February 5, 2010

• Ship Shape

  The ship, as I mentioned earlier, was quite lovely. When it was not tossing around making me queasy, it was like being in an elegant hotel or a very cool, big house. It was surprising how deserted it often felt. Sometimes I’d be the only person on the stairs for five flights or the only one in the solarium or some other place. Where did all the people go? I’m not quite sure.
  
  The Viking Lounge

  One place which was pretty much deserted during the day (but still smelled of smoke) was the Viking Lounge. I guess this is the place to be if you are a drinker and dancer and smoker and over 18. During the day, it was just a pretty place.

  It was located in the round, glass circle thing shown below. (I’d draw an arrow to it, but we will just pretend it is like a Where’s Waldo game: Where’s the big, round, glass room?)

  

  This is me inside the room. I think I’m looking at my camera.

   

  Here’s the ship thing for which the room was probably named. Or perhaps the decoration was added and the room was named for hard-drinking, horn-wearing Viking behavior?

   

  In any case, Peep and Teacherperson did not visit this room except during the day.

  The Library

  On the last day we were on the ship, someone said something about the library. “There is a library on this ship?” we said. So, we set out to find it.  It turned out to be a lovely room with newspapers and books you could check out for the duration of the trip. Peep wished she had known about the newspapers. “The world could have ended, and I would not have known,” she said. She was right.

  

  Like the rest of the boat, there was some art work, this one a bit more whimsical. (in case you cannot tell, that’s a sculpture of a guy asleep with a newspaper over his head)

  

  Speaking of sleeping…Peep dreams of our next trip–to visit Incans. By plane.

  

  
  The Casino

  Another place on the boat (ship?) where people could smoke was the casino. They had real dealers, computer dealers, slot machines, and all the stuff I suppose you’d have in a real casino. It was called Casino Royale, very James Bond.

  

  Peep tried her luck with the slot machines.

  

  I found them incredibly boring and a waste of money. She actually did win on her first day. Spent $20 and earned $12.25! The next time was only $5 down the tubes. And that was the extent of her gambling.  If you wanted, you could get up to $2000 a day to play! Wow. That would be $10,000 for the whole cruise. I bet there were people who did that, too. Scary.

  

  
  That Lounge That I Forget the Name of

  There was another lounge where they played games. I forget what it was called, and really, does it matter? Anyhow, Peep and I headed there one day for… BINGO!

  

  Oh, wait! This picture tells me it was the South Pacific Lounge. I like my name better.

  Peep graciously bought us cards, four games for a lot of money. You could also buy these machines that automatically played thirty cards for you. Guess which people were the ones who won all the games? Anyhow, off my bitter train of thought…the real, live cards were neat. Instead of using chips or marker dauber pen things, you punched out the number halfway.  They did try to make it fun. If you were one number away from bingo, you were to stand up and start gyrating around, which they called “making pizza.” I did not even get a piece of pepperoni.

  (Hey, I look sort of evil. It must be all that gambling.)

  

  Also in this Nameless Lounge, we played a trivia game. But, let me back up. Peep and I were wandering and missed the start of the trivia game and came in late. They were in the middle and had already formed teams. One team, Team 12, had abandoned the game. “We’ll be the new Team 12!” we said! And two other couples volunteered. So we banded together.

  The British guy announcer, Mark, asked the question: “Who is the most desirable man in the world?”  Everyone was supposed to write and answer the question and turn it in at the front. Peep joked, “Let’s say Tiger Woods. Everyone seems to want him!”  So we did. They guy laughed, but he did not give us any points. Then, the next question was asked: “What is a good pick up line?”  We giggled for a bit, and one of the guys from the couples said, “Well, it’s sort of crude, but, ‘Do you have any Italian in you? Would you like some?’” We thought this was well worth a point, so we turned it in. Lots of laughs but no point!

  Then, we found out how you were supposed to play! It was the groups who chose the most frequently chosen answer who got a point. (Pick up line? Can I buy you a drink.)  Well, this did not seem a bit of fun to us at all, so we went for the funny lines as much as we could.

  How do you pick up a rabbit? By the hare!

  Anyhow, it was amusing.  Here’s our team with Mark the British Boat Guy.

  

  
  The Game Room (Or maybe it was called The Card Room?)

  The same person who mentioned the library also told us about the game room, another heretofore unknown place on the ship. (Turns out, the library and game room were on the same deck, across from each other.

  In this room, not surprisingly, you could pick a game to play.

  

  There were all sorts of tables, and the chairs had one of the four suits from cards carved into them. Very cute. The artwork here was card-themed. (which is one reason I suspect the name was Card Room and not Game Room)

  

  

  Next time, we’ll talk about pools and hot tubs and my favorite place on the ship (other than my bed, where I did not care if the boat was tossing!)

  

  • 11:14 am
  • 11 Comments