The Straits of Gibraltar

Today is the last Fun Day at Sea on the Atlantic. Last night was the 5th time of setting clocks forward by one hour. Tonight will be the 6th time. Sometime between midnight and 1 am, the ship will pass through the Straits of Gibraltar. If Pati is awake (although he doesn't expect to be) at that time, he plans to yell "Give me back my peanuts!" to the monkeys of Gibraltar who robbed him the last time he was there. If it were possible to find a bag of peanuts on this ship, Pati would wave them in the direction of the monkeys and yell, in the immortal words of W, "Bring it on!" Pati plans to see who throws what this time!

Time update: local time = EST + 5
Distance traveled at 9:17 am local time: 3535 nm
Sea depth: 15,700 ft
Course: 089 degrees

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The Floor Scrapers

Pati and Beebee were walking on the ship's track when they saw a crew one deck below them repairing the teak decking. It reminded Pati of a painting he saw once in Paris called "The Floor Scrapers."

Pati and Beebee stopped to watch. Pati particularly likes to see the tools professionals use. He was happy to see that all of the tools but one - a power hand planer - are in their shop at home. Pati misses the shop. Building things makes Pati feel useful.

Most of the passengers on the trans-Atlantic crossing sail much more frequently than Pati and Beebee. Pati wonders if he would feel useful if he did that. To Pati, it seems that rather than having an adventure, he would simply become cargo. Occasional luxury is very nice but constant luxury seems meaningless. Pati misses the shop. However, when he returns to the shop, he will probably miss the ship. Life is a puzzle to Pati.

 

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The Plate Warrior (a pre-quel to Thunderbowl)

Beebee and Pati decided to have a quick light meal in the Lido Deck self service dining area. They found a time and place where food was the most precious thing on Earth (actually, on water) despite the surplus. Sparks flew from silverware moving at blinding speeds and every man (and woman) was a law to him- (or her-) self concerning the direction of the line around each serving station. (Diners on land in civilized countries seem to understand that a line begins at the end with the plates. Diners on this Lido deck understand that they need a plate, but then attack the food from any end or angle, bestowing annoyed looks and snide remarks on those who follow normal conventions.)

The sound system blasted Tina Turner singing "We don't need another hero (but that BLT looks interesting)" while marauders in motorized chairs zoomed from station to station at intimidating speeds. Others stepped suddenly into the paths of unwary passers-by or defiantly walked backwards carrying head-sized mounds of food as trophies. It was gruesome (or at least goosome) - especially when the pitiful remains of plate after plate filled the edges of each dining table. A land of eat or be -- well, that's about it -- just eat. It was like the TV show "The Walking Dead" with a twist: this time it was "The Walking Fed." All those bloated bodies staggering around with Hollandaise dripping from their slack (actually well-toned) jaws.

Many of the diners in the Lido seemed to be in a uniform which consisted of a white Carnival Cruise Line bathrobe and flip-flops. Pati and Beebee saw one of the men in uniform (think Jabba the Hut) and his wife ("Please, call me Chewey!") at a table nearby. A larger robe would have been a fashion plus. Pati thought the uniforms signified a religious order of some kind because of the expressions of bliss (early diabetic coma?) the adherents wore on their faces -- possibly the Order of the Double Cheeseburger. In any case, they chanted something about Friars (or was that friers?).

Just when Pati and Beebee thought it was the end, they found an escape route that none of the plate warriors could use to follow them -- they took the stairs.

Time update: local time = EST + 4
Distance traveled at 7:49 am ship time: 3104 nm
Sea depth: 17,400 ft

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Exercise on the Carnival Destiny

Pati and Beebee try to walk 10,000 steps a day. That's about 5 miles. Exercise on the Destiny requires some creativity.

Of course, there is the gym on deck 10. It has about 16 treadmills (2 not working), a smaller number of elliptical machines, and a small number of spin cycles. There is also a very small number of specialized machines. There are also free weights and a very small area for using them. As might be expected, demand far exceeds capacity. Pati and Beebee were able to find open treadmills for a few days until the rest of the cruisers found the gym; now, every working machine of every type is occupied whenever they check.

