Good afternoon, friends and family,
First of all, Carla and Kris – have you received any emails from us? I’ve written, but haven’t had a reply. Let me know at my regular address.
Then, on to the tale of another day at sea:
We were up early to make sure we were ready in time for the book signing, which went well. We sold a few more books and made some new friends. One lady bought the first of the trilogy, read it in one day and came back to buy both other novels I have on board.
My partners in writing the 8th novel came by and we discussed some things they think might help the storyline. I’m glad we met the lady editor from Time Magazine. She has some good ideas.
After sitting in dark clothes for two hours, with the humidity high and the temps in the 80s, we were soaked, so came down to the room, changed and went to the swimming pool and hot tub. Both were wonderful.
While we were watching the crowd, I made some interesting observations. We are an older crowd, but most of us don’t see it that way when it comes to swimming suits. True, there are perhaps four or five women here who have figures that suit a bikini well, but three of them are young, (l6-20), French girls. They add to the scenery, but there are others who don’t, and don’t know it.
We see older men, (65-85), wearing almost thongs, with pot guts hanging out over the skimpy suits. If it weren’t so ugly, it would be funny. Then there are the very overweight women, (and men), who wear swimming suits that they really shouldn’t.
To see a woman with huge breasts and a larger bulging stomach encased in a skin tight suit does nothing to excite the male population on board.
And, as I’ve noted before, none of them care a bit about spending too much time in the sun. There are some real sunburn cases aboard, red and getting redder with each day. Cancer doctors would love this.
But, perhaps I am too judgmental. They are here to have fun, come heat or high water in the pool. If this makes them happy, then have at it.
The water in the pool is saltwater, which makes floating very easy. It is not unusual to see two or three stomachs resembling whales floating around the pool in circles.
Lounge chairs abound on deck, as do large towels and waiters to serve drinks to everyone so inclined. There is no absence of bare skin on display. Tattoos are not only for the young. I’ve see my fair share of backsides, hips, ankles and other parts of the body decorated in multicolored diagrams, pictures or what have you.
It’s a great place for “people watching”. If you think you’ve seen it all, come on a cruise – you ain’t seen anything yet!
Tonight is NOT a formal night, but for some reason, they are holding the “champagne waterfall” this evening, which should be fun at 11:15. I think we turn our clocks back again tonight, as we have several times thus far. Then, we can sleep in tomorrow – nothing exciting to get up for.
If you haven’t seen a champagne waterfall before, let me explain:
They stack up champagne glasses several layers high, one row of glasses atop the other, until they reach the top, where one glass alone will fit. (I think the stack must be at least twenty glasses high, if not more).
Then, they pour champagne, bottle after bottle down the stack of glasses from the very top. Usually, they have a platform adjacent to the stack, where the top wine steward stands holding the bottles. Women climb up to where he is, place their hand on the bottle as if they are pouring the wine and have their picture taken.
It seems like a huge waste of cheap champagne, but they do it on every ship. Someday, I’d like to actually stand there and count how many bottles are poured down the stack. As the tasty fluid runs down, each glass is soon filled with wine, which overflows and cascades down into the lower rows; thus, the waterfall effect.
Other bottles of champagne are opened with a “pop” and served free for an hour or so until all the pictures are taken. At $20 per picture, if you are so inclined to purchase, I guess it pays for the wasted champagne – since all of it is tossed after the waterfall is over. There is no way to un-stack the full glasses to give to the passengers, so it is poured out.
And, so, that’s the champagne waterfall – usually done on a formal night so the ladies can wear their finest for the pictures.
I’ll talk more about pictures on another night. It’s almost time to tie on the feedbag again. Tonight is another gala affair with all the dancers and singers. We are looking forward to it.
So, for tonight, Via con Dias, Karl & Carol
