Wednesday in the Middle of the Pacific

I think we are pretty close to being exactly in the middle of nowhere. We haven’t seen land or even another ship for two days.  I think Hawaii is still another two days away. Not much going on today. I wasn’t in the mood to join the Ping Pong tournament, Merengue Class, Mahjong or Jackpot Bingo. Proper footwear was required for the Zumba class – so that was out.  The Showtime tonight and no, I am not making this up is - “The Huber Marionettes present – Suspended Animation.”  They actually have some good lectures that I might attend if I want to get out as that sure might beat staying in and watching the “Leave it to Beaver” marathon on TV. (Jerry Mathers is on board).  Actually, I think this might be a great “room service and a book on the balcony” day.  A line up of activities like todays might almost drive one to attend the “Friends of Dr. Bob and Bill W. meet.” One thing however that is continuous aboard this ship is conversation.   As you might imagine, the crash of the cruise ship in Italy is still a popular topic of discussion here. Many of our passengers had sailed on that ship and some had sailed with, as one of Jim’s kids calls him, “Captain Crunch”.   I am always amazed that people can even remember the name of their Captain - that seems to me like remembering the name of your pilot.  I will say our Captain this time is rather memorable as he is funnier than their paid comedian.  I also like some of the stories the cruise staff relates. They say that almost every cruise they get a few of the same dumb questions like … Do these stairs go up or down? When is the midnight buffet? Will I get wet if I take the snorkeling tour? How far are we above sea level? Or does the crew sleep on the ship?  Apparently one time a crew member couldn’t stand it and replied, - "No, ma'am the crew flies home by helicopter every night, and then we all fly back in time for our morning shift”.  He said about a week later there was a memo sent out to all crew members asking them to refrain from trying to be “cute” in the future. It seems an elderly passenger had made a formal complaint to the cruise line after arriving home. She said she had been unable to get any sleep while on the ship because of all the noise from the helicopters flying the crew off the ship every night.