Back home in Seattle

---

Infinity arrived in Fort Lauderdale early on the morning of Oct. 8. Fittingly it was raining cats and dogs. In fact there was so much lightning that disembarkation had to be halted midway through because of fear someone on the dock would get hit. I managed to get off without incident. I last saw Nancy and Sharon struggling with their luggage as they waited for a shuttle bus to their hotel in Miami. My God they had a lot of baggage. I grabbed a taxi and sped off to my nearby hotel where I had a relaxing day by the pool when the sun finally came out. My plane left early next morning on a direct flight to Seattle.

Now that I have been back in my own house for a couple of weeks I can reflect on the cruise. A couple of thoughts come to mind. The Infinity is a fine enought ship but much too large for my tastes. I much prefer the smaller more intimate ships I have been on when cruising with Oceania. Reposition cruises care less expensive but generally don't stop at very many ports and tend to occur during seasons when the weather is iffy. I also didn't care for the very obvious class distinctions that Celebrity promotes. There were always things going on that were only open to "elite" members or "captain's club" only affairs. We could seldom join folks we met for cocktails because they were going off to their "exclusive" lounges. On Oceania cruises everyone is treated like an elite passenger. You don't have to pay extra for the specialty restaurants as is the case on Celebrity.

But I have enjoyed working as a check in agent for Celebrity for the last 5 seasons and will probably continue next season with the new larger ship that is replacing the Infinity on the Seattle/Alaska route. I'll miss working with Josh the embarkation officer and Oscar the IT guy who always had a smile and a happy demeanor.

In the meantime I am planning my next adventure: A river cruise on the Danube at the end of next April and a cruise on Oceania's Nautica aroung the Black Sea next September.

---