Thursday - January 20, 2005

Life at Sea, Part 4: Not all Fun and Games

So far, I have discussed many of the enjoyable aspects of travelling the globe on a luxury ship. But yesterday, I was given a rude reminder that oceans are not bathtubs, and there is a down side (and an up side, and a down side...) to sailing the ocean blue.

First of all, I have to say that I'm a lousy sailor! I have proved this to myself many times over, but if you want to cruise, you have to deal with it. And for two weeks, I had been doing really well. A couple of hints of queasiness at the beginning, but I soon got that under control. Just as I was congratulating myself on finding my sea legs and thinking that I was adjusted to the motion, the Pacific Ocean decided to crank things up a notch or two. After leaving Los Angeles, we experienced a bit of swell the first day out, but no problem for me. The second day was a much bumpier ride, with overcast skies and quite a bit of swell. I made it to breakfast okay and was wandering around one of the decks, when I got that ticklish, dry feeling at the back of my throat. Uh,oh, thought I, time to head for the cabin. I quickly hit the bed and laid down my head, which made me feel much better, but I was stuck there for the rest of the day and night. I never actually got sick, but as soon as I tried to stand up, the queasiness told me I had better lie down again. And that's just what I did. I read a book. I had lunch in the room. I missed dinner altogether, and thought I might need a seat belt on my bed during the night, but I survived without any mad dashes to the bathroom. Today seems better, but I'm taking it easy and staying pretty close to the cabin. Mike, being a much better sailor than me, had no problem whatsoever, which was fine with me because I'm not sure that this is one of those situations where misery loves company.

Nor, our cabin steward, says we can expect it to be rough again between Moorea and New Zealand and then possibly in the Indian Ocean. Oh joy. In the meantime, I look forward to spending a couple of days on land in Honolulu and Kona.