For outdoor exercise, there is a jogging track on deck 11 with a circumference of 1/10 mile. Pati and Beebee head up there when the gym is full. The track is oval shaped, with the long legs parallel to the side of the ship. In walking the track counterclockwise (which most cruisers - except Australians - do), the starboard (right) side leg is into the wind and the port (left) side leg has a tailwind. The ship is traveling at around 18 kts almost directly into a wind blowing at 20 to 30 kts. This results in a small tailwind on one side and a headwind of up to 50 knots on the other. That's exercise!

(There is also a compact putt-putt golf course on deck 11 surrounding the smokestack (Carnival's distinctive "tail"). Beebee wonders how far a golf ball might travel if caught in the wind!)

Of course, another obvious form of exercise is just walking around the ship and up and down the stairs. Pati and Beebee's cabin is on deck 7 near the back. Their formal dining room is on deck 3 aft (back) for breakfast and lunch and on deck 4 aft for dinner. The buffet is on the Lido deck (deck 9) aft. There are approximately 20 steps involved in climbing or descending the stairwell between adjacent decks. So, just counting stairwell steps, formal dining requires 120 to 160 steps per meal, and casual dining requires only 80 steps per meal. The entertainment venues are at the front of the ship (forward) on decks 3, 4, and 5, so these require walking almost the entire length of the ship in addition to the stairs. Yes, there are elevators, but those don't require much exercise (except for exercising patience in waiting for them).

Many cruisers seem to be into power lifting. After all, there are 8 utensils with each place setting in the formal dining room. There are only 2 utensils for Ledo deck dining, but cruisers there compensate by increasing the number of reps.

Time update: local time = EST + 4
Distance traveled at 8:13 am: 2700 nm
Sea depth: 10,330

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A Typical Day on the Destiny

The typical day on the Destiny revolves around eating. For Pati and Beebee, that means attendance in the full-service dining room for breakfast (8 - 10 am), lunch (12 noon - 2 pm) and dinner (8:15 - 10 pm). They began the trip by showing up on time for meals, but the meals took the full 2 hours. So they started coming later, thinking the meals would end "on time" as it were, requiring less total time. The result of this experiment is that meals require 2 hours no matter when you show up. But no one seems to mind, and there is time for interesting and educational conversation with others at the table. (Getting some extra zzzz after last night's time change, Pati and Beebee tried the Lido deck buffet this morning for a faster meal. It was a cool temperature place, both physically and socially. The atmosphere there is downbeat.)

 

The next time constraint is the shows that seem interesting. For Pati and Beebee, these have been the evening show in the largest theater ("Showtime") at 7 - 8 pm, the specialty show du jour in one of the larger theaters (magician, comic, juggler, hypnotist, etc.) at 10:30 - 11 pm, and information sessions by the cruise director (various times). Today's information session is Spanish lessons, requested by some passengers after we sailed; Italian lessons will be on another day.

 

In the open times during daylight, the hot tubs and the gym (or track outdoors) are favorite spots for 30 - 60 minutes at a time.

 

Then there is a small amount of daily time for blogging, reading the mail, checking the weather at home, etc. (it's a small amount of time, because internet time is expensive. However, the internet access and response time is the best we have encountered on any cruise ship.)

 

Next to time spent in the dining room, the most time is spent in reading books. Beebee has finished 2 books and is 37% through the same book Pati just finished, a huge book, with 849 pages. Pati has begun a Harry Bosch thriller.

 

Twice now, Beebee has used the launderette down the hall. This morning one of the three washing machines is out of order, and there is demand for the others. A very nice Canadian (from 4 hours north of Montana) gave Beebee a soap packet because he didn't want to lug them home again. That saved her 4 quarters that would have been spent for a small box of laundry detergent.

 

The remaining time is spent wandering the ship. The two fun shops (clothing, jewelry, watches, cigarettes, and alcohol) are identical except in size (much smaller) to the same shops on other Carnival ships. Unfortunately, the clothing offered for sale is geared to warmer locations, and seems inappropriate for the middle of the Atlantic or for Destiny's European stops. Beebee suspects that Malaga (the first stop) will sell a lot of warm clothing before the ship departs!

 

Time update: Local time = EST + 3

Distance traveled at 10:16 am ship's time: 2295 nm

Sea depth 9880 ft.

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Shipboard Sociology 101

There are definitely several categories of cruisers aboard the Destiny. These categories are not necessarily disjoint (or orthogonal, for math-oriented readers), and some individual cruisers belong to multiple categories.

