April 9, 2011: In the Air

On the plane from Baltimore to Philadelphia, I found, after quite a long conversation with my seatmate, Stephanie, that her husband is an ER doctor at the Gettysburg Hospital and is quite friendly with my friends Tim and Troy. What a small world! After six and a half hours from Philadelphia to San Diego, with a kicking, complaining, whining child behind us, we were met, as planned, by a representative of SilverSea and sent on to the pier by cab. At first, the cabbie couldn't find the ship, dwarfed by a Holland America ship and the Crystal Symphony, and when he did, we were told that the ship had docked late and even though it was time for us to board, we had to wait more than an hour for disembarking passengers to leave the ship, a confusion quite unlike the service I'm used to from Silver Sea. Finally aboard, I found my suite, right across the passageway from Ted and Bill. The luggage finally came and I unpacked before going topside for sailing, right behind Holland America and the Crystal Symphony. It was clearly a beautiful day, but windy and cold on deck.

At the solo cocktail party, to which I was invited by virtue of traveling in a single suite, I met the two dance hosts, quite a bit younger than I am, and surrounded by at least 25 other solo travelers. I had a very pleasant conversation with Marie, from Oswego, Oregon, quite the most elegant lady in the group. (I was lucky to be seated next to her, by chance.) Probably in her eighties, she was carefully coiffed and made up and told me that she is just beginning to travel again after the loss of both her husbands. She was feeling a little timid but I put on my dance host demeanor and she warmed up considerably.

Dinner was great but I was exhausted after such a long day and went to bed immediately after it. Ted and Bill seem enthusiastic about the ship and the cruise although it's apparent to me, since I've traveled with Silver Sea before, that the economy has caused some little signs of lesser service. I suppose that's to be expected. Among the differences is that this time on the internet is costing me $.35 a minute so these posts may be short.

Anyway, I met our butler for our deck (a new wrinkle) and our maid. When was the last time you had a butler named Romeo and a maid known as Princess?

Stay tuned (if I post again)

Phil