd and point out the pirate ship to a fellow passenger, an Air Force Colonel and her lovely mother. Feeling a little safer after alerting an official, I am caught off guard again by the ship's ear piercing bells and the subsequent announcement by the Captain of a passenger emergency drill. I am especially alarmed as I hear him say, "During this exercise all ship-board services will cease." Does that mean they will stop serving the swan puff pastries which I had intended to grab for necessary provisions should we have to man the life boats.
Roger retrieves my life jacket and I ask for a picture before looking down the side of the ship to count the life boats.
Wanting one last photo of my beloved, I beg Roger to hand over his camera and pose for a picture before we go back inside and proceed to our muster station for the drill.
The day goes by too fast and before I know it, it's 8:30 p.m. and time for dinner. Roger and I join Joe and Connie in the Regency, one of the two formal dining rooms. By the time we've gone through the six courses, my head is leaning into the small amount of whipped cream left on my dessert plate and I am calling our dining companions, "Coe" and "Jonnie." Ready to party, Joe goes to one of the show lounges to enjoy the King of the Banjo, Mike "Banjo" Young but Connie, Roger, and I decline politely and head for our rooms. I sleep walk my way to our cabin and I don't remember putting my head on the pillow.