Sailing to Ketchikan

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Sharon went to mass and enjoyed the priest, who she believes to be recently retired. This is his first cruise, taking the leg up and the following leg back to Vancouver. We went to the dining room for breakfast and ate with two other couples. I had my two favorites Swiss Mueslie and the Frittata. Sharon had scrambled eggs and bacon. Outside we could see that we were sailing foggy seas, and the crystal clear sailing day Sharon enjoyed in 1986 sailing these waters weren’t going to be revisited today. She recalled seeing the many seaside logging operations and mills in a very rural setting that really was like turning the page back one hundred years. We stopped by the Exploration Lounge and were pleased to see that they had Sudoku puzzles ready for us. We took three sheets and went back to the cabin because Sharon insists on doing them in pen. All I will say, I haven’t lost my touch.



We popped into the casino and I played a short time at the blackjack table and won a little bit of money; but, Sharon made a small deposit of some of her previous day’s winnings. We went up to the Lido for lunch where I had the Swiss steak and also a piece of chicken; while, Sharon had the lamb.



I finally got to meet Cruise Director Jordan up in the Crow’s Nest for our first official session of Team Trivia. We’d forgotten to wear our “Google Shirts”; but, still managed to score four other team mates, including the lady who played with us the night before. This time she brought her travelling companion with her. Jordan wanted to know “What is known as the ‘Actor’s Bible’?” Some suggestions were the complete works of Shakespeare and script; but, we went with “Variety”. Jordan was looking for “Stage”. We had a repeat question with what city dug the first subway. Some wanted Paris; but, Sharon knew enough to write down London for our answer. “How many players are there on a cricket team?” I seemed to remember that it was a two digit number, and odd, but thirteen wasn’t right! Eleven! Sharon got her ‘religious question’: “What creature did St. George slay?” I think that we all knew that it was a dragon. I can’t believe that we missed what two letters are not on an old push button telephone. We went with “Q” and “X”; but, I’ll leave you to figure out why we only got partial credit. We didn’t know what relation Sir Mordred was to King Arthur. Acceptable answers were nephew and son, go figure. Sharon immediately knew what musical featured Velma Kelly and Roxy Hart as the protagonists. It was indeed Chicago. And we missed the Bonus, I guess because we didn’t attend the lecture on our upcoming port, or listen closely enough to the captain during his noon time recap of our navigation. “In 1881 locals had another name for Ketchikan Creek… What was that name?” We were expecting some obscure Indian word; but, it was Fish Creek.



I set down to play some blackjack after trivia, and Sharon had some misfortune with the slots. I walked all over looking for Sharon after leaving some money at the table; but, I couldn’t find her in the room, casino or many Show Room. I eventually realized that Bingo wasn’t going to be held in the Mondriaan Lounge so I went to find someone who would eventually direct me to the Wajang Theatre. In my search for Sharon and the bingo venue I stopped by the Exploration Café and got a frozen mocha drink. I showed up in time for Sharon to buy my 3-card bingo sheet. We had seats in the third row on the end. And thus began the longest ordeal we’ve ever had at bingo. There were obviously many neophytes among the throng of players, because they were asking the most elementary of questions, and the Assistant Cruise Director Erin was having difficulty fielding them (it is only her 2^nd week at the job). When the first game was announced as a regular Bingo with the Free Space, she was clarifying that a valid Bingo MUST include the Free Space. The confusion came from the review of possible solutions on the screen showing legal solutions not using the Free Space. She called on Jordan for clarification, complaining that her computer control monitor calls the game “Bingo With Free Space”. Jordan clarified it in a way that made it clear he felt that it should have been obvious that players may optionally use the Free Space. It was already fifteen minutes after when we were supposed to start, and Erin began “Okay, let’s begin. Please let me know if I’m going too fast; or, if I’m going to slow.” I muttered “You’re going to slow” and obviously those who heard me concurred. I just didn’t know the half of it. Erin began, “Okay, our first number is from the O-Column. That’s oh-sixty-three. Sixty-three. Six Three. Oh Six Three. From the O-Column. Number Sixty Three. Okay, were moving from the O-Column where we had Sixty-Three: O-63 on to the N-Column… I will say that she had loads of enthusiasm, and without that, this would have been an unbearable ordeal. This is just her second cruise on this ship, and Sharon supposed that maybe she’d been criticized for calling bingo too quickly; and, if that’s the case she’s in no danger of receiving THAT criticism on this voyage. She speaks very clearly and at a fairly slow cadence so there was no problem understanding what she was saying over and over and over and over again. Sharon got to stand twice, needing just one number. On the first game, I think I was the only one in the theatre who wasn’t standing. Needless to say the Jackpot game took very, that’s V-E-R-Y, very long. And if the pace of the game wasn’t unbearably slow, during the middle of the Jackpot game the Shopping Ambassador came in and had some complimentary tanzanite earrings to award and felt that the large Bingo Crowd were the ones he’d interrupt. I’ve never before played Bingo and had it interrupted by a ten-minute commercial! To be fair to Erin, she’s going to become a great Bingo Caller once she picks up the pace because she’s already got the jargon down and exudes enthusiasm with such calls as “The Sexy Legs of Bingo” (B-11), “Don’t Fall off the Ship; or, You’ll Be Ate” (B-8) and “The Grand Daddy of Bingo” (O-75).



This being a sea day, it means that this is also our first Gala night. I did have to buy some next size up pants to be sure I had something to wear with my suit coat; and, it’s apparently a good thing that I did. Even though we seemed to be skipping a couple of meals the days before boarding, that final shore day with a 2-scoop and 3-scoops of gelato probably didn’t help matters. We sat with two other couples and my great plan to wind up with two servings of escargot fizzled when Sharon put the kybosh on ordering two appetizers for me ever again, ever since what has come to be known as the “Hot Plate Incident”. She did get me the very nice gourmet salad to go with my escargot and my carrot soup. Everything was superb. Sharon ordered the peppercorn tenderloin with grilled shrimp (and I can tell you that her grilled shrimp were very good indeed). That was the “Land and Sea” offering that everyone else at our table ordered; while, I stuck with one of my favorites: the stuffed shells in marinara sauce. And we really enjoyed our chocolate soufflés with chocolate sauce.



Dinner extended past 7PM so we were unable to make Evening Trivia in the Crow’s Nest. Sharon said she saw our teammate the following morning at breakfast and she said that she had missed us at the game.



I sat down to play blackjack after dinner, and when Show Time approached Sharon dropped by to see whether I was staying. The show is one we’d seen before, so I decided to continue playing blackjack; which, was probably not a good decision because Sharon said that the show was terrific and four hours later when I went back to our cabin I still hadn’t made any money, in fact I left some at the table. For me, the play was terribly slow paced, almost to the point of being annoying. There was one player that split queens against the dealer’s six. He got a six on his first queen and stood. Then he got a jack on the second queen, and I expected him to split again; but, I suspect he didn’t realize that he COULD split his queen and jack so he stood. The player after him at third base stood on his ace-nine for twenty and the dealer revealed an eight. That gave the dealer fourteen and I’m thinking, the player’s six after the split would have given the dealer twenty, and that would have pushed me with mine. Then the dealer hit a five for nineteen and there were several twenties at the table that did get paid. And that player splitting tens, ended up with a push, which he would have gotten either way; but, he helped me at first base and the guy playing third. The gal seated before him wasn’t helped however; and, she never forgave the guy for her losing with 18 (even though she would have lost either way). Much later when the guy did cash in and leave the table, she announced, “I’m so glad he’s gone, he split ten’s and it cost me a big hand! People like THAT shouldn’t be allowed to play!”

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