Vacation: The Cruise

We sailed on the Voyager of the Seas out of Galveston for a two-week trans-Atlantic cruise. When the Voyager was first built in 1999, she was the largest ship ever built.

After dinner on our first night, our waiter, Lotfi from Tunisia, told us the next night would be a formal night. Mom and I told him we wouldn't be there then. We had brought clothes, but they weren't terribly dressy.

But Lotfi assured us we should come, telling us people would not all be dressed formally. He told us escargot would be served. When he said that, I leaned over to Mom and said, "Slippery little suckers."

And Lotfi said, "No, they are not in the shell."

Lotfi totally got my Pretty Woman reference! I loved Lotfi after that. He was great. (The escargot wasn't bad, either.)

Our assistant waiter was Nikiel from South Africa. When the ship docked in Southampton, he was heading home. He looked very much like one of Mom's students from my hometown, although it took us almost ten days to figure that out.

Nikiel was great, too. He kept our iced tea glasses full throughout supper and brought me ketchup for my steak.

Polat, our head waiter from Turkey, made sure we were completely satisfied with the food every night.

Mom also loved our stateroom attendant, José from Costa Rica. He kept the ice bucket full, and that made her more happy than anything.

Aside from escargot, I had always had the chilled soups. My favorite was the Golden Pear with Cranberries. It was just delicious!

We went to some of the shows. I think my favorite shows were Maria Neglia, a violin virtuosa, the crew talent show and the guest talent show. I even got some ideas for next year's variety show at work!

Mom and I played trivia on occasion. I played Wii bowling. We walked around the walking track. 

I climbed the rock wall. All right, I'll be honest. I only made it two-thirds of the way up. I was doing good until the guy on the rope told me to start going sideways. I was thinking, "No, I must head up. My destination is up, not sideways." And then my hands and feet slipped. If I'd been on a real rock wall, I would have died.

I went ice skating, too. I'd never been skating before, and I made it all the way around the rink without falling down. And then I turned in the skates.

Most afternoons Mom and I napped. I high recommend a trans-Atlantic cruise as a method of travel. It's very relaxing. If you can only cruise one direction, then I would suggest taking the cruise on your way home.

Even some birds preferred to make the crossing by ship rather than air!