 

The first category is directly related to the fact that this is the final cruise of the Destiny. It will re-emerge from drydock as the Sunshine. This category of cruiser is the diehard lover of Destiny. For example, a cruiser at breakfast yesterday with Pati and Beebee claimed to have been on both of Destiny's maiden voyages (which he clarified as a pre-voyage and the first real voyage). He is upset over the changes that will happen to the ship, replacing certain public spaces with passenger cabins. But his concerns seem legitimate: Destiny is a very special ship.

 

The second category of cruiser (which Pati and Beebee have met for the first time on this cruise) has replaced land-based living with perpetual cruising. They find that living on board does not have to cost more than traditional housing, and they have sold their houses and cars to help finance this lifestyle.

 

The third category is the frequent cruiser, who keeps on top of the cruise bargains available (especially last-minute cruises) and keeps a suitcase packed and ready to go on a moment's notice.

 

The fourth category is the experienced novice traveler. This morning, Beebee and Pati met early retirees who sailed their own ship for 20 years but had never been on a cruise ship before and had never been to Europe despite spending many years away from the US.

 

The fifth category is the cruiser to whom the cruise is just another extended stay somewhere. Their other destinations tend to be on land, where they immerse themselves in the culture for months at a time. One such couple is headed for Germany, where the husband will be teaching economics at the undergraduate level. For another couple, the cruise and their extended stays at various European destinations will be subjects in a travel book she is writing.

 

The sixth category includes the few (?) cruisers who stand out and are in a class by themselves. One example is a one-armed man (attention Dr. Sam Sheppard) who wears crazy hats all the time (e.g., a red dragon). Another is a gay couple who look - to Pati at least - like a pair of life size muppets. They both have two foot long beards, one jet black and the other silver (think "Hair by John the Baptist"). The one with the jet black beard is a long distance truck driver who is also an amateur gladiator. The one with the silver beard thinks that the changes that will be made to the Destiny are "tragic." Pati noticed that eating with a two foot long beard allows one to check what was on the menu long after dinner is over :(

 

The seventh category includes those who live below decks and come up only to serve, as in H.G. Well's The Time Machine. In general, they are younger, slimmer, and more diverse than those they serve. They may be the most interesting of all the people on this ship.

 

PTi and Beebee wonder how they are being categorized in their fellow travelers' blogs.

Total distance by 19:30 PM - 1930 nm

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Hot Tub 9-1-1

There are 4 hot tubs on Deck 9 of the Destiny. Two of these are are open to the sky, and two are currently enclosed (though the clear roof above can be slid open). All of them have posted a long list of rules and warnings. At the bottom of each list is the following in red:

Take children for frequent restroom breaks

Dial 911 in case of emergency

Probably due to their unprotected location, the open-sky hot tubs would be better called warm tubs. Pati and Beebee have consistently used one of the open-sky warm tubs. Yesterday as they stepped in, they discovered their favorite warm tub was really a cold tub. Shivering in the wind, they shifted to the second warm tub, which was still warm.

Unfortunately, two little boys in life jackets were happily breaking many of the rules in the list (rough-housing, jumping, no adult supervision, no breaks). After one boy ended his dive in Beebee's lap, she and Pati decided to move to the really hot hot tubs.

Bliss. Toasty warm bubbly water. The sign saying ADULTS ONLY. Ahhhhh. Minutes pass. Some adults leave. Some adults arrive. No jumping. No diving. Quiet mannerly adults. But all good things end, and Pati and Beebee leave to make room for a newcomer who sports large patches of a suspicious red rash. It could be only a sunburn or poison ivy, but then again, maybe not.

As they pass the warm tubs on the way to return their towels, they observe the little boys still leaping around wildly, with no adults in sight. Like otters in a too-small pool.

There is still the 4th hot tub to investigate some other day.

There are at least four comedians on board. Pati and Beebee went to hear one two nights ago. He said "On my last cruise, my warm up act was a Jehovah's Witness but he only knew knock-knock jokes." Ten seconds of silence were followed by an outburst of laughter.

There was a long line for the comedy show. Pati is pretty sure half the people in line thought there was something to eat inside.

Time update: local time = EST + 2

Distance traveled at 8:35 am: 1424 nm

Sea depth: 18,350 ft

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