We are off on a cruise

We are off on a cruise very soon..... Not just any cruise but we are going to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Crossing the Atlantic in style is a far cry from what my ancestors had to do.

I've been told they crossed on some rickety old coal burning tramp steamer....Without stabilizers...And they didn't have a cabin, they slept on the deck, swamped periodically by sea water....And no room service. AND, no buffet. They did have entertainment however and it consisted of catching flying fish....

However, they made it, obviously, and now I shall be following them, well, in reverse. I do feel a bit guilty, having a cabin with a balcony, 24 hour room service and food everywhere. Plus entertainment that does not require hand/eye coordination catching fish of any description.

Anyway, as for the cruise, I hope we don't meet up with any problems, like pirates.

Pirates have been know to attack cruise ships and board them. So I will be on the look out for any signs of pirates. Yep, I will watch for them from my balcony, in my lounge chair, a glass of milk in one hand ( No alcohol, I want to have a clear mind and clear eyes watching for pirates ) And my arm around my best gal, Sue, singing.."I'm a Lumberjack"....Which should impress the other passengers.

I was told the other day that there is a possibility that we might have a problem with huge Waves. I didn't know that there would be Navy personnel on board. I hope I beat them to the buffet line......

Yes, we are looking forward to this cruise. Well, most of it. Sue has told me we are going to go dancing....I dislike dancing. You'd think, after Sue has had to lead and/or had her toes stepped on a few times she would give up TRYING to get me to dance. Actually, I'd rather go to the dentist.

If, perchance there are Pirates about, I can only hope that the Pirates kidnap the cruise line band. Which should solve my dancing problem..... And, if they don't take the Band away, then I will offer to go with them..

One thing about cruising, you meet people, all kinds of people and some really strange people. On our last cruise, we met some folks from Mississippi who had never been on a ship before....Rowboats don't count.

They spent most of the cruise trying to figure out how fast they were walking when they were walking in the same direction as the ship. Kept comparing the ship to their 4 wheel truck...I never asked why.....AND they told me how upset they were because the buffet didn't have something called Mississipi Mud Cakes which sounds delicious.....AND, they still thought the South won the war. I ended up trying to hide from them.

Another couple kept their lifejackets on and checking the lifeboats to be sure they weren't moved. They told us they saw the movie "Titanic" and wanted to be prepared. Just in case the boat met a wandering iceberg..... Also, they complained about the ship being too big and might fall over....I wanted to tell them about the possibility of pirates but Sue said I shouldn't.... They were having enough problems watching for icebergs...... I hid from them, too.

One morning I was out on the running track, jogging along, minding my own business, when this lady joined me as I ran along.

She said hello and I asked her how she was......Big mistake....Apparently, she just lost her husband, he ran away with his secretary, this was good because she sold the house, bought a new car, bought a new condo and was on the cruise, had gout, her back was sore from all the dancing she was doing, loved the bingo games and wondered if I was available....I assumed to be her bingo partner...............I hid from her too.

This time we plan on keeping a low profile. A very low profile. If I can only convince Sue that a low profile means no dancing.….
 

Went on my first, and only, cruise, with my wife in 2008. It was a 4-day Bahamas cruise. Had to fly to Orlando, from North Carolina. The cruise was fine, but the Departure time was some 10 hours late, due to a hurricane miles off of the southern coast of Florida. Had to stay in a lobby at the airport, until the ship got into Port Canaveral and was cleaned up. Was finally eating supper onboard at 1AM. Our itinerary changed as well. The cruise was fun though.
I spent years in the Navy, so being on a large ship didn't bother me at all. Actually, the Navy ships I served on rocked at sea quite often, even when not going thru a storm. The cruise ship didn't do that. I could walk on it without holding on to anything!

The kind of cruise wife and I would really, really like to go on, would be an Oldies Music or Classic Rock cruise. Bands from those eras. But, finances just won't let us do that.
 
Thanks everyone for the very nice posts. We have been on many cruises. Way back in in the 70's we flew to Barcelona for our very first cruise on the TSS ATLAS. Very small ship and we were crossing the Atlantic heading for the Caribbean.....Well, we left port and on the third night ran into a storm.....It was, to say the least, interesting. Waves we were told of 30 feet, winds like you wouldn't believe. People were confined to their cabins due to sea sickness and all the doors leading to the deck were closed....Well, for some reason I LOVED it. At dinner time there were six people in the dining room...Three waiters two other gents and me...Sue was confined to bed….Meal was really interesting trying to keep the plates on the table. After dinner everyone disappeared, well except me. I wandered around, found a door that was not locked and sneaked out onto the deck.....First time I ever saw flying fish.....And I got soaked.....When I got back to the cabin Sue was not impressed by my appearance....I was grounded.....Storm eventually passed and thing sort of returned to normal. Great cruise....
 
This whole story was the best thing I’ve read in a very long time



But this line killed

I was told the other day that there is a possibility that we might have a problem with huge Waves. I didn't know that there would be Navy personnel on board. I hope I beat them to the buffet line......

Oh, hell, they all killed

Man, moose, please keep it up

Solid gold
 
When I sailed across the Atlantic it was on this grey ship. They paid me $160 a month and fed me. We were 16 to a room, no girls at all. The ship had diesel engines and I ran them part of the time, other men stood other watches.

My forebears came over in 1634.
 
I took that same cruise line, Manatee. You must have been booked in a higher class than me because I was paid far less and there were 40 of us to a room!

:grin:
 

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