A cruise from Southampton to San Francisco is certainly not going to visit any ports that can be considered exotic from my point of view. Madeira is not Madagascar, Barbados is not Borneo and Aruba is certainly not Antarctica. The ports we are visiting are all very interesting safe and enjoyable. Missing however, is the sense of adventure that we love so much. We knew that from the outset in planning this vacation.
MV Arcadia is merely a very very nice method of transporting us from one place to another. She is more like a bus or coach really, we pass through some interesting countryside but are not likely to have any hair-raising adventures. There are not even any pirates in these waters to keep us on edge. [Pirates are a very lively subject of conversation on a ship, particularly to people who have never travelled in Pirate Waters. They look at us in disbelief.]
Today while walking the decks I noticed the various things that people do to pass the time of day. Inside the ship of course there is the usual Bridge fanatics, the shops are open and full of browsers, the sun loungers are well occupied and of course there are always people in the laundry room chatting away catching up on ship gossip.
I took three surreptitious photos within 50 feet of each other: One caught an avid photographer, [one of many], trying to get a good shot of cruising sea birds flying alongside of us, [brown booby], another of a German gentleman learning to speak Chinese, aloud, the last of a couple that had had an early morning drink and had nodded off on each other, oblivious to passers-by doing laps.
One can lose touch with reality at sea, particularly if you do not have phone or email contact. Suddenly your world can become very small, insulated from every possible concern that we have in a normal life at home: No groceries to get, no gas for your car to buy at the right price, no mail to look forward to, no decisions to make for meal preparation, no chance of phoning a friend, and no newspaper to make you aware of troubles in the world etc.
The highlight of my day is that I had a table-mate come to the cabin for some help with her camera and computer. It went quite well actually. She is a bit elderly but keen to learn, to an extent. Her daughters had sent her off with high hopes of 'being in touch' with copious notes from them and well meaning grandchildren. We had a delightful time, but of course she needs to do it regularly otherwise the fear sets in about doing something wrong.
Tomorrow in Aruba we have booked a snorkel trip and beach afternoon via a local bus that looks like a highly decorated school bus. More on that adventure tomorrow. Today we are happy just waiting for the perfect picture of a school of flying fish.
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