A Quote:
April's Fool: Smell that? You smell that?
Passerby: What?
April’s Fool: Sunscreen, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of sunscreen in the morning. The smell, you know that coconut smell, the whole ship; smells like [pausing to sniff the air] paradise. But someday this cruise’s gonna end…
If you don’t get the reference, please forgive me. Old movie references come to mind when one is an old movie buff walking laps, dodging chaise loungers and trying to maintain speed while avoiding collision. But, I get ahead of myself.
The day dawned as most do aboard ship; beautiful, sunny, warm, smooth, calming. I love the morning hours when quiet defeats noise and most people remain abed. My computer calls up mail and the morning paper, coffee steams and, from the fantail of the Celebrity Constellation, our wake shows progress from nothing as we leave the Straits of Florida and head for the Yucatan Channel. Sea days are to be cherished. Cruisers rise when they wish. There is no shore excursion time to be met, no particular place to be, no particular thing to be accomplished.
To be sure, many options are on offer. There are fitness classes, triple points on slot machines, watch and costume jewelry and designer handbag sales, team trivia, presentations on shore excursions or future cruises and a Texas Hold’em Tournament and, of course, a champagne art auction. The only one of those that might entice me is team trivia. Since I have no team and my morning walking time conflicts, I will opt for sunscreen and laps rather than mental stimulation such as, who played Lieutenant Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now?"
At noon we passed about thirty miles north of Havana but Cuba remains just over the horizon so nothing is to be seen aport. Our Ship’s Master is Captain Nikolas Christodoulakis. The Chief Engineer is Nicolaos Politsis. The Staff Captain is Nikolaos Zacharopoulos. The Guest Relations Manager is Nick Shrives. All Nicks, all the time. This is a disappointment for Sandy in particular. When we last sailed aboard Constellation, our Captain was the young and sexy Tasos Kafetzis who is vacationing this week. See the Istanbul blog entries (November, 2013) for details and pictures of him; all the women (and some of the men) swooned in his presence.
The deck population gradually grows as I walk with all chaise lounges taken by ten. The pool is full and bodies glisten with sunscreen; a few sport the beginning of first degree sunburn. Tatoos, breasts, flab, abs, butts and more abound with all, seemingly proud of their beauty or lack thereof, putting on display their strengths and shortcomings. Only the waiters are fully clothed as they bob and weave with trays of frozen this and that held high. If anyone on deck has a care, I haven’t seen them. I also haven’t seen Catherine or Sandy about.
I promised to write more about last night’s after-show entertainment in Rendez-Vous (now spelled correctly). The entertainer was Derek Lewis, billed as: “Sing-a-longs, Naughty Songs and the Karaoke Challenge (18 yrs) until late…” Derek has an electric guitar, a computer, several castanets that he distributes to his audience, a pile of free margarita coupons to be used in Cozumel and some cheap glow-in-the-dark plastic rings that he hands out to those brave enough to join him at center stage. The worse you sing the more Derek loves you. Entreating the audience to anoint each departing performer with a hearty shout of “Superstar!” he apologizes to those, as they pass through Rendez-Vous mid-show, who witness anything off-color with an audience participation chant of “It’s a Bar!” He is funny and I will visit him again tonight at 11:00. Will I join him on stage? I might. Tonight is formal night and I somehow imagine that I might look good in a tuxedo, tipsy from wine, crooning “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” off-key and off-tempo. Time will tell.
A Lot of Sips Wow
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Caribbean Sea, Pinar del Río, Cuba
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2025-02-06