Day 3: Rock and Roll

Travel Diary:  Amsterdam Asia Pacific Cruise 2012

Day 3 (9/23/2012)

Today started nicely enough.  We got an extra hour of sleep last night and I slept well hooked up to my CPAP machine.  My motivation to get up and out was high and I set out for my first breakfast on board.  I didn’t realize that today was an official Rock and Roll day sponsored by Mother Nature.  Living on dry land in a storm involves staying warm and dry and out of the wind.  At sea it is more of a challenge.   Walking anywhere is a lot like waiting for the wave to surf to shore.  Getting to the dining room was not easy and once I got there, getting my food to the table required the assistance one young and nimble young woman who asked me to call her DJ or Gelato when she is serving at the alternative Italian restaurant.  I thought I was pretty restrained in my choices for a healthy breakfast, but I was not ready for the Rock and Roll to come.

Today was the first day of the activity billed as Sit and Knit.  It was held after breakfast in the Crow’s Nest, which is on Deck 9 at the front of the ship—where the Rock and Roll was the most apparent.  It was great to meet old friends again from the Prinsendam cruise around South America last year.  We did some catching up for an hour and a couple of friends helped me wind a skein of yarn that I had purchased in Ushuaia.  Something about that activity and the location really didn’t set well with me and I felt much better after I had emptied my breakfast out into a paper bag that was unequal to the task.  Luckily just about everyone had already left by then, so I didn’t have to embarrass myself even more.  The crew came and cleaned up and after a while I wended my way back to my cabin where I have spent the rest of the day watching television and drinking cola beverages.  So much for healthy breakfast choices and the power of Rock and Roll.

I see by the map on the television screen that we are about half way between Seattle the Aleutian Islands.  We are not headed directly west across the Pacific, but more on a great circle following the Aleutian chain down toward Japan.  I have sailed before on rough seas but this time is the first time I’ve had to get seasick medicine from the infirmary.  My room steward, Holis, just brought me enough for six days, so I will be back in business in the morning.  Today was not as much of a loss as it could have been because all of the lectures that I missed in person were recorded and played back on our in-room television.  There’s other television entertainment available with Turner Classic Movies, TNT, Cartoon Network, selected recent films that are also shown in the Wajang Theater three times a day, CNN and Fox News the main cable channels picked up from satellite.  I don’t like to stay in my room all day usually, but it was nice that I didn’t miss anything by staying in today.  And tonight we’ll be setting the clocks back yet another hour.  I like that.